Cafe Eclaire

What's Up with the Next Book?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 09:00:04 GMT

So here’s the deal. I’ve had a dizzying ride on the medical roller coaster the last few years, and if you’d like to know more about my personal story, you can read all about it in the post on Brain Fog. But the short answer is that I am slowly getting a better handle on what ails me, and I am cautiously optimistic that the muses of creative writing will once again be shouting in my ears!

Most likely, they’ll be pestering me to check in with the Koslow clan. On our real-world timeline, Leigh has celebrated her big 5-0 , Allison and Ethan are in college, and Warren has been newly elected to some state something or other. (Which is unfortunate for me, since the last thing I want to write about is politics!) As the older generation ages in style (or without it), Chewie gains more weight and Mao Tse continues her feline journey of immortality.

So when and where does Leigh next trod upon a corpse? Hmmm... perhaps she will find herself in Alaska, braving the moose and the grizzlies! For more on that possibility, see the post on my own summer plans.

Please also check out my post on marketing to see how I’ve been changing things up to make my books as affordable and easy to access as possible. Because to me, the most rewarding thing about writing is simply being read!

Of course, I don’t even know people are reading unless they tell me. That’s why hearing back from readers is so utterly soul-warming. I've poured a lot of heart into the posts that follow, so please read on. And before you leave, make sure to at least say hi! :)

What is Brain Fog, Anyway?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 08:00:07 GMT

If you have zero interest in medical issues , particularly someone else’s, feel free to skip this section now. But if you’re curious why my ability to write books seemed to slam to a halt two years ago even as I somehow kept managing to post on Facebook and write other things, please read on.

My particular brand of “chronic migraine with aura” isn’t quite what most people envision. I am fortunate enough not to have an extremely painful headache on a near daily basis (although some people do.) What I do have, even after years of treatment by a certified headache specialist and all the latest and greatest pharmaceuticals and alternatives both, is a never-ending string of migraine symptoms that wax and wane unpredictably. When migraines are chronic , it’s no longer a situation of a specific trigger causing a specific attack. The brain is used to migraining, it likes to go there, it can do so at the drop of a hat, and no amount of obsessive tinkering to remove specific triggers in diet or lifestyle is going to make it magically change course. The “attacks” are no longer distinct, but blend into each other in an endless, undulating stream. I can have any level of head pain, nausea, light sensitivity, skull pressure, blurry vision, and cloudy thinking at any time, sometimes all together, sometimes in tandem. Fortunately, with my meds available, I only rarely have severe head pain. It’s equally rare for me to go a whole day with no symptoms at all. But on most days, the carousel of rotating symptoms is mild and largely manageable. So why can’t I get another book written?

The answer can be put into two words “Brain Fog.” This symptom is difficult to describe, even for a writer. Trying to think clearly with brain fog is like trying to swim underwater through molasses. Your short-term memory is crap. You forget the end of a sentence while speaking the beginning of it. You can’t think of the word “calendar” even as you describe a printed thing that shows you the months and days in chart form. Your mind may concentrate intensely, but not on what you want it to. You can surf around on the internet for hours, crawling down all sorts of rabbit-holes, but cannot process the directions for taking an at-home Covid test. You can force yourself to sit down and write a scene for a book, but when you read it the next day, it’s lifeless and boring and uninspired. You feel you should be able to fix it, but have no idea how to do so. If you force yourself to try, you’ll come back the next day to find it worse than before.

My migraines went chronic in the fall of 2017. I was somewhere in the middle of the first draft of Glacier Blooming , early in 2018, when I finally decided to give up. I had the ideas, but I couldn’t get them on paper. The writing didn’t sparkle. It just wasn’t right. And I refused to publish something that wasn’t up to my usual, self-imposed standard. Within months, however, a minor miracle happened. A whole new class of migraine preventatives came onto the market, the anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies. I was among the first patients in the country to start taking monthly injections of Aimovig. Two weeks later, it was as if I’d been living under an overcast sky for as long as I could remember – and the sun came out. The clouds thinned and blew away. I could think again. My head was clear! I could concentrate. I could create. I could write.

So I did. I pulled out the draft of Glacier Blooming and felt like it was written by another person. Ick! Terrible! Not only were the flaws now obvious, but so were the fixes. I dove into editing, threw out huge chunks of uninspired dreck, wrote all new chapters I was proud of, and published it in record time. I then went on to write Never Nag Your Neighbor , ecstatic to believe that I was cured. The awful fog had been a bad patch I could now forever put behind me! I published the mystery and went back into romance, taking beloved characters from Glacier Blooming and bringing them back to life in Tofino Storm . I was near the end of the latter when the brain fog started creeping back again. My neurologist increased my dosage, and it helped for a month or two. Then the door slammed. I was right back when I started.

I had completed writing Tofino Storm with a clear head, but finishing up the editing and publishing process – over Christmas of 2019 -- was like pushing a boulder uphill in a sandstorm. By the time Covid hit in the spring of 2020, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted. I was migraining regularly again. I was dispirited and miserable. There was no question of starting another book now, not when I knew I might never be able to finish it.

I tried to keep the book business alive with projects I could manage by working off and on, like redoing my website and writing short, soap-opera style scenes for Kindle Vella. But social media was killing me . The nature of the beast for authors is being constantly available to answer comments, remaining upbeat and positive, presenting a more-perfect-than-life face to the public, and posting and sharing new content on a regular basis, all of which I found soul-crushing. Putting so much of myself “out there” had always been fundamentally uncomfortable for me, as I am by nature a private person. But once I wasn’t writing anymore, the direct interaction with readers that was always my favorite part of the process turned into a never-ending marathon of delivering bad news. The same flattering question that used to fill me with pleased excitement -- “When does your next book come out?” – now only made me feel sad.

So I made the tough (and commercially suicidal) call to get off social media altogether. Hence, the creation of Cafe Eclaire. Aside from enjoying the excuse to eat an eclair, I liked the more private, intimate feel of being able to host the content on my own website, and the once-a-month format was infinitely easier to manage. Predictably, reader participation dropped off over time, and I began to space the Cafe Days out farther and farther. I tried a second monoclonal antibody, Emgality, but it didn’t seem to be helping at all. My creative energy was limited. I had no good news to share.

In the summer of 2021, I found hope again. The third monoclonal antibody I tried, Ajovy, was working. My headache frequency dropped significantly; I had more good days, more energy. But even as I felt better physically, I noticed something distressing. The sky was still overcast. Even with occasional holes in the clouds, the sun stubbornly refused to shine. Brain fog. Why did I still have it?

