Searching for Mr/Ms Right

I recently, and reluctantly, asked for a reversion of rights for two of my culinary mysteries in the “Dinner is Served” series. Mission Impastable was in print. Prime Rib and Punishment waited in the wings.

It was very difficult to admit it was time to move on. My publisher had been wonderful to me, but her health issues over the past many years had made the future of the company precarious. For my own career, I decided to sever the connection.

It was clear it was the right decision, but that didn’t make it any easier. In fact, I delayed the actual request for rights until several months after I had made the decision. Maybe, it will work out. Maybe the company will right itself. But Maybes were all I had.

Last spring I compiled a list of small publishers of mysteries. There were quite a few of them who were open to submissions without an agent. Not a huge number, but still a respectable number to pursue. I prioritized them and wrote a query letter template. Still I stalled.

Procrastination. What caused it? Reluctance to start over. It’s a hard road, submission is.

Grieving for what had been was another cause. I thought I was done with submissions for this genre, and I liked where I had landed.

Fear of rejection was another. I’d been “accepted” to traditional publishing. Why did I have to prove myself again?

What if no one picked up my series right away? Did I abandon it? Indie publish? Continue submitting until I grew too old to hit the send button?

Serendipitously, I encountered an acquisitions and development editor for a small press at a conference I attended over the summer. I hadn’t come to the conference intending to pitch to anyone, but I quickly pulled something together and pitched my series while handing over a printed copy of the first book. I described book two. Told him I had three books completed in the series beyond the published one, and that books four and five were outlined. He loved the titles of books three through six: Potluck, Ancient Grease, Tequila Mockingbird, and Cooks in the Can.

He asked me to submit the traditional submission materials: a query letter explaining book two and the series, synopsis of book two, the first fifty pages, and a brief bio. I asked if he wanted a marketing plan, also. He seemed surprised I had one, and agreed I should attach that as well.

I sent it all off three months ago. And so the remembered-wait from previous submissions began. I am hopeful but not confident. Small presses only put out a few books a year. I was asking for one of those slots. So were hundreds, maybe thousands, of others. Did already having completed manuscripts give me an advantage? Or was it a liability to commit to a series before sales data on book one was in?

Another piece of the equation always is: so what if they do want me? Do I want them? Am I willing to sign with the first one queried? Shouldn’t I be searching for other publishers to get this process moving in multiple pathways and to soften the blows of rejection? I can always tell myself, “Oh, well. ‘Mysteries Are Us’ didn’t want me, but I still have ten more publishers to hear from.” 

But the procrastination continues. I’ll wait to hear from the conference publisher. If the highly-likely (given publishing odds) rejection comes, I do have my fall-back list of small presses to pull out, make my spread sheet, and send off submission materials. And wait again.

But my fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed in hope that won’t be necessary. You’ll be the first to know how it ends. Well, not really. But you know what I mean.

If you found this post interesting enough to share with your friends, you can make your own social media posts or copy/paste these.

Facebook: Authors, trad publishing has numerous submission heartaches especially when you have to change publishers. Sharon Arthur Moore-Author describes a recent process she has gone through. http://bit.ly/2xDuvAN

Twitter: #Writers face disappointment, long waits, and likely rejection when they submit to trad publishers http://bit.ly/2xDuvAN

April A-Z Blog Challenge: Theme Reveal

As you know, I am writing a culinary mystery series. The "Dinner is Served" series has one book out, Mission Impastable, and two more coming out in 2016. Maybe three if I can get it together. The next two in the series are Prime Rib and Punishment and Potluck. Try Mission Impastable if you like an entree of mystery with a side of recipes.

Writing mysteries challenges authors to come up with plausible ways to murder someone that has not been done to death, so to speak.

I mean, I know in real life, people die in pretty standard ways. But to get people to read our books, and not the newspaper, we have to go beyond the headlines. We have to come up with interesting murder methods.

To that end, I will be blogging, A-Z, 26+ ways to murder someone. Yep. This will be one-stop shopping for unusual ways to kill. Disclaimer: Do not really kill people this way. This is just an academic exercise.

Stop back by on April 1st, and no fooling, I'll give you the beginning of your murderous tool kit! Hmm! Wonder what A will be? Mwah ha ha!

