Turkey Sandwiches

We traditionally serve turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas for a small family gathering of about six to eight people. After the camaraderie of the day, I always look forward to the best aspect of the leftovers starting the next day: turkey sandwiches. I don’t care if there is much left of the accompanying potatoes, vegetables, dressing, gravy or cranberry sauce. Just as long as there is turkey and bread. What leftovers do you enjoy?

Holiday Season

It’s the time of year for finalizing Christmas and New Years plans. We’ve mailed our annual family newsletter, ordered a turkey breast from Honey Baked Ham, competed much of our shopping with some final touches over the next few days, and our 4-year-old grandson eagerly awaits Santa Claus.

May this be a happy time for you and your family.

Doing Events with Other Authors

I have done numerous presentations and signings solo, but it’s always more enjoyable to be participating in an author event with a fellow author. This coming Sunday, Jeri Westerson and I will be discussing our latest paranormal mystery novels, interviewing each other and signing books. Come join us for a lively discussion.

Library Events

I often visit my local libraries to take my four-year-old grandson to story time and to check out books and audio books. Whenever I’m driving by myself, I’m listening to an audio book. The current one is Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

It’s always a pleasure to be invited to speak at a library. My next library event is at Westminster Library, 8180 13^th St., Westminster, CA, on Saturday December 14 at noon. The title of my presentation is, “Becoming an author has no expiration date,” about my experience starting to write later in life and writing about older characters.

Independent Bookstores

I’ve had the opportunity to sign and present at a number of independent bookstores near where I live in Southern California. One of these is Gatsby Books in Long Beach. Featuring new and used books, Gatsby Books provides the ambiance for true readers, including a bookstore cat. I will be doing an author event at Gatsby Books 5535 E. Spring St, Long Beach, on Sunday December 8, 2019, at 3 PM in conjunction with the release of my paranormal geezer-lit mystery, The Front Wing. With each book release, I develop a new presentation so readers who’ve heard me speak before can be entertained with new material.

Use of Promotional Postcards

When a new book of mine is published, I have promotional postcards produced. Over time I have build up a snail mail list of people interested in my books, and I notify them with a postcard that has the cover art of the new book along with a short blurb on the address side of the postcard.

I also take postcards when I do events and conferences so that attendees can pick them up as a reminder of my books.

I am fortunate to have a daughter-in-law who is a graphic artist.  I send her the cover art and the written copy so that she can design a professional postcard for me. Then I have them printed.

Here is the result for my just released book, The Front Wing:

 

 

Older Writers

I know some writers who have been writing since they were eight years old. I’m at the other end of the spectrum. I didn’t start writing until I was 56, and my first novel was published when I was 62. So I like collecting information about older writers. Here are a few:

Delia Owens debut novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, was published when she was 70.

You don’t even need to be alive to be published. Mary Ann Shaffer died at the age of 73. Her novel, The Guernsey Literary and Peel Pie Society, became a best seller after her death.

Herman Wouk published his novel, The Lawgiver, in 2012 at the age of 97.

Morrie Markoff was at the 2017 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books signing the first book he had ever written and published, his memoir, Keep Breathing. At the time he was 103.

So it’s never too late to start writing and never too late to get published.

A New Book Release

For me, it’s always an exciting time when a new book is released. On November 8, 2019, my seventeenth book, The Front Wing, will be published. This is a sequel to the previous mystery novel, The Back Wing.

In The Front Wing, a Harold and Bella paranormal geezer-lit mystery, Harold McCaffrey realizes this is his three month anniversary at Mountain Splendor Retirement Home. Harold helps at an open house by taking names for a waiting list of people wanting to move into the Front Wing of the facility. Afterwards, there is commotion and a dead body is found in the lobby. With the help of his witchy girlfriend, Bella Alred, and other unusual residents, Harold must solve the mystery of why people on the waiting list are getting injured and dying. And don’t believe the myth that vampires don’t age; they get older, move into retirement homes, lose their teeth and gum people on the throat.

