On August 15th #Awethors Are Poised to Attack...Their Keyboards

You know we're (mostly) harmless. Some of us, like myself are reputed to be incapable of making a fist--carpal tunnel is a cruel mistress. But when we all get together in a group we can get unexpectedly rowdy. Previous celebrations have resulted in awethors getting briefly incarcerated in F***b**k "jail" for outrageous behavior of the linguistic kind. Not to mention the "unsafe for work" photos. The event takes place over the weekend, so that will lessen the need for most attendees to practice Safe Workplace Computing.

There's no predicting What Will Happen or (given the international time zone locations of the group) exactly When. Any time from midnight August 15th to midnight August 16th #Awethor Awareness may strike.

Have you ever known a murderer?

I met Jaki Girdner in the writer's critique group where she made the following confession:

I mentioned that I’d known two murderers during a mystery writers’ critique group meeting some years ago. There was a shocked silence among the other aspiring writers. None of them had known a murderer! I was as shocked as they were. I thought everyone had.

Was my predilection for knowing murderers just because I was a good listener and people told me their sins? Or was it because I’d worked in a mental hospital? She goes into riveting detail in her Lineup article

I joined the group a little later, but I probably would have made Jaki feel less alone if I'd been in it when the question was asked because I've known a few murderers as well. On the other hand, Jaki really IS the sort of person strangers share their secrets with.

When my late husband Charlie, worked in the law library while going to night law school, he amused himself by reading criminal case law. He was shocked to see the name of a mutual friend who was involved with and helped the police catch a murderer. Charlie mentioned it to me and I had to say, "Oh, yeah that guy, he used to hang around with [mutual friend's name omitted]."

Charlie adjusted quickly--after all, there had even been a murder in the apartment above us, though we moved in after most of the parties involved had moved on. Charlie soon learned to tease visitors by mentioning the crime when the weather got hot enough that flies circled around the apartment. No connection with the murder upstairs. We just didn't have window screens back then and the flies did that in all the apartments when it got too hot. But the homicide was real.

The Report from Awesome Authorland

Last Sunday I took part in a Facebook/Twitter 24-hour event that brought together over 200 authors to play with words and each other--not like that! It was simply a some wildly creative, witty folks from all over the world talking fiction.

Writing is a lonely business and most of us handle that well. You have to be comfortable talking to imaginary people in your head in order to do it at all. But we’re human, we want other people to read and enjoy our work. Engaging with actual humans can be hard because we aren't sure they'll be nice to us. We're supposed to be "competing" for readers. Actually readers are addicted to fiction, so they can probably consume more than all of us combined could create. It takes way longer to write a book than to read it! But that doesn't stop the anxiety and self-doubt.

So you ask yourself: How to prepare? What if they are so much better than I am? FYI, some of them probably are, but if they’re snooty about it, screw them. Actually nobody proved to be snooty at this event. Au contraire, everyone was warm and welcoming with no necessity to retort or retreat.

A couple of people who participated on April 12th were surprised and touched at the supportive nature of authors to each other. Michael J. Elliott’s posted about his experience.

The kindness of strange authors was less surprising to me because I have seen so much support, knowledge-sharing and mutual aid among authors in the past, particularly in mystery circles such as Sisters in Crime and the DorothyL list. I've also been to marvelously supportive events through Pearlsong Press. But last Sunday the interaction was both real time and extended, through fast-moving discussions on Facebook and Twitter that stayed up for responses to contribute hours later.

The giveaways and contests were managed by the amazing DM Cain and Rocky Rochford.

I put together a semblance of a competition to give away a copy of Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone. There were no takers. If nothing else, this amused me (ya know, "can't give it away and all that").

Those who want free stuff from me will have another chance if they sign up for my new mailing list--another thing I was inspired to try. Sign up here for new book and free story info.

The verdict: A good time was had by all, friendships forged and future projects launched. Also, I was totally trashed for a couple of days but that goes with the territory!

Fast Approaching the speed of Awesome - Proof Positive Interview

Things are heating up as many, many authors gear up for this 24-hour event. As L.E. Fttzpatrick puts it in her Limelight Literature blog “More awesome authors than you can cram into a bus” -- I think we may need a few more buses, as we gladly stop for hitchhikers! Glad to see my Bride of the Living Dead among the giveaway bundles here I'm happy to have a pre-event interview posted at Christie Stratos' Proof Positive blog. Here's the Interview

Christie Stratos explains the 24-hour April 12 event

Christie says it clearer than I could feel free to drop by. I'll be there from 3:00 to 4:00 P.M PST, but probably will be checking in earlier than just to see what's happening.

