Libraries, history and mystery

Like many people, I to read and there are so many books available. I can’t afford to buy them all. A solution is the public library. Libraries offer you books, free (as long as you return them in time).

Part of the appeal of public libraries is the wide variety of books and other reading material available. 

We take this privilege for granted, but libraries weren’t always free. Those that did exist were generally subscription libraries, where there was a membership or similar fee required.

It is hard to believe that public libraries didn’t begin to become more common until after the Civil War. Now there are more than 16,000 public libraries in the United States.

Although I am a high-volume library user, I hadn’t given too much thought to the institution until a recent 65^th celebration of the opening of the Davis Library in Westminster, MD. It was the predecessor of the Carroll County Public Library system.

Lynne Wheeler, Executive Director of the library, talked about how the county’s library service began in 1863. Previously dues and fines supported a small library, which was only open on Fridays.

In Jan 1949, Mr. and Mrs. Walter H Davis announced that they would give a building to Westminster for a library and would provide an endowment for its support in the future. The small library donated their books and the library system grew from there.

The difference one person can make was stressed often during presentations by Christina Kuntz, Westminster branch manager; Sharon Yingling, Friends of the CCPL; Steve Wantz, president of the County Commissioners; and Caroline Babylon, of Davis Library Inc. Also mentioned was the difference a public library can make to individuals and to a community.

Paul Zimmermann gave a brief performance as Walter L Davis, who opened one of the first car dealerships in the country in 1910, gave the town a public library and ensured that it could continue to operate.

Joyce Muller, of the CCPL Board of Trustees, lived only a few blocks from the Davis Library. She remembered going there about twice a week, beginning when she was and six years old.

The “Remembering Davis Library” video, by Jennifer Boatman featured Jonathan Slade, Elaine Adkins, Barbara Beverungen, Kevin Dayhoff, Jane Sharpe, Sharon Yingling, Caroline Babylon and Mimi Ashcroft. Many others, including me, shared stories as they enjoyed cake and Hoffman’s ice cream.

I remember going to the Davis Library on Main Street. Like many, the dazzling white exterior and cathedral-like atmosphere took me to another world. It was intimidating in some ways, unlike the more people friendly libraries of today. Still the books called people in, to browse and to read.

Libraries are great examples of democracy, open to people of all ages, economic status, race and education; they offer access to all types of material in various types of media.

If you haven’t been to a library recently, I recommend that you go see what is going on now. Rather than becoming outdated, libraries are in the forefront of education. It’s smart for us, our children and grandchildren to take advantage of what they have to offer.

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Wait, you ask. Where is the mystery part of this blog? I discussed a particular library and some of its history, but there obviously is no mystery about that.

Well, as I worked on this particular blog during the past several weeks, I kept changing its focus. Finally, during one of those 3:00 a.m. epiphanies, I thought about doing a blog on mystery books that revolve around libraries, book clubs, or book collectors.

It was hard to decide which to finish and publish first. I kept going back and forth and then decided to publish them at the same time – two blogs in one.

To use a cliché (ouch, I knew I shouldn’t do that) but I thought it might be easier to kill two birds with one stone. (Did you get the reference to kill?)

Murder isn’t usually associated with libraries but writers seem to have fun as they combine the usual safe, secure feeling of a library with murder and mayhem.

Once I discovered these books, I couldn’t get enough of them, particularly mystery series where I could follow the main characters through their problems and successes. Most of these are cozies (see – again that safe feeling), murder without a lot of blood and gore.

Some of the series that I am familiar with include:

Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lover’s mysteries; Lorna Barrett’s Booktown mysteries, Ian Sansone’s and  Laurie Cass’ bookmobile mysteries, Ellery Adams Books by the Bay, Victoria Abbot’s and John Dunning’s book collector mysteries, Lucy Arrington’s Novel Idea Literary Agency mysteries, Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries, Miranda James’ Cat in the Stacks mysteries; Cate Carlisle’s Bibliophile mysteries, and Ali Brandon’s Black Cat Bookshop mysteries.

Reading these allows me to enter different lifestyles and gives me a puzzle to solve. The characters and I share the same love of books. Fortunately, I haven’t been involved with murder or theft in real life. In most stories, the guilty party is discovered, will pay for his/crime and the world is safe again.