What others have said about my paranormal geezer-lit mysteries:

“Mike Befeler has crafted a witty and fast-moving paranormal puzzle set in a retirement home. It’s a fun read!”—Edgar winner Rex Burns

“Mike Befeler turns paranormal on its head in this charming tale of murder, mystery, and things that go dead in the night.” —Ellen Byerrum, author of The Crime of Fashion Mysteries

“A clever mystery plot and wacky cast provide humor and intrigue.” —Cricket McRae, author of The Home Crafting Mystery Series

I have enjoyed combining older people, paranormal characters and humor in this latest mystery novel that will keep you guessing.




 

 

Teaching a Fiction Writing Class

I’m enjoying the opportunity of teaching a fiction writing class for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at California State University Long Beach. This class meets once a week for eight weeks with attendees being age fifty or over.

The class offered me a chance to organize what I’ve learned in writing fiction novels over the last eighteen years, beginning in 2001 when I made the decision to prepare myself to retire into writing. I have taught course while in business and as an adjunct at the University of Colorado, as well as at writers conferences.

All the attendees at this OLLI course are there because of an interest in fiction writing and the desire to learn more about the process of writing and getting published. We are half way through the course, and at each session I’m bombarded with excellent questions.

Speaking at Libraries

Since returning to Southern California in 2015, I have been invited to give author presentations at a number of libraries. This has included Iacoboni Library in Lakewood, Michelle Obama Library in Long Beach, El Segundo Library, the library at Leisure World in Seal Beach, Friends of the Costa Mesa Library, Pomona Library, Glendale Library, Fountain Valley Library, Seal Beach Library, and Cypress Library. I have events scheduled through Westminster Library and Anaheim Library.

I also attend books clubs at two local libraries.

Libraries provide an important and needed service for our communities. I always enjoy meeting readers when I do library events.

Writing Series, Sequels or Standalones

When I started writing, I didn’t give any consideration to writing a series or a standalone. As I got into writing my first published novel, Retirement Homes Are Murder, I started thinking beyond the first book. Eventually, this ended up being a six book series. Once I made the decision to view this as a series, I sketched out additional locations and plots for the protagonist, Paul Jacobson.

Since then I have also written and had published a number of standalone books. I also gave thought to what I might do if I decided to continue with the same protagonist. At this point in my writing journey I have sixteen published books with another due out in November, 2019.

Of these two, are sequels. My most recently published mystery novel, Paradise Court, is a sequel to Court Trouble. These are both sports mysteries featuring the sports of platform tennis and pickleball, sports I have played. Coming out next month is The Front Wing, a sequel to The Back Wing, a paranormal geezer-lit mystery taking place in a retirement community with very unusual residents.

 

 

Writing Paranormal Geezer-lit Mystery Novels

My first published books were the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series featuring an octogenarian with short-term memory loss. My agent at the time suggested I explore paranormal mysteries so I wrote and had published The V V Agency that features a shape-shifting private investigator. Next, I decided to combine geezer-lit and paranormal with The Back Wing, a mystery that takes place in a retirement home with very extraordinary residents. After a number of other published mystery novels, I’m back with a sequel titled, The Front Wing.

In The Front Wing, a Harold and Bella paranormal geezer-lit mystery, people on a waiting list to get into the Front Wing of a retirement community have accidents and are killed. Harold McCaffrey marshals the special abilities of his unusual friends including aging witches, vampires, werewolves and shape-shifters to solve the mystery. And don’t believe the myth that vampires don’t age. They get older, move into retirement homes, lose their teeth and gum people on the throat, The Front Wing will be published in November by Encircle Publications.

 

 

Sisters in Crime Presentation

Sisters in Crime is one of the mystery writer organizations I belong to. I joined when living in Colorado and am now a member of the Los Angeles chapter, being a sibling in crime.

I'll be giving a presentation, "Becoming an author has no expiration date" on Sunday, Oct. 6, at the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime at the South Pasadena Library at 2:30 PM. This is about my experience starting to write later in life and writing about older characters.
 

