Meg Mims: I See Dead Characters

I See Dead Characters
by Meg Mims

I started writing traditional romance. Really? Just ask my long-time critique partner, who slogged through many manuscripts with me. Over the years, I snagged plenty of editors (from slush-pile submissions, no less) who loved my writing style. But they still rejected me. I couldn’t figure out what I was missing to jump over that last hoop to become a published author.

They did tell me I had plot-heavy manuscripts and not enough romance—and what was with all the dead bodies? Plenty of historical romances have dead bodies lying around, though, from wars or vengeful alpha heroes. I didn’t see the problem. Yeah, my historical style focuses on the plot. For years I tried to beat that down and failed. If one of my characters turned around, someone ended up dead. Blame them, not me! And besides, my characters didn’t have time for romance. They might think about it, or get distracted by their mutual attraction, but then they force themselves to refocus and solve the puzzle.

Trust me, I’m a slow learner. I never considered switching genres to mystery. Go figure.

But I’m not writing traditional mystery either. Really. It took me a few years to figure out I’m writing “blended genre” fiction, taking a bit of romance and a bit of mystery (puzzle, dead bodies) and a big chunk of suspense and a bit of inspiration – and a western setting. Not that it’s easy to market a western historical mystery, a “twist” of True Grit and Murder on the Orient Express, but it’s worked so far with Double Crossing. I wish I could get more comedy in there somehow, but I’m not as talented as Jacquie in that domain!

Meg Mims accepting the Spur Award for Double Crossing



I’m writing the sequel to Double Crossing now. Double or Nothing will begin where the first book left off, with Lily Granville in Sacramento. There's a bit more romance, but also some dead bodies and a bigger puzzle to solve. Oh yeah. It’s the same heavy-on-suspense, western mystery with romance and a bit of inspirational in it. I wrote a short story this summer (the beginning of a novel), a YA medieval-based fantasy called “Seafire,” for a charity anthology, Hazard Yet Forward. I plan to expand that into a novel at some point – blending romance and suspense into that as well. Blending genres gives “something for everyone” and an entertaining read.

Here’s to blended genres! May dead bodies continue to haunt my characters. Really!

Double Crossing

– When Lily Granville tracks her father’s killer across country to California, she soon realizes she is no longer the hunter—but the prey.

More than 25 five-star reviews on Amazon! Winner of the 2012 Spur Award for Best First Novel from Western Writers of America.

EXCERPT:

I needed something to make me forget the argument with Father. Capturing the lizard’s familiar form, I filled it in with dark cross-hatching and smudges. What a beautiful creature. My friends kept Persian cats or lapdogs, but lizards held a special fascination for me. Exotic, alluring with their patterned skin texture and independence from humans. Lucretia flicked her tongue and scuttled away, alarmed by some noise in the distance. The setting sun glowed dull red and orange past the shadowy trees, casting golden beams over the garden. The aroma of roast chicken, thyme and sage reminded me of dinner.

Rising to my feet, I groped for my mother’s necklace which held the tiny watch that Charles had given me. I must have left it upstairs on the dressing table. Tinkling water spilled from a cherub’s pitcher into the fountain. I sat down on the bench again and added ferns and shadows to my sketch.

Minutes later, a loud crack echoed in the air. The odd sound lingered. It reminded me of the revolver’s shot when I’d killed the badger. Had it come from the house? Closing my book, I hurried through the garden. Two shadowy figures slipped off the side porch and fled toward the street. The taller one wore dark clothing. I recognized the shorter man as Emil Todaro by his frog-like gait. Rushing after them, I witnessed their mad scramble into a waiting buggy. The team shot forward under a whip’s cruel lash.

Why had the lawyer returned? What did they want?

I climbed the steps to the side door and found it locked. Scurrying around to the back of the house, I tried the library’s French doors but they didn’t budge. My heart jumped in my throat. I picked up my skirts, raced around to the front door and flung it wide.

“Etta! Etta, where’s Father?”

The maid poked her head out of the dining room. “In the library.”

“I saw Mr. Todaro leaving with another man. Did you let them in?”

“No, Miss Lily. I did hear the Colonel talking to someone, though.”

“Didn’t you hear a loud bang?”

