The Art of Being Alone

Over the years, I've learned the art of being alone. This is something almost every person who aspires to be a writer needs to learn.

There seems to be what appears to be fear about being alone, and I think it's because many people equate being alone with loneliness. I've met many people who can't fathom eating alone in a restaurant, let alone one choosing to do so. Or going to a movie. Or shopping.

Personally, I don't mind being alone. In fact, I enjoy it. Perhaps it has to do with being a writer and enjoying solitary activities like reading, writing, and other artistic pursuits. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm a loner or that I don't like people. But for a person who enjoys solitary pursuits, working in retail means having to engage in a lot of interaction with a lot of people. It feels good, after doing so day after day, to withdraw and spend time alone.

Sometimes I enjoy being able to read or write without interruption. Having people around means that I feel I'm neglecting them or being rude if I'm not actively interacting with them. Other times, I enjoy taking a drive someplace without having to justify where I'm going or what my purpose is in visiting a certain place. A writer's mind (well, THIS writer's mind) works in mysterious ways and trying to explain it to someone can end up confusing or frustrating them (and me) and only rarely creating a deeper understanding.

I also don't mind being alone in a crowd. Yes, it sounds funny, even ironic, but sometimes that's when solitude can turn into loneliness. I spend time alone in groups trying to watch and absorb how others interact. It's a great tool for a writer, but then I long for company or else solitary solitude.

I do enjoy my own company, but I also enjoy spending time with people, especially my husband and son, and friends and family who really know me and understand me. In a way, my "alone" time helps me reconnect with my books' characters and spend time with them. By extension, it means I'm spending time with readers who enjoy my books as well.

"Language... has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone."--Paul Tillich 

Pet Peeves and Other Things I Keep To Myself (Sometimes!)

I normally keep a lot of pet peeves to myself or else I share them with only a select few people (sorry, guys, you know who you are!) but, for the record and in case there are some kindred spirits out there, here they are:

1) People who claim they never have time to do anything, yet can still tell you what happened on every TV show that was on in the last week. This annoys me especially when the person complaining is a writer or another kind of artist. And don't get me started on writers who find time to update their Facebook page every single day but whine that they don't have time to write!

2) People who complain about every ache and pain. If I mentioned every time my lower back felt like someone had ripped out my vertebrae and replaced them with rusty barbed wire, or that my shoulders felt like Atlas had asked me to "hold this a minute" and went for coffee three years ago... yeah, you don't want to hear it and neither do I. Everyone has aches, pains, and bad days. I worked with a woman who had cancer and came to work with a smile and without complaint every day until she went into hospice a week before she died. My headache (and yours) aren't that big of a deal.

3) People who refuse to see the bright side. Yes, bad things happen and usually at the most inopportune time. But if we stop and look at the big picture, we can see that not everything is terrible all at once. It's easy to be focused on the bad, but I try to remind myself to see that there is still good around and try to focus on that instead. It makes it easier to bear the bad stuff.

4) People who believe their way is the only right way. Whether it's how to raise a child, write a book, frost a cake, or whatever it is that I'm currently doing, I always remember that if you ask ten people to clean the floor, they'll probably each do it differently, but in the end, you'll have a clean floor.

I could go on, but another pet peeve of mine is people who complain incessantly, so for now I'll thank you all for listening to me rant and I'll get back to work on what's important!

Bonney County Photo Tour

Today, I decided to give my blog readers a tour through my neck of the woods (quite literally, in fact) and acquaint them with the area that inspired fictional Bonney County and the Black Horse Campground mystery series.

The road just past the Bent, New Mexico post office... down the road from my home!

The Hondo Valley near San Patricio on a rainy day

First off, Bonney County, like both Otero and Lincoln counties, is in the south central region of New Mexico. Unlike many people's perception of New Mexico, there are trees, mountains, rivers, and much cooler temperatures than there are in the lower desert elevations. To the south is the desert basin which includes White Sands National Monument and Holloman Air Force Base and to the north are the Pecos river plains that include Roswell. The village of Ruidoso, where I worked for twelve years, is a green oasis in the middle of a lot of brown and gold desert and plains. For years, when I was growing up in El Paso, Texas, we made the trip every summer to visit family in Roswell and I was always fascinated by the area around Ruidoso. The Mescalero Apache reservation is right in the middle of a beautiful pine forest and in the summer, right around July fourth, you'll see teepees erected along the highway near their homes as they prepare for the annual coming of age ceremonial for their young daughters. Tradition and modernity live side by side on the rez and they are rightly proud of their culture and homelands.

Mural along US 70 through the village of Mescalero on the reservation

Ruidoso is a mecca for tourists, whether campers, skiers, mountain bikers, shoppers, casino and horse-racing enthusiasts. I'll give a more in-depth tour of the village itself, but for now, we'll stay on US 70 and continue up to the Hondo Valley and the area where Bonney County came to life.

