Characters. Research. Moral Ambiguity.

May is my favorite month of the year. It's a completely selfish and self-centered preference based on the fact it's my birthday month. Happy May :)

For the last two weeks, I've been doing research. One of my favorite forms of research is reading/listening to biographies and interviews of people who do similar things to what my characters do. My current hero is a secondary character in my previous Cold Justice books, but for once this isn't an FBI book.

The problem I have is my hero is part of what is a controversial part of US history--he's a CIA Intelligence Officer and started his career when the use of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques was the new big thing. I've been reading opinions on both sides of EIT and, frankly, there are well written arguments for both sides. There's the fact that it might go against international law and the Geneva Convention, that pain and fear might not produce reliable information, versus the fact the 'enemies' do not worry about the Geneva Convention and 'what they do to prisoners makes the black camps look like Butlins' argument. Then there's the 'what constitutes torture'? question. If interrogators do to detainees the same thing they do during SERES training, then is the US torturing its soldiers and operatives on a weekly basis? Obviously there are layers and subtleties to these issues, and not to mention the question of having the right person in custody, legal process, ticking bomb scenario, and, and...

These are my favorite things to deal with from a character development point of view--where issues of moral ambiguity meet practical considerations, but also common sense issues. It was the same thing researching the death penalty for A COLD DARK PLACE (currently free BTW). I find characters who can only see one point of view generally to be rigid and uncompromising. They make good background opposition but rarely make interesting characters we can empathize with or grow to love--unless they change/grow. Of course, having characters, especially character who are falling in love, have conflicting opinions can create the best can of tension on the written page.

I'm not going to ask what you believe in. I don't want to open up a political quagmire. My question is--have you ever learned a new appreciation of another side of an argument from reading a book? Has a story ever made you rethink your stance on a subject?

And, because I have a new release this month (COLD FEAR) I created a **FREE SAMPLER** for new readers where you can read the first three chapters of each Cold Justice story. It also contains the first 3 chapters of COLD FEAR, released May 26th (for those who can't wait to read Lincoln Frazer's story).

Nook | Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

Spring Motivation

Back when I became interested in writing, few authors other than Stephen King or Danielle Steel actually earned a living writing. I worked a 9-5 job, so my aim was to accumulate jewelry. Seems my first writer's checks garnered me topaz and amethyst rings and earrings. Tires for the Radillac convertible, a good used washer and dryer, and the occasional writer's conference.

I've learned to gamble on what I can accomplish without the what-ifs connected to the business. In other words, I trust myself to an extent but not the biz per se. That said, I've met my writing goals the past two years, and I'm upping my game. In 2015 I'd like to start a new charm bracelet, as long as buying doesn't interfere with living expenses, those conferences, and seeing Lex.

Others frame their book covers. I collect jewelry. I'm too old to get tats and piercings where anyone would care to see, so Tiffany's, here I come!

Inspiration Needs A New Form

All writers need inspiration. Where do you find yours?

For me, inspiration comes from the “what if” scenario: What if your neighbor turns out to be a serial killer? What if the supermarket at the end of your street is a cover for an international drugs cartel? What if the pale-skinned old man who owns the second-hand bookshop is actually a ghost?

Most writers relish these observations and use them as a launching pad for stories. When my husband and I were battling through a dense thicket of bushes and small trees wedged between the Snake River and the cliff bank soaring above us, I remember telling him, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to find a body?” 

That remark grew into So About The Money, a fun, amateur sleuth my agent currently has on submission.

Recently, I been crazy busy between the day job and packing (shredding, wrapping, tossing, gifting) everything we own in preparation for a move into a place 1/4^th the size of our current digs, while we build a new house. Well, while assorted crews of craftsmen build the house, but I digress.

So… there’s no time to write, other than in snatched moments. Those snatched moments, however, can lend humor. I’ve discovered the voice recorder on my phone returns gibberish – or maybe it’s my Southern accent that turns reasonable statements into sentences that…well…aren’t remotely reasonable.

But the resulting text is enough that I can at least, sorta remember where I was going with the scene idea.  Then there are the scribbles on the backs of envelopes and sticky notes. Where would we be without sticky notes?

And I’m dreaming like mad. For some weird reason (I’m sure the mental health people can analyze, except I’d really hate it if they did), when I don’t have the creative outlet from writing (or painting or fusing glass or oops, another tangent), all those wild ideas invade my sleep.

What about you? How do you handle it when the rest of your life is overwhelming your writing time? 

Rebelliousness and Redemption

Okay, so I have a confession that probably won’t shock anyone who knows me: I’m a rule-follower. And a people-pleaser, to boot. I color within the lines, obey traffic laws (mostly), and pay my bills on time. 

Don't hate me. Life just runs much smoother when I'm organized, and I'm all about avoiding conflict whenever and wherever I can.

