Shirley Tallman, mystery author

Still in Lake Tahoe

2010-03-09T15:43:00.001-08:00

Wouldn't you know it -- my sore throat developed into a full fledged case of SICK! Three days in bed running a fever and hurting all over, and three days further behind on all my projects. But at least I'm up and around today, thank God! Although with the bad weather right after we arrived, then coming down with this "bug," I didn't get to ski, worst luck.

On the plus side, you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer spot to be sick in than beautiful Lake Tahoe. Watching the snow fall in front of a blazing fire is pretty darn hard to beat. Putting it that way, it's hard to complain. And I have to say that I got a lot of reading in, mostly audio books on my iPod, since my head hurt too much to actually use my eyes. Something else to be grateful for!

We were supposed to head back to Eugene, Oregon, last Sunday, but obviously I was in no fit state to travel, so we're going to try for this Thursday or Friday. If I didn't have so much on my plate, I'd vote to stay here for another week, in the hope I could yet hit the slopes. But then I guess I'd better to stick to counting my blessings.

Anybody have any home "cures" for this cold/flu/virus thing I've latched onto? Believe me, any and all hints will be gratefully accepted!!

SORE THROAT IN LAKE TAHOE

2010-03-05T15:33:00.001-08:00

Unbelievable! I've waited since before Christmas to get in some ski time, and here I go and get sick in beautiful Lake Tahoe. My husband Bob took to the slopes this morning and said it was absolutely glorious! There ought to be a law against a husband bragging about how great the skiing was when his wife is stuck in the cabin!

Yesterday it snowed all day, and tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same. Oh, well, maybe next time. At least I'm getting some publicity work done. And, glory alleluia, I'm actually making some progress on the 5th book in the Sarah Woolson series. (Between sneezing, coughing and blowing my nose, that is).

Sorry, if it sounds as if I've got a good case of the "poor me's", you're probably right. Then again, when will another "perfect ski day" come along? (When I'm here to enjoy it, that is).

OMG! I'M SO EMBARRASSED!

2010-02-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

I owe so many of you a HUGE apology! In the past I've been pretty honest about my lack of computer skills, but today I found out that I'm a whole lot worse than even I suspected!

When I went online to write this blog today, I discovered -- yes, believe it or not for the very first time -- that I had quite a few comments sitting in a little corner of this (to me very confusing) blogging website, all by themselves and waiting patiently for me to post them to the proper page. Some of them date back to over a year ago. Which also tells you how unfaithful I've been to my blogging chores -- and I want to apologize for that, too.

Anyway, I quickly added them all to the page (hopefully they got there safely without getting lost along the way -- and with me driving this "out of space car", who knows where they may end up?) And I really, truly promise this time that I will write at least one or two blogs every week! They may not be very long, but my intention is for you to get to know me better. And, I confess, to have friendly and hopefully loyal readers and friends I can blow off a little steam to.

Again, I am so very sorry that all of your comments got stuck in some internet black hole for so long. Please forgive me, and my lack of computer savvy, and write me again in the future. From now on I know where to look to find your comments. Each and every one of them WILL BE POSTED!!

ANOTHER GOOD REVIEW FOR SCANDAL ON RINCON HILL!

2010-02-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

Yeah! I received a great review today from Library Journal, which will go out to all the libraries in the county. I'm also happy to report that SCANDAL ON RINCON HILL pre-orders on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online have been very brisk. Another big Yeah!

All in all, it's been a very busy month. Not only have I been spending hours on publicity for SCANDAL (for those of you who have never done it, this is a full time job all on its own!), but I've been sending out signed, hardcover copies of the first three books in the Sarah Woolson series -- MURDER ON NOB HILL, THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS, and THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER -- every day throughout February. (Check the "Shirley's Website" link to the right of this blog, then check the link for the "Contest" button at the top of the page to read the names of the winners so far. They've come from all over the country, plus one from Germany). Next month, I'll be awarding an Amazon Kindle, a $75 Amazon gift certificate, a $40 deluxe day planner, and a $20 Flex book light to four lucky winners, so if you haven't already signed up there's still time.

I'm trying to find a little time to watch the Olympic Games coverage on TV, but it isn't easy with all the work piled up on my desk. I'm so proud of our American athletes. They all work so hard. What dedication. Way to go USA!

Bob and I will be traveling to San Francisco next week to celebrate our daughter Karen's birthday. It should be a lot of fun! My fingers are crossed that we can head to the Sierra's for a little skiing before we make the long drive back to Eugene. It all depends on the weather. Wish us good luck! I'll let you know how it goes.

That horrible blank page!

2010-01-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

I've started writing my new mystery novel, tentatively titled, DEATH ON TELEGRAPH HILL, and I'm sitting here staring at that infamous blank page. Although I've got the general outline of the story in my head, this is the time when all the little details -- such as the name of the first victim, the identity of the killer, the method of death, etc., have to be sorted out. Okay, so these details aren't so little after all.

My first problem is whether or not to use a real historical person as part of the mystery. It would be okay if he were the detective, or at least a good guy, but probably not such a bright idea if he ends up as one of the suspects -- which it turns out could be a distinct possibility. I'd hate to be sued by one of his ancestors for defamation of character, even if in life he wasn't all that great a guy. On second thought, I guess maybe I should just invent a fictional character based on the real person.

Another problem is how the killer is going to commit the crime without standing out like a sore thumb. If you think it's easy doing someone in without giving away the bad guy's identity try it some time. Not easy.

I think I've pretty much decided on HOW the murder will be committed, which is something at least. But pulling it off is going to be a whole lot more difficult. The trick always is to remain honest with the reader, without giving too much away about the crime itself. Sheesh!

Please stand by--- Hopefully the little grey cells will come up with some answers soon. Any bright ideas out there? Feedback from any of you armchair detectives is always gratefully accepted.

