Predicting the Future: The Fiction Writer's Edition

Image Courtesy Hulki Okan Tabak @hulkiokantabak

Once upon a time I was accused of causing The Atlanta Snowpocalypse.

I don’t have to define what this is for anyone who was living in North Georgia in January 2014 when a mere 2.6 inches of snow brought the metro area to a grinding halt. The Snowpocalypse — also known as Snowmageddon and Snow Jam — began when what would have otherwise been a mild dusting of fluffy white stuff stuck to the freezing roads and compacted into a sheet of black ice just as millions of workers began an early commute home, trying to beat the weather.

Those millions of cars became trapped on the streets and interstates as the temperatures dropped to 12 degrees, tires freezing in place, forcing stranded motorists to seek shelter on the side of the road (where thousands of families opened their homes to complete strangers—there was even a baby delivered in the chaos). It was an unprecedented event, since snowstorms occurring simultaneously with sustained temps in the teens is very rare in Georgia — there have only been six such weather events in almost a hundred years — and this one sharpened its teeth for Atlanta in the middle of the night, leaving many people unaware as they headed out for work or school the next morning that the few flakes they saw coming down were in fact a portent.

I knew the intricacies of this “perfect storm” because I’d been researching a virtually identical scenario for my 4th book, Deeper Than the Grave. In previous novels, I’d subjected Tai and Trey to the typical natural disasters we see in the South — a heat wave in Darker Than Any Shadow and a tropical storm in Blood, Ash, and Bone — so I decided to inflict a blizzard on them, one that would shut down the city.

Which I did.

I submitted the manuscript to my editor two weeks before the actual storm hit. And real life played out exactly as my research had told me it would—impassible roads, no emergency services, panic and desperation city-wide. My fictional storm matched reality so well that a reader berated me at a public Q&A session, accusing my story of somehow contributing to the awfulness.

At the time, the rogue winter storm was the only plot line from that book to have a real-life counterpart. Imagine my surprise to see a YouTube video by Caitlyn Doughty — author and creator of the Ask a Mortician YouTube channel — entitled “Who Hid a Body in a Civil War Grave?”

You see, Deeper Than the Grave begins with Tai being tasked with finding a missing Civil War-era skeleton after a tornado rips through a family burial site. She recovers the skeleton, but it’s definitely...fleshier...than a hundred-and-fifty-year-old skeleton should be, leading her to conclude that a killer tried to hide a modern-day crime in a historical tomb.

I opened the video expecting to learn that once again I’d cribbed from real life. But then I got surprised. I won’t spoil the surprise for any interested viewers, but I will say the body found in the Civil War grave led to the creation of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, better known as the Body Farm, which continues to advance forensic science and aid criminal investigations.

If you are a lover of all things CSI — and have the required tolerance for the grisly — you’ll want to watch. Caitlyn is an informed and engaging host, with a snarky and somewhat dark sense of humor (there’s another content warning there) but she’s also an outspoken and eloquent voice in the death-positive movement. I’ve been a fan of hers for a while (her episode on 19th century funeral photography provided the research for the first chapter in Crooked Ways) and I never fail to learn something from one of her videos.

You can watch “Who Hid a Body in a Civil War Grave?” at the Ask a Mortician YouTube channel HERE. And you can read how Tai and Trey investigated a very similar mystery by reading Deeper Than the Grave, which you can learn about HERE.

Hot Tea: A Story and a Recipe

Trey’s bedside (imagine it smells of hot tea, crisp linen sheets, and a touch of his aftershave, which contains notes of ocean and evergreen).

One of the very first things Tai learns about Trey—before she even learns his first name—is that he doesn’t drink alcohol, only water and hot tea. (PS: You can revisit that epic moment HERE.)

Since that time, Tai and I have both learned a lot about tea, all kinds of tea: the bright floral notes of a first-flush Darjeeling, the smoky punch of lapsang souchong, the earthy sweetness of pu-erh. We’ve also learned the intricacies of tea preparation, because Trey takes his steaming hot without a speck of cream or sugar.

Which is not how I drank it growing up in the flatlands of Middle Georgia. Back then, there was one kind of tea—Lipton—and one way to drink it—sweet and strong and ice cold.

Unless you wanted to make Russian tea. Which was sweet tea mixed with orange juice, pineapple juice, cinnamon and clove, and then heated just to boiling. My fondest memories of the beverage are from the nights my father and brother would vacate the house, leaving my mother and me to our own devices. This meant popcorn for supper, Love Boat and Fantasy Island for entertainment, and Russian tea as a nightcap. In my imagination, I was partaking of a drink with a rich and storied history, sipped by czars and czarinas against a snow-bound landscape as exotic as Narnia.

