What Happened?

When you finish a book, what’s the first thing you do? Sigh loudly and grin? Jump up and down in your chair? Wave your arms in the air and act like an idiot? Or maybe you just take a deep breath and breathe again. On the other hand, if you’re like me, you do all of the above and forget everything you should be doing, like writing last week’s post.

People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery is about to be edited and will be available soon. Right now I’m working on the cover, which is a whole ‘nother story, but think hot summer with record-breaking temperatures. And in the midst of the heat, homeless people are disappearing.

 Rough draft of the book cover. It will probably change. Well, yes, it will change.

Quite by accident, and with the help of Chris Cross’s grandmother, he and his wife, Pamela, become involved – again. Keep the heat in mind because it’s not going anywhere, and neither are the people who live on the street – with the exception of the few who are disappearing.

There was a young, tall, very thin homeless man whom I saw at a fast food place in Arizona. He was so dirty that his skin looked ashen. All he wanted was a drink of water. He was so soft-spoken and polite that you had to listen closely to hear him. I’ve never forgotten him, and he inspired this story. I wish I could have known what happened to him, but since I don’t, I gave him his own story.

There’s a touch of humor in the book. Even homeless people can laugh at life sometimes.

What about the book cover? Have you ever looked at an asphalt street during the hottest part of summer? Have you noticed the heat waves emanating from the asphalt? I wish I could have found a photo like that to use for my book cover, but I guess you can’t photograph heat waves. So I’m sticking with a very hot sun and a view of the city from a distance. Simple authors create simple covers.

Once the book is released I’ll look at doing some promotion. I haven’t really promoted much over the past few years. Oh, well… Life has changed and so have I.

The next book will be another Sandi Webster Mystery, but I haven’t decided on the subject matter yet. Another cold case? Maybe. Something current? We’ll see. I’ll be as surprised as you.

Back to the grindstone. I can’t seem to get the cover quite right. At least it keeps me busy while I try to dream up another escapade.

What do you do when you type The End at the finish of your story? Something exciting, I hope.

Until next time, I wish you a week of beginnings instead of endings. Maybe your personal story is just about to begin, and I hope it’s filled with laughter.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Rainy Sunday

 I really need an updated picture. One of these days...

It’s a dark, rainy Sunday as I write this, and it's a perfect day for snuggling up on the couch with a good mystery. Unfortunately, instead of that I’m writing a story that takes place during a major heatwave. It’s a bit difficult to write about the heat when I’m sitting at my desk, thinking I should get up and start the fireplace. I moved to Washington from Arizona, and I have to think back to what it was like during the summer in Arizona. Plus, the story takes place in Los Angeles.

Location is so important in a book. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve written enough to help the reader “visit” the location. Arizona, Washington and Los Angeles are so vastly different from each other. I can picture the location in my mind, but can the reader?

A lot of things depend on location, location, location: setting up a business, buying a home, planning a vacation, the setting for a fictional story. And when planning where a story will take place, you also have to think of regional issues such as earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, monsoon storms and snow, rain or heat. Even a volcanic eruption can be an issue, depending on where the story takes place.

Last night was quite windy here, and it was pouring rain. I’d just gone to bed when the wind picked up and the roof on the patio began lifting just enough to bang loudly when it dropped. At first I thought someone was trying to break into the house, but, surprisingly, the dogs didn’t react. I hadn’t noticed the wind when I had the television on. I couldn’t sleep and if my characters were in this situation, they wouldn’t get any sleep either. (Lucky dogs slept right through it.)

Your characters are in the middle of a thunder storm? Are there dogs or cats in the story? How do they react to the situation?

Have you ever lived through an earthquake? A hurricane? Don’t write about these things unless you have experience or a good “go to” witness to these disasters.

So it’s more than just location. It’s what the location is like if there’s an emergency. What’s possible at the location you’ve chosen for the story? There are so many details to consider when writing a story. You can research a blizzard, but if you haven’t lived through one you’re liable to get it wrong. At least talk to someone who’s lived through a blizzard, earthquake or something that could be devastating.

Of course, what if it’s just an average day and the weather is great, the air is clear and there’s a pleasant breeze? Be sure to let the reader know that’s what the day is like, but don’t tell them, show them. Let them figuratively walk in your character’s shoes. Maybe it’s nighttime and the weather is comfortable and clear. What might set this evening apart? Maybe the sound of hundreds of frogs croaking. There’s always something to remark on.

The book I’m currently working on involves some homeless people. It’s an extremely hot summer. It’s so hot out you could cook eggs on the sidewalk. In Oatman, Arizona, an historic tourist town, they actually have a contest involving cooking eggs on the sidewalk. Now that’s hot!

Right now I can look out the window and watch the rain fall. I’ve got the fireplace going and the three dogs are lying around the house, sleeping. It’s so quiet – except for the ticking of a clock. If the phone rang right now it would probably scare me out of a year’s growth. Okay, I stopped growing a long time ago, but you get the idea.

I started out talking about location, location, location, but it’s really about details, details, details. Sometimes the little things count, as long as you don’t go overboard with those details.

Now I’m chuckling. Rereading this post tells me that I’m running out of ideas. Or am I?

