Tag: writing

Mysteries on Canal Street

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

What could be more fun than celebrating mysteries in New Orleans?

I just got home from the World Mystery Convention, commonly called Bouchercon, in the Big Easy at the Gulf end of the Mississippi River, and it was a great gathering.

To say Bouchercon, for those who are unfamiliar with the event, start with BOW (like what the butler does), followed by CHUR (like church), then CON. (not pro). Bow-chur-con.

The event this year, I heard, drew something like 1,600 people — readers and writers, book sellers and book buyers — from around the world for five days of fictional murder and mayhem, with panels, interviews, awards, and more.

And swag! Lots of swag. I came home with a (buried in the picture) Mardi Gras themed tote bag in purple, green and gold, filled with books, book marks, jar openers, a bottle opener, candy, key chains, book marks, a pair of socks (because we adopted a “pound puppy” when my kids were young), pens — always a favorite of mine– and (also buried) a t-shirt celebrating Blood on the Bayou–Case Closed. Authors bring the swag to remind readers of their books, and I picked up a bunch of it during one of the two Author Speed-Dating sessions. I went to the early-riser event with my roomie, Sharon Michalove (“City Sharon” to my “Country Sharon”), who was one of the authors introducing her work to the fans who attended.

The New Orleans case was finally closed. I originally planned to go to Bouchercon in New Orleans years ago, but COVID cancelled that trip. I had my fingers crossed that we would see no resurgence in September, and that a relatively calm hurricane season would also pass us by. Thankfully, neither calamity struck the city and “City Sharon” booked us a huge room an easy trolley ride from the conference hotel. One generous trolley driver who had to wait for a light even took my picture for me.

We came early and settled in for a week. On our first day in town, she took a cooking tour while I volunteered to help with conference set up. She loved the tour to the city’s School of Cooking, with a traveling beverage tour afterward. I’m lucky enough that my first trip to NOLA was for a food writers’ conference, so I figured I could pass on the tour.

Court of the Two Sisters
Bourbon House

We had a few meals in and around the French Quarter. One night I joined a group of several Blackbird Writers at the Court of Two Sisters where I had a great steak dinner with bread pudding for dessert. A few in our group, though, ordered the flambeed Bananas Foster, which was a show in itself.

Another night, I went to Bourbon House, which was also good. The highlight there, I thought, was the red-gowned woman entertaining with her trained parakeets just outside the window where we sat. Sadly, I didn’t get any pictures of her birds in action.(I was plying my fork, not my camera.)

The Creole House, next to the conference hotel, was handy for a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner on different days of the conference. And the hotel, the Jung, where I stayed with my roomie, had a lovely weekend breakfast service, too. Next door to Tulane University Department of Medicine, and just blocks from the Superdome, the old hotel has a touch of elegance that newer hotels, for all their modernity, can’t touch. Our double-queen room would have been considered a suite in many other places. And the staff, who greeted us my name by the second morning, proved most helpful when we needed tips.

The meals and sidetrips were fun, but the best part of the conference was seeing old friends and making new ones. On most of those occasions I tended to get caught up in conversation and forgot to take pictures. But I really enjoyed them.

One new friend, Linda Amey, even helped me decide which of the many novel drafts I have to work on now that I’m home for a while. (Well, I will be heading to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for the Wisconsin Writers Association conference next month. But that’s just a long weekend.) It’s lovely when a brand new friend helps you set a goal you’ve been dawdling about for months.

Next Bouchercon is in Calgary. I hope they have a great, big crowd of fans and writers!

In the meantime, I’ll be writing!

À bientôt!

Death knell for news

~ sharon ~ 2 Comments

My hometown newspaper died Aug. 6, 2025.

No cause of death was reported as the news flew through social media, but I suspected sagging subscriptions and ad sales, coupled with rising materials costs as likely culprits in its demise. A press release reported later by area television stations and a regional daily said as much.

One more small piece of the formerly ubiquitous press is part of history. And I find it saddening for many reasons.