Once you leave the village of Ruidoso, you come to Ruidoso Downs which is the home of horse racing's All-American Futurity. But beyond horse-racing, the American West is closely identified with horses and tribute to these magnificent creatures is exhibited at the Hubbard Museum of the American West and the amazing sculpture “Free Spirits at Noisy Water” by local artist Dave McGary (1958-2013) who perfectly captured the likenesses of seven different horse breeds. The sculptures and the surrounding “display” park are a wonderful (and free!) roadside stop to stretch your legs and relax.

Driving on further, there are several small villages along the highway, very much like the village of Bonney. Roadside fruit stands, little churches and cemeteries, and beautiful views of farms and ranches along the river make this a beautiful drive. It's easy to see why this was where Billy Chee Black Horse decided to build his Black Horse Campground and why guests are happy to stay there... murder mysteries notwithstanding!

 Glencoe Fruit Stand, Glencoe, New Mexico

 Old parish church, San Patricio, New Mexico

Inside the San Patricio (San Ignacio?) parish church

 San Patricio Retreat Center, San Patricio, New Mexico

Harvest bounty, Glencoe Fruit Stand, Glencoe, New Mexico

This is just a quick tour of the area where my series came to life. I hope you enjoyed the trip and can picture Bonney County and the Black Horse Campground a little bit better in your mind!

The bridge over the Hondo River and the Hondo River

No Place Like Home

This past weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in my home town and birthplace, El Paso, Texas. I still call it my hometown though I haven't lived there in almost thirty years because, to me, home is more a feeling or state of mind than a geographical location.

I can still go up to the front door of my family's home in El Paso and walk in and say "I'm home" and it's completely natural and normal... just like walking in the door of my home in New Mexico. Home is where you feel you belong.

That's the feeling I want my readers to have when they read my Black Horse Campground mystery series. When they open the book and find themselves back in Bonney County, even though it isn't a real place on the map, they feel that they are in a place that is familiar and comforting, even though there is a mystery to be solved. The characters are as well-known and loved (or not) to the reader as their most intimate family members.

When I visit El Paso, there are certain things that just come naturally. I was reflecting on this Sunday morning as my husband and I stood in line at Supreme Bakery, waiting our turn to buy traditional Mexican sweet bread (pan dulce) and containers of menudo (a Sunday morning hangover cure... er, traditional breakfast in El Paso!) The line snaked around the bakery and several patrons were there toting a large pan that they brought from home to fill with menudo. Anyone who's lived in El Paso, or anywhere along the border, for that matter, knows that this is standard operating procedure, whether you're getting your menudo at a bakery, restaurant, or church breakfast--you bring your own carryout container. It's what we do back home.

Likewise, in Bonney County or, more specifically, the Black Horse Campground, you know that Friday evenings bring the campers and employees together for an enchilada dinner or a fish fry and that every morning they'll be greeted by freshly brewed pinon coffee and home baked goodies in the campground store. It's what they do at home.

This is the theme I've managed to carry through all the books and is highlighted even more in the fourth book, "At the Cross Road" (due out in a few months): home is where you feel you belong. And more and more, J.D. Wilder is starting to feel very much at home in Bonney County. So when his new home is threatened with danger, he becomes fiercely protective of home and family... in all shapes and forms.

I hope my readers also feel that the Black Horse is home and my characters are family and when they open up my new book, it'll be just like opening the door and saying, "Hey, I'm home!" I can't promise you'll be greeted with a cup of pinon coffee, but the welcome will surely be just as warm!

The Name Game

We had an interesting discussion last week on my publishing house's round-robin e-mail. A fellow author asked if any of us had ever used a real person's name (knowingly) for one of their characters.

I say "knowingly" because there is always the distinct possibility that the name you made up for one of your characters--whether it's the hero, the villain, the victim, a secondary character--actually belongs to a real person. That's completely out of the author's control, of course, that someone, somewhere happens to have a name you've chosen for a character. But suppose the author knows someone who has the perfect name for a character?

First off, I always think that it's simple courtesy to ask someone if you can use their name for one of your characters. And it's very wise to make sure that, unless you discuss it first with the person and are 100% sure they're a good sport with a fabulous sense of humor, you don't name your nefarious villain or irritating busybody secondary character after them (last time I checked, no one complained if the hero or heroine--you know, the one with the ripped bod, the marvelous sense of wit, and the genius IQ to foil the most nefarious of villains--had the same name....)

Second, the author must ask him/herself what it is they hope to accomplish by naming a character after their sister, best friend, the local bartender, etc. Is it an attempt to pay tribute to the person whose name you're using? If so, make sure the character is worthy of being the trophy (unless, as I stated before, the person whose name you're using has a great sense of humor!) Is it a lazy way to create a character? Be warned that most people might not see themselves the way you see them; there's a chance that the author might, without meaning to, offend the person.