Many  stand-alone mysteries also are set in libraries or other book related venues, as well as non-fiction books, such as Dewey by Vicki Myron. That library cat became famous around the world, although I don’t think he ever solved a mystery.

But whether you like biographies, thrillers, romance, sports, historical fiction or other genres, the library is the place to go. Once you find authors you really like, head to your local bookstore. Whether you prefer the printed word, Nook, Kindle, other e-books or audio, just enjoy the story and remember the library is there if you want to try something different. There is no mystery about that.

Happy 20th to National Poetry Month

Did you know that National Poetry Month is celebrating its 20^th year in 2016? According to their website, it is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers, and poets marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives every April.

Although I only write poetry occasionally, I enjoy reading and hearing it. To me, poetry is music with words.

Learning this was National Poetry Month, I began to search the web and found there were many activities. Maybe next year I will do this earlier so we can take part in this celebration.

The Academy of American Poets established National Poetry Month in 1996. National Poetry Month is a registered trademark of the Academy of American Poets.

Working together, poets, booksellers, librarians, and teachers chose April as a month when poetry could be celebrated with high level of participation and “it seemed the best time within the year to turn attention toward the art of poetry—in an ultimate effort to encourage poetry readership year-round,” according to National Poetry Month faq.

Okay, It’s good to have people focus on poetry early in the year, but I also wonder if this could have anything to do with T. S. Eliot poetic statement “April is the cruelest month,” from The Wasteland. Coincidence?

Much of what is written here came from the related poetry websites. Listed goals of National Poetry Month are:

·         highlighting the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets

·         encouraging the reading of poems

·         assisting teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms

·         increasing the attention paid to poetry by national and local media

·         encouraging increased publication and distribution of poetry books, and 

·         encouraging support for poets and poetry.

Organizations do not need permission to participate in the celebration and are encouraged to plan their own events. They can use the official National Poetry Month logo, which can be from their website.

There are thousands of ways to celebrate. The www.poets.com website provides a list of 30 ways people and groups can join the celebration.

National Poetry Month is just one of the many programs of the Academy of American Poets. To keep the celebration going, consider becoming a member, which entitles you to special benefits throughout the year. You can also sign up for Poem-a-Day to receive free daily poems by email all year long.

It’s a little late to celebrate this April, but maybe try being a part of this celebration next year.

Book sonograms

As I listened recently to author Lois Szymanski talk to writers  about different ways to get published, I was reminded of an old Frank Sinatra song, “My Way.”

Like Frank, she did it her way.

As an author of 27 books, she was well qualified to discuss publishing, marketing your work without an agent and viable ways to sell your work other than inside the pages of a book.

Perhaps because of the approaching birth of my first grandchild, Lois’ mention of a sonogram of her book caught my attention.

She explained that while she was writing, she told her children that she was pregnant with a book. So when the cover came in the mail her daughter ran in and said “Mom You’ve got a sonogram of your book.” The term was repeated with future book covers.

Book signing at Constellation Books

Lois combined her love of family, horses and writing to form a successful career. She helped build her writing credits with publication in at least 50 magazines, such as Highlights for Children and Weekly Reader.

“I wrote a lot of rebus,” she said. A rebus is a story of 100 words or less with characters, conflict and a resolution.

She started her career by selling nine novels for young readers to Avon Books, a large publishing house. After her editor left the publishing industry, she began self-marketing manuscripts and selling to small presses.

When her first nine books went out of print she resold the rights to those books to HarperFestival - a division of HarperCollins for a series called Charming Ponies. This also led her to sign a contract to do ghostwriting for the HarperCollins group.

Since then she has written picture books and fiction for young and middle grade readers, as well as numerous fiction and nonfiction books for adults.

Her love of horses is reflected in her writing. Her favorite book as a child was Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. Lois’ first published book was Patches by Avon.

The idea for the book Little Icicle, came from a story told by an old man she met at Chincoteaque. A Kindle edition of Little Icicle is now available on Kindle. Westminster artist and author Lona Queen provided the cover art.

