Last Friday, Kate and Gerry McCann were named as suspects in their daughter, Madeline’s, disappearance.
The news called it a shocking twist.

Really? The only thing I found shocking was that the police to that long to look at the parents. The story never really made sense to me. Yes, children ARE kidnapped out of their beds. It does happen, but just not usually while the parents are supposedly one hundred yards away eating dinner and occasionally checking on the kids.

The story didn’t add up to me. Maybe the parents aren’t involved, I really don’t know. Weird, tragic things do happen, and as parents, we sometimes make very poor judgment calls.

But this case bugged me. A lot. The first I heard of it was when JK Rowlings and David Beckham made public appeals to help the family raise money to find their daughter. I immediately wondered why? Why are the stars coming out to find THIS child?

Then I saw the picture of the child, a beautiful blue-eye blonde, and pictures of the grieving successful, attractive parents. Maybe the parents were quick thinking and media savvy enough to figure out how to get Madeline in the news where she had the best chance of being found. And who doesn’t want to help find an abducted child?

Right from the first time I heard this story, I had a bad feeling. A feeling that people, people that are probably good, caring people who wanted to find this child and bring her safely home, were being duped.

And I’m just going to say it–the media went for showing the picture of the beautiful, blonde blue-eyed girl tragically missing. They seem to believe that “look” will play on more emotions that all those other missing children out there. I hope to God that’s not true, but I fear it is.

Here’s what I think happened—when the police got the call of a missing child, no one wanted to believe that these nice looking doctors could lose it and hurt their own child, or accidently harm their child the cover it up. It’s much easier to believe an intruder got into the room and took the child. Someone who looks like a monster—maybe a known child predator.

But it can’t be the two nice looking, successful parents. That hits too close to home for all of us. We just want to believe we can spot a monster. We don’t want to believe that the very people who are supposed to protect a child with their lives could be the ones to take that child’s life.

I don’t know what happened to Madeline McCann. I hope they will find her alive and well, but the reality is probably much grimmer than that. If the parents did have something to do with it, the police botched the investigation. Interrogating them FOUR MONTHS LATER is too late. They’ve had time to cement their stories, and maybe even believe it themselves. If the parents had nothing to do with Madeline’s disappearance, then all this is now a horrible, painful torture for two grieving people. Something that should have been done right away and gotten over with. In the first hours of their daughter’s disappearance, I’m sure they would have done anythng to help find her including asnwer any and all questions (assuming they had nothing to do with it). The best chance that child had was in the first hours of discovering her missing and no stone should have been left unturned.

But a huge massive bolder was—the parents.

No I’m not surprised they’ve been named as suspects. I’m just surprised it took so long. What do you all think?

Special Notice–Tomorrow Murder She Writes will welcome J. Carson Black as our Guest Blogger. Natalie is taking a little time off but she’ll be back very soon!

My knees are so not having any of that! But, I have hope, that once there is less cargo in the caboose the knees will not be so tender. I have to begin somewhere and have begun this journey with a first step. Oh, and there is a reward at the end of the journey.

The obvious aside, being healthier and looking much better in my clothes, I have picked a prize. When I have officially lost that thirtieth pound I will order a pair of red snake skin Manolo pumps I have coveted for some time now. I almost ordered them the other night on a pure impulse, but I told myself that was cheating.
So, I go visit them a couple of times a day online.

Okay, so my youngest daughter calls me the other day. “Mom, I met this couple at work and they sell this diet drink…” I told her to stop right there. Then proceeded to tell her what we all know. While it may seem to pile on quick, the only way to get rid of fat is through a steady healthy diet and exercise. Period. Yes, there are fad diets that work, and diet pills, and diet drinks and this program and that program, but until there is serious and prolonged (as in forever) lifestyle changes the weight will come back, and usually it brings friends.

And here’s the other thing. It takes a lot longer to lose then it does to gain. So patience is vital.
Another vital part of weight lose is eating habits. Grazing works. Eat a little something every 3 hours. Be sure to eat breakfast. It sets your metabolism for the day. I hate breakfast, unless I eat it 3 hours after I get up. But I make a quick frittata casserole to last me the week. I cut a chunk each morning nuke it and munch it like a candy bar as I read my morning email and drink my coffee. Here’s my recipe.

1 quart of egg beaters
4 regular eggs
½ salsa drained
½ cup low fat shredded cheese (you pick your fave)

I whisk the four eggs in a large bowl then add the egg beaters, mix that all up, add the salsa and cheese, pour into a Pam’ed casserole dish, put it in the oven at 350 for about 25 min or so.

Cover with foil and fridg until you want a chunk. You can use spinach, onions, mushrooms or any type of veggie you want, just make sure you eat a chunk in the morning. If you’re going to have carbs, breakfast is the time to eat them. Try to keep it restricted to whole grain products.

If you can’t afford a gym, don’t like gyms or don’t have the time for a gym, pick the same time of day, and walk for 20 min. Add time as you can. Do it every day. Regular exercising combined with less calories will equal weight loss. Maybe not 5 pounds a week like on those fad diets but the slow and steady approach makes it much easier.

