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.

After Christmas

When I was a boy, I looked forward to the day after Christmas as a time to play with the toys I had received. As I got older and received books, I enjoyed skimming through to preview the reading ahead..

Now that I have a 3-year-old grandson who visits us almost every day, I can enjoy playing with him and his new toys. This grandpa business is a lot of fun.

 

What Offends People

We live in a society where someone is always doing something that offends someone else. Some of this is warranted and some is trivial. Some recent examples:

-          In Los Angeles a mural on a school wall was protested by Koreans because the background had rays that reminded them of the Japanese rising sun flag and the atrocities committed by Japan on Koreans.

-          Listeners objecting to the song, Baby It’s Cold Outside, indicating it supports sexual harassment.

-          At Stanford University, campus locations using the name Serra, referring to Father Serra, are being changed because of the treatment of indigenous people by Father Serra.

-          Confederate statues are being moved or taken down.

-          Mystery Writers of America announcing Linda Fairstein as a recipient of a Grand Masters award and then rescinding it after member protest over Fairstein’s role in prosecuting innocent men

-          President Trump has made offensive comments and gestures about women, a disabled reporter, Mexicans, immigrants and people who disagree with him.

 

Here’s my take. The Mystery Writers of America example is one that should never have happened. The Masters Award is intended for people with a life time commitment to the principals of Mystery Writers of America and their contribution to mystery writing. The Mystery Writers of America Board didn’t do the appropriate due diligence and vetting before selecting Linda Fairstein

The mural in Los Angeles was going to be painted over and most recently was going to be allowed to stay. I think this is appropriate. The reason: the intent of the picture was not to glorify WWII Japan and its atrocities. The artist was using color and form for artistic expression not to represent anything about Japan.

On the other hand, the Confederate statues were erected to glorify the Confederacy and what it stood for. This intent is a more valid reason for concern.

Baby It’s Cold Outside is too trivial an example of being offended. There are definitely many valid examples of sexual harassment that need to be addressed, but this is not one of them.

The Father Serra situation is a difficult one since he did good as well as bad.

President Trump’s actions are concerning because of his intent to intimidate, belittle, bully and disparage. These go counter to values most Americans are trying to teach their children and grandchildren to follow and respect.

What do you think?

Christmas Memories from Childhood

Like most kids, I couldn’t wait to get up on Christmas morning. I would wake up early and eventually make enough noise to rouse my parents.

Living in Hawaii, we didn’t have a chimney. My parents bought a cardboard chimney covered with brick-design paper.

I enjoyed building model airplanes and collecting airplane parts. My favorite Christmas present of all time was a broken propeller from a Piper Cub airplane that my dad found. I kept that in my yard for years, and it was the hit of the neighborhood.

Possible Positive Changes in Congress

After all the contention and gridlock in Congress, there is one hopeful sign for the future: 46 new Democrats in House say, “While we have a duty to exercise oversight over the Executive Branch, particularly when the Administration crosses legal lines or contravenes American values, we must prioritize action on topics such as the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, our crumbling infrastructure, immigration, gun safety, the environment, and criminal justice reform.”