Who Still Listens to Books?

by June Shaw How many people still listen to books? When my mom lived with me during her last few years, she listened to books on tape for the blind because macular degeneration had snatched most of her vision. Of course that was the reason she eventually, at the age of 98, agreed to leave her home and stay with me. I had lots of room. She had little vision--her only problem (which led me to write a book about her--at the prompting of many others. It was great of the company to send her a recorder and any cassettes she wanted me to order for her. The only problem was she couldn't see any part of the machine enough to know how to start or stop it. Or if she fell asleep while it played--what in the world was going on with that novel? She had no idea of what was taking place, so she lost interest. Of course she was happy that the company had provided it. Audio books for everyone else--who listens to them? I've seen them in Cracker Barrel stores and have been tempted to buy or rent them. But I'm not in my car enough to listen to taped books in it, and I surely wouldn't keep still enough to listen to one at my home. Who does, I wondered, until the youngest of my two daughters told me her eyes gave her trouble when reading, so she couldn't do it for long. She preferred books on tape. Ah, and today I received a contract for just that--Books in Motion wants to put the second book of my humorous mystery series on tape. Right when it seems most people are debating paper or e-books, I receive this reminder--many people still enjoy listening to books. RELATIVE DANGER, the first book in my humorous mystery series, has three very different covers created for each venue in which it is released. Here you'll find the covers for the hardcover version from Five Star, the paperback cover put out by Harlequin when they bought reprint rights, and the cover created by Books in Motion for the audio edition. http://www.juneshaw.com. You can also find there the cover for the hardcover edition. I wonder what the Books in Motion cover will look like. Have you ever had different covers for your books--or do you like to see them for the books others write?

Giving Thanks

Giving Thanks

by June Shaw

During this time, I am thankful for my faith, family, and friends. And for all readers who care about the work I love to do.

I remember and give thanks for my mom, who moved on to celebrate with others in heaven two years ago. She danced till the end. And I am fortunate enough to have written a book about her that just came out called NORA 102 1/2: A Lesson on Aging Well. While not a mystery in the usual sense, the way she lived her life, mainly during her senior years, had almost everyone who met her say, "You're my mentor. I want to be just like you."

An ordinary woman in most ways, Mom lived to be over 102--and never had a headache. Ever. She didn't have pains and started dating after she was seventy. Her mother waited up for her to come in the house and wouldn't give her a house key.

Mom took one pill a day. When she was in her mid-nineties, a man asked what it was for. She said, "Birth control."

So I was extremely lucky. I was the daughter. In the book about her, I tried to unravel clues as to how she became such a vibrant woman.

I hope you and yours have cause to celebrate and also give thanks this season.

WHY DO WE LIKE MYSTERIES?

June Shaw

Did you ever stop to wonder why you enjoy reading mysteries?

I've heard many mystery authors explain it this way: We read mysteries because we know that the offender will be punished, and good will overcome.

Yes, that's true. But isn't it also true of most romances? Or women's fiction? How about Westerns? I haven't read one in years, but I imagine the cowboys still shoot the bad guys.

Lots of men, especially, seem to enjoy hard-boiled mysteries for their blood and gore.

Many of us, however, like cozies just as well. We like some humor and romance and--oh, yes, there's a dead body or three or four, and we do want to know who the bad guy or gal is and how they're put away.

I think maybe we grab on to characters we like to spend time with, and those characters often people mystery series. We know they'll do the right thing (more than not), and we will continue to cheer them on. They might be fun (like readers describe mine--excuse the BSP, but it's true:) Our heroes might be deadly and carrying lots of flaws. That makes some people like them even more.

Why do YOU read mysteries?

CHARACTERS' AGES

June Shaw

When you’re reading (or writing) a book, what age characters do you prefer?
As I’m getting older (see picture), I realize I search for more mature characters than I did when I was in my twenties. And thirties. And….

Okay, so maybe I can relate better to older characters—although I really love Janet Evanovitch’s books. Oh, but maybe that’s because of Grandma Mazur. Actually, I do adore Grandma, but the younger, sexier characters are fun, too.

I liked Murder She Wrote long before I was near the protagonist’s age. I was young and enjoyed all of the women on Golden Girls. One of my all-time favorite stage plays is Arsenic and Old Lace.

The nice thing is I don’t believe I am alone in my taste for characters. The popularity of those television programs and the play attest to that fact.
What I see as different now is that I can relate more to those characters. At present, I am reading and enjoying Susan Santangelo’s Retirement Can Be Murder. Possibly a few years ago I would not have been able to sympathize with her protagonist as well. Now I definitely understand.

Janet Evanovitch’s books made me decide to write a humorous mystery series because her books are so enjoyable. I chose to make my main character somewhat older and wiser than hers. Mine may not sell as well (whose do?), but writing them is really fun. Readers and reviewers say they love my protagonist, too.

And all of my readers and reviewers can’t possibly all be baby boomers or older—can they?

Seasonal Mysteries by June Shaw

Lots of authors of mysteries set their stories during a certain season. Christmas seems the most popular. We can find single titles and anthologies that center around the Christmas holidays. The main reason is probably because that's when people buy gifts for each other and for themselves. During the holiday season, readers like to plunge into problems that will be solved.

