Thanksgiving and Writing

Signing with Peggy Fielding and Warren Bull

by Jackie King

Most people love Thanksgiving. You don’t have to buy anyone a gift and sometimes one gets invited a fabulous dinner with family and friends. Grandchildren and football are an added bonus. And those of us who live in a free country have much to be thankful for.

These are only a few reasons why, back in 2009 when asked to pick a holiday for the anthology TWO FOXY HOLIDAY HENS AND ONE BIG ROOSTER, that I chose Thanksgiving. The other writer’s choices: Dusty Richards, winner of two Spur Awards, picked Independence Day; and Peggy Fielding decided on Christmas.

My novella, THANKSGIVING WITH A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER, is set in 1889 Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory, and features an evil Rooster named Henry, a mean-spirited mail-order husband who is gunned down in the first chapter, and, of course, a handsome stranger named Josh Savage.

After killing her husband, the villain tries to rape Hannah Smith, and while fighting him off she vows two things: if she lives, she will prove up her land and she will never marry.

Advice from Nancy Picard

While working on this story I attended a mystery conference in Manhattan, Kansas, where the above picture was taken. The keynote speaker, Nancy Picard, said that she liked to start books with food. Being a person who loves food and drink (especially coffee) I decided to take her advice. This is the way I began THANKSGIVING WITH A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER:

All Hannah Smith ever wanted was a house with yellow curtains, a small garden and a good cup of coffee. Right now she’d settle for the coffee, but she had only enough grounds for one final pot and she was saving that treat for Thanksgiving Day.

Hannah is ruminating her dilemma while sitting on a breezy seat in the outhouse of the claim that she and her mail-order husband George (he punishes her by not buying coffee) have filed. She’s holding a broom to fight off Henry the rooster, when someone rides onto the property and shoots George.

And her problems have only just started.

If you want a good Thanksgiving read you can download this anthology from Amazon for $2.99. There is also a hard copy for sale.



Halloween-GMMC 2008 where Nancy Picard spoke, and yes, I'm the witch!

Here’s wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday.

THANKSGIVING STORIES FROM CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

By Jackie King

A normal childhood has always seemed a mystery to me. My family life wasn’t miserable because I had a strong, smart mother who never gave up. But my growing up was unorthodox, very unorthodox. We lived hand-to-mouth and the only constant in our lives was my grandparents who lived on a farm in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Gilbert (Gib) and Lillie Hodges traveled from Arkansas very early in the 20^th century and brought with them two small daughters; the oldest was Aunt Lena and the youngest was my mother, Delia. Nine other children were born to them and all grew to adulthood except for one girl who was never named. Her tombstone simply reads: Baby Girl Hodges. Perhaps life on the prairie was too hard to find names for children who only lived a day or two. There were many infants buried sans first names in the Forgan, Oklahoma cemetery.

But back to my childhood. Mother taught school and she never got a check in the summertime, so we spent those lean months with my grandparents. Living on that flat, grassy land taught me to love the plains and the resolute people who had settled a land where many built their houses from sod.

Perhaps that’s why it seemed so natural for me to spin three novellas set in 1889 Oklahoma Territory. (Not in the panhandle; of course, more in the center of the state.) One of these stories, Thanksgiving with a Mysterious Stranger, is included in the anthology called TWO FOXY HENS AND ONE BIG ROOSTER. The theme was holidays, and I picked Thanksgiving. Here’s the gist of it:

Hannah Smith determines to prove out her land stake in 1889 Guthrie, O.T., after her mail-order husband is murdered. This arduous task is complicated by a villain who tries to kill Hannah. A rancorous rooster and a mysterious stranger complicate her life, but this resilient woman still manages to solve her husband’s murder and save her homestead.

Ah yes, I always have to bump someone off in my stories. This one was especially fun to write. I’d just heard a talk by Nancy Picard who said it was good to start a story talking about food. The favorite thing that I put into my mouth is coffee, so that’s how I started. Here are the first couple of paragraphs so you can judge for yourself:

All Hannah Smith ever wanted was a house with yellow curtains, a small garden and a good cup of coffee. Right now she’d settle for the coffee, but she had only enough grounds for one final pot and she was saving that treat for Thanksgiving Day.

