MOVING DAY

It’s Tuesday, and here I am on Killer Hobbies. I’ve moved a lot in my life, but never quite like this. Usually moving calls for lots of boxes and weeks of settling in.

I had really settled into Wednesday. I wrote it Monday and Tuesday – sometimes just on Tuesday – and posted it early (really early) Wednesday morning. I got to post it early because I am up really early on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I go to a water aerobics class (which I send my sleuth to in my Betsy Devonshire mysteries, too), the one they call “Early Bird.” It begins at 6:30 in the a.m., which is awfully early. On the other hand I’m back home around 8, washed, dressed, exercised, and ready for my day. Any of the other classes would put an ugly hole in my day, but not the Early Bird class.

Now Tuesday is my day to sleep in. I try not to schedule anything too early on Tuesdays so I can luxuriate in bed. There are two problems with that. One is, I wake up early anyhow – though not as early as on Monday, Wednesday and Friday – and the second is, my cat Snaps has an uncanny ability to sense when I am awake, even when I lie still and breathe gently. And if I’m awake, he thinks I should get up. He’ll nudge and bump and paw, purring ecstatically because this is a great game to him. If I lose my temper and rise to toss him out of the bedroom, closing the door on him – well, I’m up, aren’t I? And annoyed enough that I can’t go back to sleep.

But we’ll see how this works. Though I won’t be posting before six anymore, we’ll see if I can’t post before seven.

One of the great things about Bouchercon by the Bay – San Francisco, that is – was the chance to meet some of my fellow Killer Hobbiests. I got to teach a class on counted cross stitch. Camille Minchon, late of this blog, was wonderful, there ahead of time, ready to help anyway she could, bringing supplies, offering advice. I am not a great crafts teacher – heck, I’m not that great a stitcher – so I was pleased there was also a great stitcher present who had taught classes on counted cross stitch, and who was especially helpful with a young woman who had never tried the craft before. (I even learned a few things from her!) I had volunteered to assist Angela Daniels in her craft class on Saturday, and Joanna Campbell Slan came in with all sorts of handouts. Angela showed us how to take an old book and turn it into an exotic gift box, or perhaps a place to hide a small valuable. Very clever and not desperately difficult. It’s something I think I’d like to try again, as soon as I find that rarity, a book I don’t want to re-read or sell to Half-Price Books.

My thirteenth Betsy Devonshire mystery, Blackwork, is now out in paperback, and I’m looking forward to the publication of the fourteenth, Buttons and Bones, due in bookstores December 7.

Hardcover Vs. Paperback - And A CONTEST

My first published novel came out in hardcover, from St. Martin’s Press. It had an unusual but perfect cover and, because it took dead aim at a particular set of people who are enthusiastic readers -- members of the Society for Creative Anachronism -- it did well. It had a peculiar title: Murder at the War. The paperback version, from Walker, had a better title, Knight Fall. It did well, too.

I was surprised when MATW came out in hardcover, because what I thought I was writing was a book you buy at the airport or at a bus depot, read on your trip, and leave behind on the seat when you arrive. I meant it to be light but highly-entertaining, full of interesting characters, with a clever plot, and having a satisfying ending, but nothing deeply literary -- just the sort of thing to make the enforced inactivity of travel bearable. But I didn’t think it was the sort of book you buy to treasure and re-read over and over.

It was an honor as well as a pleasure to discover I was wrong, that people liked the books in the Peter Brichter series enough to buy them in hardcover.

There is a certain amount of prestige to having a book come out in hardcover; my current Betsy Devonshire series began as paperback originals, but has now graduated to hardcovers followed, about a year later, by paperback versions. Both versions, unlike my first series, come out from the same publisher, Berkley/Prime Crime.

Speaking of romance, which we seem to be doing this week, Murder at the War featured a happily married couple; the prequel, The Unforgiving Minutes, told the strange and exciting way they met and fell in love. (Sort of like the lines from a song in the musical “Fiorello!” “You remember her, she detested you; you remember him, he arrested you.”) The Dame Frevisse series featured a medieval nun who was above such nonsense as falling in love. My current series has Betsy being pretty much of a dud at finding and holding onto a good man -- though she is currently doing a lot better with Connor Sullivan, who is introduced in my novel Blackwork, and will be prominent in the forthcoming Buttons and Bones.

