Brave New World

 RHYS BOWEN: Our recent Facebook trials when we tried to do a Facebook live event for our group REDS AND READERS highlighted how annoyingly stressful modern life can be. We all are suddenly required to be more tech savvy than we want to be. Mastering Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, not to mention Canva and learning how to create images with stars exploding all over them. Who would have thought it when I sat down with a pan and pen to write my first book?

Every time I have to do a Zoom, Streamyard, Chime etc etc I'm stressed that I won't be able to connect, that I'll freeze, that i'll suddenly notice my bra-strap is showing or I look as if I have no chin. I suppose the positive aspect of all this is that we can connect with readers in a way not possible before. I now speak to bookclubs anywhere in the world. When I do an event for the Poisoned Pen we get about 2000 watching the video , not just from America but from Australia, Sweden, you name it. It is mind boggling how one can have fans from across the globe.

But it is also so time-consuming. I reckon writers these days spend half their time writing and the other half in social media. I try to interact on Facebook every day. I post blogs, I do podcasts and interviews. On Monday I had two Zoom interviews, one after the other. Total of over 2 hours. When I went upstairs I said to John "My cheeks hurt from so much smiling." You can't look grumpy for a second on a Zoom!

So I'm thinking that Shakespeare and Jane Austen didn't have to spend half their time interacting on social media. Okay, that wasn't a good example. Shakespeare's works were performed so he was able to assess the success or failure of his words. Dickens's novels were published in weekly installments so he was also able to get feedback from his readers. but they didn't have to spend half their lives smiling on Zoom.

Of course it is lovely to meet many more readers than I ever could on bookstore visits. But it's made writing into a celebrity thing--that it's not just the words they like, it's the writer they follow. I find it strange and mind boggling that I have about 400,000 followers across social media (Facebook, Bookbub and Amazon). Did I ever, in my wildest dreams, imagine that my words would reach that many people, across the world. I should add that some of those followers are creepy guys from Nigeria, but then some are real African fans so it's hard to weed them out. (but that's why I started the private group TEA WITH RHYS as they have to be admitted and can be booted out if they do anything inappropriate).

I suppose I should be grateful and embrace the convenience. I still remember the days when the copy edits from my publisher came in a large envelope and I had to edit and reprint and send it back. Now it can be done in a day in the review mode. And I get a lot of fan mail because it doesn't require a stamp and a trip to the post office. And Google can alert me to any time my name shows up in the media. All good, but...

Maybe if I were younger I wouldn't have a hard time keeping up with technology, but it seems as soon as I've mastered one thing, something new replaces it. I'm still coming to terms with email. I'm not quite sure of the correct protocol. Should an email be considered a letter and therefor start 'Dear X?" and end with a yours sincerely etc.

Should it start like a chat with a friend? "Hi X! and end with kisses xxxxx

Or should it need not intro and conclusion at all since the recipient can see who it is coming from?

And then there is texting. Don't get me started on emojis or all of the acronyms. I haven't got past LOL yet. I can't see myself ever communicating with things like Wsg? hyd? NTG ISTG etc.

Even more baffling: 459 apparently means I love you!

39 means thank you (three and nine in Japanese apparently)

Do you think that humans are reverting to cave man speak and will lose the art of large vocabulary and polished sentences. No matter, there is always AI to do it for them. And that's another whole discussion.

So who here feels comfortable with technology and is glad of the conveniences we have? And who would like to return to the good old days when we sat down with pen and paper and wrote a letter instead?

Cheering for... a zombie world?

HALLIE EPHRON: Technology marches inexorably onward, or so we’re told… But in the direction of what?

A new year puts me in a reflective mood, piqued last week by an article about delivery drones finally coming into their own (yay?)

Never mind that they will put hundreds of delivery drivers out of work. Never mind that I don’t want them in my airspace.

And then there are the cars that drive themselves, “occasionally” blowing through stop signs and mowing down pedestrians (collateral damage?) Motorized scooters that would be great if their drivers obeyed the rules of the road and slowed down or stayed off the sidewalk… and had batteries that didn't burst into flames.