Perhaps it was a matter of sleep deprivation . I had noticed my insomnia getting worse, my quality of sleep steadily deteriorating. I would lie awake tossing and turning, note the time on an hourly basis, wake up too early. So I committed to one of the most effective remedies known: a course of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I made some progress, but not enough, and my therapist recommended I consult my PCP to look for a medical cause. I did, and we found two. Turns out I had both subclinical hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease) and obstructive sleep apnea. Either of which can cause -- guess what? – brain fog.

What I’ve learned through this unfortunate saga is that brain fog, which until quite recently was not taken seriously by the medical profession as a real symptom of anything, is in fact a symptom of a wide variety of diseases and conditions . Migraine, hypothyroidism, and sleep deprivation can all cause it. But so can Covid-19, Lyme’s disease, and a whole host of autoimmune diseases that predominantly affect – guess who? – women. Consequently (ahem) these conditions have historically been understudied, underfunded, underdiagnosed, and undertreated. Even now they are largely still misunderstood. (For a fascinating foray into this topic, I highly recommend reading The Invisible Kingdom by Meghan O’Rourke.) One thing that is clear: a person with one autoimmune disease is very likely to have more. Now that I’ve been diagnosed with autoimmune thyroiditis, it’s entirely possible that some part of my brain fog is coming from an autoimmune source I don’t even know about.

The last part isn’t too encouraging. But whatever the long-term future holds, treating my sleep apnea in the last month has at least blown another hole in the clouds. There are no guarantees. But for now, the sun is shining.

How I Plan to Spend My Summer Vacation

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 07:00:05 GMT

Those who have read my Pacific Horizons books already have a pretty good idea of my dream for my golden years... to spend winters in Hawaii and summers in Alaska , just like the humpback whales! Barring that fantasy, I would at least like to be a snowbird, leaving my home in the snowy woods of Pennsylvania every winter for a few warm, sun-drenched months in upcountry Maui. During the long years of covid I’ve watched the latter dream steadily erode into fantasy as well, thanks to the insanity of the current real estate market. (The medium condo price on Maui, FYI, went from $515,000 in 2019 to $820,000 this month. And that’s just for a condo. Actual houses average well over $1 million!)

So... we adjusted our aspirations. I’ve always really wanted to have a “winter place” where I putter around a new garden, create a second community of friends and neighbors, see different species of birds and plants, and enrich my writing by broadening my experience of different parts of the country. But when my youngest up and moved to Alaska, I had a new idea. How about a “summer place” instead?

Fast forward to summer 2022... and my official Alaskan Cabin Retreat! It’s a solid little house on over an acre of forested land, within walking distance to a lake, just off the edge of a giant state forest with miles of nothing but glaciered mountain range beyond. Head the other direction, and it’s ten minutes away from Resurrection Bay and the absolutely gorgeous fjiord town of Seward, setting for Alaskan Dawn . Grizzly bears, anyone? I am told they are regular visitors, along with black bears and giant roaming moose! Call me crazy, but I can’t wait!

Stay tuned to the Cafe, because my wildlife cam is coming with me, and I look forward to sharing my adventures. Perhaps Leigh and Warren will wind up in Alaska too? I can see Bev and Hap from Never Murder a Birder traveling from Texas to spend their summer living the RV life at the Seward waterfront, birding and fishing and volunteering at the local sealife center. Why shouldn’t Leigh pop up for a visit? She probably wouldn’t run into a grizzly. Much less another body...

Such delightful possibilities! I believe that after the long days of covid and brain fog, a change of scenery is exactly what I need to get the healing vibes and creative juices flowing again. So, here’s to hoping!

What would you like to see the next book be?

Marketing Schmarketing!

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 06:00:04 GMT

I’ve been writing and publishing novels for over twenty years now, and during that time the industry has faced sea changes akin to multiple tsunamis. My favorite times were the early days of ebooks , when people were buying their first Kindles and authors faced a brave new world of selling their work directly to readers. Back then, I loved not just the writing, but the marketing as well. Marketing meant coming up with ideas for my own covers, writing the jacket copy myself, picking my own titles, setting my own deadlines, keeping 70% of the sales price instead of 7%, and generally being my own boss. Social media was young, free, unpolluted with ads and politics, and allowed unprecedented possibilities for authors to communicate directly with readers. A few independent websites starting helping people find books, and services like BookBub were born, where for a reasonable fee an author could present their books at a sale price to readers who were hungry for more. With no middle-man except the booksellers, readers could read more for less, while authors could not only write what they wanted but keep more of the profit besides.

Today, the world of publishing in general, and the process of marketing in particular, is radically different . Amazon has changed from a user-friendly bookstore into a bloated behemoth where full-length novels are all but lost amidst the clamor. Social media has become monetized, politicized, and sometimes plain unsafe. The role of author has changed from taking a virtual podium, saying a few words, and answering questions to standing in the middle of a crowded stadium jumping up and down, waving, and screaming, “Buy my book!!!” Under the new rules of “pay to play,” our book listings and social media posts cannot even be seen by searching readers unless we pay for the privilege. An author can spend $12 to make $1, with most of the difference going to Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg. Authors who don’t pay the price, who don’t jump and scream, are unlikely to make enough to live on.

I am blessed to be at an age and place in life where I don’t need to support myself with my writing. So no... I’m not going to jump and scream and further enrich billionaires. I’m going to party like it’s 2010 and do my own thing! That will mean fewer sales, for sure. But it doesn’t have to mean my books get read less. And being read is what matters most!

Towards this end, I have just this month lowered the price on all my ebooks across the board . Those that were over three bucks are now a dollar cheaper. Furthermore, I have opted in to every possible library service, including Hoopla! (If your library doesn’t have Hoopla, you should ask them to think about it. Their audiobooks seriously saved my sanity during the pandemic.) Hoopla has very slow processing times, but eventually every title I’ve written should be listed, which means anyone with a card for a library with Hoopla access can read any or all of them for free!

In addition, I’ve revised the big boxed sets available only on my website to include the latest releases – and these “Edie Claire Collections” remain the best bargain available for purchasing. (See the “Shop Boxed Sets” tab on this website menu.) And as always, I have three first-in-series books available for free , so that anyone can check them out before spending a dime.

In summary, I’m done with marketing. Marketing Schmarketing means I plan to conserve all my energies for more important things like writing new books. I’ve always believed that good old-fashioned word of mouth is the best way to reach new readers anyway. So if you know anyone you think would enjoy them and happen to say so, thank you very much!!!

