New DaCosta Story "Hands" Premieres at Penny Dreadful

I promised I would write some non-creepy stories, and so here is one. "Hands," can be found in the interesting new blog of online stories called Penny Dreadful. The blog is being run by Hotbutton Press, which is also host to Blog Booktours. Penny Dreadful will post a new story almost every day, all by different authors. (All anonymous, though we authors are allowed to spill our own beans.)
Penny Dreadfuls were pulp magazines printed on cheap paper and circulated to the lower classes in nineteenth-century Britain. You can read more about them on Wikipedia.
"Hands" was written and published in one day, a new experience for me. Its genesis was simply in wondering about the many chance encounters at libraries—specifically that of a library circulation desk clerk—and what if...?
Enjoy these stories!

READ PENNY DREADFUL www.pdreadful.blogspot.com

The World of Short Stories

I didn't really set out to write "disturbing" stories, but a reviewer recently described my debut mystery story "Cabin 6" from Resort to Murder with just that label. There's a reason, though, that the story came out the way it did. Let me explain.

When I first met veteran legal mystery/thriller writer Lisa Scottoline (who's one of the most personable and entertaining writers out there), I had not yet begun to write mysteries, but had recently had a bizarre encounter with a scary person that just begged to be written about. I asked Lisa how writers live with the evil and creepiness of some of the characters and scenarios found in a typical mystery. Her answer was that it was important to choose one's on-the-page companions carefully, as you had to be able to live with them for a long, long time while you did the heavy lifting of creating a novel.

Several years later when I began working on Death by the Depot, my current novel-in-progress, I remembered Lisa's words. I began crafting a world populated mostly by people I wouldn't mind meeting, and situations that seemed close to real life. I decided to leave the psychopaths, car chases, and gore to some other writer who could do better by them.

My short stories are another matter. Short stories have become the place where I can take a scary situation or odd personality and let them develop in their own little petri dish. Since a short story can be written in hours instead of years, they have become a way for me to experiment with writing about "darker" sides of life. Thus, the above-described "disturbing" short story. But never fear, not all of my stories can be called disturbing! There are some lighter fare as well.

In any case, here's what the reviewer wrote about my Resort to Murder story: that DaCosta's "disturbing story 'Cabin 6' ... is her first story and it is a good one...."

"Good"? Now, there's a word that doesn't beg any explanation!

Read Kevin Tipple's entire Resort to Murder book review at Blogger News (7/13/08)

Celebrate National Train Day Saturday, May 10th!

National Train Day, May 10th, 2008.

If you're like me, you remember the joys and wonders of taking a train trip. For people in my parent's generation, it was THE way to travel. Hundreds of passenger trains rolled through the Twin Cities each day, bound for Duluth, Winnipeg, the Dakotas, Omaha, Chicago, and Iowa...now, there is the lone Empire Builder, from Chicago to the west coast once a day in each direction. Efforts are underway to reinstate a train to Duluth (which ceased in 1985), and a high-speed train to Chicago.

The National Association of Rail Passengers and Amtrak will join together for National Train Day, to be held at train stations across the country. The event is designed to highlight the growing popularity of train riding, its environmental benefits, and to emphasize the need for rebuilding a strong passenger train network. Why May 10th? That day commemorates 139th anniversary of the laying in 1869 of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, the final link in America’s first transcontinental railroad.

Sixth Annual Write of Spring Event 2008

When the snow and ice begin to melt every March, one of the Twin Cities' favorite independent bookstores, Once Upon a Crime goes wild and invites almost every single mystery writer in the area to the store for the annual Write of Spring event. This year, I'll be appearing for the first time, along with such luminaries as Robert Alexander, R.D. Zimmerman, Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Laura Childs, Monica Ferris, David Housewright, William Kent Krueger, Gary Bush, Ellen Hart, Carl Brookins, Sujata Massey, Lori Lake, and many other writers who've helped put Minnesota on the mystery map!

Write of Spring is Saturday, March 22, from 12 noon till 4 p.m. Come meet your favorite writers—see their site for schedule!

Once Upon a Crime is located at 604 West 26th Street (just east of Lyndale Av. S.), lower level of apartment building.
612-870-3785

What is NaNoWriMo and Why Did I Do It?

Here's the challenge: write, in the month of November, a novel of 50,000 words length. Thirty days. That is the simple goal of National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. Run by a somewhat ad hoc nonprofit organization, the now-annual event attracted over 90,000 of writers from every corner of the world, including a couple of thousand hardy Minnesotans. The idea is to "just sit down and write" without worrying about perfecting your work, without fussing, and without procrastination. After the month is over, then you can rewrite, revise, edit, restructure. Schoolteachers have had great success using NaNoWriMo to stimulate student interest in writing.

Why did I try NaNoWriMo? I was up for a new challenge, and wanted to try writing in a different manner than usual. Last year, I lasted all of ten minutes. This year, I was ready for it, and wrote steadily for the whole month, reaching what I thought was a very reasonable amount of 30,000 words (bear in mind that 1000–2000 words a day is for many writers an average daily output, and that most novels are actually going to be 65,000 words or more).

I prepared well for the month-long adventure. I thought through the structure for the new novel, which is a follow-up to DEATH BY THE DEPOT (the manuscript of which, almost complete, was ready for a month of fermentation).I stocked up on food, took care of winterizing chores, and warned people what I was up to just in case I got a glazed look in my eye. I filled my fountain pen, sharpened some pencils, and assembled a stack of color-coordinated scrap paper. I did some test runs with my new novel-writing software (the very wonderful Scrivener for Mac). I then opened the door for the novel's newly minted dozen-or-so characters to come in and start taking shape.

