GOODWEATHER
REPORTS
VII – January 1, 2008
Happy New Year!
Well, you've been besieged with my attempts to send a big file of holiday pictures. In the end, there were some folks who couldn't receive them probably, it has been suggested, due to restrictions within their servers. And my own server screamed at me when I cc.'d the album to myself several times. So I've found a solution of sorts – web albums! When I just can't resist sharing a bunch of pictures, I'll post them on the web and give you all a link. You should already have received this one for the holiday album:
Also, in trying to figure out how to do the web album, I found myself signing up for another blog – in addition to the Amazon one. The problem with the Amazon one is that (I think) you have to be a customer in order to post comments. And I don't know how to put pictures on it. So, if you're interested in fairly frequent, rather brief comments and pictures from me, check out
http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/2007/12/something-new.html
I'll save the Amazon blog for monthly (more or less) essays. (I posted one on 12/ 28.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A2MQM33N9H56R1/ref=cm_blog_dp_artist_blog
Ah, technology! But I'm delighted at almost 65 to be still learning, even if (as Monty Python's Gumby family say) it does make my brain hurt.
Speckled Sussex Hen
QUESTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM YOU ALL
( or ‘you uns,' as Miss Birdie would say)
Beth E. in Waynesville, NC recommends books by: “Chris Bohjalian--all his work is set in small town Vermont , some have some mystery in them, but mostly just people working out their lives. One is about a "dowser" (made me nervous in these dry times), another about a midwife, then homeopathic healer. I think you would really like all his work. “
Fleta, my one-time painting teacher and the inspiration for Daphne in Art's Blood remembers: “ . . . some confusion over language about two years ago. I moved here in 1981, and thought I could at this point understand all the twists of phrase one might encounter here in the mountains. This was not the case in the 80's. My first job, in a local manufacturing plant as a shipping and receiving clerk caused some problems when the truckers would call in to announce their arrival. Most of the time I could not understand the name of the company they worked for due to the twang, so I would check the rolodex to see if I could find a company name that might match!
“But, with time I was at ease with the dialect. Well (or should I say wall), a few years ago I got the idea that a large cast iron stew pot might look nice on my hearth, so was checking out the local flea markets. When I asked one fellow, he said, "Oh, you's looking for a bain kittle." I had to ask a few times what he had said, and finally in exasperation he said, " You know, a kittle to cook your bains !"
Our neighbor had a 34 year-old bay mule named Nell. She was slow but, as he was crippled with arthritis, her leisurely pace suited him. One day our neighbor's son came over, riding on a younger gray mule.
“What's her name?' I asked.
“We just call her ol' Baal,” he replied.
Wow, I thought, like the false idols in the Bible. Pretty cool.
“Baal like in the Bible,” I said, eager to assert my knowledge of the Good Book.
“Waal now, I don't know about that. Just ol' Baal like ol' Naal.”
I love accents and dialects. What a pity it will be when someday, due to the pervasive influence of television, we all sound alike ( probably like Valley girls.)
Araucana hen with characteristic beard
Ann and Lisa wonder : whether anything has been written about the women mystery writers. They say: It's intriguing how many accomplished women authors also write mysteries along with their other literary tomes. Is there something about mysteries that particularly appeals to women and to women writers?
You can run a search in Worldcat.com and see books on American women mystery writers. And there's this (some overlap involved) for British women mystery writers
http://tinyurl.com/37fto7
As to why mysteries appeal to women, one possibility that's been suggested is the moral stance most mysteries take: Evil happens; Evil is punished; Good prevails. And making order out of chaos may appeal to the housewifely (is that a word?) side of the feminine nature (is that politically correct?). I'm aware that I don't always do this – sometimes the tying up of loose ends is left to you, the reader. I usually have a plausible answer ready as to what happened to whoeveritwas but don't always cram it into that last chapter.
At one of my first readings for Signs in the Blood , when I asked for questions, Pat F. raised her hand and said, “I want to know why you didn't kill that sonuvabitch!”
You probably know who she was talking about – the bad guy in the Little Sylvie story. I did mention that he drowned several years later. Sometimes justice is delayed.
Why do mysteries appeal to women writers? I can only answer for myself here. I have always read mysteries so the idea of writing one seemed a possibility. Also, I liked the idea that there was a definite form imposed. And, when I was beginning, I took comfort in the fact that mysteries seem to run the gamut from Truly Awful to Very, Very Good. I thought I might fit in there somewhere.
