The Apple Dryer

We had an abundance of apples last year, prompting John to build a solar food dryer so we could have another way of preserving the bounty.

So, according to The Law of Natural Perversity -- what, you never learned this one in school? The L of NP says: If you drop an open-face peanut butter sandwich, it will land face down.

As a corollary to this law, we have this: If a handy man builds a cider press and a solar food dryer one year and purchases a handy-dandy apple peeler/slicer/corer, there will be no apples on his trees that same year.

There weren't. Not on our trees. But there were local apples for sale at a good price and John has been busy drying apples.

The handy-dandy gadget is really pretty nifty -- it makes quick work of turning an apple into nice, thin, dryer-ready slices.

And the solar dryer (which can be aided by a light bulb at night or on cloudy days) produces lovely leathery dried apples -- full of concentrated sweetness and perfect for snacking or fried pies or maybe Clytie's Apple Stack Cake.

What I find amazing is that five pounds of apples, once cut and dried, can fit into two of these quart size bags. One needs to remember that as one keeps dipping into that bag for one more sweet slice.

Elevator Speech

For aspiring writers, an elevator speech is a few sentences you have ready in case you're ever in a elevator with an editor or an agent and they ask you what you're writing.

Your elevator speech needs to describe your novel in terms that will intrigue the editor or agent and make them ask more. It also needs to be REALLY concise -- their stop may be the next floor.

Most of all you need a HOOK -- some way of communicating the thing that sets your book apart from others.

Story Sensei has a nice formula for coming up with those magic two sentences.

A convention such as the one I've just been at is crawling with editors and agents and aspiring writers -- all of whom take an elevator now and then. (Giving a pitch in the restroom is frowned on -- though Herself, my editor, swears that someone once shoved a manuscript under the door of the stall she was occupying at the time.)

But that magic moment could arrive at some place other than an elevator and you need to be ready.

For example . . .

On Saturday, Herself and I had finished lunch and she suggested taking a turn around the book room. Just outside the book room door, we came upon a friend of mine from the mountains. I introduced Linda to Herself, mentioning that Linda had been in one of my writing classes.

And then it happened.

"So what's your novel about?" asked Herself.

I couldn't believe it. I was seeing a moment I'd heard about and warned my students about.

I looked at Linda, anxious to see how she would do. There was a brief stunned silence (she may have been having trouble breathing) and then she launched into a pretty decent summary of the important points of her novel.

Well done, Linda!

I wonder how many elevator moments there were during the four days of the convention?

Out the Window

This has been the view from my hotel window -- the sky's impressive and, my goodness there's a lot of it! And look how flat it is out there -- "good tractor land" as they say around here -- if it weren't for all the concrete.

The Indiana Capitol Building is nice-- aglow at night then pink and pretty in the morning light.

But I like my old familiar view the best -- it's good to be home!

Heading Home . . .

. . . no, I didn't get the Anthony.

C'est la vie.

But I did get to spend time with lots of wonderful writers and readers and most especially with Herself, my editor, a once a year treat.

No, we weren't all on stage for the awards so there was no way to do the jumping and squealing thing.

But Julie Hyzy, who won the Best PBO Anthony, was certainly the most enthusiastic in her acceptance speech.

The winner of the Best First Novel -- where you'd really expect to see some Sally Field moments -- was, unfortunately, deceased and his publisher and translator, who did the accepting, were suitably subdued.

And I didn't even take pictures of the event, having left my camera battery in the charger back in my room.

But, without further ado, here are the winners.

Best Novel
The Brass Verdict - Michael Connelly

Best First Novel
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson

Best Paperback Original
State of the Onion - Julie Hyzy

Best Short Story
"A Sleep Not Unlike Death"- Sean Chercover

Best Critical Nonfiction Work
Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography -Jeffrey Marks

Best Children's / Young Adult Novel
The Crossroads - Chris Grabenstein

Best Cover Art
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -Peter Mendelsund- Stieg Larsson

And no, I'm neither disappointed nor depressed, having not ever really thought it might be a possibility (except for about a nano-second before Julie's name was called.)

C'est, as I said before, la vie!

Now, onward and upward and back to the mountains!

Bouchercon 2009~ Friday

Escalators and
Elevators -- effortless.
Why am I so tired?

Too many heroes?
Too many panels to see?
Info overload!

And then the book room . . .
Could I please have one of each . . .
Mysteries old and new?

Two full days of Bouchercon and I'm reeling. I've been able to see and listen to writers that are among my heroes -- that's Laurie R. King in the shot of the Sherlock Holmes/Conan Doyle panel above. I've discovered far too many writers that I want to read and best of all I've met quite a few readers who say they've fallen in love with my books.

