Walking For Friendship or For Readers? Can You Do Both? + Weekly eBook Winner (see below)

Photo: Bruno Cervera // Unsplash

During a recent Zoom class (yes, I've joined the dark side), one of my students asked what inspires and motivates me. She's trying to finish her first book and knew I'd just finished my 16th.

"How do you do it?" she wanted to know. "Where do you find daily inspiration?"

"Walking!" I told her, without hesitation.

I have always been an avid walker but, since getting our frisky Blue Heeler, Kasper, three years ago, it's become a mandatory daily event. Some time between one and three every single afternoon, Kaspie appears at my desk, leash (shoe, sock…) in his mouth, eyes piercing, ears high. And he won't take no for an answer.

"Come on, woman," that look says. "It's time for walkies."

And off we set, for a fast-paced, 40-minute adventure, but it's always my mind that gets the best work-out.

Walking is the perfect way for me to gather fresh ideas, dialogue, plot points and character development. Without fail, I come back from these walks re-energised and inspired. It works every single time.

Until lately, that is.

You see, thanks to COVID-19, the world has changed and people have been stuck in their small neighbourhoods, and suddenly I have found a lovely, well-meaning neighbour who wants to walk with me. And at first I was delighted. It's such a fun way to catch up— chatting, gossiping, venting about the hubby and kids.

But it's been atrocious for my writing.

In the past, I returned from a walk so inspired, I barely had time to remove Kasper's leash before flying to the keyboard to tap away like a lunatic, getting all these exciting ideas down.

Since my friend started joining me, we inevitably stop for a (socially distanced) cup of tea, and so the chatter continues, and before I know it, another hour has passed and no writing has been done, let alone fresh ideas gleaned. By the time she leaves and I sit at my desk... nothing.

It's been great for my friendship—really, I adore this neighbour and enjoy our talks!—but lousy for my readers.

So, what to do? Do I put her off next time she calls? Do I take two walks a day—one for myself, one for my books? I'm yet to work that out, folks, but it's not such a bad quandry to have. I could be all alone with no friends, no readers, no ideas. I have to find a happy medium, I'm just not sure what it is, yet.

Perhaps I'll work out the solution on my next walk…

"Kasper! Walkies?"

Until then, happy reading (and walking) everyone!

xo Christina

IT'S OFFICIAL! I have just finished the 4th adventure for my Agatha Christie Book Club! And to celebrate, I'm giving YOU a chance to win a prize. 

Every. Single. Week. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Titled And Then There Were Nine: The Agatha Christie Book Club 4, in this installment the Book Club have expanded, inviting four fabulous new members to join the fold. 

To get to know each other better and discuss the latest book (Christie's And Then There Were None), they head off to an isolated rainforest lodge.

That is their first mistake!

Before you know it, two people are murdered, there's a fire roaring up the mountain and a killer still on the loose.

Is there a stranger lurking in the forest or is the killer one of them?

THIS WEEK'S WINNER…

If you liked the sound of that, you'll be happy to hear the manuscript is now with my editor (hey Annie!) and will be launched very soon. Until then, I'm giving one devoted subscriber a FREE ecopy of one of the previous Agatha Christie Book Club adventures—whichever one they choose.*

TO WIN: Just keep reading these newsletters! I'll pick a subscriber randomly from the list and announce the name each week. If that's you, I will then contact you directly to find out which book you'd like.

*Don't panic if you've already read ALL THREE in the series. You're my favourite kind of subscriber and will get a chance to choose from any of my other cozy mysteries (see here).

THIS WEEK'S WINNER IS...

R.Dawn.Brown

Congratulations R.Dawn.Brown! I will be in touch with you soon.

Everyone else, keep watching for more weekly giveaways. Or catch up on the story via the links, below.

xo Christina 

@AMAZON online

Apple iBooks

B+N nook

kobo

4 Reasons Miss Marple is THE Queen of Amateur Sleuths

A few weeks ago I did a survey…

Sure, it wasn't exactly scientific, but after more than 100 responses to my question "Who's your favourite amateur sleuth?", I think we can safely say that Miss Marple is Queen of the Quizzes, Master of All Mysteries and the least amateur of all amateur sleuths.