Third, there's always the author who will include a real person--name and all--as a minor character in the story. This is something I've done with two good friends, Patty and Mike. But there is a stipulation to doing this; they (your friends/characters) should have a reason to be in the story in the first place. In my third Black Horse Campground mystery, "No Vacancy", J.D. had to follow up the investigation at a motorcycle shop. It just so happens that Mike and Patty own one. I used them to deliver information to J.D. about a suspect and I used their real names. The scene wasn't forced because they had a purpose in being in the story. I probably won't use this element very often, but it also served to thank them for helping me get the details right in the story!

No friends were harmed in the creation of this story!

Naming the characters after real people might work in some instances, but an author should always be aware of the pitfalls and always, ALWAYS, ask for permission to do so. It certainly will inspire the character's namesake to promote the book for you!

A visit with Oak Tree Press Author Marilyn Meredith: WHAT DOES ETHIOPIA HAVE TO DO WITH MY LATEST MYSTERY?

Today, I'm hosting fellow mystery writer and Oak Tree Press author, Marilyn Meredith, whose credits include the Rocky Bluff P.D. series as well as the Tempe Crabtree series. Marilyn, tell us about your latest Tempe Crabtree mystery, "Not As It Seems".

In the last Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, River Spirits, Blair announces his engagement to a young woman whose family came from Ethiopia.  I felt like the next book should incorporate the wedding which, of course, should include the bride’s family.

This meant of course, doing some research into several things.

The bride’s name is Amaresh Barili. I mentioned in the previous book that she is Ethiopian and Italian. I needed some history about why Italian.

Of course I had to find names for her mother and father, and come up with a history for both of them.

For their home, I described the house that our Italian neighbors  built and lived in across the street from me when I was growing up in Los Angeles.

Because I like to include food in my mysteries, I needed to discover some Ethiopian dishes for the parents to serve. Though I’ve never tasted what I included, writing about them made me hungry.

I love legends. A major part of the plot is the Ethiopian legend of the disappearing hitchhiker which comes from the New Testament.

Though the wedding itself isn’t Ethiopian, I wanted to include some Ethiopian touches.

While doing the research, I also learned a few things from a friend on the Central Coast, Paul Fahey, who’d been assigned to Ethiopia while in the Peace Corp.

Research took me on a fascinating journey to a most intriguing place.
--Marilyn Meredith

Not as It Seems Blurb:
Tempe and Hutch travel to Morro Bay for son Blair’s wedding, but when the maid-of-honor disappears, Tempe tries to find her. The search is complicated by ghosts and Native spirits.

Character Naming Contest:
Once again, I’ll name a character after the person who leaves a comment on the most blogs.
Tomorrow I’ll be stopping by  https://thoniehevron.wordpress.com/
with the topic, Eating Your Way Through a Mystery.  

Bio: Marilyn Meredith now lives in the foothills of the Southern Sierra, about 1000 feet lower than Tempe’s Bear Creek, but much resembles the fictional town and surroundings. She has nearly 40 books published, mostly mysteries. Besides writing, she loves to give presentations to writers’ groups. She’s on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and a member of Mystery Writers of America and three chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Central Coast chapter.

The Home Stretch

It's getting close... that time when the first draft of a new book is almost finished. The end is in sight, I know how the story is going to wrap up (I think!), and the germ of an idea is in place for the next book.

This is about the time the relief and exhilaration kick in, along with niggling doubts and a tiny whisper of panic.

Obviously, a writer feels a sense of accomplishment and excitement at having done it again--created a story and written it from start to finish--especially since, many times, I have started a project with that whisper (or is it a roar?) of panic: "Can I do it again? What am I going to write about? What if I can't make it work? What if it's boring?"

Strangely enough, those same whispers of panic come back at the end of the first draft, when I read it through for the first time. I cringe at obvious mistakes in continuity, mixed-up names or places, bloated exposition or dialogue, and tired descriptions I'm sure I've used in the three previous books. For a brief moment, the panic blooms into worry if I can fix what I've already written.

It helps to remember that I've lived through this three times already. And every time, I managed to get my focus right and I was able to edit my books well (with the help of my amazing beta-readers and editors!), send them in, get them published, and, most incredible of all, sell them! I tell myself that if I've done it before, I can do it again... and I'll be telling myself that every time I set out to write another book!

So now, as I take a deep breath to plunge toward the finish line, I keep in mind that the work is still, in some ways, just beginning: the edits, the cover art, the title, the promotion. But despite all the seemingly never-ending work and stress and confusion, there is the over-riding feeling of joy and excitement in doing what I love to do.

Now, back to work....

Next week, I'll be turning the Back Deck Blog over to fellow Oak Tree Press author, Marilyn Meredith, author of the Rocky Bluff PD series and the Tempe Crabtree series. She'll be promoting her latest Tempe book, "Not as it Seems". Follow her book tour and see how she crafts her mysteries!