The Cover Fairies

LUCY BURDETTE: In general, I have been very lucky with the book covers developed by my publishers. My agent refers to these as the good book fairies. Though I don’t have final cover approval, my contracts usually include some initial input. (I’ve talked about how the artwork has changed from the ideas I’ve sent here and here.) they’ve not always turned out exactly as I imagined, but I do expect that the publisher people know more about sales and marketing than I do so unless I really hate it, I go with it. This fall I got word that A SCONE OF CONTENTION, and DEATH ON THE MENU had been selected for Harlequin’s book club. I would get a small royalty and they would put out a new addition with a new cover. That all sounded good! last month the publisher sent the cover for SCONE:





Of course I knew what this was: a Heilan coo, a Scottish breed of rustic cattle indigenous to the Scotland Highlands. However, these animals have a very small cameo in Scone—think background wallpaper. This was cute, but I wasn’t sure this artwork would draw new cozy mystery readers. Ps, what has the animal gored? I think it’s supposed to be scones or baked goods, but I hope it wasn’t… The victim.) in this case I did not have any cover consultation rights so all I could do is think that it would make for a great blog!

RHYS BOWEN: These days I have complete cover input and approval. For my big stand-alones, there is a lot of back and forth and haggling between me, who knows what my book is about and marketing (who are all twenty-something computer geeks who only go by algorithms) but in the end we come up with a good compromise. Sometimes it’s brilliant right away. The Tuscan Child we all loved instantly. The upcoming book, The Rose Arbor, has had many title changes and thus covers before we are all satisfied.

In contrast the Royal Spyness series has had the same illustrator since day 1. I know him. He lives in San Francisco. He asks me what I want and voila. There it is. Perfect.





My very first series, Constable Evans, when I had zero clout, was the artist’s impression of Wales and all the covers had sheep or goats on them. Perhaps this is a requirement for a cozy mystery in the UK. Cozy fans love cats, therefore also have a soft spot for sheep, goats and highland cattle!

HALLIE EPHRON: I got sent two possible cover illustrations for two DIFFERENT books that were nearly identical - a massive steam-punk-looking padlock on a field of blue/black. Perfect if I’d written Bluebeard. The first cover sent me for my updated writing books was a murky green forest. (I said to them, it’s a WRITING BOOK!)

“Please, start over.” And they did.

But I confess I do love Highland cows and if they’d sent me a book cover with one of them, even though my books have none, I’d have been tempted to rewrite the book to shoehorn one in.

Rhys’s book covers are a good study in how the different subgenres are telegraphed by the cover styles. Very effective.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, gosh, Lucy, I am still laughing over that creature–which I will admit when I first saw it, I thought: WHY does Lucy have a buffalo on her cover? Okay, I get it now, but I am distressed by its nose. And the things on the horns. I would ONLY (but instantly) buy this if I knew it was YOUR book.








This is the UK cover of TRUST ME. It’s so UK! First, the publisher did not want me to be Hank Phillippi Ryan, and wanted a more instantly female name. Okay, so much to discuss about this, but here it is.

What I am fascinated by is the cut line. “She may be a bad mother, but is she a killer?”

I’m not sure that’s the way I would have gone with it, but I always try to remember that publishing execs in other countries are aiming for THEIR readers, not for me.

(I did get a wonderful email from the woman who posed for the cover–which is somewhere in my photos and absolutely unfindable.)

As for my current covers, it’s a wonderful collaboration, and truly fun and rewarding and fascinating, and my publisher’s art department is genius. AND I am allowed to say no. So that’s great.

JENN McKINLAY: I am fortunate that I have never had a bad cover, not one, not ever. Like Rhys, I am fortunate that the publisher asks me what I want and then the art department delivers something that’s so much better than my wildest expectations. Now I am going to burn a candle to the cover gods because I don’t want to jinx myself. LOL.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Lucy, the more I look at your Highland Cow, the more adorable I think it is. (He? Do the girls have those horns, I wonder?) But I'm not sure that I would instantly get that this is a food-themed cozy mystery.

