Has spring showed up in your neighborhood yet? Mother Nature is undecided here in our little town. We’ve had some beautiful springlike weather interspersed with some “nope, wait, it’s still winter” weather. The spring weather was enough to get us out working in the yard . . . and apparently in the poison ivy. All over both hands, up my arms. on my face and neck . . .

They say that April showers bring May flowers, but after all the “showers” we’ve had in March, I think we can expect April flowers this year.

But, the yard is looking nice! And the dog of mischief and I are ready for spring to get here for good. Until then, we can all enjoy this little bit of spring.

What are you most looking forward to this spring? I can’t wait for
our trees to get leaves and to plant some flowers in our patio pots.

There may be no such thing as bad weather in Ireland, but here in Kentucky and Tennessee the endless rain is starting to wear out its welcome. I love rainy days, but the rising floodwaters have me wishing for some sunshine!

It feels like it’s been raining here for the proverbial 40 days and 40 nights. Rivers and creeks are overflowing their banks, farmers’ fields have turned into ponds and lakes, and my hometown has closed the gates in the flood wall that holds back the Ohio River. Early forecasts—often made by woolly worms and persimmon pits—warned us that this would be a bad winter. Lots of snow and below average temperatures.

And what have we had? Unseasonable warmth and interminable downpours. My daughter and the dog of mischief are slowly losing hope for a big snow to frolic in. Mud puddles just aren’t the same.

I’ve been making use of the time stuck indoors to Marie Kondo our kitchen and dining areas, because the three junk drawers were sparking something that was definitely not joy. Getting the house cleaned and organized cheers me up on gloomy days, and it’s a great way to procrastinate when you’re supposed to be writing, because it clearly isn’t avoidance—it’s just something that needs to be done.

I’ve also been sorting through the photo storage boxes that hold most of my prints from my pre-digital days. I knew that if I weeded out all the prints of missed focus, bad exposure, and multiple shots of random things that I practiced on when I was starting out with photography, I could clear out some serious storage space. I’m about halfway there, and though it’s slow going, it feels good to be making progress. Looking through all those photos reminded me of something I’d been meaning to do on the blog, so . . .

Starting this month, I’ll be sharing a monthly photo. Since March brings us St. Patrick’s Day, a photo from our trip to Ireland seemed appropriate. This is one my favorites—a view of Dingle town from the bay. The colorful buildings made me feel like I’d stepped into a storybook.

How is the weather in your neck of the woods? Have you had snow? We’ve 
had pretty much zero snow this year, so if you do, I’m jealous. Enjoy!
As for me, I’ll be over here waiting for spring . . .

February is the month of love. Pink and red hearts everywhere you look. Perfect for readers of romance novels, but for mystery lovers, not so much. After all, courtship and corpses don’t go together. Or do they?

While romance might not seem a likely component of a murder mystery—and there are those who feel strongly that it shouldn’t be—there are plenty of mystery novels with subplots involving the more tender feelings.

Both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot have a soft spot for love, sometimes even taking up a case in order to rescue a young lover from suspicion. Then there are the detectives who find love in the course of investigation, as with Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. And of course there are the passionate relationships that go off the rails and end in a crime of passion.

So maybe love and murder aren’t as far removed as it might seem at first glance, and sometimes it’s difficult to resist being swept up in the passion we find on the page, especially considering that some mysteries feature positively swoon-worthy characters.

I’ll admit that I’ve had a few literary crushes, including a few who, unfortunately, turned out to be murderers. (We’re not going to look too closely at what that might say about me.) And while those purists who dislike romance in mystery novels insist it be relegated to the back burner, at the very least, I’ve come to realize that some of my favorite mysteries contain more than a hint of romance.

So if you’re in need of a new book boyfriend to get you through Valentine’s Day, here are five of my favorite mystery novels featuring romantic subplots.

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Endless Night by Agatha Christie

Romance plays a part in many of Agatha Christie’s mystery novels, and often the resolution of the mystery clears the way for the lovers to be together. Happily ever after.

But not always.

The narrator of Endless Night says right up front that this will be as much love story as mystery. In fact, it is well into the book that the first death finally occurs. On the surface, Endless Night is a love story between a working-class boy and a poor little rich girl, but right from the start, there is an atmosphere of creeping menace, of something not quite right. In true Agatha Christie style, the ending turns everything you thought was true on its head.

But not always.

