This week I'm participating in the My Writing Process blog tour. I'd like to send a big thank you to friend and author Pat Gligor for inviting me to participate.

Here are the four questions every author must answer on the tour. I hope you enjoy my answers.

1)  What am I working on?
    Right now I am trying to finish up CHOCOLATE CITY JUSTICE, the third in the Crescent City Mystery Series.   


2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?
    My novels are influenced by real life cases I handled as a prosecutor and then as an appellate public defender in New Orleans. Having worked both sides in the exact opposite capacity gives me a different perspective into the prosecution of criminals.  In my current capacity, I get to see what the suspects are thinking, why they do what they do, and how they justify their choices. I also get to see when a suspect may actually not be guilty. As a prosecutor, I lived criminal procedure and criminal law so that I can write about it realistically and without having to even think about the nuances. So I think my work differs because it includes some things I've actually experienced, and because I can realistically write about both sides of the coin with the good guys and the bad guys from firsthand experience.

3)  Why do I write what I do?
    I have always been in love with scary things.  Mysteries, the supernatural, horror movies-- if it's scary, I've always been obsessed with it.  So writing mysteries was a natural fit.  I began writing the series when I was a prosecutor, so of course I decided to feature a female prosecutor.  When I began doing public defense, I realized I was gaining an insight to the whole criminal justice system in New Orleans I hadn't had as a prosecutor.  My theme revolves around the idea that justice is not always accomplished by following the law and the two are not necessarily the same thing, which is the underlying drive of everything I write. 

4) How does my writing process work?
    I get a very general plot idea, usually from something that happened in real life.  I then decide on the bad guy and a few other possible suspects. I outline the novel scene by scene, making sure to include the things that need to happen in certain chapters or scenes, such as clues that need to come out or red herrings that need to be planted.  I follow the outline until I come up with a reason not to, such as a plot hole or a better plot device. When that happens, I take a step back, re-outline, and add in or take out what needs to be added or taken out. I may do this process a few times before the book is finally finished.

Next week, the following writers have agreed to participate, so please check out their blogs on June 9th to find out more about their writing processes as well:

MARILYN MEREDITH

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty-five published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Spirit Shapes from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel is Murder in the Worst Degree from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Three chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. 

Visit  her at http://fictionforyou.com and her blog at Blog Link: http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/



JOHN WILLS

John M. Wills is a former Chicago police officer and retired FBI agent. After his retirement from the Bureau, he spent more than eight years as a law enforcement and military firearms trainer for a private company headquartered in Seattle.

He is a freelance writer and award-winning author in a variety of genres, including novels, short stories, creative non-technical, technical and poetry. He has published more than 150 articles on officer training, street survival, fitness and ethics. Read some of John’s articles here: Officer.com.

John also writes scripts for a video production company in Atlanta, and  book reviews for the New York Journal of Books. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle , Public Safety Writers Association, and Virginia Writers Club.

For John’s photo of the day and interviews with authors, as well as posts about writing, visit his blog: JWills Books & Blog


AMY BENNETT

Amy M. Bennett was born and raised in El Paso, Texas and has lived in New Mexico since 1988.  Her debut novel, “End of the Road”, won the 2012 Dark Oak Mystery contest, and launched the Black Horse Campground mystery series.  

 

The second book, “No Lifeguard on Duty”, was published in April 2014 and she is currently working on the third book, “No Vacancy”. When she isn’t writing, she works full-time decorating cakes at Walmart of Ruidoso Downs, part time slinging vino at Noisy Water Winery in Ruidoso, and enjoying life in general with her husband, Paul, and son, Paul Michael.