“You should build a body of work,” Lois said. “Think about everything in your life and write about it.”

She recommended going to writing conferences and paying extra for a critique, participating in pitch wars, entering publisher contests, and considering small presses. Self-publishing also is fine, she said, but hire an editor.

Catherine Donaldson reading a
Gettysburg Ghost Gang book

After you are published you can promote your books by writing articles, building an author page, or using Twitter, Facebook and other social media. You need to promote yourself and your book.

Lois encouraged writers to think outside the box.  She uses non-book items such as horse note cards, jigsaw puzzles and identification cards.

“Persevere, follow all avenues, do not let your work stay out of print, she said. “Always ask for a reversion of rights in your contract.”

The True Story of Seafeather was edited and published again in 2011. The book tells how she and her husband were able to purchase a pony for their children and about the creation of The Feather Fund, which helps children purchase Chincoteaque pony foals. (www.featherfund.net or visit them on Facebook).

I’ve known Lois for about 10 years and have been impressed by her enthusiasm, optimism and easy way of communicating. I look forward to buying more Gettysburg Ghost Gang books co-authored by Lois and Shelly Sykes and many of her other books for my grandson as he grows and learns.

I will always remember his sonograms in connection with Lois' books.

Check out her columns and articles in the Carroll County Times and visit her on the web at www.loisszymanski.com If you want to write for children, look into her writing classes at Carroll Community College.

Lois also is a former Regional Advisor and supporter of the MD/DE/WV Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator.

Writing the News

Today I’m doing a little reminiscing of the years I spent as a journalist. In spite of constant criticism of the media (some of it, well deserved) I enjoyed being a reporter. It gave me an opportunity to meet a wide variety people.

Did you know that Hemingway, Dickens, Twain, Steinbeck, Steinem and many more famous writers were journalists?

Once I went into a deep coalmine. It was a little scary, but at least it should be at its safest when you are with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.

Before going into the mine, I had to go through training and be fitted with basic equipment. My outfit was ugly, bulky and heavy, but if it could save my life, I was willing to wear it. I learned how to find my way out in an emergency (definitely worth knowing) and the basic mine layout.

They took us down into the mine in Hummers. In that article, I wrote “Visions of dead canaries and trapped miners flashed through my mind as I began my trip to more than four miles under Maryland and West Virginia.”

Once walking around, I found it fascinating and forgot to worry. It was like a dark city, with arteries running in different directions.

I wrote, “I felt like one of the guys, instead of the only female in the group, with my boots, coveralls, hard hat, safety glasses, miner’s light and safety belt. One advantage to having hips was holding up the 15-plus pound belt with battery for my lantern and my personal rescuer (oxygen).”

I did break the rules once, just slightly. While standing with a group of men who were talking, I turned off my light for a minute. It was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I know, that is a cliché, but in this instance I am speaking literally. I switched the light back on quickly and was relieved as we headed back to the Hummers and out of this underworld.

I also viewed mine reclamation efforts for areas polluted by early abandoned mines and wrote about locals helping with the rescue of the nine miners trapped 240 feet underground in Somerset, PA.

Holding a black bear cub
while park rangers check
out its 350 pound mother

As a staff writer for the Cumberland Times-News, I was on a first name basis with many state and local politicians, police officers, park rangers, fire and emergency personnel, athletes and farmers.

I met people from all walks of life while writing about medicine, education, business, government, mental health, and numerous charitable events, and interviewed veterans, coal miners, and writers (including Homer H. Hickam, Jr., author of Rocket Boys, adapted for the movie October Sky).

Of course, not everything was fun. After years of auto accidents, fires, deaths, and court cases.  I moved to writing tourism and business promotion, where almost everything is positive.

Enjoying a sleigh ride at Pleasant
Valley Dream Rides

Journalists communicate with words, but often on a short deadline, with limited space.

Today with television, online news and digital magazines, videos and pictures add to the effect of those words.

Some journalists have helped change the world. I was happy entertain people and keep them abreast of what was happening in their area.

Over the years, I wrote for newspapers in Garrett and Carroll counties and for magazines.

