Let’s talk tube.

Someone sent me a blog yesterday that was sprinkled with TV references, and I came to the realization that I don’t watch nearly enough television.

I know, I know. Americans watch too much TV. We’re melting our brains. Our children are turning into couch potatoes before our eyes, etc. But the thing is, there are households out there where TV just isn’t a big deal. My house happens to be one of them. And while there are definitely some good things about that, I can’t help feeling (occasionally) that I’m missing out.

So I set out to do something simple (or so I thought). Find a list of the top TV shows out there and pick one to start watching. I discovered this is tough to do. TV has become so varied and fragmented, and there is simply so much out there. It isn’t like 25 years ago when Thursday nights rolled around and half the people in America were glued to THE COSBY SHOW.

After scouring the Internet (okay, I only spent thirty minutes, but still), I realized a definitive list of “top” TV shows is hard to come by, probably because there are so many definitions of “top” and everyone wants a list that suits their own agenda. But here are some shows that I came across again and again:

TRUE BLOOD

NCIS

BIG BANG THEORY

CRIMINAL MINDS

30 ROCK

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

BONES

HELL’S KITCHEN

AMERICA’S GOT TALENT

Is your favorite show on this list? Currently, the only show I watch on a regular basis is TOP CHEF, which always makes me hungry. I’m looking for a new show to fall in love with. Tell me about your favorite and why you like it so much.

Just for fun, I also poked around and found a list of top TV shows of all time. I’m a little skeptical because the list I found included CHEERS, MOONLIGHTING, and THE WEST WING (yep, agree with those) but also FELICITY (!?!). So who knows where these lists come from.

Anyway, tell me your favorite TV show, past and present, and be eligible to win a $15 GIFT CARD TO STARBUCKS, along with a signed copy of my new release UNSPEAKABLE.

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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Did you notice the double exclamation marks? Can you tell how excited I am?

There is nothing like a book release. I get that flutter in my stomach the night before. I toss and turn all night. Then on the morning of pub date I jump out of bed and immediately want to go to the book store.

The release of this new book, UNSPEAKABLE, is particularly special to me because I’ve had this story in my head for such a long time. Well, not the story exactly, but the people. Every time I’ve met a female cop or interviewed an FBI agent or read a book about the FBI Academy, I’ve been thinking about this heroine. And now here she is, alive on the page.

Her name is Elaina McCord, and she’s the rookie agent who gets in way over her head when she goes to a popular Texas beach resort to help local police solve a string of brutal murders. Elaina is sharp, stubborn, resilient, and also a fish out of water in the Texas border region. Lucky for her (and because this is a romantic suspense story) true crime writer Troy Stockton shows up to help her navigate the local politics… but of course his help comes with some strings attached.

It was so much funresearching this book! I got to interview FBI agents all over the country and hear some amazing war stories. I had a chance to tour the Academy at Quantico. I got to fire a Glock for the first time. I got to walk around Hogan’s Alley, where agents-in-training practice takedowns. I got to fire a Glock. 

Did I mention the Glock? That was my favorite part.                                                                             

And then I got to sit down at my computer and let the story flow and weave in all the details I’d gathered and … I can’t explain it. I just felt like it came together. So when the cardboard box arrived on my doorstep filled with books, you can imagine how excited I was. I hope readers enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Let me share a review, and then get to the fun part. THE GIVEAWAY!!

“A tight suspense with the sexiest of heroes and a protagonist seriously worth rooting for!” 4 1/2 STARS! –RT Book Reviews

Oh, and Fresh Fiction put a smile on my face, too:

“Laura Griffin’s Tracers series is spellbinding and full of twists and turns. A page-turner until the last page, it’s a fabulous read.”

I hope you will like the book, too! To celebrate the release this week I’m giving away a signed copy of UNTRACEABLE, along with a $25 GIFTCARD TO BORDERS. Just leave a comment for a chance to win! And drop by my Web site at www.lauragriffin.com if you’d like to read an excerpt.

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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If you are a mother, this has probably happened to you.

You’re standing in your closet holding a spatula and a pair of pink Speedo goggles and you’re looking for something, but for the life of you, you have no idea what it is.

No? You haven’t had this experience?