Book Clubs

Over time, I have participated in a number of book clubs and have also presented to book clubs. As a writer, I have found it valuable to hear feedback from readers on what they like and don’t like about specific books.

This coming Sunday, September 28, at 4 pm, there is a celebration of book clubs taking place at Rancho Los Cerritos in Long Beach, CA. A group of three women, Dee Abrahamse, Linda Haley and Susan Redfield, have spearheaded a project to identify approximately 130 book clubs in the greater Long Beach area.

Let’s hear it for book clubs.

Editing Old Manuscripts

During a very productive period after I retired in 2007 until we moved back to Southern California in 2015, I completed  a number of mystery novel manuscripts. To date, 14 mystery novels, a thriller and a non-fiction book have been published. A number of the other manuscripts are in the publishing pipeline, and there’re others I have not yet submitted for publication.

When a completed manuscript is ready to be submitted, I always have to go through an editing pass to fix things that have changed since initial writing. As an example, in my thriller, The Tesla Legacy, I referred to Osama bin Laden hiding in a cave. By the time it was ready to be published, he had been killed, so I needed to edit the wording.

Many of my novels refer to actual places. Another thing I’ve run into is that restaurants that characters visit go out of business. If my novel is to take place in current times, I then need to change the restaurant or use a fictitious name.

For some of the manuscripts, I have left the time in the past. For others I use current time. If using current time, I also need to be aware of changes in technology. A novel taking place in the 1980s can refer to pay phones but not in current times. I’m reading an older mystery right now where the protagonist uses a dial up link for her computer. Phone and computer technology can date a manuscript.

All part of a writer’s editing challenge.

Men of Mystery

Coming up on Saturday, September 21, is one of my favorite mystery writer/fan conferences, Men of Mystery, at The Grand in Long Beach, CA. I will be joining 35 other mystery authors in a day-long event where we will each give a one minute pitch about our mystery novels, have lunch with a group of mystery readers, sign books and chat.

I have been attending this conference since 2009 and enjoy it each time. When living in Colorado, I would schedule a visit with our kids in LA around this conference, but now that we’re back living in Southern California, it’s a ten minute commute.

Headliners this year include Thomas and Jo Perry, Gregg Hurwitz and Scott Brick. I look forward to catching up will friends and meeting new people.

River Cruise and Reunion with Good Friends

Recently, we went on a week cruise on the Snake and Columbia Rivers through parts of Washington and Oregon. The appeal for this particular cruise was that we had an opportunity to reunite with three couples my wife and I had known for over fifty years. In addition to beautiful scenery and good food, we enjoyed the relaxing setting and chance to catch up and chat with our friends.

We flew into Lewiston, Idaho, and the cruise started across the Snake River in Clarkston, Washington. Highlights included Multnomah Falls

Mount St Helens

 our cruise ship

  and Astoria

But the best part was the time hanging out with our friends.

 

Pickleball

Have you played pickleball? It’s the fastest growing sport in the country and an enjoyable activity for all ages and abilities. Four courts can fit inside a regular tennis court. It’s played with a paddle and wiffle ball.

I came to pickleball after tennis and platform tennis. I played competitive tennis as a kid and in college, but after my joints became creaky, I converted over to the smaller court of platform tennis while living in Colorado. After moving back to Southern California, I began playing pickleball regularly.

I have two published sports mystery novels. The first, Court Trouble, features platform tennis in Boulder, CO, and the second, Paradise Court, is a pickleball mystery in Maui. Both have the same protagonist, Mark Yaeger, a retired entrepreneur. If you enjoy mysteries that keep you guessing and give you a few chuckles, you’ll get a kick out of these.

 

How Political Should Authors Be?

The question of how political authors should be has been on my mind lately with the turbulent political environment and the mass shootings. Most of my blog and Facebook posting are about writing and activities with my grandchildren. Some authors don’t post anything political and others post almost everything that is of a political nature.