Of course this is nothing new. Remember when all the movie tapes went in the trash and along came DVDs and then Netflix nailed us CDs then DVDs… and now streaming…

Where once there were malls now there's Amazon.

On the horizon or here, depending on who you ask, AI is gobbling up and spewing the words and ideas we once got paid to write.

It’s a zombie world.

I keep remembering movie WALL-E: the last robot left on Earth spends his days tidying up the planet, one piece of garbage at a time. CDs. TV antennas. Steering wheels.

What’s your vision of the future, and what will you miss most? I know my answer.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Oddly enough, I read recently that movies on tape - like music on records - are making a comeback among Millennials who were familiar with them from childhood. So maybe past technology isn’t doomed to be zombified, but made into taste markers for the hipper-than-thou crowd.

I’m actually hoping for a REAL self-driving car, from some company far less likely to move fast and break things, as Tesla seems to enjoy doing. I live out in the country, and it’s likely someday in the next decades I’ll have to stop driving. It’s already an issue in our rural state; truly competent driverless cars could be a gamechanger in keeping old folks in their own homes.

The technology that seems to be on its way out that I’ll miss? Money. Saving pennies and turning them in at the bank. Getting a crisp bill in a birthday card from grandma. The pleasure of finding a twenty you tucked into the back of your wallet and forgot.

I like cash. It feels real.

JENN McKINLAY: I see driverless cars every single day and not just one but many. Phoenix and the surrounding burbs are on a grid so we are an ideal place for this technology. When I walk my dogs to the park every morning, I am passed by at least two driverless vehicles.

At first they freaked me out, but now I’m getting used to them. A friend of mine took one and said the upsides were no forced conversation and there’s a kill switch you can hit at any time.

I was thinking about the movie WALL-E the other day. I’ve only watched snippets of it as my mom took the Hooligans to see it when they were little and it made her cry, so I passed on it because I get very sad about the state of the planet and the disposable world we live in.

I was remembering seeing a clip where everyone sat in these robotic chairs and stared at screens and I thought “That is what’s happening to us. Eek! I want to throw out my phone.”

I won’t but for a hot minute it was really really tempting.

I am using a timer on my phone now so I only have a half hour for screen time and that’s it. I want to see the sunrise outside my window, not a filtered one that a company put up on social media to sell me a food delivery service, the latest fashion fad, or a trendy kitchen gadget I don’t need.

Technology is great in so many ways but not when it takes away our freedom to just live in the moment.

LUCY BURDETTE: Good idea Julia about the self-driving car taking older people where they need to go. Would they own the car or would it be like an Uber service? Can’t quite picture…

I haven’t yet seen a self-driving car and honestly the idea still scares me. If there could be a kill switch, couldn’t there also be a ‘drive faster and crash into something’ switch?

I guess I’m dragged kicking and screaming into most new things!!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I can remember when my parents, who were in the theater concession business) were absolutely sure that videotapes would kill the movies. Didn't happen. Although the pandemic and streaming may have made a dent, I think people are always going to want to experience things communally. At least I hope so.

So many things we've thought were outmoded have come back. Polaroids! Vinyl! Fountain pens! Even typewriters! So maybe we will not all turn into screen zombies in our driverless cars, staring at our phones instead of the road.

If we have self-driving cars here in the DFW area, I haven't seen one!

RHYS BOWEN: We have driverless taxis in both San Francisco and Phoenix. I’ve seen plenty but haven’t needed to use one yet. I’d love a reliable driverless car when we make the trip from CA to AZ. So long and boring. I could watch a movie or sleep.

What I worry about with all this new technology is the loss of jobs. People have to work. If everything is done by AI what jobs will be left? Will we revert to a society where the rich technocrats live well, but the only other jobs are in the servant category–their house cleaners, gardeners, garbage men, etc. Where are the jobs with dignity? At least plumbers and electricians make a good living and there will still be people needed to build houses.

I hate the thought of paying people a stipend to exist.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: AH, AI. So much happening with that now, as people realize a lot of it is …well, I just read an article that called a lot of what comes out “AI hallucinations”--that it’s just making stuff up, and as a research tool, it is about as reliable as a bad WIkipedia entry.

