The Dog Ate My Homework

That’s the oldest excuse in the book, right? Yesterday I was outside taking care of some chores, and when I walked back into the house I saw half an envelope lying on the living room floor. Murphy, my yellow Labrador retriever, was lying next to it, watching me intently.

 “Uh, what have you been into?” I asked, my eyes turning to mere slits.

His tail whacked the floor with force, but only once.

I picked up the envelope which contained half of an electric bill. Uh oh. That’s when I noticed a trail of paper leading to the kitchen, which I followed. I found the other half of the bill, but it was in several small pieces and spread across the floor.

I heard Murphy’s long thick tail whack the floor again – and I started to laugh. The dog ate my homework, or in this case, my bill. Returning to the living room, I found that he hadn’t moved an inch, but he was grinning. Dogs do smile, you know.

I could have become upset with him, but he’d provided me with a laugh that I needed.

 Dad feeding baby roadrunner

This morning I walked outside and saw a feather duster lying on the patio. Where had it come from? Another oddity, except that it suddenly moved and stood up. I took a deep breath, realizing it was Larry, a frequent roadrunner visitor. He was begging for food.

Sugar, my other yellow Lab, tried to chase Larry off, but he just jumped up on the block wall and stared at her. He wasn’t leaving without food.

Animals keep me chuckling, and they make great characters in books. They’ll always give a writer fodder for a story or a scene.

 Thank goodness for closeups

 There’s an odd little bug that keeps showing up on my patio. He just sits and watches me, which I think is really odd. I have no idea what kind of bug he is. Since the bug is a regular visitor, I brought my camera out with me and took his picture.

Murphy watched us through the sliding glass door. He pulled himself up and strolled out the doggie door, walking over to the bug. He bent down and sniffed it, but the bug didn’t budge. In fact, he stood his ground. Murphy stood and turned his attention to me for a moment before turning back to the bug. His head swung back and forth a couple of times before he lifted his paw and slammed it down on the bug! I started to laugh when I noticed the bug was faster than the dog and he’d moved out of the way.

That strange bug still comes to visit once in a while.

Sitting in my back yard can be quite entertaining. The dogs, the bug, and the roadrunner all seem to crave attention. Ha! They all want food, and I’m the source. Well, I guess the bug doesn’t want food, but I don’t know what it is that he wants.

Of course there are the geckos, too. Twice I’ve saved geckos’ lives when they ended up in the pool, and twice they’ve come back and stood by me as though saying, “Thanks, lady.” They’re actually kind of cute.

So what does this have to do with writing? Like I said, these animals and insects can be inspirational. The bug might be just a curious bug, or he could be changed into a person who makes a character in a book very nervous with his unblinking stare.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Look around you and pay attention to even the smallest of things. You never know when they might trigger an idea.

Let’s see. I could create a bald man with a buggy face who wouldn’t look out of place if he had filmy, pointed wings. Hmm. He’s a man who stares mercilessly, taking in every movement the protagonist makes. And while he stares, he rips an envelope or piece of paper to shreds. The protagonist takes a step toward him to ask him what he’s doing, and his face seems to shrivel up before he turns and hurries away.

When I sell my house and move to Washington, I’ll miss the desert critters. Of course, I’ll still have the dogs to brighten my day, and there will be a Chiweenie to add to the laughter. In fact, if I ever finish my current book, you’ll learn about Chiweenies.

Until next time, use your imagination and watch nature. Let your mind run wild.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon. com

Just for fun, check out these book trailers if you have the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBOpzq-wDM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLB9L7aBwXk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usmA75Y3P6o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0mizm1RZzg

A Tap at the Window

I’ve been sitting at my desk, trying to figure out what to write about this week, and I heard a tapping on one of my office windows. It’s breezy outside, so I figured the wind was causing a bush to bounce off the glass.

Remember, I live in the desert. There are vertical blinds on the windows and I keep them closed when the sun is on that side of the house or my office becomes unbearably hot.

I finally realized that the tapping was a bit too rhythmic to be blowing bushes. Hmm. Maybe my neighbor was trying to get my attention for some reason. What else could it be? And why wouldn’t the neighbor come to the front door and ring the bell?

So, I casually walked over to the window. I wouldn’t want anyone to think the tapping was making me nervous, but it kinda was.

I moved one of the slats in the blinds to the side and found myself nose to beak with a roadrunner. I needed a smile, and she gave it to me. Who would have thought a roadrunner would be smart enough to come to the window and tap? She and a male bird are known for standing outside the sliding glass door while waiting patiently for me to see them, but tapping at the window?