My main focus will continue to be on family and writing. But there are issues that are so important I can’t ignore them. Gun violence is one of these. I will make statements as I deem necessary to try to move the discussion forward on what action should be taken.

Short Stories

When I began writing in 2001, I started with short stories. Living in Boulder, CO, where the University of Colorado is located, I learned that the university allowed anyone over fifty-five years of age to take classes for free with the instructor’s permission. I availed myself of this opportunity and took two semesters of fiction writing. In these courses we wrote short stories and critiqued each other’s work. Next, I decided to get some of these short stories published. After 111 rejections, I sold my first short story. Along the way, I also switched over to novel writing. I have periodically written short stories, but the majority of my writing has been focused on novel-length manuscripts. I have published a handful of short stories but sixteen books.

The other morning I awoke from a dream with an idea for a short story. I sat down that morning and wrote a first draft. That’s one of the beauties of short stories. I can often flesh it out in one sitting. Then I went through a number of revision passes. It’s now complete.

I will continue to write short stories. They are a challenge to write crisply and concisely. But my major writing goal is to continue to have novels published.

Enough

Enough. Here’s my manifesto. As a parent, grandparent, voter and writer, my perspective is it’s time to address the plague of hate-based gun violence. When I turn on the television news or open the newspaper every morning, I cringe at the latest examples of domestic terrorism. And that’s what it is. These aren’t acts caused by an invasion of foreign aliens. No, these are home-grown, primarily young white men who are alienated from their communities and join a tribe spewing hate of others. We need to address the causes of this plague. Let me frame this in the terms used by crime writers: motive, means and opportunity. These perpetrators are motivated by hate. Their means are readily-available assault weapons with large magazines. The opportunity is everywhere since we are an open society. The solution can be framed in these same three terms. We must embrace a motive of making this a better place for our children and grandchildren through inclusive communities that embrace diversity and take action. We have a means of using our democratic right to vote; to vote against the politicians who hide behind donations from the gun lobby, say nothing and do nothing, and to vote for politicians who are willing to listen to the will of the people and take action to stop this plague. Our opportunity is to make this a country where our children and grandchildren don’t have to fear going to school, to a store, to a concert, to a festival, to a place of worship or out on a street because they could be cut down by a hate-based terrorist with an assault weapon. We’ve heard of the police responding within thirty seconds, but still not being able to prevent carnage. Even if we had police on every corner this would not prevent these tragedies. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. We must get to the root cause to eliminate the hate and the too easy access to assault weapons. Many of our leaders are complicit in not standing against ideologies such as white supremacy and not addressing gun violence. Let’s use the power of our vote to state clearly that this is enough.

The Second Mountain

I just finished reading a thought-provoking book that I highly recommend: The Second Mountain, The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks. The second mountain refers to moving past the first mountain in our life of focusing on the self to an emphasis on others through service to the community. Brooks makes a distinction between a tribe (emphasis on the exclusiveness of us vs. them) to a community that is inclusive.

Brooks points out that the first mountain is the building of the self while the second mountain deals with four major commitments: vocation, marriage, philosophy and faith, and community. His paradoxical conclusion is that true freedom is not going it alone but abandoning the self in service to others.

Mystery Conferences 2020

Each year, mystery authors and fans have a choice of a number of excellent mystery conferences. In 2020 I plan to attend two of these: The Left Coast Crime Conference and Bouchercon.

Both will be held in California so I can drive to them. The Left Coast Crime Conference will be in San Diego March 12-15, 2020, and Bouchercon will be in Sacramento October 15-18, 2020.  At both of these conferences I will be hosting the Meet the New Authors Breakfast and potentially participating in one or more panels. The Left Coast Crime Conference typically has between 400 and 500 attendees, and Bouchercon is the largest mystery/crime conference with attendance exceeding 1500.

See you there.