Every new thing has to work itself out–look at the technology for our fabulous new Reds and Readers page, right? It’s all a learning curve. And who’d-a thought we’d all become so uber-proficient at Zoom? And now it’s mundane. Look what we do with our phones, and how much we know! (And right, Jenn, WAY too often.)

That said, there's not a cell in my body that would get into a driverless car. Never, nohow, no way.

HALLIE: So what about you? Is technoogy dragging you kicking and screaming? Or crowing joyfully into a tech-filled future?

And what will you miss most? For me, it's no contest: human contact.

Technology, Meet Relationships—and Criminals

LUCY BURDETTE: The other day I was having a conversation with a few of my friends,  chatting about how things have changed in relationships with the advent of Alexa and Ring, and other technological “advances.” (I remembered a moment a couple of years ago when we were visiting our daughter and she said something to her daughter like “daddy is a dumdum.” Alexa piped right up without being asked to weigh in and said, “that's not very nice!”)

 

One of my friends described how he watches comings and goings at his home on his smart doorbell and noticed his wife carrying something to her car and driving away. She had not mentioned this trip to him, so he asked her about it. Turns out she was ferrying some of his “junk'' to the dump.

 

Another friend mentioned that it is very hard to throw anything out in her household. If she or other family members want to dispose of something they consider junk, they go out the back door and around the house to the outside trash. Otherwise, her husband will notice this on their camera and retrieve the questionable item from the garbage.

 

In my house, for some reason I’ve started getting email alerts when John charges something. (I’m glad it’s not the other way around!) I didn’t ask for these, but I get a chuckle out of mentioning to the hub that I noticed he’d had roast beef for lunch.

 

Really though, it’s not that funny. Where has our privacy gone? And how are our bad guys supposed to operate without immediately getting cornered?

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Don’t worry about that last, Roberta - remember when everyone got cell phones, and we all worried about how any character was going to be caught alone or threatened because they could call for help at any moment? Somehow, crime fiction managed to incorporate that technology.

 

There is nothing smart about my house - no Ring camera, no talking refrigerator, and I’m happy with that. I do have Alexa (I love you, Alexa!) but despite her regular offers, I don’t let her order things for me, keep my shopping list, or make any calls. She tells me what the weather is and plays classical music and podcasts.

 

There are a LOT of husbands out there who like to hold on to stuff, and if a critical mass of them are receiving notices from their cameras when their exasperated wives try to sneak junk out of the house, I expect a big boom in A) storage lockers and B) marital counseling.

RHYS BOWEN:  I’ve unplugged Alexa. I’m tired of having a chat about something and then next morning seeing my in-box crammed with ads for that particular object, proving Alexa was listening in! Added to which John could never get the hang of her. He’d say, “Alexandra or whatever your name is. Could you possibly play something by Glen Miller?” And then get annoyed when she didn’t quite understand him!

 

No Ring at our house. I’d never be able to sneak anything out to the garbage if we had one. Husband tries to save old jam jars etc! 

 

But one of the reasons I enjoy writing historical novels is that I don’t have to deal with all the technology!

 

HALLIE EPHRON: This is making me think that there’s got to be a place for EVIL ALEXA. Though I’m sure Stephen King has already exploited it. She sees you when you’re sleeping, she knows when you’re awake… Can you say: CREEPY! This is why I’ve never let Alexa out of the box. 

 

And can I just say that if I’d snuck any of my husband’s stuff out of the house, my marriage would have been very short lived. Fortunately he had the sense to know what I’d classify as “junk” and keep it more or less out of my path.

 

JENN McKINLAY: No Alexa or Ring here either. I have Siri on my phone if I need to ask a random question and don’t feel like typing it into a search engine. And I have dogs - no one is breaking into this house. Hub is a reformed hoarder. He’s started decluttering his things (books and guitars) without a nudge from me for which I am grateful. 

 

For me, my two most valuable commodities are my time and my privacy, which I guard fiercely, and while some technology helps (Freedom App to keep your time on social media limited) most do the opposite so nope, nope, nope. 

