Weekend Crime Spree

 

I began Crime Bake, the conference for mystery writers, with a master class chaired by Barbara Ross. With twelve mystery novels, a number of novellas, and umpteen Agatha nominations, she was definitely the right person for this class called ‘What I’ve learned along the way.’

          While traveling through other workshops like  Maintaining a series, Creating Strong Secondary Characters, I continued to find myself in a room with authors from the stratosphere of writing. 

      One speaker had 49 novels under his belt, and one woman used to write for World News Tonight. One panelist I found fascinating was a finalist for the New England Book Award, had been Spike Lee’s creative director, and had written and directed the HBO movie A Day in Black and White.

          After breakfast, we all filed in to hear welcoming remarks and I somehow ended up at the same table as the woman who was the star of the weekend, guest of honor Lori Rader-Day. Past national president of the 5,000 member Sisters in Crime, and if you name an award, she’s won it.

 Later in the day, after hearing her speak about her latest book, Death at Greenway, I immediately (in spite of swearing I wouldn’t buy any books) took myself over to the sales area and picked it up.

          I’m saving it for when I finish my current book, but the first chapter already has me hooked. It takes place during WWII, when some children were evacuated – to Agatha Christie’s house. That foundation is true, but Lori threw in a body found on the grounds.

           

  

        Negatives – blah food and a room that had me wondering if they were prepping me for my own potential murder. Yes, I had one door to the hall – normal. But I also had a second door that opened right to the outdoors. Not super-reassuring for anyone worried about security.

          I was initially pleased to see Hallie Ephron’s name placed prominently in the promotional materials. And yet, when it came time for a panel with Lori Rader-Day, Ephron was completely under-utilized by just sitting there feeding her interview questions. Of the two, as a New York Times best-selling author of 16 books herself, I thought Ephron would be the bigger name.

          Positives – I found people to eat with, had a few stimulating conversations, experienced a few ‘aha’ moments about my current project, and woke up my writing muscle.  

Mystery Trek

          “I’ll sign up for pep squad if you do.” Or maybe it all starts with those posse trips to the ladies room when we travel in packs, as though the path ran through an active minefield rather than a series of booths full of people enjoying pizza.

Taking Steps

          When my parents separated, and ultimately divorced, I suddenly found myself no longer in Arlington, VA with my friends, dog Tammy, and cat Mosby, but living in Tulsa, Oklahoma with my grandparents.

          We’d stayed there in past summers, so I was well acquainted with my Uncle Sam’s old cache of Pogo books, tucked away in a cupboard under the eaves. But this was for the long haul, with no apparent end date.

          Fortunately, my family were readers and so was I. My mother’s attitude was that all reading, even if it was the back of a Kleenex box, was fine, so I had free rein of the books in his old room, most published in the ‘30s and ‘40s. My Uncle had at one point been bed-bound with polio, so there was plenty to pick from.

          I worked my way through, among others, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Thurber Carnival, Bill Maudlin’s book of WWII cartoons, The Egg and I, Gone with the Wind, and even Andersonville. I enjoyed them all even if at 11 years old it’s certain that I missed many of the references and most of the nuances, but they got me through a long summer.

  

        One of my favorites was Cheaper by the Dozen, an autobiography written by two children of efficiency experts Frank and Lillian Galbraith, pioneers in industrial engineering who tried to apply the same principles to their family of twelve kids.  

          It was when my knee (which is still deciding day-to-day whether it will cooperate) was at its worst that I was reminded of the Galbraiths.

          I became my own efficiency expert.

How much could I carry in one trip? Phone can go in pocket, book under arm, reading glasses on head, plate in left hand, tea mug in right. And the odds were better if this occurred after the mug was empty.

          Did I reeealy need that loaf of bread all the way downstairs in the freezer?

          And why walk the four steps around the couch that it would take to turn up the thermostat when I could use the Nest app on my phone?

 

Ups, downs, and out

          Up :

          Good thing it didn’t happen while the grandtwins were here.

          Down:

          Monday morning, after having gotten up, eaten breakfast, and tidied a bit around the house, I stepped into the garage – literally one step – to toss a newspaper in the recycle bin and my knee went kaflooey.