PENNY PINCHERS

2008-07-15T14:19:00.001-07:00

You may be surprised to learn that I led another life before I started writing the Sarah Woolson historical mystery series. In fact, the first thing I ever wrote was a newspaper column titled, PENNY PINCHERS (inspired by my efforts to feed my growing family on a budget that was looking more anemic by the week). The articles were never intended to be any big deal, just one mom sharing household hints with equally frustrated friends and neighbors, all of us doing our best to get by despite ever rising inflation. When my husband Bob dared me to submit the first few columns I’d scribbled to a local newspaper, I laughingly took him up on it. No one was more surprised than I was when the editor called up to tell me I was hired!

My astonishment continued to grow when the column was picked up by a dozen San Francisco Bay Area newspapers! Suddenly I found myself half buried beneath stacks of reader letters, asking me everything from how to slow-cook a turkey, to what to pack in their kids’ lunch boxes. Since I suspected this unforeseen popularity wasn’t due to my great writing skills, there could be only one answer: I obviously wasn’t the only mother in Bay Area having trouble making ends meet. Somehow I had inadvertently stumbled upon thousands of kindred spirits!

PENNY PINCHERS ran successfully for more than three years. During that time, I have to admit that I learned every bit as much from my readers as they learned from me. Since I felt obliged to try out every recipe I received in the mail (checking nutrition as well as cost), my family enjoyed a far more varied menu than they ever would have if I’d been left to my own devices. Not only that, but our budget finally became more manageable, which was what had started this whole thing in the first place!

When recent visitors to my website began asking me to feature some of the PENNY PINCHER columns, I initially hesitated. After all, they’d been written more than fifteen years ago. But as I played around with the idea, I realized the articles were just as applicable today as when they were first written. So, why not? I asked myself. Maybe there were still mothers and fathers out there struggling to make ends meet.

It seems as if I was right. In spades! Apparently things haven’t changed all that much as far as family budgeting is concerned. We all still want to feed our kids nutritious meals (without taking all day to do it), and we still have to somehow make our paychecks stretch. And how about those gas prices? Yikes!

All in all, it looks as if PENNY PINCHERS may be around for a long time to come!

CLEANING MY OFFICE

2008-07-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

I promised my husband Bob that I’d finally clean my office. Normally, I would consider his distinctly unkind comments about my overflowing bookshelves and cluttered floor space as nobody’s business but my own. However, since he’s set up a card table in one corner of my library/office (I have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves completely covering three of my walls), I had to agree that perhaps he had a point, especially after the last – but unfortunately not the first – time he tripped while attempting to navigate a safe path to his working area.

When Bob suggested moving from the San Francisco Bay Area some years ago, I threatened not to budge from our native California unless he promised to hire someone to build the above mentioned bookshelves so I could finally have the library of my dreams. (Hey, I’m not above using a little friendly intimidation if that’s what it takes). When the friendly, but slightly bemused carpenter, completed the job, I looked around at the mostly vacant shelves and sheepishly admitted that maybe I’d gotten a little carried away. “I’ll never be able to fill all these empty spaces,” I groaned. (Mind you, this had not been an inexpensive undertaking!) Bob didn’t reply, but just gave me a strangely enigmatic look that expressed better than words that he wasn’t about to underestimate my penchant for collecting books. Sure enough, ten years later I had filled every square inch of available shelf space, and books had begun to spill over onto the floor.

Now that I’d promised Bob to box up some of the books, though, I found myself eager to finally achieve a nice, neat office – you know, the kind you see featured in home-design magazines? Determinedly, I bent to my task. Yet after several hours of packing books into boxes – only to take them out again minutes later – I sat back off my sore knees and re-considered the situation. Performing a desultory count, I was dismayed to find only a dozen books had made it into the box and managed to remain there. Sadly, the path to Bob’s card table/desk remained as precarious as ever. I had never considered myself overly sentimental, yet I was finding it really hard to part with my old and treasured friends.

I’d like to say that in the end practicality triumphed over sentimentality, but it wouldn’t be true. Oh, I boxed up a bunch of books, all right. But if Bob ever takes a notion to explore the back area of our attic, he’s going to receive one very big surprise: six crammed boxes of books stored behind a collection of Christmas wrapping paper and ribbon.

I figure that if I can manage to survive the next few years without feeling a compulsion to dig out one of my old friends, I’ll finally be ready to haul them on over to the Goodwill.

How I Research My Books

2008-07-01T14:14:00.001-07:00

So many readers write to ask me how I research the books I write set in 1880s San Francisco. While it’s true that researching can take up a lot of time and energy, I have to admit that it’s one of the things I most enjoy about writing the Sarah Woolson mystery series. In fact, I’m sure I probably collect far more information about nineteenth-century San Francisco than I will ever possibly be able to use.

A lot of people I meet at book signings, readings and talks, seem to think that I do most of my fact-finding online, which, I admit, is frequently the case. But the astonishing breath and scope of the Internet notwithstanding, nothing beats the fun and adventure of browsing for hidden gems in second-hand bookstores! And although I’ve found wonderful old books up and down the west coast, the best place to search for them is in all the intriguing bookstores to be found in the city by the Bay itself.

Walk down just about any street, and sooner or later you’ll come across a small, narrow, frequently cluttered little bookstore, where poking about for treasures is a grimy, but ever so rewarding adventure. If you don’t mind a bit of sneezing, and are willing to risk coating yourself with a fine layer of dust, you can spend hours happily browsing through row after row of books looking for just the right volume to add to your library. And what a thrill it is to happen across a tome that delivers exactly the information you need for a new book. After years of visiting every second-hand bookstore I could find, I’m happy to boast that I now own one of the best collections of old San Francisco books outside the San Francisco Library. A few of them are well over a hundred years old.

I don’t see how I could get by without my computer – and I love surfing the Internet – but give me a nice tricky research project, an old second-hand bookstore, and I’m happy as a clam and set for a fun day of treasure hunting!