I've had such a checkered career with the Cover Fairies. I had NO say with the first few books. While the first two were charming, they looked like English historical cozies, not contemporary procedurals. But #3, LEAVE THE GRAVE GREEN, was absolutely awful. Where would you say this book was set?





Not in Henley-on-Thames, where a body is found in a lock. Or in the gorgeous green and mysterious Chiltern Hills, or in the world of the English National Opera, where part of the book takes place. Sigh. I feel fortunate that anyone bought it.

I do have cover approval these days, thank goodness, but it's very much a collaborative process. For a while my publisher used my photos, which was great fun, but then they went for a "bigger book" look. I know we always love our most recent books best, but I do think that my latest cover is my absolute favorite of all of my books.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’ve been blessed by the cover gods in that none of my published books has had a clunker. After the first book, Minotaur settled on a “vaguely foreboding rural scene” theme which has worked well.

However, when ALL MORTAL FLESH was in the process, someone had the bright idea to rebrand the cover to emphasize the obviously popular romance angle, and I got a couple artists’ concept mock-ups that I refer to as “my vampire covers.” One has the face of a beautiful woman in her twenties, staring toward an off-screen sunset, with a gorgeous guy in his thirties, also in profile, right behind her. This, I understood, was to represent Clare, a 36 year old with a “plain face” “all points and angles”, and Russ, a rugged 50 year old with graying hair and glasses. Huh.

The second one was even worse, if you can imagine it: it took the male model away and had the woman’s face, still in profile, hovering over a very pointy church spire, giving the effect of a giantess about to suffer a horrible injury to her soft palate.

Lucy, I swear, I looked everywhere for these pictures; I think I must have deleted them in horror. The cover they eventually used was based on a sketch I did, after a fairly heated discussion, seated at the St. Martin’s booth at the old BEA (How I miss it! Yes, the Javits Center was awful, but still.)

Question of the day: Reds, tell us about your most unusual (or other adjectives) cover.

Readers tell us about a cover that particularly drew you in or repelled you from reading a possible book.

Peach Scones #recipe @LucyBurdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE: Last week was paperback release day for A SCONE OF CONTENTION, and to celebrate I'm sharing my recipe for peach scones. It's always amazing to me how much the books I write affect my life. One small example: before sending my characters to Scotland in SCONE, I had never made a scone. I didn't even think I much liked them. But because my character is a food critic, there's a lot of food in these books and recipes are required. So I began baking scones, including developing the prize-winning cinnamon scone recipe that Violet and Bettina Booth share with Hayley. (You can find that here.)

But these peach scones may be my favorite, because I love peaches so much. I buy them by the bushel from our local farm market and use them as often as I can. This recipe for peach scones uses those fresh peaches and is based on one I found in Baker by Nature. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup brown sugar

One stick a.k.a. 8 tablespoons frozen unsalted butter

One egg

1/2 cup sour cream

2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk

One cup ripe peaches, peeled and cut into small chunks

One egg white +1 teaspoon water

2 tablespoons coarse sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 400°. Combine the dry ingredients with a fork. Take care to mix the brown sugar in thoroughly.

Placing the grater over the bowl of dry ingredients, grate the frozen butter into the bowl using the largest holes. Mix the butter in well with the flour mixture.

In another bowl or large measuring cup, whisk the egg, sour cream, and milk. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just moist. Carefully stir in the peaches.

At this point, dump the batter onto a piece of parchment paper and shape it into a circle. The batter will be wet and uncooperative, but carry on!

Cut the circle of dough into eight wedges and separate them slightly so there is space between each scone. Brush with the egg/water mixture and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until beginning to brown, about 18 minutes. Serve as you like with more butter, whipped cream, or just as they are. These freeze well and can be defrosted and warmed up for a treat on another day.

How about you Reds...have you found your eating or cooking affected by what you're reading or writing?

Here’s what they’re saying about A Scone of Contention

Burdette's plotting is reliably strong, the dialogue's lively, and her portraits of friendship in action add to the delight of this well-spun story of a truly unique honeymoon excursion. Beth Kanell, Kingdom Books

A scone-by-scone tour of glorious Scotland. Foodies and Outlander fans will rejoice in the references to both in this not-so-mysterious paean to Scotland. Kirkus

Burdette peppers “A Scone of Contention” with luscious scenes of Scotland, making readers yearn to travel there. It’s also a look at the country’s culture and history, where centuries-old feuds still fester. The savory food scenes move the plot along; and, yes, there are recipes.