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I have an attention deficit disorder. Or maybe I’m simply juggling about sixteen too many balls in the air. Or maybe I’m having a string of senior moments a few decades early. For whatever reason, about once a week I find myself in the middle of something and I’m reminded of the book I used to read to my kids, If You Give a Moose a Muffin.Or a pig a pancake. Or a (fill in cute animal and high-carb bakery item) as I go about my life. For those of you not familiar with this story (which really is wonderful, by the way, even if I don’t enjoy the obvious parallels between myself and the pig, moose, et al.) it involves some animal that starts out doing something simple and gets distracted with a dozen other tasks along the way.

This is my life lately.  I have a book on my desk awaiting line edits, a novella on my desk awaiting copy edits, and a manuscript-in-progress on my computer that is woefully lacking in heft.

And what am I doing this afternoon? I am labeling socks. Forty-eight socks, to be exact. Each with the first and last name of a child who is leaving home for the first time this weekend (sniff) to go to summer camp.

Perhaps this is the real source of my anxiety. Probably, this is why I’ve been a bit muddled lately as I turn my house upside-down looking for fitted twin sheets, flashlight batteries, and drawstring laundry bags. It’s their first non-family journey away from home, and I’m a bit mixed about it. I know it will be a character-building experience. (I did six years of camp, so I can definitely attest to this). I also KNOW that I sorely need the work time without distractions so that I can make some progress on my writing. But still, I’m finding it harder than usual to get myself and my family organized.

Can anyone relate to this? Please tell me I’m not the only one out there with the attention span of a moose.

Because I’m feeling snacky after writing this, one lucky commenter will win a $10 gift card to Starbucks (buy yourself a muffin!) and a signed copy of my latest release UNSPEAKABLE, which hits bookstores on Tuesday. Woo-hoo! I’ll be blogging about the book next week! In the meantime, leave a comment and be eligible to win.                   

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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As we head off for Memorial Day holidays, it’s a good time to say thank you to our men and women in uniform, past and present, for the sacrifices they have made for our country. I know that I for one take my freedom for granted every single day, and we all owe our armed forces a huge debt of gratitude. Too bad most of us only think about this a few times a year.

I have never been in a war. I’ve never even been in a war zone. The closest I have been was touring Ground Zero about a year after 9/11, and if anyone doubts whether those attacks constituted an act of war against our country, I would say talk to someone who was there that day and I bet you will change your mind.

I experience war the way many Americans do–through the filter of the media. I read about it in newspapers, online, see it on TV, and occasionally pick up a book about it. It is through the words of writers–some professional and some not–that I feel a sense of loss, sacrifice, awe, horror, and gratitude over the experiences of people who represent my country overseas.

Today I want to share with you a few books, all about different wars, that really struck a chord with me. In short, they made me cry. They also made me laugh and wonder and feel grateful for those who have served our country.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien – This poignant collection of stories about Vietnam gives a very personal and humanizing glimpse into the lives of a handful of soldiers by examining the things they carried with them through the jungle: “They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated Bibles, each other.” (from the back cover copy)

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier — This is a love story, first and foremost, but it really drove home for me how bloody the Civil War was and made me realize how close we came to not being a United States.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson — A terrifying and extremely moving account, set in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, of one of the bloodiest days ever for America’s Navy SEALs. What got me about this book was the gray areas. It made me think about how difficult it is to draw a hard line between right and wrong, especially on the modern battlefield. I read the whole book as told through the eyes of this Navy SEAL who watched his friends die, and even in hindsight, I have no idea how I would have responded if faced with the same impossible choices. This book made me think, and I believe that’s the hallmark of an effective war story.

Can you recommend any books about war or soldiers? Or maybe you saw a movie that really hit home? Please share your thoughts!

And a safe and happy Memorial Weekend to everyone!

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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Books are an addiction for me. They accumulate on my nightstand. On my coffee table. In my car. At almost any given moment there’s one tucked in my purse. And it’s a rare grocery run when I don’t at least pause beside that alluring section right next to the magazines.

Everyone in my family knows I’m an addict, which is why for years they’ve been trying to buy me a Kindle.