Using Reality in Fiction

How much reality should be used when writing fiction? As a fiction writer, I try to make my scenes credible and often mix reality with fiction. In the historical fiction I’ve written, I portray actual events and people but in a fictional context. Since we don’t know what people actually said, I invent dialogue relating to what I think they said. Typically, the main plot, often a mystery, is fictional but my intent is to keep the time and setting as real as possible.

As fiction writers we need to make our stories credible enough so the readers can suspend disbelief. When we read fiction, we know that things are made up, but they need to be made up in a credible way.

One of my recent mystery novels, Death of a Scam Artist, is available in trade paperback and e-book editions. In September it will also be released in a mass market paperback edition by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries. This mystery is set in a fictional retirement community populated with a number of quirky characters. One of the main themes is dealing with a scam artist who is taking advantage of the retirement home residents. Some of the examples of his scams are based on actual scams. Likewise, the opening scene is loosely based on an actual event described to me by a friend who is the CEO of a retirement community.

I enjoy testing the line between fiction and reality.

Vacation on the California Coast

We had an enjoyable short vacation with kids and grandkids in Pismo Beach, CA. This is the first time in about 40 years that we’ve gone north along the coast from the Los Angeles Area. Lots of good food and scenery and happy times with the new generations.

Grandkid Visits

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing all of our grandsons over the last week. Our son and his family from Iowa have been visiting us, and we’ve also gotten together with our other two grandsons.

This is what keeps us young.

 

Reversion of Book Rights

At the beginning of my writing career, I worked with Five Star who published nine of my mystery novels (six in the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, a theater mystery, a historical mystery and a sports mystery). Then Five Star decided to exit the mystery publishing line, so I found a new publisher, Encircle Publications. Recently, all rights to the nine Five Star books were reverted to me. Seven have been republished by Encircle as trade paperbacks and we’re discussing republishing the remaining two.

Originally, Five Star didn’t ask for e-book rights, so I published four e-books myself. With the final reversion of rights I have now republished the five remaining Five Star books as e-books.

My goal is to keep all of my books available in print and e-book (eight are also available as audio books). This way readers can choose their preferred way to read my books. Also, when I give talks to service organizations, libraries and book clubs, I always hand sell print copies so it’s important to me to have all of these still in print.

Aging Gratefully

I’ve given a presentation titled “How to Age Gracefully” about my experience writing books featuring older people. Earlier this week I was struck by an article titled, “Why I Learned to Age, Gratefully,” by writer, Rachel Moscovich, in the Los Angeles Times. As a multiple-time cancer survivor, rather than dreading aging, she has come to look forward to become older.

I share Rachel’s perspective. After surviving a heart attack in 2013, I’m grateful to be alive and to have the opportunity to age. As my stepdad used to say, getting older isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but it sure beats the alternative.

After a Writers Conference

I have been attending writers conferences since 2002. When I lived in Colorado, I attended the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference annually. It was through this conference that I sold my first published book, Retirement Homes Are Murder, as a result of a pitch session to Deni Dietz of Five Star. Since moving to Southern California in 2015, I planned to attend the California Crime Writers Conference but was only able to go this year.

After a writers conference, I always come away inspired with new ideas. In previous writers conferences I have come up with insights that led to new manuscripts. I also have enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with other writers and to make new friends.

After the California Crime Writers Conference this last weekend, I came home with notes and action items to follow up on including new promotional and speaking opportunities. Wherever I am in my writing journey, writers conferences always provide a boost.

Are There Rules for Writing Genres and Should an Author Stick to One Genre?

Since I write primarily mysteries, I’m always interested in purported “rules” for various sub-genres of mysteries. Most of my mystery novels are on the cozy end of the spectrum. It’s often stated that cozies should have no sex, no swearing and no on screen violence. In my Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series, I violate two of these rules with geezer romance and a protagonist who cusses. I even received a one-star review for language (Paul uses hell and damn).

