Come, thou Fount of every blessing

"Come, thou Fount of Every Blessing."

It is, quite simply, my favorite hymn. Spiritual, beautifully written, simple and direct in its meaning. I'm listening to it as I begin to write this. One day -- long from now, I hope -- it will be sung at my funeral.

But this blog isn't about something so deep, spiritual or religious. It is about words. In particular, one word.

Now as a writer, I love words, of course. But there are some words I just love more than others. For example, there's both loquacious and logorrhea. Anyone who has actually spoken to me -- or, more correctly, who has listened to me -- would certainly say both can be applied to me, particularly when I'm nervous.

Then there's serendipity. I love the meaning but it's the wonderful sound of the word that truly touches me.

Serendipity.

And, of course, there's callipygian.

I started with the word callipygian in mind when I wrote an entire Kendall Hunter murder mystery story. It was my sole inspiration. (You can find my story titled Callipygian in The Fine Art of Murder, a short story anthology published by Blue River Press for the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime.) Plus, those who know me well will certainly testify as to why I love this adjective.

All this gets me to the single word I am thinking about today.

Fount.

It is such a niffy little word. Middle English, I think.

Although I am sure I have heard or seen it used before, I don't remember the word fount used in any context other than in the hymn, "Come, thou Fount of Every Blessing." It means source, of course, so in the hymn, the source of every blessing refers to Jesus.

Like I said, a niffy little word.

But I need to correct something. I didn't remember seeing the word used other than in the hymn until I ran across it last week while reading Rhys Bowen's newest book, In Farleigh Field. And when I read it, I sat up and poked my wife. She knows how much I love the hymn.

A character in Rhys' novel used it to describe his father as being a fount of knowledge about history. And he was right. The old man was.

So there you have it. A word I love. A word I find inspirational. A word I will probably start randomly dropping on people.

Now go forth and be a fount of knowledge about something.

And thanks for reading.

      



  

Watch out agents, editors and publishers. I'm coming for you.

I've started compiling a new list of agents, editors and publishers to submit to. I have two novels which are going out -- a David Blaise detective novel I wrote in 2011 and which has gone through my critique group and re-written, and a stand alone Rachel Edelstein suspense novel, although there is a non-suspense Rachel novel waiting in the wings. I wrote that last November.

So, publishing world, be on the lookout. Established agents and new agents, traditional publishing houses (large and small) and independents, even Amazon imprints . . . I'm coming for you hard this year.  And you are going to love what I've got for you.

You have been warned.

Thanks for reading.

Cutting the cake: A celebration of SinC with Rhys Bowen

The Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime yesterday was proud to host a day with bestselling author Rhys Bowen as we celebrated the 30th anniversary of SinC.

And Rhys, as you can see, was happy to take a stab at cutting the first piece of the anniversary cake. She was a very good sport.

Plus, since I drove her around all day, we had a lot of time to talk. She offered me wonderful suggestions on improving my craft and on getting an editor and publisher for my work.

Thanks, Rhys, for everything.

And thanks for reading.

Bestselling British author Rhys Bowen

I am truly looking forward to the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime hosting renowned British author Rhys Bowen this coming Saturday, Feb. 25.

Rhys will speak at our monthly meeting at about noon at Barnes and Noble in Indianapolis, before heading over to a tea we are sponsoring in her honor from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the College Park community clubhouse in Indy and then back to B&N for a book fair and book signing at 5 p.m.

A portion of the proceeds from sales at B&N that day will benefit the programs of the Speed City SinC.

Rhys is a wonderful award-winning writer -- and a prolific one. Below is a list of her titles, not including In Farleigh Field, which comes out next week.

 Royal Spyness Series In Order:

Her Royal Spyness (2007)

A Royal Pain (2008)

Royal Flush (2009)

Royal Blood (2010)

Naughty in Nice (2011)

The Twelve Clues of Christmas (2012)

Heirs and Graces (2013)

Queen of Hearts (2014)

Malice at the Palace (2015)

Crowned and Dangerous (2016)

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service (August 2017)

Molly Murphy Series In Order:

Murphy's Law (2001)

Death of Riley (2002)

For the Love of Mike (2003)

In Like Flynn (2005)

Oh Danny Boy (2006)

In Dublin's Fair City (2007)

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (2008)

In a Gilded Cage (2009)

The Last Illusion (2010)

Bless the Bride (2011)

Hush Now, Don't You Cry (2012)

The Family Way (2013)

City of Darkness and Light (2014)

The Edge of Dreams (2015)

Away in a Manger (2015)

Time of Fog and Fire (2016)

The Ghost of Christmas Past (November 2017)

Constable Evan Evans Series In Order:

Evans Above (1997)

Evan Help Us (1998)

Evanly Choirs (1999)

Evan and Elle (2000)

Evan Can Wait (2001)

Evans to Betsy (2002)

Evan Only Knows (2003)

Evan's Gate (2004)

Evan Blessed (2005)

Evanly Bodies (2006)

Hope to see you some time on Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

I'll be Mother: A tea with bestselling author Rhys Bowen

I was fortunate last year to be elected president of the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime for 2017. And while to some, Sisters in Crime may sound like a group of recovering female prison convicts, it is, in fact, an international organization of writers of crime and mystery. I am very proud to the chapter's first male president. 