WRITER’S BLOCK

2008-06-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

I got stuck on the new TERROR ON RINCON HILL book this morning, so I went back and reviewed the first few chapters hoping for inspiration. Probably a bad idea, since it turns out I don’t like them. Somehow the beginning of the story doesn’t hit me the way it should.

Experience tells me that I should ignore the little knot that started forming in my stomach around page 3. This is unusual for me. Normally, after I’ve decided the major plot of a new Sarah Woolson book, the first sentence or scene pops into my head and almost always stays there. Not this time. This beginning doesn’t pack the kind of punch I’m looking for. The question is, should I take the time to fix it now, or go back after I’ve finished the first draft?

Logically, I know I should get on with it and re-work chapter one after I see how the book is going to play out. But sometimes you just don’t want to be logical; you want the satisfaction of knowing you nailed the book from line one. On the other hand, the beginning of a book is probably the most critical section of all – every writer knows that if you don’t capture the reader’s attention on the first or second page, you’re very likely to lose them altogether! I really need to go back right now, I decide, and re-work the first couple of paragraphs until they reach out, grab readers, and physically pull them into the story.

The knot in my stomach is growing bigger by the minute. Time to calm down and rethink the opening scene. Yeah, right, calm down. That’s like trying to suppress a volcano after it’s already begun to erupt. I’ve got a deadline, after all. I’ve got a deadline, a contract, and a nervous editor to please. Not to mention daily letters from readers wanting to know when book #4 in the Sarah Woolson series will finally be off the press. Oh, no, now my head is beginning to ache!

Time for a nice hot bubble bath, I tell myself, along with a few scented candles and a nice glass of wine. Maybe two glasses of wine. Oh, what the heck, make that three!

Ah, yes, that’s the ticket, I tell myself, lowering my tense body into the soothing bubbles. No sense making this worse than it has to be. Who ever said a little case of writer’s block couldn’t be put off until tomorrow?

Ride Down Memory Lane

2008-04-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

We visited our son Steve who lives in Piedmont, California, last Saturday. Steve’s lucky to live in a great area boasting dozens of wonderful little restaurants. It’s really hard to visit him without trying out yet another good eatery. That afternoon it was crepes, and they were delicious! Bob and Steve had chicken crepes, while I couldn’t resist one with strawberries, bananas and chocolate sauce. Out of this world!

After lunch, the three of us drove through the area where Bob grew up. It was like taking a walk down memory lane. Remarkably, my dear husband – who has trouble remembering our anniversary every July – could name just about every one of his then-neighbors along the entire block.

“This is the house we lived in when I was seven,” he proudly announces, gazing wistfully at a tiny, light grey stucco house with a handkerchief-sized front lawn and a driveway consisting of two narrow strips of worn concrete surrounded by gravel.

“It’s pretty small,” our son Steve comments, obviously unimpressed.

“It didn’t seem small then,” Bob counters, studying the house more closely. “I think it’s shrunk since we lived here.”

From there we drive a few blocks to a nearby grammar school that has definitely seen better days.

“I thought you said you walked a couple of miles to school every day,” says Steve skeptically.

“I did,” Bob replies. “They must have added a more direct route to the school since my time.”

“Uh, huh,” Steve grunts, rolling his eyes at me.

Next, we pass a liquor store that used to be an ice cream parlor, and next to it a kids’ arcade that had previously been the neighborhood movie theater.

“Now why did they go and change those?” Bob asks, staring morosely at yet another fading memory of his childhood. “Every Saturday we’d all meet to go to the matinee, then hit the ice cream parlor on our way home. The movie cost us a dime, and you could get a great hot fudge sundae for a quarter.”

“And for an extra nickel I’ll bet you could get tyrannosaurus rex to walk you home,” Steve says, stifling a chuckle.

“Hmph!” Bob grunts. “Laugh if you want, but the kids of today have no idea what they’re missing.”

About now, Steve realizes that this ride down memory lane has not lived up to his dad’s expectation. Our good-natured son looks guilty, then brightens as we pass a new Cold Stone Creamery that used to be a mom and pop grocery store.

“Hey, Dad,” he says, pointing at the creamery. “Stop here and I’ll treat you to a hot fudge sundae. For an extra quarter, I’ll bet they’ll throw a cherry on the top.”

“Look at it this way, Bob,” I say quietly as we follow our son inside. “Some day when Steve has kids, he’ll drive by this place and describe all the ice cream he used to be able to get for $5. Time for new memories, sweetheart. Time for new memories.”

The Inner Kid Inside Me

2008-04-07T10:30:00.000-07:00

While my husband Bob and I were on the road last week, we kept busy doing book signings as well as visiting friends and family. Although we’re forced by the sheer number of people we want to see to keep our visits brief, we always have a great time!

Last Friday night we took our son Mike and his family (wife Norma and 5 young children, Melissa, Vaneza, Danielle, Mikey and Scarlet) to see “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” It was a huge success. I have to admit I didn’t expect to enjoy the film, but I actually did. I found myself laughing out loud, and a few times even singing along with the chipmunks! I think that’s the greatest thing about having children and grandchildren, you’re forced to revisit your childhood – although my husband Bob claims this is stretching things, since he insists I never left my childhood in the first place.

At first I wasn’t sure that I appreciated that remark; after all, I’m a serious author and screenwriter, right? Then I got to thinking about it and I had to admit that it was probably true. Actually, I guess there is still a lot of kid in me.

After all, I love to ride my bike along the beautiful Willamette River here in Eugene, I enjoy roller-blading, eating ice cream cones and watching 007, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Ring and Indiana Jones movies. And I’m usually the first person through the gate at Disneyland or Magic Mountain, and the last one to leave at night.

I love swings, slides, merry-go-rounds, roller coasters, building gingerbread houses with our grandchildren, and getting down on the floor and playing games with them. I’m still passionate about popcorn, popsicles, bubble gum and Christmas. I like to sing and dance and laugh at silly jokes – in fact, the sillier the better!