 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We have three cameras on the front of our house, but they are only connected to our home network, NOT to the internet. Ditto our home automation. Rick loves this stuff and I think only someone very computer savvy could build this kind of privacy, hack-proof set up

 

I am, however, very fond of Alexa and love having my audio books and music available all over the house.

 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: OH, yes, I love Alexa, too. I always ask her valuable important stuff (What year was Grace Kelly born?), and she usually knows. Especially good for math and book research. (What is 23 times $17.95? How many miles is it from Boston to Cleveland?)

I LOVE that you can SAY to the TV: “The Lincoln Lawyer” and up it pops.

Ooh, I always ask Alexa the weather,and sometimes I get it for West Newton, Pennsylvania instead of Massachusetts, and that’s interesting too. 

SOMETIMES, though, she pushes it. “Want me to tell you the humidity?” NO! I cry. 

But I love to set the timer with her for writing.

She also has good recipes, I’m not kidding. “Alexa, how do you make chicken cacciatore?” It works!

We have a security video thing, but it only records when the alarm goes off or something. But I love to be able to see our house on the phone when we are away. Even though we are NEVER away now.

The one interesting thing about Siri. I always said “HEY. SIRI.” in a demanding tone. But I once overheard a cool guy say “Hey Siri,” in a kind of Barry White cajoling way, and it was so nice. So I do that now, too.

Yes, I know they are all listening, but we are boring, so whatever.

How about you, Reds?

The Robots are Coming! by Jenn McKinlay

Jenn McKinlay: When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of The Jetsons and Lost in Space, mostly watched as after school reruns. I genuinely believed that by the time I reached adulthood, I'd have a flying car and a robot companion. "Danger, Will Robinson!" You can imagine my disappointment that none of these things have manifested.

But then, I was driving through Tempe with Hooligan 2 and his Plus 1 as we were looking at off campus apartments when what do I see but a food delivery robot. I kid you, not. 

I watched it navigate the crosswalk at a busy intersection and roll on its merry way. I have to admit I wished I lived closer to campus just so I could give it a go. Maybe when I visit the Hooligans in their new digs. 

Playmate Pet

As things always seem to pop up in waves, I was chatting with some lifelong friends about their 92 year old mother and her new dog, Funzie. Even though she's as sharp as ever, living alone can be isolating for someone who doesn't have the same autonomy they once had. Enter Funzie, the robotic pet, who responds to her voice and is a cuddly, interactive companion. She looooooves him.

Of course, there are all sorts of innovative technologies like Alexa, Siri, smart appliances that tell you when you leave the door open, and task specific robots, like the roomba, and now what I would call the lawnba, a robotic lawnmower, which Hub has been lobbying for quite ardently. Yes, there really is. See below.

Roomba

Robotic lawnmower - Husqvarna

Personally, I am still waiting for that one size does all robot who cooks, cleans, does the yard work and now, of course, it needs to take the self driving car and bring me food, preferably while doing my taxes.

In the meantime, as an author, I wonder how much do I need to work new technology into my stories? For example, if the roomba tries to clean up the murder victim at a crime scene, what does that story read like? Tracks of blood all ver the house? If Alexa is "listening", did she hear the person being murdered? If they screamed "Knife!" did she put an order of new ginsus into the victm's Amazon cart? Yes, these are the things I ponder as we roll into this technologically advanced society.

How about you, Reds and Readers, what robotic interactions have you had lately? If you read a mystery with a food delivery robot in it would it seem reasonable or pull you out of the story? Asking for a friend :)

Breaking Up Is So Very Hard To Do by Jenn McKinlay

 Jenn McKinlay: This might be the most painful post I've ever written. I'm not even sure what happened. We've been together for years, constant companions, best friends, sharing every high and low and even the boring stuff in between. I thought we'd be together forever -- silly me -- but things change and life has a way of breaking down communication, and so I have come to the decision that we have no choice. It's time to part ways. 

I'm not sure how I'm going to move forward. The simple fact of the matter is my cell phone is on life support and I need to buy a new one...but which one? HELP ME!!!!!!