One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum is between a rock and a hard place. Unemployed and on the verge of being evicted from her apartment, she’ll do anything to avoid moving back in with her parents. Including taking a job working for her creepy cousin Vinny tracking down skips—people who have missed their court date and are now wanted by the law.

Unfortunately, her first assignment is Joe Morelli—a cop accused of murdering a witness. Even worse, Stephanie knows Morelli . . . um, personally.

The first three books of the Stephanie Plum series are my favorites. They are laugh-out-loud funny—seriously, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when I listened to the audiobooks at work years ago. There are always fireworks of one kind or another with Stephanie and Morelli, making One for the Money a perfect Valentine’s read.

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Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

Ashley Weaver conjures the glamour of 1930s high society with skill, and reading one of her Amory Ames books always feels like a bit of a vacation for me.

Amory Ames is fed up with her husband Milo’s wandering ways, so when her ex-fiancé shows up asking for her help separating his younger sister from an unsuitable young man, it seems like the perfect time for a getaway. Unfortunately, there is more than romance going on at the Brightwell, and Amory soon finds herself neck deep in a murder investigation. 

I’ve really enjoyed the entire series so far, but this one may be my favorite. The complicated relationship between Amory and Milo is a lot of fun to read, and in spite of his roguish ways, Milo might be one of those literary crushes I mentioned.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

After spending her life tending to her widowed father, Amelia Peabody is finally setting off on the adventure she’s always dreamed of—seeing the places she’s only read about in books. While touring Rome, she rescues another young Englishwoman who has been abandoned there by her lover. The two travel on together to Cairo, where they fall in with a pair of archaeologists, the Emerson brothers, and join them at their dig.

Amelia finds that she enjoys the archaeological life, especially when she’s trading insults with the older Emerson brother, who resents the intrusion of women on his site. Women are the least of Emerson’s worries, however, when their camp is visited by another uninvited guest—a mummy that seems intent on doing harm to someone in their party.

This is possibly my favorite mystery series ever. Amelia is hilarious—always sure of herself and charging headlong into danger armed with her trusty parasol. The cast of characters grows throughout the series, which spans a period from the 1880s to the 1920s, with no shortage of romantic entanglements. If you’re looking for a book boyfriend, keep your eye on Amelia’s son Ramses, who grows from frighteningly precocious boy to brooding man over the length of the series.

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Southern Spirits by Angie Fox

Verity Long is having a hard enough time keeping it together—after jilting her hometown’s golden boy on their wedding day (with good reason), she’s been forced to sell the contents of her family home to pay back her fiancé’s family for the wedding that never happened, and the house is next. The last thing she needs is to unknowingly tether herself to the ghost of a gangster and draw the attention of the golden boy’s cop brother.

Southern Spirits is the first in the Southern Ghost Hunter series—entertaining stories about Verity and her ghost sidekick, who helps her see spirits and right wrongs both new and old.

How about you? Do you like a little romance mixed in with
your mystery, or do you prefer to leave love to the romance
novels? If you’re okay with a little romance, what are your
favorite mystery novels that feature love stories?

The New Year brings with it a feeling of anticipation—a blank slate stretching out before us, full of infinite possibility. While diets and resolutions may fall to the wayside, one thing we can count on is that this year will bring us a new crop of books.

Happy New Year! Are you ready for 2019? I haven’t quite adjusted to the idea that “next year” now means 2020. I’m still in the camp that hears “20 years ago” and thinks 1985. We had a nice long break over Christmas, and we’re having a bit of a struggle settling back into our routines with school and extracurricular activities and writing.

I didn’t make any resolutions—I don’t have a very good track record with them, anyway. But I do have some goals that I’m going to be working toward. I’m also participating in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, because all the goal setting gurus say you need to set attainable goals, and if there is any goal that is attainable for me, it’s reading more books.

I don’t know about you, but my to-read list is never-ending and ever-growing. These five mystery novels being published later this year are definitely making the list.

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They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall

Seven strangers are invited to a luxurious private island off the coast of Mexico. Soon, however, they discover that they have been lured to the island under false pretenses. All seven have something to hide, and one by one, they all fall down. 

Sound familiar? Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is one of my all-time favorites. One of the earliest Christies I read, it never fails to satisfy. I highly recommend the recent BBC production as well (and not, as the postman would say, just because Aidan Turner is in it, although that doesn’t hurt). It was beautifully filmed, well cast, and stuck mostly to the original plot—always a plus in my opinion.  

