Thoughts on a funeral

There are two opposing views about today’s famous funeral in London. I can’t go along totally with either of them, and I don’t intend to get involved in political arguments about them here. So I’ll just quote from some famous epitaphs and leave the choice to you.

This is Requiem, by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Under  the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he long’d to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

But here is Hilaire Belloc’s Epitaph on the Politician Himself:
Here richly, with ridiculous display,
The politician’s corpse was laid away.
While all of his acquaintance sneered and slanged,
I wept, for I had longed to see him hanged.

Finally, Shakespeare had it right (doesn’t he usually?) with this:

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun;
Nor the furious winter’s rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney sweepers come to dust.

The female of the species…

It is a truth universally acknowledged, (hey, good opening line, I just thought of it!) that female sleuths are at least as clever and ruthless as male ones. Because as we all know, the female of the species is more deadly than the male…another good saying I just dreamed up.

OK, I’ll stop plagiarising the words of my betters, and get to the point. Which is to tell you about a new book that I’m proud to be part of: 3 GREAT FEMALE DETECTIVES. It’s an ebook bringing together a trio of magnificent sleuths all in one package.

There’s Cat DeLuca, the creation of K.J. Larsen, who runs a detective agency called Pants on Fire (fabulous name!) which claims that “We catch cheats and liars.” Her first adventure is LIAR, LIAR.

Then there’s Tai Randolph, created by Tina Whittle, who has just inherited a gunshop at the start of THE DANGEROUS EDGE OF THINGS. She thinks that’s her only problem…but she’s wrong. An uninvited corpse and a wayward brother are two of the others.

These formidable women both hale from the USA, like their authors. My Aurelia Marcella represents Britain – Roman Britain, to be specific. She wouldn’t have called herself a detective because they didn’t have such a job description then, but they had crimes to solve and people who took on the task of getting justice done, often quite reluctant amateurs like Aurelia, who’s an innkeeper most of the time.

3 GREAT FEMALE DETECTIVES is an ebook recently published by Head of Zeus in London, and before that, the books have all been published in different versions by Poisoned Pen Press in the USA.

This new compendium – is that the word for a sort of jumbo anthology? – adds a new dimension to each of our mysteries. First, by putting them cheek-by-jowl it allows readers to, (as we used to say at school,) “compare and contrast.” The three sleuths are at first sight as unlike as chalk, cheese, and china oranges…but what’s revealed when you delve deeper? What makes a great female detective? Here’s a chance to find out.

Second, this sort of compilation makes it really easy to discover good books you haven’t read yet. I’m a case in point; I’m downloading a copy myself this weekend, because I haven’t (shame on me!) read either of the other two books in the ensemble, and I’m looking forward to them very much. I’ll be reading them on my Nexus tablet which runs Android software, but the book is available not just in the right format for that, but also versions for kindles and iPads and several others.

Isn’t there a mind-boggling choice of electronic formats these days? That’s my major criticism of ebooks: they’re convenient, not expensive…but not standardised. Let’s hope that sometime soon common sense will break through and their publishers will arrange matters so that any e-reader can read any e-book.

Meanwhile, let’s have more of these several-books-in-one releases. I think they are br

Shadows in the Night

Reach for your ear-plugs, folks. I’m going to blow my own trumpet. It’s time for a bit of what among writer is known as BSP – Blatant Self-Promotion – because I’ve a book coming out soon.

SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT, my first Aurelia Marcella mystery, will be published in the UK next month. Here’s its new cover. Don’t forget its name is new too – it was originally released in the USA as GET OUT OR DIE. It’s still listed under the old name for the next few weeks on my website, www.janefinnis.com, and there you can see the reviews it collected when it first came out, including some rather nice ones. (Well, I did warn you there’d be some BSP today.)

The change of title in no way means a change in the text, and being the first of Aurelia’s adventures, this book is where we meet not only Aurelia herself and her brother and sister, but other characters who become regulars in later books: Quintus of course, and Titch, and several native Britons too. We find out how Roman settlers coped with living in the turbulent frontier province of Britannia, and I try hard to picture the conflicts and tensions there would have been, just fifty years after the Roman invasion. Fifty years is no time at all…oh dear, doesn’t that make me sound old? Quick, a change of tack.