A CONTEST: You can win a copy of the just-released paperback version of the thirteenth Betsy Devonshire mystery, Blackwork! Suitably autographed, of course. Just answer this question Yes or No by five p.m. Friday, October 9: Are the terms “Counted Cross Stitch” and “Needlepoint” describing the same kind of needlework? In case of multiple correct answers (and I anticipate lots of them, this is an easier question than in my last contest), I will draw the winner at random.

Des Moines, IA

I'm in Des Moines, sitting in the still-dark morning, hoping I'm doing this right. I have a brand new computer I'm still trying to figure out, and using the motel's wi-fi system to get online. I think I'm there. I'm writing this directly on the post page, so if it's a little shaky, it's because it's done without much prep.

Today and tomorrow I'll be at the big quilt show at the Des Moines Events Center on Third downtown -- y'all come! I've done quilt shows before, sitting in Linne Lindquist's booth, The Craftsman's Touch. We usually do pretty well, as people who quilt very often do other needlework, too. I get to walk around the show on my breaks and never fail to be astonished and pleased down to my toes at the beauty and creativity of the quilts on display. I also often buy pretty pieces of fabric. In fact, hanging on my door at home is a big rectangle of Halloween-themed fabric I bought in Duluth some months back. It's meant to be the centerpiece of a quilt, but I just hemmed it and ran a dowel through the top. It features black silhouettes (sp?) of comic witches dancing on an orange ground.

Last weekend we were in Waukesha, Wisconsin, then Rockford, Illinois, and then Madison, Wisconsin on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In Waukesha we stopped signed up in advance. The menu was based on a meal my character Godwin served to my sleuth Betsy and Godwin's new boyfriend Rafael. I think that is one of the coolest things anyone has done in connection with a signing! (The meal was delicious, too!) The weather was miserable so the turnout was smaller than expected, plus a feather arrangement I had put on my hat was blown away before I got there. I didn't notice it was gone until I got back to the hotel. It was a nice arrangement, too, of ostrich and peacock feathers. The weather continued bad to Rockford the next day, so the people who came were the ardent fans. Thank heavens I have some of those, I am so grateful!

The weather was nicer in Madison, and we had a very nice turnout. I read the Prologue to Blackwork, which is just about the right length and sets the theme for the book quite well. Which, come to think of it, is probably the purpose of a prologue.

All this travel, and some bad weather, means I haven't played any golf. I am hoping to get at least one more game in before winter sets in. I used to laugh at reports of golfers playing in the snow, but I think I'm starting to understand. I'm going to look around for one of those indoor ranges.

Time to go get some breakfast. Hope I have a good day at the Events Center!

On The Road - Again

We’re in Peoria, Illinois, on our way to Indianapolis for Bouchercon, the country’s biggest mystery convention. It’s a little late and I’m tired, but trying to compose my post for tomorrow – when you should be reading this. Somewhere a little west of Cedar Falls the “check engine soon” light came on. The car seems fine except for a very faint whirring or clickety sound, but we’ll have it checked in Peoria before continuing.

Our little GPS is working very well, warning us of upcoming exits and keeping us on track. We’re taking a fairly complicated route, coming down I-35, then onto Iowa 18 and 218, then I-80 and now I-74.

We left a city covered in snow – the second snowfall so far this October! The first one, on Saturday, was more a dusting, but this one left more than two inches on the ground. We often get a little snow towards the end of October up in the Twin Cities – one year we had a blizzard on Halloween, but that was a rare exception. Snow this early is not unheard of, but it’s rare. What made it odder this time is that a lot of trees not only still had their leaves, but they were still green.

This past weekend I was a guest at Gaylaxicon, a GLBT sci-fi convention. I write mysteries, so in that regard I was a little out of place. On the other hand, there’s Goddy. He’s a major running character in the Betsy Devonshire mysteries and he’s very, very gay. Plus the newest entry in the series features Leona Cunningham, who is a witch. She casts spells, uses charms and is suspected of using a curse to murder a man who has been making her life miserable. The book is called Blackwork and I think it’s pretty good.