In truth, Russian tea is an American invention from sometime in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century (you can read more of its fascinating evolution at Yesterdish). It reached an apex of popularity in the 1960s, however, with the creation of Tang, which led to many “instant” versions of the drink, most of them now named Hot Spiced Tea (the descriptive “Russian” eliminated in a patriotic nod to the US space program, which chose Tang as the breakfast drink of its astronauts).

A fine example of a Russian tea samovar (with appropriate snacks).

But as American as Russian tea is, Russian tea culture is supremely Russian. Its story begins in the early days of the Siberian Route, the historic road that connected Russia to Siberia and China in the seventeenth century. At first, black tea was too expensive for anyone who wasn’t royal or rich, and the ceremonies surrounding it were equally luxurious. Porcelain teacups rimmed with gold, gilded glass tea holders called podstakanniks, and the magnificent samovars which delivered boiling water in supreme elegance.

My mother’s recipe was not elegant, but then, neither were we. And that was the best part. If you’re looking for a little spot of warmth and comfort this holiday season, I highly recommend it. 

Dinah Floyd’s Hot Spiced Tea 

2 quarts sweet tea

1 can (6 oz) pineapple juice

1 cup orange juice

1/2 teaspoon each: ground cinnamon and cloves 

Add cinnamon and cloves to tea in saucepan and bring to a boil. Add pineapple juice and orange juice and heat just until boiling again. Garnish with lemon or orange slices. Great for afternoon tea or anytime when the weather is a little chilly.

An Interview with Audiobook Narrator Mali Benvenutti

Mali Benvenutti and her "verbal sparring partner for life."

Thank you so much for agreeing to an interview! It’s been a pleasure working with you on “Liquor, Larceny, and the Ordinal Classification of Courtship Rituals,” and I’m looking forward to our next project.

How did you become interested in becoming an audiobook narrator?

A: Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved reading stories aloud. Unlike my more athletic classmates, I prayed for rainy day recess because it gave me the opportunity to share my favorite books with anyone who would listen. While other girls were making cootie catchers and friendship bracelets, I’d be curled up on the big green armchair in the library or sitting cross legged under a table reading Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” to an audience of wide-eyed 1st and 2nd graders.

When I graduated high school at the turn of the millennium (oh god, that makes me sound so old...) and started thinking about potential careers, audio book narration wasn’t even a blip on my radar. I thought the only way I could do the thing I loved—and get paid for it—would be to go into teaching. So I pursued a Bachelors and Masters degree in Elementary Education. But after a few years of dealing with the day-to-day reality of managing a classroom of 30-40 ten-year-olds, I realized that being a teacher was not the right career path for me.

Fast forward a decade or so to spring of 2024, to a casual conversation with my twin sister. I had been reading Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban over Facetime with my nephew. When I finished, she told me that she was impressed with the way I brought each of the characters to life, and the ease in which I went back and forth in acting out their dialogue. She said I should consider going into narrating professionally.

Our project! Available FREE to newsletter subscribers!

A few days later, I posted on Facebook that I was interested in taking on audio book projects, and within 24 hours, a spunky, Savannah-based mystery author named Tina Whittle PM’d me. (The response was so immediate that I almost didn’t respond out of concern that she may have been an AI bot or a Russian asset. Luckily for me, she wasn’t either of these things. As far as I can tell, anyway...) The rest, as they say, is history!

What’s your favorite part of the job?

 Ooh. Good question. I would have to say that it’s the creative outlet. As someone who identifies as a “highly sensitive person” (shout out to all my fellow HSPs and neurospicy peeps in the audience), I am constantly looking for opportunities to express myself emotionally in a way that doesn’t make my husband or random passersby question my sanity. Since I play a mild-mannered administrative assistant forty hours a week, I particularly enjoy narrating fiction because it gives all my alter egos a chance to take center stage and flex their muscles.

Can you describe your process?

 As an ADHD-American, well-thought-out processes and routines are not something that come naturally to me. But if I had to describe how I tackle a narration project, it would be as follows:

•  1) Read the manuscript in my head a few times first.

• 2) Record a rough draft.

• 3) Playback on repeat ad nauseum

• 4) Obsessively email critical notes to myself about what to fix. Ask for feedback from others.

• 5) Record a second draft. Rinse. Repeat.

• 6) When I’m reasonably happy with a draft, that’s when I go to my studio to record an audio file for submission to the production company.

• 7) Cross my fingers and pray that the file is usable and doesn’t require a ton of “voice overs” (narrator-ese for “audio corrections”).

 Any advice for someone starting out in this profession?

 As someone who is also pretty new to the profession, I am constantly learning something new about audiobook narration. But here are my top 5 (so far):

Mali's Studio!

•  1) It pays to invest in decent equipment. If you want to make a career out of this, purchase the best audio equipment you can afford. The audio recording kit I use—FocusRite Scarlett—was recommended to me by my production company, and it produces a much more professional sound than other “plug and play” USB mics I’ve used.