So I’m not the prim, sophisticated woman I expected to be when I reached “a certain age.” But you know, that’s all right. I love my life, along with all the wonderful people in it. Sure our family has problems – what family doesn’t – and we’ve hit some rough spots along the way. But as long as we keep the love alive and aren’t afraid to show it to each other, and as long as we always remember how to have fun, then we’ll get through it all okay.

And if that means keeping that inner kid alive inside me, so be it! After all, why would anyone want to leave behind something that’s so much fun?

On Blogging

2008-03-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

When I started to blog, I promised myself that I would do at least three to four of them a week. That number didn’t sound too intimidating. I mean how hard could it be to write about your day, or your family, or your work? Well, I’m finding it really hard – much harder than I thought it would be!

I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that I never kept a diary as a young girl, or even as a teenager. I was never even a little bit tempted to pour my heart out on paper. For one thing I can’t write fast enough with a pen or pencil to keep up with my thoughts (I can barely do it on a keyboard!) For some reason it makes me really nervous to try. I’m a Gemini (the twins!) and my mind tends to take off in several different directions at once. Which one should I follow?

And when I was a kid just the idea of committing my deepest thoughts to writing gave me cold chills! What if someone found them? What if my MOTHER read them? YIKES!!

So, nothing much has changed now that I’m an adult, a mother and a grandmother. I still find it really hard to write what essentially amounts to a diary. Moreover, a diary sent out into cyberspace for the world to read! Very scary. While I want to be honest about what I write, it’s hard for me to share that much of myself. Maybe I still care too much about what other people think of me. I thought I’d gotten beyond that, but if I have, why is it so hard for me to put my feelings on paper?

In the end, though, maybe this is a good exercise for me – good for me to open up more and share some of my experiences, both in life and in my work. Maybe that’s why I became a novelist in the first place – so I could express all those thoughts and emotions through my characters. No wonder I love my job!

Anyway, a promise is a promise, even one made to yourself. Come hell or high water, I’m going to keep writing these blogs, even if it kills me.

Do any of you other bloggers feel this way? Or is it just me?

Another Book Signing

2008-03-24T13:43:00.001-07:00

I had another book signing yesterday morning – second one this week – and it went very well. Everyone there got involved in the discussion and asked a lot of really good questions, which always helps make these kind of events successful. I’ve never been very good at delivering monologues.

The only glitch in the day was that the event was held at Eugene’s largest mall. You see I hate to shop. Yeah, I know, I’m a disgrace to my gender. But I just can’t help it. I think it’s because I hate making decisions, and when you come right down to it, that’s what shopping is mostly about – trying to decide who wants what and what size it should be. Which is why I rarely give anyone clothes – I never seem to get the size thing right.

So, knowing for months ahead where I’d be giving my talk, I started a list of all the items I needed to buy while I was actually in the mall. One or two were for me, but most of the stuff was for two of my granddaughters – Vaneza and Danielle – who are celebrating birthdays on the 1st and 9th of April. (I also spent an hour and a half in Hallmark’s trying to choose greeting cards to last until the end of the year. And we have a big family. And good grief, they have too many darn cards to choose from! See, this is what I mean about decisions. They can drive you crazy!!)

Once I’d paid for over two dozen cards (and yes, I realized I’d forgotten a few by the time I got home), it was off to find the gifts on my granddaughters’ wish lists. Naturally, they were all but impossible to locate – at least with the right animal or character on them, or in the right color. And talk about impulse buying, while trying to pick out a particular gift for Danielle, I ended up buying one for myself. Which I didn’t really need, but couldn’t resist.

When I finally got home it was late afternoon, I was exhausted and my writing day was virtually shot. And all I had to show for it was one medium-sized plastic shopping bag – and a huge headache. As for those impossible-to-find gift items the girls want, well, there’s always the Internet!

Last night's local book club visit...

2008-03-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

I was invited to visit a local book club last night. They had just finished reading THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER and wanted to discuss it with me. I have to admit that this always makes me a little nervous. What if they didn’t like the book, and thought it would be more fun to tear apart if I was actually there in person?

But having agreed to go, I change from my usual sweat pants – so comfortable to work in – wash my hair and get into the car. I’ve printed out the directions to where the meeting is being held, have my cell phone next to me on the passenger seat, and I’m raring to go. Except that I’ve printed out the wrong address. A quick stop at the house listed on the print-out, a husband who has no idea where his wife is – despite my insistence that she and her friends are at that very moment sitting in his living room waiting for me to arrive – and I’m back in my car and picking up my phone.

Several calls later, I’ve failed to connect with anyone on the phone list. Worse, I still don’t know where I was supposed to have been fifteen minutes ago. (I have by now traveled the same five mile stretch of highway twice, once going east, and once going west). I finally reach someone who is also running late for the book club meeting, and she cheerfully agrees to meet me at a highway turn-off I didn’t know existed. By now it’s dark and has started to rain, I’m on a winding two-lane street I’ve never been on before, trying to find a white SUV that’s supposed to be waiting for me somewhere on the side of the road. After passing my rescuer twice, she honks and we finally connect. Shaking her head, she indicates that I should follow her.

My white SUV Saint Bernard leads me down ever more windy roads – which have by now turned to dirt (or should I say mud) – further into the country which, if I could see actually see it through the driving rain would, I’m sure, be beautiful. After ten minutes in this maze, we make our way through a white picket fence and up a gentle slope to a lovely farm house. Our hostess and her husband, it turns out, raise Angus cows which are contentedly grazing in the pasture outside their office window. I see them by flood light and am very jealous of the view; my office window overlooks the street, sans cows, sheep, horses, or any other animals. Lots of cars, motorcycles and bikes, though.

I take off my jacket, gratefully accept a glass of wine and enjoy the great dinner that is placed before me – I’m in luck, it’s a dinner meeting and the food is great. So is the wine, which does its job by calming my frayed nerves before I’m called upon to speak.