So naturally, I was immediately drawn in by the premise of They All Fall Down. With such clear similarities to Agatha Christie’s classic, it has some big shoes to fill, and I can’t wait to read it!

The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley

The newest installment in the Flavia DeLuce series sees Flavia and Dogger, her late father’s trusted retainer, setting up shop as investigators while her sister Ophelia’s long-awaited wedding is finally taking place. When a human finger is discovered in the wedding cake, it seems that Flavia and Dogger have found their first case.

Flavia has always reminded me of Josephine Leonides from Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, with one obvious difference that I won’t point out in case you haven’t read (or seen) that one. She’s such a fun, quirky character to read that I always look forward to new books in the series. Because time passes naturally in these books, as opposed to those where the characters are eternally the same age, I’ve wondered how the series would evolve as Flavia gets older. I can’t wait to read this next installment to find out.

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The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz

In this sequel to The Word is Murder, Detective Hawthorne and his author friend Anthony are drawn into the investigation of a celebrity divorce attorney’s murder. Why was the victim, who didn’t drink, bludgeoned to death by a bottle of 1982 Chateau Lafite? And how does his death connect to that of his friend the day before?

The Word is Murder was a fun read, in large part because Horowitz made himself a character in the novel. I’m looking forward to seeing what he and his eccentric detective friend get up to in this one.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

A live-in nannying post, a generous salary, the perfect family, a beautiful Highlands setting. What could go wrong? A lot, as it turns out. Things aren’t nearly as idyllic as they seem, and when one of the children dies, the nanny finds herself in jail awaiting trial for murder. In letters to her lawyer, she tries to explain everything that happened, but she has her own secrets to hide.

I read Ruth Ware’s The Death of Mrs. Westaway last year and loved it. Ware has been called the modern Agatha Christie, and with good reason. The isolated manor house setting, sinister servant, and twisty plot of Mrs. Westaway definitely brought Christie’s work to mind. 

This newest work seems to have been inspired by Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, which I finally read last year (and which has been adapted for film this year). From the too-good-to-be-true nannying job, isolated setting, family who isn’t what they seem, and the death of one of the children to the obvious similarities in the title, the parallels are undeniable. This one is definitely high on my reading list this year, and you know I’m hoping there will be ghosts!

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A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver

The Amory Ames series is one of my favorite current mystery series. Set in 1930s England, the books follow socialite-cum-investigator Amory and her ne’er-do-well husband, Milo, as they are drawn into investigations in their social circle. 1930s England is my favorite era for mysteries, and the up-and-down relationship between Amory and Milo is pretty entertaining as well. I think that type of relationship may be difficult for a writer to maintain over the run of a series, so I’m interested to see how they’re getting along in this latest installment.

How high is your to-be-read stack? Are there any books
coming out this year that you can’t wait to read? If so,
let me know—I might want to add them to my tower!

To a writer, especially a mystery writer, an attraction to cemeteries may not sound abnormal. It certainly doesn’t to me. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by cemeteries, the older the better.

Cemeteries are the perfect spot to dig up some inspiration

The hushed atmosphere that descends when you step through the cemetery gates never fails to set the imagination in motion. Strolling through rows of crumbling headstones, you’ll come across all kinds of unanswered questions to spark your creativity. Next time you’re feeling stuck, take a walk through your local cemetery and see what creeps up on you.

Unearth unique character names

Struggling to come up with names for your characters? Gravestones bear an incredible variety of names. Conveniently for period writers, they also carry dates to show when those names were in use.

Naming traditions also become clear in some cemeteries. In the small Appalachian cemetery where several members of my dad’s family lie, you’ll find numerous variations and combinations of a select few names. In that small rural community, parents often named children after friends and family members, leading to a mish-mash that would confound most geneaologists.

Raise unanswerable questions

One reason cemeteries appeal to writers is that so much is left to the imagination. Only so many facts can be gleaned from the stones, leaving our imagination to fill in the gaps. What better way to spark some new story ideas?

• Epitaphs—both bizarre and touching—conjure images of the people behind them.

• A young mother’s grave beside a row of stones marked only “Infant” is a powerful reminder of the stark realities our ancestors faced.

• A double headstone with only one date waiting to be filled in—is that ominous or only sad?

In that same Appalachian cemetery I mentioned before is a grave marked by a small stone with only a hand-painted name. It’s at the very edge of the cemetery, all alone.