The new cover design is based on a real Roman mosaic, found at Pompeii and now in the Naples Museum. It reminds me of our fabulous visit to Pompeii, which I remember clearly even though, unbelievably, it was more than twenty years ago. It’s high time we went again…

Meanwhile, to York, which is where the British publishers Head of Zeus are holding a launch party for the book. All the Aurelia mysteries are set not far from Eburacum, as York was called then. The party is on Thursday November 22nd, and all mystery lovers are welcome. Time: 7 p.m. Place: Waterstones in High Ousegate, after the shop has closed to the public. So if you come, you can buy signed copies of the book, hear me waffling on about it, (not for long, I promise,) enjoy wine and chat with fellow mystery enthusiasts, AND do some serious pre-Christmas book shopping without the usual pre-Christmas crowds.

I’m excited to have the book – and eventually all the Aurelia mysteries – published in Britain. They’ve been published in the USA, and available there, and on-line, and still will be, which is great. But readers needed a little persistence to get them over here. However from November it will be much easier to find at least the first one on the shelves of bookshops and libraries.

OK, my trumpet solo is over for now. But I’ll be bringing you more details about the party and the book nearer the launch time, so keep the ear-plugs handy.

Cooking up a new book

It must be spring. I’m starting my next book.

I really ought to be more organised, and write my mysteries during autumn and winter, leaving me free to enjoy the good weather (we hope!) of spring and summer without worrying about deadlines. But here I am, April in full swing, and raring to get on with the fifth Aurelia Marcella mystery. Never mind; if a book goes well it can take you over, whatever the weather.

Just now I’m getting together the ingredients for the book. It’s a bit like preparing an elaborate meal. First you compile a list of things you want to include, then you blend them into a viable recipe or several, (the plot outline,)  and then you cook it all up and hope the result is a gourmet experience.

As this is the fifth in a series, my ingredients list should begin with some obvious choices of people and locations: so obvious I don’t even need to write them down. Aurelia and her family, her mansio near York, and perhaps a few of the minor characters, such as servants or local friends. But each book must stand alone, so readers can tackle them in any order, though naturally I hope the whole world will devour all of them eventually. So I must give new readers just a little back-story about the main characters, but keep it to the bare essentials. I dislike books in a series, (it’s usually the later ones,) when each plot contains too much information about the protagonists’ past lives, often served up in large dollops near the beginning. That can really slow a story down.

It’s the new ingredients I’m assembling now, and a very odd lot they are. They can come from anywhere, even straight out of my head on a good day, but mostly I admit they arise from research. For example, this book will be set partly in Londinium, so naturally I’ve been reading up about how different it was in Roman times. I don’t just mean much smaller; it was also much damper. The Thames was a lot wider, with no embankments to contain it, and there were areas of marsh with small islands in them, quite close to the Romans’ settlement. And it was tidal, of course…so suppose someone got lost, or was lured to a place that would be flooded when the tide rose?

Last summer when I gave a paper on Roman law and justice, I came across a fascinating case of a man accused of sorcery, and how he defended himself in court. Sorcery was something the Romans were terrified of, and the punishments were dire. Suppose you wanted rid of a rival; could you destroy him by accusing him of Roman black magic?

And last week the unseasonable snow triggered a good thought. It didn’t reach us here, but it covered much of Yorkshire, including York. I’d planned to start the story with Aurelia and family setting out for Londinium on a sunny morning, full of the joys of spring. Then I realised it would be much more interesting if they have snow to contend with. The joys of spring need toning down a little…this is a mystery, after all.

So my opening line will be: “It shouldn’t snow in April. The gods should not allow it.”

There! I’ve made a start. Only another ninety-some thousand words to go.

Four covers and a mystery

This month I’ve a new book out – DANGER IN THE WIND.

