Recreating Main Street In My Small Town Cozy Mysteries

Sometimes I wonder how it would be if I revisited the small town where I grew up if just to see what it is like today. No doubt it would look wet and cold. So, let's make it a clear, sunny day in June. While I made my way down the sidewalk along Main Street, I wonder if the memories would come back to me. I wonder if I would see the details I've forgotten, or I haven't thought about in many years. So far, I've resisted the temptation to return, and I probably won't do it. I suppose there really is something to the old saying you can't go home again. 

Seeing Main Street through an adult's eyes is a lot different than through seeing it through a kid's eyes. As a kid I believe I was more aware of my five senses. You know, the smells, sounds, and sights I encountered on Main Street. For instance, I can still recall the unique pungent scent of the fermenting corn I smelled around the grain elevators and metal silos at the Famers' Co-op.

It was located next to the railroad tracks at the far end of Main Street. The railroad tracks that I remember so well have helped me to anchor the mental map I've drawn to create my fictional small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia. I like for my two sister sleuths Isabel & Alma Trumbo to visit Main Street early in the book. In fact, many of the scenes take place on Main Street, either on the sidewalks or inside the different shops. Main Street becomes an important place for Isabel & Alma to go to mingle with and meet their friends.

Tuesday's Overlooked Movies: The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery Starring Steve McQueen

This 1959 bank heist drama stars Steve McQueen in an early movie role. I enjoyed watching his other films over the years, so I decided I'd give this one a try. For some puzzling reason, IMDb.com only rates it 6.0/10.0. I quibble with that low mark. Granted, the movie's pace is slow and deliberate, but I find that to be a good quality as it allowed me to see each of the four gangster characters evolve. McQueen plays a college dropout who is hired to play the wheelman in a planned bank heist. Of course, McQueen doesn't have any experience, but one of the gang members vouches for him. The same gang member also has a younger sister who McQueen is sweet on. Despite their casing the target bank and meticulous planning, tensions run high and testy within the gang. Since this is a film noir, we know things aren't going to go well for the robbers. Crahan Denton as the boss has a few hang ups that get in his way. David Clarke who vouches for McQueen gives an especially edgy performance. Clarke died in 2004 at age 95. All told, I give this film a solid thumbs up. McQueen went on to make better pictures, but he does a good job in this one which proves again crime doesn't pay.

My New Cozy Mystery Is Set In The Cozy 'Burbs

Earlier this year, I published my first title in a new cozy mystery series: The Corpse Wore Gingham. This series is different than my first cozy series featuring the elderly sisters Isabel & Alma Trumbo. They reside in the fictitious small town of Quiet Anchorage located in Virginia. Just like in Cabot Cove, the murders keep turning up in Quiet Anchorage, and they keep Isabel & Alma hopping with their sleuthing adventures.

However, Piper & Bill Robins reside in the fictitious suburb of Beverly Park located in the Northern Virginia area just south of Washington, D.C. Piper & Bill, like Isabel & Alma, are retired, but the Robinses are a married couple who have taken up the role of amateur sleuth. Their unusual decision wasn't made as a fanciful whim but as a practical course as the murder plot in The Corpse Wore Gingham shows. After solving their first case, they find themselves tackling a second one. That's the book I'm working on right at the moment.

Beverly Park is a tidy and quiet neighborhood with its residents like the Robinses who have lived there for decades. Families are raised there. The kids grow up and move away, but their parents stay because they consider Beverly Park to be their home. It has a sense of civic pride, and the neighbors living there like as well as look out for one another. In some ways, my suburb of Beverly Park is like my small town of Quiet Anchorage.

Just as a side note, Isabel & Alma Trumbo will be back, so don't forget about them. I'm planning on their return for late this spring or early summer, so thanks for adding them to your summer reading lists.