Finish What You Start

Mission Impastable came out in 2014. I am completing books two and three in the culinary mysteries series, “Dinner is Served”, this summer. But ALWAYS when I am in the throes of writing a novel and near the end, my mind drifts to bright and shiny things that ARE NOT the current project. And that would be book four. Ever happen to you? You know what I’m sayin’, right?

Book two, Prime Rib and Punishment, has my personal chefs, Alli and Gina, teaching at a cooking school. The head chef hates them and all home cooks since they are not professionally, classically trained. Too bad he dies. Even too badder is that they are the prime suspects. Recipes are largely meat-based entrees.

In Potluck, a double entendre title, Alli is driven to use marijuana in recipes for medical purposes, to help people who cannot get medical benefits from smoking grass and must ingest it. She seeks the help of a brilliant agronomist who is a grower-distributor for most of the medical marijuana dispensaries in Arizona. Gina is not on board with this direction for their company. Recipes are for neighborhood potlucks as well as ones to add marijuana to at the prescribed dosage.

So with two great books winding up, why is my attention drawn from them to book four? I can’t wait to begin Ancient Grease, and I must fight myself constantly to keep from jotting down scenes and snippets of dialogue. If I get drawn into that book prematurely, I will never get books two and three done. That is precisely why I am now finishing two books this summer, both at past the mid-point. And the newer, fresher one is more appealing than the stale (in my mind) books two and three.

If I throw book four into the mix, none of them will ever get completed and published!

Writing Ancient Grease appeals to me on so many levels. I get to include Mediterranean/Aegean Sea recipes. I get to replay scenes from my travels in Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia. And the format is different. Rather than a novel, Ancient Grease is a series of linked short stories that take place when Gina and Alli are demonstration cooks on a cruise ship. There’s murder and burglary and mistaken identities. Wowie! It’s going to be a great book!

Doesn’t that sound more appealing than finishing up two other books and then doing the inevitable and everlasting edits?

Sigh. Delayed gratification has never been my strong suit. But, fortunately, with a critique group prodding me, I will finish what’s on my plate so I can get to dessert.

POTLUCK: My Plan to Win NaNoWriMo

The entry that won my National Novel Writing month contest at Write on Sisters was Potluck, 

book three in my culinary mystery series. In that post, I showed you what I was going to do to plan Potluck for NaNoWriMo success. Here’s some of what I did before November 1^st to plan my novel. I completed all the steps described in the link above.

Book Blurb (~250 words)

Making food mixes to infuse with medical marijuana seems the perfect way for Alli and Gina to supplement the income from their personal chef business. Complications to that plan arise when someone dies and Alli is accused of the murder. Alli still wonders where she belongs and who she is as she lives with a surrogate family, visits her jailed biological brother, fends off a romantic

relationship, and anticipates a visit from someone from her past. Potluck contains recipes to add medical marijuana to as well as recipes for large-portion dishes for neighborhood potluck dinners.

Microsummary:

Creating mixes for ganja foods gives Alli and Gina’s personal chef business a boost that goes up in smoke

Theme:

Family is fundamental but what constitutes family is a shifting landscape.

Sub-Themes:

1.    Insecurities affect relationships and interactions.

2.    The search for identity can be uncomfortable.

3.    Impulsivity has both good and bad sides.

Character Sketches:

ALLI WESSON and Gina, her best friend since 2^nd grade, are partners in a personal chef business that is still struggling to support the two of them. Alli always has ideas of expanding that strain their relationship. Alli is a cork-screw curled dyed red head whose impulsivity leads to as much trouble as her creativeness leads to brilliant successes. Abandoned by her parents as a teen, she moved in with Gina’s family and lives in a casita on the property. Her brother Cal showed up in the last book and is in prison for murdering his and Gina’s boss at the hospital.

GINA SMITHSON admires Alli’s contrastive personality until they clash over just how far to go. Still, the bond between them is strong and loving. Gina’s husband died so she lives with her mother for financial, emotional, and caregiving reasons. Maria helps with Nicky and Carrie’s childcare and general housekeeping. Gina is wound tight. She needs to be in a relationship but has had trouble letting go of her dead husband, Nick. A tall, thin streaked blond, she is attractive but doesn’t play to her assets.