Don’t bring crap in the house. And pre make snacks. Cut and store fresh veggies, buy lean protein and while that non fat mayo is disgusting, buy the low fat and mix it with a dollop of the good stuff. Or better yet, use mustard instead of mayo. I L.O.V.E. mayonnaise. To avoid it, I don’t eat foods that require it.

If you like tuna make a bowl of tuna with chopped white onion, chopped jalapeños and some cilantro. Mix with a little bit of mayo and it’s delish. Keep a bowl in the fridg for those cravings. Always make sure there is something healthy to munch on. You know what triggers your carvings, stop pulling the trigger. Go walk instead. Force yourself. I guarantee you will be glad you did once you are out there.

So, when I weighed in this Friday morning, I weighed 3 pounds less then I did the previous Friday (but I started the previous Monday, so 3 lbs in 10 days).

How about you? And share your fave diet or exercise tips.

I’m moving in February.

This is good news–awhile back I blogged about how I don’t have my own writing space. After giving birth to Brennan #5, I sacrificed my den. My writing space moved to the living room and I ended up sharing it with my husband.

Not good.

I like my stuff. I like my stuff around me. I know where my stuff is, even if no one else understands my organizational system.

My husband can’t work with a desk that has anything but a computer and keyboard on it.

Needless to say, conflict.

I started writing outside the house–at Starbucks, the brewery, Panera, BJs, wherever–because I found I couldn’t write well at home. Too many distractions, even when the kids were at school. When I was sitting at a booth alone, I could really do NOTHING but write. And I found I wrote not only faster, but better. It became a self-fulfilling prophesy–I sensed I wrote better, so I did, and I sensed I couldn’t write at home, so I couldn’t, and therefore I started having solid 30 page days at Starbucks and Chilis, and 1 page days at home.

But we’re moving from a 2200 square foot house into a 4400 square foot house. And I’ll have my own detached office, nearly 800 square feet of MY space. Mine, all mine. With a door and a lock, a kitchenette and a bathroom. I’m so excited I can hardly wait. Except . . .

What if I can’t write there?

I know I’m going to have to retrain myself. I know it’s not going to be easy. And I’ll have time–I have a book due February 1 and we’re moving shortly thereafter. My next book after that is due June 1, so I think I can get into the groove. Because after buying this house, I certainly can’t afford a $200 a month Starbucks habit or having a three hour lunch at local restaurants during the week.

As the house is being built, I’ll post pictures of my space. One of the best things about it is the view–my office has the best view on the property. I’m hoping that’ll inspire me.

Anyway, where do you write? Do you change locations when you’re stuck? Do you prefer a laptop or a desktop–or (gasp) pen and paper? And if you could no longer write in your favorite writing spot, what would happen?

Help!!!! . . . In DYING BREATH, the third book of my prison break series, I’m introducing the heroine for the first FBI book. She’s in her late 30s, an assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento field office and has some specialties (not sure what yet.) She’s a by-the-book agent, very smart, a little on the cool side. A little like Kate Donovan, but she would never have broken the rules or left the country to catch a killer on her own. Not because she isn’t capable, but because rules matter. (Can you just FEEL the conflict between her and Jack Kincaid??? I can hardly wait to write their book!) Unlike many of my heroines, she had a relatively normal childhood (I think). Her brother is the District Attorney of Sacramento County (Matt Elliott, who is the hero of my short story Killing Justice.) But when she was a relatively new agent she was part of the Evidence Response Team that went to Kosovo. She saw and experienced things that effected her deeply and reinforced her natural law-and-order personality. She is not afraid to risk her life to save others, she’s intensely loyal and compassionate, but doesn’t always come off as caring even though she is. She pushes everyone hard, but pushes herself harder. Except for her brother (they have dinner once a week because they are their only family left and/or in the area), she doesn’t have much of a social life.

So, the name game. Because of the brother, her last name has to be Elliott. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but it works so well with the story to have her brother as the D.A. (I was going to make him her ex-husband, but that doesn’t work.) BTW, Matt will come back too. I adore him

My first name choice was Margo. My mom hates that name. I keep coming back to it, though, so I’m putting it on the short list. Then I was calling her Madelyn, but it just doesn’t fit. The other two names I’ve considered are TJ (short for Theresa something); Jaye (who was a heroine of mine in a book that was never published); and Sydney. I don’t know if Sydney Elliott sounds good off the tongue. The other three . . . Margo, TJ, and Jaye, sound better to me.

So please vote:

Margo Elliott
TJ Elliott
Jaye Elliott
Sydney Elliott

. . . or does anyone have a better idea? I spent hours yesterday thinking about this because she needs to be mentioned in SILENT SCREAM because that’s how I get Mitch Bianchi, the hero of DYING BREATH, back to Sacramento. She’s his boss. So right now I have XXX Elliott, which just isn’t going to work . . .