Being a journalist was fun and educational. I am proud to be able to count myself (in a small way) along with the many famous journalists. I enjoyed newspaper writing and plan to do more, along with writing fiction, poetry and other types of non-fiction.

Reviewing My Observations

A new blog,

A new year,

A new opportunity to write, to learn and hopefully to make a difference.

I originally chose the title josobservations because I envisioned this blog to be about a wide variety of issues, not just about reading and writing (although those are my favorite subjects).

There are so many things I want to write about and so little time. I get frustrated. However, when trying to decide what to write about for this blog, I decided to review my past blogging history and see if I accomplished this. Some topics explored were:

Books: Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Tina Sankovitch

The Extreme Novelist by Kathryn Johnson

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

The Great Detective by Zack Dundas

Last One Home by Debbie Macomber

Why We Write, edited by Meredith Maran

Unthink, rediscover your creative genius by erik wahl

Write Small, Stylize: A Slightly Obsessive History of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style by Mark Garvey

Spunk & Bite: A writer’s guide to punchier, more engaging language & style by Arthur Plotnik

Perfect Bound by Katherine Pickett

What Price Eden by Dean Minnich

Christmas Carroll by Carroll County Writers

Author Tom Glenn

Writers have featured prominently in my blogs: John Steinbeck, Jeanne Adams, Tom Glenn, Dani Pettrey, Lucia St Clair Robson, Loree Lough, Doug Norton, D L Wilson, Julie Castillo, Lois Szymanski, Laura Bowers, Michele “Wojo” Wojciechowski, Mona Kirby, Fernando Quijano, B. Morrison, Jack Downs, Kerry Peresta, P J Wetzel, Betsy Riley, Alix Moore, Ally Machate and others.

 Other Topics included art featuring Jeffrey Kent, funny Christmas songs, and poetry in a blog about flying and my chapbook blog.

My writer friends and I enjoy sharing information about writing and promoting other writers. So, many of my blogs are about communication, such as writing prompts, how to get ideas, publicity and promotion, local, state and national writing groups, writing conferences, book festivals and challenges such as Nanowrimo.

Joelle Jarvis and Kerry Peresta at an
author event

Looking back, there is plenty of variety and there will be more in the future. I plan to discuss more books. Since I love to read and there are so many good books, this gives me an excuse to read even more. I think my blogs have improved and hopefully that trend will continue.

I want to write more about social issues, education, and interesting people and want to add more humor to my writing.

One of the main reasons I loved being a reporter was because of the variety. Now, this blog gives me the opportunity to write about books, events and interesting people. I find, hope you will find these interesting and enjoyable.

I welcome questions, comments and suggestions for future blogs. 

Gathering evidence, disposing of bodies

Last week’s meeting of the Carroll County Chapter of Maryland Writers’ Association was not for the faint of heart. There was plenty of gore as Jeanne Adams spoke on “How Do Mystery Writers Gather Evidence and Dispose of Bodies?”

With a light, yet respectful tone, she talked about what happens to bodies (remains) in different situations and how writers can use this knowledge to extend their plot timeline and make sure they are using correct information in their story.

Adams is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and had worked in the funeral home and cemetery business for 13 years. She is familiar with funeral procedures and how the personal feelings of family members can affect these procedures. Emotions are high. A minor disagreement can result in fisticuffs in the hallway, she said.

CCMWA President Joelle Jarvis
and Jeanne Adams hold attendion
getting poster at the Finksburg location
of the Carroll County Library

She discussed what agencies would be involved in different situations, such as murders, industrial accidents, natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

“There is always an investigation,” she said.

Writers need details. For forensics, police procedures, etc.You can seek information from people who work in the fields, such as forensic experts, crime scene technicians and morticians.

She once called on a former colleague to ask if she could use a certain type of bomb to start a fire and blow up a house. As first, there was silence and then her colleague said “Let me get back to you on that.”

He did return her call later after refreshing his memory of who she was and what she did – write books. He gave her some advice that changed what she was going to write.

Be careful of being misunderstood. She mentioned something she read recently - Don’t judge me by my web searches. I am a writer, not a serial killer.