So I am a mister/sister, and this year the organization, the voice for excellence and diversity in crime writing for decades, is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The Speed City chapter of SinC is hosting internationally renowned author Rhys Bowen at a British tea and at a book signing on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Barnes and Noble book store on the north side of Indianapolis.

I am currently reading In Farleigh Field, a mystery Bowen set in England in 1941. Full of British upper class intrigue and spies, the novel officially launches on an Amazon imprint next week.

I read her Twelve Clues of Christmas back in December and was both surprised and delighted by the high-spirited young heroine, Georgiana Ranook. As the main character in Bowen's Her Royal Spyness series, Georgie, who was 35th in line to the British throne, was fun to read and discover. What also surprised me was that I was so into the book, which was set in the early 1930s in western England, that I didn't figure out the clues to the mystery until Rhys hit me over the head with them, despite the title of the book.

In addition to the book signing and book fair at B&N at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Speed City is also hosting Bowen with a British tea from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., also on Saturday. Co-sponsored with the College Park Book Club, the tea is in the College Park Community Clubhouse on Fordham Road in Indianapolis, in the shadow of the College Park pyramids.

It's at the tea when we will officially celebrate 30 years of Sisters in Crime.

I hope you can come out to one or more of the events on Saturday. It will be fun and I'm looking forward to it -- and to meeting a world-class mystery writer. And when the time comes, I will try to make sure that, as I pour Rhys her first cup of tea, I say, "I'll be mother."

Thanks for reading.

 

National Novel Writing Month -- Update 6

So, this is my last update for National Novel Writing Month in 2016. It was a good ride as I wrote and discovered Searching for Rachel Edelstein.

The good news is that I found her and, more importantly, so did Rachel.

It is the story of a black Jewish woman from New York City who has been estranged from her black relatives in Virginia for her entire life. And as she seeks to understand her dual racial and religious heritage, she visits her black family outside of Charlottesville for the first time over a Thanksgiving weekend.

Also, the other good news is I reached the 50,000-word challenge of NaNoWriMo, as I have four other times since 2009. And two of those novels, once totally re-written, have made the rounds in my agent search. And while I haven't landed an agent or a publisher for either, they are quite good enough for publication, whether independently or traditionally published.

The bad news this year is that I am still very unsatisfied with Searching for Rachel Edelstein. Even as a first draft, it is choppy, inconsistent and full of holes. I originally had Rachel's Jewish grandfather traveling with her down to Virginia, only to change my mind midway through the novel. I also changed the parents of one minor but key character midway through the novel.

And there were other problems. Then again, that is what a first draft is for -- to get the story down and to later re-write, re-write and re-write again until the story is nearly perfect. I shouldn't be too hard on myself with this effort. But that re-writing, however, will have to wait until some time next year. I have work on my plate to perfect first.

Anyway, thanks for joining me this month. It's been a blast. Let's do it again next November.

Thanks for reading.

Which Hogwarts House would I be in?

Yes, yes, yes -- I know I should have spent the time writing. It is, after all, the closing days of National Novel Writing Month and I haven't reached 50,000 words yet. But I'm close so I decided not to sweat it. Didn't write yesterday because it was Thanksgiving, nor today because we went shopping.

But I am close and still have time. Plus, deadline pressure is good.

So, what did I do this evening? Went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It was good and fun. I enjoyed it.

When I returned home and did some research relating to the world of Harry Potter, I finally decided to test which house I would be sorted into at Hogwarts. (Personally, I have always preferred Gryffindor.)

I took three separate online tests and two of the three revealed I'd be in . . .

GRYFFINDOR.

Although just barely. According to the scoring in both instances, I'd just barely be a Gryffindor and just outside of Ravenclaw. In fact, in the one test in which I wasn't a Gryffindor, I was a Ravenclaw.

So, in the end, I would probably end up in Gryffindor because the Sorting Hat would also take my choice into account. Chivalry, bravery and daring. That sound like me? I'm probably more like Neville Longbottom than Harry.

Now, for all you people who haven't read Harry Potter nor have seen any of the films, you don't know what I'm talking about and probably don't care. (Muggles!) And so for you, I will get back to my last blog of the month when I again talk about NaNoWriMo.

But for everyone else, I know you understand.

And for everybody, thanks for reading.