•  2) Find a super quiet place to record, and don’t be afraid to get creative. Case in point: I currently live in a rental property in the heart of downtown of a bustling city. There is nowhere in my house where you can’t hear drivers blaring their bass at decibels loud enough to shatter glass, or sirens wailing at all times of the day. Paying for time in a professional recording studio was not feasible, so I went to the interwebs and searched for “alternative recording spaces for people on a budget.” A forum on Reddit suggested renting and converting a storage facility. So I talked to my husband, and when our landlord advertised storage facilities at one of his other properties in the city for $40/month, we decided to take him up on it. We prepped the 7x20-foot room with two boxes worth of those stick-on sound-proofing tiles from Amazon. We set up a six-foot card table and a folding chair, and covered every inch of surface area with a bazillion moving blankets. Add laptop and FocusRite Scarlett and VOILA:  Mali’s new studio!

•  3) Rest. Your. Voice. Voice narration can be physically exhausting. When you’re in the zone, it’s super easy to overdo it. Your vocal cords are just like any other muscle—they can wear out and break down if you over-tax them. Don’t spend more than two hours at one time recording, drink a lot of water, and give yourself at least one day between recording sessions for optimum performance. Think of it as verbal leg day. Trust me. I’m married to a doctor (a doctor of Political Science, but still).

•  4) Listen to other professionals who inspire you to hone your craft. At the top of my current audible playlist are Stephen Fry (the absolute best narrator of the Harry Potter series), Andy Serkis (aka Gollum), and Hugh Fraser (of Poirot fame). Not only are each of these British actors incredibly talented and versatile in their delivery, but you can tell they really throw themselves into each and every performance to the point where it is almost impossible to tell where they start and their characters begin.

•  5) Outsource the production part if you can. Prior to venturing into the audio book narration biz, I assumed that narrators only did the voice acting part. But what I quickly found out is that most people who hire themselves out as independent narrators are often responsible for the production side as well. For those of you who don’t know, voice acting is the easy part. Production, aka mixing and engineering the raw audio, takes a lot more technical know-how than just using a professional mic and pressing “record.” For every 1 hour of recording time, it takes a minimum of 3 hours in post-production to massage that raw audio into a format that meets the professional standards of audible and other audio book vendors. I don’t know about you all, but this working girl ain’t got time for that. Luckily, I have the great fortune to work with an incredibly talented and professional production group called Scott Ellis Reads. They are a family-owned business based out of Massachusetts, but can work with anyone, anywhere. So if anyone reading this needs a referral, reach out to Scott Ellis and tell him Mali sent you.

 What else do you like to do?

 It depends on who we’re asking. If you’re asking me, I’d say sing karaoke, watch baking competitions, and host elaborately themed parties. If you ask my husband, it would be: argue (as the daughter of two lawyers, this was inevitable), procrastinate, and find thoughtful presents for our collective family members.

 Reviewers have praised your energy and animation in “Liquor & Larceny,” describing your voice as “luscious and clear.” Is it difficult to keep up that kind of energy over an entire performance?

 A: Yes and no! When I enter the studio, I try to leave “Mali” at the door and become whoever I think the author wants me to be. It’s much easier to get into the right mindset for fiction narratives because there’s more dialogue, more dramatic cues, and more opportunities to emote. Nonfiction is a lot harder because you have to read “straight” while still holding the audience’s attention. It is ridiculously easy to get stuck in monotone when reading fact-centered material, but the one thing I strive for is to never be boring. If it sounds like something that would put my nephew to sleep, Auntie M needs to try a different approach!

 What’s next for you creatively and/or professionally?

 I’m currently recording a biography written by my mother, retired judge and award-winning civil rights historian, Lise Pearlman. The book is titled Call Me Phaedra: the Life and Times of Movement Lawyer Fay Stender and was originally published in 2018. The book tells the life story of Fay Stender, a trailblazing, brilliant Jewish woman lawyer from the San Francisco Bay Area who came to national and international fame in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and who tragically took her own life after an attempted assassination left her paralyzed. Although she was best known for representing Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton and “Soledad Brother” George Jackson in their respective murder trials, among her many impressive achievements, Fay was responsible for changing the makeup of the American jury from the “12 Angry White Men” of the 1960s to the more diverse juries we see today. The Huey Newton trial was the subject of another award-winning book of my mother’s called The Sky’s The Limit: People v. Huey Newton—The Real Trial of the Century?  It was the basis of a short documentary that she also produced called “American Justice on Trial,” which made the shortlist for Oscar-nominated documentaries in 2023! We are hoping to get the audio version of Call Me Phaedra ready for release by March 1, 2025, just in time for Women’s History Month.

The Perfect Mojito

You might have noticed a new publisher behind my Tai & Trey stories — Mojito Literary Press. Which is itself a part of the Mojito Literary Society, founded oh so many years ago by a bunch of us writerly types to celebrate joy, in all its forms.