I've shared a cab with Charles Todd (both of them) to the Random House cocktail gathering where I caught up with Deborah Crombie (whom I raved about before this) and got to chat with Naomi Hirahara, a charming diminutive person who writes the Mas Arai series. And, of course, Herself (my editor) was there -- we'll be having lunch tomorrow. There were so many others, around whom I tend to go all speechless -- the afore-mentioned Laurie King, S, J. Rozan, and Lee Child, to pick three.

It's all fun -- but a little overwhelming for one who's used to the quiet life. (Sorry the pictures aren't better -- I didn't bring the Nikon and I think the little Lumix is feeling hurt that I have a new love in the camera line.)

How Nice to See . . .

. . . a tree.

Bouchercon 2009 ~ Wednesday

Turns out sharing a limo is cheaper than riding a shuttle bus -- who knew? Not me, but Molly did and organized the ride. We all felt like rock stars.

Karen K. is having way too much fun.

Kaye B. from Boone took pictures for her blog.















Then author Sandy Parshall organized a jaunt to a nearby Italian restaurant. The food was terrific and the decor was wondrously funky.




Caryn -- a long time DorothyL member and Liz Zelvin, another mystery author.


Mary Jane Maffini -- a Canadian author was part of the crew.

I'm wore out and have to get up early tomorrow.

I'll try to add some links to this tomorrow.

But I didn't want you to miss Miss Kitty -- who appears to be a real cat that has been stuffed.

Off to Indianapolis

This morning I'm winging my way north to the mystery convention known as Bouchercon and my annual meeting with Herself, my esteemed editor.

And I'll be on the Southern Voices panel and attending the Sisters in Crime breakfast (they should serve Bloody Mary's, shouldn't they?) And I'll be meeting various friends for lunch and dinner and hanging out in the book room and going to the Random House "cocktail gathering."

How is a cocktail gathering different from a cocktail party, I wonder? Maybe the dress code is more relaxed.

I hope so. I have three modes of dress -- stained and raggedy, for around the house and garden; clean and presentable but maybe a little faded, for ordinary going out; and the newer, less faded version of clean and presentable for special occasions.

Like cocktail gatherings. Or the Anthony Awards. I'm going to go all out for that and add to my black and purple ensemble (the inevitable black pants, a purple turtle neck and a black cardigan) a sparkly scarf that Molly Weston gave me, knitted by her own hands.

I'm hoping all us nominees will be on stage and it'll be like Miss America with the winner bursting into tears while the rest of us shriek and jump around and hug her/him/them.

And I hope the announcer has great hair like the guy in the video.

I'm taking my laptop and should be able to keep you all posted.

Hell or Highwater

The skies were lowering and it was spitting rain when I set out for my meeting with the Hell or Highwater Book Club last Saturday night. In fact, it was the sort of evening that makes a body want to stay home and drink hot soup.

But I knew from their name that the ladies of the club would be there. And I'm so glad I went. Cloudy stormy evening are beautiful in these mountains and the autumn gold shows to particular advantage against the gray.

At the end of my journey I discovered a beautiful home, filled with art, an amazing studio hidden in the woods, and a charming set of women, ready to talk about my first book, Signs in the Blood.

Check out my slide show to see some of what I saw. . .

Outside the Box . .

. . . and other annoying expressions.


At lunch in Cedar Mountain last week, the talk turned to annoying expressions and someone mentioned "thinking outside the box" as a phrase she was tired of hearing. Someone else mentioned "Whatever" and I think "at the end of the day" and "at this point in time" were others.

I'm not crazy about "Whatever" as a response (though I'm sure I'm guilty of using it.) Turns out I'm not alone. The email newsletter World Wide Words mentions it as the single most annoying phrase according to a survey of Americans.

Of course, these annoying little catch phrases are infinitely useful to a writer. They're a way of making a character's voice unique -- just as my editor suggested having Sallie Kate, Elizabeth's realtor friend call people "Honey."

"You know" is another odd conversational tic that a lot of folks drop in every few words, as if trying to make sure you're listening. Or "You know what I'm sayin'?"

"Awesome," I've noticed, is a kind of all purpose positive response for all kinds of things, as in:
"I mailed that letter for you, Ashley."
"Awesome."

Kind of takes the oomph out of what used to be a powerful word. Awesome should have been left for the Grand Canyon, the ocean, a volcano's eruption, God's hand reaching down from the clouds . . .











Just like "wonderful" -- are all those things I've called "wonderful" really full of wonder?

Oh, well, nothing worse than an old English teacher /curmudgeon.

Or, as some might say, "Whatever floats your boat."

The Internet Radio interview I did Friday is available for listening here. My goodness, I say umm a lot.

At the Other End of the County

On Friday night we drove to the other end of the county to have dinner with friends. The early evening light was golden and we stopped along the way so I could take pictures . . .

My friend Louise has an amazing garden. Mid October and it's still brimming with greens.

. . . the flowers haven't given up either . . .

The interior of the workshop, where Louise makes willow baskets and the Country Workshops classes are held.

Here's a slide show of more pictures from our visit.