 
My blog link is http://amymbennettbooks.blogspot.com/

DENISE WEEKS AKA SHALANNA COLLINS

Denise Weeks (AKA Shalanna Collins) writes the edgy Jacquidon Carroll mystery series headed by the award-winning NICE WORK from Oak Tree Press and the Ariadne French paranormal mysteries kicked off with MURDER BY THE MARFA LIGHTS.  Writing as Shalanna Collins, she has just launched (via her second publisher, Muse Harbor Press) her Bliss Sisters Magical Adventures with APRIL, MAYBE JUNE, the 2010 Golden Rose grand prize winner.  Lucky Dog Books/Lochwood in Dallas, Texas, will host the Magical Mystery Tour Launch Party for APRIL, MAYBE JUNE on Saturday, June 14, from 11 to 1.  (Wine, cheese, appetizers, cupcakes, and soft drinks provided!  Belly dance interpretive dance!  Skits!  Come as you are.)

She loves trivia games and has worked as a software engineer, middling
pianist, and secondary school math tutor.  

Visit her website at http://shalanna.wix.com/aprilmaybejune
and her blogs http://deniseweeks.blogspot.com and
http://shalanna.livejournal.com.


http://deniseweeks.blogspot.com/

THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT AND TAPED CONFESSIONS

For those whose writing includes police procedure, particularly in the area of confessions or police interviews, there is new policy out there just decided by the Justice Department, that requires certain federal agencies, such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, and Marshals Service, to use electronic recording to video record "interviews" of suspects.

Keep in mind, this is on a federal level, not state level. Every state agency has its own procedures for conducting interviews.  The procedure and policy may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction within each state, and may even vary among departments in the same jurisdiction.  For instance, New Orleans has 8 police districts.  Each district may handle its confessions and statements differently, and the different departments in the same district (usually in the same police station) may even have different policies on taking statements.  The homicide division in one district may record all statements taken, while the burglary division in the same district may say they don't own a tape recorder.

The U.S. Constitution requires that statements used against a defendant be voluntary and free from coercion and duress.  It does not require that they be recorded.

The Justice Department has now decided to videotape statements taken from suspects, unless there are extenuating circumstances that prevent it.  (Sounds like a loophole to me, but I'll skip it for now.)  This decision has both positive and negative ramifications.

First, on the positive, it will be difficult for a defense attorney at trial or on appeal to argue that a suspect was beaten or threatened into giving a statement or confession if the whole thing is on tape.  Juries will also be more inclined to convict if they see the defendant admit guilt for themselves.

On the other hand, a suspect who is ready to spill his guts may change his mind in the time it takes to set up the video or audio recorder.  He may have time to think and change his story, or he may have time to decide to ask for an attorney.

There are two caveats to this rule.  As I mentioned above, if it is not going to be easy to get the equipment, such as in cases when a defendant confesses at the crime scene and not in an interrogation room, it may not be practical to haul a video camera out.  (Although with cameras and video in cell phones these days I'm not sure that is a valid excuse not to record a statement.)

Second, a suspect has the right to refuse to have his statement recorded.  This also has implications.  A suspect can claim he didn't make the statement and that's why it's not recorded.  On the other hand, if a suspect doesn't make a statement, or if law enforcement wants to twist his words around, the agent can always say the suspect refused to be taped.

For those who write about federal agents, this can be a new twist or curve in the road when a suspect confesses or gives a statement.  I can picture stories with videotaped confessions that go missing, juries who don't believe the agents that the defendant made the statement but refused to be taped, and agents who really do beat confessions out of suspects and consequently don't tape the statements.  Anything to keep the reader guessing as to what actually happened.

With the new Justice Department policy, writers should at least allude to videotaping or audio taping the confession if one is made to a federal law enforcement officer in the novel , especially if the confession is important to the story and a videotape or audiotape of the statement is not going to be presented. 

ILENE SCHNEIDER: Twelve Question Tuesday

Ilene Schneider

1.  Please tell me the three most important things people should know about you.
Hmmm …. Most important? Or most interesting? 1. I became a rabbi at a time when it was still weird. (1976; the first woman was ordained as a rabbi in 1972). 2. My original goal in life was to be the first woman editor of the NY Times. Or Mad Magazine. 3. Don’t ask me a question unless you have a lot of time to listen to me ramble.