MARIA MARTINI is Gina’s language mangling mother who took in the teen Alli when her parents deserted her. They share a bond and a passion for cooking that Gina is jealous of. In Potluck, Maria’s arthritis triggers her getting a medical marijuana card for chronic pain. She hides it from the family for a long time. Maria can be interfering but it always comes from a place of love. She is about as tall as she is wide with graying black hair.

EVAN KATZ is now a homicide detective on the Glendale police force. He and Alli have had an on-off romantic relationship for years. He wants to make the relationship permanent, but Alli is resisting. He knows she loves him, but she won’t commit and that puzzles him.

CAL WESSON wants a sole relationship with his sister Alli and resents her having a boyfriend or living with Gina’s family. He claims the murder he was imprisoned for was accidental, and while Alli wants to believe that, she is uncertain. Cal holds out the hope that Alli can be reunited with other family members that Cal claims to be in contact with. He knows family is important to her and uses her need to control her.

PEARL is Maria’s best friend and as a former hospital supervisor, she got Gina her job there. However, she was very supportive when Gina and Alli started their personal chef business. She helped Maria navigate getting her medical marijuana card through a doctor she knew to be an easy prescriber.

MOS SAENZ is a high school friend of Alli’s who owns Mos Taco, a biker bar and grill in a shady part of town. He’s always been in love with Alli but their timing for getting together has never worked. He puts Alli in touch with Bodie, a local grower to help with her questions. Tall, athletic, there isn’t a part of Mos that isn’t tattooed or pierced. Maria never liked Alli hanging out with Mos’ older crowd in high school. But Mos is a softie who loves to cook and serves his mother’s recipes at his place.

BODIE, Mos’ friend who grows pot to supply local distributors, is a ganja expert on varieties, doses, and ways of medicating. He has both legitimate and illegitimate business associates. He has more enemies than friends because of their interactions. A botany major in college, Bodie is the premier grower in the Valley. He finds Alli attractive and hits on her.

DR. FINNAGILL is a doctor who generously prescribes for medical marijuana cards, especially if you slip him some extra money. His patients are mostly men in their 20s who want to buy street cheaper marijuana but with a card that says they can have the drug legally. He also gets marijuana from local growers by recommending them as suppliers to the distributors. He gets kickbacks from both. Except Bodie. Bodie resists paying the money. The doctor threatens to stop recommending the purity of Bodie’s products to distributors and promoting the products of others unless he get a kickback.

NURSE ZOEY STEVENS is Bodie’s girlfriend. She thinks he’s seeing someone else because he’s so busy all the time. She knows about doc trying to screw Bodie over distribution, milking Bodie for money. She plays both sides.

REPRESENTATIVE NATHAN WILLIAMS is an outspoken foe of the medical marijuana legalization in Arizona. He fought hard and used the issue as his main platform plank for re-election. The problem is he is a drug addict beholden to his supplier, Bodie. If his addiction is made public, he loses everything. Bodie has indicated that if Williams changes his mind on the legislation and offers protection, that would keep him quiet about the Congressman.

DONNY BUTCHER  is another friend of Mos’ who is a druggie known for petty thefts. He robs local growers in small quantities so he won’t be caught. But Bodie confronts him with evidence and threatens to call the police. Donny, who uses more than MJ, gets very angry and threatens Bodie as well. He also knows about the Congressman’s addiction.

SETH STEVENS, a rival grower, is jealous of the success of the varieties Bodie is growing and mixing and providing to suppliers. He knows Bodie is doing something underhanded and files charges with the police to interfere with Bodie’s business, but he can’t gather enough evidence to convince the police. Bodie also was romantically involved with his sister while he and Bodie were initially in business together. They separated over ethical issues. Seth knows that the doctor is putting the screws to Bodie over distribution issues.

BELINDA FRIDMANN, cousin of Evan (but Alli doesn’t know it); journalism grad student writing thesis; enrolled in cooking school to do investigation, hates cooking and is bad at it ; helped Alli solve murders. Graduated now and working free lance doing investigations and articles.

Key Events:

1.    Maria’s arthritis is so bad she gets a medical marijuana card for chronic pain and a customer can’t inhale marijuana so Alli and Gina create recipes. to add MJ to leading Alli to want to market the MJ-friendly mixes.