“A Scone of Contention” moves at a brisk pace complemented by appealing characters. Hopefully, Hayley and Nathan can take a real honeymoon by themselves. Oline Cogdill, South Florida Sun Sentinel

What We're Writing: Lucy's Figuring Things Out @Lucyburdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m slowly inching my way into Key West food critic #13, fondly known as the Scone Sisters mystery. I remember telling you last time writing week came around that my two Scottish ladies have arrived in Key West to help judge a contest seeking the next host for the American edition of the British Baking show. Since I don’t outline in advance in detail (as our ever-so-smart and prolific Jenn does,) I seem to have to learn this lesson over and over: I may have a wonderful concept, but when I sit down to write it, a million questions have been left unanswered. Things such as who is the killer? Why are they driven to murder? Who are the other reasonable suspects? Why are all these old ladies involved in police business? This is my process at this time—write some words, figure some things out. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

I’ve bumped up against another issue that I hoped you might find interesting. One of things that can stop me from reading a new book is if too many characters are introduced and I can’t tell them apart. In this new Key West book, how do I differentiate between the two sisters so that readers get to know them separately and individually? They appeared in A SCONE OF CONTENTION as a pair and they’ve never been on the page separately, so I don’t know them well as individuals. (Some might say this would be a good time for a writer to write up a several page bio on each…) Since that’s not likely, after the first draft is hammered out, I’ll have to focus on what makes them different from each other—the way they speak, or look, or their body language, for example.

This snippet is from the draft of Chapter Four. Hayley Snow has ferried Violet and Bettina and all their baking equipment and Miss Gloria to Williams Hall, where the contest is about to begin…

The real Martha Hubbard in her kitchen with Lucy

“How many contestants have you signed up?” asked Bettina.

“We started with six,” said Martha. “Several of them have backed out as the process continued so I’m afraid we’re down to three. I suppose it all sounds exciting to our home bakers to appear on television with the Scone Sisters, but the reality of competing over a week is a little harder. One woman couldn’t get the time off from her job. Another turned up with a recipe that was clearly lifted Word for Word from Cooks Illustrated, and the third was not sure that her husband would allow her to appear on camera.”

“Really?” Bettina had her hands parked on her hips. “I hope you urged her to leave that arse!” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t say that in good company, should I?”

Martha grimaced. “I tried. She was really gifted too, and I told her she deserved a wide audience for her confections. When I phoned her to say she’d made the cut, she said she’d decided cooking and baking for her husband was reward enough. She waffled a bit, so who knows—she might show at the last minute.”

While we were busy unpacking the equipment and placing it on the counters where Martha suggested, the lights and camera crew arrived and began to set up. I felt a little bit nervous even watching how professional it all looked. But the Scottish ladies were taking it in stride.

“Don’t you get rattled in front of a crowd and these cameras?” Miss Gloria asked, leaning her elbows on the end of the counter as several bright lights were switched on.

“I was going to ask the same thing,” I said, and winked at Miss Gloria. “Comes from several years of living together I suppose, great minds and all that.”

“We were slightly bothered at the beginning,” said Violet. “But everyone kept telling us we were naturals, so after a bit we started to believe it.”

“All you have to do really is pay attention to what you’re doing—and we do know these recipes like old friends. Plus, ham it up a bit. We love giving our opinions about baking, and we love meeting the amateurs and showing them the ropes.” Bettina grinned. “Our motto is to be truthful but kind. They are the ones who are nervous as cats, and we’re so busy calming them down and trying to set the poor souls at ease that we forget about ourselves.”

“Besides, we are old ladies now,” Violet added. “What’s the worst can happen? Our lipstick smears or our hair is mussed? We don’t worry one bit about how we look in the camera.” She puffed up her gray hair and pooched her lips, now layered with glossy pink. 

