Out in the land of the living

"Now is the winter of our discontent 

Made glorious summer by this sun of York."

We all remember March 2020, when the lockdown came for us and we sat home and masked up and cracked our hands red from washing. It was the winter of our discontent, which lasted about 15 months. 

I remember it painfully because I had JUST. RELEASED. A. NEW. BOOK. I had plans, People. Big plans that were thwarted on all sides because I couldn't go anywhere and meet anyone and do anything.

In time, I dried my tears and kept working on the next project.

But glorious summer is literally and metaphorically coming. I'm happy to announce that I will be having a booth at this year's Celebration of the Arts and Music Festival, presented by the Yorba Linda Arts Alliance Foundation. Yeah, it's a mouthful to say, but just say you'll be there to see me IRL! I will have bunches of books, and maybe some giveaways and IDK, a way to tell you how grateful I am to actually see you in the flesh.

But before that, I will be part of a panel at the Sisters in Crime Orange County meeting on this Sunday, May 23rd. Unfortunately, we will still be Zooming, but at least it's not as far to drive, and you don't have to put on pants!

Here is the link to the time, the topic, and all of our friendly faces. I can't wait to talk with these ladies!

http://ocsistersincrime.org/

Hope to see you!

The recap so far.

I've been plugging my whirlwind life recently. I'd feel bad about this, in that "what kind of narcissist are you?" way, except that I've been plugging the events that I think other people would enjoy attending. 

It's not exactly my fault that I'm going to them, too.

So how did everything go, you may ask. Seriously. You have my permission to ask that.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WRITERS CONFERENCE - LA:

As usual, this was a fun weekend of talking about writing, learning about writing, and laughing about everything. I seemed to have picked up a bad habit - the day of the conference, I came down with a cold. In San Diego, I did the same thing. Each time, I sounded worse than I felt, but sounding worse meant that I practically lost my voice.

Helpful hint: Losing your voice when you have to teach a workshop or two is not a good way to spend a weekend.

My most vivid memory of San Diego is having to teach public speaking at the very last workshop of the very last day. Dearest woman Laura Taylor bustled into the workshop with a tray of herbal tea with lots of lemon and honey. It was like pulling the thorn from my paw. I will adore her forever.

At Irvine, my survival instinct took over, which meant I did not get to close down the bar with my tribe every night. But I did get to spend a little time, here and there, with some of my pals. My workshops went very well. At least, the participants told me they liked it. I hope they're not privately emailing (SCWC director) Michael Steven Gregory and saying, "Please stop her."

I sat in a couple of workshops that taught me a lot. Both were about leaving the worry about plotting behind and Just. Writing. Suzanne Redfearn taught "Pantsers: Keep the Creativity Flowing" and I loved her exhortation to not worry so much about where you think the story HAS to go, and let your characters take you where they NEED to go. We did some writing exercises in her class that were fun and freeing.

Then I was pleasantly surprised in Jeff Michael's class, "Write from the Heart." He discussed The Muse and Her role in our writing. I've always struggled with the middle of my books, and as he spoke, I realized that my Muse tends to feed me inspiration for the first part of my book, and the last part. I see the scenes setting up the story, as well as the end. But in the middle, She seems to abandon me to go shoe shopping.

"Oooh, pretty, shiny," said Whimsie, Gayle's Muse

I have to say, I admire her style.

So I asked Jeff to discuss it, and he had a lot of helpful things to say in class. Afterward, we sat down to lunch and discussed it further. We were joined by his wife, Jill, of course, and our good friend and ultra-entrepreneur, Garrett Miller. Jeff had some excellent suggestions for making certain that my second act is true and necessary and worth the read. 

As always, I told him how thankful I was for his kindness, as well as to Jill and Garrett for their indulgence. Take note, folks. Always show gratitude. It costs nothing and its value is priceless. 

And in case you want to get in on the fun, the San Diego conference is in February. Go here to learn more - http://writersconference.com/sd/

On to...

LADIES OF INTRIGUE:

The good news is that it was a rousing success. We had a room full of people who met new authors and heard about Sisters in Crime. Our panels were smokin' - these women were funny, insightful, intelligent writers. And our guest speakers could not have been more engaging. 

Catriona McPherson had everyone laughing with her story of how she came to writing. I love her easy, down-to-earth personality. She's won numerous awards, and she deserves them all, and more. Honestly, her Scottish (working class, she says) accent is so entrancing, I would listen to her read the phone book. 

Carol Higgins Clark was equally charming, discussing how her mother's novels led her to her author's life. It turns out, in her teens, she typed up one of her mother's manuscripts for her. The experience was a deep memory for her, and started her on her path. She was also funny, describing how we all think she's super-famous, and yet people can't even get her name right. We may think she's super-famous, but we know she's super-fabulous.