So I fed her. I think she has a nest with babies somewhere because instead of eating the food she takes it and runs. I’ve seen this behavior before.

The desert is an interesting place. We have a gecko who appears to live behind a sun-shaped thermometer on the patio wall during the winter months. He comes out in the evening and watches me when I’m outside.

The day before yesterday I found a huge (and I do mean huge) black bug in the gravel in the back yard. It looked like a gigantic black widow, but it had orange wings. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Needless to say, it’s just a grease spot on the gravel now. Okay, that’s a lie. His remains rest in my trash can.

When writing a book, all of these instances can take a part in the story. What if the roadrunner had come and tapped at the window after dark? It could have become a scary, funny scene.

Imagine getting up in the middle of the night, turning on the light, and finding that big black bug crawling up the wall. Ugh. It almost makes me shiver.

The gecko is just cute. They’re built similarly to a lizard, but they’ve got huge, round eyes that make a person’s heart melt.

One of the issues is that many readers wouldn’t believe these things actually happened if they read them in a book. A gigantic black bug with orange wings? Come on. Really? Yep. Really.

A little while ago I heard someone down the street yelling. I thought something was wrong. I ran down the driveway and out into the street. Uh, I have neighbors who have a tropical bird they put outside from time to time. He’s loud. Thankfully, in this heat they didn’t leave it out for long.

Good grief! You can find drama almost anywhere. And if you want to, you can look at the humorous side.

No matter where you live, you’ll probably see or hear some strange critters. So when you read a book with a scene involving a bird or animal, or maybe a bug, remember that the scene could be loosely based on a real incident.

There’s mystery all around us. Whether you’re a reader or a writer, keep your eyes open and you might have a good story to share with friends. The smallest thing can be fodder for a scene. Good advice from a one-time cop? Look up, look down, look all around. You never know what you might see.

Leave a comment and tell me a good story about the critters where you live.

Until next time, listen and watch for anything out of the ordinary – something that you can share with others. Have a great week!

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

You might give How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery a try. Mikey Cross kept his eyes open and discovered some unusual purple cows.

Old Murders Never Die – A Sandi Webster Mystery involved a ghost town. She found a few eye-openers, too.

Looking for Topics in All the Wrong Places

 

Note that there's a roadrunner sitting on the back of the chair

 I was sitting in the back yard trying to think of a topic for this week’s blog and listening to the wind whistle through the trees. Actually, they’re palm trees and the palm fronds were banging and flopping against each other. The only whistling I heard came from a black bird in the neighbor’s tree.

A roadrunner came looking for handouts. Did you know they’re carnivorous? They love raw hamburger. I tried wet dog food once, but the roadrunners didn’t want anything to do with it. I even tried pieces of wiener, but that didn’t work either. It’s hamburger or nothing, if a human is feeding them. Otherwise it’s lizards, snakes, or… What am I talking about roadrunners for?

I watched the dogs soaking up the sun. Such relaxed creatures, although it’s not always like that. Sugar thinks she’s the alpha dog, and Murphy is a good ol’ boy who ignores her.

I turned away from the dogs because I was still trying to come up with a topic. What could I write about? Nothing was coming to mind.

Maybe if I went inside the house and ate some chocolate. Chocolate always helps me think. Or does it? Yum. Whether it helps me come up with an idea or not, it would still fill a need.

I’d thought about writing a post on overused words, but it’s been done – more than once. What could I possibly add to what others have said? Not a thing.

I walked back outside. The wind had picked up a little. The desert is known for desert winds – the dust flies, pollen finds its way into my life, leaves fill the air (and the swimming pool, practically a necessity in the desert heat), and flies and bees buzz around.

Walking over to the tomato plants, I saw four tomatoes growing. Yippee! Good eating.

Returning to my chair, I thought about dark and stormy nights. A wind like this would be great on a stormy night. Hmm. I’ve already written about how this would add to the intensity and suspense of a story.

 I played with the dogs for a few minutes. We worked on one of their skills, Take It and Leave It. You set a dog treat on the ground and tell them to Leave It. I laughed because while one dog puts her head in the air and won’t look at the cookie, the other one lowers his head until his nose almost touches it. When they’ve done their duty, I say Take It. Who knew food could disappear so quickly. Love those dogs.

