Tomorrow's Guest: Sheila Webster Boneham

Tomorrow, fellow Midnight Ink mystery author Sheila Webster Boneham will guest on my blog. She answers my interview questions, and I'm sure you'll be intrigued by what she has to say. Also, Sheila will run a contest for either an autographed copy of the second release in her Animals in Focus mystery series, The Money Bird, or a Kindle ebook copy. She will choose the winner from among those who leave a comment.

Sheila Webster Boneham is the author of 17 nonfiction books, six of which have won major awards from the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association. She is also the author of Drop Dead on Recall, the first in the Animals in Focus Mystery series. For the past two decades Boneham has been showing her Australian Shepherds and Labrador Retrievers in various canine sports. She has also bred top-winning Aussies and founded rescue groups for Aussies and Labs. Boneham holds a doctorate in folklore and MFA in creative writing and resides in Wilmington, N.C., with her husband Roger, Lily, their yellow Lab, and Sunny, their Golden Retriever.

Volunteering to Be Evacuated from a Gondola

Every fall for the past few years, the Breckenridge Ski Area has had a gondola evacuation practice day. They sign up about 150 volunteers to load into gondolas and ride up the mountain. Then they stop the gondola line once the whole uphill side is loaded and start evacuating people. My husband volunteered to be evacuated last year when I was busy with another event, and this year the reverse happened--he was busy and I could volunteer.

I arrived at the base of the gondola lift at 9 AM, signed a waiver, and listened to instructions along with the other volunteers, children and dogs included. Then I rode up with my gondola-mates in my gondola until the line stopped. We were left hanging between the stations at the bases of Peak 7 and Peak 8, so we weren't as high up in the air as those who were hanging over the Cucumber Gulch Open Space. We watched a pair of ski patrollers, one on the ground and one working in the air, evacuate people from another gondola, then it was our turn.

Below are photos from our evacuation:

In the photo above, a ski patroller is climbing up the nearest pole to our gondola, and in the next photo, he's standing at the top of the pole and hooking onto the cable, preparing to slide along it the short distance to where our gondola was hanging.

After reaching the roof of our gondola, he told us to back away from the door, then released it and swung himself down and inside. The folks sitting on the ground behind him had just been evacuated from another gondola and were watching us get evacuated. The ski patroller gave us instructions on what he was going to do, then began the evacuation procedure.

Each of us was outfitted with a sling (called "the diaper") that went around our waist and through our legs and was attached to the lowering line. I'm wearing the diaper below.

Then we were each lowered to the ground out of the gondola door. You see me leaving the gondola in the first photo and another passenger being lowered in the second.

After lowering all the occupants, the ski patroller went back up to the roof, resecured the door, and slid along the cable to the next gondola to repeat the process.

The evacuation practice was interesting, educational, and fun for the volunteers, and it's good to know that the patrollers are well-trained in the whole process in case the gondola ever stops during the winter. Plus, we got a free barbecue lunch after it was all over. If I'm available, I'll definitely sign up to do it again next year!

A Wild Weekend at the Breckenridge Festival of Film

Last weekend, my husband and I attended and volunteered at the Breckenridge Festival of Film. Unfortunately, we were too busy having fun to take many photos, but I can give you a summary of our experiences that will hopefully entice you all to attend next year!

I spent many volunteer hours before the festival reviewing films, mostly short dramas, since I was the lead for short dramas on the Program Committee and selected those that made it into the festival. I was anxious to meet all the short drama filmmakers who were able to come and to thank them for making their wonderful films. And, the parties and panels that were an integral part of the festival gave me plenty of opportunities to do that. In exchange for my work on the Program Committee, I received a "Peak 10 Pass" that gave me access to all the films, the parties, and the hospitality suite, and I made full use of that access!

The first day of the festival, Thursday, September 19th, kicked off with a Welcome Party at Burke and Riley's Irish Pub, with two drink coupons for Guinness Stout beers and heavy appetizers that became my dinner: chicken salad, pasta, chicken wings, and fried cheese. I met some of my short drama filmmakers there. Also, my husband, who volunteered to be a filmmaker liaison in exchange for his Peak 10 Pass, found the screenwriter and his wife who had arrived to represent the film, H2IndO, a beautiful and exciting film about world class stand-up paddleboarders riding the waves in Indonesia. Next came the Opening Night films at the Riverwalk Center, the haunting Death of a Shadow, followed by the inspirational Chasing Shakespeare. The day wrapped up late with a party at Ember, with tasty treats such as shrimp corndogs, sliced duck bruschetta, and more, and glasses of wine.

