For readers and writers . . .

cj Sez: The importance of a vivid and intriguing first sentence has been hammered, again and again, into aspiring writers. And it’s true. That first sentence needs to invite and draw the reader into the story. But then there’s this:

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Upcoming awards

  And I quote:   “Mystery Writers of America is proud to announce, as we celebrate the 214 th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe, the nominees for the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, honoring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2022.

  “The 77^th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 27, 2023, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square. The Edgar Awards, or “Edgars,” as they are commonly known, are named after MWA’s patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are presented to authors of distinguished work in various categories.”

  I was excited to see that I actually know some of the awesome writers. To find out if your favorite author is among the nominees and/or how many of the books you’ve read, click here: https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2023-edgar-award-nominations/

  And when you look up the books, pay attention to the cover designs as well, especially you indie published or soon-to-be-published authors. Lots of cues there.

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  Mardi Gras Season is happening now in Mobile, AL. The first parade rolled through Dauphin Island on January 21. Yeah, I know. Mardi Gras, the day aka Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, is a month away—February 21. But hey, why wait a whole month to eat King Cake and party? Valentine’s Day, all sweetness and romance, is next on the list of February celebrations.

  Here are a couple of Mobile Writers Guild anthologies, chock full of a variety of short stories about those two popular holidays. And the Ebooks are sale-priced, too!

Buy Mardi Gras Pieces

Buy Valentine’s Day Pieces

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 

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It's Mardi Gras season in Mobile

cj Sez: You think Mardi Gras is a one-day affair? Like Paczki Day* in Hamtramck, Michigan? Think again, Grasshopper. Mardi Gras may be a one-day affair in some places, but in Mobile, Alabama, it’s a season.

  And for your reading and writing pleasure, here is some info …

  The Mardi Gras season officially started on January 6, the assigned date the three wise men were thought to have visited the baby Jesus—otherwise known as “Three Kings Day” or “Epiphany.”

  In 2022 in the Mobile area, the first parades start on January 29 when the Krewe De La Dauphine rolls the first Mardi Gras parade through the streets of Dauphin Island. The Dauphin Island People’s Parade follows on February 5, and the 2022 Mardi Gras season is off and running. Parades in the city of Mobile, the birthplace of Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S., begin on February 11, and they don’t stop until March 1, the day of Mardi Gras, aka known as Fat Tuesday and Shrove Tuesday.

  For weeks, the streets of Mobile will be filled with the sights and sounds of live marching bands, brilliantly colored floats, and crowds of parade goers. More than 40 parades are scheduled to roll in downtown Mobile and elsewhere in the Gulf Coast area.

Now for some Mardi Gras definitions:

ASH WEDNESDAY: The end of Mobile’s Mardi Gras season. All the excitement and celebrations of Mardi Gras season come to a screeching halt at 12:00 a.m. on Ash Wednesday

CARNIVAL: The term carnival has been loosely translated as “farewell to meat,” the temporary period before the Lenten period when devout Catholics forego eating meat.

KING CAKE: King cake is made of a rising dough, braided into a circle with cinnamon and sugar, topped with fondant icing, and sprinkled with purple, green and gold sugar.

 There is also a teeny, tiny, plastic baby hidden inside the cake to represent the baby Jesus on the Epiphany … Three Kings’ Day, hence the name, King Cake. The person who gets the slice with the baby is known as the king and is supposed to bring a king cake to the next Mardi Gras event.

KREWE: A Mardi Gras organization. Krewe members wear masks when they ride on the floats (colorfully decorated trailers, pulled by trucks) and heave throws into the crowds.  They also fund and create the parades. 

LUNDI GRAS: The French term for “Fat Monday” —the day before Mardi Gras.

MARDI GRAS: The French term for “Fat Tuesday,”—the calendar day of Mardi Gras.

MARDI GRAS BALL: Krewes hold formal balls after their parades. At the balls, the krewe introduces the organization’s honored members, a royal court that includes queens and kings.

THROWS: The goodies that krewes throw from floats into the crowds lining the street during the parades. Toys are popular throws (note the beads decorating grandson's tux),

but bright, shiny bead necklaces and moonpies are the most popular throws. MoonPies are graham-cracker-type rounds filled with various flavors of marshmallow, covered in chocolate, and are celebrated items in Mobile … Mobile even celebrates the arrival of the New Year with a Moonpie Drop.

And…

LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER: Cajun-French for “Let the good times roll” (and they do!)

( * http://www.lyricalpens.com/2020/02/its-mardi-gras-season-in-mobileand-in.html )

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Etcetera and P.S.A.

This post from author/editor Judy Penz Sheluk crossed my Facebook page recently, and I think it’s an important educational/informational piece for all you writers out there.  http://www.judypenzsheluk.com/2022/01/22/lets-talk-about-writing-using-lyrics/

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Mobile Writers Guild anthology: 

Mardi Gras Pieces 

ebook on sale at the time of this post for $1.99

Buy Now here: 

https://amzn.to/3IuTYkM

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

P.S.  The Haunted Bookshop has signed copies of my stories in stock. TO ORDER my author-graphed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

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Endings, Openings, and A Give-away Winner

cj Sez: The pre-Lent parades with their high school bands, beads, toys, and Moon Pie throws continue here along the Gulf Coast but will come to a roaring end on February 25—Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday.