Imagination Moment - A Family Affair

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 05:00:09 GMT

Cases of Covid have dropped to near zero, and Aunt Mathilda is ready to party! She’s been scheming for months to make this year’s midsummer family reunion the best attended shindig ever, and she wants YOU to help her make the final decision about the best party plan. And though you usually cringe when Aunt Mathilda’s name pops up on your phone and her gravelly voice barks “I need you to do something for me!” – this time you’re relieved. Because some of the rumors going around about what Aunt Mathilda considers a party are pretty darn scary! You might not get to determine the agenda, but at least you can rule out the clinkers. You listen carefully to her plans, then decide you’re going to recommend she go with:

A) Fort Family: A retreat in Wyoming where extended families gather in a cluster of little bunkhouses scattered over a sprawling horse ranch. Family dogs are welcome, and activities center on riding, rodeoing, barbecuing, and singing around a campfire.

B) Beach Blowout: You won’t be the only people in this gigantic Florida beach high rise, but your party will have its own floor – including a conference room with views of the gulf. Activities will include pool parties (not private), beach volleyball (ditto, kinda crowded) and a half dozen cabanas for a day.

C) Mountain Magic: Your entire crew will stay in one giant lodge perched next to a burbling river in the Smokies. Activities include fishing, rafting, a natural swimming hole with rope swing, hot tubs on wooden decks, and smores at the fire pit.

D) Antarctic Experience: Yes, it’s possible – you can double up in cabins of 6-8, reserve a nice chunk of a small, ice-worthy cruise ship and head toward the penguins! Activities include whale watching, ice treks, onboard game nights, tossing on the waves of the Drake Passage, and a whole heck of a lot of travel time flying to and from the ship!

E) Retreat of Peace: Join a new generation of flower children as your group enters the mysterious realm of an Arizona retreat center focused on positive energy and renewing family bonds. Activities include mud baths, musical hot tub and sauna sessions, healing massage, “family-positive talk circles,” desert hikes, crystal growing and vegan cooking classes, and 37 different kinds of yoga!

And your vote is....

September's Burning Question

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 12:00:14 GMT

What is your guilty pleasure when it comes to TV reruns?

For me, it’s Gomer Pyle, PFC. I really don’t know why. I suppose I watched it at a carefree point in my childhood, and it takes me back there. Nothing about the show was realistic then or now, and every plot was entirely predictable. In fact, some plots pretty much repeated themselves in later seasons! But yet... here we are. Perhaps, in these complicated days of Covid, the simple and the predictable are just the balm my subconscious is looking for!

What show do YOU watch when you’re idle and bored and no one else knows what you're doing?

It's Imagination Monday!

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 17:47:30 GMT

Aunt Mathilda is back! She’s grown horribly weary of Zoom events and is excitedly planning a huge in-person family gathering for August 2022. She’s also gotten into a new scheduling software program (Lord help us all) and is determined to run the whole event like a conference with multiple interest tracks running simultaneously every hour for a full week. Worse still, she wants YOU to help her come up with more topics! She’s particularly interested in activities that will draw both old and young together, rather than separating them. You’re pretty sure that “Chair Aerobics’ ode to the Big Band Era” and “Flying Thumbs Text-Off” will not accomplish this purpose. But what to suggest? You toss around a few ideas, deciding the one with the most potential to draw a wide variety of ages is:

A) “Who Knows What?” - Team trivia contest with intergenerational questions

B) “Color Somebody Else’s World” - Round robin acrylic painting

C) “Sing Those Lyrics” – Team contest where a DJ starts playing a song (variety of eras) and participants must jump in and finish singing through the chorus correctly.

D) “Assembly Line Yum” – Everyone lines up in the kitchen to help mass-produce a huge batch of assorted chocolates.

E) “Battle of the Generations” – A modified team game of charades where participants in same-age groups compete with other age groups to correctly convey and guess the names of favorite movie and TV shows from each group’s own child and teen years.

If You Could Turn Back the Clock

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 12:00:10 GMT

So, how does one qualify as a “cranky old person?” If I find myself more and more frequently bemoaning something new and wanting the old thing back again, am I in the club? If the topic is “technology,” I’m betting that club is pretty big!

So here’s my gripe for today: Recording TV. In the 90s you could record any TV show you wanted and watch it anytime you wanted on any old VCR. Then, the technology “improved” to digital recordings on DVRs. Now, if you mention wanting a DVR, you are looked at like you are crazy and told that you might be able to get “cloud DVR” through a streaming service, IF of course you pay a monthly fee. So something that was readily available decades ago is suddenly no longer an option? HUMBUG!

What’s your technology gripe?

Alaska Dreamin'

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 12:00:17 GMT

Heehee. I love what you can do with BitMojis! I discovered this lovely beach near Seward, Alaska (Haley and Ben's stomping grounds!) when I was out driving around by myself one afternoon in late August. I had never been there before, but I felt a strange sense of deja vu. Then I realized why - it was the same beach I had seen a video from just a few days before, posted on a page where locals report wildlife sightings. In the video I had seen, a large brown bear was strolling along the far shore! It seemed quiet enough when I was there... but after taking this picture I quickly high-tailed it back to my car!

Note: In order to (very occasionally) be mistaken for a local as opposed to being immediately identifiable as a tourist, one must have the proper gear! My very first day in town, I bought a pair of XtraTuffs in the local general store. These boots, made by an Alaskan company, are designed perfectly for the terrain -- and the rain! They were incredibly comfortable, and I ended up wearing them everywhere I went, even when I wasn't hiking. Here you see me relaxing by the outflow from the (rapidly melting but still beautiful) Exit Glacier inside Kenai Fjords National Park. Check out the color of the water. Glacial runoff makes the most amazing colors... different every day, from every angle, reflecting the sky, sun, and snow.

You may have heard of the dramatic running of the salmon in Alaska... well it's not exaggerated! When the salmon decide to invade the local streams and spawn, that's what they do... no matter the obstacles. Sometimes in the summer there aren't any fish visible at all. Sometimes there a few. And sometimes, like when I visited, there are LEGIONS. If you think the video above was shot near some remote mountain stream, think again! In fact, I filmed this in the middle of the town of Seward, in the DRAINAGE DITCH that ran along the street outside my vacation rental. The salmon were in every body of water, no matter how small, even traversing the pipes under driveways! Amazing.

On the day of my boat trip (because you can't go to Seward without taking a boat trip!) we were extremely lucky to see a small pod of "transient" orcas hunting near the base of the Northwest Glacier. There are two types of orcas: the locals, which feed on fish, and the transients, which cover a large area hunting for seals and other marine mammals. They are distinct, won't each other's food, don't interbreed, and are very close to being declared different species. This particular pod of three was well known to researchers, so the crew could identify them from their catalog, even though they were only rarely sighted in the area. So not only did we see these orcas actually hunting seals, we were told their names and histories! A very exciting and interesting day trip. :)

And of course, no trip is complete without a little obsessive birdwatching! If you went to Alaska tomorrow, what would YOU most like to do?

Name That Leigh Koslow Mystery

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 12:00:18 GMT

If I wrote a book that including the following scene, what do you think I should call it?