It’s the fourth in the Aurelia Marcella mystery series, set – like the others – in Roman Britain, and featuring – like the others – innkeeper and reluctant sleuth Aurelia, who despite her best efforts, keeps getting drawn into solving crimes around York. You can find out lots more about it on my website, http://www.janefinnis.com

The other three Aurelia books are being re-issued too, with brand-new covers, and the first in the series has a brand-new title: SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT. (It was formerly GET OUT OR DIE.)

I’m posting all four new covers, so you’ll know what to look for when you’re doing your Christmas shopping. Remember, if you bought GET OUT OR DIE already, don’t get SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT, unless of course you want to buy another copy to give away – mysteries make wonderful Christmas presents.

Happy reading!

Danger in the Wind

Good news to share! My latest mystery, DANGER IN THE WIND, is available to pre-order online now. It’ll be published in December by Poisoned Pen Press, so I suppose I could urge you to order it now and “shop early for Christmas”! Here’s the cover, so you’ll know what to look out for.

Regular visitors here will know that this is the fourth in the Aurelia Marcella series, and you don’t have to have read any of the others to enjoy this one – although naturally I hope you have, or you will! Aurelia runs an inn in the Roman province of Britannia on the road to York, and is on the whole a reluctant sleuth, drawn into solving mysteries even when she doesn’t go looking for trouble.

DANGER IN THE WIND starts innocently enough, with a birthday party invitation for Aurelia from her cousin Jovina. Oh yes, the Romans did celebrate their birthdays, and invite their friends…there’s a charming example of such an invitation among the letters discovered at the fort of Vindolanda. Lepidina, the fort commander’s wife, had this note from Claudia Severa: “On the third day before the Ides of September, sister, for the day of the celebration of my birthday, I give you a warm invitation to make sure that you come to us, to make the day more enjoyable for me by your arrival, if you are present. Give my greetings to your Cerialis. My Aelius and my little son send you their greetings. I shall expect you, sister. Farewell sister, my dearest soul, as I hope to prosper, and hail.” (We don’t know whether they were actually related; “sister” could just have been a form of familiar greeting, but they were clearly close friends.)

Reading about Claudia’s letter gave me a starting-point for DANGER IN THE WIND. But of course I couldn’t simply let Aurelia receive a nice, innocent party invite. There had to be more to it…so Cousin Jovina ends her note with an urgent request:

“Please help, Aurelia. There’s danger in the wind, and I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts. Say nothing. Just come.”

Aurelia accepts the invitation of course; she privately thinks that Jovina, who’s always had a dramatic flair, is exaggerating this “danger”, so she anticipates a pleasant holiday. Is she right? Does she have a peaceful visit with a happy celebration as its climax?

What do you think?

We’re invited to a party

We’re all invited to a book-launch party this week. Everyone is welcome, including all of you, my friends and fellow-bloggers, because it’s an on-line party, taking place at a computer near you.

And it’ll last three days, starting Wednesday September 15th. A three-day party, think of that! No travelling…no dressing-up (though you can if you want to, of course <g>)…just come as you are and take part in an interesting event with lots of writers and readers.

Our hostess is Carolyn Schriber, and the book she’s launching in this ingenious celebration is her new historical novel, BEYOND ALL PRICE. It’s the story of a resourceful woman who became a union nurse in the American Civil War. Both she and the turbulent setting sound fascinating, and a virtual party is a great way to give the book  a good send-off. The cyber-junketings will include interviews, chat, workshops…all available on the book’s website, www.beyondallprice.org.

I’m proud to say I’ve done a short interview on writing about history, (yes, it features the Romans, surprise surprise!) It’ll go out early on Thursday in Europe, which is Wednesday evening in the United States…but all the interviews will be left in place after their initial airing, which means you’ve absolutely no excuse for not coming to see all of us strut our stuff.

So www.beyondallprice.org is the place to be, and the time to be there is as often as you can from Wednesday September 15th through Friday September 17th.

Enjoy!