2.    Alli wrestles with her relationship to her brother Cal, just released from prison and with Evan her boyfriend.

3.    Through a high school friend who distributes marijuana, Alli finds a grower as a resource for recipes and dosages.

4.    While visiting the grower, she observes a threatening note, overhears a phone conversation, and witnesses a confrontation.

5.    The pot grower is killed.

6.    Alli receives a mysterious letter and afterward acts distant and testy.

7.    Alli is arrested for killing the pot grower and her recent behavior seems to point that way.

8.    Out on bail, Alli begins to track down various suspects to uncover the real murderer.

9.    Alli is kidnapped by the killer but manages to save herself and get him arrested.

10.Alli reveals a high school pregnancy and that her child wants to meet her.

Scene	Who	Where	When	Point of Scene	What Happens
1	Maria, Pearl, Dr. Finnagill, Nurse Zoey. Bodie	Medical Marijuana Clinic	Morning, early Sept	Maria gets med MJ card to treat arthritis; Bodie arrives with shipment, argues with Doc; see neighbor as leaving	There early so maybe no one will see them; Pearl and Maria talk about how to hide from family; concerned MJ will not be available because of what heard; decide to get different devices and use at Pearl’s
2	Alli, Gina, Ms. Peterson	Peterson’s kitchen	Same morning	Woman undergoing chemo wants to adjust meal plan	A & G concerned woman can’t eat but must. Plan a bland diet with lots of nutrients; woman asks if they’ll help her put MJ in food; shows them a food (recipe)
3	Alli, Gina, Maria, Pearl	Maria’s kitchen	Labor Day	Potluck neighborhood party makes Maria worry about discovery	Gina and Alli overhear Maria talking to Pearl about being outed at the potluck (recipe)
4	Alli, Maria	Family room	Early next afternoon	Alli discovers Maria is hiding her pot use and confronts her	While doing Internet search, Alli finds pot sites; smells pot on Maria; pot to eat
5	Alli, Maria	Alli’s kitchen	Late afternoon	They try to make a food product and both get too buzzed	Alli and Maria try to adapt a (recipe) for Maria to ingest her med mj so no one else in the family knows
6	Alli, Gina	Kitchen	Next day, morning	Alli tries to get Gina to agree to make mixes for Med MJ	Gina appalled at the idea; has no idea Maria needs it, too. Refuses Alli’s idea without more research; don’t know what they’re doing; fixing casserole for dinner (recipe)

I continued this way for 40 scenes, which printed off, were glued to 5x8” cards for me to turn over each day as I work my way through the scenes.

Well, back to turning over scene cards. Onward to NaNo winning! Oh, and my word count stands at 14, 111--ahead of schedule! So far.

The Night of Eating Dangerously

I am so excited that Cathy Brockman will appear next Tuesday on “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time”! Please come back because she will have some great treats for the party plans I  put together for you this week!

Okay, so I ripped off NaNoWriMo for the title of this post, but I couldn't resist. It's so perfect for Halloween week. And since I am writing Potluck, the 3rd book in my culinary mystery series, for National Novel Writing Month, I figured I could use it.

I miss the fun of Halloween when we had kids around. Sans kids at home and living in a neighborhood with no children has kinda taken the shine off this holiday. But why does it have to? Why not have a grown-up Halloween party that is easy peasy to do but great fun? So, okay, this is maybe too late for this year, but what about next year? And if you have flexible friends and neighbors, you could pull it off this year.

First things first:

How many and who can you invite? In the Phoenix, AZ area, it is still warm enough for the party to spill over to outdoors. But inventory your space. This is finger-food eating, not sit-down-dinner, so perhaps you can invite more. Or not, if you want a more intimate party. If you decide to make it a family party you will have to plan activities for the kids.

What foods will you have? The Internet is loaded with adult-friendly Halloween foods like Halloweenies and cheese in ways you never considered.

These links give you dozens of ideas for fun foods to try.

LINK http://www.southernliving.com/food/holidays-occasions/halloween-party-appetizers-drinks-recipes

LINK http://www.parenting.com/gallery/eerie-edibles-halloween-snacks

LINK http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/halloween-party-appetizers#1a9n7gl

LINK http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/packages/halloween.html

What about entertainment? Will you have a TV in another room playing classic scary movies playing all night? Will you have a contest for funniest, scariest, etc. costumes? Will you put on dance music like “Monster Mash”? You could create a Haunted House room or maze. Or will you let sparkling conversation drive the evening?