My First Draft to Book 2 Is Finished Today

I believe the time was 2:10 p.m. this afternoon when I wrote the last word to Book 2 of my Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. I may have whooped out loud as I typed the final period to the final sentence. I know it's just a first draft--I've done enough of them to understand that--but I was happy at least for the moment. My other fiction projects this year have been editing and revising, so Book 2 is my first new fiction book I've written in 2015. I'll begin the first round of revising it over the next week, licking it into shape. Then I'll set the Book 2 draft aside for a few weeks before I begin the final edits. Meantime, Book 1 is The Corpse Wore Gingham where Piper & Bill Robins get started in their sleuthing adventures.

Why I Set My Cozy Mysteries In The Good Old Summertime

At the crack of dawn this morning, I was awakened by a disheartening KABOOM! noise going off behind our neighborhood. I instantly knew what it meant: the transformer had blown out, and our electric power was gone. I heard the wind kicking up in gusts outside the house, and I knew that was the guilty culprit. We've heard the blown transformer noise a lot this winter.

I went into the kitchen and checked the thermometer gauge: 8 degrees. I tapped it and still got the same cold reading. It was going to be a long day. But I'm not complaining. My dad worked for the power company for decades, so I know what their intrepid and determined crews go through to get the lights back on for us. Our power is back now, so hats off to them. Plus, we didn't get much snow, and I know what the brave, hardy folks up in Boston and New England have gotten with their snowfall totals this winter.

So, I sat down after a cold breakfast, and began my daily writing session. I keep a stack of yellow legal pads I like to write on along with my favorite Papermate ink pens. It had been quite some time since I last wrote anything lengthy in my longhand. But I went at it anyway. Right now, I'm working on the first draft of the next book in my cozy mystery series.

I always set my cozy mysteries in the good old summertime. I like the books's setting to be a pleasant one when the outdoors temperature is a moderate and not a frigid one. This morning while I wrote out my next scene in my cold room, I could enjoy the story's sunny warmth vicariously. So, it provided a nice distraction from my present woes. Really, when you think about it, that is one of the nice aspects about reading popular fiction: escapism. Now I have to go keystroke in my handwritten pages to the Word file of my first draft, which I also aim to finish very soon. Rap on wood. I hope you have a good week, as well. Stay warm!

Working On The Second Book In My Cozy Mystery Series

Earlier this year, I published book one titled The Corpse Wore Gingham in my new Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. The reader comments and the reviews have been positive. I've been writing the second book, and today I'm happy to report, I reached the halfway mark in the first draft. By way of introduction, Piper and Bill are a retired couple who do their sleuthing in a Virginia suburb outside of Washington, D.C. Etta the gregarious birdwatcher and the opinionated but affable feline Snoozy Q will also be back. So, I'll post my future blogs as things move along on their next book. Meantime, I hope you'll check out their first adventuresome mystery The Corpse Wore Gingham and see how they got started. There are some surprises that come up.

I Marked My Calendar: Spring Training Begins February 19th

Every winter right about this time in blah February, my thoughts turn to the commencement of spring training. You don't have to be a fan of major league baseball (MLB) to be on the lookout for it. Spring training is one of the true signs of spring. While I'm shoveling the next load of fallen snow off my driveway and sidewalks (we live on a corner lot with more than one), I think of those guys down in sunny, balmy Florida (the Citrus League) or Arizona (the Cactus League). Of course, they're working and not playing around or loafing like I'd be doing. Still, it's nice to imagine being in a place without any cold, ice, and snow. This year the Washington Nationals have their pitchers and catchers reporting for duty on February 19th, which falls on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. I circled the day on my calendar a couple of months ago as if I would forget it. I don't even think much ahead to the summer season when they play the sport. Right now, just basking vicariously in the Florida or Arizona sun is good enough for me. "Let's play two," the great Ernie Banks who sadly just passed away used to say. I like keeping around that positive attitude.

Is The Handwritten Letter A Relic Of The Past?