2.  Are you a dog person or a cat person?
Cat, all the way. I always say I like dogs, so long as they belong to someone else. But if there is such a thing as reincarnation, then I either once was or will be a cat.

3.  Tea or coffee?
Hot, neither. (Hot chocolate is the only hot drink I like; I don’t even like most soups.) Iced, coffee (with cream, no sugar). Even the smell of tea makes me feel queasy. I think it’s because whenever I had an upset stomach as a child, my mother would give me tea, so I associate tea with being sick.

4.  Boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, or commando? (Either what you prefer or what you prefer on others.)
No preference in males. Briefs (no bikinis, no high-leg, no thongs) for me. Cotton.

5. What was the first thing you ever wrote?
Around 4th grade, I began to write parodies of nursery rhymes. My 1st paid published work was a eulogy for JFK in Ingenue Magazine, when I was 15.

6.  When did you finally decide to call yourself a writer?
When my first novel, Chanukah Guilt, was published in 2007.

7.  Which of your works are you most proud to have written?
Whew. That’s like asking which of your children is your favorite. Maybe my doctoral dissertation, as it was the hardest. And took the longest. (I’m a world-class procrastinator.)

8.  What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
Probably when I heard a voice from the fire escape outside my apartment window say, “Don’t say anything.” (I screamed, ran out the door, and lost only my pocketbook, on the desk under the window. And my dignity and sense of security. As soon as the lease was up, I moved into a high rise with a doorman.)

9.  How did you end up getting published?
I had “met” the owner of Swimming Kangaroo Books online and asked her if I could send her my completed manuscript of Chanukah Guilt. I had “met” the acquisition editor of Oak Tree Press online and asked her if I could send her my completed manuscript of Unleavened Dead. The pattern was broken in between the two books when the acquisition editor of Adams Media, whom I’d “met” online, asked me if I would be interested in writing Talk Dirty Yiddish.

10.  Would you be food or fighter if the zombie apocalypse were to happen?
Food.

11.  What is the most daring thing you have ever done?
If daring = stupid, then hitchhiking alone from Jerusalem to Haifa with nothing but a backpack and sleeping bag, wearing a bikini as underwear under a long tunic. Hey, I was 20! At least I had enough sense to take a bus the rest of the way across the desert to Eilat.

12.  Would you rather be rich or famous--and you could only have one-- and why?  The fame would be based on something good, not something like being the best serial killer or anything like that. 
Both. Or neither. I don’t want to be rich and not have accomplished anything, or famous but living in a homeless shelter. I guess if I were rich I could buy fame.


BLURB:

Rabbi Aviva Cohen is a 50-something, twice-divorced rabbi living a fairly uneventful life in South Jersey. True, her family is rather unconventional. And her first ex-husband moves to her town as the Interim Director of Public Safety (aka, temporary police chief). But her uneventful life turns eventful when she finds herself embroiled in helping solve several suspicious deaths. She thinks she is helping; the police call it meddling. Especially when her solutions are the right ones.


Read about her exploits in the first two Rabbi Aviva Cohen Mysteries, Chanukah Guilt (http://tinyurl.com/lsltbge), just re-issued in a 2nd edition, including a bonus alternate solution, and in Unleavened Dead (http://tinyurl.com/lgljjqz). Both books are also available on Kindle.


Website/blog: http://rabbiauthor.com

Three Old Guys at McDonald's by Marilyn (aka F.M.) Meredith

At Oak Tree Press Booth at Wordstock

Confession. Hubby and I frequent McDonald’s often. I love their vanilla flavored iced-coffee though I always ask for two extra shots of the vanilla.

McDonald’s is a good place for a potty stop when you’re on a trip and there’s no rest stops around.  TMI? Well, it’s the truth.

It’s also a good place for a quick breakfast when headed out of town on a trip.