But I just came across an essay by Laurie R. King – she's one of the Very, Very Good mystery writers -- and she answers that question in some well chosen words:
“So why a mystery novel? Because it is a strong form that allows me to do what I wish with it. I love the genre, with its rigid structure and its immense freedom. On its bones I can hang a story about things that matter, about death and pain and the dark side of the human mind, about fear and triumph and joy and the price we pay for justice, about the full gamut of human response.
A mystery novel, because the form is as big as I need it to be, and as intimate .
A mystery, because it's human.”
You can read the whole essay here:
http://www.mysterynet.com/books/testimony/laurie_king_matter.shtml
Nancy M. in Arden writes: Your proposed Chapter One ( for the Miss Birdie book) reminded of going to a funeral over on Laurel with my mama many years ago. The cemetery was straight up the side of a mountain and when we finally made it to the top, I remember one of Mama's cousins saying, "Mary, that's sure one healthy youngun' you got there"! I was (and still am) quite "healthy" which equates to the "stout" you mention when describing Dorothy! And it was even more obvious to all because my mama never weighed more than 100 pounds - she just had "healthy" children!!!
And that same cousin was one that daddy always said was so ugly he "could back lightning up a tree"!
Actually, around my area, stout means strong without (I think) reference to size. As in “Git you a stout rope to tie that cow.” The 'healthy' reminds me of what my doctor puts on her chart about me -- 'well-nourished' -- which I thought sounded pretty good till I realized it was doctor code for 'overweight.'
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Marsh C. quips: It's been so dry that the Baptists were "sprinkling" and the Presbyterians were just using a damp cloth!
Tammy in Arkansas sent a link to a story about her adopted dog Boone – told through the voice of an abandoned dog. Really sad but with a great ending. Please, please, please, never abandon a pet! (not that I think any of you would.) A few are lucky enough find good people like Tammy but most don't.
http://musingsfairlightfarm.blogspot.com/
Gregory Peck – the Araucana rooster
My Schedule 2008
I'll be teaching a 1o session class on writing popular fiction. February 13 – April 23 (skipping March 26), Wednesdays, 6 - 8:30, at The Randolph Learning Center in Asheville , The class is offered through UNCA's Great Smokies Writing Program. For more information contact Dr. Elaine Fox ( fox@unca.edu ) or see http://www.unca.edu/gswp/
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Tuesday, January 15 – Attending a lunch time meeting with an Asheville book club
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Thursday, January 17 – 6 pm. I'll be speaking at the Albemarle Public Library, 133 East Main Street , Albemarle , NC 28001
Sponsored by the Friends of the Stanly County Library and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. CONTACT INFO go to www.stanlylib.org
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Saturday, February 2 – writing workshop at Madison County Arts Council, Marshall, NC. For more info, contact Delia Fantova - info@madisoncountyarts.com
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Tuesday, February 19 - Two Book Clubs
10-12 - Book Club
2 – 4 – Book Club at North Asheville Library on Merrimon. OPEN TO THE PUBLIC –Love to see some of you all there! CONTACT INFO
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Saturday, April 5 – Vicki will be a presenter at the Isothermal Community College Writers Workshop, Spindale , NC (more info to come)
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April 25 -27 MALICE DOMESTIC (A convention for fans and authors of the ‘traditional' mystery, held yearly in Arlington , VA )
http://www.malicedomestic.org/
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Tuesday, May 20 - IN A DARK SEASON on sale in bookstores everwhere !!!!!!!
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May 23 – 25 – WNC Woman Writers' Retreat at Lake Logan . Presenters: Kay Stripling Byer, Lavinia Plonka, Peggy Millin, and Vicki Lane http://wnc-woman.com/events.html
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October 9-12 BOUCHERCON, Baltimore , MD. ( The convention for fans and writers of mystery.) http://www.charmedtodeath.com/
A small miracle --
volunteer lettuce in late December
May this New Year bring peace and healing to the Earth and to all of her children.
Vicki
Email me - vicki_lane@mtnarea.net
Visit my website – www.vickilanemysteries.com
Visit my Amazon blog - http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A2MQM33N9H56R1/ref=cm_blog_dp_artist_blog
Visit my new blog - http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/2007/12/something-new.html
good grief – wher