As a writer or as a reader, do you want those little details to enhance the story? Do you want to feel like you’re walking through a blizzard with the character in the book?

Until next time, think about where you live and the types of things that go on around you. Maybe you’re not a writer, but can you use your imagination and come up with a story about your day (in the rain, snow, or whatever)?

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

You might want to Click above and check out my website to find out more about me and my books.

Courage

One of our own lives in Texas and has been devastated by the flooding. Jean Henry Mead lost everything, leaving her home with only her dog and one change of clothes.

Jean had been emailing me every day to give me updates, and all of a sudden the emails stopped coming. I waited for a couple of days because I didn’t want to interrupt her if she was in the process of evacuating, and then I called her cell phone.

As it turns out she couldn’t evacuate because the roads that weren’t flooded were closed. The water kept rising and it was up to her waist. A neighbor helped her and Mariah (her dog) to the neighbor’s house where they slept in the attic until they were rescued the next day; of course, by boat.

If this had happened to me, I’d probably be whining and carrying on. Not Jean. She said that everything happens for a reason, and hopefully she’d eventually know what that reason is. She also said, and this is where the author in her shines, that she has a lot of material for a new book. Of course she has; she just lived through it and I doubt she’ll ever forget even a minute.

Her brother is going to drive her to the house today, since the water has receded, to see if anything is salvageable. Smart woman that she is, she mailed her family photos to her daughter when she heard what was headed their way, and she emailed her latest manuscript to me, just in case. Just in Case happened, and she lost her computer, along with everything else.

I can’t even imagine going through what she and the other people have been through. It breaks my heart. They’re all heroes, each in their own way, and that includes both the rescuers and the victims. Honestly? I don’t think they’re thinking of themselves as victims, but more as survivors.

Jean sounds very tired, and yet she’s managed to make the best out of the worst. She called Sunday morning as she stood in a very long line at a pharmacy. Life goes on and when faced with tragedy, we still have to do what needs to be done.

When you’re writing your books, keep people like Jean in mind. She’s had the courage to keep going, to try to pick herself up and move on, and she’s not out of the woods yet.

I appreciate the people who’ve done what they can to raise money for the flood survivors, no matter what the amount.

Like I said, I just can’t imagine…

Until next week, take heart, keep praying, and thank you for the example you and the others have set, Jean. Things will begin to look up. It takes time.

If you want to donate to the Hurricane Harvey survivors, I've added a link to the Red Cross:

https://www.redcross.org/donate/hurricane-harvey?campname=Harvey&campmedium=aspot 

In the Heat of the Moment ( Or the Summer)

Yes, summer is actually here. I’m in Washington and a few days ago the temperatures were in the low sixties. Today we should get up to the eighties. Time to get out the Tan in a Can (my name for a fake tan so I can wear shorter pants).

Awhile back I wrote about the seasons and how they can pertain to a story. For instance, imagine your character chasing a bad guy on foot in the snow, rain or heat. They can slip in the rain or snow, and they can drop from heat exhaustion in the heat.

However, there’s more to it than just the logistics of chasing someone.

Heat can be your enemy in more ways than one. Tempers can flare easily when the temps are in the triple digit range. Heat-related health problems can play a large part in a mystery. Think Arizona when you think of heat. Trouble on the horizon? Very possibly.

Have you ever thought about the idea that bugs can be an issue? Different seasons bring out different critters. Mosquitos, flies, spiders and yellow jackets can be very annoying.

When it snows, people would often rather stay inside and snuggle up with a good book or a cup of hot chocolate and a movie. Others want to be outside where they can ski or ride on a snowmobile.

I live in Washington, and some people here suffer from sun-deprived depression. Yes, the stories about frequent rain in the western part of the state are true. We can go for days without seeing blue sky or the sun.

Spring and fall. What can I say about those seasons? Generally it’s not too hot nor is it too cold. Those are seasons to look forward to with joy.

Dogs want to be walked no matter what the weather has in store. Life has to go on despite the seasons. Our characters have to adjust to the time of year when the story takes place.

Often authors will use the seasons in a book about a specific holiday. I have a book (Mysteries of Holt House) which involves all of the seasons and several holidays.

I’m starting a new book this week, and right now both spring and summer are on my mind. The location will be Battle Ground, Washington. It’s a small, quaint town and the perfect place for a murder mystery. I haven’t decided if the weather will play a part in the story or not.

The weather can even send a nosey neighbor scurrying inside to get out of the heat/rain/snow. It might block their view while a crime is being committed. The neighbor might be sure a murder is taking place, but that danged blizzard got in the way and her binoculars were of no help.

The ideas about the seasons being involved in a story are endless. Actually, so are the ideas about what that nosey neighbor might see, but that’s off topic.

This week’s post is shorter than usual because I want to go enjoy some of the sunshine. My sun tea should be just about ready. My vegetable garden probably needs watering, and so do the plants. Having moved here from Arizona where there are really only two seasons (hot and hotter), the garden is fun and the growing season is… I don’t know about that yet. Guess I’ll find out. I put up a mini-greenhouse, so maybe that will lengthen the growing season. I hope so.

Until next time, think about the things you like to do and don’t like to do depending on the weather – then think about how your experiences might be used in a story.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com