We set an alarm after all that partying (on only the first day!), and got up early on Friday, September 20th, to make it to our first block of films, starting at 9:30 AM: Body Complete, Adonis, and The Insomniac. We then headed for the Hospitality Suite, where we watched some films on their TV that we couldn't squeeze into our schedule otherwise (Bumming Colorado's Ski Country, The Interviewer) while munching on snacks and sipping coffee. Reenergized, we went to the Breckenridge Theatre to watch the uplifting film, The Lady in Number Six.

Next was a cocktail party jointly sponsored by The Warming Hut and Summit Media Labs, where I chatted with folks ranging from the town mayor, to a representative from the Colorado Film Commission to an Austrian snow biker in lederhosen! Then we watched the excellent musical documentary, AKA Doc Pomus, an animated short, The Gold Sparrow, and We Ride: The Story of Snowboarding. For the last two films, I was the ticket taker and my husband was the projectionist. The final stop was Fatty's Pizzeria for the Ski Bum Party. We didn't stay long, because we were bushed by then, and we still had two days to go!

Saturday morning, September 21st, my husband and I split up. I spent the whole morning fighting tears while watching documentaries of good works being done for orphans, lepers, the blind, and the hopelessly destitute in Africa: Man Up and Go and Duk County. After a quick lunch at home, I headed to the Riverwalk Center to listen to a series of panels with my husband. First came three panels of 8-9 independent filmmakers each, followed by one on the Democratization of Film and one on Making the Shot. During the last panel, I helped set up a pizza dinner for those like me who were too busy attending films and panels to grab a bite to eat elsewhere. Then, I stayed for the Adventure Reel session that evening that consisted of short films about river rafting, ski patrolling, and climbing followed by Antartica: A Year On Ice. My husband was the projectionist for this session, too.

Sunday morning, September 22nd, we slept in until the Filmmakers Brunch, where I found and talked to the last attending short drama filmmaker that I hadn't yet connected with. After that, we saw a documentary about the famous sherpa Nawang Gombu, the first man to summit Mount Everest twice. Then we joined the producer of H2IndO and her husband, and the screenwriter and his wife, for lunch. Over lunch, the screenwriter and I talked shop, and that discussion may very well lead to me becoming a story consultant on his script for an upcoming film.

Next, we headed to the Breckenridge Theatre again for The Swimmer and H2IndO, where my husband introduced the producer, who introduced the film then answered questions afterward. We snatched a bite to eat at home, then went to the Riverwalk Center for the Award Ceremony and the romantic comedy film, Language of a Broken Heart. That was followed by the Wrap Party for the festival, hosted by Blue River Bistro. Wine and yummy appetizers such as spinach wraps, ham wrapped asparagus, and white bean bruschetta got the tongues wagging there.

Some other films that I didn't see during the festival, but that I reviewed and recommend and which won awards are: Dream Team 1935 (Best Drama), Rose, Mary and Time (Best Short Drama), and Splendor (Best Student Film). All in all, I had a great time at the festival and saw a lot of excellent films. Also, I traded cards with a couple of filmmakers who were interested in my mystery novels. So, there's even a slim chance that a deal could come my way as a result of participating in the Breckenridge Festival of Film!

Today's Mystery Author Guest: Deborah Sharp

As promised yesterday, fellow Midnight Ink mystery author Deborah Sharp is visiting my blog today, with answers to my interview questions. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post. Also, Deborah is running a contest for a free autographed copy of her latest release, Mama Gets Trashed, the cover art for which appears above. Deborah will select the winner tomorrow evening from among those who leave a comment today or tomorrow and will announce the name in a comment on this post.

In the book, after a tipsy Mama tosses out her wedding ring with the trash, she drags daughter Mace to the city dump to search. When they stumble upon the body of librarian Camilla Law, the straitlaced town is scandalized. Not only is a killer on the loose, but prudish Camilla is all done up in sexy black leather. Foul play and fetish wear in little Himmarshee? Mama's blushing fifty shades of pink!  


Sounds like a very fun read to me! Below are Deborah's answers to my interview questions.