And one of those joys is, of course, the mojito.

image @deemwave

The derivation of the name is unclear; it could refer to mojo, a lime-flavored seasoning mixture popular in Cuban cuisine, or to the word mojadito, Spanish for "a little wet." A favorite drink of Ernest Hemingway (whose graffiti praising the drink can still be seen on the walls of his favorite Cuban bar), the mojito is a deceptively simple mixture of five basic ingredients: rum, lime juice, cane sugar, club soda, and fresh mint leaves (traditionally yerba buena in Cuba, but most commonly spearmint or peppermint in the US).

I've had many mojitos. Some have been exquisite; others have been as limp and tasteless as salad in a glass. I make my own at home regularly, and they are quite tasty if I do say so myself (and I do). Still, when it comes to mixology, there's no greater authority than my friend Chris Milligan. He writes the blog The Sante Fe Barman and is, IMHO, a genius with all things spirited. When I asked him to explain how to make a perfect mojito, he graciously obliged.

So here it is, folks, straight from someone who knows.

The Perfect Mojito

You’ll need:

• 10-12 mint leaves

• 3/4 oz simple syrup

• 1/2 oz lime juice (freshly squeezed)

• 2 oz white rum

• Club soda

• Ice

• Lime wheel for garnish

In a 12-oz glass, muddle mint leaves with simple syrup and lime juice. Add ice, rum, and fill with club soda. Using a long-handled spoon, pull the mint from the bottom of the glass to combine. You are also mixing in the lime and simple syrup. Garnish with lime wheel or mint sprig.

Important Mixology Skills and Information!

• Muddling—the idea in this drink is to extract the oils from the mint without tearing the leaves, so be gentle.

• Measure, Measure, Measure. Get a small OXO measuring cup or jigger. This is KEY.

• That brings us back to the glassware. If your glasses are bigger than 12 oz, you will need to adjust.

• A lime wheel is a lime cut in a circle from pole to pole.

• Simple syrup—1 lb. BY WEIGHT of sugar and 8 oz of water (filtered) by volume. Place in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. This keeps for 3-5 days or add a shot of vodka to keep for 3 weeks. Let cool to room temperature. This keeps for 3-5 days or add a shot of vodka to keep for 3 weeks.

• If you’d like to make this virgin, simply omit the rum. It’s just as refreshing and delicious.

Spring!

This year, the Vernal Equinox will be on March 20th at 5:25 PM EDT, marking the exact moment when the Sun crosses the celestial equator going south to north. It’s considered the astronomical beginning of the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere, but here in the Georgia Lowcountry, our spring sprung weeks ago.

The canopy of live oaks in my backyard an hour before sunset

We don’t need a groundhog to tell us this — we just look at the pollen. And by Valentine’s Day, the yellow stuff is usually everywhere, even if Mother Nature may still have a cold snap in her pocket. We call those chilly March and April days “blackberry winter,” and get in one last cup of hot cocoa before the broil of summer begins.

Savannah spring is a jubilation of color and scent and sound. Azaleas and dogwood and jasmine bloom flagrantly under the live oaks. This is our true “fall” as the dead brown leaves are pushed off the branches by fresh new growth, for live oaks are never bare, but they do shed.

Just 97 seconds in my backyard as documented by my Merlin Bird ID app.

And the birds! It’s a cacaphony out there every morning. Savannah is an important stop on the migratory path of many songbirds winging their way north, and my backyard is filled with visitors I’ll likely not see for another six months. The crows will be here 24/7, though, demanding their breakfast. To them I am simply a slightly daft servant who needs loud and frequent reminders that the peanut dish isn’t gonna fill itself.

Check out the different songs my Merlin Bird ID app caught in just a little over a minute: wrens and cardinals and grackles and doves, even a cedar waxwing and a yellow-rumped warbler, two birds I couldn’t see but could certainly hear (I eventually spotted the waxwing in the woodpile, but the warbler remained camouflaged).

If you’d like to get the Merlin app yourself, it’s free. You can learn more about it at the Cornell University Ornithology Lab website: https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

I hope your spring is filled with boisterous joy and sweet surprises. May it be bountiful.

Happy Holidays!

In case you missed it last time, here’s my holiday Tai & Trey story again, FREE to newsletter subscribers until January 1st.

* * *

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town, not a creature was stirring…except Tai Randolph.

Not that documenting a decidedly unusual robbery was on her holiday to-do list. But as an apprentice PI, she has to take the assignments that come her way, even if it means disappointing Trey, her partner in both romance and crime-solving, who had other plans.

As she and Trey begin to piece together the clues, an unlikely suspect emerges, as well as an unexpected crime. Someone has been very naughty, it seems, and Tai has to set things right. But can she do it while there’s still Christmas Eve to celebrate?

