The North Woods By Morgan Mandel

Big Arbor Vitae Lake
Here I am up in the North Woods of Wisconsin again, near Minocqua. Today my friend, Jeanne, and I took a drive to Eagle River and checked out the Apple Fest. I didn't see any apples, but saw lots of jewelry, purses, table runners, tote bags, hand-made furniture, and other goodies.

The tote bags were my best find, since I'd been keeping my eyes open for that particular type - cloth that folds up into a small square that I can stick into my purse or pocket. I bought 2 and still have my original one. I'm a sucker for tote bags. The bottom of one of my closets is lined with all kinds - one from Bouchercon, two from Love is Murder, another from Chicago Spring Fling, and many others from stores.

When you write about a character, think about a strength, weakness, foible or any kind of unique characteristic that makes that person stand out. It may not be a love for tote bags. It could be a plate collection, gun collection, passion for dancing or singing. It's your choice.

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com

My Family

Just for fun, thought I'd put my kids picture in this blog. Matthew is the baby and lives right next door, so I see him and his family nearly every day. He's got four kids and three grandkids.

Dana is the eldest, with two kids and five grandkids. She lives in Oxnard CA. We used to live there, it's right on the beach. When it's 102 here I wonder why I moved.

Lisa is the next in line with two daughters and three grandkids--and another on the way. She lives about five minutes away.

Lori is next to the Matt, has six kids, no grandchildren.

Our eldest son, Mark, passed away about four years ago. He had three children and two grandchldren.

I've been remarkably blessed.

To bring this around to writing and mysteries, only one of my kids reads my books--Dana. Only a few of my grandchildren read my books. I have one great-granddaughter who is a fan. Now that's sad. I am grateful for those who do read them, of course. With that many in my family, just think what a word-of-mouth campaign they could do. Oh well.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Public Safety Writers Association Conference

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to register for PSWA's conference at a reduced price before September 30 of this year. (Las Vegas will be one of the few places that you’ll be able to get to without paying a fortune.) Check out the website for the registration form and the main speakers: http://www.policewriter.com

PSWA’s (Public Safety Writers Association) annual conference is being held in Las Vegas, June 18-21, 2009 at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino. The conference is open to anyone writing crime and mystery fiction or non-fiction, technical writing for public safety magazines in print or online, or anyone interested in writing. Registered attendees may offer a suggestion for a presentation or panel. There is no-restriction as to who can serve on a panel.

Steve Scarborough, a Forensic Scientist with over 30 years experience in Law Enforcement with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI.an accomplished technical writer and the author of several books, will give a presentation on “Writing Forensics Right.” http://www.steve-scarborough.com/

There's lots, lots more--I guarantee you'll learn lots and have fun.

Just don't miss out on the reduced registration fee that expires September 30.

Marilyn http://fictionforyou.com

Making Blogs Better by Morgan Mandel

I'm determined to increase readership on my blogs. On my personal blog at http://morganmandel.blogspot.com, I'm aiming for every day. This is my fourth day. I'll see how long the string can go unbroken.

I'm including lots more live links for search engines to pick up. I've started a blogroll. I've joined www.mybloglog.com, a cool free service offered by yahoo which displays all my blogs in one spot.

One more action I've taken is to claim my blogs at http://technorati.com, which I've been told is a good way to increase attendance and get known.

So, right now I'm gun ho on doing blogs and gaining blog readers. I'll be clicking Google Analytics daily to see if any of my efforts work.

Are any other of you heavy into doing and improving blogs? What methods do you use?

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/morganmandel

Olympic Authors

I've been caught up in the excitement of the Olympics over the past few days -- the dedication of the athletes and their coaches to being the best at the right time, peaking for the moment; the support of their family, friends and sponsors; their citizens rooting for them, regardless of discipline. The wrestlers and boxers are cheered on, the track stars have rooting sections, the rowers have fans riding cycles along the route to watch!

