The Drama of It All

My tagline is, A little humor, a little romance, a little Murder!

There's absolutely nothing funny about murder, but the same can't be said for solving a crime.  Sandi, Pete, Pamela and Chris will take you places and introduce you to people and situations you'll remember for a long time, and they'll do their best to offer you a smile along the way. (A quote from my website.)

While my stories offer a little humor, there’s also drama. As stated above, there’s nothing humorous about murder. I’ve read a number of books that are funny from beginning to end, even though they involve violence of all kinds. While I enjoy them, that’s not what I want to present to the reader – to each his (or her) own.

Sometimes we need a little comedy relief in the middle of suspense and drama. It’s the same way in real life. When something traumatic happens in my life, I often look for a way to lighten the way I feel. Maybe it’s as simple as a funny memory from the life of someone who passed away. Maybe it’s finding something unexpected when you’re sorting through that person’s belongings. Sometimes even something touching can bring a smile to your face.

I realize that not everyone looks at things the way I do, but humor has gotten me through some rough times. I also understand that finding humor isn’t always possible, but more often than not I’ll find something humorous about almost every situation.

The other morning I woke up in a really, really bad mood. I don’t know why. During the morning I was in the kitchen and there was a sudden loud thud somewhere in the house. Of course, I just knew there was something wrong and I ran all over the house looking for tipped over furniture, an intruder, whatever.

Since moving to a different house, one of my dogs, Sugar, has taken to napping on my bed. When I checked my room, she was sitting on the floor looking like, “What the heck just happened?” Um, she fell off the bed. She’s a large dog. It made a very loud thud. And she made me laugh. Yes, she was fine. My bad mood disappeared in a flash.

I spoke to a woman who’d recently read Old Murders Never Die. She said she’d now read all of the Sandi Webster mysteries. I asked if any of them at least brought a smile to her face. She said that, yes, they made her laugh aloud. And she said Old Murders Never Die also made her cry, and that she appreciated the comedy relief in the story. She made my day.

This is also what made me think about the drama in the books. Real life is made up of drama, humor, sadness and joy. Shouldn’t books depict real life to some extent?

I look at it this way. There’s drama in life, however, when I read a book the drama is someone else’s problem. In a story, I get to see that drama resolved, and that gives me hope for life away from a book. If there’s a little humor in the story, too, that’s frosting on the cake.

When my time comes, I hope that rather than cry, people will remember funny stories about me. Easy to do because I’m such a clumsy person, and usually when I say something funny, it’s purely accidental. I’m not all that quick-witted. I do manage to make people laugh from time to time, and their laughter make me feel good.

Hmm. Maybe this is my subconscious telling me I need to start adding more humor to my blogs.

How do you feel? Would you rather read a book and laugh or cry, or both? Just curious.

Until next time, my heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims in Florida. I hope that at some point a sudden memory will bring a smile to them – maybe not laughter, but a smile.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website (still in need of updating)

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

COMING SOON: A preview of the new book cover for Gin Mill Grill – A Sandi Webster Mystery, and hopefully the book won’t be too far behind.

It's the Little Things

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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My tagline, or motto, or whatever you want to call it is, “a little humor, a little romance, A Little Murder!” Someone once asked me what they’d find in my books and that was my reply. It made them laugh and become my motto. It’s worked well for me.

Okay, there’s nothing funny about murder, but you can find humor and maybe a little romance surrounding the characters in the story. In my books I concentrate more on the mystery and the characters more than the physical crime.

Sometimes when we’re trying to figure out what to do to be unique we forget things like a motto. 

The Bogey Man book covers all have one thing in common; branding. A friend of mine, Andy Kohut, created a silhouette of the Bogey Man for me and it appears on each and every cover, effectively branding them for me.

I came up with something for Old Murders Never Die, too. The book is about being stranded in a ghost town. I had some cloth shopping bags made up, and they have a picture of the book cover and a tagline on them. The tagline? “What Happens in Ghost Towns, Stays in Ghost Towns.” This is reminiscent of Las Vegas, but it sure serves my purpose.

I create all of my own book covers. Once in a while I want a person on the cover, but I still want the reader to use their imagination when visualizing characters so I use silhouettes. Let the reader see the character the way they want to, not the way I want them to see people. I’ve used photos of animals when I include one or more of the characters’ pets. In my books the pets are dogs, and who needs a silhouette of a dog? The real deal works quite well.

Another aspect of the covers is that I make sure to depict something from the story. I’ve bought books with covers that have absolutely nothing to do with the story and it didn’t set well with me – a personal problem for me. I want to look at the cover and have at least some idea of what I’m in for if I read the story.

Honestly, I’m not all that artistic, but I know what I like and what I hope readers will like. (No, I’m not fishing for compliments. Trust me.)

What about book trailers? That’s something newish and different. I’ve made a few and they were fun to work on. I’m not that much of a techie, but at least I can say I enjoyed what I put together and in the process hope that they’ll be eye-catching. Sometimes the music can make the whole book trailer. Picking the right background music can be tricky.

I would imagine many authors wish they could write a good (or great) book, and then sit back and wait for readers to flock to them. If wishes were dollars we’d all be wealthy. There’s still a lot of work after the author has typed The End.

Figure out what works for you. I do most of my own work and I’ve learned a lot in the process. Trial and error has played a large part in what I do. If something doesn’t work, move on and try something else.

Authors: What are some of the unique things you do with your books? Readers: What have you seen an author do that stuck in your mind and made you remember him/her?

Imaginative minds want to know.

Until next time, pay attention to mottos on products and books, and think about why it makes you want that product or book. Homework? No, just fun.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website (You can find the book trailers on The Books page)

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Take a break from the daily drudgery and read “Having a Great Crime – Wish You Were Here.” It might just help you escape the day for a while.