“Thanks,” I say (very sincerely… this is no cheap gift we’re talking about!) “But I’m really attached to my paperbacks.”

I am, too. For me, it’s about relaxation. I read books to relax, to unwind, to escape into a great story. Gazing at a computer screen and holding something digital in my hands feels like work to me. I’m in front of a computer all day. The last thing I want to do at night is curl up in an armchair with one.

Does anyone relate to this? Sometimes I feel like I’m the only book lover left who isn’t dying to make the leap to the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad, the Kobo. Which of course isn’t true. I mean, these gizmos are pricey. They range from around $200 for the Sony Reader Pocket Edition to the (gasp!) $829 iPad Wi-Fi 3G with all the bells and whistles. Now there’s something you don’t want to misplace. And it’s not possible yet to do what I do when I shop for sunglasses, which is go the cheapo route so that if you lose them (which I always do) nobody cares.

So, today I’m taking a poll. Show of hands, please, who here uses a digital reading device of some sort? And more importantly, do you like it? I’m genuinely curious. Maybe I’ve been too quick to judge.

Does it work for you at the beach? By the pool? What about in the bath tub? I read an article in the (paper version) New York Timesnot too long ago in which Amazon founder Jeff Bezos bragged about zipping his Kindle into a one-gallon Ziploc bag so he could use it in the bath tub.

He must be joking, I thought. Founder of one of the most progressive companies in the world and that’s the best he’s got? A plastic baggie?

There may come a day when I take these words back (I’m pretty sure of it, actually, but I’m dreading it all the same), but no digital book for me, thanks. I much prefer the paper kind.

So what about you? Like I said, takin’ a poll here. It’s only three questions, and anyone who responds will be eligible to win a free (paper) version of any of my books.

1) Do you own any sort of electronic reader?

2) If not, how come?

3) If you have one (or have ever used one) what do you think?

That’s it! Good luck with the giveaway and happy reading to you, however you like to do it.

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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I have my 75,000+ Baby Names  book out again.

If you ever want to make a man’s heart skip, just leave that thing on the edge of your desk. I get the book out several times a year, always eliciting a look of panic from my husband no matter how many times I explain that I’m only using it for work.

Typically when Baby Names  comes out I’m starting a story, but right now I’m finishing one. This is the handy-dandy reference that helps me name characters, which isn’t nearly as easy as you might think. This time around, for instance, I’m not naming a character but renaming one after starting out with a name that sounds way too similar to a character in another author’s story. (It wouldn’t matter, really, but we’re in an anthology together and don’t want to confuse readers!)

What’s in a name, anyway?

If you’re a reader or writer of fiction, you probably know the answer. A lot.

So many memorable characters have cool sounding names: Roarke, Scarpetta, Holden. Frequently, names in fiction are chosen to conjure up images. (Han Solo, Clarice Starling, Bella Swan, to mention a few). But there’s more to choosing a character name than imagery, unfortunately. Oftentimes it takes me longer to come up with the right name than the opening scene.

Many of my characters aren’t born at the beginning of a book, but in the middle of one. I’ll be in the midst of a scene and boom, new character walks in and I have to figure out what to call him. Call him Sam and get on with it, you might think. Problem is, the secondary characters could end up having their own books down the road. And whatever name I pulled out of the sky on that fateful day, I’m stuck with it for months and months. So it had better be good, heroic-sounding, worthy of a 100,000-word story.

Here are just a few criteria I think about: How does the name sound? Is it too similar to other names in my story? (Anyone who has ever read a book populated with guys named Jake, Jared, and Jacob knows how annoying this can be. Why not just toss in a woman named Jaymee and drive the reader completely nuts?)

So I make an effort not to have all my characters names start with the same letter.  Also, I try to avoid names that end with “s” because that just gives me grief later when I’m making possessives. And that’s when the detective spotted it! On the rain-drenched sidewalk was Amy Meyers’s bloody scarf….

Usually I come up with a first name simply by thinking about my character and consulting my baby names book. Pairing it with a last name is where the trouble starts.

Here’s how hero-naming often goes for me: I think of something fabulous. It’s simple, macho-sounding without being over the top. The name works well with my heroine. Her  name doesn’t sound kooky with it, should they get married someday (I don’t want to end up with a Sunny Skye or something). At last, I have the perfect name for my leading man. I turn to my computer, hop onto Google, and . . .

