Creating Characters

The process of creating a character is like conceiving, carrying and giving birth to a baby who will, no doubt, have Mom’s nose or Grandpa’s ears. While I didn’t consciously model the characters in Mixed Messages or the subsequent novels in my Malone mystery series after myself or anyone else, there are bits and pieces of me and people I know in each of them: a physical characteristic, a personality trait or a life experience that contributed significantly to who they are. For example:

Ann is the main character in Mixed Messages. She’s living with someone who suffers from the disease of alcoholism (I did too) and even though Ann and I are totally different people, I can relate. Personality wise, she reminds me of a good friend of mine who values her family and friends above all else and goes to great lengths to help and protect them. Ann even has some of my friend’s physical characteristics but she doesn’t look like her.

Marnie, Ann’s older sister, is five foot five (so am I) and she’s outspoken, a trait we share and one we’re both trying to learn how to temper. She’s a family law attorney, as is another good friend of mine, but that’s where the similarity between the two women ends.

David, Ann’s husband, is a composite of some truly wonderful men I’ve known who happened to be alcoholics. He exhibits similar behaviors and he experiences many of the same emotions as his real life counterparts.

Olivia, Ann’s landlady, loves to tell stories about the past. Some of her tales of growing up in Cincinnati are modified versions of stories that my mother, who is the same age as Olivia, has told me. But Olivia and my mom are completely different in every other way.

Lawrence, Olivia’s son, is a few years older than me but, as children, we watched the same shows on TV. He’s a baby boomer too so he didn’t grow up with computers and all of today’s technology; he’s had to learn it and embrace it in order to function in today’s world.

Louise, Ann’s mother-in-law, believes in a place for everything and everything in its place and, although my home wouldn’t pass Louise’s white glove test, I am, like her, a stickler for order.

Do you see parts of yourself or someone you know in any of your characters?

Something for Everyone in 2012

Here’s a sneak preview of some of the mystery novels that will be coming out this year.

Cleansed by Fire by James R. Callan and published by DWB Publishing, will be out in January. It’s the first book in the Fr. Frank Mystery series.

Churches are burning and Fr. Frank learns something that could help the police. But, he learns it in the confessional so he can’t use it. He is compelled to work around this information to stop the arsons. And, a mysterious man has come to town who seems to be connected to the drug scene and is hanging around the local teens. Fr. Frank has more to do than preach the Sunday sermon.

Bogey’s Ace in the Hole by Marja McGraw will be released in February by Oak Tree Press. It’s the second of the Bogey Man Mystery series.

The only people who might strike terror in the hearts of Chris and Pamela Cross are the Church Ladies who want them to find a missing friend. When the friend turns up on her own, Chris finds a new kind of terror, a Murder for Hire plot the woman has overheard. Ride along in the 1950 vintage Chevy with Chris, the Church Ladies, his wife Pamela, their son, Mikey, and two crazy yellow Labrador retrievers while they try to find not only a potential killer, but the intended victim.

John R. Lindermuth’s  The Limping Dog is a standalone mystery coming in March from Whiskey Creek Press.

The alleged developer of a radical new microprocessor system goes missing when his yacht crashes on a reef. Some assert the system was lost with its creator, others believe it exists and have devious plans to profit from the invention and are willing to kill for it.

Also in March, we can look forward to the publication of American Caliphate, an archaeological mystery, written by William Doonan and published by Oak Tree Press.

Archaeologists Jila Wells and Ben Juarez are not thrilled at the prospect of returning to Peru; the ambush that nearly cost Jila her life still haunts her. But the ruined pyramids at Santiago de Paz hide an important document that would shock the Islamic world.

Murder a Cappella also by James R. Callan and Diane Bailey is the first book in the  Sweet Adeline mystery series and will be published in April by Wayside Publications, an imprint of Written World Communications.

Tina Overton is part of a chorus at the International Competition of the Sweet Adelines (women who sing barbershop harmony). But when two members of the chorus are gunned down while singing in front of the Alamo, Tina must search behind the sequins and the glitz of the competition to find the killer. And when she won’t accept the easy answer, she becomes a target herself.

Poisoned Pairings by Lesley A. Diehl will be published by Mainly Murder Press in May. It will be the second in her Hera Knightsbridge Master Brewer Mystery series.

A student, helping to set up for a beer and food pairings event in Hera Knightsbridge’s microbrewery, dies there under suspicious circumstances. At first the death looks like a suicide but the medical examiner determines it is murder and Hera and her lover, Deputy Sheriff Jake Ryan, again find themselves partners in searching for the killer. Connections among the student, the family of a dead brewer, a religious leader and the gas companies lead Hera and Jake into a maze of confusing and conflicting clues. Before the two can unravel the case’s tangled threads, Jake is called away on another job, leaving Hera alone to uncover the identity of the killer before she becomes the next victim.

