Purple Knot (Shades of Hope)

Around the age of 10, I started reading mystery novels. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason were suddenly two of my closest friends. Rex Stout once claimed that the Perry Mason books weren't even novels, but at age 10, who knew?

Over the years, I graduated to more fast-paced novels, some called Thrillers, but my heart always remained with the classic Mystery. There are rules to writing a mystery; though some are, in the words used by Captain Jack Sparrow's deckhand to describe the pirate's code, "more guidelines."

Perry Mason novels always contained a confession. Here is mine: I haven't yet read Raquel Byrnes' new novel, Purple Knot. But after reading the first line of her synopsis at Amazon, I was hooked:
A killer strikes. A love rekindled. A life-altering choice.
Purple Knot at Amazon.com

Raquel is holding a contest right now to give away a copy of Purple Knot. I entered for a chance to win. You too can enter today by clicking on this article's title above: Purple Knot (Shades of Hope).

Really, You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Recently, I asked fellow writers: In A Novel, Should the "Facts" Ring True?

Most authors perform in-depth research before completing their work. They do not want readers drawn out of the story by information that is blatantly false. In some genres, Science Fiction and Fantasy for example, an entire world is created by the writer, and truth is whatever the author creates for that world. But in genres such as Mystery, Romance, and Thrillers, generally accepted truths matter. That is why a newspaper article I read yesterday took me by surprise.

For my novels, research includes reading newspaper articles at the local library (local to the novel's setting), for the dates and locations of the story. As the tale progresses, I also check the Internet and various reference books to verify dates, medical facts, and name derivatives. I don't want a reader to wonder, "Where did she ever get that idea?"

In that frame of mind, I read with disbelief a detailed news article. A man walked into a hospital ... sounds like a take on the old joke, a man walked into a bar ... but this is no joke! The hospital checked his medical coverage, checked his I.D., then checked his heart and told him he was a “ticking time bomb.” He scheduled and they performed heart surgery on him. Days later the man died. His family plans to sue. Only one problem, the man used someone else's medical card and I.D.

If an author used this scenario in a novel you were reading, wouldn't you have a few misgivings about the feasibility of such an occurrence? What is the first question that pops into your head?

After sharing your answer, you can read the full story here:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/124547979.html

D-Day

Reporters write articles about

     our right to freedom;

Poets elequently express

     the ongoing fight for freedom;

Demonstrators protest 

     those who would deny us our freedom;

And courtroom attorneys battle

to prevent our loss of freedom.

Today, everyday, is the time

to remember the purpose of

the reporter's story, the poignant poems,

the demonstrations, the legal battles;

To remember those

who chose to protect and defend, 

who fought and died

The men and women of our Military.

Photo of Punchbowl Memorial Day by Gail M Baugniet