The con itself was very like other sci-fi cons I’ve been to over the years. A high percentage of young computer and science geeks, who are by and large intelligent, educated people, made up the attendees. I sponsored a beer tasting seminar which was not as well attended as I’d hoped, and so our larder is now well-stocked with exotic beers. Raspberry limbec, anyone?

I think Bouchercon is going to be great fun. I’ve got a panel with fellow authors Juliet Blackwell, Maggie Sefton, Kate Collins, and Madelyn Alt. We’re going to talk about how we weave the problems and joys of owning a retail store into our mystery novels. And, I’m teaching a class on making a counted cross stitch bookmark. Plus my publisher is holding a reception for all Berkley authors in attendance. Look for a report about the con next Wednesday.

BLACKWORK!

Yesterday, the sixth, was the official publication date for Blackwork, and I did a signing at a local Barnes and Noble – well, local in the sense that it was in Roseville, which is east of St. Paul, which is east of Minneapolis, which is east of St. Louis Park, the suburb I live in. For my birthday, which is this month, I received a GPS and I decided to try it out for directions to the bookstore. Fortunately, the thing is extremely easy to set up, and its directions were quite clear. If you take a different way, the woman’s somewhat mechanical voice says, "Recalculating," and swiftly figures a way to get you back on track. The turnout was good for a general bookstore, and they all laughed at the right places during my talk, and then asked good questions. One woman did ask me if I had aimed this book at the Wiccan market. Is there a Wiccan market? I said I didn’t have Wiccans in mind when I wrote the book, though two friends who practice Wicca did contribute to the plot. I said I needed an innocent suspect who some people could think used the black arts to commit murder. And I had this really cool way of killing someone that would work in a locked room and wouldn’t leave a mark . . .

Thinking of looking for a stocking stuffer? (Already? Yes, already!) The paperback version of Thai Die will premier on December 1. Also an "anthology" of the second trio of Betsy Devonshire novels (Unraveled Sleeve, A Murderous Yarn, Hanging by a Thread) will appear under the title Sew Far, So Good. This is also a warning to those looking for a new Betsy Devonshire novel and who might think Sew Far, So Good is one – it isn’t, it’s a collection of three already-published novels. FYI, Patterns of Murder is a collection of the first three Betsy Devonshire mysteries.

Today Laura Childs and I are going to be interviewed at KFAI radio in a recording to be broadcast later – next week, I believe. Hope I don’t blow it.

This weekend I will be at a science fiction convention aimed at the GLBT community, called Gaylaxicon. The con is to be held at the Doubletree Hotel in St. Louis Park, my own neighborhood. I’m going to be on a panel, do a group signing, join a group that does crafting (bringing my knitting), and then sponsoring a beer tasting. Blackwork features a Wiccan character whose "herbal preparation" of choice is beer. I had no idea when I set out to write it that there were so many varieties of beer – or that they were so different from one another. From the light and delicate fruit flavored limbecs to the thick, dark and bitter stouts, there is a beer to suit the palate of everyone – even those who, like me, have never thought they were fond of beer. To prove it, I have asked Michael Agnew, professional beer expert, to select six or eight widely-different kinds of beer to present to a paying audience.

I played golf on Monday morning, a chill, gray day, that had a forecast for rain that came true in the afternoon. Had the course practically all to myself, which was great, as on the third hole, the longest and for some reason my most difficult hole, my game came completely to pieces, and I took a shot off the tee three times (a "do over" or "McGuffin" it’s called) before I decided to just go ahead and play it where it last landed, about a dozen yards up the fairway. I think it took me about twelve strokes on that par three hole – on the other holes I scored between five and seven. Pathetic, I know, but a five on a par three isn’t bad for me.

Progress?

