by Jackie Houchin

I began feeding the crows one morning when my Hubby told me that his Cheerios were too stale to eat. I carried the box outside and dumped about a half cup of the O’s in the middle of the street. A friend occasionally throws out stale crackers for birds, so perhaps a few would show up for the cereal.

Halfway to my front door, I turned to look.  A half dozen jet black birds were enjoying breakfast, compliments of moi. I smiled, pleased

A few days later I threw out some stale bread crusts that I’d cut into tiny squares. (I’d hesitated only briefly as the thought of making croutons crossed my mind.) Too much trouble, and besides, maybe my new feathered friends would come again.

They did. Plus a few more.

I bought a cheap 3# bag of kitty kibble and began casting a handful or two out in the street each day. Soon I had eight or nine pecking away. Thinking they needed a bit of protein, I added a bag of raw, unsalted, shelled sunflower seeds to the next kibble bag.  After a month there was a growing murder* of crows waiting patiently for my handout each morning between 6:30 and 7:00.

It was fun.

My actions were not altogether altruistic, however. I’m not a bird lover.  I’d read in several articles that crows often show their gratitude by bringing small gifts for “their” humans. See what a young girl received from “her” crows here. They can also recognize faces (friendly or not) and react to them. For six scary things these cunning creatures can do, click here.

I had visions of coins, golden rings or pins, and yes, even a diamond tennis bracelet.  HA!  Okay, I did get a few Macadamia Nut shells, a small piece of ½ -inch plastic pipe, and – now this is pretty cool – a rose made out of a red pipe cleaner! But no gold and no diamonds.

Once, out of nowhere a flock of seagulls arrived and started eating, pushing the crows to the perimeter.  (Seagulls  are TWICE the size of crows! Seriously!)  I marched out to my driveway and raised my hands to shoo them away.  The sea birds flew off while the crows stayed, unafraid. Casually they walked back to eat what was left. Two came to within three feet of me and cocked their heads this way and that before going back to eat. A thank you?  A closer look at a “friendly” face?

When OSH went out of business I picked up a 5# bag of wild bird seed at a good price and added that to the next two kibble bags.  They really loved that… and told their friends.

Now I have twenty-four black birds each morning. And they are beginning to make a lot of noise if I’m late.  A man down the street came out with hands on hips and frowned at me. Dog walkers give my house that “look” as their dogs pull on their leashes towards the kibble mix.

This has got to stop, I thought one morning.  I will not feed them today. Maybe if  I skip a few days, then a week they’ll stop coming.

The first day they were cool with that. Occasionally I do have to go away early before I can feed them. But the next day, they were pretty loud.  They sit in my Magnolia tree, on the street lamp, and the rooftops of  my and my neighbors’ houses. Some boldly strut on my lawn, close to the porch. When I walk into the street with the kibble others come cruising out of nowhere.

It’s beginning to feel a little creepy.  I worry about stopping the food altogether. So far none have been aggressive, just noisy, but I’ve heard they can swoop and peck. Have a created a monster? Will I experience another kind of murder?

Oh dear! Excuse me, I have to go feed the crows now. I can count well over thirty of them through my window, all eyeing me as I look at them.

Yikes, the bag is getting nearly empty. I must go shopping today!  What would happen if I ran out of kibble!!

Where do writers get their ideas? 

From lots of places, including researching curious facts and from their own experiences. All it takes is a touch of imagination.

To read the “murder” mystery I wrote from my research and experience with these inky birds (and my own imagination), follow this link to my personal blog and the story titled, THE CROW:   https://jackiehouchin2.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/the-crow/

*a flock of crows is called a “murder.”

Guest Post by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger*

When we are introduced as a married couple who write together we often get puzzled looks. When we announce we’ve written four mystery novels together, the first question is always, “How exactly does that work?”

It has worked well for us. But many want to know exactly how this is done. Do we alternate chapters? Does one write and the other edit?  Do you write in the same room with one looking over the other person’s shoulder? One person even said, “I don’t see how this could work. Why haven’t you killed each other?”

