Catching Up with Friends

I drove from Southern California to the Bay Area last week and had a chance to visit with old friends. I stayed with a college friend, saw two friends from my working days and visited a cousin I hadn’t seen in a number of years. All in all, it was a very enjoyable trip.

Another Enjoyable Left Coast Crime Conference

Last week I attended the Left Coast Crime Conference in Bellevue, Washington. I was on a senior sleuth panel with Arthur Coburn, Susan McCormick, Paula Charles and Ellen Kirschman:

I also moderated the Meet the New Authors Breakfast, introducing 31 debut authors whose first mystery/thriller/suspense/thriller novels was published in 2023 or early 2024.

I caught up with old and new friends including two fellow authors with Encircle Publications: Sharon Dean and BJ Magnani:

Judging Writing Contests

I’ve been a judge a number of times for writing contests. In 2013 I was a judge for the Mary Higgins Clark award for Mystery Writers of America. I received over 130 books to judge. The criteria were a suspense novel in the tradition of Mary Higgins Clark:

·       "The protagonist is a nice young woman whose life is suddenly invaded.

·       "She’s self-made and independent, with primarily good family relationships.

·       "She has an interesting job.

·       "She is not looking for trouble–she is doing exactly what she should be doing and something cuts across her bow.

·       "She solves her problem by her own courage and intelligence.

·       "The story has no on-scene violence.

·       "The story has no strong four-letter words or explicit sex scenes."

 

Of the books I received to read approximately one hundred were cozy mysteries with a female protagonist, not a suspense novel. After reading a few pages, I could determine that these were not consistent with the guidelines. Over the next year, my wife and I read all the cozy mysteries and started chuckling about the cozy tropes. This inspired me to write A Mystery Yarn that will be published later in April and is now available for pre-ordering. It’s a parody that includes these tropes:

·       The protagonist is a woman who runs a craft store

·       She had a bad previous relationship

·       She has a sort-of relationship with a man in law enforcement

·       She finds a dead body and becomes a suspect

·       She has a dog

·       She has a cat

·       There’s a ghost in her store

·       Her best friend is a gay guy

·       There are recipes at the end of the book

It was an enjoyable exercise to write a humorous cozy. As an example, the protagonist can’t cook. Her recipes include toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, and s’mores.

Jokes

Every day I email jokes to three friends and often post them on Facebook. Since I write humorous mystery novels, I’m a big fan of what I call “dumb dad jokes,” jokes we dads tell to our kids and grandkids to make them groan. Here’s one example of this very sophisticated form of humor: Which bathroom fixture is most likely to be submerged? The sink. Groan and bear it.

Table Co-hosting at the Left Coast Crime Conference

I’ll be attending the Left Coast Crime Conference in Bellevue, WA, in April. In addition to moderating the Meet the New Author Breakfast, participating in Author Speed Dating and being on a senior sleuth panel, I’ll be co-hosting a table at the Saturday night banquet with fellow author Bruce Rolfe.

Release of Three New Audiobooks

I have three audio books that have been released: Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse, The V V Agency, and Coronavirus Daze.

Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse on Amazon Amazon.com: Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse (Audible Audio Edition): Mike Befeler, Independently Published, Virtual Voice: Books 

The V V Agency on Amazon Amazon.com: The V V Agency (Audible Audio Edition): Mike Befeler, Independently Published, Virtual Voice: Books

Coronavirus Daze on Amazon Amazon.com: Coronavirus Daze (Audible Audio Edition): Mike Befeler, Independently Published, Virtual Voice: Books

In Mystery of the Dinner Playhouse a staged murder at a mystery dinner playhouse turns into a real poisoning death. Recently retired detective, Gabe Tremont, is called back to solve the crime, while struggling to figure out how to successfully retire. He discovers the playhouse director, the cast members and a spy from a competing theater all have reasons to want the victim dead. This book also deals with the topic of hoarding.

 

Imagine a dash of Philip Marlowe wrapped in an urban fantasy. The V V Agency is a paranormal mystery that spoofs the PI subgenre and introduces the transvictus—a unique shape shifter. Van and Vanna run a detective agency, but clients never see them together for a simple reason. A sexual encounter transforms one into the other, and nudity renders them invisible. This presents some interesting dilemmas for his and her love lives, but gives them a distinct advantage when doing detective work. Van and Vanna take the case of a woman suspected of killing her husband.

 

Coronavirus Daze is an uplifting and humorous story about a boy keeping a journal during the Coronavirus outbreak. Tad, a middle school student in Southern California, must deal with the boredom of being stuck at home with his parents during the Coronavirus pandemic and has a life transforming experience when he makes an unexpected discovery. Readers may shed a tear and will certainly have some chuckles as Tad recounts his adventures in a time of chaos and uncertainty.

Author Speed Dating at the Left Coast Crime Conference

I’ll be participating in the Author Speed Dating at the Left Coast Crime Conference in April. This is an enjoyable event where I will be speaking to 18 tables of mystery readers along with fellow author Tony Ollivier. At each table, we each will give a two-minute pitch about our latest mystery novels. Then we move on to the next table. It’s an excellent way to reach new readers. I’ve also found that by the end, we could give each other’s presentation. I always hand out postcards of my books as well.