Here’s my take. I write what I enjoy reading and to tell the story I want to tell. When I started I didn’t even know about these “rules.” Now that I’ve heard about then, I still don’t follow them. I also don’t stick to strict genres. I have two novels that mix mystery and paranormal elements. I mix mystery and romance (I was a card carrying member of Romance Writers of America for several years). As well as my six book amateur sleuth series, other mysteries include historical, private eye, theater, professional organizer, sports, a thriller and a biography of a World War II veteran.

For me it’s challenging and interesting to try different subject matter.

California Crime Writers Conference

I will be attending the California Crime Writers Conference in Southern California in June. This conference for writers of the crime/mystery genre is held every two years and this is the first chance I’ve had to attend it since moving back to Southern California. It took place in 2015 just before I moved, and in 2017 I had to pass because of attending my 55^th high school reunion in Honolulu.

I’ll be on a panel titled Cozies on the Edge: Meeting and Subverting Reader Expectations. This is a subject I’m looking forward to exploring with fellow authors Mary Marks, Frankie Bow, Jennifer Chow and moderator Leslie Karst. I write primarily amateur sleuth mysteries, but mine are on the cozy end of the spectrum. Supposedly with cozies, there are three rules: no sex, no swearing and no on screen violence. I violate two of these three rules with geezer sex and some cussing. Most cozies feature young women protagonists whereas many of my mysteries have older characters. Also, I have one geezer-lit mystery with paranormal elements. I had one publisher turn it down because they didn’t publish paranormal novels.

I write what I enjoy reading and writing, that’s why many of my mystery novels have older characters. And besides, I started writing later in life at the age of fifty-six.

Geezers and geezerettes rule.

Giving Book Talks

I enjoy giving presentations about my published books at libraries, book stores, book clubs and service organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis and Optimist. When I was a child I never thought this would be the case because I was painfully shy and introverted. But over a business career I learned to give speeches and now look forward to them rather than dread them.

When each of my new books is published, I develop a new presentation. My objective is to put together an entertaining and humorous speech. I typically have a theme and then indirectly tie this to my book. For example, my current presentation is about pickleball, a sport I play and one that’s featured in my latest mystery novel, Paradise Court.

Most of my talks are in person, but I also have done conference call and Skype presentations to other locations.  If any of you want me to speak to one of your groups, you can contact me at mikebef@aol.com.

 

Pain

Over the last month, I’ve gained a new perspective on suffering from chronic pain. I had knee replacement surgery and am now recovering. The pain, the inability to sleep, difficulty concentrating were all symptoms I experienced. Fortunately, for me, I’m improving every day, and the pain is slowly dissipating. Not so for people with chronic pain. My short period of suffering is nothing compared to what many people undergo on an ongoing basis. Likewise, there is the decision to use addictive drugs or not. I was able to cut back and then eliminate the addictive drugs, but it would be a different case if the pain had not been reduced. These are very difficult problems that millions of people face on a daily basis.

New Books Received

It’s always a treat to open the box for the first shipment of a new novel. I received copies of Paradise Court, a pickleball mystery. Although recovering from knee replacement surgery and on injured reserved at the moment, I have been playing pickleball, a sport played with a paddle and wiffle ball—a combination of tennis, badminton and ping pong. This sport is featured in this mystery novel set on Maui.

Pickleball Mystery Novel Now Available

My latest novel, Paradise Court, a pickleball mystery is now available. This is a sequel to Court Trouble.

In Paradise Court, while vacationing on Maui with his wife, Mark Yeager makes two discoveries: he finds a pickleball court and a dead body. Things go downhill as he becomes a suspect in a murder investigation, his wife is kidnapped and he gets crosswise with a local crime boss. He must sort through a cast of suspects to find the killer, rescue his wife and stay alive.

Time Out for a Knee Replacement

Last week I had knee replacement surgery, so I’m in recovery mode right now. I haven’t been writing and using the computer, but I’m feeling better so thought I’d give an update. The surgery went well, and I’m using a walker to get around. I still have pain meds to take and simple stretch exercises to do. So far so good.