1. Who or what inspired you to start writing and when did you start?

I was a journalist for almost two decades, mainly with USA Today. I'd been writing non-fiction for what seemed like forever. By age fifty, though, I'd really burned out on a steady diet of sad news and tragedies (One of my last assignments was writing profiles of all the military personnel killed in Afghanistan and Iraq). I left the paper in 2004, and I took a stab at making things up. It's a lot more fun to be able to say how the stories end. Even better, in my books I get to punish the bad and reward the good -- which isn't always how real life turns out. My own family served somewhat as inspiration for the series I ended up writing -- the Mace Bauer Mysteries, featuring Mace's wacky mama.

2. How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I'm definitely a plotter, though sometimes my characters will make a u-turn, and I end up on a road I hadn't thought to travel. I typically do an outline of about 30 pages before I even start a book.

3. In the age-old question of character versus plot, which one do you think is most important in a murder mystery and which one do you emphasize in your writing? Why?

Plot seems most important in traditional mysteries, as readers are keen on solving the puzzle of whodunit. Character takes precedence in my own books, though, and in the mysteries I like most. Give me interesting personality and strong character motivation over an intricate plot any day. Maybe my interest in character-driven fiction is due to my background in psychology. I earned a master's degree, and was working on my doctorate, when I dropped out to become a journalist. Uh-oh, am I revealing here that quitting is a recurring theme in my life?

4. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

My own mother has a bearing on both elements of this question, my inspiration and my challenge. I stole so many of her traits for my books' Mama character: multiple marriages, a taste for sherbet-colored pantsuits, an affinity for sweet pink wine and gambling with the Seminoles. She's never actually ''done time'' like Mama in the first book, and I've never had to rescue her from a gator, like Mace did with her mama. But Mom's only 98, so I guess it could still happen. Not to mention, a spry old guy has been giving her the eye at their assisted living facility, so she might just catch up yet to Mama's serial marriage lead.

Part of my joy in writing this series was seeing my mom react to the stories. Writing the first four books, I'd finish a chapter, then visit her house for coffee to read her what I'd written. About halfway through book four, I got this question, repeatedly: ''Now, who's Mace again?'' Her memory was really failing, and I knew she was in trouble. Within a year, she began to fall down and wander. I had to move her out of her home -- my childhood home -- and into assisted living.

She's still in fairly good physical shape, but she has dementia. Some days she's sharper than others, but she's not the same mom she was when the first book came out in 2008. The challenge is in finding motivation to still write about ''Mama'' without the gleeful participation of my muse and biggest fan.

5. What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Aside from advising them to READ (you might be surprised how many people who say they've always wanted to write can't mention a single author they like to read), I have three tips for would-be authors:

A. Join a writers' group, for the experience of sharing your work and learning from critiques.
B. Try to attend seminars or conferences in your genre, whether it's mysteries, romance, or travel writing. Joining Mystery Writers of America and attending the Florida chapter's national conference got the fiction ball rolling for me, way back when.
C. This one seems obvious, but WRITE. Paul Theroux said, ''You can't want to be a writer. You have to be one.''

6. Now here’s a zinger. Tell us something about yourself that you have not revealed in another interview yet. Something as simple as your favorite TV show or food will do.

I have talked before about playing a zombie in George Romero's ''Day of the Dead,'' and then writing about it as a cub reporter in Fort Myers, Fla. What I've never revealed is that Romero left my scenes on the cutting room floor. It's kind of embarrassing. Apparently, I lacked the acting talent to lurch convincingly.

7. What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

See answer above about my real-life mama being my inspiration AND my challenge. I'm taking a bit of a breather, waiting to see what the tea leaves reveal about future writing plans.

8. Is there anything else you would like to tell my blog readers? 

I'd like to say I'm grateful to Beth for her friendship, and for the chance to visit here today. Folks can find more information about me and my Mace Bauer Mysteries on my website. You can also find me on Facebook. Also on Facebook, Friends of Mama From the Mace Bauer Mysteries lets the Mama character blow off steam about how I'm treating her. Lastly, I love to hear from readers and chat with book groups, through my website and via Skype.

Thanks, Deborah! Now, who has a comment or question for Deborah Sharp? Good luck in the contest!