The next most popular season seems to be winter. Why? I imaging it's because winter is a barren time--a period when leaves dry up and fall. Snow and blizzards blanket large parts of the earth. It's an easy time to plant dead bodies in drab nature.

Mysteries are often set in the summer when the sun and its heat saturate humankind, often making tempers flare and individuals miserable. It's pretty easy to imaging those with a violent instinct taking their miseries out on others.

But what about spring? Birth. New beginnings. The flowers and bushes and trees wanted to thrive again. Not a time for killing, although authors sometimes have the snow melting and withdrawing to reveal a dead body.

Do you ever write books involving a certain season? Or have you purchased books to read because of the season in which they take place?

It's been awhile since I did that. How about you?

Introducing Susan Santangelo, new blogger

By Pat Browning


Susan Santangelo, a new blogger at Murderous Musings, lives part of the time in Old Saybrook, Connecticut and part of the time in Dennis, Massachusetts. She published her first mystery, RETIREMENT CAN BE MURDER in 2009. The second in the Baby Boomer series, MOVING CAN BE MURDER, is due out early in 2011. Susan and her husband founded their own publishing company, Baby Boomer Mysteries Press. The web site is www.babyboomermysteries.com.

Susan and her husband Joe share their lives with three English Cocker Spaniels: Tucker, Lucy (she's on the back cover of the book), and new puppy Boomer.

So why the focus on baby boomers? In an interview on WCAI (one of the listener-supported public radio stations serving Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and the South Coast) Susan notes that today’s baby boomers don’t have the kind of retirement their parents and grandparents did. On the whole they’re living longer and better, with time for volunteering, giving back to the community or starting new careers, doing things they always wanted to do.

RETIREMENT CAN BE MURDER is a classic cozy but with a difference. Susan's book is a light-hearted look at a serious subject: the first wave of what will be a tsunami of Baby Boomers facing retirement. When you've spent a lifetime with the clock and the calendar, what do you do after you throw away the alarm clock? Where do you go if you aren’t going to work?

Susan and Joe are both writers, recently retired from the public relations business. She proposed they write a mystery together. It was meant to be a “she said-he said” kind of story with the two of them writing alternating chapters. Susan wrote the first chapter to get them started and ended up writing the whole thing.

Story in a nutshell: Unsure of how to deal with a retired husband hanging around the house, the wife sends him to a retirement coach, with calamitous results. It’s a murder mystery, after all.

There’s an interesting interview with Susan at Novel Journey, chosen as One of Writer's Digest 101 Most Valuable Websites for Writers 2008 and 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/29n6x2f

Some brief excerpts from that interview of Aug. 21, 2009:

“It seems that people of a “certain age” become invisible, because our country seems to be more and more obsessed with youth. I’m hoping that by writing a series of books focusing on the everyday lives of Boomers, that perception will change. We still have plenty of good years ahead of us and lots of things to contribute. And if we can laugh along the way, that’s even better!”
***
“I’ve always written. And I’ve always wanted to write a mystery. I always figured I had plenty of time ahead of me to do it. But then I was diagnosed with breast cancer (12) years ago. That event completely changed the way I look at my life. I decided I’d better get going and do the things I want to do now. It’s really true that life is not a dress rehearsal.”
***
“I find that I can’t just sit at the computer and write write write all day long. I write in spurts, and I’m constantly making notes to myself. What really stimulates my ‘little gray cells’ is overhearing other people’s conversations. I confess I’m a real observer of human nature, and it’s amazing what people talk about in public situations such as the check out line of the local supermarket or on their cell phone. I get great plot and character ideas every day this way.”

A Special Note: Susan Santangelo is one of the founders of the Breast Cancer Survival Center in Connecticut, which provides support and education about the disease to those who have undergone treatment. A portion of the sale of each book will be donated to this organization (http://www.breastcancersurvival.org/).

This week I lobbed some questions Susan’s way to find out more about her.

Q: You’re in an interesting location, far removed from the wide open spaces of the West and Southwest where some of us live. Tell us about Cape Cod and Connecticut, and what it’s like to live in two places. How did that come about?

A: I guess I'm just lucky! I was born in Connecticut, but my family vacationed on Cape Cod for many years when I was growing up. When our first son was born, my parents rented a cottage here, and we loved it so much as a family that we continued the tradition and rented one the following summer. And the one after that. And the one after that. Finally, it made sense to buy a place.

Joe and I both love living near water. Getting up early in the morning and having the option of walking on the beach (or rolling over and going back to sleep!) is heaven. But our three dogs -- Tucker, 14 1/2, Lucy, 9 (she's on the back cover of the book), and new puppy Boomer, 9 months -- always vote for the walk.

The best part of the year is from now until early April. That's when we locals have the Cape all to ourselves, and can actually go out to eat without having to wait in line for hours to get a table. Life here is pretty casual. Most of the time, when we have people over, they're close friends, and everyone always brings something. But the specialty of this house, no matter what the time of year, is my homemade meatballs. If I could figure out how to stuff a turkey with them, my family would love it!