Jenn with the phone before the phone.

My current phone is an iPhone 6 Plus. I know, I might as well be chiseling messages on a stone tablet. Why have I not upgraded before now? Because I know where all of my apps are. I know how everything works. I heard they took away the home button on the new iPhones - what? why? I also heard there is a face recognition thing. Again, why? No one needs to be seeing my face when I wake up. No one. Not even my phone.

"If you love your old phone so much, why do you have to upgrade?" you ask. Well, the video camera jiggles like I'm filming the Blair Witch Project, the battery lasts about five minutes when unplugged, and the phone randomly shuts itself off just for giggles, I suspect. 

Obviously, I've had different phones before. I reluctantly let go of my LG with the Qwerty keyboard (still miss it). I mean is there anything cuter than those tiny little keys? I rolled to the Samsung smart phone, which was okay. Then I got the iPhone 6 which synced to my MacBookAir and everything was sunshine and buttercups until, well, it wasn't.

So, advise me, dearest friends. I want a phone with a great camera, lots of memory, and a solid battery life. What cell phone do you use? Do you like it? Do you love it? What's your dream phone? Go ahead, I'm listening!

Bookless Libraries – Is This Our Future? by Dorothy St. James

Jenn McKinlay: As a librarian, I'm sure it's no surprise that when I heard about a new series called A Beloved Bookroom Mystery series, I was all in!!! Today we are lucky enough to have author Dorothy St. James tell us all about her first in this new series and she offers up a subject of interest to every library lover's heart - the possibility of bookless libraries! (Pause to clutch my pearls here)!

Dorothy St. James: Let me start off by saying I don’t hate technology. I rely on my phone far too much (and I almost never make phone calls). I prefer ebooks because I enjoy reading in bed without having to use my reading glasses. And the ability to stream TV shows (on my schedule) has been a game-changer. I love the digital world!

 

But digital libraries? Shouldn’t libraries be required to have real hold-in-your-hands books?

 

My latest series, the Beloved Bookroom Mysteries, is based on an idea that a small town library modernizes to become a bookless library, much to the horror of the librarians who work there. The series plays on the theme of technology clashing with the analog world.

 

Bookless libraries indeed exist. In fact, it’s not a new idea. Many university libraries throughout the world have gone bookless more than a decade ago, relying solely on ebooks and digital resources. A few municipal libraries in the United States have tried out the bookless model. A library in Arizona went bookless for a while, but due to pubic outcry the library brought back the printed books. A library in Texas opened a bookless branch in a low income area, providing vital digital services to a community where, historically, wi-fi access has been limited. Because of the vital services this library provides to its community, this new library has been hailed as a success story.

 

Why can’t we do both? Libraries today are asked to provide more and more services. Libraries are not just about the books anymore. Modern libraries often provide maker spaces, computer labs, community meeting rooms, and more. These services cost money and take space.

 

In my local library system (the Charleston County Library, which is wonderful), the largest regional branch building was 16,000 square feet. However, the library system recently built a new branch in my neighborhood that provides both digital and community services as well as room for all kinds of books. This new library building covers a whooping 40,000 square feet. Not every community can afford to build at such a grand scale.

 

My fictional town of Cypress, located in the coastal plain of South Carolina, is like many small towns in the South. (I know. I’ve worked with similar towns in my past life as an urban planner.) Budgets are tight, jobs are scarce, and towns are desperate to attract industries with high paying jobs. Cypress’s town manager comes up with a scheme to make headlines. He takes what little he has in his budget and invests it into modernizing the town’s historic library into a bookless library. The last town to do this had attracted national press, and that’s exactly what he wants. He then plans to use that press coverage to lure high tech industries into investing in the town. His vision it to turn the region into a Silicon Valley of the South. It’s a big gamble, but times are tough and the potential payoff could change the lives of everyone in Cypress.

 

When Trudell Becket, a Cypress Public Library librarian, protests, the town manager gives her a lesson in budgets. The town simply does not have the budget or space to provide digital services and still offer room for a printed book collection. That’s when my warrior librarian decides to do act. She breaks all the rules and saves the printed books that are in the process of being removed to make room for technology.