So what has this to do with my latest book, Murder in the Worst Degree?

Every time we go in our favorite McD’s these same three guys are sitting around the table solving the world’s problems. We’ve sat close enough to them to know a lot about their early history and a lot of bull. I guess they noticed us too, because the last time we were there, they noticed hubby’s Seabee hat and thanked him for his service. Of course this led to exchanges about when a couple of them had served in Vietnam around the same time as hubby. Next came introductions and handshakes.

I decided to put these fellows into Murder in the Worst Degree. They became best friends of the murder victim who served together in Vietnam. Of course they have taken on different personas and descriptions, but they are now an important part of the plot.

See, you can find the best characters in the most common places. It’s just a matter of keeping your eyes and ears open.

Thank you, Holli, for hosting me today.

Marilyn aka F. M. Meredith


Blurb for the lasts RBPD mystery, Murder in the Worst Degree:

The body that washes up on the beach leads Detectives Milligan and Zachary on a murder investigation that includes the victim’s family members, his housekeeper, three long-time friends, and a mystery woman.


Bio:

F. M. Meredith aka Marilyn Meredith is the author of over 35 published books. She enjoys writing about police officers and their families and how what happens on the job affects the family and vice versa. Having several members of her own family involved in law enforcement, as well as many friends, she’s witnessed some of this first-hand. 


Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.meredith/


Contest:

Once again I am offering the opportunity to have your name used as a character in a book if you comment on the most blogs during this tour for Murder in the Worst Degree.

Tomorrow I’m visiting: http://cncbooksblog.wordpress.com/

MARY REED- Twelve Question Tuesday

Today I am excited to welcome writer Mary Reed to Twelve Question Tuesday. 

1. Please tell me the three most important things people should know about you. 
I'm an incurable optimist, love Golden Age mysteries, and support the hopeless Cubbies.

2. Are you a dog person or a cat person?
Cats, those mysterious beings who secretly rule the world!

3. Tea or coffee?
Coffee please, no milk or sugar.

4. Boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, or commando? (Either what you prefer or what you prefer on others.)
Ahem. I'll take the Fifth on that one!

5. What was the first thing you ever wrote?
In fiction, a romantic novel. I'm happy to say the only copy of the ms was lost during a move years ago.

6. When did you finally decide to call yourself a writer?
I rarely describe myself thus. While I am not comfortable tooting my own trombone, I will say we -- that is to say my co-author Eric Mayer and I -- have learned a lot more about the craft than we knew when we ignorantly set out to take the mystery world by storm!

7. Which of your works are you most proud to have written.
Today I would say Five For Silver, set during the Justinianiac plague, but tomorrow it would be a different title, given the task is like trying to choose the child of which you are most proud. If favourite characters such as a sundial manufacturer afraid of shadows, a diminutive Egyptian musician, the interpreter of a herd of prophetic goats, a seller of dubious antiquities, an itinerant bee keeper, a maker of automatons, a holy fool who dances with the dead, a creator of dear little cat mummies, a bookseller who rents space to unusual clients, the street prostitute with a three-legged cat, to name but a few, were all in the same novel it would be a much easier question to answer!

8. What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?
Going through the immigration process.

9. How did you end up getting published?
The short stories? Initially by following the usual route of unsolicited submission and then later a number were commissioned for anthologies. But our series saw print in a rather unusual way and luck played a part in it. We read that Poisoned Pen Press, then in its infancy, was up for a non-fiction award, wrote to congratulate them, and asked if they would be considering fiction. An encouraging reply arrived and One For Sorrow was accepted in due course, becoming the first mystery the press published.

We learned after its acceptance that editor Barbara Peters had just been commenting on the lack of a mystery series set in Byzantine times, during which our series is set, not long before our enquiry arrived.

10. Would you be food or fighter if the zombie apocalypse were to happen?
Probably food. Though I would attempt to flee to the furthermost hills were zombies to shamble down the turnpike.