She gave details about body disposal including embalming, funeral services, cremation and storage. Writers need to know these details to find ways to increase time for their investigation. Can there be delays in the regular procedures. How can someone steal a body or make a murder appear to be a natural death?

Does the killer bury the body deep in a forest or have it go through the morgue so he/she can collect life insurance or inherit property. There must be a signed death certificate giving the cause of death.

“Funerals are for the living, not the dead,” she said. Despite last requests, the body becomes the property of the next of kin and could be cremated within 48 hours.

If you are a mystery or suspense writer, check out her blog,https:// www.jeanneadams.com. If you can go to one of her presentations it is worth it. I learned a lot more than I needed, but it was eye-opening.

Do you know the difference between an autopsy and a necropsy? Do you know the difference between a coffin and a casket or what a “Full Post” is? Jeanne Adams gives the details and if you don’t have them correct in your story you will lose credibility.

Loree Lough, Smart Plotting

Author Loree Lough shared information recently on Smart Plotting (or how to avoid the dreaded sagging middle) at a writers’ meeting I attended recently.

She is a bestselling and award winning author of 105 books and more than 5,000.000 fiction and non-fiction books in circulation, as well as 72 short stories and more than 2,500 articles in print.

The main suggestion I found helpful was that to fill in the middle, you want to start the ending. Give readers hints as to what is coming. Since I am more of a pantser, (writing without a detailed outline), I sometimes do not have a clear picture of the ending so get hung up in the middle of my story. So I found her approach interesting.

Sophia Prunty had a chance to speak to author Loree Lough
at a recent writers' meeting.

Cliffhangers are important, she said, because you want at the end of each chapter to have the reader ask “And then what happens?”

She gave everyone copies of a blank Plot Timeline. You can add to it or change it as needed, she said. Using a similar timeline will help you keep track of important details about your hero and heroine, your theme, the season, setting and time period of your story. The Plot Timeline is useful for short stories, scripts and even non-fiction, as well as novels.

The timeline has spaces for chapter information and scenes within each chapter. Plus, she uses tags or symbols to indicate if a scene is a happy one, sad, spiritual, love or exciting. This gives you the opportunity to see if you are including enough of what you planned at a quick glance. As you are reviewing, you can make sure you did not leave something important out.

She gave an example of one of her earlier stories where she had introduced the people who had raised an orphaned girl, but forget to have them later at the girl’s wedding or explain why they weren’t there. So she had to rework the ending.

In Scene One, you want to introduce the character, the season and setting and start the action. You do not want to put everything into that first chapter.

“Jerk their chain. Pump it up,” she said. Readers want more than just a good story. You must have emotion in everything. They want to feel, to understand. Stories are a form of entertainment.

Think of your reader when you are writing, she said. Inform and entertain the reader. In a mystery, there should be sufficient clues that the mystery could be solved but also red herrings to throw people off the track.

If you have writer’s block, do some freestyle writing, Loree suggested. Prompts are good for this. A short period of just writing quickly will help you get back to your novel or short story. We often offer a writing prompt for our critique group and it amazing how many different approaches there are to the same prompt.

This is an early book by
Loree Lough who has had
more than 100 books published

Teen Sophia Prunty, who came to the meeting with her grandmother Betty Houck, was pleased with the presentation. “It was fun and very informative. She knew what she was talking about,” she said. “She used examples from her own stories and showed how the process worked for her.”

Sophia is writing a coming-of-age story about teenagers and discussed some of it with Loree, who asked questions and mentioned how the story could go in different directions and how she could give information about her characters by what they did or their reaction to events instead of just saying it.

“It was really good. She used the timeline as a skeleton. Filled that in first and then worked around it.” Sophia said. “She went to the second step in the planning process.”

Sophia said she is trying the National Novel Writing Month challenge (Nanowrimo) for the first time, but is behind because of school and other activities. “But at least I have some of the writing done, more than I would have if I had not tried to do this. I will continue to write more.”

Joelle Jarvis, who is president of the Carroll County Chapter Maryland Writers’ Association, is also participating in Nanowrimo, along with several of the other 17 writers at the meeting. For more information about this annual writing challenge check out www.nanowrimo.com.

Loree’s blog can be found at theloughdown@blogspot.com and she can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.