Evelyn Cullet, Guest Author

This week I’m pleased to welcome Evelyn Cullet. I recently read The Tarkington Treasure and enjoyed every moment of the story. It contains a mystery, humor, romance, and to my delight, a hidden treasure. Who doesn’t love a hidden treasure? I love a book that entertains me, and this one is on that list. I’m glad to have you back, Evelyn!

I’m delighted to be posting on Marja’s blog once again. This time it’s about my latest Charlotte Ross Mystery, The Tarkington Treasure. I had a hard time coming up with an idea for this novel, because I was looking for something I hadn’t read or written about in a mystery before. Then, one blustery day last January, my husband decided it was time to clean out our bookshelves. Being retired, he does this periodically. Not only bookshelves, but closets, kitchen drawers, bedroom drawers, upstairs cabinets, downstairs cabinets, the garage... He hates clutter. It doesn’t bother me as much. What does bother me, is having to move things just when I’ve become familiar with where I’d put them.

We were going through dozens of books on the Civil War he’s collected over the years, deciding on which to keep and which to donate to the Salvation Army store. I never really paid much attention to the books, there were so many, but this day I glanced through several and noticed a chapter in one of the books about millions of dollars in Civil War gold that still hasn’t been found. That’s when the idea struck me. I thought it might be fun to write about rumors of a Civil War treasure that had been hidden somewhere on an old estate—but the stories of the treasure had become so skewered over the years that it might be anywhere... or it might be anything. If in fact, the treasure ever really existed at all. That’s how I came up with:

  The Tarkington Treasure

A spooky old house, rumors of a hidden Civil War treasure, a neighbor’s murder, and an ex-fiancé falling unconscious at her feet—Charlotte Ross has her hands full when she’s invited to stay at her friend, Jane Marshall’s home while her apartment is being renovated.

Jane and her new fiancé have sold everything to move to the large estate she’d just inherited near the small town in Illinois, where she grew up. She’s always loved the house, but the cost of living in, and fixing up, a deteriorating old mansion is more than both their incomes combined. If she can’t come up with the money for the next property tax payment, she’ll be forced to give it up. 

Charlotte is intent on winning back her ex, but her efforts are stymied when he’s suspected of Jane’s neighbor’s murder.

The two couples soon discover the rambling old house holds more than one secret when they join forces to find the real killer—and the elusive, Tarkington treasure. 

Author Bio

Evelyn Cullet has been an author since high school when she wrote short stories. She began her first novel while attending college later in life and while working in the offices of a major soft drink company. Now, with early retirement, she can finally write full time. As a life-long mystery buff, she was a former member of the Agatha Christie Society, and is a current member of the National Chapter of Sisters In Crime. She writes mysteries with warm romance and a little humor. When she’s not writing mysteries, reading them or reviewing them, she hosts other authors and their work on her writer’s blog. www.evelyncullet.com/blog. She also plays the piano, is an amateur lapidary, and an organic gardener.

The Tarkington Treasure is available on Amazon. com for your Kindle or in paperback: http://tinyurl.com/hr53k6p

Website and Blog: http://evelyncullet.com/

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EvculletsAuthorPage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvelynCullet

Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3425303.Evelyn_Cullet

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ecullet/

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw's website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com 

Two of the Greatest Words in a Writer's Life

“The End”

Yes, those are beautiful, heartwarming words to an author and I love typing them. Then I like to sit back and read them again. It means the end of one story and hopefully the beginning of another. I’ll be completing another Sandi Webster mystery this week, assuming life doesn’t interrupt.

Is that really the end? No. Now it’s time to do some fine-tuning and hope I’m up to the task. I have three people who critique and proofread for me, and they do an exceptional job, catching both the big and little things that I miss.

Additionally, I have more research waiting for my attention. This book was difficult to research because the resources kept disappearing, or they weren’t there at all. Consequently, my protagonist has problems, too. If I can’t find the answers, how can she, short of making things up? Of course, the book is fiction, but some of the background of the location isn’t. I’ve written about research in the past. We can’t just ignore facts, even if the book is fiction. I have one more possible resource, and that’s a local historian. I hope she’s in a talkative mood.