“I did, but I thought it was Cook with her pots. I was in the cellar fetching more coal.” Etta trailed me through the hall. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure.” The library’s doorknob rattled beneath my fingers when I twisted it open. I peeked inside the dim room. “Are you all right, Father?”

An odd smell tickled my nose—gunpowder. I swallowed hard, my throat constricting, staring at how Father was sprawled over his desk, head down, one arm dangling over the edge. My head and ears thrummed when I saw papers littering the floor. The safe door stood ajar, the drawers yanked open every which way. I took a step, and another, toward the pipe that lay on the plush Persian carpet. His crushed spectacles lay beside it. Father’s hand cradled the small derringer he’d always kept in his desk drawer. Its pearl handle gleamed above a stack of papers, stained dark crimson.

A fly crawled over Father’s cheek. Etta clawed the air, one hand clamped over her mouth. I saw a tiny blackened bullet hole marking his temple, and wet blood trickling downward. Frozen in place, I heard a shrill scream—my own, since pain raked my throat.

Everything swirled and a dark void swallowed me whole.

###

Thanks, Jacquie, for having me here this week! I’ll share an excerpt from my WIP, the sequel Double or Nothing, on Thursday.

Leave a comment with your email address, LIKE my book on Amazon and LIKE my author Facebook page for a chance to win a free copy of Double Crossing!

Check out my book’s website and my author website, follow me on Twitter @megmims and on Facebook. I hope you enjoyed reading the excerpt from Double Crossing.

Meg Mims: Double Crossing

Double Crossing

by Meg Mims Double Crossing Series

Buy links: Amazon * B&N * Astraea Press

Meg Mims is an author, artist, and amateur photographer. She writes historical mysteries and romantic suspense, and is a staff writer for RE/MAX Platinum in Michigan – writing articles about the real estate market, community events and Realtors – and for Lake Effect Living, a West Coast of Michigan tourist on-line magazine. Meg's article about the one-legged Civil War veteran and lighthouse keeper of South Haven, James S. Donahue, appeared in Vol. 34, No. 2 Summer 2011 issue of The Chronicle, the Historical Society of Michigan magazine. (Read Meg's bio)

RTW: Welcome to Romancing The West, Meg! Please give us an overview of your debut novel, Double Crossing.

MM: A murder arranged as a suicide...a missing deed...and a bereft daughter whose sheltered world is shattered.

August, 1869: Lily Granville is stunned by her father's murder. Only one other person knows about a valuable California gold mine deed--both are now missing. Lily heads west on the newly opened transcontinental railroad, determined to track the killer. She soon realizes she is no longer the hunter but the prey.

As things progress from bad to worse, Lily is uncertain who to trust--the China-bound missionary who wants to marry her, or the wandering Texan who offers to protect her...for a price. Will Lily survive the journey and unexpected betrayal?

Contest!

See details below.

RTW: Why did you set Double Crossing on the transcontinental railroad? What intrigues you about trains? And did you learn anything about them that surprised you while writing this book?





Transcontinental Railroad Workers



MM: I loved True Grit (the original book, the movie in 1969 and the recent version also) and was inspired to use the premise of a young woman whose father is murdered, setting her on a quest for justice. Because I had to twist it (in many ways, since I couldn't use Rooster Cogburn either!), I chose the transcontinental railroad because I'd always been fascinated by trains. Since the UP and CP first came together at Promontory Point in May of 1869, I decided that setting Double Crossing several months after that historic event seemed a natural fit. And the research all seemed to fall into place, with a book written in 1872 about an English nobleman taking a train trip from New York to San Francisco, plus other interesting sources.

The most surprising thing I learned while writing this book – most people assume trains had normal washroom facilities like modern trains. Think again! Basically they were outhouse holes with waste falling to the track, and caused major hygienic problems over the years. If your great-grandparents or grandparents were told to stay away from playing on the tracks until the 1930s, when plumbing was introduced to passenger cars, there was a good reason for that. Imagine how cold that would be in winter, too.

RTW: If you lived in 1869, what modern convenience would you miss the most? The least?



Meg Mims



MM: Antibiotics, for sure. Probably more than a dishwasher, washing machine, indoor plumbing and even my laptop, cell phone and Kindle. I learned to type, I could wait a year until they came out. Easily. Getting my hands on one, however, without being filthy rich, might be a problem. And I used to write long letters, front and back, a dozen pages at times. What would I miss the least? Hmmm. That's a tougher question! All the accumulated junk in my house. Weed it all out except for the books. I could have a huge library without one ounce of guilt. Perfect.