What would cause a person to be isolated, even in death? Suicide? Prejudice? Or something even more sinister?

Commune with the spirits

Naturally, ghost stories are attached to certain cemeteries, or even specific graves.

In my hometown, there is a 19th-century grave marked by a statue of the young woman buried there. Local legend says that she was murdered and that the murderer cut off her finger to remove her ring. Her grieving father had the statue erected in her memory, but the ring finger of the statue wouldn’t stay attached.

Unfortunately, I can’t corroborate that story because all that’s left of poor Della now is her skirt.

Even if your local cemetery doesn’t have any tales of hauntings, there is something about being among the stones that makes you feel you aren’t alone.

So the next time you’re haunted by writer’s block, take a stroll through your local cemetery. Just remember to be respectful.

Always keep in mind when you visit a cemetery that each grave is the final resting place of someone very real. Someone who once lived and loved, laughed and lamented, just like you.

Be sure to tread carefully and quietly among the dead. It’s always best not to disrespect—or worse, wake—those who slumber there.

What about you? Do you enjoy exploring cemeteries?
What are your favorite places to look for inspiration?

50,000 words in 30 days? That’s madness! Or is it? Over 400,000 people participated in this month of madness last year. You should join us!

What is National Novel Writing Month? Why 50,000 words?

National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it’s affectionately known by participants around the world, began in 1999 with 21 participants who decided it would be fun to write an entire novel in a month. They settled on 50,000 words because it was the approximate word count of the shortest novel on founder Chris Baty’s shelf—Brave New World—and the number stuck. Of the original 21 participants, only 6 reached the 50,000-word goal. Now the percentage of participants who “win” at NaNoWriMo hovers at about 17%.

I first participated in NaNo in 2012 and have participated to some degree each year since. Most years I start out with good intentions, but wander from the path about mid-November. In 2014, I managed to make it all the way to the finish line with just over 50,000 words.

What do I win?

While NaNoWriMo doesn’t offer traditional prizes to those who write 50,000 words by November 30, there is the satisfaction of setting a goal for yourself and reaching it, as well as the prize of 50,000 words on paper (or screen). You’ll also get a badge on your NaNo profile and a fun certificate to print out to prove you did it.

So why should I sign up for NaNoWriMo? I can do that on my own.

But will you? True, 1,667 words a day (what the daily goal works out to) isn’t that crazy. But for whatever reason, signing up on the website, creating a profile and this year’s book, and finding yourself surrounded by other enthusiasts is surprisingly motivating. Seeing that progress chart creep closer and closer to 50,000 words makes skipping your daily writing session to binge on Netflix less appealing. And something about the atmosphere of NaNo makes it easier to fling words onto the page with abandon, ignoring your inner critic, something I find incredibly difficult most days.

Also, while NaNoWriMo doesn’t offer prizes, they do have many sponsors who offer incentives to both participants and winners. In 2014 I won a coffee mug and a sheet of fun writing stickers from one of the sponsors. Last year, I signed up for The Great Course’s free month and ended up loving it so much I stayed with the paid subscription. In 2014 I also purchased Scrivener at the 50% discount offered to winners.

Just a few of this year’s sponsor offers:

• Scrivener is offering their extended free trial for NaNoWriMo participants. It extends the usual one-month trial to run instead from October 15th to December 7th, giving you time to both begin your planning early and export your final product. Participants can then purchase the program at a 20% discount, while winners receive 50% off.
• The Great Courses Plus is offering a free trial for the month of November with a 50% discount for the next 6 months for all participants. The Great Courses Plus offers lectures on a wide variety of topics, including writing instruction. (Note: Their website states that you’ll receive 50% off for the first 2 months, but their announcement on the NaNoWriMo page says 6 months.)
• IngramSpark is offering this year’s participants free title uploads and free revisions from November 1 to March 31.

You can find these offers along with many more on the NaNoWriMo member forum.

50,000 words in 30 days is a lot, but doing a little planning ahead of time can increase your chances of success.

My favorite tool for both planning and writing is Scrivener, and I’ve created a template to use for my own work. It’s designed with mystery novels in mind and contains lots of planning worksheets, as well as some tips and research links I find helpful. You can find it in the Quill and Glass Shop. (If you’ve never worked with templates in Scrivener, this tutorial will help you out.)

What are you waiting for? You’ve got almost 2 weeks to plan your novel.
Get on over to the NaNoWriMo website and get signed up. I’ll see you there!