I'm afraid so, yes. It has gone the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. I'm sitting here, and I cannot remember the last time I sat down and wrote a handwritten letter, or when I last received such a letter from a sender. Can you? Do the personal notes scribbled on the insides of Christmas cards under the greeting message qualify as handwritten letters? I know I must have packets of handwritten letters I got and saved. They are packed away in a pasteboard box somewhere from our different moves. Back in the early days of the internet, I used to print out my email letters so I would have a permanent record of them. I no longer do that, or else I'd have reams of paper containing the printed out emails. When did you last spot a functional public mailbox? I guess they are still around in the shopping centers and such well-trafficked places. Going down to our mailbox used to be a treat, but now we just receive third class junk mail. But I must say I very much like the ease and convenience of the digital age. I'd hate to return to the days of having only use snail mail. I bet you feel the same way, too.

The Strange Case of the Shrinking Packages

For my wife and me, it started out with the Chobani Greek Yogurt we bought in the 6-ounce plastic cups. Remember those? Then one day I happened to notice how the yogurt cups appeared to be a wee bit smaller as I was putting them into the shopping cart.

So, I read the label's fine print (luckily, I was wearing my bifocals) and discovered it was now 5.3(!) ounces of yogurt packaged in the plastic cup. The price hadn't changed, but the proportion size had decreased. Instead of raising the price, we got 0.7 ounce less of yogurt.

Our young checker paused while he was swiping the yogurt cups over the price scanner. He scratched his head and wondered out loud when the yogurt cup size had shrunk, and we filled him in.

So, I checked around. Peter McGuinness, Chobani’s chief marketing and brand officer, said: “It is the established category norm; everyone is at 5.3 ounces. Many of our consumers were confused at the shelf when comparing nutritional information. Many have sent messages clearly to us saying, ‘Why do you have more sugar and calories?’ We wanted to level the playing field so they were comparing apples to apples, yogurt to yogurt.” (Source: Boston Globe, 2/14/14)

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Blonde Ice

Oh, those poor guys who fall for the gorgeous but dangerous femme fatales. Will the guys ever learn? Apparently not, given all the films noir where they get burned and often burned badly. This 1948 crime film takes the femme fatale character to the extreme by calling her "blonde ice." For the most part, the film succeeds, but the last fifteen minutes are a bit confusing to me. The ending was a bit of a head-scratcher, but that's all I'll say about it. Anyway, Leslie Brooks stars as Claire Cummings Hanneman who has just gotten married when she steps out on the terrace to reassure her old lover he remains the object of her enduring love. Robert Paige is the poor sap who believes her, but to his credit, he's enough of skeptic to not totally fall for her glib line. She goes on her honeymoon and murders her new filthy rich husband, making it appear as a suicide. Brooks plays the "blonde ice" femme fatale with a frightening ease, and she only made a handful of movies before she retired from the motion picture business. The scheming airplane pilot (Russ Vincent) who blackmails her is her future real-life husband. All in all, I enjoyed watching the familiar dynamics play out Blonde Ice. You might, too, if you're a film noir fan.

How I'll Spend My Own Groundhog Day

Today is the celebration of that peculiar day known as Groundhog Day. If Punxsutawney Phil, our favorite groundhog residing in Pennsylvania, doesn't see his shadow when he comes out of his burrow, then we're suppose to get an early spring. But if Phil, no dummy, sees his shadow, he returns to hole back up in his burrow since spring will come late. However, Groundhog Day is also a 1993 fantasy movie where comedian Bill Murray plays a Pittsburgh TV weatherman who repeats the same day over and over. It's a cute and humorous film if you haven't seen it. The lovely Andie MacDowell is Murray's co-star.

It struck me as ironic this morning when I put out my first tweet of the day and mentioned that today is Groundhog Day. Coincidentally or not, I'm also repeating the process of starting my new novel. This book is the second title in my new Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. The first title The Corpse Wore Gingham came out in January. My plan is to bring out the second book in 2016. My sleuths are a retired married couple who decide to take up playing detective. I'm having a lot fun with the Robinses, and the books capture it.

So, we'll have a good Groundhog Day, and the best to Punxsutawney Phil when he makes his grand appearance.