An Awesome Online Author Event coming April 12th

I'll be joining authors from several genres for a 24 hour Worldwide 'Get Down With The Awethors' event!Questions, answers, stories, contests, prizes. I'm looking forward to it! More info on Facebook, Twitter, etc. soon.

I'll drink a cup to Fat Friendly Fiction in 2013!

This year I'm collaborating with Pearlsong Press to put out a Fat Friendly Fiction list. The blog is in progress with information and links to all the titles. Eventually an ebook version wil be available. But I want to start by posting the authors by genre. Please feel free to visit Fat Friendly Fiction for more info or to comment.

Email me at murraymade@yahoo.com for a one-page printable Word version of the author list.

Here it is for your reading pleasure! FAT FRIENDLY FICTION

CHICK LIT & HUMOR

Backauskas, Staci

MacAfee, Stephanie

Murray, Lynne

Palmer, Liza

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Carlson, Nancy

Corum, Ann Kondo

Ka, Olivier

CURVY EROTICA

Armstrong, Mechele

Brown, Leila

Blank, Hanne

Davis, Justine

Hunter, Adriana

James, Karolyn

Lane, Gretchen

Lee, Marilyn

Lovell, Christin

Moore, Alexis

Scott, J. S.

Verdenis, Angelina

Wick, Christa

FANTASY/PARANORMAL/VISIONARY

Bertauski , Tony

Fox, Andrew

Murray, Lynne

Owen, Lauri J.

Pratchett, Terry

Price, Susan

Truant, Johnny B

MYSTERY & SUSPENSE

Ballard, Pat

Biggers, Earl Derr

Carr, John Dickson

Chesterton, G.K.

Collins, Wilkie

Dickens, Charles

Dickson, Carter

Langton, Jane

Le Carré, John

Lorens, M.K.

Lovesey, Peter

Lovett, Charlie

McKevett, G.A.

Mortimer, John

Murray, Lynne

Smith, Alexander McCall

SHORT STORIES

Bagshaw, Judy

Ballard, Pat

Blank, Hanne (Ed.)

Chesterton, G.K.

Irving, Washington

Jaffarian, Sue Ann

Jarrell, Donna (Ed.)

Koppelman, Susan (Ed.)

Ira Sukrungruang (Ed.)

UNCATEGORIZED

(LITERARY/PLAYS/WOMEN'S etc.)

Adams, Essa

Dickens, Charles

Shakespeare, William

Stinson, Susan

YOUNG ADULT BOOKS

Bellairs, John

Bennett, Cherie

Berk, Josh

Bethancourt, Ernesto T.

Healy, Karen

Hoffman, Nina Kiriki

Lovett, Charlie

Newman, Leslea

Purtill, C. Leigh

Rex, Adam

Strickland, Brad

41st Six Sentence Sunday...who's delusional here?

From The Falstaff Vampire Files, just after dusk, alone in a shed just behind her ex-lover’s house, Kristin sees a huge, old man emerge from a crate. He introduces himself as Sir John Falstaff.

Falstaff did seem appropriate to his age and girth, but he had picked an unusual figure to impersonate, or fixate on--not Napoleon or Elvis--but Shakespeare's Falstaff, a character from literature! Unusual.

No harm in talking to him--he seemed harmless. Had there ever been a journal article on delusions of being a fictional character? A flicker of self-interest ran through me at the thought of a journal article on this subject, and I must have showed it in some way because he leaned toward me.

I tensed up, remembering the months when I worked in a full-fledged mental hospital.

For more fun in six-sentence snippets, check out some (or all!) of the 160 authors at Six Sunday.

31st Six Sentence Sunday...when therapy goes terribly wrong...

From The Falstaff Vampire Files, therapist Kristin's client, Mina, explains that she's just got engaged to a man who wants to become a vampire, though she doesn't understand why:

"I'm not sure if he wants power, or if he just wants to be immortal--he's an older man--he's thirty-five."

