January 4 is National Trivia Day, From Woolly Mammoth to Black Birds Dying.

January 4, 2011 is National Trivia Day.  From Algebra, to Wooly Mammoth, to black birds by the thousands dying over Beebe, Arkansas.

The instant oatmeal packets come with some great trivia on them. For instance; this morning’s oatmeal  packet said-- in 18^th century France canes were in great vogue, and women as well as men carried them. Women’s canes often came equipped with perfume bottles, music boxes or romantic pictures…today I think they would come with mace.

My Algebra teacher, Ms. Knoblock, used to tell her class every morning, “If you didn’t have your oatmeal you cannot do Algebra or anything else that takes thinking.” Was she right?  I don’t know but I ate a lot of oatmeal that year. 

The woolly mammoth, extinct since the ice Age had tusks almost 16 feet long. Wow, that would put our new world elephant to shame wouldn’t it?

The world is full of trivia and mystery.

Why did over 100 dead fish wind up along the shores of the Arkansas River about 150 miles from the latest phenomena of over 5,000 red-winged black birds dropping out of the sky in and around Beebe, Arkansas.

It seems to be a nesting ground for red-wing black birds, where hundreds roost in the tree tops every year prompting city officials to use scare tactics to remove them or move them to less populated areas. Some reports indicate inches to knee deep piles of bird dropping fill areas where the birds roost. Yet, officials do not think these particular birds were poisoned or in any other way chased from their roosting places. They point, instead, to natural causes like lightning, high altitude hail, or perhaps the fireworks that were being held to celebrate the new year frightened them. Once in flight they could have been disoriented and plunged to their deaths, black birds do not see well at night.

And somewhere in Northern Wisconsin a whole battery of dusk to dawn lights went out all at once and returned to glow over the owner’s property minutes later. Separate circuit breakers, installed at various times over a number of years, it has never happened before…How, why, now? 

Tracker [An April Shauers Mystery]

Mystery writers unite. What is your theory? How would you go about solving this one? Could you use it as grist for your story mill in a future story?

Billie A Williams is a multi-published, award-winning, best-selling author with more than two dozen mystery novels. As a freelance writer she has numerous articles, a whodunit column, and Interviews of other authors to her credit.  Visit her website to learn more. http://www.billiewilliams.com

January 5 is Bean Day

National Bean day is January 5 so how will you celebrate?  First you may ask what the….what in the world is National Bean day…surely we have enough different kinds of beans they do deserve a day of their own and they are so good for you.

You might also think about colonial America where dried beans/peas could be kept for months without going bad and they could be used in a myriad of ways from soup to flower – to seeds for the garden year after year. Sustenance in a tiny pod. We owe a lot to the lowly bean in whatever variety. Perhaps Josh Avery in Watch For The Raven ate them nearly every day while he lived with his father. Surely, the Ute Indian would know of the value of the bean as well as maize or corn seeds. 

One source says there are 76 kinds of beans. Wow, that’s a lot of beans—Wonder where to find a list of them all. I tried Google – it boggled my mind trying to sort through the maze of answers I got there.

We have the chili bean (pinto bean to those in the know) full of protein and fiber – and what would chili be without them. {smile} Navy bean – and they have nothing to do with the navy, as far as I know. Cow Peas technically a bean – yellow wax beans, Edamame or Beer Friend Soy Beans, pole beans in a host of varieties.

Then we have the green bean that has become a staple casserole dish for Thanksgiving and other celebrations. 

Casaba bean, kidney bean (in various colors) lima bean – my personal least favorite, but nonetheless full of nutritional benefits.

We tend to hang our hat on one bean when we think bean – in 15 bean soup they count dried peas as beans. I guess anything that is a legume is construed (loosely) as a bean.

How about Vanilla bean or coffee bean –You certainly wouldn’t put either of those in your Chili but they are a bean product in their ready to process form. What kind of bean would you put in your bean and ham soup?  Perhaps black-eyed Peas for New Years Day. 

