Crime Writing Workshop

Our friend and author, Peggy Sue Wells, has asked us to lead an interactive workshop on crime writing at the Roanoke Library on Thursday, February 20, 2014.  Our presentation, entitled The Twelve-Step Program for Writing a Mystery Novel, includes a worksheet that guides an author through the initial stages of constructing a mystery novel.  We’ll provide more details as the date approaches.  

The Art of Death

In November, our eighth novel, The Art of Death, will be available through Amazon on Kindle and in a high-quality trade paperback.  Here’s a thumbnail sketch of the book:

The much-married Madeleine Harrod is a beautiful and talented woman obsessed with death.  She sees things no one else sees.  As one of the best forensic artists in the country, she visualizes the face of an unidentified skull before she reconstructs it.  She owns Appledorn Exploratorium, which makes spooky scientific toys for a global market.  Her oil paintings of dead people -- haunting and expensive -- sell nationally.

Despite her success, Madeleine is troubled.  She hasn’t been her old self since, at the age of eleven during a picnic at the Dunes, she tried to rescue a girlfriend carried away by a riptide.  Her psychiatrist and old-world beau, Dr. Beltrami, is more Svengali than healer.  She suffers from nightmares and sleepwalking and believes she has lived many other lives.

And then, at the peak of Madeleine’s success, a strange man in yachting clothes begins following her, mysteriously appearing where he’s least wanted.  “Captain Ahab” threatens to reveal a secret about the accident at the Dunes.  Though Madeleine carries the marks of his violence on her wrist, no one else believes he exists -- until he murders another of Madeleine’s childhood friends.

One by one, the people closest to Madeleine are found dead.  Can the illusory Captain Ahab be stopped before he kills again? 

Upcoming Events with Glo Magazine

Glo Magazine has asked us to partner with it for a book signing at next year’s Tapestry and to contribute a four-part serial mystery for its January - April 2014 issues.  We’re honored to be chosen, for Northeastern Indiana boasts many fine women authors.

Glo is a free monthly magazine for women in the Fort Wayne area, with a circulation of over 20,000. 

On Friday, April 25, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., we will sign and sell our books in Glo’s booth at Tapestry.  On its Facebook page, Tapestry: A Day for You characterizes itself as “a day of inspiration, renewal, and education for women in all stages of life.” The annual event, which is held at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum, raises funds for women’s scholarships at IPFW.  The keynote speaker in 2014 will be comedic actress Marilu Henner.  It’s a day for conversation with friends, food (breakfast and lunch), education (breakout sessions), and shopping at boutique booths.  We hope to see you there!

We have a connection of sorts with Glo.  In Chapter 5 of Agenda for Murder (our seventh murder mystery), we reference an article in the December 2012 issue of Glo by Amber Recker about boudoir photography.

Our friend, Barb Sieminski, a freelance writer/photographer in Fort Wayne, is also important to the novel.  She has been a feature writer for the magazine since its inception.  In Chapter 39 of Agenda for Murder, she is mentioned (by first name only and with her advance permission); the events involving “Barb” as an investigative reporter are entirely fictional. 

The real-life Barb Sieminski was important to the story in an entirely different way:  When we started the book, she had an assignment from Rebekah Whirledge, Glo’s editor, to write a feature about swingers.  We had already received a tip from someone else about swingers’ clubs in Fort Wayne, but Barb confirmed their existence and pointed us to a relevant web site that allowed us to do our research virtually.  

Our reference in Agenda for Murder to Recker’s article and our mention of Barb were not contrived to get us noticed by Glo but instead entirely organic to the story, rooting fictional events in time and place. 

We also mention many other Fort Wayne businesses and landmarks in Agenda for Murder, including Chop’s Wine Bar, Riegel’s cigar store, the Landing Historic District, Concordia Lutheran cemetery, our international airport, Fort Wayne’s police department, Sycamore Hills Golf Club, One Summit Square, Parkview YMCA, the Journal Gazette, Ruby Tuesday, TJ Maxx, 4D’s Bar & Grill, J K O’Donnell’s, the Embassy Theatre, Paula’s, and Eddie Merlot’s. 

Our first two books, Face Off and Monuments to Murder, were set in southwest Florida.  But the next five murder mysteries occur in Fort Wayne and also mention local landmarks and businesses:  Murder for Old Times’ Sake, The Girl with a Curl, Hot as a Firecracker, Agenda for Murder, and (forthcoming) The Art of Death.  Our Christmas book, Postcards from a Tuscan Christmas, is set in Tuscany, Italy.  A mystery without the murder, it features familiar characters from our other Fort Wayne books.