IS THE PEN STILL MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD? AGATHA CHRISTIE - PART 2: POISON MY DEAR! By Kimberly Thorn

Strychnine, arsenic, morphine, atropine, cyanide, oh my

You’ve probably seen those tea cups that have the writing that says ‘you’ve been poisoned’ inside the bottom of them. So, that after you have finished your lovely cuppa afternoon tea (otherwise known as your treat) you get your trick! Yes, even mystery lovers need a source of amusement once in a while.

I don’t think it’s a surprise to Christie’s fans that poison was her absolute favorite means of murder. In sixty-six stories, forty-one were as a result of one of these poisons: strychnine, arsenic, morphine, atropine, or cyanide. Her favorite? Cyanide, which she used to kill off eighteen characters. 

GET YOUR SLEUTH GAME ON! By Yvonne Saxon

Are you and your mystery-loving friends looking for a fun way to challenge your investigative skills? Want to solve a murder without leaving the comforts of home? Or maybe you secretly desire to be the villain every now and then—without committing a crime of course! Why not gather one or more likeminded friends around a tabletop board game and find out which one of you is the best detective? (Or villain, as the case may be!)

 ** For the Victorian sleuth in you **

1. Mysterium by Asmodee is a great group game where players work together to figure out who committed the murder at Warwick Manor, a haunted mansion full of ghosts. Can you and your friends beat the clock to solve the murder while ghosts send messages that may help or hinder you?

2. Also by Asmodee, in Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, you can step back in time to help Scotland Yard solve ten cases that get

Stalking The Orient Express By Maria Hudgins

I love Murder on the Orient Express. 

I have read the book more than once, seen the 1974 movie starring Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot, seen the 2017 movie starring Kenneth Branagh as the same character, and in my own travels I have stalked the train (or what's left of it) itself. In the early 20th century the Orient Express carried the well-heeled of Europe from Paris to Istanbul in high style. Today, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express now owned by Belmond, takes well-heeled tourists from London to Venice in nostalgic Art Deco luxury.

IT’S COMING! COASTAL CRIMES, VOLUME II By the Sand in Our Shorts Gang

Ready to continue the adventure?

If you liked Coastal Crimes, Volume I: Mysteries by the Sea, you have a treat in store. Members of Mystery by the Sea (MBTS), the Virginia Beach chapter of Sisters in Crime, are hard at work on a sequel: Coastal Crimes, Volume II: Death Takes a Vacation. True to our by-the-sea vibe, this next anthology features short stories by some of your favorite local authors, centered around a common theme: mysterious deaths involving a vacation destination in the Coastal Plain of Virginia or North Carolina east of Interstate-95. 

So, for those tourists among you who come here to enjoy a respite from the hustle and bustle of your ordinary lives? BEWARE! And for locals? Maybe it's time to call a moving company...  

As this blog goes to press, our chapter's wrapping up the submissions process. We anticipate approximately fifteen stories averaging around 5,000 words each. Soon, we’ll start our internal editing process, with Teresa Inge and Yvonne Saxon leading the way. Wildside Press has agreed to publish Coastal Crimes, Volume II, with an anticipated release date in late winter/early spring 2024.

More details to follow, including a cover reveal, as we progress. Stay tuned!      

RECIPES TO READ BY By Angela G. Slevin

 

Ah, September…late summer with its hot days, cooler nights, punctuated by bursts of crisp early fall air. Perfect outdoor or indoor reading weather. And since no reading session is complete without a satisfying beverage to sip, here are some drink and book pairings to try.

Cold Drinks

Pair with Camino Winds by John Grisham. This read is unlike most of his work. It’s a lighthearted caper novel set in the rare book business world. When a hurricane knocks out power to an island resort in Florida and a body is found, was it just a tragic accident, or was it murder?

YO ADRIAN! ANY IGGLES FAN OUT THERE? By Michael Rigg

An earlier Blog entry discussed baseball-themed movies. With the onset of September and echoes of autumn in the air, the topic switches to football—not the round-ball kind, either. Today’s blog wants to know, what’s your favorite football (the American version) novel or movie?

As the Philly-centric title suggests, the starting point for our discussion is the 2006 film, Invincible, featuring Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear. The movie is based on the true story of Vince Papale, who played with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976 to 1978. Wahlberg plays Vince. Greg Kinnear is Coach Dick Vermeil.

Desperate to turn the Eagles into winners, new head coach Dick Vermeil (Kinnear) will try just about anything. He announces that the Eagles will host open tryouts for anyone, and everyone, who thinks they have the stuff to be a professional football player. Urged by his family and friends, thirty-year-old unemployed teacher Vince Papale, who plays a mean game of sandlot football and whose girlfriend just left him because he was a "loser," gives it a go. Vermeil, impressed by Papale's performance, invites him to training camp. As training camp ends, the final roster spot is down to Papale and a veteran. Against his assistants' advice, Vermeil hands the final spot to Papale.

As Papale's career with the Eagles begins, the team loses all six preseason games and their regular season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Papale plays poorly against the Cowboys, and Vermeil faces pressure from the fans and media. In the midst of Papale’s attempt to make the team, he meets, and falls in love with, Janet.

During the home opener against the New York Giants, Papale opens the game by solo-tackling the kickoff returner inside the fifteen-yard line. After an up-and-down game, Papale gets downfield during an Eagles' fourth quarter punt to tackle the returner, forcing a fumble that he recovers and takes into the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Eagles their first win in Papale's career. Eagles’ fans go wild with joy. It’s a victory for an everyday guy—the typical “Iggles” fan. Papale plays for the team for three seasons and eventually marries Janet, while Vermeil subsequently succeeds in turning the Eagles into a winning team, culminating in an appearance in Super Bowl XV.

So, do you have a favorite football-themed novel or movie? What is it? In addition to Invincible, here are some candidates, in alphabetical order:

·       Any Given Sunday

·       Brian’s Song

·       Draft Day
·       Everybody’s All-American
·       Heaven Can Wait
·       Leatherheads
·       Remember the Titans
·       Rudy
·       The Blind Side
·       The Longest Yard
·       The Replacements
·       The Waterboy
·       We Are Marshall

And, no doubt, there are many more. Tell us your favorite—and why it is your favorite. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

STRENGTHEN YOUR SUBMISSIONS STRATEGY, Part 6 by Max Jason Peterson

So much of getting traditionally published requires patience and stamina—and hard work. It can get very tiring, especially when making a sale takes so much work shopping a piece around. Part of the reason I wanted to share these strategies in the first place is to give you hope. Rather than get discouraged by the number of submissions that haven’t netted a sale, or doubting the value of your piece (or worse, your writing abilities), you can use your statistics to keep your eye on the big picture. My hope is that, in addition to helping you get past the sting of rejection to get your piece right back out there quickly, you’ll come to see each rejection as a stepping stone to the next acceptance. After all, if it takes me an average of forty submissions to sell a short story, receiving rejection number thirty-nine can be pretty exciting. Beyond that, statistics kept over time can also help you narrow in on categories in which you’re especially successful—so that you can build on that success. Take a look at what types of material (short stories or poems? Mystery or mainstream?) are yielding sales with the fewest number of submissions. That might be an area to concentrate on as you create new works and figure out where to send them. So, in this installment, we’re going to look just a little bit more into yearly statistics.