It was the first place I ever saw my words in print. In grade school, after I learned to read, I scanned every newspaper and magazine that came into our house. There were lots. We had a subscription to the now deceased local paper, which was actually two papers. The News and The Leader carried separate nameplates when I was growing up. The News was printed on Tuesday, with home mail delivery on Wednesday. The Leader came out Thursday, with Friday delivery.

(Pexels photo, Maxim)

I read lots of the articles, and looked at all the pictures. When I was elected scribe of my Camp Fire group in fourth grade, I copied the format of the new officer announcments from the adult clubs and wrote a short article. I recopied it in my best penmanship, carried it the four blocks from my school to the newspaper office, and handed it in. A week later, I read it in the paper. I remember the editor changed one word. (I learned early not to be too attached to my prose.)

The firt time I worked with a newspaper photographer was after I wrote to an area daily’s kids’ column, “Ask Andy.” I’ve always suspected my question was drawn from a hat, not selected because it was so interesting. But I won a set of World Books, which I still have despite its being hopelessly out of date. I remember going to the local newspaper office, the same one I carried articles to, for a photo shoot. The picture still shows up from time to time on my hometown museum’s Facebook post.

I grew up respecting our local newspaper photographer. We all knew to step over the cables in the high school gym because he brought extra lighting to the basketball games so he could get good shots. By the time I was taking sports pictures for the paper, we had strobe flashes for the cameras we carried but I don’t think our shots were as good as his.

I kept writing stories for school groups, from the seventh-and-eighth grade civics club to high school drama club, walking them downtown, and seeing my stories in print. I guess it’s no wonder I kept writing for newspapers for a good chunk of my life.

My first full time job was at that newspaper. I started in the backshop as a typesetter, eventually graduating to page design. I also got to help fix page negatives with a special red pen, “stuff” papers coming off the press, counting and tying them as I went. I could flip a stack of 100 papers back then. I even got to help change “dink” rolls on the press.

My boss in the back shop knew my goal was to work up front, so he helped me organize my schedule to attend classes at Northern Illinois University. Eventually I got a journalism degree there, but not until after my hometown paper had been sold to a young man my age who had dreams of building a nationwide newspaper group. He hired me as an editor for a county weekly, also owned by my hometown paper.

That was 1975. And 50 years later, his company closed, shuttering the papers in Rochelle, several other small towns in Illinois and in other states throughout the U.S.

But he really ended a tradition in my hometown that started in the 1800s. There were newspaperswhen the town was called Lane, before railroad progress required a name change. The Lane Leader ran from 1858 to 1859. The Lane Register was published from 1863 to `1865. The University of Illinois Newspaper Project says Lane changed its name to Rochelle on April 10, 1872.

The earliest papers I could find labeled Rochelle were the Herald, 1865-1877, and the longer-lasting Register, 1865-1926, although both seem to predate the changing of the town’s name. I think the records just include some of the Lane years.

The Library of Congress lists 1921 for the founding of the Rochelle News. According to the U of I Newspaper Project database, the Rochelle News succeeded the Rochelle Independent and the Rochelle Register when those nameplates died in 1926.

The News went into business with the .Rochelle Leader in 1934 but each continued under its own nameplate until 1994 when the two papers became the Rochelle News-Leader under the ownership that just closed its doors.

Sadly, no services have been scheduled to commemorate the loss.

À bientôt


5 tips for finishing your writing project

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

My local writing group just held its first Writing Day Camp for Big Kids (high school age and older). My contribution was this list of tips to help finish.

1. Pick your project

Pexels, Suzy Hazelwood

What sort of project do you want to try? Aiming for a well-written family Christmas card is a much different goal that trying to write a full novel. Knowing what your goal is will help you figure out how much time you’ll need to plan for the project.

If you’re just getting started with writing, it may help to begin with smaller projects so you can learn how nice it feels–and how long it really takes–to finish something.

2. Get started

There is no right way to start your project. We’ve shown you how to start from a prompt today. You can also start from scratch, a process many call pantsing – writing by the seat of your pants. Or you can plot. If you like the idea of plotting, there are all sorts of free resources on the web, including:

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/narrative-writing/ (This is for teachers to guide students, but it has all the main steps for planning a story.)

https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-plot-a-novel/  (standard plotting)

https://jerichowriters.com/how-to-plot/ (“snowflake” plotting

Sites like these will often ask you to sign up for newsletters or buy classes or services. Feel free to ignore the requests. You can look at these without buying anything.