 

 Possible background for book

What’s next? I can’t move on to a new book yet. I still have to create a book cover, and I think this one will practically create itself – thankfully.

The story takes place in a small town at a bed and breakfast out in the country. Since I live in a small town and there’s plenty of countryside, I’ve been out snapping pictures. I believe I ended up with a winner. We’ll see how the end result turns out. The B&B is a fictional house, so this will involve a lot of finagling. Adding one picture to another and erasing what doesn’t work. I’m not an artist, but I can say I have a lot of fun putting covers together.

Then there’s the business of publishing the book. Again, thankfully, the timing will be up to me. I changed my course a few years ago and began self-publishing. It has its drawbacks, but so far it’s worked for me. I rather like being my own boss.

What about the story? The title is Having a Great Crime – Wish You Were Here, and it involves the murder of an actress in 1936 (fictional, of course). As the story moves along, it turns out it involves a lot more than the poor woman’s death.

After each book I take a break to deep clean the house and take care of business. I’d like to make another book trailer, but I think I’d go with Choosing One Moment – A Time Travel Mystery, rather than the new story. I truly had a great time writing this one. When a book is fun to write, it practically writes itself. (Only joking. Lots of blood, sweat and tears go into every story, figuratively speaking.)

 Black Butterfly (real name, Red Admiral)

During all of this time, ideas for a new book keep popping into my head. If it will take shape, it’ll be called Black Butterfly. I can’t decide if it’ll be a Sandi Webster mystery, a Bogey Man mystery, or a standalone story. So many decisions, and I haven’t quite finished the latest project.

I’m oversimplifying the overall process, but it’s easier to deal with if I don’t go into great detail. Every author has to learn what works best for her or him, and then take the necessary steps.

Sandi Webster is finally back and having a great crime. She and Pete are also on a belated honeymoon, for all the good it does her, but they’re doing what they love best; investigating a crime.

P.S. After last week’s post about pets in books, I have to admit that Bubba stayed home with Sandi’s neighbor. No pets were used in the making of this story.

Until next time, have a great week and read a good book. There are so many out there to choose from, and I hope you find a good one.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Repetitive, I know, but keep your eyes open – Coming Soon: Having a Great Crime – Wish You Were Here (A Sandi Webster Mystery)

Mysterious Layers

I use a special program to create my book covers and it has a layering function. For those who don’t know, this means I can take a picture and layer things over it. If I want to I can start with a country scene with an large oak tree, and then I can add a dog under the tree, add a large, gaping hole with a skeleton in it, and end with another dog next to the hole in the ground.

However, this post isn’t about book covers. It’s about layers, and it’s about mysteries.

The basis for your story might be about a family going on vacation. From there the author will start layering.

Where did the family go? Where did they stay? Who did they see? What did they do? In the midst of the vacation, how did they suddenly cross paths with a dead body? What did they do about it?  

Each one of those questions is answered with a new layer.

Of course, I’m not telling mystery writers something they don’t already know. It might give readers a new perspective, though.

In Awkward Moments – A Bogey Man Mystery, while on vacation young Mikey Cross digs a hole in which to bury a dead bird and finds the vintage remains of a man. Under the body he finds bags of gold. It started with a vacation and turned into a murder investigation after layers started being unveiled. By the way, the book cover described above is the cover for this story.

I can only speak for myself, but when reading a mystery I like to savor every layer and try to figure out who done it and why. I do the same thing when I watch a mystery show on television. Even if my conclusions are wrong, as long as the outcome makes sense, I’ve still had a good time trying to figure things out. The key is that the ending leaves the reader feeling fulfilled because it made sense. Sometimes you have to slap the palm of your hand on your forehead and say, “Now why didn’t I see that coming?”

At one time my husband liked to “channel surf”, which drove me nuts. He’d pick up the remote control and start clicking to see what else might be on. It went something like this:

            “And the killer is…”

click

            “The secret ingredient is…”

click

            “Next week all will be revealed about why…”

click

“The butler couldn’t have done it because…”

click

Sometimes you have to look at the funny side. Otherwise, that remote might have ended up in the trash or in a good hiding place.