What about decorations? There are lots of ways to decorate for Halloween parties. Pull out all that stuff you had for your kids. Or you can go cheap party-store items or create elegant and classy decorations. It’s all up to you. Here are some links for DIY decorations. Remember that your gross/scary/funny foods can be part of the décor.

https://www.yahoo.com/diy/tagged/halloween

http://www.partycity.com/category/halloween+costumes/decorations+party+supplies.do

http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/packages/halloween.html

http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/easy-halloween-party-decorations-you-can-make-for-about-5/pictures/index.html

http://www.pinterest.com/KatieBush/halloween-party-decor-ideas/

Getting it all done:

I’m huge on list making. Write down every single item in a column, arranged in categories (like these headings) and figure out each tiny step. Planning now saves headaches later.

After you have your menu planned, you choose the hardest, most elaborate, or expensive items for yourself. Make sure you prepare enough food so if people “forget” their assigned dish, you don’t run out. Divvy up the other menu items and get the directions/recipes for each.

Send an invitation to each family you’re inviting and ask them to bring the recipe you enclose with the invitation. If they can’t come, have them let you know well in advance so you can make it or ask someone who’s doing a small thing.

Your invitation should specify who’s invited, when and where the party is, and if costumes are de rigueur, is there a theme to dress toward or not?

There! Here you have everything you need to pull off the neighborhood party of the year. It truly is merely a matter of organization supplemented by Internet ideas!

What Will I Do on My Summer Break?

Dear Readers,

I always find these month-of-blogging gigs pretty tiring, and I tend to take a break from regular postings on that blog for a while. During the break from "Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time", rest assured I will be busy!

But if you miss me too much, there are many archived articles and recipes and support pages on this site. Oh, and check out the book club kit for Mission Impastable. Have fun exploring the site.

So what will I be working on?

I need to finish Prime Rib and Punishment by the end of June if I want it out to you by Thanksgiving!

I must research what I need to begin books three, four, and five: Ancient Grease, Cooks in the Can, and Potluck. Here's a sneak preview of each:

Prime Rib and Punishment (lots of meat recipes) takes place a few months after the end of Mission Impastable. Alli and Gina are still struggling to support themselves as personal chefs, but they also now teach at the newish cooking school in their hometown of Glendale, AZ. The owner of the school loves them. His executive chef, not so much. Chef Fournier only respects classically trained chefs and these homecooks are anathema. He and Alli have an especially bumpy relationship. Murder, mayhem, and menus abound!

Ancient Grease (many Mediterranean recipes simplified Alli-style) takes Alli and Gina on an Aegean Cruise where they get a free trip in exchange for being demonstration cooks on the ship. The format of this culinary mystery is different. There are five novelette mysteries (in different locales) in one book. They are linked by being on the same cruise, but each mystery can be read independently of one another. Tentative novelette titles include "On the Lamb", "The Garden of Eaten", and "Something Fishy". They visit "The Garden of Eden Theme Park" which wasn't much fun for one visitor. Somebody goes overboard. Jewelry disappears from a locked stateroom. Smuggling of illegal food products gets someone killed. This format will be fun to try. Can I do a mystery in 10-15 thousand words?

Cooks in the Can (featuring many recipes made with canned goods) has the financially struggling Alli and Gina cooking as substitute cooks for inmates at the Maricopa County Jail. They uncover evidence of fraud that jeopardizes someone's life. And Pearl, BFF of Gina's mom, has twin brothers who were swept up and jailed, inadvertently, she claims. She wants Alli to spring them, legally or illegally.

Potluck (dishes for group dinners and recipes to add cannabis to) finds Alli and Gina back in Glendale where Alli wants to take advantage of the medicinal properties of cannabis to create a new food product line for their "Wild Cinnamon" business. Gina is absolutely opposed to branching out that way so their whole business plan is jeopardized. The illness of a client tugs heartstrings and then the pain hits even closer. And who killed their supplier?

So, that's what I'm working on! I hope you enjoy the mysteries I've got planned for you! See you in June!