Still, what was I going to write about? Nothing seemed to inspire me. Not the wind, nor the dogs or roadrunner, nor the chocolate or… If you hear a huge sigh, that would be me.

Where are the guest authors when I need them? I have two guest authors – make that three – and a guest reader coming up in the weeks to come. In the meantime, what, oh what, should I write about?

Off to my office. Something in the room I spend so much time in should be inspirational, right? I have all of my book covers lining one wall, but that doesn’t help. I have notes to myself on most surfaces. Those don’t help, either. My bookcases are full and my To Be Read Stack just keeps growing. I could whine, but I won’t.

I’ve heard from several authors that sales are down. I could write about that. Buy a book and enjoy yourself. Okay, that won’t fill up my blogspot.

I have so little reading time. If I wasn’t busy trying to think up a topic, I could be reading a good book. That’s no help because I still need a subject.

This week’s topic came to me when I least expected it. Where do you look for inspiration to write a blog? Everywhere, and you hope for the best. While I didn’t come up with something to write about, I did come up with a few ideas for scenes in books. I hope that in some way I entertained you as much as my day entertained me.

Do you ever have a time like this when nothing lifts its head in the air and says, “Hey! Write about me?”

Until next time, I hope your week is more productive than my day has been. Maybe it’s Spring Fever gripping my thought processes – and I hope it passes quickly.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Purple cows? Elderly spies? Give How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery a try.

Look Up, Look Down

They Call Me Ace - A Bogey Man Mystery is now available in both ebook and paperback format. CLICK HERE if you're interested.

 ~ * ~

An ex-cop (my husband) said one of the most important things he learned while attending the police academy was to “look up, look down, look all around.” And he’s right. As a mystery writer I need to remind myself of this advice from time to time.

If I were at a crime scene, I wouldn’t want to miss evidence or a clue. I wouldn’t want my protagonist to miss anything, either. You never know where something important might turn up. And, as a writer, I need to remember to leave clues for the readers to follow.

Have you ever lost your car keys? Probably. You looked everywhere, you thought, but they didn’t turn up. Look up, look down, look all around. Sometimes they turn up in the most unexpected places. Do you have small children? If one of them picked up your keys, they could be anywhere. Gotta love those innocent little minds and hands.

We really need to pay attention when confronted with situations. Okay, I’m going to give you a silly example. Over time I’ve mentioned Gertrude from time to time. She was a roadrunner (bird) who came to our yard every day, looking for a handout. We fed her and became accustomed to her. She was so used to us that she’d sit on my patio chair, even while I sat on it. She was an unusual bird and came around for four years. She’d “talk” to me in her bird language. She was very entertaining and imitated the sounds of other birds, which surprised me. She’d eat out of my hand, and with that sharp beak I was really glad she was gentle.

And then she disappeared. I never saw her again.

In her place, another bird starting making the daily visits. I called her Gertrude II. She wasn’t as friendly as Gertrude I, but still, she came every day.

Gertrude II kept taking her food and leaving, which usually means the roadrunner is feeding babies. It turns out something unexpected was going on. Gertrude wasn’t Gertrude. She was actually Larry. (Don’t ask me why we name the roadrunners. I have no clue.) Anyway, when a roadrunner wants to mate they take a “gift” to the female bird and try to entice them into some, uh, lovemaking. Yes, Larry was a horny little male bird. I should have paid more attention to the things he was doing, like the tail feathers swinging back and forth, a sure sign of… Never mind.

The point is, things aren’t always what they seem. I didn’t look all around, or I would have seen Larry offering a female his gift of food while his tail feathers went wild.

Enough of the birds.

In Old Murders Never Die, Sandi and Pete find a clue on the floor of an old cabin over a hundred years after a murder was committed there. How? Pete looked up, down and all around.

When putting a mystery together, let the reader look all around through the eyes of the protagonist. Let the reader feel like they’re right there, on the scene, searching with the character. The reader would like to participate in the story, and this is one way to let them inside the situation.

Even if you’re not a writer, looking everywhere is good advice. Don’t leave anything to chance and don’t assume what you want will be in a specific place. Be aware of your surroundings and the people near you.

If you’d like to leave a Comment and offer some investigating advice of your own, please do. Sometimes our books make investigation sound too simple, and it’s not easy at all. Okay, sometimes in my books…

Until next week, look up, look down, look all around, and see if you can do it without being obvious. It’s good practice.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

COMING SOON: What Are the Odds?  - A Sandi Webster Mystery