 

Real life echoes fiction. COVID-19 has been a challenge for libraries. My beautiful 40,000 square foot branch library has been closed. The only way to get books is to order the books online and pick them up at the curb. It’s a necessary precaution. I’d never want the librarians to risk their health. I only mention this because, ironically, since penning this book way back in 2019, I have been experiencing firsthand the angst that I wrote about in The Broken Spine. I dearly miss walking up and down the stacks, discovering books I never knew existed and leaving with many more books than I ever knew I needed. There is a certain magic in discovery that I love about libraries. As we move more and more into the digital age, I hope librarians will be able to figure out a way to replicate this experience for online browsing.

 

In the meantime, I’ll be cheering on (and helping) warrior librarians who have been working fiercely for years in bringing the best resources to their communities.

So, how about it, Reds and Readers, what are your thoughts on booklets libraries?

 

BUY NOW

 

The Broken Spine, which has been called a mystery that “is destined to become a favorite of all book lovers” by Miranda James, New York Times bestselling author of Cat Me if You Can, is the first book in the Beloved Bookroom Mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. It arrived in bookstores everywhere January 19, 2021.

 

When a small-town librarian sets up a secret bookroom in her newly modernized library, she discovers that protecting the printed word harder than she’d ever imagined.

 

In fact, it’s murder.

 

Dorothy St. James is the author of the White House Gardener Mysteries and the Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries. She lives in the Lowcountry of South Carolina with her sculptor husband. Dorothy is a member of Mystery Writers of America (MWA) and the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Sister’s in Crime (SInC). This is her first Beloved Bookroom Mystery. 

 

Follow Dorothy Online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dorothy.stjames

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dorothywrites

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dorothymcfalls

Website: www.dorothystjames.com

 

The Broken SpinePurchase Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086SCQ639

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-broken-spine-dorothy-st-james/1136806393?ean=9780593098578

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/the-broken-spine/9780593098578

Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781087855806

 

 

It's All About the Batteries

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Do you have an Alexa? I love ours. And I use it every day. Alexa, what is 270.00 divided by 20? Alexa, what day of the week is October 17 in 2020?  Alexa, how old is...well, I won't go on. Now. People who know say Alexa IS listening all the time, but only records when you say "Alexa." May...bee...

(Alexa is such a problem that I know have to THINK before I talk to my publicist, whose name is Alexis.) But I love my FitBit, and my Netflix, and  our Waze. Is that a problem? Might it be?

The fabulous, incomparable, brilliant, loving, talented and hilarious Julie Hyzy--and even those words aren't enough--is tackling technology in her amazing groundbreaking new thriller, VIRTAL SABOTAGE. Yes, that Julie Hyzy. The New York Times Best-selling Anthony-winning beyond-successful author of the White House Chef series, and the Manor of Murder series, and so many more wonderful books--has accepted another challenge. You will LOVE this book. 

And we are thrilled she's here today to tell us about it.

Technology in crime fiction, friend or enemy?

Julie Hyzy

For crime fiction authors, technology is great.

Except when it isn’t. Which is why I like to think technology is crime fiction’s frenemy: supportive and fun when your manuscript is rolling along but quick to betray you when the going gets tough.

Here’s the tricky thing about devising mysteries and thrillers: A writer needs to give the villain enough room to carry out his nefarious plan and be successful, but in a way the bad guy will eventually be caught. It can’t happen right away, though. The villain needs to have a reasonable expectation of getting away with it. He will, of course. That’s what the story’s all about. 

I can’t count the number of times I’ve plotted a fictional murder and realized belatedly—and with great disappointment—that my evil plan won’t work. Most often, it’s because of technology. In one memorable draft of Virtual Sabotage, the key scene I’d envisioned involved an intricate sequence of events and precise timing. The power goes out. The phones don’t work. A character realizes he ought to call for help but can’t. I wrote the scene and was even a little bit proud of it.

When it came to my first revision, however, I wondered why the character didn’t simply use his cell phone. Duh! 

Okay, fine. I rewrote it. In this version another character surreptitiously pockets the cell so that the first character can’t find it.