Leigh wakes up one morning to find her corgi, Chewie, whimpering desperately as he scratches at the inside of her front door. Noticing an odd, high-pitched squealing noise coming from her front porch, she opens the door for a look. Imagine her surprise when she sees a giant wicker basket filled with pure white puppies! Their eyes are barely open, but when she examines the skin under their short fur carefully, she can tell that all fifteen are Dalmatians. She looks around, but of course no one is there. She brings the basket inside and picks up her phone. Using one hand to keep Chewie from jumping into the basket (he seems to be under the delusion that a neutered male dog can serve as a wet nurse), she starts to call the police. But before she can dial, she hears a siren outside, followed quickly by heavy footsteps and a pounding on the door. She opens it to see two unfamiliar county police officers. They take one look at the basket on the floor and pull out handcuffs. “Leigh Koslow, you are under arrest...”

NEVER...

Never... What?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 11:00:04 GMT

IMAGINE if I wrote a Leigh Koslow mystery in which the following occurred (which I wouldn't.... probably ): After surprising Leigh with a 50th birthday present of a "whole house practical clean," Frances Koslow suddenly develops a horrific allergic reaction to any cleaning product containing either ammonia or bleach! Needless to say, the poor woman is devastated -- however can she carry on? Name this book!

June's Imagination Monthly

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 11:00:04 GMT

The purple elf is in strange mood. He says he’s decided to give you a lesson in selflessness... then he sneaks away. Five minutes later you are informed that you have won a lottery! But... it has rather strange rules. Turns out you haven’t won a fabulous getaway for yourself; you’ve won the opportunity to send two friends or family members on the trip of their lifetimes! You grit your teeth, consider thoughtfully, and decide to treat (who?) with...

A) Romantic Crazy: Week at an opulent Las Vegas hotel with show tickets every night, penthouse view, room service, heart-shaped tubs, ceiling mirrors(?), and all the glitzy, glamorous (if arguably tacky) trappings of a Vegas honeymoon!

B) Island Adventure: Week on a “private island” in the Caribbean – a very small dot in the ocean with only one luxury hut on stilts. Two meals a day are delivered by boat, room serviced daily, and kitchen stocked with munchies -- otherwise you are the only humans on the island!

C) Ranch Roaming: Gigantic horse ranch in Montana features family style dinners in the ranch house and rustic accommodations, but you can pick your mount out of dozens, ride all you want, camp overnight (with service), join barn dances and campfire singalongs, and even bring your own dogs if you wish!

D) European Odyssey: Week long cruise on a riverboat through Holland, France, Germany and into Switzerland, eating local cuisine and strolling through port towns.

E) Jurassic Park Adventure: A week-long tour of all the locations featured in the original film, including helicopter rides, jeep rides, photo ops with actual props, and a special trip through a “real” animatronic dinosaur park to cap things off!

Somebody is really going to owe you...

Who's Your Type... or not?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 11:00:03 GMT

When I read romances, I always root for the good guy. The smart one, the nice one. Clearly, given the huge market in “bad boy” and “alpha male” books, I am out of step with most readers! So I have to wonder, those of you who are women who read romances, what kind of guy do you hope will get the girl? On the other hand, if you’re not a reader of romances, which type do you LEAST care to run across in other fiction? Feel free to add your own candidates!

1. The fusty, but adorable, older man

2. The sweet, quiet, shy type with strong inner character

3. The crazy, fun-loving adventurer

4. The strong, silent, slightly brooding mystery man

5. The goofy, footloose, and fancy-free lover of life

6. The strong, stalwart, reliable provider

7. The dirt-biking, sky-diving, fire-fighting fearless warrior

8. The billionaire... whatever he’s like

9. The tortured divorced father who deserves better the second time around

10. The absolutely perfect, completely unreasonable no-way-this-guy-ever-lived hero

SIDE NOTE - Did you ever play this game? Iconic 70s!

June's Burning Question

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 11:00:03 GMT

Did you ever dream that you were a character in a favorite movie or TV show? I have, and it was a blast! I went on my favorite soap opera and told everybody all the secrets the other characters had been keeping, cleared up all the misunderstandings, and saved several marriages! So if you could jump into one movie/show “for real” and spend 24 hours living it, what show would you pick and who would you be?

Imagination Monthly

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:00:03 GMT

(Formerly Imagination Monday)

[Caption Note: This is a picture of the front of the long-playing record with storybook that I listened to probably about a thousand times when I was a kid. Well-loved and well-worn!]

At some point you barely remember anymore, you apparently entered a contest in which you offered your hospitality to a celebrity pet for a week’s R and R. The idea is that the star animal could experience how “regular pets” live, and the whole event would be chronicled in a reality special on Netflix. You were chosen as a host, they tell you, because they thought it would be amusing to send a few of their stars to your particular home to see how they got along with your particular pets! Since you were the #1 winner, they’re offering to let you pick which celebrity pets you will host. (They explain under their breath that while all the EXACT animals might not actually exist, they have found and trained exact duplicates.) Yes, the whole thing seems sketchy, but hey... the “compensation” is great, and besides, why shouldn’t YOUR pet(s) get famous too? So you think hard and decide to host:

A) “Garfield” and “Odie” (and you thought it was only a comic strip)

B) “Beethoven” (St. Bernard) and “Hooch” (Mastiff) – apparently they’re buds

C) The Taco Bell chihuahua (plus his parents, two brothers, and his girlfriend)

D) The Siamese twins (from Lady and the Tramp)

E) Charlotte and Wilbur (from Charlotte’s Web)

--- And tell us why!

May's Burning Question

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:00:03 GMT

What is the number one thing some authors do with their plots or characters that drives you crazy?

Alaska Again!

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:00:03 GMT

Seward, Alaska, one of the most beautiful places on earth!

Seward is in South Central Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula, hidden up in a deep-water fjord. The city is on the edge of Resurrection Bay, and both are surrounded by towering, snow-capped mountains. This picture was taken on a wildlife cruise; we were out for around three hours and saw humpback whales, orcas, stellar sea lions, harbor seals, Dall's porpoises, a mountain goat, sea otters, puffins, and bald eagles. Other boats out at the same time also saw a grey whale and harbor porpoises! And if all that wasn't enough, as we trekked around the area by car we saw even more wildlife. See below!

This photo isn’t the clearest when it’s blown up, but if you look really carefully, you’ll see a female moose grazing on the far side of the water. Also, there’s a trumpeter swan sitting on a nest! We saw half a dozen moose on our 9-day trip. Not only that, but at one innocent-looking pullout above a cliff, we stepped out to see the view, looked down, and saw a black bear some distance below us, munching on his dinner. Only after looking with binoculars did we realize what he was chewing on... a moose carcass! There was nothing left but a skeleton. We were excited to have seen it, but also very glad there was a good distance between us!