Even the sternest cameraman laughed. “Can we get a run-through please with the sisters?” he asked Martha.

The ladies moved behind the expanse of white counter and began to lay out their ingredients. As they launched into describing their preparations for their prize-winning cinnamon scones, I saw my mother and Sam come in from the back entrance. I waved them over.

“They’re completely adorable,” my mother whispered when they drew close. 

“They are too cute in real time,” I whispered back, “but don’t they light up the room when they’re in front of a camera?”

I watched as they smiled cheerfully into the camera, bantering with each other as they measured the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar and then grated frozen sticks of butter into the dry ingredients. 

“The cold butter is absolutely the secret.” Violet held a finger up to her lips. “We are sharing it here with you but please don’t pass it on.”

Bettina laughed, though she’d surely have heard her sister say that line many times. “Actually, we’d love it if you share it because we want everyone’s scones to succeed wildly. My sister thinks it’s the temperature of the butter, while I believe it’s the quality of the cinnamon. We did bring ours from the UK,”—she held up a small glass bottle—"but you can find good cinnamon lots of places in your country. Don’t settle for something that has been at the back of your cupboard for years. Don’t take a chance on a store brand either. You want your flavor to pop!” She clapped her hands together and mimicked the sound of a pop by smacking her lips.

The two of them stirred the grated butter into the dry ingredients, added a bit of milk and kneaded the dough lickety-split into a nice circle.

“Another secret,” Violet said, facing her sister again, “is not to overwork the dough. Nobody will mind one bit if it looks a little lopsided as long as the scones or biscuits rise high and taste flaky and delicious. Which they will if you keep that light hand, and remember your butter must be good quality, too. We of course prefer Scottish or Irish butter but do use whatever best quality you have here. Organic, unsalted, if you can.”

“She’s right for once,” Bettina added. She clapped the flour from her hands. “If you overwork the dough, you will produce curling stones instead of fluffy scones.” 

They began to laugh hysterically at their own joke.

Lucy here again. I would love to hear your thoughts about characters you remember as distinct, and what stood out about them?

Also, on another subject, for those of you who’ve read UNSAFE HAVEN, I would be very grateful if you’d leave a short review—wherever you talk books. Thank you! 

Launching A SCONE OF CONTENTION @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE:

 Yippee, A SCONE OF CONTENTION, the 11th book in the Key West food critic mystery series, is out today! I can’t wait for you to read it because I had so much fun writing it. Since you are my Jungle Red family, I thought you might be interested in some of the hidden backstory behind the new book. As you’ll see, the work starts years before the book is published.

 

At Governor Livingston Regional High School in New Jersey, named after Governor Livingston, the first governor of New Jersey and a signatory of the US constitution, our mascot was the Highlander. To continue carrying out the Scottish theme, the cheerleaders were dressed in short plaid skirts and sporty caps. I desperately wanted to be one of those girls. I did try out, but sadly, did not make the cut for the squad.

Lucy is facing the camera

In addition to the cheerleaders, my high school was proud to have the only all girl bagpipe band in the country, including highlander sword dancers and drummers and bagpipers. The Highlander girl piper costumes were authentically Scottish Highland pleated kilts in the Royal Stewart tartan, and a sporran that was worn dangling from the waist of the skirt. I dabbled with drumming for a couple of months, but it did not catch my enthusiasm. Next, I tried out for the sword dancing troop. This photo is of the team in action, with the bagpipers at the rear. Here’s another with me and my mom in 1970 or so, where you can see a few details of the costume. 

 

 Above is one of the sword dances that we often performed. I danced for a year or two, then moved on to editing the yearbook (called the Claymore, named after a Scottish Highlander sword) and singing in the chorale. I had never been to Scotland and I can’t remember feeling the urge to know more about the Highlander history and connection with our high school. In the summer of 2019, I went on a musically-oriented small group tour of Scotland with a few dear relatives and friends. I found the country to be gorgeous and fascinating, and wrangled permission from my editor to take Hayley and Nathan there on their honeymoon for the next book.