A Successful Left Coast Crime Conference

I enjoyed the Left Coast Crime Conference gathering in Vancouver, BC last week. I had the opportunity to introduce 18 new authors at the Meet the New Author Breakfast and participated in two panels: The Thriller Panel and Writing in More Than One Genre, and the Author Speed Dating.

Left Coast Crime Conference

This is the week of the Left Coast Crime Conference in Vancouver, BC. It will be a busy five days getting there, giving two minute pitches during the author speed dating, moderating the Meet the New Authors Breakfast, being on two panels, signing books, seeing old friends, meeting new people and flying home.

This will be the only mystery conference I attend this year. I’ve been to this conference eleven of the last twelve years. Next year, it’s in San Diego so that will be driving distance for me.

Thoughts After the Atrocity in New Zealand

Other is you

Other is me

Other is all

All is us

When Do Authors Write?

When I give presentations, during the question and answer session people often ask about when I write. It’s not a simple answer, because I’ve gone through three different phases of my writing.

When I began writing in 2001, I still had a day job. I developed an approach by modifying the concept of Morning Pages developed by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way. Julia recommends writing three handwritten pages first thing every morning to get the creative juices flowing. She indicated this can be anything: a journal, random thoughts, whatever you choose to write. I modified her concept in this fashion: Every morning, I would review where I left off the day before in my current manuscript, then write three handwritten pages to continue the story. Then in the evening when I got home from my day job, I’d edit the three pages and enter them into the computer. This produced two typed pages. If you do the arithmetic, when I stuck with it, in 150 days I’d have a rough draft for a 300 page novel. This is the technique I used for my first four published mystery novels.

Then after I retired from my day job in 2007, I changed my approach to write directly into the computer. Being a morning person, I would write every morning, then exercise in the middle of the day and do editing and promotional activities in the afternoon. This was a very productive period for me and continued until the beginning of 2015. At the end of this period, I had completed rough drafts for thirty-one books. Of these, fifteen now have been published with two others under contract.
After my wife and I moved back to Southern California in 2015 to be near our new grandson, my schedule and approach changed again. I became a professional grandpa in the mornings doing things with our grandson. My writing since then has been focused on rewriting and editing my existing unpublished manuscripts in the afternoons and weekends to prepare them for publication.

Book Piracy

There’s been a lot of discussion lately on social media about book piracy—organizations that give away authors’ works for free without permission. What has amazed me is the backlash from some people thinking an author’s works should be free. I bet these same people don’t think professional athletes and entertainers should ply their trade for free. Professional writers need to be compensated for their work as any other people who work to provide a product or service.

 

New Writing Project

After my next two books come out this year — Paradise Court, a pickleball mystery in May (a sequel to Court Trouble), and The Front Wing, a paranormal geezer-lit mystery in October (a sequel to The Back Wing), my next writing project is a trilogy set in a fictional town, Omnipodge, along the central coast of California.

This trilogy will feature a geezer-lit mystery, The Last Gasp Motel, a spoof on the detective genre, Old Detectives Home, and a spoof on the cozy genre, A Mystery Yarn.

Stay tuned.

Early Readers

Many of my author friends have been writing since an early age. Likewise, many of them were avid readers from an early age. Unfortunately, there are many children, often boys, who aren’t that enthusiastic about reading. I was one of them. Here’s my story.

In elementary school we went to the school library at least once a week. I wasn’t very interested in reading, so I’d goof around during that time. One day the librarian approached me and asked what I was interested in. That was an easy question. “Baseball,” I answered. She motioned me over to a section of books that had baseball stories. That’s how I got hooked on reading.

I am thankful for librarians with the insight to guide children to areas of interest for reading.

 

Panels at the Left Coast Crime Conference in March

The Left Coast Crime Conference will be held in Vancouver March 28 – 31. I will be on two panels. The first is The Thriller Panel at 10:15 on Friday, moderated by Kris Calvin and including panelists Puja Guha, Glen Erik Hamilton and S. J. Rozan, a terrific group. The second is a panel on Writing in More than One Genre at 1:30 on Friday, moderated by Heather Ash with panelists Shelly Adina, Laura Benedict and C. J. Carmichael, another outstanding group of authors.