A book may be bigger than what you want to do, but the steps and advice can be pared down to smaller projects.

3. Schedule time to write

Pexels, Jess Bailey Designs

Put writing time in your calendar. One of the biggest problems we Gals have faced is working writing into our lives. And while you often hear the advice that your must write every day, it’s more important to keep to a schedule even if it’s less frequent. I know a couple of novelists who have completed books with the bulk of their writing time coming on weekends.

Seriously, if you keep a calendar, put your writing time on it. In BIG HIGHLIGHTED LETTERS if that helps.

If you miss a writing appointment, don’t quit. Just pick up at your next scheduled date. It’s all about building a habit.

4. Read

Read often and widely. Stephen King says he writes every morning and reads every afternoon. It helps to read the kinds of articles, essays or books you want to write. But it also helps to read well-written books of any type. Fiction or nonfiction, literary or genre. I’ve always believed the rules of writing seeped into my mind as I read books, magazines and newspapers as a child. I was good at writing in school not because I could diagram sentences well – I hated doing that—or because I remember all the rules of grammar. I still think I learn every time I read someone else’s work.

To keep your reading on track, there are books clubs in the area. I belong to a couple online and a couple at the Freeport Public Library. Check your nearest library to see if they have one.

5. Find your writing group

Pexels, Elevate

There are any number of regional, national, and international organizations for writers. They revolve around topics, genres and geographic areas. Some meet online, some in person. Membership costs vary. Here are a few to consider:

Chicago Writers Association — https://www.chicagowrites.org/join

Northern Illinois Newspaper Association — https://ninaonlinedotorg.wordpress.com/membership-2/

National Federal of Press Women — https://www.nfpw.org/join-nfpw

Illinois Women’s Press Association — https://www.iwpa.org/membership/join-us/

Wisconsin Writers Association — https://wiwrite.org/about-wwa-2/join

Off Campus Writers’ Workshop — https://ocww.info/join-ocww

Sisters in Crime — https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/join-now (There are Chicagoland and Wisconsin chapters of this group, as well as the totally online Guppy chapter.)

Women Fiction Writers Association — https://wfwa.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mcform&view=ngforms&id=38580#/

Academy of American Poets — https://poets.org/membership

Haiku Society of America — https://www.hsa-haiku.org/join.htm

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators — https://www.scbwi.org/membership

Creative Academy for Writers — https://creativeacademyforwriters.com/join-us/ (This group is headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada. You can join and take part in many activities for free.)

Historical Novel Society — https://historicalnovelsociety.org/members/why-join-the-society/ (Founded in the UK, it also has a US headquarters.)

American Christian Fiction Writers — https://acfw.com/acfw-membership/

National Association of Memoir Writers — https://www.namw.org/become-a-member/

Speculative Literature Foundation — https://speculativeliterature.org/membership/ (For information about the Chicago chapter, drop a note to lewella@speculativeliterature.org.)

Happy writing, everyone.

À bientôt!

Wisconsin writers’ tour

~ sharon ~ Leave a comment

In one whirlwind day this month, I attended a writers’ conference and met “Agatha Christie” in southeast Wisconsin.

When I heard about an Agatha Christie “evening” as a fundraiser for the Wisconsin Historical Society, I wrongly assumed it would be at the Historical Society Library on the UW campus in Madison. But when I figured out she would be performing in Lake Geneva, I bought a ticket anyway. The drive would be a little more than an hour from my house, not the forty-five minutes to Madison, but not a stretch.

A few weeks later, friends told me they were taking part in Book Fest in Janesville, Wisconsin, a faitly new summer event sponsored by the Hedberg Public Library. And it was free! Scheduled the same day as Agatha’s visit, I RSVP’ed for two of the Book Fest events. It was also about forty-five minutes from my house. (Lake Geneva would be about thirty minutes from there.) It was going to be a scorcher, so I was looking forward to a day out of the sun.