The not-the-best news is that the event was tremendous work for all involved. I'm writing this after two glasses of wine and about five naps. Ask me more about it after another week of sleep and more wine.

WHAT'S NEXT?

What's next is an interview with Garrett Miller on his popular and fun Rated G Radio show (click here to find it - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/garrettmiller). I've been interviewed on his show before and I'm always excited and a little nervous, only because I want to be a good guest. Garrett is The Perfect Interviewer and should have his own talk show. He actually listens to your answers and asks questions from there, very much like my interview-idol, Dick Cavett. 

So tune in at 7 pm, PST, and listen to me talk about humor and books and...

My launch party at Tri-City Park on October 10th! It's the Placentia Heritage Festival, and I'll be selling my three new collections of humor columns, to honor my 10 years as a humor columnist for the Placentia News-Times. 

Come on out to the park and find my booth - I don't know where I'll be, but my canopy is bright yellow. The park festivities open around 10 a.m., but I won't be there until I've ridden in the parade. I think we get to the park around 11 or so. 

Once I get there, we will have prizes and treats and a generally fun time!

Hope to see you this Saturday!

Catching up. First stop, Left Coast Crime

I did a lot of stuff in March, not the least of which was attend Left Coast Crime in Portland, Oregon. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of conventions. LCC is for mystery lovers, both writers and readers. There's never enough writerly kinds of information for me at a convention, and there are a number of potential readers milling about that I don't really know how to meet without sounding like I'm some ego-driven madwoman, so the whole experience leaves me anxious.

The only reason I attended this LCC is because my buddy, LJ Sellers, was in charge of it, and since it was in Portland, it was a chance to visit with my hubby's brother and family. This made the trip worth it:

Rain. Beautiful, glorious rain. This southern California gal can't get enough of it.

LJ did a bang-up job with the event. Lots of panels, lots of people to meet, and great hotel accommodations. Only $129 a night, plus complimentary parking and Wi-Fi. No one's ever gotten us free parking before! Although this diagram of where to go in case of emergency worried me. 

Stairs are on the key, but they're nowhere on the diagram!

Other highlights? The Sisters in Crime breakfast. Even though it started at 7:00 a.m. (that's when I'd like to be getting UP, thanks), I got to hear the lovely Catriona McPherson talk about all the fun things SinC National is doing. She even plugged our chapter's fall event, Ladies of Intrigue, where she will be one of our main speakers.

I also got to spend a lot of time with my buddies. Lunches, dinners, and drinks were all spent with author-friends. It seemed like every time I stepped into the hallway to decide on which panel to attend, Lisa Brackmann was there with an invitation.

"Hey, Gayle, want to go wine tasting?"

(Hint: you don't have to ask me twice.)

Lisa's on the right.

"Hey, Gayle, want to walk down to the pub for a beer?"

Sure. Even if it's raining and I left my coat in my room and the pub is a mile and a half away. I'm game.

I did miss my tiara when I saw Tim Hallinan in his.

I was on one panel, Sunday morning. Sunday is usually the day everyone is trying to leave, so I wasn't certain if we'd have an audience, but we did. Our topic was "California Dreaming." Four of us took the stage to talk about setting our stories in California. The easy answer why is that we live there, but the better answers are contained in why we live there. The shiny, hopeful, I'm-gonna-be-a-STAR quality of the state beckons to so many. 

We're a little fuzzy and askew - appropriate for a Sunday morning.

Even though I'm not enamored of conventions, I had a great time at this one. And since we had driven to Portland to attend, we got to stop on our way home to visit some friends in the south part of the state. 

Next stop: Michael and Chrissie's place.

Weekend fun takes stamina

This weekend is nothing but fun, fun, fun, till I collapse in a heap on Monday. Where to start?

First, let's make this about you: Because this weekend celebrates Placentia Heritage Day, Placentia being my hometown and the setting of all my Peri Minneopa Mysteries, I'm offering my three Peri books at some delightful savings. Check them out:

FREEZER BURN - Friday thru Sunday - FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/Freezer-Burn-Peri-Minneopa-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007ZHVDN4/

HIT OR MISSUS - Saturday and Sunday - ONLY 99 CENTS!
http://www.amazon.com/Missus-Peri-Minneopa-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B00537SP5M/

THE HOT MESS - Saturday and Sunday - ONLY $1.99!
http://www.amazon.com/Mess-Peri-Minneopa-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B00AD94TDW/

Get them while they're hot.

What will I be doing in the meantime?

Saturday: I will be riding in the PHD Parade. This year, I think I'll wear my sparkly cowgirl hat instead of the tiara, but I'll still be waving like a crazy woman. Let me just add, waving is exhausting. Ever try holding your arm out, elbow bent, swinging it side to side in slo-mo, for two-and-a-half miles?