And I'm not surprised.

Agatha Christie had already penned the perfect professional detective in Hercule Poirot (who appeared in her first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles), so it's no surprise that she got her amateur sleuth so spot-on. So how did she do it?

They're in it for love (not money)

There are a few core ingredients to a good amateur sleuth (AS). For starters, they really do need to be an amateur. They can't be a police officer or a detective or even a private eye (which is why Poirot does not make the list). They must be a layperson, someone incidental, someone who just happens upon mysteries and can't help but use their natural instinct for intrigue to get involved. But it must also be justifiable, reasonable, logical that they would get involved. Otherwise it's all a bit of a stretch.

That's why so many amateur sleuths are priests and doctors—people who naturally interact with the public and come across suspicious corpses.

Miss Marple is neither of these yet she ticks all the boxes, which brings me to another core ingredient:

They're nosey parkers

The best AS's are naturally nosey and Miss Marple is your classic nosey neighbour, the 'little ole biddy' next door who peeks through curtains and eavesdrops on gossip. It's no surprise she spots criminals sneaking about and overhears death plots. She's got a constant ear to the ground and knows everybody's business whether they know it or not. Which brings me to the next ingredient of a good AS.

They're invisible!

Well, perhaps not literally but it's hard to poke about when you're the centre of attention, which is why women of a certain age make terrific AS's (Jessica Fletcher anyone?). Invisible Woman Syndrome really does exist—just ask any woman (and some men, for that matter) over the age of 50 who have ever applied for a job or tried to order a drink at a busy bar. It's like you're not there! Which can be so frustrating—unless, of course, you're trying to solve a murder. Then you can use it to your advantage (mwahaha). 

They're disarming

Even when she does get noticed, Miss Marple comes across as sweet, harmless, even a little slow-witted. She's an 'elderly spinster' after all! Few people take her seriously and that is her superpower. Both cops and bad guys underestimate her, letting clues slip and being disarmed in her presence. Yet she's whip smart and playing them all! (It's a trick that works for pros like Vera Stanhope, Columbo and Monk.)  

And while there are plenty of AS's who disprove the rule—there's nothing invisible about Phryne Fisher, while Nancy Drew uses youth to her advantage—I still believe nobody does it better than Jane Marple. 

And, it seems, most of you do, too.

Meet MY Bookish Sleuths!

My Agatha Christie Book Club series features a club full of passionate amateur sleuths who clearly love a good mystery—hence the reason they've joined this particular book club—and each bring their own ingredients to the mix. 

Club founder Alicia Finlay has a rather eerie way of looking at the world, seeing the worst in everything and suspicious of everyone, which really helps when it comes to crime, while her stunning sister Lynette and classy club member Claire have a splash of Miss Fisher about them. They often use their 'feminine wiles' to flirt their way to the truth. 

Yet it's probably librarian Missy who most resembles Miss Marple. Missy might be young but she does waffle on, and can seem ditzy and airheaded. The truth is she's as switched on as Miss Marple and people underestimate her at their peril.

There's also a fastidious Poirot-style character in Perry and, one of Christie's achetypes, a dashing doctor with a penchant for poison—Anders.

Want to meet the whole gang and see how they got together? You can grab the first eBook and paperback in the series now from any good online bookstore, or at Amazon here.

Happy reading, everyone, and happy amateur sleuthing, too. Because when you think about it, we're ALL amateur sleuths!

xo Christina

This Black Friday the real SS Orient is back from the dead!

Today I'm donning my finest boat shoes and popping on the captain's hat for the official launch of the Agatha Christie Book Club 2—Murder on the Orient (SS). But don't worry! 

I'm not going to bore you senseless with a sales pitch here—check out your preferred e-retailer for that. Instead I'm going to remind you where I got the idea from and how true synchronicity works, courtesy of my Author's Note from the book (see below). 