As I was writing A SCONE OF CONTENTION, I began to feel as though I'd come full circle. Hayley and Nathan and assorted friends and relations are in Scotland, where Nathan rocks a kilt, they eat their weight in scones, and Miss Gloria stars in a pivotal scene in Glencoe, in the Highlands. I only wish I had thought to add Highlander dancers to the plot (thunks head.) I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Question for the day: Have you traveled with a familiar series to a new setting? How did you like the change? (One that comes to my mind is Louise Penney’s ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE, in which the characters travel to Paris. I happen to adore Paris, so I loved this change! And of course, Deborah Crombie took Duncan and Gemma to the Cotswolds, and Rhys Bowen has taken her lady Georgie all over the place...

You can buy A Scone of Contention (Book 11 in the Key West food critic mystery series) wherever books are sold.

I have some fun (mostly virtual) events set up, each one different and special. Hope you can join me at one or more! They are all free but you'll need to sign up to get the link--and please support the indie bookstores who are hosting by buying books from them!

August 10, 7 pm, sponsored by RJ Julia in conversation with my sister Susan Cerulean, who was also on the Scotland trip. If you are local to Madison CT, I will be signing books in person that same day at 11 am at the store. Otherwise, email the store to obtain the Zoom link.

August 13, 7 pm, I'll be joining Ellen Byron, Deborah Goldstein, Jennifer Chow, and Libby Klein at Murder by the Book.

August 16 7 pm, Mary Cheney Library, 586 Main St, Manchester CT  860-643-2471 IN PERSON! But do call ahead and let them know you're coming.

8/18 Murder on the Beach chatting with our own Jenn McKinlay and Oline Cogdill, reviewer for the Sun Sentinel. 

8/19 Virtual event at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore with a wonderful crop of Crooked Lane authors including Ellen Byron, Carole Bugge, Betty Hechtman, and Audry Keown. 

What We're #Writing @LucyBurdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: I think the better question might be what I am not writing... Which would be practically nothing because everything is coming together at once! Two weeks ago I finished major edits on the thriller UNSAFE HAVEN, which is coming September in the UK and December in the US. It needed a lot of work and fortunately I had a terrific editor. Then the edits on the edits came back and had to be returned within the week. So that all got emailed to England on Friday the 16th. And I've gotten a few more queries this week. (You can pre-order it through your independent bookstore, or Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.)

Meanwhile, A Scone of Contention is coming out August 10 and that means blog tours! So I’ve been busy with those and hope you will enjoy visiting the various hosts with me--I'll keep you posted about when and where. Regular readers of Jungle Red should mark your calendars for August 18, when you can hear Jenn McKinlay and me talking about our new books with the wonderful reviewer Oline Cogdill, all sponsored by Murder on the Beach. You know that's going to be fun!

But this past week I've been working like a demon on food critic number 12, now known as A DISH TO DIE FOR thanks to my friend Ruth McCarty. Lots going on in this book--Nathan's dog Ziggy has found a body on the beach, Hayley's discovered an old Woman's Club cookbook in the bin of library donations with mysterious historical connections, and Nathan's father is visiting on the island. (Uninvited, as all of Nathan's relatives seem to do, LOL.) I thought you might enjoy a little snippet about the cookbook, since it's been so interesting to read and work into the plot: 

Back home on our boat, I spent the next hour studying the recipes and notes in the Key West Woman’s Club cookbook, searching for the angle I’d use in my article. Rather than being typeset, everything in the book had been written out in longhand and illustrated with drawings that ranged from stick figures to folk art. Then the pages had been copied and spiral bound. I noticed that a good half of the women who had contributed recipes identified themselves only by their husbands’ names: Mrs. Carl Johnson, Mrs. William R. Warren, Mrs. Cyril Marshall, Mrs. Frank E Bowser. 

I could imagine the women, each at her kitchen table, laboriously copying the ingredients for her best recipe and then instructions for preparing it. They’d have their hair pinned up in knots and be wearing dresses with cinched waists covered by frilly aprons. Had there been infighting about which recipes would be chosen, and who the artists might be? The recipes were a funny mixture of old and new, not shy about using canned goods or frozen vegetables, and yet not squeamish about pounding conch until the cartilage released, or cleaning feathers from a duck, or removing the bloodline from a piece of fresh tuna fish. 