Find out he’s a porn star. Or an NFL quarterback. Or a seventy-year-old radio personality whom I’ve never heard of but millions of people listen to daily.

Sigh. Back to the drawing board. And so it goes until finally I get it right.

How do you think of names? Besides my baby names book, I use the phone book, the social security web site, the newspaper. If you’re not a writer, how did you come up with names for your kids? Your pets?

I’m looking for fresh ideas here! Share your stories and one commenter will win a free book. In honor of this weekend’s Romantic Times convention, I’m giving away a signed copy of UNTRACEABLE, which was nominated for an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award.

Good luck and have a great weekend!

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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Are you a visual person? I am.

Long before words make their way onto my computer screen, I have images in my head. Some are vague. Some are very concrete. But for me, one of the best ways to get a new story off the ground is to take those images and make them into a tangible picture.

Every writer has different prewriting rituals. Janet Evanovich maps out plots on a whiteboard. Suzanne Brockmann writes detailed outlines with lots of backstory to get to know her characters. In my case, creating a bulletin board about my story somehow does the magic trick. Most people would call it a collage, but I think of it as a springboard because it gives me lots of ideas.

This is one of those writing rituals that I look forward to each time I start a new project. Why? Because first off, I’m a big procrastinator. Anything to avoid sitting down and typing the dreaded words, “Chapter One.” Also, I love this ritual because it feels like play instead of work. I get to guiltlessly flip through magazines, newspapers, and catalogues, searching for anything and everything that has to do with my story.

Faces are critical. I’ll search for hours because I have to be able to visualize the characters while I’m writing them. What have I learned from so much time poring through magazines? That our culture, unfortunately, has an endless appetite for perfectly beautiful women who look empty-headed. Ninety percent of the female models and many of the male models I see in magazines would never work in my stories because they look lifeless (and I won’t rant here, because that’s a whole different blog). But despite the glut of vapid sexiness, every now and then I run across a face that has some attitude, some imperfections, some character to it.

Those are the ones I keep.

It’s not just people I clip, but settings–maybe a deserted beach, an eerie looking building. I may never end up using it in my novel, but if it evokes a mood, I want it. Same for props. I clip pictures of cars, murder weapons, shoes, plants–whatever I can find that reminds me of my story.

This isn’t a new idea. Plenty of authors do a collage to get their creative juices flowing. Author Jennifer Crusie (a former art teacher) does elaborate constructions with all kinds of 3-D elements. She says they help her tap into that “subconscious soup” that feeds her stories.

At the moment, I have two springboards on my desk. One is the book I’m starting, the other is the one I’m editing. Each board has pictures of the hero, the heroine, the villain. I’ve got clips of the settings for my pivotal scenes. I’ve got a poem by e.e. cummings that has nothing to do with my plot, but just reminds me of my story for some reason.

Best of all, my springboards help me get to know my charaters. When I’m stuck in a scene, staring off into space, my gaze drifts to the board and I find myself face-to-face with my story people. No, they don’t come to life and talk to me (I’m not quite that crazy) but just seeing them there helps me get back into their heads and get on with the book.

Where do you get your story ideas? And if you’re not a writer, what are your creative springboards in other pursuits? I’d love to hear them! Please take a moment to share your inspiration!

Earlier this week, I was inspired by a talk given by fellow Austin author Julia London, so I’m giving away an autographed copy of her new release, A COURTESAN’S SCANDAL. Just leave a comment, and you’ll be eligible to win!

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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What’s better than chocolate? According to a friend of mine who just spent a year deployed overseas, a good book.

Jess Dawson (pen name Jessica Scott) is a lifelong book lover and a member of my local RWA chapter. She also happens to be a first lieutenant in the army, and she says that for many women in uniform, the selection of reading materials wears a little thin after a while. Why? Because (not surprisingly) the stuff on most military bases is geared toward a male audience.

“Most of the books on base are of the Vince Flynn/ Brad Thor variety, which is great if you’re a fan but not if you need something else,” she says. “Care packages that contain books are better than chocolate and almost as good as getting coffee!”