My December Recommendation for Your TBR Stack

For more book by Susanna Ives, visit her website: https://susannaives.com/wordpress/

Ah, the classic British murder village!

There’s something comforting about these bucolic little towns, all of which have the best scones, the most picturesque pastures, the quaintest little antique shops . . . and a murder rate that would drop the jaw of any criminal investigator.

But I also love a good romance, especially one that makes judicious use of the small-town setting. There’s nothing like falling in love with daffodils and lakes in the background. Bonus points if the characters are complex, their love story based on the kinds of real complications that keep good people apart. I like a smart romance, one with both brains and heart.

Here’s my current read, which delivers both: Amends by Susanna Ives. From the author:

“Amends is my most serious book. It’s a story of estranged lovers reuniting under complex and challenging circumstances, facing old wounds as they struggle to keep their children safe.”

You can read more about Amends — including a link to sample chapters — by clicking the button below.

Tis the season for giving, so give yourself or a loved one the gift of this book. You won’t regret it.

And to YOU a Good Read!

Get your copy of “And to All a Good Night” for 99 cents!

Available for Kindle and for Nook, Kobo, Apple and other retailers through the Books2Read storefront

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town, not a creature was stirring…except Tai Randolph.

Not that documenting a decidedly unusual robbery was on her holiday to-do list. But as an apprentice PI, she has to take the assignments that come her way, even if it means disappointing Trey, her partner in both romance and crime-solving, who had other plans.

As she and Trey begin to piece together the clues, an unlikely suspect emerges, as well as an unexpected crime. Someone has been very naughty, it seems, and Tai has to set things right. But can she do it while there’s still Christmas Eve to celebrate?

Second Edition of DARKER THAN ANY SHADOW Available Now!

Get it for Kindle and other E-Book Retailers

One thing I learned writing Darker Than Any Shadow — performance poetry is the closest thing to literary blood sport that exists.

That’s why I chose it as the background for the second Tai & Trey outing. It’s a cutthroat endeavor, and it brings out the ruthlessness in every single character, because every single character has something at stake. Love, riches, success, vengeance. They’re all on the table in a performance poetry competition. It’s not called a “slam” for nothing.

The dog days of summer have arrived, and Tai Randolph is feeling the heat. Running her uncle’s gun shop is more demanding than she ever imagined. Her best friend Rico is competing for a national slam poetry title. And Atlanta is overrun with hundreds of fame-hungry performance poets clogging all the good bars.

She’s also got her brand-new relationship with corporate security agent Trey Seaver to deal with. SWAT-trained and rule-obsessed, Trey has a brain geared for statistics and flow charts, not romance. And while Tai finds him irresistibly fascinating, dating a human lie detector who can kill with his bare hands is a somewhat precarious endeavor.

And then just when she thinks she might get a handle on things, one of Rico’s fellow poets is murdered . . . and Rico becomes the prime suspect.

Tai pushes up her sleeves and comes to his defense with every trick in her book—a little lying here, a little snooping there. Trey wants her off the case immediately. So does Rico. Every poet in Atlanta has a secret, it seems, and one of them is willing to kill to keep theirs quiet.

Will Tai’s relationship with Trey survive another foray into amateur sleuthing? And even more importantly, will she?

You can read the first chapter HERE.

I hope you’ll enjoy this newly revised second edition e-book of Darker Than Any Shadow, available now for $1.99 for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, and your favorite e-book retailer.

Congrats to the Winners!

Image courtesy @eilisgarvey

Thanks to everyone who entered the Rafflecopter giveaway for ten copies of the newly revised The Dangerous Edge of Things. The winners have been chosen (you can find them HERE) and I’m sending congratulatory emails to everyone. I’ve also let the Random Fate Generator choose the winner of my TBR giveaway and announced that on the blog.

Please stay tuned for more giveaways!

Once Again, From the Beginning

As you may remember, I have recently reacquired the e-book rights to my Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series. Poisoned Pen/Sourcebooks will continue to carry the first editions of the paperbacks, and my own micro-press—Mojito Literary Press—will carry the e-books.

I am enjoying every second of it. Getting to watch Tai and Trey come together has been a treat, especially as their relationship deepens and strengthens with each new challenge.

And the first in the series — The Dangerous Edge of Things — is available now with spanking new covers designed just for the occasion. Plus you can find the first chapter of Darker Than Any Shadow, the second book in the series (you can read more about that book HERE).

A Place for Book Lovers

Image courtesy Tom Hermans @tomhermans

One lesson we have learned over the past eighteen challenging months is the value of community, however we find it. Not being able to visit my favorite local bookstore — shoutout to The Book Lady — was one of the hardest parts. Not traveling to conferences. Not gathering for readings. Not meetings readers and other writers.

Yeah. It’s been hard.

But I am lucky to have a daughter who finds amazing things. It’s one of her gifts, this genius at finding, a grace bestowed upon her head by whatever fairy godmother was in attendance that day. And she found The StoryGraph.