There are a lot of words in the world. So many in fact, I’m inclined to believe that if all of them could be linked together, you’d have a word-chain long enough to stretch past the boundaries of the universe. That said, I can’t help but wonder why, with so many words at our disposal, is it so difficult to choose the right ones when we need them. As a storyteller, I’m always hunting for perfect words, words that will evoke particular emotions. The problem is I often use too many non-perfect ones, which winds up diluting the intended effect.

When considering words, I also have to wonder about the ones we do choose at times. Words like forever and always and never. In a three-dimensional world, those three words don’t actually have substance because no human has truly experienced any of them before. They’re idealistic words used predominately for impact, and, in my opinion, all three should be governed by some sort of Word Law. That way their true meaning, as we know it, remains intact. An example of such a Word Law might be…

· The use of FOREVER, ALWAYS, and NEVER is strictly prohibited in any
context, unless immediately followed by the word UNLESS.

- Ex: “I’ll love you forever . . . unless you don’t change that one thing you do
that drives me nuts.”

- Ex: “I’ll always love you….unless I don’t get my way anymore.”

- Ex: “I’ll never stop loving you . . . unless I simply choose to.”

- Ex: “I’ll never forgive you . . . unless I need something from you.”

- Ex: “I’ll always treasure this gift . . .unless I get pissed off at you, then I’ll
throw it away.”

You know, it’s pretty rare to find a person who’ll think through words and consider their potential impact before allowing them out of their mouth. What usually happens is we let our emotions and selfishness piss words out at will, good ones and bad ones.

Oddly enough, the opposite seems to be the case when it comes to writing dialogue in fiction. In order to keep our characters ‘in character, we have to carefully consider the intent and motivation behind the words we give them to speak. Then, of course, the narrative has to follow suit.

Back in school, one of my English professors used to say, “Keep it tight and right,” every time he handed out a writing assignment. That was his way of reminding us not to use words we didn’t need or mean in any part of the story. I have a tendency to forget that, especially when writing narrative. For example, if I wrote, Her life ended in an old hotel on August 29th at 11:28 P.M., would you think I meant that figuratively or literally? Did SHE physically die in an old hotel? It’s hard to tell without reading more, right? Although the actual meaning might be revealed in the next few sentences, the point is…do I WANT to leave you with the impression that she literally died? Is that what I meant to do, or was I aiming for a different effect and missed the target?

What if I wrote this dialogue—male character sharing his feelings with a woman—”I love you, baby, white-hot and forever. You’re the other half of my spirit, the One I’ve been searching for all my life. I want to marry you, be with you every moment of every day for the rest of my life…” What kind of man does that dialogue portray? How would you envision him?

Now suppose, further along in the story, I add narrative that shows this guy leaving the woman because he fears another man might steal her away at any given moment he can’t physically be with her. The thought alone causes him so much stress and fear it’s easier for him to dump her than it is for him to work through the issue. Would that narrative cause you to see this man differently than you did earlier? If so, is that what I meant to happen? And if I meant for you to see him differently, to what extreme? In other words, did the dialogue cause you to feel all warm and woogly about the guy, then suddenly this narrative comes along and you found yourself wanting to castrate him? If it did create those extremes, was that my intent or did I simply screw up and write overkill?

Keep it tight and right—easier said than done, isn’t it? Or in a word . . .”Oy!”

It’s a holiday weekend, at least here in the states. I sent off a project to my agent during the week and have actual time off!

Woo Hoo!

It’s not quite working out as I planned since the weather, which has been really nice all summer, suddenly got cranky. The days just got weirder and weirder with thunder storms and flash floods. But Southern California rarely has any REAL weather so hubby and I figured we were safe planning a small pool party on Sunday.

Sunday morning arrives and I was running around doing my usual craziness…

Why do I clean when the house is going to be filled with kids? That has to be a special kind of insanity, don’t you think?

Anyway, I just finished cleaning when a sudden roar stunned hubby and me. Then the house jolted and I grabbed onto the nearest wall.

EARTHQUAKE!

It was a big jolt but over quickly.

And then we’re back on track. Except outside, thunder clouds are starting to appear in the distance. Okay, no problem, we estimate the kids will get a couple hours of swimming in.

But our company comes a bit later than we planned.

No problem, we hurry through everyone into the pool!

The power goes out. It’s over 100 degrees and no air condition. I shrug it off and join our guests in the pool.

Ten minutes later, the clouds roll in, thunder booms and five minutes later rain starts.

Then it POURS!

It was actually pretty funny. We pile into the house and dry off. On the up side, the power has come bck on. We decide to order pizza, let the kids eat then we’ll go back into the pool when the storm blows out.

Small problem–the pizza parlor is flooded. They can’t cook pizza.

By now, we’re all laughing. Hubby finds another pizza place that is dry, orders the pizza and we send the two older boys into the wilds to bring home the pizza.

The high winds have swept every possible leaf and debris into the pool. We can’t go back in until we totally clean it. You know, the day didn’t turn out like we planned, but the kids enjoyed watching the driving rain storm, we all spent time together and it’s an interesting memory.

How about you all? Any plans for Labor Day? Did you do anything fun over the weekend?

P.S. Don’t tell Karin about the brownies and ice cream I had!