Lesley A. Diehl has another book coming out in 2012. Grilled, Chilled and Killed will be published by Oak Tree Press. It’s the second in her Big Lake Mystery series featuring Emily Rhodes, retired preschool teacher and bartender turned amateur snoop.

It seems as if Emily is destined to discover dead bodies. This time she finds one of the contestants at the local barbeque cook-off dead and covered in barbeque sauce in a beer cooler. Her snooping skills are stimulated once again and she’s determined to find the killer.

Resort to Murder by Marta Chausee will be released in the spring by Oak Tree Press.

Amateur sleuth and hotel industry executive wife, Maya French, becomes involved in solving murders on a glamorous resort property in Central Florida. Not only top execs of Sapphire Hotels and Resorts come to bad ends, but also, her own husband is soon accused of wrongdoing and disappears.

Jim Barrett is the author of the true crime book, Ma Duncan. It was published in 2003 by Ivy House Publishing Group. “Ma Duncan,” the movie, is scheduled for filming in 2012 based on the screenplay co-written by Jim and Peter Lawrence.

In 1958, Elizabeth “Ma” Duncan hired two men to kill her 8 month pregnant daughter-in-law out of jealously for her son, Frank Duncan. Before deciding to kill Olga Duncan, “Ma” did several bizarre things. She annulled her son’s marriage by posing as Olga and hiring a man to pose as Frank. She openly “shopped” for murderers, contacting eight other individuals in the Santa Barbara area before she found the killers. Elizabeth Duncan was the last woman executed in California, along with her cohorts and therefore the last triple execution in California.

Happy Reading! And, Happy New Year!

Something for Everyone in 2011

 If you’re looking for a good book, look no further. There’s something here for everyone.

Behind the Redwood Door by John M. Daniel was published in November by Oak Tree Press. It’s the third book in John’s Guy Mallon Mystery Series. The novel takes place on California’s North Coast, in Redwood Country. It’s the story of a newspaper war, a family feud, marijuana traffic and murder. Pint-sized Guy Mallon’s adventures, as he tracks the murder of his friend, take him from the town square to the harbor, to the forest and into the mountains, where he must confront evil in the form of a bully nearly twice his size. 

       William Doonan writes the Henry Grave mystery series. The second novel in the series, Mediterranean Grave, was published by BookYear Mysteries. Henry Grave is a senior investigator for the Association of Cruising Vessel Operators and, at 84 years old, he’s as cunning as he is charming. The novel takes place on a cruise ship anchored off the Greek Island of Thera. An Egyptian federal agent was onboard to guard a valuable Minoan cup but the agent was murdered and the cup was stolen. Henry has been called in to solve the mystery.

Old Murders Never Die by Marja McGraw was published by Wings ePress, Inc. in July. It’s the fifth novel in the Sandi Webster series. Los Angeles P.I. Sandi Webster is in for the adventure of a lifetime when she and her partner, Pete, become stranded in a ghost town inhabited by a mysterious cowboy and haunted by a series of unsolved Old West murders.

 Lesley A. Diehl is the author of Dumpster Dying, the first book in her Big Lake Murder Mystery series, published by Oak Tree Press. Emily Rhodes retires to rural Florida and inadvertently discovers the body of the county’s wealthiest rancher in the Big Lake Country Club dumpster. With her close friend accused of murder, Emily sets aside her grief at her life partner’s death to find the real killer. She underestimates the obstacles rural Florida can set up for a winter visitor and runs afoul of a local judge with his own version of justice, hires a lawyer who works out of a retirement home and flees wild fires hand-in-hand with the man she believes to be the killer.

 Sally Carpenter has written a mystery that all Beatles fans are sure to love. The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper is the first in her Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol series and was published by Oak Tree Press in September. Sandy Fairfax was a 70s teen idol and star of the TV show “Buddy Brave, Boy Sleuth.” Now he’s 38 years old and solving mysteries while he’s making a comeback. When a member of the tribute band is shot at a Beatles fan convention, the boy detective is back in action.

 Fallen From Grace by John R. Lindermuth was published in March as a Wild Oak mystery, a division of Oak Tree Press. As the 19^th century winds to a close, Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman of the small Pennsylvania town of Arahpot ponders his biggest problems: finding a new deputy and convincing his true love, Lydia, to marry him. But Arahpot’s usual tranquility is shaken when a stranger is fatally stabbed and then another dies of arsenic poisoning. As he works through an abundance of suspects, Tilghman finds himself in danger. And worse – Lydia is pushing her obnoxious cousin as a candidate for deputy. 