StoryGraph combines two things I have a nerdy appreciation for — books and data. StoryGraph helps you track your reading and choose your next book based on your mood and your favorite topics and themes. It maintains a virtual TBR stack for you and connects you with other readers enjoying the books you enjoy. You can share recommendations, write reviews, discover new series and new authors, and expand your literary horizons.

ALSO! There is data to be parsed! You can set reading goals, examine your readings patterns (like what genre you read the most and what characteristics your favorite books possess), and build your virtual library.

Until we can safely meet in person, you can find me there. Look me up! My username is TinaWhittle.

Tell me what YOU’RE reading for a chance to win one of the books I’M reading (when I’m finished with it, of course). I’ll even include a cute bookmark. Drop your comment below to be entered in the drawing.

Happy Whittleween!

We do this holiday right here at Whittle Central, combining my love of all things dark and spooky with my husband’s engineering prowess and my daughter’s creative flair. We’ve even started a website just for the occasion, and we’re inviting you to be our very special guest.

Visit us at https://www.whittleween.com. Click the PHOTOS tab to see images of Whittleween Past, or visit The Boo Blog! to see what the Diabolical Engineer might be up to. Visit the LINKS page to see what experts we follow throughout the year.

And if you’re anywhere near Southeast Georgia on Saturday, October 30th (which is when our town will be trick-or-treating) do drop by. If you’re in costume, you get candy. I promise.

Second Edition of "Trouble Like a Freight Train Coming" Out Now!

Yes, I’m using a lot of exclamation point for this release, one of my favorite stories ever, freshly edited and available for Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and a plethora of other sites.

First published in the anthology Lowcountry Crime, “Trouble Like a Freight Train Coming” is now a stand-alone novella. It was nominated for a Derringer (in one of my most delighted author moments) and functions as a prequel to my Tai Randolph & Trey Seaver series.

Here’s its description:

Tai Randolph is accustomed to murder and mayhem...of the fictional variety. As a tour guide in Savannah, Georgia, she’s learned the tips are better when she seasons her stories with a little blood here, a little depravity there. She’s less experienced in real life criminality, however, preferring to spend her days sleeping late and her nights hitting the bars. But when she gets the news that her trouble-making cousin has keeled over while running a marathon, Tai finds herself in a hot mess of treachery and dirty dealings. Worst of all, the clues lead her straight into the moonshine-soaked territory of the most infamous smuggler in Chatham County—her Uncle Boone.

 “Trouble Like A Freight Train Coming” is set in Savannah several years prior to the inheritance of her Atlanta gun shop and her first encounter with security agent Trey Seaver, who ultimately becomes her partner in both romance and crime solving. For readers familiar with the rest of Tai’s adventures, this story is a chance to watch her develop her sleuthing chops. For those meeting Tai for the first time . . . welcome to her slightly reckless, somewhat hungover, not-quite-respectable world.

Look for it on Nook, Kobo, Apple, !ndigo, Scribd, and other platforms (Books2Read provides a handy summary HERE) and on Amazon Kindle. And just between us, keep your fingers crossed for an audio version real soon.

Swamp Things

Okefenokee. Land of the Trembling Earth.

My family and I visited during the winter, when the park has very few visitors (of the human variety anyway). Because of course there were gators. Many many gators. The thing is, there are always more gators than you can see. For every alligator just lolling around like a tourist in a beach chair, there were several lurking beneath the dark tannic surface, visible only to the discerning eye.

OBVIOUS GATORS!

SNEAKY HIDDEN GATORS!

But the most profound experience in the Okefenokee is a spiritual one, an ancient and instinctive understanding of where humans — soft-skinned and delicate as butterflies — fit into the ecosystem.

This is the sign that greets you at the end of the board walkway:

“We were once alive like you are now, but we complained and hollered anyhow. So love each day, don’t pass it by. Sooner or later, you too will die.”

One of the highlights of a visit to the Okefenokee Swamp is a trip up the three-story viewing tower. While walking the paths and trails of the park, it’s easy to become so fascinated with the up-close beauty — the lush foliage, the water like a dark mirror — that one forgets the breathtaking expanse of the waterway. Above the canopy, however, the vastness and wildness of this landscape reveals itself.

I hope that we continue to protect this wildness, the free and beautiful land. It is where water and land meet in a mating dance as ancient as the tide, as compelling as the moon. I am grateful for its inspiration.

Grab a Vacation Read!

image credit @aaronburden

One of my favorite parts of getting away is choosing what reading material I’ll bring along. I like books that are light but not flimsy. Entertaining but not trivial. Smart but not pedantic. I like a ripping good story, characters I can care about (even if they aren’t perfect), and a setting that feels like a vacation all by itself.

