Let Us Entertain You

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: BREAKING NEWS #1. Tonight is the Reds and Readers Happy Hour! Make sure to join us on the Red and Readers page of Facebook at 5PM ET.

Yes, 5 PM ET. (It’s 7:00 somewhere we’re sure, but we’ll be live at five!) Info, scoop, gossip, news and PRIZES! So we will see you there. At FIVE.

And Breaking News #2. The winner of ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS is Margo! Margo, email me your address here. And I will send you the book! Crossing fingers you love it.

And thanks to Margo, I learned about Anna Russell, an opera singer extraordinaire who, à propos of our past two days’ conversations, perfectly explains Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung. Which we all need to know. It is life-changingly entertaining.


But don’t watch now. Because now—speaking of entertaining! One of the dearest friends of the Reds, Ellen Byron.

Her post today is hilarious, as usual, and wonderfully revealing—but also today, even touching. (oh, and whoo hoo, giveaway below!)

FREE TO BE… ME!

By Ellen Byron

When I go to mystery conventions, people often mention how enthusiastic and upbeat I am. This means a lot to me because it’s a one-eighty from how I had to present myself in my past career as a sitcom writer-producer, where at one point I sublimated my personality so much that I earned the joking nickname “Debbie Downer” on a show.

I came to my first television job from a background as a playwright and comedy improviser, the latter of which encouraged a broad personality.

I quickly learned this made me the butt of jokes. Most of the writers’ rooms I worked in skewed heavily male. They were usually comprised of me, my writing partner, one other woman writer and ten to twelve guys. Don’t get me wrong, I love the menfolk. But the male sense of humor is generally different from a woman’s, leaning more toward teasing and put-downs. I took the jokes good-naturedly, knowing being sensitive doomed your career. But my goal became tamping down any aspect of myself that might make me a target. My humor became darker. I learned to excel at comebacks. I love bright colors but stopped wearing them to avoid drawing visual attention to me. See how I don’t stand out in this group shot of the cast and crew from Still Standing? (BTW, In a telling irony of my television career, I became closer to some of the men I worked with than the women because we gals were always in competition for the few seats available to us at the table.)



I was still on guard when I first segued from TV to mysteries. I don’t think mystery folk I met in the early days of my segue would have complimented me on my sparkling personality! But as I realized how warm and welcoming our community is, I began to relax. 

Gradually my cheerier, occasionally silly side re-emerged and I felt like I could finally be all of who I am —which now includes “Debbie Downer.” My mystery friends will tell you that I still throw off dark zingers and am always good for a comeback. But I’ve never been happier and more comfortable with who I am, evidenced by how I goofed around when I recently reconnected with actor friends Amy Yasbeck and Steven Weber from Wings, where I worked for three years.



Dee Stern, the protagonist of my Golden Motel Mystery series, is a former sitcom writer trying to make a new life for herself as the proprietor of a rustic retro motel in California’s Gold Country. Writing her allows me to channel so many of my own experiences working in television and feelings about it into the series. 

In the first book, A VERY WOODSY MURDER, Dee has to contend with a writer she couldn’t stand suddenly showing up at the motel. In SOLID GOLD MURDER, my new release and the second book in the series, she’s conflicted about a project that might draw her back into “the business.”

If I were Dee, I’d feel conflicted too. I did love my former career. On every lot where I worked, from Paramount to Disney to Universal or Fox, I always took a moment to drink in the fact I was walking in the shadow of film and TV legends. But I’ve found my tribe in the mystery community. And I’ve found myself. I get to be… me!

Readers, have you ever had to adjust your personality to a workplace? Comment to be entered into a giveaway for a copy of A VERY WOODSY MURDER, Golden Motel Mystery #1.


HANK: Thank you, dear Ellen! Let me just say: every day. The other day on the plane there was a crying baby, and I thought—wouldn’t be hilarious if we grown-ups could just let go and do that? WAH!

How about you, Reds and readers?

And don’t forget, see you tonight at 5:00PM ET on The Reds and Readers Facebook page!

SOLID GOLD MURDER

Dee Stern’s Golden Motel promises a tranquil getaway for outdoor lovers in the scenic Californian village of Foundgold. But when Dee accidentally triggers a modern gold rush, she suddenly turns her peaceful retreat into a hotspot for mayhem and murder . . .

With the summer season looming, former Hollywood sitcom writer Dee Stern has one small goal—scrubbing her motel’s unflattering moniker as the “Murder Motel.” Dee and ex-husband-turned-business-partner Jeff Cornetta are excited to introduce a family-friendly panning activity complete with fool’s gold just in time for the peak tourist months. Except neither could have anticipated the discovery of a real gold nugget or the ensuing social media frenzy. In a flash, the viral sensation draws grizzled prospectors, wide-eyed adventurers, and trend-chasing thrill seekers to the abandoned mines scattered around the woods . . .

The instant popularity proves great for business, but it also attracts a group of out-of-touch Silicon Valley techies with dreams of striking it rich—again. Dee finds herself particularly annoyed by the insufferably smug Sylvan Burr, a retired CEO who sold his startup before age 30 and won’t let anyone forget it. But things take a sinister turn when Sylvan meets a grim fate at the bottom of a mineshaft, leaving Dee at the center of a deadly mystery that could end her days as a motelier. And while Sylvan had plenty of enemies, Dee suddenly faces adversaries rooting against her own success. Now, with her life and the future of the Golden Motel hanging by a thread, Dee must unearth a minefield of suspects and outwit a greedy killer before she finally digs herself too deep . . .

Buy  Solid Gold Murder here!

Ellen Byron is a bestselling author, Anthony nominee, and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico), and Golden Motel Mysteries. She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents, but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. Sign up for her newsletter!