But wait. What if the cell phone’s owner received a call or text at that very moment? Murphy’s Law says it could happen. As the author, I could keep the cell silent for the duration of the scene, but that’s not good storytelling. Too much is at stake.

A little research and—voila!—I discovered that there are devices capable of shielding cell phones from sending or receiving signals. Although technology nearly stymied me, technology came to my rescue. 

It’s getting harder to commit a crime without an audience these days. Audience = witnesses. Security cameras are perched in virtually all public spaces. At the first whiff of trouble, nearly everyone whips out a phone to start recording. And don’t get me started on Alexa, Siri, or the Internet of Things. 

Evidence is everywhere because technology is everywhere.

The immediate identification of criminals —while good for society in real life—can cause serious consternation for a crime fiction writer. A story’s climax may occur in the scene where the killer is apprehended or the criminal mastermind foiled. But readers don’t want the immediate gratification of resolution by chapter two. Where’s the fun in that? 

Technology can make it hard to write believable crime fiction.

On the other hand, where would crime fiction be without technology? From magnifying glasses to forensic microscopes; from fingerprint-matching to DNA testing; from dial phones with curly cords attached to the wall to virtual reality, technology has been detectives’ reliable partner for many years. In some ways it’s almost like they’ve grown up together.

Julie and her first...typewriter!

Consider Sue Grafton’s alphabet series and her indomitable P.I., Kinsey Millhone. When the series ended in 2017, it was 1989 in the books. Home computers, as we know them today, were still out of reach. Note cards, a telephone, a typewriter, and a car were the tools Kinsey turned to most often. By contrast, K.J. Howe’s present-day hostage negotiator, Thea Paris (The Freedom Broker, Skyjack) has a veritable arsenal of technology at her fingertips. And what she doesn’t have on hand she can obtain with call to the right person (and her negotiating skills). These women get their jobs done admirably using the tools available to them.

Contemporary crime writers eager to craft a timely and inventive tale must utilize today’s technology or risk appearing clueless. They also benefit, from the fact that as writers of fiction, we’re allowed to expand on current technology and even invent some of our own. 

Julie's daughter trying virtual reality

That’s what I’ve done in Virtual Sabotage. I’ve taken today’s virtual reality headsets and given them an upgrade. In my book, virtual reality is significantly more sophisticated than it is today. VR is everywhere in Virtual Sabotage, as ubiquitous as cell phones are now. The illusions in my fictional VR are not merely a simple display. They’re brain-generated immersive experiences that can trigger real physiological reactions from unwary participants. That’s why they need lifeguards for the brain—envoys like my protagonist, Kenna Ward. 

Julie tries Virtual Reality

Although the technology isn’t real yet, it soon could be. 

Think about the world we live in right now. Things we take for granted would have been considered outrageous and virtually impossible by our ancestors. And yet, here we are.

For writers of contemporary crime fiction, technology is a force that cannot be ignored. Whether it serves as a story’s catalyst or causes a plot to crumble, technology will always be crime fiction’s frenemy. What are your favorite uses of technology in fiction? Or your favorite technology fails? I’d love to hear from you!

HANK: When I was asked to edit my TIME books for new editions, I realized  the plot of AIR TIME depended on...beepers. Yup. Beepers. I fixed it, but there was a moment when I worried I'd been in the midst of an epic techno fail. What about you? And a copy of VIRTUAL SABOTAGE  to one very very lucky commenter! 

Julie Hyzy is the New York Times bestselling and Anthony Award-winning author of the standalone thriller, VIRTUAL SABOTAGE(October 23, 2018, Calexia Press),the White House Chef mystery series, the Manor of Murder mystery series and the Alex St. James mystery series.

VIRTUAL SABOTAGE 

A new stand-alone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author Julie Hyzy, Virtual Sabotage introduces Kenna Ward, an envoy for a virtual reality company whose implants create a thrilling world that allows people to create daring scenarios in a safe environment. Most of the time, that is. When in the rare instance the human brain mistakes the terrifying event as real, it's up to Ward to enter the scenario and pull them back to reality. But when a key envoy goes rogue and people begin responding in odd and dangerous ways, Ward delves deeper, finding a sinister conspiracy to take over not only the virtual reality world, but the real one as well. Ward must stop it before there are no longer any independent minds left to control.