I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand the thought of anyone not having enough to read. My RWA chapter felt the same, and last year we started sending books to Jess’s unit. Romances, chick lit, mysteries, women’s fiction–we covered the spectrum, but tried to tailor it to a female audience. Now Jess is safely home (thank goodness) but there are still lots of female soldiers who could use a good read.

So please excuse the public service announcement, but I’m doing a paperback book drive today! I’m putting together a big (hopefully, very big) care package for our ladies overseas, and for every person who leaves a comment here, I’m adding a book to it. My goal is to send 100 books (which is probably crazy because the most comments I’ve ever gotten was maybe fifty or something), but anyway 100 is the magic number. Help me out. E-mail your friends. Comment twice, if you want to.

I’ve got a selection of books from our Murder She Writes authors, as well as donations from my Austin RWA chapter and other author friends. They’re all going into the box, along with a few other much-requested goodies, such as blank journals and, yes, chocolate!

And if you have some books on your hands you’d like to donate directly, you can contact Monica, a soldier who gets care packages to women in uniform. Contact mojo09226@yahoo.com for details.

100 books… Are you up for it?

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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We’re experiencing a first this weekend: Going camping. As a family. Sounds fun, right? I’m cautiously optimistic.

With the exception of an ill-fated Girl Scout weekend (the temperature plunged and we only had a pair of those flimsy princess sleeping bags), I haven’t been camping since I was a kid, and things have changed a lot since then. I remember the merciless teasing my mom endured for bringing along a battery-powered makeup mirror. Looking back on it now, I’m not amazed she brought a battery-powered gadget, but that she took the trouble to put on makeup on the banks of the Salmon River in Idaho.

Today, camping is a whole new world, and that seems wrong to me somehow. Shouldn’t getting back to nature be the same from generation to generation? It isn’t. We’ve entered the age of iCamping. A quick glance at our duffel bags reveals so many digital gizmos, I’m embarrassed to list them all. Here’s a sampling: two iPods, two iPhones, a Nintendo DSs, an electric razor, a battery-operated fan, a battery-operated lantern, a digital watch that’s water-resistant to 100 feet, should we decide to go scuba diving in the river. Even the simple compass my dad carried in his ever-fashionable fanny pack has been replaced by a Global Positioning System. When my husband threatened to bring his laptop, I finally put my foot down.

What’s the point of going camping if we schlep all this stuff with us? And it’s not like we’re going for a three-month trek through the wilderness. We’re talking about one night. Twenty-four hours. Not even long enough to fill up an email Inbox.

After my attack of idealism, I culled through our bags and limited our gadgets to one cell phone, a watch, and a flashlight. That’s not so bad, right? I couldn’t bear the thought of my kids watching Aliens in the Atticon their iPods inside the tent instead of enjoying the campfire. But the whole exercise has me wondering, does anybody ever truly get away anymore?

Do you?

I know I don’t, at least not very often. As an author, I work for myself, as does my husband. The autonomy is great, but on the other hand, there’s the feeling of always being on call, never really getting off the electronic leash.

I wonder if the average American family has lost the ability to just pack up and get on the road, get back to nature. If so, that’s a shame. I think we could all use some time away from our digital devices. A whole day seems like heaven. Sometimes I sit in restaurants watching people chat away on their cell phones and wonder if even getting people away from their iPhones and BlackBerries long enough to share a meal is a fantasy.

What do you think? Is there something to be said for forcing your family to go offline every now and then? Or am I fighting a losing battle here?

I’d love to hear your opinions. And one lucky commenter will win a signed copy of my latest release UNTRACEABLE. Good luck to all of you. And wish me luck as I head off for a digital-free weekend!

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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Congratulations to this week’s prize winners!

Emmanuelle won a signed copy of Rachael Herron’s new book HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG. contact sophielittlefield@me.com with your mailing address and so that she can make sure you receive your prize.

Catherine who commented on Laura Griffin’s blog about saying goodbye won a signed copy of WHISPER OF WARNING. Please contact laura@lauragriffin.com with a mailing address so that she can get your prize to you.

Congratulations and happy reading!

©2010 Murder She Writes. All Rights Reserved.

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