The answer to those questions are unique to each set of writing partners. For us and others who’ve written solo before teaming up with another writer, the most important thing is to check your ego at the door. Remembering that can help your story in so many ways.  Your goal is to write a good story.

If you keep egos in check with one mind toward the goal, any discussion or editing session will be less dramatic. Since we were both published prior to our partnering this was a must before we even start to develop each character’s back-story or plot our first novel.

Writing is storytelling and the two of you must first agree what story you want to tell. What do you want to say?  Before you sit down to write, first you have to talk. The upside of this is that you’ll be on the same page when you begin.

Writing with a partner is not for everyone.  A problem can arise if your writing styles are different. For instance, Janet is an “outliner” extraordinaire, while Will has always been a “seat of the pants” writer or “pantser.”

When it comes to writing a mystery, the process can be quite complicated. We have to keep track of timelines, alibis, names, character details, red herrings, which character is telling what lie, who said what to whom and details of each characters quirks and relationships.

Both writing partners need to understand that the story has a life of its own and the type of mystery/story can sometimes be determined by the outlook of the characters. This is when the partners have to let go and let the story be what it needs to be.

Amazingly enough, some of that ego checking has filtered into discussions of everyday life. We notice a decrease in misunderstandings and quieter discussions at home. This can be very rewarding.

When editing, the challenge of giving up scenes one of us puts time, energy, sweat and blood into may have to be cut. The standard answer for each partner is: “It’s for the good of the story”, or “We want to write a good story, right?” It’s these reminders that help the partnership move forward rather than having arguments about whether or not one scene out of hundreds should stay in.

Our characters sometime remind us to stay on track and they are often more aware of what will make the story great than we are.

Throughout life people see their glass as half empty or half full, depending on the episode of life they are experiencing. But why see it as negative or positive?  Why not look at the journey of each book as being full of rewards and challenges? This process can make the co-writing journey a successful and enjoyable one.

Website:  Janet  Elizabeth Lynn   www.janetlynnauthor.com

Website:  Will Zeilinger  www.willzeilingerauthor.com

About the Authors  

Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn write individually until they got together and created the Skylar Drake Mystery series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955.  Janet has published seven mystery novels and two short stories. Will has published three novels plus three short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

SLICK DEAL, The fourth Skylar Drake Mystery in the series was released on  April 16, 2018.   And yes…we are still married!

*This blog article was posted for Janet and Will by Jackie Houchin.

by Jill Amadio*

Many authors need a day job until our books earn enough royalties and renown to quit working for someone else. One day job that grew and grew into an almost full-blown career for me began with a ghostwriting stint. It also led to writing my own mystery series.

I first turned into several alternate personae when a magazine editor informed me that a reader was looking for a ghostwriter to churn out a business book.

“A whole book? Impossible,” I said. “Too many words.”

“Imagine each chapter as an article,” she suggested. After she told me the average payment I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve ghostwritten more than a dozen memoirs, autobiographies, and business books that required transforming myself into a U.S. ambassador, a Las Vegas croupier, a Texas oilman, a Las Vegas taxicab fleet owner, a motivational speaker, a triathlete, and sundry others. I also ghosted two true crimes. For two of the books I was promoted to co-author half-way though.

Eventually a friend referred Jonathan to me to ghostwrite a crime novel. It turned out during my initial visit to his Beverly Hills mansion that he had always wanted a book with his name on it to display “right here,” he said, patting an enormous Italian marble coffee table. His dilemma was that he had no idea how to write. Reminded me of the time I was at an airport shop in Indonesia and picked up President Sukarno’s biography, a heavy red leather hardcover akin to a family Bible only to find it full of blank pages (he was still living at the time).

Initially, Jonathan envisioned a family drama about a typical insurance scam of which his father had been a victim. A little tame, I said, and persuaded him we should add a couple of murders to spice up the story. He agreed and said the characters must include his parents, two brothers, six ex-wives, four mistresses, and three daughters. I told him, No, no, far too many. I would take three wives, two mistresses, and two daughters, all the while struggling to explain to him that in the book they’d be fictional and would not resemble the real people. He stopped complaining when I asked which of his family he’d like to be the killer.