Tomorrow's Guest: Deborah Sharp

Tomorrow, fellow Midnight Ink mystery author Deborah Sharp will guest on my blog. She answers my interview questions, and I'm sure you'll be intrigued and amused by what she has to say. Also, Deborah will run a contest for an autographed copy of the latest release in her comedic Mace Bauer mystery series, Mama Gets Trashed. She will choose the winner from among those who leave a comment.

A former USA Today reporter, Deborah Sharp traded sad news stories for funny fiction with her Mace Bauer Mysteries, featuring Mace's wacky Mama. Deborah rode a horse across Florida for one book. For another, she was interviewed by Al Roker on the Today show. She was a lot less nervous about the horse. Married to TV reporter Kerry Sanders, she lives in South Florida, where she spends her spare time chasing iguanas out of her hibiscus. Mama Gets Trashed is the series' fifth book. 

Planning a Book Tour on the Cheap

I'm at Inkspot, the blog for Midnight Ink authors, today, with an article about "Planning a Book Tour on the Cheap". I hope you'll read it and share there any good ideas you have for book touring on the cheap!

Today's Mystery Author Guest: Mario Acevedo

As promised yesterday, fellow mystery author Mario Acevedo is visiting my blog today, with answers to my interview questions. To read his bio and see his photo, please page down to yesterday's post. Also, Mario is running a contest for a free electronic copy of his latest release, Good Money Gone, the cover art for which appears above. Mario will select the winner tomorrow evening from among those who leave a comment today or tomorrow and will announce the name in a comment on this post.

Good Money Gone takes place in the country of Panama, a tropical paradise with an anything-goes attitude. Bring your wish list. It’s a place to start. Or to start over. Where the best of intentions are dazzled by the glitter of easy money. Steven McKay chases the quick bucks in offshore finance, playing fast and loose with his scruples until he discovers he’s merely one cog in a vast Ponzi scheme. Even as his paranoid boss puts the screws to everyone inside the conspiracy, McKay races to save his clients--and his skin--before the rotten machine grinds to a halt under the weight of sleaze, greed, and criminal investigations. He realizes too late that his dream for wealth and fortune was nothing but Good Money Gone.

Sounds like a thrilling read to me! Below are Mario's answers to my interview questions.

1. Who or what inspired you to start writing and when did you start?

When I was in the sixth grade, I started writing a science-fiction epic story that got too big for my English assignment. That story kept evolving in my head for years, and I found myself always working on a what-if scenario. After college I thought I was going to write non-fiction but I was too much of a liar to pen anything but fiction.

2. What tools and process do you use to “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

I find someone who reminds me of a character. I stalk that person and murder them. Then I go to the cemetery at midnight and hold a séance over their grave. Then I simply dictate what the dead tell me and use that to better know my characters. Some of them are understandably very bitter with me.

3. How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

I’ve been at this long enough to recognize the value of an outline. I do that because my Muse is very lazy.

4. In the age-old question of character versus plot, which one do you think is most important in a murder mystery and which one do you emphasize in your writing? Why?

Plot keeps the story moving forward but we read because we care about the characters. It’s a balance.

5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

This is a tough business. There’s a lot of luck and fickleness involved. We all know of big books that make us go "Huh?" over what the fuss is all about. And we also know many authors who aren’t getting anywhere near the recognition they deserve. What keeps me going are these voices in my head that won’t shut up, and that I’m a relentless optimist.

6. What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

I write from 8AM-Noon most days. The afternoons and evenings are for the extra stuff like this interview. Nights are for drinking.

7. What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Be delusional in your abilities as a writer.

8. Now here’s a zinger. Tell us something about yourself that you have not revealed in another interview yet. Something as simple as your favorite TV show or food will do.

My guilty pleasure is watching HG TV whenever I have access to cable.

9. What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

Presently I have an ebook available, Good Money Gone, that I co-authored with Richard Kilborn who worked as an inside man in a huge Ponzi scheme. It’s a fictionalized account of his misadventures and is a story I’m very excited about. The plot is ultimately one of treachery and redemption. And there’s a failed romance in there as well. I’m hard at work finishing the next book in my Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. The story is Rescue From Planet Pleasure and aims to tie up many of the big loose ends from the previous books. I’ve also got some short stories that I’d like to bundle as a collection.

10. Is there anything else you would like to tell my blog readers?

My books contain the answers to all your problems. Check me out at my website, my Facebook page, or the Good Money Gone website.

Thanks, Mario! Now, who has a comment or question for Mario Acevedo? Good luck in the contest!