   I have yet to attend a parade, but my family is involved in various ways: Official krewe photographer, loading floats with supplies of throws, and riding on the floats

Granddaughters on float

themselves. It’s been a busy and fun month. Everybody will fall back into sanity on Wednesday.

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   Speaking of Fall Back, did you know Daylight Saving Time is coming to an end? It’s almost time to lose an hour of sleep and Spring Forward. I’ll remind you next week.

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Tidbits to share:

   Jane Friedman’s blog post of November 20, 2019: “When Your Story Opening Does Nothing but Blow Smoke.” Peter Selgin, the award-winning author of Your First Page offers first-page critiques to show just how much useful critical commentary and helpful feedback can be extracted from a single page—the first page—of a work-in-progress.

https://www.janefriedman.com/story-blowing-smoke/

 

   Lee Lofland’s Graveyard Shift blog post of August 27, 2019: “The Language of Law Enforcement: Acronyms and Texting Codes.”  You don’t have to writing a police procedural to get something of value out of this post.  https://leelofland.com/the-language-of-law-enforcement-acronyms-and-texting-codes/

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   Just a reminder: Registration for MurderCon (The Writers’ Police Academy) opens today, Feb. 23, at noon, and space is limited. The conference is great for hands-on experiences and information about police procedure, forensics, EMS, firefighting, and more. (I went there, did that a few years ago.) This year’s guest of honor is author David Baldacci.

   If you have questions or need assistance, contact Lee Lofland at lofland32@msn.com

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Mobile Writers’ Guild anthologies available on Amazon:

   In MARDI GRAS PIECES, MWG members share their stories—some true and some fictional, some funny, some touching, and some downright chilling. So don your beads and deck yourself out in purple, gold, and green, grab a Moon Pie and relax while you experience a little bit of the Mobile Mardi Gras tradition.

/// 

   Sometimes there is more to Valentine’s Day than candy, flowers, and sweet nothings whispered in the ear of a lover. My short story in VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES, the third installment of the Mobile Writers Guild anthology series, was inspired by a personal challenge to write an old-fashioned, noir mystery in the 50s and 60s voice/style of author Mickey Spillane.

   In “Call Me Kate,” an ordinary Valentine’s Day becomes a race for survival as Patrick O’Donnell struggles to save the life of a beautiful and mysterious woman who says she will die at the hands of a killer before the day is over.  

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   The give-away winner is (drum roll please): ….Congratulations to Sherry Zehner Ney who asked for a copy of VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES. Thanks, Sherry, for playing along. Send your address to cjpetterson@gmail.com, and an autographed copy will be in the mail.

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   That’s all for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

   Autographed print copies of CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, and THE POSSE are still available at the Haunted Bookshop. TO ORDER (and support an indie bookstore) contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and an award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice.

   If you’re in Mobile area, do stop in at the book store; it’s a neat place to browse. Can’t find a copy of the book(s) you want? They’ll order it for you.

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It's Mardi Gras Season in Mobile...and in New Orleans

cj Sez:   Along the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras is a month-long season, and Mobile, Alabama, has an ongoing debate with New Orleans, Louisiana, about which was the first U.S. city to celebrate Mardi Gras. Hmm. Well, we know who that is.

   What do you think? Would a duel between the mayors of Mobile and NOLA satisfy the doubters?

   When I lived in Detroit, Mardi Gras was a one-day affair that many called Pączki Day. Pączki (pronounced "punch-kee" or "ponch-kee") are Polish pillows of pastry with a variety of possible fillings that Detroiters line up outside of the Hamtramck bakeries to buy and eat each year on Fat Tuesday. Someone in my office would get up at 5 a.m. to make a 6 a.m. paczki run to his favorite bakery where he might have to wait in line, in the snow, in sub-zero weather, barefoot, (hee hee NOT) for up to an hour to bring in several boxes (true).

   Hamtramck (“The World in Two Square Miles”) is a city located entirely within Detroit’s city limits. The hamlet is the go-to location for pączki because it’s been home to thousands of Polish immigrants since the early 1900s. These yeast-risen and fried doughnuts (that, in the minds of devotees, put the airy jelly-filled versions by Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts to shame) were first made by Polish people who wanted to use up the last of the sugar, lard, and fruit in the house before the austerity of Lent. 

Being a writer, I wonder: Is there a mystery story in there somewhere?   

Piotr Partook of a Poisonous Pączki and Passed Away on Pascha

   By the by, in case you didn’t know, Mardi Gras, the actual day also known as Shrove Tuesday, is February 25 this year. The parades in and around Mobile, however—each of which has a story—started in January.

   Lower Alabama’s first 2020 Mardi Gras parade rolled on Dauphin Island on January 25, Mobile’s first one rolled on February 7 and the parades continue until Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 25.

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Available on Amazon: 

  

 In MARDI GRAS PIECES, Mobile Writers Guild members share their stories—some true and some fictional, some funny, some touching, and some downright chilling. 