To my delight, all twelve book club members loved THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER, and do not seem in the least inclined to tear me apart or force me into the pasture to face the bull. We enjoy a delightful hour chatting, sipping wine and discussing the book, my childhood, how Sarah Woolson came to be, and age and sex prejudice in Hollywood. (Don’t ask, that’s a whole other story!)

The rich dark chocolate cake they serve me before it’s time to leave, is – you should excuse the pun – the frosting on the cake. A grand time was had by all, especially me since I don’t often find a dozen lovely, well-read women in one place who actually want me to talk about myself. This does great things for the ego!

My white SUV Saint Bernard offers to lead me out of the idyllic countryside and back to the highway, which by now I know by heart. I bid a fond farewell to the Angus cows, and dutifully follow her back to civilization.

Despite much wishful thinking, the view from my office window has not changed.

Hard to get back in gear

2008-03-14T09:09:00.001-07:00

It’s always hard to get back on track when I’ve been on the road. Bob and I spent a great two weeks in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, skiing, hanging out with family, and playing in the snow. Last Friday, we left Incline Village and drove to the Trinity Alps in California to visit a good friend. Talk about snow! Our friend is practically buried in the stuff. I did get some work done, but not a lot. It’s really hard to concentrate on writing when nature sits just outside your window in all its glory!

Our ride back to Eugene from the Trinity Alps was amazing. If less traveled roads over the mountains have been plowed, it’s faster and easier to take them to get home, rather than major highways that are well maintained but that take us miles out of our way. After Bob called road maintenance, he decided it would be safe to take the more direct route home, even though it’s mostly winding roads that are only two-lanes wide in most places. Well, these roads proved to be less traveled all right. We actually went 70 miles without seeing another car – either coming or going! That has to be a first. I guess most travelers decided to play it safe in case the roads hadn’t been plowed.

We arrived home to find two large bins of mail had collected at the post office, and more than 40 calls blinked on our answering machine. Very daunting. I figure it takes us at least a full day to unpack, go through the mail (for the most part junk), and listen to all the messages (again, most of it junk).

Then there were all the shows that taped on Replay TV while we were gone. Too many of them to watch the night we got home, but we did sneak in an episode of Monk. Always good for a laugh to help us unwind from a long trip. And it’s nice to look forward to the dozen or more other shows still waiting to be viewed. Lordy, what did we ever do before TiVo and Replay?

More after I’ve cleared a path to our bed and slept for at least 12 hours!

SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CARS

2008-03-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things to do while growing up in San Francisco, was to ride its awesome cable cars. I would drag Nana, my long-suffering grandmother – with whom I lived for several years – onto one of these moving national treasures every time we went downtown to shop. Rain or shine, I would always insist on sitting on the outside of the car, the better to watch the bustling, and fascinating, city as we rode up and down the hills.

Sarah Woolson – the fictional heroine of my 1880s Sarah Woolson historical mystery series; MURDER ON NOB HILL, THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS, THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER – also likes to ride the cable cars, and frequently uses this mode of transportation to make her way around San Francisco. This has caused a number of readers to write inquiring about the history of these famous landmarks: Who invented them? When did they first start running? How do they work? How many cable car lines are still in operation?

Actually, it’s a pretty interesting story. The city’s first public transportation was a horse-drawn omnibus, which started carrying passengers and goods around rapidly growing San Francisco in 1850. But the omnibuses and privately driven horse-drawn cars and carts, found the city’s steep hills difficult going. That was when a London-born Scotsman, Andrew Hallidie, came up with an unusual and creative solution to the problem.

Arriving in San Francisco during the late 1860s, Andrew S. Hallidie – who had pioneered the use of steel cable in the west’s gold and silver mines – witnessed a horrific street car accident caused by a tired old horse trying to climb a slippery San Francisco hill. This caused him to start thinking about how he might conquer the many steep grades of this “City of Hills”. An expert in manufacturing wire rope and cable, he realized that if he could come up with a transportation system by using a cable traction system, he could move people, heavy goods and other prohibitably large loads up even the steepest of San Francisco’s hills.

Hallidie’s basic invention was an endless cable running in a slot just below street level, kept in motion by huge wheels which were housed in cable car barns. To control the car’s movement, its gripman would fasten onto the running cable to make it run, then disengage from the cable and apply its brake to make it stop.

Undeterred by public and newspaper ridicule and skepticism, on August 2, 1873 at 4:00 a.m., the first trial run of Hallidie’s “dummy” made its way down the Clay Street hill between Jones and Kearny Streets, a distance of 2,880 feet. Later the same day, the dummy with a car attached, made another round trip, this time with a large, curious crowd in attendance.

This new public transportation cost five cents a ride, and eventually it was able to reach any part of the city, opening whole new areas to development. In their heyday, as many as eight different cable car lines, extending 112 miles, sent cars up Telegraph, Russian and Nob hills, out to the Presidio, to Golden Gate Park, and even to the Cliff House at Lands End. In its heyday, San Francisco boasted eight cable car companies, operating 600 cars over 100 miles of track.

In 1947, the cable car was very nearly phased out by authorities in the name of “progress”. The outcry from San Franciscans, however, was so loud and outraged that after a long political struggle that didn’t end until 1955 – when there was only a few miles of track left – they were finally saved from oblivion. The cable cars received their official seal of approval in 1964, when they were declared a National Historic Landmark.

Today, there are only three cable car lines left running in San Francisco, but they continue to be as much a part of the City By The Bay as the fog, Coit Tower, or the Golden Gate Bridge.

I’m Behind Schedule – AGAIN!!

2008-02-28T12:57:00.001-08:00

I know it must be my fault I keep falling behind in my writing. My goal is to write 2,000 words a day, or roughly 8 pages, but some days I’m lucky to turn out even one or two decent pages.

The underlying problem is that I’m easily distracted. The darn phone is one of the main culprits. I screen the calls, but can’t not answer if it’s my husband or one of our kids. I finally got Caller ID so I could get rid of all the irritating “buy this”, or “you can’t live without this”, or “you’re cruel if you don’t donate to that” calls. But family – those I have to answer. And we have a lot of family!