After the parade, I take my spot at my booth (look for the yellow EZ-Up) and hopefully sell a few books. More important, I hope a lot of people stop by to say hello!

In the evening, hubby and I are taking our son Marcus out to dinner, to celebrate his birthday. He's not officially 22 until Sunday, but Saturday works best for all of us.




Sunday: Our Orange County chapter of Sisters-in-Crime is meeting at Mystery Ink Bookstore in Huntington Beach to hear T. Jefferson Parker speak (or as we call him, "Jeff"). It should be a lot of fun.

If I'm not too-too exhausted yet, I plan to drive down to La Jolla in the evening to go to Noir at the Bar. Lisa Brackmann organizes these things once a month and I keep wanting to go and something else keeps getting in my way. It's not that far away... an hour and a half isn't that far, is it?

Hope you have a fabulous weekend, and if you're anywhere in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi!

Silent running (again)

The weekend sale is over. It shot Snoopy's memoir up to #1 in Horse Books across the board (General Fiction, Children's, etc), which was great.

I also got a lot of writing done. I'm on the downhill slope of the new mystery, somewhere around 20,000 words left to go. (BTW, how do I know it's about 20k words? Because my books typically come in around 65-80k words and I'm currently a little over 50k. After awhile, that means something.) I'm going to be working feverishly for the next week or two to bring this story to a conclusion, so I may not be around much.

Before I dive back underground, I had to go to a very big meeting of Sisters in Crime. It was our yearly lovefest with Mystery Writers of America. We had lunch and some big names came to discuss murder and mayhem. This year we had two Larrys: Larry Welborn, a crime reporter for the OC Register, and Larry Montgomery, an investigator for the OC District Attorney's Office. They were both fascinating, and Larry M. actually gave me a lot of ideas for strengthening the book I'm working on, once I start the edits.

Larry W. told the story of working, on and off, on the case of a woman who police originally thought committed suicide, then changed their minds when her landlord "accidentally" murdered another woman in the apartment complex. He chased leads for 31 years and finally got the DA to file charges, only to have the charges dismissed because of due process. It seemed like a heartbreaking end to the story, but he did not act particularly upset. Some might consider it a waste of his time to uncover a truth that would never be used for justice. But the world knows that this woman did not kill herself. And after 31 years, her blank, pauper's grave now has a headstone. She is remembered.

It got me to thinking about why we do things. Sometimes it's not for the money or the fame or the promise of truth or justice. Sometimes it's just to lift ourselves up.

I found this on YouTube.



We can't afford to stop dreaming.

Hello I must be going.

Okay, you know I can't post that title without giving you this (apologies for all the ads):




On Friday, I head down to Newport Beach to the 10th Annual Southern California Writers Conference, Los Angeles. Wish I could actually get this blog to SAY that in radio announcer's voice. If you haven't been to a working conference, you need to find one and go. If you want to know why, go the the conference website and watch some of the videos on SCWC-TV.

A good conference inspires you, educates you, helps you find your tribe as well as your voice. You come home with itchy fingertips and a brain chock full o' stories. If you live in the southern California area and you're not attending this, I'd say, "neener neener more for me" except I don't believe that. There's plenty of good stuff to go around at these things.

I do wish you'd come. We'd have such a fab time together.

I get home on Sunday, repack my bag, and run down to San Diego for a convention about Special Districts. I need to go learn more about Special Districts because I am a library trustee (at least until the elections in November and then who knows), and our library is a Special District.

Conventions are not like conferences in the least. Conferences are more for a common grouping of people who want to know how to do something better. Conventions can have a wide assortment of types, all looking for information on different things. For example, Bouchercon is a convention for mystery writers AND readers. The readers want to meet their favorite author, find new authors, and talk about books. The writers want to meet their readers and talk about writing books. And maybe have drinks in the bar with Lee Child.

Both are essential.

In between these two, I really SHOULD go to the Sisters in Crime OC meeting on Sunday, especially since I'm the secretary. Tune in later to see how that day worked itself out.

If I've got time today, I'll schedule a few examples of extreme silliness to keep you company while I'm gone. I'm not promising anything, since I also just realized I need to write and schedule a post for next Thursday over at the Crime Fiction Collective.

In the meantime, in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, here are five reasons I could never be a pirate:

1. I can't rrroll my Rrrs.
2. My crrrew would get tirrred of my orrrderrring them to "Squab the deck," then laughing maniacally.
3. I have motion sickness and would thrrrow up on the open seas.
4. I rrreally rrrequirrre rrregularrr bathing.
5. I sunburrrn easily.