A War of her Own

A very warm welcome to Sylvia Dickey Smith, and to her latest book, A WAR OF HER OWN. It’s just out this month in paperback, published by Crickhollow Books, and it’s available from both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
When I first heard about it I was expecting a mystery, following in the tradition of Sylvia’s Sidra Smart series set in Texas. The new arrival is different: there are some elements of mystery, but it’s a World War II historical novel. (Ouch – I was born during World War 2, and still find it strange to hear it called “history”!) Set in Orange, Texas,  it paints a fascinating picture of how the war affected the womenfolk left behind to keep the home fires burning. Their lives and struggles may not have had the blood or drama of the fighting men’s battles, but were in their way just as important. That’s why, Sylvia explains, she has chosen to write a historical novel this time, rather than a mystery…

I suppose switching genres is a bit unusual for authors, however I had a story I wanted to tell not as a mystery, but as women’s fiction. I was born right before Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, so much of my childhood memories have to do with what life was like on the U.S. homefront during the war years.

We escaped any actual invasion or bombings but what was happening in England and elsewhere had a big impact on my small hometown of Orange, Texas. For instance, before the war, the population was around 7,000. By the end of the war, the population had soared to 70,000 because of the shipyards gaining contract to build warships. Chaos reigned, but in the midst of that chaos, those 70,000 people bonded together to help the U.S., England, and other allies put down those against whom we fought.

A town experiencing a 700% growth almost overnight brought to the forefront issues like where to live, where to sleep, what to eat. Social structure and values changed so fast there seemed to be a no-holds-barred mentality. A live, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die attitude took over.  Social standards were ‘out the window.’ Add to that, shame-based family secrets that wound a person. When women were called upon to do something considered unnatural—to take a man’s job and do it well. Many families slept in rented “hotbeds”—beds still warm from the body of the person who just arose and went to work at shipyards that ran around the clock. Cheap but adequate war housing arose overnight constructed on river sand pumped in atop mosquito-infested swampland.

Protagonist Bea Meade reminds me of my mother who worked at the shipyard during the war and dealt with a world changing faster than could she. Bea Meade becomes the woman I wished my mother could have become—a woman with a voice to speak against injustice, unfair treatment, sexism and personal disregard. Several characters in the book are drawn from real life. Although the actual plot is fiction, it deals with the damage of family secrets, of abuse against women, of double standards of a society and jumps right in the middle of women’s discovery of their self-worth.

People ask me about the Roma people included in the book. Ah, what a delightful, colorful group of misunderstood people. Yes, there was a camp outside of town, and yes, the story of them wanting to buy piglets for a wedding celebration really happened, although modified in the book to fit the plot. The whole gypsy culture fascinates me and has led me to commit serious study to them and their culture. I can’t say I know them well. I’m inclined to think only a true gypsy could say that. I have a great deal of respect for them and their culture and welcome an opportunity to learn more about them.

I am most interested in hearing from fans in Europe and particularly the U.K. I know A War Of her Own might well introduce the war from a different perspective, and I’d love to hear what you think. I can be reached through my website at:

http://www.AWarOfHerOwn.com or http://www.sylviadickeysmith.com
and at my blog at http://www.sylviadickeysmithbooks.wordpress.com

Meet Sylvia Dickey Smith here tomorrow

Yes, I’m delighted to say Sylvia Dickey Smith will be my guest here tomorrow. She has a new book out, and I’m honoured that she has found time in her busy launch schedule to come and tell us about it.
I first got to know Sylvia last year when I was a guest on her lively Internet radio show, “Murder, She Writes,” which ran on BlogTalk Radio. Each programme featured a different author of mysteries, and the focus was on women’s writing, and women sleuths. Among other topics, I remember we compared notes about my Aurelia Marcella and Sylvia’s Sidra Smart – different in place and time, yet similar in that they’re both strong and intelligent characters.
Sylvia’s latest book is a historical novel called A WAR OF HER OWN, set in Texas in World War II. It features another feisty lady, Bea Meade, and several other strong women characters too. And they need to be strong, because they must contend with…but no, you’ll have to wait till tomorrow, when Sylvia will be here to tell you herself.
Don’t miss it!