And don’t get me started on the Internet and email! My agent, my editor, my publicist, my screenwriting partner, LA producers, all correspond via email. So do friends across the country and even those down the street, next for that matter. I constantly ask myself why I feel compelled to check my email every ten minutes? Would the world come to a screeching halt if I didn’t check for half an hour say? Or what about an hour? Could I survive a whole hour without opening that cyberspace mailbox?

Sometimes I put on my Bose over-the-ear headphones my husband gave me a couple of years ago, and pretend I live on the edge of nowhere with no one around to interrupt me. Unfortunately, audio silence doesn’t prevent my damn fingers from giving into temptation and logging onto my online mailbox. (Do you suppose Bose will ever come out with fingerphones??)

Actually, I think I use email as an excuse to postpone writing the next scene, or figuring out where to place that really important clue that I don’t want anyone to recognize as a clue until the end of the book. Of course it’s only postponing the inevitable, and I know I’ll have to pay the price later that night if I want to get anywhere near my words for the day goal.

For awhile a friend who owned the house next door let me use one of his empty rooms as my office, while he fixed the place up to sell. That was the best office I ever had in my life! No phone, no TV, no refrigerator stocked with yummy temptations begging to be eaten. Every day I was astonished by how many pages I wrote. Ten, twelve, sometimes even twenty or more. Unbelievable! Writing there was so great, that I half-jokingly approached my husband about the possibility of buying the house so I could continue to work there. He just shook his head and regarded me with that all too familiar look of amazement and said that would be one hell of an expensive office! Needless to say, he didn’t make a bid on the house.

Yeah, I know I have no one to blame but myself when I fall behind schedule with my book. I think my belated New Year’s resolution is to let the phone pick up messages, and to check my email only four or five times a day, tops! Surely that’s enough, isn’t it? Oh, lord, I’m already weakening! That blasted mailbox is just too damn addicting!

San Francisco’s Famous Cliff House

2008-02-26T14:04:00.001-08:00

Because of the latest book in the Sarah Woolson historical mystery series, THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER, a lot of readers have asked me about the history of the Cliff House. Here's a brief account of the famed landmark, taken from the San Francisco Facts page on my website:

The first of the four Cliff Houses to occupy the northwest tip of San Francisco -- at the entrance to the Golden Gate where the land ends and the Pacific crashes against the cliffs and shore – was erected in 1863 by Charles Butler, a local real estate man. Not only did it afford a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean, but its many visitors were greatly entertained by the antics of thousands of sea lions, otters and the famous seals from which the massive sandstone cliffs – once a part of the mainland -- were named.

Before the first Europeans arrived in the seventeen hundreds, Ocean Beach was part of one vast sand dune with not a tree in sight. In 1857, Harper's Weekly had this to say about Ocean Beach: "The voyager is impressed with the gloomy appearance of the scene before him; a multitude of low, black sand hills are partially visible over which continually sweep, like disturbed spirits, flying clouds of dense mist. Passing gradually into the strait, the scene constantly increases in interest. The surrounding hills assume a more positive form; the islands become bold and rocky, and in some parts precipitous, swelling at times into towering mountains. The strong winds and heavy fog which constantly assail the land, prevents trees and luxuriant vegetation.

Despite the fog and frequent winds, this first Cliff House had everything necessary to ensure its success. Except easy access. Located at what was popularly referred to as Lands End, Ocean Beach was so far out of the city, and so difficult to reach, that it wasn't until a toll road was finished in 1864 that visitors could finally travel there in relative comfort and a great deal less time.

In 1866, the proprietor of the first Cliff House was Capt. Junius G. Foster, who was a jovial, innovative innkeeper. People flocked in from San Francisco for good food and drink, horse racing and other recreation. The mile-and-a-quarter-long "speedway" (one of the final sections of the toll road) was constantly rolled to keep it smooth and watered to hold down the dust. Such famous men as Senator George Hearst, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker regularly raced their trotters on this improvised speedway.

In 1868, Captain Foster tripled the size of the building by adding two wings and a long balcony to the original structure, thus making it what is now referred to as the "second" Cliff House, and providing overnight lodging for his guests. It became one of the premiere attractions for all the first families of the city. But in the late 1870s, the guests began to complain that the outings to Lands End weren't as much fun as they had once been. The reason for this wasn't difficult to find: Cliff House was now crawling with tourists. On nice afternoons, it wasn't unusual to see 1,200 teams hitched in front of the buildings. As the genteel clientele disappeared, the Cliff House began attracting more moneyed gamblers, politicians, and lobbyists, along with their assorted collection of lady friends.

In the early 1880s, Adolph Sutro – a quiet and scholarly German who made his fortune by solving the drainage and ventilation problems at the Comstock Lode – bought the Cliff House and much of the surrounding land, In fact, at one time Sutro owned 1/12 of the city of San Francisco! He went on to build a vast mansion, a conservatory, a park, and the largest indoor public bath complex in the world.

When the "second" Cliff House burned to the ground in 1894, Adolph Sutro rebuilt, but this time on a much grander scale. (Incidentally, this is the Cliff House pictured on the jacket of THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER, chosen, if fifteen years ahead of its time, because it is so much more dramatic and recognizable than the actual building which stood there at that time). This new structure was so ornate that it quickly became known as the "Gingerbread Palace". It was a grandiose and eye-catching edifice, and went on to host many of the celebrities and luminaries of the day, such as Sarah Bernhardt, Adelina Patti, Presidents Hays, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt and Taft. In his quest to attract more working-class families to the Cliff House, Sutro discontinued offering hotel services, leading the establishment to become a popular venue for dining, receptions, private lunches, galleries, gift shops and exhibits.