But in my writing, I tend to be the opposite, at least when it comes to plotting and character-building. Of course, writers have to have conflict in their stories, and there's a certain cadence and pattern to romantic suspense, but when I began creating my new series (Redemption Club), and compared it to my older one (The Mindhunters), I realized how much I loathe having to create characters who are bound by rules. 

Both series lack what I'd term the "classic" romantic suspense heroes and heroines—cops and detectives, FBI agents, SEALs, and so forth. From my very first book, I'd already realized I didn’t like the constraints of writing characters who have to obey the law to the letter because of their career choice. Sometimes, my characters have a background in military or law enforcement, but they've moved on, were hurt by their career in some way, or became disgruntled or even jaded. 

Time for another confession: I thought this choice was because I was lazy. I don't enjoy spending a lot of time researching rulebooks and procedural manuals.

I created a private agency in my Mindhunters series, and the Redemption Club series focuses more on the criminal side, where bending the law is acceptable if it gets you what you want. My heroes and heroines try to be upstanding people, but they may have a blight or two on their records that they need to overcome.

However... I recently realized that it’s not laziness that kept me from going with the traditional types of heroes and heroines. (Okay, it might be a little laziness.) My choices are due, in part, to the restrictions in my normal life. Anne Becker doesn't get to break the rules. As a valedictorian, student role model, oldest sibling, doting wife, perfect mother (yeah, right!) to three children, and law-abiding citizen, I have to follow so many guidelines that it’s no wonder I don’t run off screaming into the woods and become a hermit.

In my books, however… There, "Anne Marie Becker, Author" gets to break any rule she wants—via her characters. As long as she makes her characters likeable and redeemable.

A little rebelliousness, a dash of redemption. That’s what my latest batch of characters are made of.

How about you? Do you like to read/write about characters who have to walk the line, work within boundaries, or do you like the rogues who have sins to make up for?

Amateur Sleuths are Fun

I just got home from a long weekend at the SOKY (Southern Kentucky) Book Fest where I had (so So SO much fun!!) the opportunity to meet, chat with and even be on a panel with amazing mystery writers like Duffy Brown, Anna Lee Huber, Tonya Kapes and more. Throughout the event, one question I heard again and again was, "Why cozy?" And the answer I kept coming back to is, "Because cozy is FUN!"

Dead serious. Pun intended. Mystery writing is a load of fun, especially where an amateur female sleuth is involved. Women are tenacious, curious and resilient, not to mention crafty. Let’s face it, once we get it in our minds to accomplish something, it’s going to happen. Period. Clean that stubborn grout? Done. Find Egyptian cotton sheets at a discount low enough to crumble the pyramids? Easy. Catch a killer? Well…why not?

Creating the perfect heroine? Also fun. She’s every woman. Creating the perfect crime was a little harder. If mystery writing taught me anything, it's that I'm no criminal mastermind. I do, however, know how to cause trouble. So, I outline the crime, put myself in my heroine’s super cute shoes and ask myself, “What would I do first?”

Right? If we have a problem, we need a plan to solve it. I am a dedicated planner. Normally, I start with the facts and resources already on hand or readily available. That part’s easy enough, but what happens when the resources run out? Well, that’s when a girl’s got to get resourceful.

My heroines are curious and motivated, just like her creator, but this isn’t a James Bond book. She has to get information in legal ways without a crack team of gun-toting, tech-savvy backup waiting in the wings. This is where I have the most fun. Thinking outside the box. I wonder: How can she get answers? Where should she look next? Better yet, how much trouble can she get into while looking? The short answer to my last question is SO MUCH TROUBLE.

In my Patience Price Mysteries, Patience is eager to find a killer and protect her beloved little island. She looks at evidence, talks to locals and tourists and really gets the ball rolling. Much like you or I would do. As it turns out, killers don’t like snooping. And then the real fun begins for me.

Hey, launching a private investigation is no easy task, especially for an amateur. Stakeouts and tailing suspects can ruin a girl’s sleep and worry her parents. It can also irritate her FBI boyfriend who insists she drop her investigation and stay out of his way. Not something a woman wants to hear, so she doesn’t listen. Obviously. Who does he think he is?

Then, there’s her real life. I love filtering in those mundane relentless obligations that don't seem to care if there's a murder to be solved. You know, like dinner at your Mom's or that dumb bunny boss who thinks you should come in once and a while. Obligations are something everyone understands and thy're extra funny when they aren't ours. I keep lots of things on my heroine's plate. Finding trouble for them is easy and kind of a hoot. My heroines are unfortunately like me in another way, too: quick to act and slow to worry. They're loved by their communities and have commitments to tend to when not being chased, threatened or abducted. 

Writing the antics and shenanigans of a small town girls turned investigators is a blast. The locals are quirky. Families are a riot and romance is in the air like napalm. Nevertheless, curiosity prevails. Crimes get solved and bad guys are thwarted. My heroines are everything I would be, if only I wasn’t afraid of my shadow, and writing the investigation of an amateur sleuth wasn’t such a blast. For now, I'll stay home where it's safe and write more fabulous shenanigans. 