So don your beads and deck yourself out in purple, gold, and green, grab a Moon Pie and relax while you experience a little bit of the Mobile Mardi Gras tradition.

   In VALENTINE’S DAY PIECES, the third installment of the Mobile Writers Guild anthology series, members celebrate the traditional romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day with sweet and funny stories of hearts, flowers, and kisses, but they also explore the darkness that surrounds the day with a few tales of intrigue, madness, and murder.  

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   Coming next week…a give-away….A paperback of your choice: DEADLY STAR, CHOOSING CARTER, THE POSSE, or VALENTINE'S DAY PIECES. Check out the descriptions on Amazon this week and tell me which one you’d like. You might be the winner of a random draw!

///

   That’s all for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

   Autographed print copies of CHOOSING CARTER, DEADLY STAR, and THE POSSE are still available at the Haunted Bookshop. TO ORDER (and support an indie bookstore) contact The Haunted Bookshop here: The Haunted Bookshop  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and an award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you the book(s) of your choice. If you’re in Mobile area, do stop in at the book store; it’s a neat place to browse.

   These friendly people make a point to shelve the books of local authors, and the Mobile Writers’ Guild anthology series is also available there. If they don’t happen to have any copies of any book(s) you want, they’ll place an order for you.

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Mardi Gras Season in Mobile

cj Sez: It’s Mardi Gras season in Mobile, AL, and the Mobile Writers Guild has launched a new anthology . . . 

"Everyone from Mobile, Alabama, has a Mardi Gras story. In this second installment of the Mobile Writers Guild Pieces anthology series, the guild members share their stories—some true and some fictional, some funny, some touching, and some downright chilling. So don your beads and deck yourself out in purple, gold, and green, grab a Moon Pie and relax while you experience a little bit of the Mobile Mardi Gras tradition."

   Kindle version is now available. Paperback coming soon.

Now here’s my Mardi Gras story:  “A Transplanted Yankee’s Unfortunate Mardi Gras Faux Pas.”

   I booked the writing room at The Haunted Bookshop Saturday morning (Feb. 23) and was thrilled when I found a free parking space just around the corner from the store. I happily spent almost two hours working on story outlines. 

   Just before noon I thought, “I can leave now,” but instead I hung around looking at all the reference books on the shelves. I left the Bookshop at 12:30, very proud of myself for being so successful in my attempts at outlining—I am historically a pathfinder when I write. But, gasp, when I turned the street corner, my minivan was nowhere in sight.

   Seems a Mardi Gras parade was scheduled to roll down that street at 2 p.m., and the parking spaces had to be cleared two hours before it began.

   I explained to a friendly, motorcycle police officer (looking handsome in his uniform astride that Harley) that I had apparently overstayed my welcome at the parking space and wondered if he knew where my van was. He said it had been towed to a temporary impound lot, but then he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where on the documents he was carrying. Finally another motorcycle cop rumbled up (I do love the sound of a Harley) and pointed. My vehicle was, “That way. Just go straight. You can’t miss it.” I spent the next twenty or so minutes weaving through increasing crowds and around barriers as I walked 80,467 centimeters “That way.”

   I paid $125 to be reunited with my vehicle. So much for free parking. I guess I should have taken the time to squint at and read the yellow paper sign that was fluttering under the big sign listing the parking hours.

   In the seventeen years I’ve lived in Mobile, I’ve never been to a Mardi Gras parade. I’m quite sure I won’t be catching any Moon Pies or beads in the future either. Sigh.

   By the by, in case you didn’t know, Mardi Gras, the actual day, also known as Shrove Tuesday, is March 5 in 2019. The parades in Mobile, however—each of which has a story—start in January.

***

Upcoming book launches by authors I know, and available for preorder now:

BONE-A-FIED TROUBLE  March 4, 2019…Familiar Legacy Book 9

   CATS, COTTON, AND…MURDER—The worlds of Sarah Booth Delaney’s Zinnia, Mississippi and Trouble, the black cat detective, collide in this fast-paced tale of high stakes cotton research, abduction, and murder.

   Trouble, the Sherlockian feline, falls in with Pluto, another cat with a yin for detective work.

FORTITUDE  March 5, 2019…A re-launch of a lovely story with a spectacular new cover.

   Fortitude will see you through the darkest times— It was in April 1898 when I, Claire O'Farrell, made a decision that ultimately changed my life forever.

I had never been one to follow society’s “rules”. 

FORTITUDE’s publisher, Bienvenue Press, is hosting a Facebook pre-launch party Feb 24 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Stop by Bienvenue Press Readers and Writers and join the party! I’ll be chatting online from 2 to 3 p.m.

***

In last week’s post, I mentioned literary estates/executors. I found helpful information here:

http://www.writersandeditors.com/blog.htm?post=980293

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   That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

   See you next week?

cj

P.S. Eighty thousand centimeters seems so much more impressive than half a mile.

5-Star Review:  "Tight writing with a plot that flows like a river channeled through high cliffs." Carolyn Haines, Alabama's 2010 Distinguished Writer of the Year.

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