And it occurs to me, the parallel this has to the writing life. Like athletes, we can spend a lot of hours alone -- at a computer, tablet or even a notepad, creating the mysteries we love, finding the twists and turns to tease our fans and readers. We need a good support system -- crit partners or a friend or family member who reads that rough first draft and encourages us that we can get better, make it tighter, stronger, more intriguing. We have our beloved readers who wait for our next book! We have our personal goals to set and work to attain.

At the Olympics, not everyone gets a gold medal, or even a silver or bronze. But there are plenty of personal bests and there's a great deal of satisfaction in being a part of the Games....and when you put together a story that dovetails with perfection, that entertains and engages the reader, that makes you proud to sign your name to....well, I kind of think I understand how a gold medal winner feels!

Libby McKinmer
Romance with an edge
www.libbymckinmer.com
http://www.shelfari.com/LibbyMcKinmer
libby@libbymckinmer.com

Wishing Makes It So

This book from Hard Shell Word Factory, Wishing Makes It So, is not a mystery in the strictest sense. We called it a psychological horror, though put it in different categories.

This book won several awards, winner in the horror category, USA Book News, Best Books of 2006; Author Island.com Reader’s Choice Award for Horror;Best Thriller of ‘06, American Author’s Association; Finalist in horror in the DIY Book Festival.

Despite the awards, this book isn't for everyone because it's about a very bad little girl. A child welfare worker who read the book said to me, "There aren't many children like this, but there are a few and you described this one perfectly."

The book is actually based on something that happened in my family. We took in a child and soon learned that love does not conquer all--which I thought it would. Fortunately, things didn't turn out as bad for us as the family in the story.

Anyone reading it should remember that it is fiction--only the seed for the story came from our experience, my imagination and research contributed to the plot.

Wishing Makes It So is available from http://www.hardhshell.com both as a trade paperback and ebook, from http://www.fictionwise.com as an ebook, and for an autographed copy from my website, http://fictionforyou.com--and of course it's available from all the online bookstores.

This is one of my favorite books--I enjoyed writing it and I've enjoyed promoting it. I hope it will find more readers.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

DUCKS IN A ROW? Ramblings on Being Organized By Morgan Mandel

About being organized --
I try, I really do, but it doesn't happen. I don't know if it ever will. I'm the kid who got checkmarks on her report card in grammar school in the section that said, "Keeps desk drawers neat." I don't even know if they give checkmarks on report cards any more.

I'm the teenager who only cleaned up her room the night before a big test until I finally caved in and resigned herself to studying. Fortunately, I still managed to get good grades.

I'm the college student who had to try extra hard to keep my side of the apartment in order so my roommate wouldn't get mad at me.

I'm the adult who has a closet floor littered with shoes and purses, so many I can't even tell what's there. Also, many of the purses still contain items I didn't switch over when I changed to another one.

I'm the doglover who almost trips over her dog, Rascal's toys and bones littering the floor because there are so many of them.

I'm the author who had so many to-do papers from projects not yet completed, I had to dump them all in a drawer in the hopes I can one day have time to go through them.

I'm also the author who went on vacation, tried to keep up with my e-mail by using a network card, but failed anyway. To-date, my inbox shows over 1500 e-mails unopened, which at the time they were sent I deemed not as important, but I'm still afraid to hit delete until I check them out.

And I'm the author with three books in the works, but none are finished - One a thriller, one that was supposed to be a romantic comedy but has evolved into something I can't yet define, another a possible children's book about Rascal.

Do I have my ducks in a row? Doesn't sound like it, but in a way I do. The stuff I've failed to get done bugs me at times, yet not always. As a wife, doglover, author, I've set my priorities.

If my husband wants to go out to dinner, go to a festival, share a DVD or program he likes with me, I'm not going to say no because the house is sloppy or I'm in the middle of a project. Sharing special moments with him is important.

If Rascal wants to take her toys and bones out of the rubbermaid container and spread them all over the floor to play with, I let her. Keeping her happy makes me happy.

If I'm getting ready for a special occasion like a party or booksigning, I'm smart enough to do my hunt early so I can find the right shoes and purse to go with whatever outfit I'm wearing.

