Random Thoughts

The Once Upon A Crime bookstore’s mass book signing on Saturday went spectacularly well. Copies of Writes of Spring flew out the door. Many of the attendees stayed all afternoon to get successive groups of authors’ signatures. It was warm, crowded, jolly fun. I was happy and honored to be in such great company, and grateful to Pat and Gary, owners of the bookstore, for including me in this anthology.

It’s only April and I’ve already played golf twice. I only play the nine-hole, par-three course at a local public range. Last time there were wood ducks on the pond – gorgeous birds! (http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/wood-duck) – and red-eared turtles sunning on its banks. One of the pleasures of the game is the beautiful setting. Spring is early in Minnesota this year, though this morning it’s very chilly. But daffodils are blooming, tulips are budding, and the lilac bushes in the neighborhood are about to burst with lavish lavender blossoms and the heavy familiar scent. Though I sent my first ball off the tee onto the fairway of the adjoining hole, my second shot went onto the proper green, so it wasn't a totally awful beginning. I’m still a duffer, will probably always be one, I still enjoy the game. Did anyone else see the thrilling finish to this year’s Masters?

One of the complaints about the traditional mystery genre the authors on this blog write is that is isn’t realistic, it doesn’t reflect “real life.” Authors who write darker, more violent, fiction find their work described as “gritty” and “gripping,” but rarely as “unrealistic.” But how many of us know a lot of quilters, as compared to private eyes? How many of us encounter muggers and rapists as compared to people who go to church on Sundays? I agree that it’s exciting to read about the dark side of life, but really, the dark side is a pretty narrow slice of life as it is actually lived in America today. Besides, when you've been searching for a particular pattern or a discontinued color of embroidery floss, it can be quite thrilling to find it!

I’m having trouble getting organized right now. The forthcoming book is written and being edited. The new book is tangled in a synopsis that, if I can work it out, is going to be good. There isn’t a book to read I’m excited about – you know, one you can’t wait to get back to – though there are a couple I’m reading and mostly enjoying. Things feel a little flat. Maybe it’s an after-Easter letdown. I had a great Easter Sunday. I wore a hat to church, one so elaborate that, even though I’ve had it for five or six years I’ve only worn it in public about four times. (I’ll have to get a photo of it posted on my web site.) Then friends came to a big ham dinner where all the food turned out great, and we played a new favorite card game while watching the Masters. Last night I went to a post-Easter dinner with in-laws that went really well, good food and good talk. As noted above, Spring is springing early and beautifully. So why am I not bubbling with energy?

A quote from Sarah Hoyt: “Writing is communication. Your objective is to communicate with as many people as possible. Or at least to amuse them, distract them, or make the burden of life less burdensome for a while. Wishing to feed your family is also an acceptable goal.” Amen.

Also Known As

Saturday, April 7, is the tenth annual Write of Spring at the wonderful, Mystery Writers of America Raven Award Winning, mystery book store, Once Upon A Crime. Minnesota crime authors will attend in staggered blocks all day long. My group’s session starts at 1 pm. There will also be on sale a new anthology, Writes of Spring, put together by Pat and Gary, owners of Once Upon A Crime, and featuring stories by authors who have come to the annual event. I’ve got a short story in it, written as Mary Monica Pulver. I have my author’s copy of the book, and am pleased to be in such terrific company. The bookstore is donating the proceeds to the Memorial Blood Centers. The event will also mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the bookstore.

Mary Monica Pulver is my maiden name and the name I used when I first turned pro. My father was dying of bone cancer and I wanted to get something published under the family name. I made it, but barely, selling a couple of stories to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Later I sold five mystery novels under that name, and more short stories. My husband and I sold some short stories we wrote together as Al and Mary Kuhfeld. Then a friend and I started a collaboration as Margaret Frazer, writing six novels in the Dame Frevisse medieval mystery series – she continued the series on her own when the collaboration broke up and is currently writing a spin-off series about a set of wandering play-actors. And I am writing the Betsy Devonshire needlework mysteries as Monica Ferris. It sounds a bit complicated, but it all evolved naturally.

Pseudonyms are rather fun. One of my new favorite mysteries is a mother-son collaboration written under the name Charles Todd. I was wildly fond of Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder series, but he had another, much darker, series under a different name I didn’t like at all. I understand there are authors who write one kind of novel under one name and a very different kind – erotica – under another. What name might you choose if you were writing hard-boiled noir? Romance? Science fiction? Vampire? Western? Erotica?

Book News

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I had a medical appointment early this morning and it’s taken me awhile to get caught up. (I’m still not caught up, but it’s time I got this done and posted.) I have a medical condition known as psoriatic arthritis, an auto-immune disease, and every eight weeks I have to go get hitched up to an IV for a Remicade infusion. It takes about three hours, while I sit in a very comfortable chair and read. I would have brought my laptop along except it’s having battery problems – the charge runs out in minutes. I finished Dr. Bob Brier’s The Murder of Tutankhamen. It’s a wonderful book and I recommend it.

Saturday I had a publication party at Once Upon A Crime Mystery Bookstore in Minneapolis. Pat and Gary are wonderful to local authors, and we had a good turnout. There were Christmas cookies and hot chai tea for the customers. I don’t think any were new readers, though several were buying books as Christmas presents to introduce friends or family to my Betsy Devonshire series. And I bought some books myself: the well-reviewed Ellery Adams mystery, The Last Word. I don’t like starting a series in the middle, but since this got such a rave review I decided I’d take a chance. I haven’t started it yet. And since I finished Professor Huang’s marvelous take on Charlie Chan, I asked Gary if they had any of Earl Derr Biggers novels about the detective – and they do. Academy Chicago Publishers has brought all six out in trade paperback size, and they had all but number one on their shelves. I bought the remaining five, one of my Christmas presents to myself. They'll go on my TBR stack, probably near the top.

I have another signing this coming Saturday at Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior, MN, where my Betsy Devonshire mysteries are set. They're the ones who found The Murder of Tutankhamen for me.

How many of you – unlike me – are all ready for Christmas?