One more thing, John came downstairs this morning and said "I just had the worst dream. I was trying to defend you, as lots of people were saying you didn't do anything. I had to scream at them, 'Sure and while she was doing nothing, she wrote 19 books!'"

Isn't he the sweetest guy in the world?? 

Do you own old cookbooks that tell as much about the history of the times as they do about food?

Can This Family Be Saved? A Day to Whine and Win @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: How, you might reasonably ask, are glasses related to a book giveaway? Answer: when the broken glasses were eaten by a puppy with a death wish, and the day becomes 'Whine and Win' because I can't think of another way to make myself feel a little less dumb...

This is the culprit...not a smidgen of remorse... I was shocked when she ate my beloved pair of blue glasses--I loved them so much and they were no longer on display in the optical shop. 

But happy news, the optician was able to order a pair and fit in my progressives (ka-ching), and we all learned our lesson. 

Right? Wrong, because a few days later, she ate these glasses. I loved these too! They went with all the things I own that aren't green or blue... 

That second escapade left me nothing to wear with a recent prescription--for those of you who wear glasses, you can picture that terrible feeling. Back to the shop I went to choose a second pair. Ka-ching, ka-ching. And so embarrassing...

Several days later, above culprit lifted John's reading glasses out of a drawer that hadn't been closed properly. Did I say 'I told you so, I warned you'? No I did not. 

Then I was busy cooking too many things at once, and I took the brand new blue glasses off to read directions (or something.) After dinner, those glasses were gone. I searched everywhere I might have put them, and finally found them out on the porch, frames mangled, glass in shards. 

Did my beloved spouse say 'I told you so'? Readers, I dare not say. But there might be room for two in the dog house...good thing they are both so cute. Now I must call the optical shop again.

Early photo

And it's your turn to tell a story about your own mishaps, with pets or without! I'll let Tbone (aka 'the good pet') choose one comment to win a trade paperback copy of THE KEY LIME CRIME.

And don't forget to order your copies of THE KEY LIME CRIME and preorder A SCONE OF CONTENTION. And ps, the ebook edition of THE KEY LIME CRIME is on sale for $2.99!

Banana Date Scones @LucyBurdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: Before we move on to scones, please know that I now have a gorgeous new website where you can actually find things, a novel concept! Please take a look when you get a chance...

On one of our first days in Scotland two summer ago (and oh my gosh that seems like a lifetime ago and another universe,) we explored the little town of Melrose. John and I got separated for a bit--either I had lingered in the graveyard, or more likely, found a ladies' room! 

And he came back from his walk with the most delicious scone I’ve ever eaten, purchased from a small bakery nearby. (Actually, it was only part of a small scone, because he'd inhaled the rest of it.) I did not get a photo but I’ve been craving a repeat of that scone ever since. We remember it as a banana date combination and that’s what I tried to re-create for you here. Scones, of course, loom large in the next Key West mystery, A Scone of Contention...

Banana Date Scones

Ingredients

1 5/8 cup flour
1/6 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
Three-quarter teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/8 cup cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup sour cream (could also be whole milk plain yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla
One ripe banana
1/2 cup chopped dates

Mix all the dry ingredients up through the salt together. Cut in the cold butter until it’s the size of small peas.


Mash the banana well and stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix well. Add the dates and mix those in. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry.

Shape the dough into a circle on a floured surface. Flatten the circle and cut it into six pieces. 

Bake this at 425 for 10 to 12 minutes. I left it in for 10 and it could have used one or two more.

Serve with more butter and jam if you like.

Can you tell I'm getting ready for Scotland again, with A SCONE OF CONTENTION?? Coming August 10 from Crooked Lane Books...

Winners from this week's guests (yay!): Bookbuddy is the winner of Nancy Herkness's book The Agent. Contact her at nancyherkness at gmail dot com.

From Terrie Moran: Barbara Schlichting won the Mystery In The Midlands link. Kait Carson won the book. Contact her at tfmoran at yahoo dot com!