Because my mother may be moving into a nursing home later this year, I have taken to volunteering there one day a week, reading two different novels aloud to two different people. I was assigned these two and while it was at least partly chance (they were in their rooms when the man in charge of activities brought me around), he could hardly have chosen two more different people. But both are alert, funny, cheerful and opinionated, neither is really elderly (one is in her forties, the other I’d estimate to be in her early sixties), and I’m really glad I signed on for this. I’m reading an Elizabeth Peters Egyptology mystery to the older woman because she is just fascinated by ancient Egypt, and a Terry Pratchett fantasy novel about a cat named Maurice to the younger because she loves animal stories.

I’m getting a second chance to read a notated manuscript of Blackwork. By chance, the method changed at Penguin-Putnam between the two times. First time, I got the manuscript back in the mail, with notes scribbled on it and queries written in the margin on Post It notes. This time I get the manuscript electronically with words, phrases, and even a paragraph highlighted in yellow and when I run my cursor over the yellow, I get a box with a question or comment in it from my editor. Other changes are made in sky blue or red by my copy editor or editor – and changes I make are in maroon. The original text has a dotted line run through it with the new text following it in the bright color. Too cool – except my old computer’s antique word processing program isn’t very fond of the attached program to deal with the copy-editing. For one thing, I can’t leave my own replies to the notes and am having to send them separately. For another, having finished with the thing (I just left my computer running the several days it to9k to run through the ms.), I saved it and shut off the computer. When I realized I wanted to do some more work on it and tried to call it up, I got gibberish. I guess this new program is still a work in progress. Fortunately, I had already sent the ms to my home-grown editor, Ellen, who is having fewer problems with it. Sometimes I think I’m up to date on most things, then I get reminded that in many othere I’m a troglodyte.

My eyes continue to improve, but very slowly, and I’m still very bored by it all. At least I don’t have to wear goggles at water aerobics anymore.

Meanwhile, Buttons and Bones seems to have dragged to a stop. I did have a good idea that is causing me to do an extensive re-write of the two chapters that are written, but with a deadline starting to loom a bit (December), I’m getting anxious. The story’s there, it just doesn’t want to come out and play. I think there’s some bit of information I’m missing and as soon as I figure out what it is and go get it, the thing will tumble out like the contents of Fibber McGee’s closet. I sure hope so.

BLACKWORK

I signed up for a private lesson in blackwork and took it last week Thursday. Blackwork is the name of the Betsy Devonshire novel that will follow Thai Die (Dec. 2 release), and it is nearly finished in first draft manuscript form. Blackwork has two meanings. The first is a form of counted embroidery, the second is an alternate term for black magic. This makes it perfect as a book title in a needlework series, especially when the book is about a Wiccan woman accused of murder.
I’m glad I took the class, which will result in an eight-sided pincushion.
But doing blackwork isn’t as easy as I’d hoped. Oh, the theory is easy enough – just as Hardanger is easy, in theory. Blackwork has been made easier for me since the lesson. Between a good teacher who managed to talk down to my level, and a relatively simple pattern, I have both a little more ability in the craft and a little more confidence that, if I really worked at it, I could get a whole lot better. I’m having a follow-up lesson tomorrow evening. By then I’m supposed to have completed two copies of the pattern. Since I’ve not quite finished one, perhaps I shouldn’t be writing this blog entry but . . .
Excuse me.

SHORT COMMENTARY

I am getting some gorgeous submissions in my contest to find a boyfriend for my sleuth, Betsy Devonshire. Problem is, I like one thing about this entry, and another thing about that entry, so I’m seriously thinking about cherry picking the descriptions. (This name, that description, the other bio.) But then, how to distribute the prizes?

Meanwhile, if you want to have a go at some creative writing, invent a male friend for my sleuth, Betsy Devonshire. Betsy is middle aged, a little overweight, but she is attractive, bright and hard-working, owns her own business and some other properties, and has this strange talent for solving murders. See my web site, Monica-Ferris.com, for more information and the list of prizes. Contest ends November 15.

Turning off access to the Internet during the day is turning out to be a wonderful idea. My writing output has at least tripled. I didn’t realize how much time I’ve been wasting wandering over to check my e-mail or read a blog during my working hours.