This is a 360-degree view of Waterfront Park, which runs alongside a good portion of the city of Seward, complete with a paved bike trail. You can see how the whole area is nestled in mountains. I can’t wait to go back! If you’ve never been to Alaska, do these pictures fit your mental image of it?

As The Soap Opera Returns

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:00:03 GMT

Did you ever watch the soaps with your mother or grandmother?

I never used to like to admit it, but I loved the soaps. Specifically the ones I grew up watching with my family, As The World Turns and Guiding Light . I also had a drop-in/drop-out relationship with Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless, which are still running, but they’re just not the same. My favorites were about more than just rich and powerful people fighting each other over business. They were about ordinary people, couples, children, and families with more relatable – albeit perhaps more exciting than average – lives. I loved how the stories went on and on, and I could look forward to a new episode every weekday. As a teen I made little charts to keep track of who had been married to whom and who was who’s child. In college I was excited when my schedule didn’t conflict and I could relax with one or the other between classes. After VCRs appeared (I am SO dating myself) I recorded the shows daily, thrilled to be able to fast forward both commercials and scenes I didn’t like!

When the shows went off the air, I missed them terribly. But no one else seemed to care. Most likely, almost no one does care still. But when I read about Kindle Vella, a new platform for serial stories, it gave me a thought. If my migraines are too frequent to allow the degree of “executive function” (migraineur lingo) necessary to plan and execute a 70,000+ word novel, could I perhaps not just write short scenes whenever my brain was in the mood? So I gave it a shot. I created a small town and its key families. I developed a few fun characters, and some ideas for a few interesting plots. Then I just started writing. And much to my surprise, rather than being stressful and an exercise in frustration, I was having fun again!

So the plan now is to write as the brain is able and the spirit is willing, and as soon as I have a half dozen episodes finished, upload them to Kindle Vella. The platform isn’t open yet, so mine will be one of the first up there, which is exciting. Will the same audience who used to enjoy soaps enjoy the Kindle Vella world of serial stories? I have no idea. But for now, I’m having fun writing again. Which can only be a good sign for the future!

Name That Leigh Koslow Mystery

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 27 May 2021 11:00:03 GMT

Never Never Never... What?

Let’s assume (this would never happen... probably) that I wrote a mystery in which the following happens:

Aunt Bess decides to start a “retirement business” of breeding crosses between a female harlequin Great Dane and a male Dalmatian, only to find out that the puppies are growing up to be bigger than their mother, with a strong desire to chase large moving objects! When one of them escapes from Leigh’s leash and chases a mysterious black van into a hidden swamp, she plunges straight into – well, you can guess the rest!

So.... what would be a good name for the book?

Never ____ [fill in the blanks!]

April's Burning Question of the Month

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:58 GMT

Well-worn, well-loved

What one novel (middle grade through adult) have you completely read through the most often?

My Answer: I would have to say Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I read it many times as a child, then out loud to each of my three children at least once, not to mention a few random adult reads just to get myself back into a happy place!

I didn’t care for the movie with Gene Wilder (Charlie and Grandpa did NOT break the rules!) and didn’t even try to watch the Johnny Depp version (WHY do they always have to interpret funny/quirky Wonka as creepy/weird?) But the book itself is such a delight of imagination from start to finish: Rags to riches fairy tale plus cautionary parenting tale plus, well.... chocolate!

The original had issues with harmful racial/ethnic stereotypes as did nearly everything written during that time period, but those passages can be reenvisioned without any effect to the story.

Probably my second place would be Watership Down by Richard Adams. Many beloved adults novels... but for whatever reason I tend not to reread them nearly so often as the childhood faves!

Scenes From the Family Conference

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:54 GMT

Francis Koslow requests the honor of your presence.

Here’s one for Leigh Koslow fans!

You have been summoned by Queen Bee Francis Koslow to a full-scale family conference. You gather in the 70s-decorated living room of the little foursquare house in West View to offer your sage advice to a family member in need. Sometimes the person doesn’t see themselves in need quite as much as Francis does, but in this case, your Great Aunt Betty truly is desperate for input.

She is 83, wealthy, and lives alone, except for the young couple who reside in her guest cottage. They do yard upkeep, handy-type repairs, cleaning, and even some cooking in exchange for rent, and over the past 3 years she has become extremely fond of both of them. The woman is expecting their first baby, and Betty is delighted with the prospect of having a child around. At least she was, until she came across irrefutable evidence that the woman has been having an affair with a neighbor... evidently for some time now.

This woman not only admitted it, but said she didn’t know who the baby’s father was. Then she begged your Aunt Betty not to tell her husband, whom she insists she still loves. She says she will break off the affair (also a married man) and raise the baby as her husband’s regardless; but he must never know. So now Aunt Betty is in a quandary.

The husband doesn’t deserve to be deceived... then again, is any of this her business? Yet living every day with the baby around, seeing him dote on it, with her knowing and him not... Oh dear!

What do YOU advise?

Romance Challenge

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:52 GMT

What makes a happy couple?

You have a knack at matchmaking. Everybody says so. But some situations are more challenging than others.

How would you match up the following fictional characters (let’s assume they’re all single and 25 years old at the time) for the maximum chance of happily ever after?

Women:

Scarlet O’Hara ( Gone With The Wind )

Edith Bunker ( All in the Family )

Princess Leia ( Star Wars )

Men:

Marty McFly ( Back to the Future )

Forrest Gump ( this should be obvious )

Harry Potter ( ditto )

Think carefully now!

My answer: I’m waiting to see what everyone else says first!

All-Time Favorites

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:49 GMT

You've watched them, you've read about them...

What is your absolute favorite fictional TV or movie canine? Specifically, which one would you like to bring home to live with you?

My Answer: I have to say Benji. Lassie is a close second, but she would take a lot of grooming. Benji is smart and scrappy and very independent, but I bet he would love a cuddle on the couch, too. :)

Travel Fantasy Unleashed

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:45 GMT

Straight from Facebook... Imagination Monday!

Pick one. Yes, I know, they’re all a little weird. But wouldn’t any of them beat Covid quarantine?

A) Beaches and Cardboard – Two days/nights at resorts on each of Trip Advisor’s three top-rated beaches in the world.... but you have to fix all your own meals with access to a stocked freezer and a microwave only.

B) Party Soft – The ultimate party bus/plane takes you to six of the most happening party spots/festivals in New York City, Las Vegas, and Honolulu over a week’s time...but all your beverages must be non-alcoholic.

C) Grape Tasting – Similar to the above, except instead of party spots you visit fine wineries all over the US, but instead of fine wine you get lovely non-alcoholic grape juice (along with some artisan cheeses).