Get a Clue — Board Games in the Video Age

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: We’ve recently decided that Friday is pizza and board game night (no electronics of any sort allowed). The Kiddo is just the right age for one of my favorites, Clue. (Does anyone remember it? It was created in 1949 and has just kept on going…) Anyway, I went to our local game store to buy it— and was delighted to hear the owner say sales of board games are up. 

Huzzah! Are we turning back to actual games, played by actual people, with actual snacks? 

(The last part is of utmost importance here…)

As a mystery writer, I love Clue — a grand British manor house, lots of questionable characters (I’m always suspicious of Professor Plum), and
a murder to be solved. 

Last night, it started to rain as we played and the Kiddo declared, “This is perfect! ‘It was a dark and stormy
night…’" 

And so I ask my fellow
Reds — do you remember Clue? 

What were your favorite
board games as a child? 

And do you ever play board
games now?





RHYS BOWEN: My family has always loved board games. TABOO has been a favorite for a long while (you have to 

describe something without using a list of words. The grandkids are really good at it). 

But we used to love Clue when the kids were growing up. Scrabble, Boggle... anything with words these days.

I also belong to a board games group at my local AAUW chapter. Very therapeutic with lots of laughter. Our favorite is Cranium (see, we're brainy ladies) and also a card game called Quiddler.

HANK (MISS SCARLETT) PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, CLUE! 

Kidding me? We loved Clue and we played it ALL the time, with much delight, and I attribute my entire career to it.

Well, not really, but I am still enchanted, seriously, thinking about how it made us all think, and how it was different every time, and every time I hear the word "conservatory" I wonder if there's a secret passage.

I used to look back at the used score sheets, and remember how the stories turned out.

I scarfed up Miss Scarlett, wouldn't  play, I fear, if I wasn't her.  Funnily, now, I would pick to be Colonel Mustard, because he's the iconic one, right? Mrs. White, boring. Who was blue and black? Trying to remember...

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Dear Hank, er, Miss Scarlett — Blue is Mrs. Peacock and then there's Mr. Green. No black. (Or anyone Black, as Noel and Miss Edna would say.) So funny you loved Miss Scarlett (who doesn't?) and are now a Jungle Red! Did you all do funny voices? We do. Our Miss Scarlett sounds like Marilyn Monroe.



JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I love, love, love CLUE, although it's a bit of  hard sell sometimes with my family - I tend to win a lot (okay, almost always) and they say I have an unfair advantage. I always play Mrs. White, my son is Mr. Green (apparently Rev. Green in the recent updated game) the Smithie is Prof. Plum and Youngest is Miss Scarlett. The movie is an absolute hoot as well, if you haven't seen it.

We also love Monopoly. I don't think we've ever actually finished a game, but we always dissolve into shrieks of laughter and in-jokes during play.

Ross and the kids challenge each other to chess (which I am hopeless at.) Ross's favorite game is RISK, which is a bit too much like history class homework for me. The one game we two can agree on is Scrabble. He trounces me.

My favorite board game as a kid? THE GAME OF LIFE. Who didn't love getting assigned a career, collecting a spouse and children, and driving the tiny plastic car up hill and down on your way to retire in either Millionaire Acres or a refrigerator box?



DEBORAH CROMBIE:  Oh, I love board games! So does my daughter, but hubby HATES them, so daughter and I only play occasionally. Not sure about son-in-law--will have to find out. I loved Clue, and Monopoly, and Risk, and Scrabble. But my all-time favorite was Trivial Pursuit. Does that count as a real board game? I'm always tempted by the new updated versions, but don't know anyone except my daughter who will play with me.

Hank, of COURSE you were Miss Scarlet! 



SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Debs, we have the Disney Trivial Pursuit game! Love it!

Lovely readers, do you remember Clue? 

What were your favorite board games as a child? 

And do you ever play board games now?