Adolph Sutro died in 1898, and thus did not live long enough to see his beloved Cliff House bravely withstand the ravages of the 1906 earthquake and fire. Unfortunately, its good fortune was short-lived. On September 7, 1907, the Gingerbread Palace Cliff House burned completely down to the rocks. Sutro's daughter, Dr. Emma Merritt, erected the "fourth" Cliff House, but rather than creating another elaborate structure, she opted to build one of concrete and steel that would blend in with its surroundings. This Cliff House opened its doors on July 1, 1909. After the unique and expansive Sutro Baths burned down in 1966, part of its contents – the Musee Mecanique – moved into the Cliff House where it still remains. The Cliff House closed once more in 1969, but reopened again in 1973 with restaurants, bars and shops. In 1977, the Golden Gate National Parks Association became the owner of the property for $3,791,000.

To this day, the San Francisco Cliff House remains one of the city's most beloved and exciting landmarks, attracting millions of visitors every year from all over the world.

Sources: "San Francisciana: Photographs of the Cliff House," by Marilyn Blaisdell; "San Francisco's Ocean Beach," by Kathleen Manning and Jim Dickson, Arcadia Books; "Suddenly San Francisco: The Early Years of an Instant City," by Charles Lockwood, A California Living Book.

Online Publicity

2008-02-21T11:34:00.000-08:00

Yikes!! What have I gotten myself into?

I finally broke down and hired a talented and organized young woman, Tara Green with www.sirenprojects.com, to handle my online publicity. This wasn't an easy decision. First of all, I figured it was bound to be costly -- after all, if you want talent and organizational skills, along with a great imagination and unbelievable energy, you're going to have to pay for it, right? Then there's all those computer skills she possess that I lack, not to mention my pitiful knowledge of where to go on the Internet to make the best use of said skills. See? It’s not as easy as you might think.

Okay, so I searched hard to find just the right person for the job. Then I examined my dwindling promotional budget to see if I could afford her. So far, this was my thorniest decision. I mean, how far can you stretch a budget that is practically nonexistent? Finally, I threw up my hands in frustration. If I wanted to hire someone top-notch, who would do a bang up job of spreading my name all over the Internet, I damn well was going to HAVE to afford her!

At this point you might think it should all be clear sailing – someone else was now in charge, the weight of all those knotty decisions were now resting on her shoulders and off of mine. Well, if you thought that, you’d be wrong.

Since hiring my go-like-crazy publicist, I feel like a prize race horse is pulling my wagon, whip cracking over my head. This fireball is making me work my bootie-buns off! Six, seven, eight emails in one day! This woman’s mind just doesn’t quit. Ideas pour out of her like an oversized sieve. Most unsettling, at least for my pride, is they’re all really good ideas!

Although I only communicate with her by email, I swear I can see the smoke rising out of the top of her unbelievably creative head! The lists she asks me to okay every day, read longer than a chapter in one of my books. Where is she digging up all these websites, I wonder in bewildered admiration? How does she know all these people? Most important of all, how in the world am I going to keep up with her?!

Then, all too soon, she sneaks up on me to deliver the coup de grace: “I really need you to send me 4 or 5 blogs, she informs me. ASAP!” When I gasp – figuratively speaking, of course, since this is all written in an email – she says, “Hey, that shouldn’t be a problem for someone who writes complex murder mysteries!”

Oh, yeah? Well, right about now a good, complicated murder mystery sounds like a Sunday stroll in the park!

Our Son's Cancun Wedding Was FANTASTIC!!

2007-11-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

My husband Bob and I just returned from a fabulous 2-week vacation in Cancun, Mexico. The vacation was just an add-on, since the real purpose of the trip was to attend our son Chris' marriage to a beautiful young woman named -- yes, really -- Sarah. What a treat to meet Sarah's family! They'd traveled all the way from North Carolina and even London for the big day. Sarah's parents, John and Judy, along with Sarah's sisters and brother, Natalie, Virginia and Matthew, turned out to be great people who know how to have fun. It was such a joy seeing our two families come together.

We spent the first 9 days of the trip doing nothing but relaxing, which was a real first for me. Bob warned me that if I tried to take my computer he'd toss it into the first trash can at the airport. So, I went without it. Yikes! And I even survived. With no way to access the Internet, collect emails, or write on my new book, I actually was forced to lay back, read a good book, and even work on the silk shawl I was knitting to wear to the wedding. We took a day and drove out into the countryside to see some Mayan ruins, which were incredible, and then spent an evening aboard a fun pirate ship cruising to a small island for an outdoor dinner. The wind was really tossing the ship around that night, so believe me it tested our seaworthiness.

Since I find it impossible to find the words to describe the wedding, I've decided to post pictures instead. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, here's four thousand of them. (To enlarge the pictures just click on them)

The top right-hand photo is of Bob and I posing with the bride and groom. They make a great looking couple, don't you think? Naturally I'm not the least bit biased!

Congratulations Chris and Sarah!!! We love you.

THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER has sold out!

2007-11-04T23:22:00.001-08:00

I've got some great news! THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER -- book #3 in the Sarah Woolson historical mystery series -- has completely sold out and is going into a second printing! I want to thank all of you for making the book such a huge success! Please tell your friends who haven't yet read the book that it will be back on book shelves soon!

On a more personal note, my husband Bob and I are off to Cancun, Mexico, tomorrow for a week's vacation and to attend our son Chris' wedding. Away from the fog, the rain and the cold. Yes!!

Chris and his fiance, Sarah, plan a beach wedding at sunset. Can you think of anything more romantic? It ought to be spectacular. I wish all of you could be there to help us celebrate. Since that's not possible, I'll do my best to party, dance and sing enough for everyone. And I'll take lots of pictures to post on my website.

I'll be thinking of you as I curl up with a good book on the beach and sip my margarita!

Hasta luego!

Mystery books I've read lately and recommend

2007-10-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

People are always asking me what mystery books I've read recently and which ones I would recommend. I've hesitated to list them because personal tastes differ so widely. On the other hand, with the understanding that this is just one person's opinion, I'll be happy to share my recent reading list with you. In fact, I think I'll make it a regular part of my blog.