Occasionally during the writing my client threw a spanner into the works such as calling from Belize or Paris and asking me to add even more murders to the mix now he’d got into the swing of things. Luckily, he was pleased with the various twists and turns, especially when I included thugs from a Bel Air branch of the Russian Mafia (honestly, it really exists) as part of the plot.  I gave the murderer my great-grandfather’s revered Scottish name for some inexplicable reason, honored Keats by sprinkling quotes throughout, and withheld adding Cornish cuss words although sorely tempted. Instead, I saved them for my mystery series that features a younger Miss Marple from Cornwall.

I enjoyed creating a fictional forensic accountant on someone else’s generous dime and planned to develop the book into a series. I had grown fond of the sleuth but Jonathan owns copyright so my brilliant idea died an early death.

An inveterate traveler on both business and pleasure, Jonathan was absent a lot. In fact, most of the time. He told me to basically just carry on, and he’d read the book after it was finished. As it turned out, he preferred me to read it aloud to him, which I did, leading to another unexpected part-time career in voice-over and narrating audiobooks.

Jonathan pronounced himself satisfied. But then he said his third daughter was going to be very upset that I’d left her out. He insisted on her inclusion. Fearing my final fee in jeopardy I had her join the Peace Corps in Chapter One and whisked her off to Somalia, never to be heard from again.

However, when it came time to querying agents Jonathan refused to spend longer than two weeks on the search and quickly self-published with an expensive hardcover POD press. For which I was grateful, nevertheless. Even though I had to watch him signing my book, my bank balance was healthy,

We soon had a book signing at Dutton’s. Jonathan was having a grand old time chatting to the two hundred or so friends and neighbors he’d invited to congratulate him. As his eyes kept darting to the door to see who was arriving I just knew he was hoping for a Hollywood producer, a director or an actor who’d slap an option offer on the table within the next three days. He’d begun to like this author thing. I decided to phone a film producer friend and invite him over to put Jonathan out of his misery.

“Hi, Brandon, how about coming along to a book signing right now? It’s not far from your place”.

“Who’s the author?”

“Oh, no one you know”.

“So why would I come?”

“Well, I wrote it”.

“Why didn’t you say it’s your book signing?”

“It isn’t”.

He snorted and hung up.

Since then I have continued to ghostwrite books, present how-to workshops, and assist other writers in entering the field. In fact, Kelly James-Enger wrote a book on ghostwriting and spent weeks interviewing me. Happily, she credits me for each quote spread over five pages, and thanked me in the Acknowledgements.

I like helping someone realize their dream of creating a family history so that their descendants can learn of their heritage. The joy on their faces when they hold that published book in their hands almost matches my own.

My biography of a World War II pilot, “Gunther Rall: Fighter Ace and NATO General” was a bestseller and is an eBook on Amazon and Smashwords. I have ghostwritten 14 memoirs and other books for clients including a true crime and a thriller.  

I co-authored the Rudy Vallee memoir, “My Vagabond Lover”

About the Author

Like Tosca Trevant, the amateur sleuth in her crime series, DIGGING TOO DEEP and DIGGING UP THE DEAD, Jill Amadio hails from Cornwall, UK. But she is nowhere near as grumpy or unwittingly hilarious as her main character, a younger Miss Marple. Jill wrote two true crimes, and ghostwrote a crime novel. She has written 14 biographies.  She was a reporter in Spain, Thailand, Colombia and the United States.  She wrote for Rolls-Royce Magazine, the London Sunday Dispatch, Conde Nast, the Los Angeles Times, the Westport News, and was a reporter and syndicated columnist for Gannett Newspapers in New York. For 12 years she wrote a column for Entrepreneur magazine. Jill writes a monthly column for the UK-based MysteryPeople ezine, and freelances for My Cornwall magazine.

Visit Jill Amadio at:  jillamadiomysteries.com

Mystery books by Jill Amadio:

   Digging Too Deep

  Digging Up The Dead

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*This article by Jill Amadia was posted by Jackie Houchin.