11. What is the most daring thing you have ever done?
Becoming a second wife.

12. Would you rather be rich or famous--and you could only have one--and why? The fame would be based on something good, not something like being the best serial killer or anything like that.
If forced to choose, I'd say rich because I have no desire to be famous personally. Though our work becoming famous is a very attractive notion.

Blurb for Ten For Dying.

On a hot summer night in 6th century Constantinople a blasphemous ritual is under way as demons vanish into the darkness with one of the city’s holiest relics, a fragment of the shroud of the Virgin. As if Felix, Captain of the Palace Guard, didn’t have enough problems already between his gambling debts, political maneuverings, and an ambitious new mistress, Emperor Justinian orders him to find the missing relic. If only John were still in the city and could assist Felix. Unfortunately, the former Lord Chamberlain was sent into exile, sailing away the morning after the theft...

Publication date: March 2014

Website: http://home.earthlink.net/~maywrite

Blog:

On the 18th of each month at the multi-author Poisoned Pen Press blog athttp://www.poisonedpenpress.com/category/news-and-blog/

Links:

The Lord Chamberlain historical mystery series may be purchased from Poisoned Pen Presshttp://www.poisonedpenpress.com/?s=Lord+Chamberlain+series&cat=104&x=44&y=11

Head of Zeus 
http://headofzeus.com/books/One+for+Sorrow?field_book_type_value_1=E-Book&bid=9781908800893

and the usual suspects on and offline.

BIO:

Mary Reed and Eric Mayer are married and co-write the Lord Chamberlain historical mysteries and other fiction. They invite you to visit their home page, hanging out on the virtual washing line that is the internet at http://home.earthlink.net/~maywrite for information about their short stories and novels, libraries of links to free e-texts of classic and Golden Age mysteries, ghost stories, and tales of the supernatural, reviews, essays, and other content not about them!

Marilyn Musings- The Craft of Writing

Today I guest at Marilyn's Musings, the blog of my good friend and fellow writer Marilyn Meredith.  My blog is about the craft of writing, and why we should never top trying to learn.

The blog can be found at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

I don't normally direct readers away from my own blog, but I made a one-day exception in this case.

Lillian Stewart Carl- Twelve Question Tuesday

Today I am excited to welcome Lillan Stewart Carl to Twelve Question Tuesday.

1.  Please tell me the three most important things people should know about you. 
Yes, I am too old enough to be a grandmother. No, I’m not stand-offish, I’m an introvert. I’m a good writer but a promoter? Not so much. See previous, about “introvert”. 

2.  Are you a dog person or a cat person? 
Cat, definitely. Cats are (mostly) elegant, dignified, and self-sufficient. Dogs, on the other hands, are the toddlers of the animal world: Let’s eat now! Let’s play now! Let’s run around now! A cat in the lap is peaceful and meditative. A dog is exhausting. (But cute, with that wagging tail.) 

3.  Tea or coffee?
I love a good flat white, the milk-and-coffee drink of Down Under. My Kiwi friends tell me it was invented in New Zealand. My Aussie friends tell me it’s their invention. Either way, it not only tastes good, if I’m drinking one, I’m on one of my favorite parts of the globe. 

4.  Boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, or commando? (Either what you prefer or what you prefer on others.) 
I may be drummed out of my Scottish clan association for saying this, but kilts are the world’s most gorgeous garments and should never be reduced to a peek-a-boo game, never mind historical authenticity. In fact, any outer garment is enhanced by suitable, if comfortable, undergarments, preferably well-cut tartan boxers. 

So there. 

5.  What was the first thing you ever wrote? 
 Who knows? I was writing from the moment I could hold a pencil and shape letters. Poetry, plays, stories, no matter. My imaginary playmates always ended up on paper. The first things I ever wrote for publication were science fiction and fantasy short stories. 

6.  When did you finally decide to call yourself a writer? 
When I started submitting stories and novels for publication. There are nothing like rejection letters to make you grit your teeth and plant your flag. 