What is your favorite thing about reading or writing mystery?

SETTTINGS: A CLOSE BUT EXOTIC GEM

Looking for a gorgeous, exotic locale brimming with colorful history for your story? Consider Puerto Rico.

Recently I attended a professional retreat in San Juan and fell in love with the island.  Incredibly blue waters stirred by constant breezes; friendly locals who, if they don't speak English, are willing to communicate with enthusiastic gestures; rows of colorful buildings with ironwork befitting Charleston or New Orleans.

And the food. Oh my. Pastries that melt in your mouth and seafood artfully cooked.

Consider a chase scene across the fascinating bioluminescent bay where a kayak paddle can yield sparks of light in dark waters.

Into paranormal?

Consider the former convent El Convento. Now a hotel and restaurant, there be ghosts lurking on the premises.

 Need a powerful business mogul? You can model him/her on the Bacardi family who founded an enormous distillery off San Juan.

History abounds in this gateway to the Caribbean where the Spanish defended its stronghold against attacks by England and the Netherlands among other countries. Love a pirates' yarn or treasure? The seas teemed with the raiders.



 






Interested in a World War II setting? U.S. modified the mighty fortresses of old San Juan to serve as lookout posts against German subs.

Your hero/heroine can stay at a romantic hacienda at the edge of the rain forest...

 

 

 

 

Snorkel  the coral reefs or...

Lounge on a yacht by a beach with powdered sands.

 

 

 

Where have you traveled recently that served as inspiration for a book setting?

 

J Carol Stephenson

Website; Facebook; Twitter; Not Your Usual Suspects





Birth of an Activist

by Janis Patterson

I can’t stand it any more. I have become an activist.

I cannot bear the unending mangling of our beautiful language, or the overwhelmingly blatant demonstrations of ignorance that surround us daily. Now I rarely go out without being armed with my trusty Marks-A-Lot™ with which I gleefully commit corrective acts of sabotage.

Nor am I alone. After starting a loosely knit organization called 5/A (also known as the American Association Against Apostrophe Abuse) I have discovered that there are others who dislike the grammatical ignorance that is so prevalent today. We are few in number, but growing.

My main target is usually the grocery store, because that’s where it all began. One day while I was shopping there was a spotty youth writing a sign for bananas. I remember it exactly – Banana’s – 49 cents. (Of course, he used the cents sign, which has sadly disappeared from all modern keyboards.) I asked him, which banana’s what did he mean?

He looked at me as if I were mad. “These bananas,” he said politely enough. I then explained that it wasn’t true – what he was writing was a singular possessive, which meant something (so far unstated) that belonged to one of the bananas present. After a few more moments of enlightening conversation he turned tail and ran for his manager.

The manager was kind, very soothing and thanked me for bringing the matter to his attention – employees are usually very kind to strong-minded older ladies with canes – then brought out a new card and, as a concession to customer relations, wrote Bananas’ – 49 cents. He couldn’t understand why I started laughing, albeit somewhat hysterically. Neither did he understand it when I patiently explained the difference between singular possessive, plural possessive and simple plural.

I still shopped there for several years afterward, though I swear when they saw me coming all the stock boys grabbed their sign-making materials and ran for the back. No one ever said a word when I corrected their signs with my trusty marker, either. I should drop back by, though, and see if they have improved any – I don’t shop there any more, as the store is in Dallas. Ever since the demagogues in the city council forced that idiotic and unwanted plastic bag ban down the citizens’ throats I try not to shop in Dallas at all, preferring not to let whatever sales tax I spend go to support such stupidity. For what it’s worth, judging from the increase in traffic in the stores of the satellite cities, I’m not alone in that, either!

Nor is my educational zeal limited to grocery stores. There was a lovely shop with a huge parking lot bearing a sign Customer’s Parking. I finally called them, asking if one needed to make an appointment in order to shop in their store. They answered of course not and gave me their open hours. I then asked where I could park close by, as their sign made it obvious their parking lot was restricted to one customer at a time. After I explained and again asked where I could park that would be within their stated limitations – and without relying on luck that I would be the sole customer at any given moment – they hung up on me. Apparently some people just do not care to learn what is correct. I never did shop there. There is justice, however, because they went out of business not long after. Apparently grammar does count!

And it should – language is perhaps the highest development of humankind. It is what allows us to communicate not only with each other, but with generations yet to come. It should be exact, for it conveys information that can and should be understood forever. Perhaps a misplaced apostrophe or wandering comma in itself is no great solecism, but the greatest rents start with the tiniest of holes and before long the entire fabric can become shredded and useless. As writers we are the guardians of not only of language, but of the concept and execution of language, and both deserve our best.