 Where Angels Fear by Sunny Frazier is the second in her Christy Bristol Astrology Mystery Series, published by Oak Tree Press. Amateur astrologer Christy Bristol finds herself on the fringes of Kearny society in California’s Central Valley and a members only sex club as she reluctantly takes on a missing persons case. A prominent business man has disappeared and his wife can’t go to the authorities. Christy’s investigation crosses paths with several homicide cases. Could the cases be connected? Christy goes where angels fear to tread to find the answers.

 Rowena Through the Wall by Melodie Campbell was published by Imajin Books. College professor Rowena Revel has a magical gift with animals and a huge problem. Gorgeous tunic-clad men keep walking through the wall of her classroom and she’s being haunted by sexy dreams in a rugged land. Curious, she checks out the wall and falls through a portal into a savage world where, after years of war, women are scarce. Good thing she has the ability to go back through the wall. Or does she?

 If you like westerns, you'll want to read Escape from the Alamo by Dac Crossley and published by CreateSpace. Remember the Alamo! The defenders fought bravely, to the last man, giving their lives for freedom and the Republic of Texas. But suppose one of those warriors survived the battle? George Hanks, called “Possum,” finds himself confused and alone. He can’t go back to Tennessee because they believe he died at the Alamo. Possum’s journey to manhood takes him through fights with Indians and bandits, arrest and trial and enlistment in the Texas Rangers.

All of these books are available at Amazon.com. Enjoy!

The Present

Well, here we are right smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. The song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” And, in many ways, it is. And, in many ways, it isn’t. The holidays seem to bring our emotions to a head; we feel things more intensely, everything is more pronounced. Add to that the fact that we’re looking at a new year right around the corner, traditionally a time to make New Year’s resolutions, to set goals for the coming year and to re-evaluate our lives. We can spend a lot of time dwelling on the past or worried about the future. So much emotion and introspection!

I was feeling nostalgic the other day so I got the box labeled “Keepsakes” down from my closet shelf. I had mixed emotions as I sorted through the various items because they each evoked a memory. Among other things, there were special birthday and Christmas cards from years gone by, drawings made by my nieces and nephews when they were little (they’re grown now) and ticket stubs from events I’d attended. Although the items represented happy times in my life, I was painfully aware that those times were in the past. Then I saw it: a copy of a short story from a writing class that I took sometime around 1980. It was exactly what I needed to read.

The title of the story is “Later.” It was written by Michael Foster from the omniscient point of view as a flashback and was first published in 1938. I saved the story all these years for a reason: in 1,000 words the author told such a powerful story and conveyed so much emotion that it made a lasting impression on me.

The main character, John Carmody, feels he is too busy to read a story to his little girl, and bitterly regrets his actions after her death. The story begins “It’s queer, the things you remember. When life has crumbled suddenly and left you standing there, alone. It’s not the big important things that you remember when you come to that; not the plans of years, not the love nor the hopes you worked so hard for. It’s the little things that you remember then; the little things you hadn’t noticed at the time. The way a hand touched yours, and you too busy to notice; the hopeful little inflection of a voice you didn’t really bother to listen to . . .”

The moral of the story: appreciate each day and each person in your life. Each day is a gift; that’s why it’s called “The Present.”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Favorites

Christmas is only two weeks away. The stores are all decorated, radio stations are playing Christmas songs and there are lots of Christmas movies on TV. Some are cute, some funny, some sad, some uplifting. There’s no doubt that it’s a busy and an emotional time of year. It’s also the time of year when, in addition to my regular diet of mystery/suspense novels, I make time to re-read some of my Christmas favorites. I’ve listed a few for those of you who haven’t read them or who are looking for gift ideas.

The Gift by Danielle Steele will bring a tear to your eye and it will also warm your heart. Danielle is famous for writing romance novels but this slim, little book is a departure from her regular genre. If I have to pick a favorite, this is it.

The Angel Doll and the sequel, A Gift of Angels, by Jerry Bledsoe are two more wonderful books. The Angel Doll is set in a North Carolina manufacturing town in the 1950’s. It’s the story of a young boy helping his friend search for a doll to give his sister, who is stricken with polio, for Christmas. To quote the book jacket, “Along the way they learn much about sadness and heartbreak, but most important, they learn about the transformative power of love.”

The Christmas Shoes and the sequel, The Christmas Blessing, by Donna VanLiere are good reads too. In The Christmas Shoes, Robert, an attorney, is so caught up in his quest for success that he’s missing out on the important things in life. A chance meeting with a young boy on Christmas Eve teaches him an important lesson.

Christmas on Jane Street by Billy Romp with Wanda Urbanska is another on my list. This one is all about family and how one person can make a difference in family dynamics and even in the world.

What are your Christmas favorites?