But Joe worked in Hartford, Connecticut for many years, and we still have a house there too, in the beautiful shoreline town of Old Saybrook. So many of my good friends are in Connecticut, and I have many good friends on Cape Cod as well. I guess someday we'll have to choose where we want to live full-time, but for now, it's a great life.

Q: You and your husband both had careers in journalism and public relations. What is he doing now that he’s retired?

A: Joe retired in December, and in his usual fashion hit the ground running on January 2 with an article published in The Hartford Courant (that's Connecticut's largest daily paper) on the legislature and governor etc. He's also had several pieces published in Connecticut Magazine, and has partnered with another go-getter here on the Cape to start a public relations company. The business is growing and he's working hard and enjoying the challenge of being an entrepreneur at last. He also hosts a television show called "Cape Cod Newsmakers" on our local cable access channel.

Q: At the end of your book you list some questions for discussion. I’ll put a couple of them to you.


(1) What is your definition of success?
(2) If you could choose one thing to do every day, what would it be? Why?


A: (1) At my age, my selfish definition of personal success is opening my eyes and putting my feet on the floor. My real definition of success is making a positive difference in somebody's life.
(2) If I could choose one thing to do every day, it'd be writing a great chapter in the next baby boomer mystery book. That gives me a real feeling of accomplishment. And it's so much fun!

Q: I looked up the web site of http://www.breastcancersurvival.org/.
It offers a comprehensive schedule of programs. Is the organization run by volunteers and/or professionals? Do you contribute to the programs?

A: Thank you so much for this question. The Breast Cancer Survival Center is near and dear to my heart. I'm one of the co-founders, along with my dear friend Carla Gisolfi of Norwalk, CT, a 2-time survivor who, unfortunately, lost her battle last year. I serve as President of the board of directors, which is a very hands-on job. We are the only non-profit in the state of Connecticut exclusively devoted to post-treatment education and support for breast cancer survivors and their families. Most of our programs are free. Part of the profit from the sales of baby boomer mysteries is donated to the Center. In the past 11 years, we have served more than 8,000 survivors and families. We are all-volunteer.

Q: I also followed the link to National Association of Baby Boomer Women (http://www.nabbw.com/)
and its sister site (http://www.boomerwomenspeak.com/).
At the sister site, among many other things I found notice of an August teleseminar, “How To Hire And Work With a Ghostwriter - Plus Tips on How to Become One,” and a writing contest. I’m astounded. It’s a whole new world out there. In a nutshell, what do you consider the most important contributions being made by baby boomers?

A: We are living life on our own terms, as we always did! NABBW is a great organization. I look at the membership roster, and I can't believe the diversity of talented women there.

Q: One more question. You have a good support system for your writing. What suggestions and critiques did members of Sisters in Crime and the Cape Cod Writers’ Center contribute during the writing of your book?

A: Sisters in Crime (SINC) is such a fabulous organization. I'm not sure how many folks know that fans can become members too. They have terrific on-line support and information feeds daily that, for a fledgling writer like me, is invaluable. Cape Cod is a very nurturing environment for writers. The Writers Center has a very reasonable summer conference with great courses. I took a course there and learned a lot about editing and revision that I hope has served me well. There are also many independent writers' groups on Cape Cod, including Book In The Hand, which is headed by another wonderful writer, Elizabeth Moisan, and allows prose writers (both published and unpublished) to come and read from their work.

Q: With Thanksgiving coming up I must ask: Is there much of an American Indian presence on Cape Cod?

A: There's not as much of a Native American presence here on Cape Cod as there used to be, except in the town of Mashpee, which is not too close to us. There's actually a tribal council which is integral to that town, and lots of talk about a casino off-Cape to bring the tribe revenue, like Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. We'll see how far that goes.

Q: How about your own Thanksgiving plans?

A: Thanksgiving will be spent traveling to New Jersey for a big family gathering. Our niece and her husband have a cast of thousands (at least, that's what it seems like!), and the food is delish. Then back in the car and onward to Maryland the next day to see our older son, Mark and his family -- wife Sandy, and grandchildren Jacob and Rebecca.


I should mention we just got back from Halloween in Maryland on Monday! We seem to spend lots of time in the car to-ing and fro-ing, but in the summer, the family (including son Dave, who's living the good life in Marina Del Rey California where he buys and sells sailboats -- lives on one too) gathers here on the Cape for barbecues, trips to the beach, splashing in our pool, and generally having fun being together.
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To-ing and fro-ing and pigging out on homemade meatballs – sounds like the good life to me. Many thanks to Susan for answering all my nosy questions, and good luck to her with her new Baby Boomer mystery series.
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PERSONAL NOTE: This is my last post for Murderous Musings. I’m taking my online life in a new direction: first as an editor at Lorie Ham’s ezine, “Kings River Life,” and second by joining Tumblr and Kindle Forum, a couple of new promotional avenues. I still have a personal blog, Morning’s At Noon, at http://pbrowning.blogspot.com/, and most important of all, I’m going to finish my second book and get cracking on Books 3 and 4. – Pat Browning