7.  Which of your works are you most proud to have written? 
You might as well ask which one of my grandchildren is my favorite… If I have to choose, I’d say Lucifer’s Crown, a complex supernatural thriller featuring an immortal Thomas Becket and the turn of the twenty-first century. It took me seven years to whittle a coherent, 120,000 word narrative out of British history and mythology. But it’s the book I’d always wanted to write, and by gum, it got written and published. 

8.  What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? 
My husband playfully grabbed me from behind one time when I didn’t even realize he was in the house. My scream rattled the windows—and certainly scared my husband, who hadn’t realized I thought I was alone. He never did that again! 

9.  How did you end up getting published? 
Writing, re-writing, writing better, submitting, going to conferences, and getting tips from other writers and from editors. The editor who rejected my first two novels bought the third one, which was based on my first professional sale, a fantasy short story. There was nothing glamorous about getting published, no coronation on the steps of the library, just a stubborn crawl through the maze of the publishing industry. 

10.  Would you be food or fighter if the zombie apocalypse were to happen? 
Food, no doubt about it. I might as well daub myself with mustard and ketchup and wait on the street corner. 

11.  What is the most daring thing you have ever done? 
Several years ago I got a tattoo of the White Tree of Gondor from Tolkien’s legendarium, a symbol that occurs in both book and film versions of The Lord of the Rings. It’s on my upper arm, not the most daring of spots, and sadly, one that gets punctured by the yearly flu shot. But I can either hide it or display it, as appropriate to the moment. 

12.  Would you rather be rich or famous--and you could only have one-- and why?  The fame would be based on something good, not something like being the best serial killer or anything like that. 
 I’d rather be rich, thank you—I enjoy my creature comforts. Many of the people I know who are famous have lost a lot of their peace and privacy. I wouldn’t mind being rich because my books were bestsellers, though how I’d achieve that without being famous, I don’t know.


FROM THE AUTHOR: 

My newest novel is The Avalon Chanter, book seven in the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series:

Archaeologist Maggie Lauder has personal reasons for proving Farnaby Island is the Avalon of Arthurian legend. But when she opens a tomb in a medieval chantry chapel, her plans go awry. The story Jean Fairbairn planned to write is shadowed by a contemporary investigation. Her husband, ex-cop Alasdair Cameron, has a history with the investigating detective, if not as long a history as Maggie does. They are stranded on Farnaby, caught in the conflicting loyalties of its inhabitants, trusting only each other—until they find themselves on opposite sides of a cold case turned scorching hot. 

BIO:
 
Lillian Stewart Carl writes contemporary novels blending mystery with history, romance, and ghosts, and short mystery and fantasy stories.

After growing up in Missouri and Ohio and spending many years in North Texas, she’s developed a passion for mountains and oceans, particularly the ones in Scotland, which is heaven's front porch. With her long-suffering husband, she has wandered countless British single-track roads, from Orkney to Dover and back again. Also, just for variety, she’s excavated the Biblical city of Gezer in Israel, worn a pink and mauve sari to a wedding in Hyderabad, India, searched for Middle Earth in New Zealand, and sung "Waltzing Matilda" in a haunted cottage in the Australian outback.

The Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series (America’s exile and Scotland’s finest on the trail of all-too-living legends) begins with The Secret Portrait. The Avalon Chanter (Five Star, January 2014) is book seven of the series and Lillian’s twentieth published novel.

Most of her short stories are collected in Along the Rim of Time and The Muse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, including three stories reprinted in World’s Finest Mystery anthologies.  

Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Lillian-Stewart-Carl/e/B000APJGXC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Barnes and Noble: 
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Lillian-Stewart-Carl?store=book&keyword=Lillian+Stewart+Carl

Website www.lillianstewartcarl.com.

Facebook page, where I link to blogs and such: https://www.facebook.com/groups/20697943384/permalink/10152014902408385/