RTW: Since you mentioned Rooster Cogburn, did you create a character with the same role?

MM: That was also tough. I rolled Rooster and the Texas Ranger LaBoef into Ace Diamond, an ex-Confederate cavalry soldier, poker-player and wanderer...how did he end up in Omaha, Nebraska, without his horse? I'm considering writing a brief prequel short story to explain that soon! He may not be one-eyed or a drunk, but he has an interesting history nonetheless.

RTW: Tell us about Lily Granville. How did she introduce herself to you?

MM: Lily went through many transitions. First she was as young as Mattie Ross, 14 years old and so whiny and spoiled, I disliked her. So I stuffed 'Linnet,' kicking and screaming, back into the centrifuge. Out popped Julia, who was 17, religious and quite bent on revenge for her father's murder. Enough to shoot the killer, in fact, which wouldn't work--she needed to be vulnerable. Needy. Yet spunky enough to undertake a 2,000-mile adventure and seek justice, not revenge. 'Julia' morphed into Lily, who loved her father yet quarreled with him--and then overcame her heartbreak to track the man she believed responsible for his death. Lily, at 19, has many choices ahead of her and discovers her own resilience is much stronger than she ever knew in Double Crossing. She'll need that for the next adventure in Double or Nothing!

RTW: Please share an excerpt with us. What leads up to this scene?

MM: Lily is in Omaha, aware she will need protection from impending danger, and talking to her domineering aunt--who wishes her to return to Chicago and forget this foolish trip.

Double Crossing by Meg Mims

Copyright © 2011 Meg Mims

My face burned. I gritted my teeth, aware of the curious diners' hushed whispers around the room, and lowered my voice. "I overheard your plans about Bellevue. Did you think I'd allow you to shut me away in such a place?"

She gave a dismissive wave. "We only have your health in mind."

"I'm in perfect health. You'd better take the train back to Chicago, Aunt Sylvia, because I already bought my Pullman ticket."

"You cannot travel alone with Mr. Mason. You're not engaged."

"Uncle Harrison is expecting me."

I ignored a twinge of guilt while the fib hovered between us. Her mouth pinched tight, she drummed her fingers on the tablecloth. Charles stood quiet, his face beet red, one hand smoothing back his fair hair, the other adjusting his collar and tie. Angry yells and shouts drifted through the window panes from the street, drowning out the resumed conversation around us, the clatter of plates and flatware. Outside, I caught sight of several men who fought with bare fists. They kicked, bit, scratched and pummeled each other. Sir Vaughn glanced out the window and then sat across from my aunt. He waved a hand.

"Common ruffians. These rustic surroundings breed a lack of manners."

"Lily, you have no idea of the dangers. My husband traveled to Nevada earlier this year," Aunt Sylvia said. "Neither you or Mr. Mason have considered the impropriety of this."

"He's a gentleman for escorting me."

"I can see for myself what you both are--"

A blood‑curdling yell, similar to what I'd read about an Indian war cry, stopped her cold. The moment I glanced up, the window exploded. Shards of glass rained on us and a man rolled over the table. Scattering plates, flatware, cups and teapot, before he crashed onto the floor--unconscious, and half‑draped in the tablecloth among the broken china and glass.

Mere inches from my feet.

# # #

RTW: Great excerpt, Meg!  What's your next offering?

MM: I'm hoping to get Double or Nothing written before 2012. But I'm not a fast writer, given the amount of research I do. I'm hoping to sell Fire Point, my award-winning mystery, so we'll have to see.

RTW: Release Date?

MM: I'll let you know!

RTW: Anything else you'd like to add?

MM: Thanks, Jacquie, for hosting me on Romancing the West! It's a fabulous blog.

RTW: And thank you, Meg, for joining us this week.  Stay tuned for Meg's article on Thursday!

Win a FREE copy of DOUBLE CROSSING!

All those who leave a comment this week will be entered to win a free pdf of Double Crossing! It's earned many 5-star reviews, so make sure you enter! Leave more than one comment, double your chances for the win-win! Drawing will be held September 17th at 10pm Pacific Time. Be sure to include your email address with your comment or we'll have to pick another winner. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!