Did you see that beautiful, pink strawberry sailing through the night skies last night? June’s full moon is called the strawberry moon. It is particularly lovely when it shines down on still, tranquil Little Sand Lake. And, the fire pot? It invites folk to come sit a spell and enjoy the serenity of God’s great beauty with family and friends. The photo is by my talented niece, Missy Day Albrecht.
Jane, Peg and I didn’t have the fire pot to sit around yesterday but we did have my hundred year old table, originally belonging to my mother. And, we did have friendship. Coffee and chocolate chip cookies added a measure of good cheer as did the forthright and lively conversation. Critique groups are useful because opinions offered are honest, “as I see it” ideas. Very helpful.
Jane reached way back into her writing past to share with us a story she wrote for her boys in 1972, Kippy’s Train Ride. She illustrated this story about a little boy named Kippy who loved to see the trains go by. Her children enjoyed it and so did we. My son Matt liked trains as did his son Nathan. We had Thomas the Train books and toys for a long time. Kind of sad when Thomas had to be packed away.
Peg is an enthusiastic cozy mystery fan. She has been busy reading. Death by Espresso by Alex Erickson, Secret Lies and Crawfish Pies by Abby L. Vandiver, and a non-cozy, Lincoln’s Last Trial by Dan Abrams are among her latest reads. Peg reads so much, she is a connoisseur of what makes a good book. “You need several sub-plots,” Peg said. “I don’t like books with no sub-plots or books that repeat the problem to be solved, over and over.” She also wants the lead character to be likable and smart.
“Okay,” I said, “in Moonstruck and Murderous, is Myra blackmailing Evangeline or is that extraneous? Do I really need that to carry the story line?” It was a problem I had encountered as I wrote. The consensus was, No, Myra can be a suspect in the murder for other reasons already in the book. Blackmail would be over-kill. Wonderful! Problem solved. Other questions I had were about wills, trusts, irrevocable trusts and how they fit inside my plot.
After the critiquers had gone home, after the day ended, that great big pink strawberry moon sailed across the sky, looking down at writers, readers, sleeping folk and folk who were wide awake hatching up devious plot lines to include in mysteries. If you felt just a bit edgy or anxious or restless, perhaps it was due to the full moon. Ned McNeil and her friends often felt that way, especially as such baffling and mysterious things seemed to happen when the moon rose full and round over Ednalee, Oklahoma and Granger Mansion.
Manos Mysteries
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