What We're Writing @LucyBurdette #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: Another one of these writing weeks has rolled around, and I am in yet one more muddled middle. Last time I wrote a post for this event, I was very excited about all the possibilities for food critic #12. I am still excited, and maybe I even know who committed the murder, and I definitely know why. The problem is drawing the lines to connect the dots from that exciting opening to a satisfying ending. 

I participated in a Princeton alumni event last month with Nancy Herkness, a friend who writes romance novels laced with suspense. (You can listen to the YouTube video if you’re interested, we sure had a lot of fun!) You’ll meet her later this month. She was astonished to hear that as a mystery writer I don’t plot thoroughly in advance. I told her I would if I could! But the motivations and possible murderers simply don’t emerge until I write my way into them. Often as I get well into the book, it becomes easier to outline what I believe happened. And that helps me write the second half of the book faster than the first, with fewer revisions.

When I was a fairly new writer, I never would have guessed that my process would turn out this way. I felt very firmly that Mystery Writers should Plan Things Out. I understand in my writer's cortex that this would make things easier. But my writer's heart balks. 

For today, I will share a snippet from the middle of the book, in which Hayley and her neighbor Miss Gloria have revisited the scene of the crime. You'll notice that Hayley is asking many of the same questions that I am. And here's a photo of the actual shrimp tacos they ate, which were amazing...

The waitress returned with our dinners—huge platters of soft tacos smothered in salsa, cheese and sour cream, with a side of rice and black beans and a handful of homemade chips. I knew the crunchy Key West pinks waited for me underneath the toppings.

 “What else can I get for you? More drinks? Hot sauce? Napkins?”

“All set, thanks.” I bit into the first taco with anticipation. 

“These are incredible,” said Miss Gloria. We ate in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the view over the lagoon to the edge of the small trailer park. The cement retaining wall was lined with small motorboats. If you didn’t mind the noise of the bar and the music coming from the Fish Camp, it would be an idyllic place for a camper. I wondered if the Sheriff’s department would have canvassed all the residents about the murdered man.

“What do we know so far?” I wondered aloud when we were done with dinner. The waitress returned, and once again we declined a second round of drinks and I asked for the bill. “Davis confirmed what we already knew from reading the news over the past couple of years, that Gerald Garcia was a bully. I will be interested to meet his wife and extended family, if he has one.”

“How are you going to manage that?” Miss Gloria asked.

“I forgot to tell you, my mom and Sam want us to help with the funeral reception on Friday. It's at the Woman's Club.” 

“Put me down for that as well,” she said. “People always say more than they ought to at a funeral reception. Emotions are raw and every slight feels fresh. And filters seem to switch off in the face of grief.” Her expression grew distant and sad, as if remembering something in her past. She’d never talked much about the days and months following her own husband’s death. I waited a few beats to see whether she wanted to say more, but she remained silent.

“I would imagine this event will be quite tense since the guy was murdered and then buried on the beach. It wasn’t a death that the family would have expected,” I said. “I wonder how he was killed? I suppose it could have been accidental, but then why bury the guy? That makes me think it had to have been intentional. And what did they do, dig a big trench in advance because they planned to murder him? How the heck did the killer get the body to the beach? This person must have been strong, because Garcia was not a small man.” 

The vision of the two brightly colored kayaks that we'd seen next to the trailer down the road flashed to my mind. It wouldn't have been so hard if you brought the body under cover of darkness in a boat. Especially if you knew something about the tides. And what kind of evidence would be washed away by morning. 

How about you Red readers, are you suspicious of a mystery writer who doesn't plot ahead?

That's all from me folks! A SCONE OF CONTENTION is scheduled for its launch on August 10. And THE KEY LIME CRIME has been chosen for the WLRN Sundial Book Club for June. You can join that conversation here.

EXCEPT...to celebrate the impending release of Scone, Lottie and I have a lovely ARC to give away to one of our commenters today...

And one last thing, waiting for reviews is murder on a writer's nerves. So I'm psyched about the first big review of A Scone of Contention from Kirkus: 

A scone-by-scone tour of glorious Scotland. Foodies and Outlander fans will rejoice in the references to both in this not-so-mysterious paean to Scotland. –Kirkus