I sat back just a little, partly to keep from smiling, remembering my own twenties when thirty-five had seemed impossibly old to me, while now, in my late forties, it seems impossibly young. Scratch that, I happened to be dating--well, sleeping with--a thirty-five-year-old man, so I couldn’t call it impossibly young.

"His name is Henry Roy," Mina said, happy to say his name.

It became very hard to breathe in my office at that moment because Henry Roy was the name of my own thirty-five-year-old lover, though everyone called him Hal.

"Everyone calls him Hal," Mina said.

For more fun in six-sentence doses check out Six Sentence Sunday where at last count 186 writers are sharing snippets in a wide array of genres.

30th week of six sentence Sunday - Vampires & Therapy

The Bookbuzzr widget provides a sample of the first chapter of The Falstaff Vampire Files, including an encounter with the Thing in the Shed. So I'm using today's 6 sentences to introduce therapist Kristin's relationship with her client, Mina:

For several months my client, Wilhelmina--Mina--has come in twice a week to talk about her fears of being stalked by vampires who wanted to make her undead. I don't believe in vampires, but something was scaring the hell out of Mina and her terror came along with her into my consulting room with a presence strong enough to make my own throat tense up. So I wasn’t prepared when Mina started off the session with a shy smile and announced, “I’m engaged!”

I smiled back and almost said, "Congratulations," but stopped myself and retreated into my therapist role and said, "Tell me about it."

She lowered her voice, "He wants to become one of them."

To sample a generous assortment of six sentence snippets from authors in a wide range of genres, check out Six Sunday

29th Six Sentence Sunday, how badly does she want her stolen property back?

Kris Marlowe ventures further into the creepy old house in The Falstaff Vampire Files.

"The corridor on the left leads to the back door," Hal had told me on my first visit. "I keep my coffin in a shed out there--did I tell you I was a vampire?"

Strange how I forgot those words until I stood on the red stone floor again and started up the chilly staircase, also red stone.

A scrabbling sound nearby made me freeze in my tracks. I stopped to listen. The house seemed to shudder like a ship in the wind.

More six sentence snippets from over 160 writers writing in all kinds of genres at http://sixsunday.com/

28th Six Sentence Sunday, a dangerous seach

Further into forbidden territory in The Falstaff Vampire Files

I knew I could be arrested and lose my license if the old lady called Hal or the cops. But I needed to get my property back and I was still enraged that Hal had taken it. I walked into the darkened foyer. It was paved in dark red stone. It was late afternoon but very little daylight filtered in and the lights mounted on the wall glowed already in their twisted copper fittings. The veins in the alabaster seemed to pulse like reptilian eggs.

For more fun snippets check out the talented writers in many genres sharing six sentence glimpses into their work at Six Sunday

23rd six sentence Sunday, Meeting the Multibillionaire

From Larger Than Death, Josephine is led up a spectacular staircase by Mrs. Madrone's openly unimpressed personal assistant to meet with a woman whose name adorns a museum, a hospital, and half a dozen other edifices around the state:

My guide was gone without a word and I stepped toward the woman who sat in a wheelchair next to a heavy mahogany desk that probably had belonged to some Spanish grandee.

Alicia Madrone was in her sixties and narrow as a whippet, with pewter hair pulled into a chignon. Despite the flood of sunshine from the windows that looked out over the Bay, she wore a heavy sweater and wool skirt. The lilac point Siamese on her lap raised his head and stared at me for a moment before settling back down into the blue blanket that matched the color of his eyes.

I reached into my pocket to peel a tissue off the pack I'd brought. I was starting to sweat.


This week at least 170 writers signed up to share six sentence snippets from works in a broad range of genres. Check them out over at Six Sunday!

Finally foreplay! The 6th Week of Six Sunday Sentences - from Bride of the Living Dead

Oscar and Daria's third date ends up in a fever of foreplay at his house.

He drove into the garage and we stumbled into his house and began kissing again the moment he had the door closed. "I’ve wanted to do this ever since I sat behind you in that horrible movie."

            "But you were sitting behind me, you hadn’t even seen my face," I said, stroking his cheek, enjoying the sandpapery feel of it.

            "You had a very appealing neck, but I have a confession to make," he said, kissing my collarbone and working his way up.

I drew back in alarm. "Is this something that’s going to bring everything to a screeching halt?"

More action in great Six Sunday sentences from the storytellers at http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/