K is for Killer and ...

K is for Killer and…In most modern mysteries that is true. 

There is a tote bag picture floating around the internet with the phrase, "Don't annoy the author. She will put you in a book and kill you…" What an absolute good idea. 

To dispense with what annoys you whether it's a sibling, boss or company. The solution has potential for monetary value without criminal charges.

Got an editor who drives you to drink or thoughts of putting up your pen for good? Perhaps it' s time to write a new novel. An insurance company or agent pushes you to seek recourse? Reach for the pen instead of the sword. Skull Music takes insurance companies to task, as Arnold Beeblebox, former agent of an insurance company rebels against their harsh treatment but did he carry it too far? 

Do you see big business stomping the little guy? Read Ghost Music of Vaudeville or My Brother's Keeper for non-violent solutions, well the book may off a few people…but figuratively speaking you are off the hook, no malice or mayhem on your record.

K is for killer and Knapsack Secrets has its share, a modern mystery that shares the stage with homelessness, corporate greed and jealous rivalries in competition.

A good read is better than a small cell any day. So do the write instead of the murder.

P.S. Go to Amazon Kindle to get your hands on three deeply discounted

Kindle editions of Adrift ( a treasure trove of flash fiction) One Woman's 

Garden (organic gardening tips and tricks) or Mystery A-Z all three are only 

99 cents for a limited time. 

G is for Gumshoe, Gangster and...

G is for gumshoe, gangster and Ghost Music of Vaudeville. So where did the term gumshoe come from and what does it mean? G is for gumshoe as a term for detective originated long before I began reading my first mystery. Why gumshoe? Think of a PI running around seedy neighborhoods gathering clues. He is bound to step in some gum on the sidewalk one place or another…well, maybe not. 

The real explanation is offered that during the 1800's the soles of boots and shoes were made from a product called gum rubber and thus soft and quiet walking. Gumshoe meant to sneak around. A gum shoe-man was slang for a thief. But, by 1908 "gum shoe" meant a police detective and it stuck (excuse the pun) 

Gangster, we know, the typical bad guy, crime family mobster, Mafia come immediately to mind, which brings us to The Ghost Music of Vaudeville where our gumshoe is Charlie, a woman investigative reporter. 

The gangsters want the Keith Theatre and Charlie, Tommy and Piano man solicit the help of theater and music icon Bette Midler to help save the day. 

You can follow the path of this accidental gumshoe by reading an excerpt at

 http://wings-press.com/Bookstore/Ghost%20Music%20of%20Vaudeville.htm

Let me know what you think of the term gumshoe and the book.

P.S. Meantime, why not sign up for the free newsletter The Mystery Reader Connectionand stay abreast of all the gumshoes, gangsters, books and news about mysteries with guest columnists that are regular features to entertain and mystify you.

G Is For Gangster, Guns and ...

G is for Gangster, Guns, and Ghost Music of Vaudeville...

I'm reminded of the movies and black and white news reels of Al Capone or Dillinger. Some of the gang wars, though I never knew of them personally, except for living in the area of Little Bohemia where Dillinger finally met his demise, so they say.

The intrigue and mystery of Big City Crime, Crime Families, The Mafia—fill the imagination and fuel the muse of a mystery writer. It would seem only big money, resources only money can buy and the manifest destiny attitude of Crime Family richness can pull off some crimes. 

Ghost Music of Vaudeville

In the same time frame the Keith Theatre had a long and rich heritage of spawning new actors and wonderful memories for generations. Ghost Music of Vaudeville visits this era to explore a mystery writer 'what if?'  And a story was born, the characters, some borrowed from another book, Skull Music, Some brand new. Piano man, a man who first appeared in a wood-grain paneled wall of a double wide trailer we were renting and later was captured by an artist in an ad for a National Artists course being offered. The Keith Theatre needed a music man—a composite of some dear grandfatherly male figures from my childhood offered themselves as the perfect model for the story needs. 

Gangsters, Guns and Ghost Music of Vaudeville, a fitting tribute to G-men, if you will excuse the intended pun.

The Ironwood Daily Globe has found me!

Perhaps not me but my book Ghost Music of Vaudeville - As a young sprout I delivered the Daily Globe in a little place called Jessieville it was an adjunct to Ironwood..fond memories that helped me name a character and a place for my book - you can check out the article at this link
Ghost Music of Vaudeville
Ironwood Daily Globe Article
http://www.ironwooddailyglobe.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=27140
Please go check it out
If you go today you can just go to http://www.theIronwoodDailyGlobe.com and it starts on the front page - just look for Ghost Music of Vaudeville by Billie A Williams.

When you are done there go check out some video trailers for new releases from both me and my sister Cricket Sawyer
Lavender Lust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RFv1VugU1s

Angeni
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGvrVn

The Capricorn Goat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pl0JMoY05M

Enjoy

What is Music Anyway? What Does it Have to do With Writing

What is Music Anyway? What is Writing Anyway?

In the Intellectual Devotional by David S Kidder & Noah D Oppenheim we are given a lot of food for thought. One thing they say is that Music has a pattern where noise only has sound. I’m afraid that could define Heavy Metal for me. Noise, loud and busy that has no rhyme or reason for being. Sorry Heavy Metal fans, it just doesn’t translate for me.

Kidder and Oppenheim say the basics of music compared to noise have to do with
Pitch —How high or low a sound is to the ear;
Scale—a stepwise arrangement of pitches;
Key—which is an arrangement or system of pitches usually based on one of the major or minor scales.