I will be busy that Friday, because I also moderate The Meet the New Author Breakfast as 7:30. Currently, we have seventeen new authors who will be introduced at the breakfast. They will each give a one minute presentation on the most important thing readers should know about their debut novel.

Medical Insurance

As a Medicare recipient for the last nine years, I’m appreciative of what it provides. With the current debate about Medicare-for-all I think this topic is worth discussion. If we ignore the rants from the far right that it would be a disaster, cost too much and put private insurance companies out of business and rants from the far left that we don’t need to worry about how to pay for it, let’s as a country explore ways to improve medical coverage. First of all, I pay for Medicare in five ways: 1. I made payroll deductions for the thirty-nine years I worked. This provided me with Part A (hospital insurance) when I turned sixty-five. Without paying into the system, I could have still purchased Part A through monthly payments. 2. I pay a monthly fee for Part B (medical insurance). 3. I pay a monthly fee for supplemental insurance through a private insurance company. 4. I pay a monthly fee for Part D (drug coverage) to a private insurance company, 5. For things not covered, I pay directly when billed by medical providers. No one is giving me anything for free. I think this model is worth exploring for covering younger people. The discussion needs to include how to pay for it.

Social Media

At the time my first book was published in 2007, I had a web site and began exploring other ways of engaging with readers. Now I have this blog where I post weekly. I participate in Facebook and occasionally Twitter.

I really don’t enjoy Twitter very much, but I do like Facebook. I catch up on friends' family activities with kids and grandkids, an occasional dog or cat picture, photos of travel and interesting events, author book activities and a political rant or two. My posts include a lot of activities with my 3-year-old grandson as well as other grandkids, pictures from walks, book activities and my own political rants.

Dealing with Unpredictable Publishers

Over my twelve year publishing career, I have worked with six different publishers. Of these, I am only working with two and a partial right now. One (Five Star) decided to exit the mystery publishing business and reverted print rights on seven of my nine books they had published. One publisher went out of business completely, one became unresponsive, and one decided to change his business model.

Change can be expected in publishing, so authors have to adapt to this. As of this moment, all of my fifteen books are back in print. Fortunately, Encircle Publications has re-released eight of my books as well as published two new novels. I have self-published two of my abandoned books.

Never a dull moment in the publishing world.

Left Coast Crime Conference

I will be attending the Left Coast Crime Conference in Vancouver, Canada, in March. This gathering of mystery fans and mystery authors is always an enjoyable event. This year I will again be hosting the Meet the New Authors Breakfast. So far we have seventeen new authors who will be giving a one minute presentation on the most important thing to know about their debut mystery novel.

Writing During Different Times of the Year

Many people make New Year’s resolution including writers. November has also been a time for some writers who participate in NaNoWroMo, national novel writing month, a time to attempt to write 50,000 words during one month. For some writers, summer may be a time of reduced writing with vacations and kids home from school. Others may cocoon during the winter and write less or more.

For me, it depends on where I am in my writing cycle and what I’m writing. For example, right now I’m not writing anything new, but I’m editing manuscripts in preparation for getting them published. Two of my books will be coming out in 2019, and I’m editing manuscripts to be submitted for 2020.

2019

Here we are in a new year. Some people make resolutions, some reflect on the past year and others get on with their lives.

Right now, I’m getting organized for the year. In my writing world, I’ll be attending the Left Coast Crime Conference in March and the California Crime Writers Conference in June. I have two books under contract to be published in 2019: Paradise Court: A Pickleball Mystery in May (this is a sequel to Court Trouble) and The Front Wing in October (this is a sequel to The Back Wing). I also have a number of presentations scheduled for service organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis.

On the personal front, I’m looking forward to time with my wife, kids and grandkids.

May this be a good year for all of you.