We are leaving Thursday morning for Muncie, IN, to attend Magna cum Murder. It is a convention for fans and writers of the mystery novel. I’m moderating a panel this year, called You Are What You Write? Panelists range from writers of the very cozy to a writer of the very hard boiled, so this could get interesting. I’m also going to look for a new hat, as I do every year in Muncie. If can get my act together, there will be photos to post.

This is the season for apples. Minnesota’s own Harelson used to be my very favorite, and since they don’t travel I can’t share them with out-of-state friends. Nor do they "keep," so this is the sole time of year to enjoy them. But this year I’ve discovered Honeycrisp. Wow! They are sweeter than Harelson, but just as crisp and juicy. I bought a whole bag of them at the farmer’s market on Sunday and I’ve been gorging on them all week. I’m going to bring a few along in the car to entertain my taste buds on the long drive to Muncie.

I am discovering – surprise! – that blackwork stitching is hard! (Blackwork is done in geometric patterns with black thread on white cloth – it looks the same on the front and back because it was meant to trim cuffs and collars and to edge handkerchiefs. It’s very pretty with its stylized flowers and figures and animals.) I don’t know why I’m always surprised to discover this. I guess it’s because I was assured by stitchers when I got into stitchery that it isn’t hard at all, and somehow I still believe them when they say, "Oh, it’s easy! It’s just something I do to keep my hands busy." Uh-huh. "To do blackwork, you just go every other stitch in one direction and then fill in coming back." And when it’s a vine and you come to a four-petaled flower with a double cross in the center? "Well, you just look at it awhile and you’ll suddenly see how to do it. It’s not hard – and it’s fun." Uh-huh. I tried a relatively simple pattern, and I studied it six ways to Sunday, and thought I "saw," but when I finished there was this little gap and no way to get to it. Lying liars. I’m going to go see a woman who teaches the stuff to see if she can enlighten me. I follow the rule: write what you know – which means I’d better learn how it’s done. The book is called Blackwork, which means there had better be a chapter about the stuff. Which means I'd better get a grip on how it's done.

WHOOPS!

I had to get to a "Career Day" fair at a local high school and was so busy making last-minute preparations and then getting out in the morning that I forgot to create and post a blog. I apologize.

These career day events can be terrific as well as an awful nuisance. Today we were faced with teens determined to show no interest whatsoever and it was like digging for diamonds in the mud during a monsoon while deaf to get even a slight indication of interest. At the same time, now and again a slight flicker of interest would show on a face despite all efforts, and when I offered a two-page handout on How to Write a Mystery Story, several drifted by after the class to unobtrusively pick up a copy. I was fortunate to share my presentation with a young man who, with a cousin, has set off on the small-press route to publishing children's stories. He was personable, funny, intelligent, engaging and between the two of us (anyone who writes about murder simply must stir a teen's heart to some small degree) we did all right the three times we did our thing. I only wish we had known we'd be working together, as I know we could have done better in collaboration. Maybe next year. We both handed out bookmarks, and perhaps some of the teens will bother to try our books.

This past weekend Ellen and I drove in horrible weather to Chicago (well, Rosemont, a suburb) to attend the International Quilt Festival. I was at a table with two authors and a stitcher who had done a quilt so amazing it made me want to go home and throw my fabric away. Her name is Sieglinda (seriously!) Schoen-Smith and she did the quilt as an illustration for a children's fairy tale about tiny children-fairies who live underground and who come out in the spring to paint the flowers. Gorgeous, gorgeous work, applique and embroidery. (See http://www.quilts.com/webcast0325/JudgedShow/Best%20of%20Show_Master%20Awards/Mother%20Earth%20and%20Her%20Children.jpg.html) Tiny, tiny stitches on the faces of the children. Advanced quilters would stand and stare at her work then shake their heads and walk off. We did the show Thursday evening and all day Friday, then Saturday drove to Palos Heights where I spoke to a stitchers group and sold books after a delicious luncheon.

Tuesday I am going to interview a brewmeister about microbreweries for Blackwork -- one of the main characters shares ownership in one. (I need a reason for her to rub up against the murder victim and quarrel with him, and since he's a drunk this seemed a good way. It also gives me an excuse to learn about microbreweries.)