Currently in my vacation suitcase (and just let me digress to say how NICE it is to be packing a suitcase again. #TeamPhizer):

• Maggie Toussaint’s Shrimply Dead (Coastal Georgia flavor plus seafood recipes)

• Terry Odell’s Deadly Options (the Colorado mountains plus police procedures)

• Sujata Massey’s The Bombay Prince (a 1920s India setting plus feminist amateur sleuthing)

• John Lanchester’s Reality and Other Stories (spooky ghosts plus even spookier technology)

• Laura Valeri’s After Life as a Human (an untamed Florida island plus meditations on spirit)

• Stacey Abram’s While Justice Sleeps (political intrigue plus gun fights and kissing)

See? Something for every mood that could possibly strike, and absolutely nothing that requires a dictionary to understand (not that there’s anything wrong with challenging reading, but vacation require relaxation of both body and mind).

Do you have a book you’d like to recommend? Let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for my Next Good Read. And as always, please support your local independent bookstore.

For Newsletter Subscribers: A FREE short story!

Three Sleuths. Two armies. One séance. Plus a very nice boxed Cabernet.

When author James M. Jackson asked if I’d like to co-write a story with him, I was intrigued. I was a fan of his Seamus McCree series, which hits a lot of the same notes my Tai Randolph & Trey Seaver series does—he once described our books as “north of cozy, south of noir.” But the deciding factor in my saying yes was that I like Jim, very much.

The fact that I still like him after not only co-writing a story, but also contributing a novelette to his Wolf Press anthology Lowcountry Crime says a lot about Jim as a human being and even more about him as a writer. Thoughtful, smart, funny, with a genuine commitment to putting out the very best work possible, he is an exemplary working partner.

So I said yes. Tai said yes. Even Trey said yes, though he took more convincing. And Seamus said yes, which meant all three sleuths were on board. All we needed was a crime for them to investigate, and we were off.

I hope that one day soon our characters find themselves yet again in the same neck of the woods, with nefarious doings on the ground. I think they’d acquit themselves well, yet again.

Until then, Jim and I are making our story available for newsletter subscribers. If you’d like to join my list (or James M. Jackson’s list), you can do so by clicking the button below. Easy peasy, no spam, no selling your data EVER.

A Writer Writes on Writing

Every writer who has ever subjected herself to a live Q&A knows that some questions are classics.

"Where do you get your ideas?"

"Who's your favorite writer?"

"Which of your books is your favorite?"

I love these questions, to be honest. These are three of my favorite things to talk about. But I'm adding a new question to the list, and it's one I like to get because it's a topic I am very enthusiastic about: "Do you have any advice for new writers?"

This is a great question because it means that even with all the challenges facing the publishing industry right now, people are still eager to share their writing with an audience. And that is good. Creativity is a gift that grows the more it is shared.

My advice for aspiring authors? Follow the Three C's: Community, Craft, and Commitment.

• 1. Community: Writing is a solitary endeavor, but being a writer is a communal one. Finding a squad of supportive fellow scribblers is one of the first things new writers should do. No one understands like a writer how hard writing actually is, how challenging it can be to stay hopeful, how insidious self-doubt can become (especially when it's time to start submitting and the inevitable rejections start coming in). I tell writers to check their local offerings first—if there is a nearby writers group, even if it's not specific to one's genre, join it. Find out what organizations regional or national writers in your genre join and then join that—for me, it was Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Find out what conventions and conferences writers in your genre attend, including fan conferences where you can meet other writers at all stages of their careers, and then attend those (even during our current "interesting" times, many conferences are hosting virtual versions). You might meet some of your writing heroes this way—say hello and introduce yourself as a writer. Enjoy your shared interests. Who knows? The relationship might prove fruitful down the road (spoiler alert—some of them definitely will).

• 2. Craft: A writer writes—a professional writer writes with the understanding that you should always be improving your craft. Writing is one way to do this (the best way, in fact, as is reading writers whose work you admire, which is why writers also read). One of the benefits of community is that workshops and learning opportunities abound. In Sisters in Crime, for example, members get access to an archive of webinars on topics from character creation to plotting to making sure your work is appropriately inclusive and diverse. There will never come a day when your work cannot be improved, never. Consider that a good thing. It means you're always in control of your own improvement.

• 3. Commitment: And this is the doozy. Everyone understands that the ideal writing life—that Pinterest image of the writer at her desk, a glorious view through the window, words pouring from her fingertips while money pours into the bank—exists for only a minuscule, impossibly small fraction of the writers in the world (and even they have writers block—just saying). So being a writer means that you are willing to deal with every aspect of it, even those you loathe, like tax paperwork or making promotional materials. More importantly, it means making time for yourself as a writer, honoring that promise by deciding what it means to you and then following through. For some, that's sitting down to the computer and making words every single day. For others, it's submitting X number of queries every week. You get to decide what that looks like. And then you get to commit. Success as a writer is only minutely linked to talent—most of it is about showing up.