D) Mountain Melody – A week’s tour of three of the most beautiful mountain vistas in the world as rated by Trip Advisor... while on a hiking tour with a group of the most serious, hardcore birders in the Audobon Society.

E) Couch Gourmet – A week’s worth of gourmet meals prepared by fine chefs from all over the world and delivered directly to your table... unfortunately you and your table must spend the duration in a small, windowless apartment in downtown Chicago with no cable or wifi, and you can’t leave. But hey, the couch is super comfortable and so is the bed!

Never... Whatever

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 23:12:41 GMT

Short Musings From the Migraine Brain

“Guess who bought the murder house!”

Leigh’s brow wrinkled as she stood holding open her back door, staring at her cousin with confusion. Cara had left through the same door no more than half an hour ago, ostensibly to start throwing out some of the stuff her offspring insisted on piling in the family nest despite their having flown out of it. Leigh’s brain searched for a link between Cara’s desire to declutter and the purchase of a crime scene, but none sprang to mind. “The murder house?” she repeated.

Cara smirked. “Oh, please. Don’t tell me you forgot! Your ten-year-old self would be horrified. It was your lifelong dream!”

Recollection stirred in Leigh’s memory, which seemed to have dumped half its contents since her fiftieth birthday. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “That house.” A sudden sense of failure swamped her. Here was yet another childhood goal, unrealized four decades later. She could still hear her overconfident little self bragging about it. Someday I’ll figure out exactly what happened. And I’ll be famous and get my picture in the newspapers and everything. They’ll probably even give me a reward!

Stupid kid. “Solving the murder house mystery was not my lifelong dream,” she defended. “It was just some dumb thing I said I was going to do. Kids do that, you know. I seem to remember one of us swearing she would someday be both Miss America and Miss USA.”

Cara’s smiling lips twisted into a grimace. “Eew. Don’t remind me. In any event, we’re talking about you.” Her eyes flashed with mischief. “To be honest, I’d forgotten the whole thing too until my mom called. But now that I think about it, this could explain a lot. Your amazing penchant for corpse discovery... what if it’s all been some desperate subconscious attempt to realize your childhood fantasy?”

Leigh stared daggers. Her “penchant for corpse discovery” was not a popular topic. “Are you going to tell me whatever you came over here to tell me or not?”

Cara’s still-slim middle-aged body gave an annoying bounce. “Guess who bought the murder house?” she demanded again.

Leigh considered. The blighted house had sat empty for a long time after the murders, and no wonder. The crime was so bizarre, so perplexing, so seemingly random – it had never been fully explained, much less solved. Nobody had wanted to live in the house even before all the other weird events had started happening. “A wrecking crew?” she answered. “One of those companies that run ghost tours? Some guy who breeds mice to sell to people who keep snakes in their basement?”

“No, no, no,” Cara exclaimed, nearly bursting with anticipation. “My parents!”

March's Burning Question of the Month

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 18:12:01 GMT

If you could magically get a redo of your absolute favorite vacation ever (current world, current you, but NO COVID!) where would you go and what would you do (again)? (hint from me – pretty much all of it is in one book or another)

The Joy of Infirmity

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 17:43:51 GMT

My sexy new wheels

If you absolutely hate any mention of aches, pains, and medical complaints – PLEASE skip this now. If, however, you have ever had your foot or leg in a cast and would like to share how you survived the experience without breaking anything or killing anybody, I could use some commiseration!

As much as I would like to claim that I suffered a dramatic athletic injury while learning to snowboard at night in the Swiss Alps, this sexy contraption came about because of pretty much the most boring orthopedic issue ever... plantar fasciitis. I’ve had the $%#$ condition for SEVEN YEARS, and before you ask “Did you try X?” the answer is yes and no, it didn’t work. When I dragged myself to my third ortho/podiatrist last month over the annoying issue of my not being able to walk for half an hour without limping for two days, he pretty much told me I was never going to get better without surgery. So here we are. I had the endoscopic fascial release last week and I’ll be totally non-weightbearing for at least a month.

I have a knee roller and crutches, and am still trying to figure out how best to use each. So far I’ve only tipped over once, when I was trying to roll while carrying a full glass of water. I never said I was a good patient. In fact, since I am independent and stubborn and hate having to rely on other people, I am pretty much a major accident waiting to happen. But hey, then I can at least say yes when people ask me if I broke something!

Advice? Tips and tricks? Thanks!

Thought Experiment of the Month

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 17:43:48 GMT

In the World According to You...

Remember that movie or book you just loved... until the ending? The one where you wanted to scream "No, no, no! Not THAT!" So what was it, and how did you WANT it to end? (Warning: put the title first, so people can avoid spoilers!)

Comfort Food: What can YOU get away with ?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 17:43:45 GMT

Ice Cream doesn't count.

So help me out, here. In a foot cast, can't exercise, still gotta eat, but I can't bear the thought of packing on (even more) gratuitous pounds for six straight weeks! Here's what I've found that I can get reasonably excited about eating that isn't high in calories or otherwise bad for me. What are your minimal-guilt, go-to snacks for such occasions?

Funniest Pet Faces

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 17:43:42 GMT

Top this!

This was the foster kitten we named "Bambi," taken when she was just days old. Such a funny little face! She grew up beautiful, of course (see comments). So who's got a funnier pet face picture? I'd like to see it!

February's Burning Question of the Month

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 20:12:52 GMT

What TV show were you obsessed with as a kid?

Long ago, in the days before streaming and even VCRs were a thing, there was a television show I just COULD NOT MISS. I watched lots of shows, but on the appointed day and time when this one aired, I simply HAD to be there. Some nights I even looped the cord of my clunky microphone that was attached to my giant retro cassette player (remember those?) around the channel knob on the TV (ditto) and recorded the sound for later. I was the same age as the protagonist, I had read all the books, and on those special nights, I WAS HER. Any guesses? More importantly, what TV show obsessed YOU when you were a kid? Inquiring minds want to know!

What will the next Leigh Koslow be about?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 19:59:27 GMT

It all depends...

I had a plan. Back in 2019. The first part was that my migraines would miraculously go away and stay away. The second part was... well, that we wouldn't have a pandemic in 2020. Neither happened. But if life had gone differently, I would have spent early April 2020 sailing on a once-in-a-lifetime, empty-nester-celebration cruise down the Rhine. While on that cruise, I was going to get inspired for a new mystery, which I was all set to entitle "Never Rant on the Rhine." Leigh and Warren would be taking the same cruise as I did, and for the same reasons... yippee! She would be ecstatic. She would also run into a corpse. (Shocking, I know.) It would have something to do with a cuckoo clock from the Black Forest (on my bucket list), and a woman on the cruise who would NOT shut up (definitely NOT on my bucket list.) But alas, my cruise was rescheduled -- twice -- and won't till happen till at least May 2022. So where does that leave Leigh?