Off topic, but this reminds me of why I don’t like books that end with a cliffhanger, making you buy the next book to find out what happened. Of course, there are exceptions or we’d probably be reading seven hundred page books. Been there, done that. No more. It reminds me of laying a story too many times. Give me a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter, and I’m good – not at the end of a story. I like to feel fulfilled when I close the book.

Think about what you’ve just read in this post. It layered from one thing to another. How else could I have gotten from book covers to cliffhangers and still make sense? At least, I hope I made sense. You never know with me.

As a reader, how do you feel about layers in a story? Doesn’t it feel a bit one-dimensional without them?

Until next time, think about the layers in your everyday life. If the layers don’t feel right, try to make a few changes so they add up to a good week.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Don’t forget about How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery whose purple cows and elderly spies just might knock your socks off.

I grew up hearing a legend about my great-great-grandfather burying treasure so his brother wouldn’t find it. Long story, but that’s what we heard. He was one of two men who ran the Old Red Light District in Los Angeles, California. 

Several years later, when I was working on family history, I found out that it wasn’t just a family legend, but it was a story that had made the rounds in Old Los Angeles. After his death, the family tried to find it in the early 1900s. Nothing.

He and his legend inspired A Well-Kept Family Secret - A Sandi Webster Mystery. Although this story took place today, it involved the 1800s. There was a lot of research to be done. I discovered an old newspaper article about the treasure while researching. As late as the 1940s, people were still searching for it. Interesting?

I read an article in the newspaper back in the 1990s about an archaeological project in Los Angeles, and it involved the area where my great-great-grandfather did business. Fascinated, I contacted the archaeologist in charge. He sent me a great amount of information which included so much more than I’d expected. He has no idea how thankful I am.

I included a buried treasure in Awkward Moments - A Bogey Man Mystery, too. Interestingly, not long after this book was released, there was an article in the newspaper about a couple taking a stroll around their property, and lo and behold, they found a buried treasure. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post.

Wow! Reality mimicking fiction? It happens.

Recently I found another interesting article in the newspaper. In the remote mountains of eastern Nevada, someone discovered an old Winchester rifle resting against a juniper tree during an archaeological survey. The serial number was still visible on the gun and it was determined it was manufactured in 1882. It’s possible the rifle has rested against that tree since the late 1800s.

Herbert Houze is the former curator of what became known as the Cody Firearms Museum in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, which is located in Cody, Wyoming. After looking at photos of the gun he said it blended in so well with its surroundings that it wasn’t surprising no one had found it until now. Someone on the project apparently just happened to look at the tree in just the right light, at just the right moment.

The wooden stock on the rifle is cracked but still intact. The barrel is rusted. I can’t help but wish I’d been the one to find it.

One would have to wonder who left the gun leaning against the tree, and why they never went back for it. Did he get lost? Was there a bear attack? Was he injured in an accident? This is a mystery that may never be solved, but please, someone take the idea and run with it. Write a mystery revolving around the rifle. It would be a book I’d like to read.

I went on a trek with a few other people a few years ago. We were accompanying a gentleman creating an archaeological map for a new area about to be studied. We found all kinds of Indian artifacts (which we left onsite), and it amazed me when I realized we were seeing things no one had laid eyes on in hundreds, or quite possibly, a thousand years. Exciting stuff!

When you least expect it, you might find an article in the newspaper that grabs hold of you and won’t let go. Legends can grab you, too. So can a simple walk down a trail.

I know some people don’t care much about history, but I do and these articles put a hem in my skirt. Well, I generally wear jeans, but you get the idea.

Until next time, if you’ve ever made a discovery, please share it with us. You could stir up someone’s imagination and a good book might be born.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

COMING SOON: How Now Purple Cow – A Bogey Man Mystery. What could purple cows and elderly spies possibly have to do with each other? Ask the Bogey Man.