It was her own fault. She’d deliberately annoyed her brand-new husband George, who disliked coffee anyway. Sometimes a woman’s mouth opened and words popped out unbidden. And because of that one slip, George swore he’d never again buy her another ounce of coffee.

If you love Thanksgiving and enjoy historical mysteries, then Thanksgiving with a Mysterious Stranger is the story for you. You’ll also get two other novellas in the anthology THE FOXY HENS AND ONE BIG ROOSTER.

 

http://tinyurl.com/ck8bk6c

By Jackie King

A writer never retires and that’s a good thing for me since I was old enough to die when I started. Re-started would be more accurate. After beginning to write early in my life I got sidetracked by distracting circumstances. I went away to college at 16, was married at 18 (my brain hadn’t even stopped growing) and then raised three children. In other words, stuff happened.

But the time is now and I’m learning to live in the present moment. That happens as you age and begin to feel your own mortality. So on this post, I’m talking about today.

Finally I’m Living My Dream

A writer never retires, which is a good thing for me since I was old enough to die when I (re)started at age 49. Because I had neither husband nor trust fund, I counted beans for a living and wrote at night and on weekends. That’s what most writers do. I loved those days made rich by writing, reading and hanging around with other scribes when time allowed.

The wonderful thing is that one eventually retires from their day job, and that’s when I became a full-time writer. I had listened to a lot of talk about getting prepared for retirement so I didn’t go into some kind of a funk (aka depression). No need for me or any writer to worry about that particular problem. My job had served me well, but I’d long been counting the years, months and days until I could finally say:

THANK GOD IT’S MONDAY!

It’s hard to believe that my favorite day is now Monday. (I usually keep quiet about this fact. No need to upset those who are still paying their dues.)

A few years ago, my new (dream) schedule started like this:

Rise at 7:00 a.m. and put on makeup. Reason for bothering with makeup? To signal my auto-pilot self that I had NOT retired, I’d just gone into business for myself. Then I took a walk through the neighborhood and worked at my computer until noon. (Coffee and breakfast fitted in somewhere, depending on the day. You’ve seen my picture so you know that I don’t skip meals. And coffee is essential, not only for my sanity but for the (mental) health of anyone near me.)

About five years into my dream life I gave up putting on makeup except for special occasions. That Pavlov’s dog thing had kicked in and I automatically walked to my computer each morning. I had learned that there just wasn’t enough time for small stuff. I had (finally) come to understand the importance of living in the present. I’d learned that not all good things are expedient. (That’s a King James’ Bible sort of word.) So now, with the limited energy of an old gal, my ‘primetime’ has become shorter. I write in the morning and then again after meals. These are the times when my energy level is highest. In between writing and short rest periods, I do such things as load my dish washer, pick up messy stuff around my house, and call a few friends. I usually read in the evenings.

I love my writer’s life! Back when I came home to write after working a 10-hour day, I loved that, too. When I had the energy to spend long hours at my computer as a younger full-time writer, I loved that even more. But writing today is best of all. Even my rest periods are spent writing; I mull over plot problems and character motivation. Then after I get my second (or third) wind, I hit the keyboard again.

Life is never perfect. Everyone gets their share of tragedy, illness, and cranky grocery clerks. But for this writer, LIFE ROCKS!

Post Script: This was written on a sunshine filled day. I may post my thoughts on a ‘downer’ day at another time. J

Hugs to everyone who loves books.

Jackie King

A couple of my mysteries:

THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE in a nutshell:

…No credit cards, no cash, no resources, no job skills. Fleeced and abandoned by her husband, Grace Cassidy learns she is the prime suspect in a bizarre murder.

STATEHOOD FOXY HENS AND MURDER MOST FOWL: Historical Mystery (Anthology) Set in 1889 Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory: “The Spinster, the Pig, and the Orphan,” a novella by Jackie King:

A most proper spinster, Harriet Lauren, decides to buy herself a husband, the handsome Zachariah Garrett. What she didn’t bargain for was murder in her brand new hotel that threatens her investment and then her life.

Website: www.jacqking.com

If you’re on Facebook, please ‘friend’ me. I’m listed as Jacqueline King