And there you have it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a word count I need to hit.

The Next Chapter

As you may remember from the summer newsletter, I have recently reacquired the rights to my Tai Randolph/Trey Seaver series. Poisoned Pen/Sourcebooks will continue to carry the first editions of the paperbacks, and my own micro-press—Mojito Literary Press—will carry the e-books.

As soon as I get them re-edited. And since this is a one-person operation here at Whittle Central, than means I get the assignment.

This—like most things that happen during a pandemic—is taking longer than I anticipated. But I am enjoying every second of it. Getting to watch Tai and Trey come together has been a treat, especially as their relationship deepens and strengthens with each new challenge. I am currently three-quarters of the way through Blood, Ash and Bone, the pivotal third book in the series. At this point, it's all bickering and badinage for my two protagonists.

I licked salted butter from my fingers. “So this is a stakeout?”

Trey thought about it. “I suppose so.”

“I thought it would be more exciting.” I stirred my coffee. “Is this typical for a stakeout? Sitting around for hours?”

“We’ve been here thirty-five minutes.”

“You know what I mean.”

Below us, the crowd surged in a river of alcohol and high spirits, and the sun set behind the bridge in sluicing orange light. One couple stopped at the sweetgrass weaver to buy a rose. The man presented it to the woman with a courtly flourish, and she pressed it to her nose, even though it had no scent.

I looked over at Trey, so capable and efficient, his eyes riveted on the tour shop. “Trey? Do you ever wonder how we ended up together?”

He sipped his tea. “Your brother hired me for a personal protection detail.”

“No, I mean romantically.”

“You propositioned me.”

“No, I…I mean yes, but…you’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

So yes. Romantic bickering is fun. But the shadows in the corners are lengthening. I'm taking the opportunity to darken those shadows, sharpen their edges. And I'm taking my time.

Another thing I'm enjoying about the re-issue process is having new covers designed. For this, I turned to the talented Karen Phillips at Phillips Covers. She created a series of book covers not only for the six published books, but the seventh (which is currently being written, tentatively entitled Crooked Ways). You'll get a chance to see them all as soon as the books are re-published, but here's a peek at what she did for the first in series, The Dangerous Edge of Things.

I love this cover for lots of reasons, but the main one is that it captures the essence of my girl Tai—sexy, assertive, a breaker of rules and bender of truth who has a soft spot for underdogs and a thing for a well-tailored suit. Look for her on an e-book very soon!

One Upon A Midnight Dreary...

My love for darkly mysterious stories began in fifth grade, when I managed to sneak a book from the junior-high section out of the library—Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Mystery & Imagination. Like most petty crimes, it was almost harmless . . . except that it opened the door to the world of the macabre and fantastical, a world where there were no happy endings, only consequences of the most horrific and nightmarish.

And I loved it. Loved it like human beings love simple sugars and standing on the edge of cliffs. It also terrified me. These simultaneous responses guaranteed that I read each story with every light in the bedroom on, stuffed animals surrounding me like a security team. Poe led me to Anne Rice and Stephen King and all their midnight court, but he also introduced me to crime fiction. For while Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is the most famous, the honor of being the first literary private investigator goes to C. August Dupin, the ratiocinating detective who solved "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."

Imagine my delight to discover yet another interest of mine—tarot reading—intersecting with my literary tastes. Behold in all its dark glory…the Edgar Allan Poe tarot deck!

The creators had this to say about it: "Blending the divinatory power of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot with the visionary writings of Edgar Allan Poe, this deck provides deep spiritual insights into who you are and what you might become. Stunning art based on Poe's tales of the mysterious and the macabre illuminates the imagination and opens the soul to fantastical realms of spirit." An apt description, with Poe's familiar themes of loss, obsession, and the horror hidden just below the surface.

The interpretations remain true to the RWS tarot, with the minor suites falling into the traditional categories of cups/water, wands/fire, swords/air and pentacles/earth (though the latter is given a Poe-worthy spin by placing the pentacle not on a coin, but on a solid gold scarab beetle, the "gold bug" of the famous tale of the same name). The court cards feature characters from the stories—Ligeia as the Queen of Swords, an orangutan as the Knight of Wands—with other stories referenced throughout the deck.

Some are breathtakingly gorgeous, like Strength, which features Annabel Lee against a setting sun (her kingdom by the sea in the background).

Other images are as violent and unsettling as the stories that inspired them, like this quiet nightscape from “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.”

And, of course, there are ravens.

I haven't yet tried a reading with the deck. I'm afraid the answer would always be DOOM! DOOM, I SAY! (also do not look under the floorboards. Or in the wine cellar. Or up the chimney.). I find it inspiring enough just sitting at my elbow, whispering omens and other revelations, opening the way to the darker realms of the human heart and the richness of the human imagination. Just like mysteries do.