The result? A good solid start for me on a novel that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a couple of years; some new work methods for my repertoire. Some new writing buddies (the Twin Cities had just shy of 1600 people signed up, who produced 13,059,537 words, and placed 3rd internationally in number of words written, just behind Seattle and "Maryland"). Mostly, though, I had fun.

What's next? Now it's this novel's turn to ferment for a spell while I take care of other matters including DEPOT, and begin to dream up a story for next year's NaNoWriMo.

"Cabin 6" —A Story of Love, Obsession—and Murder

The vast, northern Lake Superior is a mysterious place that harbors many secrets under its frigid waters, and in the many whispered confessions of the people who journey to its shorelines. As the waves crash and crash upon the rocky shoreline, a lone figure is seen leaving Cabin 6....

"Cabin 6," a tale of love, obsession, and murder, will appear in Resort to Murder, an anthology scheduled to be released this fall by Nodin Press. This anthology is a follow-up to the wildly successful Silence of the Loons and edited by well-known Minnesota mystery authors Ellen Hart, William Kent Krueger, and Carl Brookins, Resort to Murder features mystery stories set against the backdrop of Minnesota's perennial favorite vacation spots.
"Cabin 6" is the mystery debut of Barbara DaCosta, a Minneapolis-based writer. She is at work on her first novel, Death by the Depot.

Resort to Murder Praised

Resort to Murder has been praised in the
St Paul Pioneer Press. "Some of the stories are about revenge, including David Housewright's "Miss Behavin' " and Hart's "14-A." Several tales offer an O. Henry-style twist, including Brookins' "A Fish Story" and Judith Yates Borger's "Hunter's Lodge." Pat Dennis describes a very odd mother-son relationship in "Mother's Day," and Deborah Woodworth evokes the dark north woods in "The Moose Whisperer." Barbara DaCosta's "Cabin" is the most surprising, and Michael Allen Mallory's "Bird of Prey" shows how far a writer will go for her craft. The sweetest tale is Joel Arnold's "Leave No Wake," featuring a pair of gay senior citizens. For lots of fun, there's Jess Lourey's "The Locked Fish-cleaning House Mystery," featuring a lively sleuth who lives in a nursing home and crashes weddings." - Mary Ann Grossmann

Barbara DaCosta was also mentioned in Andrea Sisco's review at Armchair Interviews. "For fans of Ellen Hart (I am a huge fan), she’s written a scathing take on the downside of marriage in 14-A that you won’t want to miss. Pat Dennis gives the reader a new take on Mother’s Day (I’ve got my eye on my kids now). Judith Yates-Borger takes on tradition and progress when a developer who wants to turn a resort into private homes loses his life over the decision in Hunter’s Lodge. And Barbara DeCosta deals with the death of a relationship in Cabin 6. There are also wonderful stories by William Kent Krueger (one of my favorite mystery authors), Carl Brookins and David Housewright (I loved Dead Boyfriend) and others."

Resort to Murder Blog

Resort to Murder now has its own blog. Here you can find information about readings and signings, about the authors, and more!

BOOK RELEASE PARTY

Join the authors of Resort to Murder: Thirteen More Tales of Mystery Monday, September 24 at 7 pm, for a book release party at Once Upon a Crime, 604 West 26th Street, in Minneapolis. There will be a limited supply of books signed by all of the authors, so you need to contact the store if you want one.

Resort to Murder's First Review

Resort to Murder has been reviewed in the prestigious Publishers' Weekly. Here's what they had to say: "The Minnesota Crime Wave’s entertaining second volume of short stories from Minnesota writers (after 2005’s The Silence of the Loons) introduces some promising talent to a wider audience." Click here and then scroll down to "mysteries" for the complete review.

Why Mysteries?

Since beginning to write mysteries, I've gotten two recurring questions from people. The first: "Why are you writing mysteries?" The second one comes with a smile and a questioning eyebrow: "Can I tell you this great idea I have for a mystery that you could write?"

Why mysteries? I've always loved reading, and was introduced to the mystery world as an adult. Immersed as I was in academic and professional writing, I soon found that writing fiction (and why not mysteries, since I enjoyed them so much), functioned as comic relief, an escape valve. It was fun to create worlds, characters, and plots out of wholecloth, with nary a footnote in sight.

Which leads me to the second common question. Creating a novel or a short story is like being in your own dream world. You can picture everything and everyone, even without having to spell it all out in words. But someone else cannot (at least for most of us) be there in your dream seeing and experiencing it with you. So when you've got that tantalizing thread of an idea playing in technicolor in your head, it's probably best to sit down and start writing YOUR novel!

Resort to Murder

"Thirteen More Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Writers"

Here's a sneak preview of the Resort to Murder cover. The anthology features writers William Kent Krueger, Jess Lourey, Ellen Hart, David Housewright, Scott Pearson, Pat Dennis, Carl Brookins, Joel Arnold, Deborah Woodworth, Barbara DaCosta (featuring my story "Cabin 6"), Michael Mallory, Moira Harris, and Judith Yates Borger, with an introduction by author Lorna Landvik, and published by Nodin Press. Look for it in your stores soon!