Those papers in the drawer - For now they can stay there. I've discovered more exciting projects to keep me busy, like new networks to join and other ways to market my books. Maybe someday I'll check them over and see if any can be thrown out or attended to.

If I can't answer all my e-mail, I answer the ones that look important. I go to the groups with the most activity, since members of the other ones aren't on the web as much anyway and probably don't care if I'm there or not.

Those three books waiting to get done - Now that's another matter. To force myself to get moving, on one of them I signed up for a critique at my local chapter. Chicago-North RWA. That forced me to get twenty pages in shape on one of the manuscripts so I wouldn't embarrass myself. Now, after the critique, I have a better idea of what works and what doesn't. Also, I've got a clearer plan on how to move ahead.

So, I guess you might say my motto is Do What You've Gotta Do, because I'll never by the one who has all my Ducks In a Row.

Morgan Mandel
www.morganmandel.com
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://sixtyandsavvy.ning.com
http://bookplace.ning.com

SUMMER STORMS By Morgan Mandel

MEN OF MYSTERY AT http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com.
WEDNESDAY - AUG 13 - MARCUS SAKEY - FRIDAY - AUG. 15 - JOE KONRATH.

It seems every other day it wanted to snow this past winter. I missed way too many aerobics classes on Wednesdays when I'm off work because the roads were too slippery to navigate. Most of the time I couldn't even walk the dog and made her fend for herself in our enclosed yard. She managed, but wasn't too happy about it, judging from the way she raced back in really fast.

Summer at last. No more snow. Instead rain. Lots of it in June. Almost every day I carried my umbrella to work. It had to stop sooner or later, but when? A summer squall broke out the first night of our 4th of July Festival. Activites were cancelled as people ran for cover.

Finally, we got a dry spell. With it came the heat. Then, last Monday on the way to the train, more dreaded rain and lots of it. My puny umbrella was no match for the gusty winds and buckets of water from the sky. My shirt got soaked, as did my jeans as I stepped onto the train. When I got off, I and lots of other commuters waited, looking out the windows at Ogilvie Transportation Centre, hoping for an opportune time to dash to our offices. After I'd ventured out, I made a quick stop at Walgreens for a cheap shirt and a hair dryer so I wouldn't be uncomfortable all day.

The storm in the morning was nothing compared to what was in store for us that evening. The weather service issued a tornado warning for Cook County, Illinois, not just a watch, including a large area, part of which was Downtown, the Lakeview area, and Park Ridge, which is not far from our house.

After a look out our back window, we rushed to the basement herding Rascal with us, though she's usually not allowed there. To say she was confused is an understatement. Along with the dog came my laptop computer, purse, cell phone and a few flashlights. I forgot to bring some of her treats with, but it was too dangerous to venture back upstairs and get them.

From the windows we could see an enormous amount of lightning flashes and heard the pounding of wind rain against the roof and rest of the house. Later I heard someone on the news say the cloud-to-ground strikes that night were 800 per minute, some kind of record.

The game was stopped at Wrigley Field, where the pennant-contending Cubs were playing. Fans were herded into the shelter of the building. Here's a link to an article found by my friend, Rosemary Braun, who was at the game that night.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-mlb/20080805/Severe.Weather/

From what I've been telling you, you can see how weather has played a large part in my life. I'm sure it does in yours as well. When you write a book, don't make every day in your character's lives picture perfect, because, let's face it, weather usually isn't. Think about your own experiences with the vagaries of the seasons and include that in your stories.

Morgan Mandel -- looking forward to a few dry and calm days!!!
www.morganmandel.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel
http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://blogsthatrule.blogspot.com

Movies

Yesterday we took some time off and went to see Swing Vote. I highly recommend the movie.

Costner did a great job playing an irresponsible father and unfortunately a large segment of people who poplate our country.

Besides being entertaining it really brought some thoughtful insight into the political scheme of things--and no it didn't promote one side more than the other. What it did was show the failings of politics on a whole.

Because we've known kids who turned out great despite their lack of parents who did any parenting, this was a most realistic movie in many ways--though a fantasy in others.

If you want to be entertained, this is a good movie to see. Plus it shares my views on the whole political scene.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com