I think the backstory is almost as fascinating as my novel. Damn, there I go with the sales pitch…

S.S Orient (5,390 tons),  Orient liner which made its maiden voyage to
                     Australia in 1879. From a lithograph after T.G. Dutton at the National
                     Maritime Museum, Greenwich, U.K. (PAH5285) 

Murder on the Orient (SS): A Note from the Author

"When I started conjuring up the second adventure for the Agatha Christie Book Club I wanted to take them on an exotic journey à la the infamous Orient Express, one of my favourite Poirot settings, and began looking around for ideas.

Boy, did I get lucky!

In the early 1900s, there really was a classic steamship called the SS Orient that sailed between London and Sydney, via the Suez Canal and The Cape. According to my research, it was a gleaming ship, full of glamorous characters and several rather dubious deaths, and proved a perfect fit for my book club friends. While I have changed some details, including the original itinerary, for the sake of this contemporary plot, much of the information about the ship is authentic and can be found in the bibliography.

Sadly, however, the SS Orient has not been recommissioned nor is there a real-life replica floating about as I have imagined here, but an author can dream can’t she?

And a book club can jump aboard for the ride…

Bon voyage!"

For more info on the (real) SS Orient 

 

The SS Orient Story by Roy Clifford and Dave Knight

http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/404048

http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=1263

http://www.bogstown.com/ss-orient/

Happy reading, everyone, and I hope you enjoy the voyage.

xo Christina

The TRUE story behind my favourite "child"

Okay, I know you're not supposed to have favourites, but I have to confess, this one is really special to me (shhhhh, just don't tell anyone). I loved creating this 'baby', it reminded me a lot of my own wonderful childhood, and I still enjoy immersing myself in its many depths and delights.

No, of course I'm not referring to an actual flesh and blood kid. [I could never pick a fave—my boys are both so different and bring me pleasure (and some pain!) in wonderous and equal measure.]

I'm referring to one of my favourite Ghostwriter Mysteries: Dying Words which I am now making available for FREE through  Smashwords. That's a big drop from $2.99.

Why it's so spesh
I loved writing Dying Words—it poured out fast and fluently; I barely came up for breath. I love the content, the characters, the plot and the setting, part of it in exotic Indonesia. But most of all, I love the fact that it is based on a very real premise. That's the most exciting part of all, and that's why I've decided I want to share it with more readers and offer it for free.

Back in 2008 I was asked to write a book about my father's 45 years as a surveyor in Papua New Guinea. His company, Arman Larmer Surveys (ALS), began as a small, struggling business run from the kitchen bench of a home we shared with his business partner, Graeme Arman. Within 20 years ALS had moved into Indonesia, and become the largest survey company in PNG with capacity to deploy up to 20 survey teams at any one time, and working on major projects like the Ok Tedi Gold Mine and the LNG gas project.

It was a terriffic story and a joy to write. More than that, it was a unique chance to sit my father (a true 'man of few words') down and MAKE him talk. And not just about his work but about my childhood, how we came to be born and living in the tropics, and how he made such a success of it. All good stuff.

The fact behind the fiction 
During this process, I interviewed a charming, elderly man called Graham Matheson. He was the Surveyor General in those early days and a key player in Dad's career. After our interview, he handed me a framed, black and white photograph of a bunch of men sitting at a table during the 1970 survey congress. It was a fairly innocuous picture and, as I say in the novel, verging on outright dull.

Clearly it was not so dull to Mr Matheson. Late one night, some months after the book was published, I got a call from Graeme Arman frantic to know where the photo had ended up. Mr Matheson was on his deathbed, he had just hours to live, and was desperate for the photo be be returned. Pronto!

I madly did some research and realised it was with the publisher. One thing led to another and the picture was promptly couriered back. Mr Matheson died soon after. To this day I do not know whether he lived to see and hold that photo again, nor can I understand why he needed to so keenly.

Surely, on your deathbed, the last thing you care about is an old photo of a bygone time?

Then a friend in my bookclub said, "There's a story there!" and my imagination ran wild. I imagined it held the key to some elaborate mystery, maybe to a will with an enormous fortune?

I never learned the truth behind that picture, but I did get the germ of a great idea. The result is Dying Words, the fouth Ghostwriter Mystery. I do hope you enjoy it as much as I still do. And I thank you for being part of this adventure with me.

Happy reading.
xo Christina