Happily, the drive over was a bit quicker than I though and I arrived in time to sneak into the end of a session I hadn’t signed up for. That was “Everything You Need to Get Started” with Ken Brodsy in the Fireplace room. The gatherine was in an almost living room-like meeting place at one end of the main library room. He had some great tips, even at the end, and a plotting handout I was happy to take home.

I’d signed up for “Bringing Your Manuscript to Port: Navigating the Varied Channels to Book Publication.” Two of my Wisconsin Sisters in Crime–Christine DeSmet and Peggy Joque Williams, were on the panel, but so was Kristin Oakley, a friend from a now-defunct writing group in Rockford. She’d moved to Madison and I hadn’t seen her in years.

The moderator and fourth panelist, Ken Humphrey, is also the man behind the Wisconsin Writers Association email, hello@wiwrite.org. (I love the domain name. After all, the only answer to “wiwrite” is why not?) Ken and I had been exchanging email about the WWA fall conference and my membership listing. He has resolved everything with aplomb.

Each of the four panelists followed different routes to publishing from traditional to hybrid to independent (self-), and they shared boons and banes of each path. They also had some great handouts.

I ordered the optional delivered lunch but got so busy chatting with the other woman at my table, and the morning snacks had been so good, that I barely ate it. She and I stayed put for the master class with Maggie Ginsberg, Madison author of Still True, which won the 2023 WLA Literary Award for Fiction and received an honorable mention for the 2022 Edna Gerber Fiction Book Award. Her talk on “10 Ways I Got Unstuck” was full of great tips for writers in any literary genre. And, of course, there was a handout. (Do you sense a pattern in my enthusiasm?)

I think my favorite was her reminder that it’s not fair to compare a work-in-progress to another author’s finished, published work. It’s messy before those final edits, no matter who you are.

After Ginsberg’s talk, authors lined the halls at tables piled with their books and swag, and library patrons had a chance to mingle, chat, buy books and get autographs. Kudos to Janesville’s Hedeberg Public Library for putting on such a great event for four years. Hope they can keep it up.

But, by now I was hungry, so I went downstairs to The Ground Floor, the Friends of the Library’s coffee and book resale shop. I bought some tea and finally had a chance to eat my lunch before heading toward Lake Geneva.

I detoured through Delavan, another cute southeast Wisconsin town, before following my GPS to a small country school that felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. As far as I could tell, I was nowhere near downtown Lake Geneva. The school was surrounded by fields, with nary a house in view.

(Photos by Sharon)

The part I hadn’t noticed in my email with the ticket was that the school was a staging area for a shuttle to the actual performance location. Agatha was visiting Black Point Estate and Gardens on Lake Geneva, not someplace in Lake Geneva.

There were few enough at the talk that we caravanned through winding, shaded country roads to the estate. We had wine on the porch facing the lake before moving into the un-air conditioned 1888 home built for a Chicago “beer baron.” At that time, the rail service could get him from his summer retreat in Wisconsin to Chicago in about an hour.

The fence and gardens near the house reminded me of Monet’s Giverney in France, but the family wasn’t as interested in backdrops for painting as they were in fun at the lake. From the lawn near the house, you could see the sparkling water between trees at the bottom of the rolling lawn. Visiting during regula hours might be worth a trip back to the estate someday.

But I, and a couple dozen other folks, had come to meet Agatha. Local historian and actress Chris Brookes brought a circa 1950 Agatha to the event, sharing elements of her life and writing to that date. She’ll be doing another presentation Sept. 20 at Black Point, in case you’d like to hear her. It was fun. She read from a couple of her books, occasionally strolled back into the audience, and asked them questions.

After the performance, we could wander around the first floor and gardens. It made for a lovely evening, and I managed the drive home before sunset despite dawdling along the way. I even stopped in Sharon, Wisconsin, for a selfie. (I was tempted to bring a bucket of soapy water back to town, but I haven’t done it yet.)

Day trips can be lots of fun, can’t they?

À bientôt!