Simple isn’t it? The Ghost Music of Vaudeville as a mystery has a similar basic set up. Pitch: how intense (high) or relaxed (low) the action
Scale: an arrangement of pitches that take us from each paragraph with a beginning, middle and end, to each chapter with its beginning, middle and end; to the book as a whole with a beginning, middle and end.
Key: That is a little harder, but I think of it as all the system of pitches – the paragraph, page, chapter, and book according to one of the Major (genre) or Minor (sub-genre) scales –genre and sub-genres of the mystery from cozy, procedural, true crime, or hard boiled.

Therefore, everything in writing the mystery can be reduced or elevated to its musical counter part. Our culture influences our pitch, scale, and keys whether that is in writing or in music. Extremes may abound even while the rules are followed. For instance music in India compared to the music here in the west such as opera, or rock. Or compare the Native American Drum, to the drum of modern rock – they are nowhere in the same playing field – the Native American Drum is spiritual, the rock drum is entertainment. Both, however, are entertainment and in some circles could be called something spiritual.

Music and writing are both creative processes. Whether we use pitch, scale, and key or whether we use some other method to join the parts into a complete whole – they compliment each other, and I believe they embody each other.

It is said that we each “march to our different drummer,” and I believe that is as true in creating fiction as it is in creating music.

Sing loudly, write like the wind and enjoy the rhythm you create!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETTE MIDLER

Well, I sent Bette Midler off the book she is in Ghost Music of Vaudeville. It should have reached her December 1, her birthday. How cool is that! Only problem is, she took yesterday off from her appearance in Ceasar’s Palace Las Vegas -= *sigh * to celebrate her birthday,which probably means it’ll get lost in the avalanche of birthday well wishes.

It’s hard to believe she is sixty three years young. She is so energetic and looks so good. You could say money bought that for her, but I doubt it. I think it is how she chooses to live her life. She lives full of the enjoyment of every moment. She has won so many many awards. “You can fool some of the people some of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time,” as the saying goes. She is the WSISG (What You See Is What You Get) girl in person. She is genuine and touchable. She needs to fool no one.

Check her out at her website on line www.bettemidler.com she’s incredible. I’m glad she found a place in my book. I hope she will inspire You to do what you dream.

Billie

Bette Midler and Vaudeville

This is one of the Keith Theatres that plays a part in my book.

Have you ever witnessed a more energetic and fantastic a performer? She gives the appearance of having so much fun at what she does, and she does everything so well. When I was writing my novel Ghost Music of Vaudeville I needed a wild card draw to help the people in that book raise enough money to save the old Keith Theatre and the apartments above it that had become homes for actors and actresses that were trying to keep the music of Vaudeville alive. I needed someone who was warm, approachable, energetic and likely to come to the aid of a good cause. Bette Midler's name just popped into my head. I can't think of a better choice. If, in real life, Charlie Wolfe was trying to save Ironwood, Michigan's bastion of history and they needed a star to help them out I'm sure if she was approached she'd be there in a heart beat. She fits the book and the lives of the characters perfectly.

If you would like to read a chapter of Ghost Music of Vaudeville, please go to my website and click on the Books link. www.billiewilliams.com/books.html

I've spent the last couple days looking for places where I might find out more about Bette and perhaps an address. I have not found an address, but I've watched video's of her, listened to her sing, listened to her play a role in movies -- I found out she was born in 1945 one place said Hawaii another said New Jersey -- it doesn't matter to me - I'm glad she was. She was a fan of Judy Garland - I can see that in her stage presence. It has been a wonderful experience to submerge myself in finding out more about her - and I wish that she could appear to help me at my booksignings of Ghost Music of Vaudeville, I have a young lady who may portray her - she is the spitting image of Drew Barrymore so I'm sure she could do a Bette Midler as well.

Entertain lavishly and let yourself burst out with song when the occassion merits it - and then preserve what you can of history for our younger generation.
Billie

It's Here, it's published, it's ready to buy

The Ghost Music of Vaudeville

by Billie A Williams

ISBN 978-1-59705-310-5 (electronic)

978-1-59705-728-8 (print)

April 1, 2008

CONTACT: Billie A Williams

P O Box 134

Amberg, WI 54102

billie@billiewilliams.com

Wings ePress, Inc

www.wings-press.com

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

Stepping center stage to entertain you ….

None other then –

In this day and age of razing landmarks to make way for High Rise Apartments or concrete parking ramps there is little left of the old world. When it comes to entertainment, the environment changes even faster. The Ghost Music of Vaudeville is about a troupe of actors, actresses and musicians who were part of the vaudeville stage at one time. The theatre sits in disrepair, and a greedy land developer is out for revenge. Part of that revenge is to demolish every Keith Theatre in the United States.

Charlie Wolfe, reporter for the Ironwood Daily Globe, Tommy Forester, teenager and champion for the down trodden, and Piano Man, (aka Rudy Poncigrau) who used to play for the vaudeville acts, the black and white movies, and more all have other ideas.

Will one last performance bring out enough support to stop the bulldozers before Damien Callistrari and his henchmen extract the revenge he seeks? Roberto Callistrari is going against his father’s wishes when he begins to fall for Charlie Wolfe –with his ties to Hollywood and Broadway he entices Bette Midler to bring her creativity and personality to help bring the Keith Theatre back from the edge. Together will they be enough to save this Keith Theatre and those lives so intrinsically entwined with the Ghost Music of Vaudeville that still haunts the walls and stage of this Keith Theatre in Ironwood, Michigan.