Here are some of the books I've read over the past month:

P.D. James, "The Lighthouse"
Dean Koontz, "Forever Odd"
Charlaine Harris, "All Together Dead"
Laurell K. Hamilton, "The Harlequin"
Dick Francis, "The Edge"
Dean Koontz, "The Good Guy"
Diana Gabaldon, "Dragonfly in Amber"
Clive Cussler, "Trojan Odyssey"

A few of these were books my husband and I listened to on our iPod in the car, but I'd recommend all of them as pretty good choices.

I'd love it if some of you would add your own favorite reads to the list. I'm always on the lookout for new authors, and this is a great way to find them, by personal recommendation. Thanks!

Some recent book-signing/reading events.

2007-10-01T16:47:00.000-07:00

It turns out I'm not a very faithful blogger. I've had more than one reader cite me for having way too little to say on my new blog -- which, I'm sure, would totally amaze my husband Bob who maintains I ALWAYS have something to say! Today, I actually have a little news to share with you.

I've been to 3 book-signing events over the past 2 weekends and they've all been a big success. Not only did I get to meet some fellow authors, but some very interesting readers, as well.

The first event was held at Bob's Beach Books in Lincoln, Oregon. They've started this summer to present an Authors' Fair once a month throughout June, July, August and September. They had tables and chairs set up in an outdoor court outside the store, and about 20 authors showed up to display their work and sign copies. Bob's Beach Books provided tea, coffee and cookies (of course I ate more than I should have), and a great time was had by all.

The second event held at Books Without Borders in Eugene, Oregon, was also fun. For one thing, the place reminded me of the Student Union at my old college, so I immediately felt at home. In fact, I longed to bring a book, make myself comfortable on one of the overstuffed couches and read to my heart's delight. The other writers on the panel covered the range from novelists to columnists, and we all took a few minutes to read something we'd recently had published. Naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to read the séance scene from my new release, THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER. Another author read a couple of short pieces she'd written, and managed to do so in a "Tom Sawyer"/"Huck Finn" dialect. Really good!

This past Saturday, I was the guest at the Junction City, Oregon, library. (Actually it was held at Freedom Hall because the Junction City library is too small to hold all of us). What a great audience, and a very well organized event! I wore my Victorian costume (including black-lace reticule) which was a big hit. The ladies of the Library Guild served delicious cookies, tea, coffee, cocoa and a great variety of cookies. Sooooo yummy! (Again, I ate too many. At this rate I'm going to resemble a tank before I get through publicizing CLIFF HOUSE) I didn't hesitate a minute to say yes, when they asked me to return when the 4th book in the Sarah Woolson series comes out!

I can't say I'm sorry I have a few weeks off from the book-signing tour. I truly need some time to rest up and get back to work on my new Sarah Woolson mystery tentatively titled, TERROR ON RINCON HILL. I also have a very large pile of books I've been waiting a long time to read. In fact, I think I'll start adding the names of books I've read and loved to this blog. I know how much I enjoy hearing about new books from people who've actually read them. You can let me know what you think of this new addition!

Letters that arrive in my mailbox

2007-09-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

I receive some interesting mail in my InBox. Aside from the endless stream of junk mail that seems to pour in every day, readers often offer comments, praise and helpful advice about my books and my Blog.

One reader responded to my laments about poor organization, by suggesting that I look into hiring an organization specialist. She explains that her office was also a disaster area. In desperation, she broke down and hired a specialist she found listed in the phone book. According to her, the expense was worth every penny. It's embarrassing to admit, but I didn't even know that such specialists existed. So, tomorrow I'm getting out my yellow pages to see what I can find in the Eugene, Oregon, area. I'll let you know what happens!

Another reader, who was traveling with her husband to San Francisco, wrote to ask me if she could buy a copy of THE CLIFF HOUSE STRANGLER in the Cliff House Gift Shop. The answer is yes. The manager and clerks who run the gift shop, have been more than gracious about stocking the book.

One reader asked me if I hadn't exaggerated the prejudice Sarah is subjected to in the series. Actually, I've downplayed it, in some cases considerably. A few years ago I was fortunate enough to find a book titled, WOMEN LAWYERS AND THE ORIGINS OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN AMERICA: The Letters of the Equity Club, 1887 to 1890. This volume covers the many letters written by early women attorneys throughout the country, detailing their experiences practicing -- and in most cases NOT practicing -- the law after they'd passed their State Bar Exams. Believe me, if I'd strictly adhered to these predominantly discouraging stories, Sarah would have faced a great deal more prejudice than I've portrayed! In fact, my editor strongly suggested that I tone down some of the prejudice against my heroine in my first mystery, MURDER ON NOB HILL. Being new to St. Martin's Press, I thought it best not to argue. That's why I found it so funny to be accused of exaggerating the situation!

Then there's my neice who wrote me from New Hampshire saying that if Pierce Godfrey (a character from THE RUSSIAN HILL MURDERS) didn't come back into Sarah's life she'd never speak to me again! Relax, Melody, Pierce will be visiting Sarah again in book four in the series, TERROR ON RINCON HILL.

A show of hands

2007-08-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

This was the headline in a special section of our newspaper this morning, a Labor Day headline saluting all the laborers that keep our country thriving. I found the accompanying essays so inspiring that I headed for the kitchen and actually spent the afternoon at the stove cooking, an activity I usually spend a lot of time trying to avoid. Several loaves of great smelling homemade bread and a hearty pot of minestrone soup later, I felt like I'd actually accomplished something. Not only had I astonished my husband, but I felt a part of -- as the newspaper put it -- "all those American hands dedicated to one idea: A job worth doing is worth doing well."

So, to all you laborers out there -- mechanics, carpenters, nurses, computer techs, farmers, millworkers, lumber workers, homemakers and yes, even writers, I salute you!!