Last we saw the couple, Warren had decided to run for office again, and the kids had only one more year of high school left. But by the time I write and publish another book, that will all have been three years ago. So where do we join back in? I don't know about you, but even if it is real life, I do NOT want to write/read about social distancing and online school. Much less elections and politics! So I'm tempted to skip right on in real time, to a place where Allison and Ethan are happily enjoying a real college campus, Warren is on break from his new, generically unspecified job, and Leigh is....

Hmmm. What WILL she be doing? I'm still debating. Family crisis? Another spooky old house with hidden secrets? New job idea gone horribly wrong? Frances opens a yoga studio? So many options. What characters would YOU most like to check in on next time?

A Moment from Alaskan Dawn

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:29:48 GMT

Does anybody remember this scene? It really happened.

You can barely see the black bear wandering across the road in the first picture - it doesn't look like much. But it was hugely exciting to me. It was my first trip to Alaska, and we desperately wanted to see a wild bear. There are any number of expensive bear viewing trips one can take, but we read in a guidebook about this particular little known spot where bears are known to fish during salmon season. The picture at the right shows the creek that flowed under the road right in front of where we parked the car. The sign on the tree says DANGER and that no one is allowed to walk around there, and given that both black bear and grizzlies were common in the area, I was afraid even to get out of the car. These pictures just don't capture the density of the green forest, the tumbling of the water in the creek, the misty, somewhat spooky aura that descends every time the sun disappears behind a cloud. My teenaged daughter, of course, thought I was being ridiculous. But the movie "Grizzly" came out when I was in elementary school.... 'nuff said.

Anyway, after nothing happened for many minutes, this black bear simply popped out of the trees and started ambling around. And by "popped out" I mean that the forest is so dense in wild Alaska that even if we were looking through those very trees, we probably wouldn't see him until he wanted us to! The experience was mesmerizing, never mind that we've seen any number of black bears before and since in the Smokies. There's something about knowing that grizzlies are out there that adds that extra element of suspense. I enjoyed the trek so much I wrote it into Alaskan Dawn, allowing Haley and Ben to have a touching heart-to-heart talk in that very spot. The next year we returned to the Kenai Peninsula and went back to that same parking place, and guess what? We saw another black bear! Was it the same animal? We'll never know. But just writing this now makes me want to go back to Alaska this summer and try again. Have you ever spotted a grizzly (officially called a "brown bear") in the wild?

Thought Experiment of the Month

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:40:34 GMT

Let's say you're at the Westminster Dog Show and...

... you are magically gifted with the next-born offspring of any contestant to take home and keep. Which breed would you choose? And no fair copping out by saying "I prefer mutts" (even if it's true!) or picking a hybrid (because that's a whole other question!).

Author Q and A

edie.claire@verizon.net — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 17:28:22 GMT

Random questions, anyone? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

ARCHIVED BLOG POSTS

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 19:23:57 GMT

Posts from my 2016-2017 blog are archived below, just in case you seriously have nothing better to do!

Happily Ever After is NOT a Fairy Tale

edie.claire@verizon.net — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 13:44:43 GMT

Take heart

You hear it all the time, and it sounds like sage advice. Marriage is no picnic, the hopeful single is told. It takes hard work and commitment. You can’t go into it all starry-eyed thinking that once you’ve got that ring on your finger, you’ll live happily ever after. Life doesn’t work like that. Romantic love doesn’t last; in fact, humans are biologically programmed to cheat! But never fear, oh stalwart one, determination and mutual respect can get you through.

My husband and I will be celebrating our thirtieth anniversary next summer. Whenever we encounter the ubiquitous refrain about how difficult marriage is, we look at each other, smile, and shake our heads. We even have a running joke about it. Every year around our anniversary we make an appointment to discuss the marriage. It goes something like this: “So, I think it’s working out okay. How about you?” “Yep, I’m good. Want to re-up?” “Done.” And then we laugh and get back to it. We have faced many challenges in our lives together, but our marriage was never one of them. Our marriage was what got us through the rest of it.

We are not some rare exception. Happy couples are everywhere. They don’t go around telling you how happy they are, because that isn’t cool. “What, you and Dave are separating? Oh, that’s a shame. I can’t identify at all because we’re still totally in love, but I feel for you!” Nobody says that. I complain about minor issues as much as anybody. “My husband is out burying more PVC pipe in the yard today -- maybe someday he’ll actually connect it to something!” But don’t let the public face fool you, and don’t undercount such couples based on lack of visibility. Lovebirds are often happiest when they’re alone.

So to those who would say that happily ever after doesn’t exist, that soul mates are a myth, and that marriage is a worthwhile but challenging project that requires a great deal of hard work, I respectfully counter: speak for yourself.

Whether it is true that everyone on earth has a soul mate out there somewhere, I have no idea. To be sure, some individuals are harder to live with than others. But what I do know is that although there are no perfect people, my husband and I, at least, are perfectly suited to each other. And we are not the only ones.

My point? Every couple and every situation is different, and your mileage will vary. But no one should ever “settle” for an unsatisfactory relationship based on cynicism and misinformation. Enduring romantic love is real. Happily ever after doesn’t only happen in fairy tales. Life is what you make of it.

Happy Valentines Day.

My Character is Growing Older. Where Does That Leave Me?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 14:56:48 GMT

When I wrote my first novel, I was in my early thirties. My character, Leigh Koslow, was a snarky young advertising copywriter on the eve of her thirtieth birthday. (All female sleuth characters were snarky in the nineties. It was a prerequisite.) She was single and not quite loving it, and could never seem to catch a break. As the books rolled on she fell in love with her best friend, and by her early thirties she was happily married, too. She had plenty of problems, but I went against the convention of the day by keeping her relationship with her significant other from being one of them. And why not? I was happily married myself. I wasn’t tripping over bodies every other day – or, well, ever – but at least I knew what young married life was like, and I enjoyed bringing that touch of homey reality to an otherwise pretty unrealistic genre. I also had small children by that age. So, at the end of book five, Leigh and Warren decided to start a family, too.

But then something happened to Leigh and me. I stopped getting publishing contracts, and Leigh began what turned out be a ten-year-long pregnancy. (Yeah. I got the better end of that deal.) Fast forward to the heyday of self-publishing, when I reclaimed the rights to the first five mysteries, watched in delight as they reached a whole new audience, and got motivated to write more. But where could I start? I’d had my own babies and toddlers all too recently to even think of imagining solving mysteries with them in tow. No, time had passed. I was older. Leigh was older. And I decided that in the sixth book she would have ten-year-old twins, just as if I had been writing about her all along. She was still a few years younger than me, and the world still spun on its axis. Everything was fine.

Until it wasn’t. You see, with my own kids leaving the nest at that point, I liked having Leigh’s kids be kids. I liked having Leigh be in her early forties: happily still healthy and reasonably youthful and definitely still premenopausal. I liked having her friend Maura still be young enough to have her first baby at forty-two. I didn’t want Leigh’s twins to turn into teenagers and get mouthy and decide Leigh was an idiot and start spending all their time with their friends. I didn’t want Leigh to grow an inner tube around her middle and stray hairs on her chin. I want time to stand still for me – I mean for her. So where three months passed in Leigh’s world, a whole year passed in mine. And that kept happening.

And now I’m in trouble. After ten books in the series, I’m more than just a little bit older than she is. (Who could have predicted?) What’s worse, there’s no end in sight. I fear that Leigh and I, after growing up all these years together, may have diverged for good. In Never Mess with Mistletoe , I begrudgingly allowed her children to turn twelve. But I’m not sure I’ll ever get past that. Reality is all well and good… but freezing people in time through fiction is so gratifying. Will I ever want to write about Leigh suffering from hot flashes and feeling like a middle-aged frump? Honestly, I don’t know. Perhaps someday I’ll see the humor in it. Like when I’m dropping my dentures in a cup.

Straight From Me to You

edie.claire@verizon.net — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 16:16:54 GMT

#PoweredByIndie

This month the 'Zon has challenged its authors to publicly share what they love most about being indie. That’s an easy question for most of us, because there are so many positives to choose from. But speaking as someone who was traditionally published first, one difference that provides me with continual, glowing, cozy-warm satisfaction is... being able to write for my readers.

Now, that might seem obvious. After all, who else would an author write for? Well, I’ll tell you. First, in the old paradigm, you had to please an agent, because if they didn’t think the book would sell to an editor, they wouldn’t represent it. If you made the agent happy enough to present the book to an editor, then you had to make the editor happy. And what the editor wanted might be a little different, because they had to please the marketing people. This was trickier, because the marketing people never read the book themselves, but wanted whatever they thought would please the buyers. Of course, the buyers didn’t read the books either; they just wanted books that would sell, which meant books similar to whatever else was selling at the time.

Forgive me if my next words sound harsh. But somewhere in the middle of that paragraph is where honest and heartfelt storytelling goes to die. Writing as an indie is a breath of fresh air because it allows a direct and unfiltered connection between the author and the reader. (And by unfiltered, I do not mean that authors shouldn’t perfect their craft and appropriately copyedit. Indeed, getting the story across effectively is an inherent part of good storytelling.) What I mean is that when I’m writing, I like to picture my audience and pretend that they’re reading along with me. I imagine the people I’ve gotten emails from and the people who chat with me on Facebook. Are they laughing? Are they getting teary-eyed? Are they bored? Oh, no!

As an indie, I can write with the sole purpose of entertaining the readers I know and love. My most cherished readers always let me know what they think... sometimes in a matter of hours! And if there’s something they love, or hate, or want more of or less of, I can respond to that. The direction my writing takes is guided by the people who matter: readers who care about my characters. Not agents, not editors, not marketing people, or accountants, or buyers, or distributors. Unless, of course, they want to become readers, too. ;)

That’s why I love writing indie.

Edie

It isn't easy not seeing green

edie.claire@verizon.net — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 20:34:19 GMT

When I left home in Pennsylvania last week to attend the yearly Novelists, Inc. conference in Florida, the leaves on the maple tree outside my office window were all still green. When I got back four days later, an occasional leaf here and there was tinged with red. The sight gave me a horrible sinking feeling.

Don’t get me wrong -- the leaves were beautiful. They’re even more beautiful now a few days later, as shades of yellow and peach gradually mix in with the red. I’ve always loved watching the changing of the leaves, and from the time I was a kid up until about three years ago, Autumn was my favorite season of the year.

But then, those winters hit. And if you live anywhere in the northeastern US, you know what winters I mean. After the leaves fell off the trees those years, there were times when we doubted they would ever grow back. And even though this last winter wasn’t nearly so brutal, it seems like only yesterday that I was giddy with excitement to see those first green buds popping out.

There’s a psychology to that feeling. I’ve read that when the human eye sees the colors blue or green, the brain experiences a calming effect. No wonder our most relaxing daydreams so often involve palm trees and oceans! As much as I whine at the summer heat, I do love seeing the green. And as much as I adore fall, with its promise of cooler weather, Christmas, and hot chocolate by the fire, I can’t help but wish it would wait just a little while longer to arrive. Don’t you?

'Cause this woman needs her green.

Edie

Inspiration in the strangest places

edie.claire@verizon.net — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 16:49:04 GMT

I was sitting in the dentist's chair this morning getting my teeth scraped, staring up at the ceiling at a picture of kites sailing in a blue sky, and it all suddenly became clear to me. I knew who the murderer was.

Strange, I know. But sometimes, it happens like that.

I'd been trying to figure it out for days. I know the basic characters. I know what happens and when and sort of why. But I didn't know who, exactly. And that was bothering me. Because unlike some mystery writers, I really do have to know whodunnit before I start writing the book. Call it a control freak thing.

I was frustrated because I wanted to get started. I already know what I want to write about Leigh Koslow and all her friends and family. Never Mess with Mistletoe happens six months after the last book, so it's fun for me to think about where everyone is now, what the various couples have been up to, how the children have grown, and how the passing time might have changed people... or not. I could probably write a whole book just getting caught up with the principals. But most readers have a thing about expecting mysteries to include, well, a mystery.

And now I have one! But don't think it has anything at all to do with dentistry or kites on the ceiling. That would actually make sense. The muse is not so sensible. She just spits random things at me whenever she darn well feels like it.

This morning I was so happy to hear her, I could have shouted for joy. But I didn't. Because, you know, the scraper thingee. I went home and fixed myself a plate of nachos instead.

Edie

Am I blogging yet?

edie.claire@verizon.net — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:08:43 GMT

I swore I would never do this, but...

I swore I would never do this, but the fact is, keeping up with a blog on this new website is way easier than trying to update the "Latest News" section of my old website. So here we go!

MAUI WINDS releases today, and I can't wait for everyone to read it. I hope you enjoy visiting with Maddie and Kai again! Once you've started into the book, you'll understand the significance of the picture above. This is the actual entrance to the field station up on the Haleakala volcano on Maui. My fictional field station has no relationship to it because I made the whole thing up, but this is what the road to the real station looked like when I was there, so you know where I got the part about the ambience, at least!

Hosmer Grove is at the same elevation, just as foggy, and even spookier. I'll post more pics of Ri's Maui on my Pinterest boards when I get the time, which I currently have none of because I'm trying to get this new website launched. Speaking of which... off to do that now!

Edie