National Bean day?  I say yes the lowly bean (s) deserve(s )a day of its own. No matter how many varieties there are.

What to Talk About in January 2011

Besides the new cover for my book Watch For the Raven  a young adult historical adventure.

There is plenty to talk about, plenty to write about, - for instance:
January 1 is First Foot Day  stick your foot into 2011 and show yourself what you're made of and Z Day this might be tied to January 3 if we go with Festival of Sleep Day - you know all those Zzzzzz's linked together to make a contented snore sign. With the kids back at school, and dad back at work - or mom back at work - the old remote is once again yours and the recliner Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

January 3 is Festival of Sleep Day One source says January 3 is "Thank God Its Monday," Day Lets see how we could combine these two... Well, back to work Monday, things at status quo, you can finally get some rest because you are at your normal everyday job, that you learned to do with your eyes closed while you enjoy the Festival of Sleep Day or just slide back into your normal routine. Kids out of your hair and back at school 0r hubby is back at his job and you have the house to yourself and a novel just waiting to be written. I prefer to think TGIM is about another day in a brand new week, with a brand new look at the opportunities presented to you and all sorts of possibilities open to you.


Do you remember the Mouseketters?  Today is a day that is filled with surprises, nobody knows what's going to happen...I loved that song - I still sing it because it's true - There is nothing better than a Monday - unless it's a brand new year, a brand new Month and a brand new week. Enjoy! Make the most of it and Happy New Year to you.

Characters Trial by Fire (or Judge Judy)

Judge Judy and side kick Byrd

Judge Judy, that pint-sized bundle of legal dynamics and electric energy—what a personality.

She’s a no nonsense, don’t lie to me judge of human character, motive and probability. Whether or not you find her particular brand of justice, the way she has of grilling defendants and/or plaintiffs too strong and harsh, or just right, here is something you may not have thought to include in your writing arsenal. The printed word will be all the better for it.

What Judge Judy can do for your writing? If you are a novelist, Judy can help your writing whether you write crime, mystery novels, or some other genre.  If you are a novelist, no matter what genre, listen carefully to her words.

“Don’t tell me what you feel. That’s conjecture and that calls for a conclusion. Don’t tell me what she/he knows. Just tell me in, your own words, the facts. You can’t know how he/she feels; you can’t get in his/her head/mind. Don’t tell me we—you only know what you did, said, and saw—you can’t be in another person’s eyes, ears or thoughts." No head hopping for Judy - stay in one person's view point.

Judge Judy demands eye contact. “Look here, don’t look down, don’t look over there, look right here.” Looking her straight in the eye, would you dare tell her anything but the truth? If your eyes wander, so does your truth, focus, as you would keep your character(s) focused. 

Conversation—what you said, what he/she said, not an interpretation or generalization of what transpired. I want sentences, verbatim, what was said. You asked, she answered. She/he asked you answered. Don’t give me the gist of the conversation; give me the meat and potatoes – the word for word conversation.

The characters in your novel need to answer to Judge Judy’s directions. Show me, prove it, don’t generalize—show don’t tell. Give me your interpretation and I’ll be shouting—I’ll be the judge of who is right or wrong.

 She gives a whole new meaning to the phrase—show, don’t tell—doesn’t she?

Not All Mysteries Are of the Fictional Variety

“When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one but, you won’t come up with a handful of mud either.” Leo Burnett

Case in Point!
A mystery, no actually two, surfaced in our small community the past week that ended our, perhaps, laid-back, serene-country atmosphere. I’ll only discuss one here today.

Perhaps the least mysterious, or maybe not…Let's test it out.

Can you imagine an armed bank robbery?  A bank robbery in a town of maybe 500 people if we stretch a little and count the dogs and cats too.

In the summer time, summer people and with the weekenders and cottage vacationers we may stretch up to 1,000.

If even half of those people that live here use the bank in our town, most are retired. There are four businesses in our village. Given the current state of Social Security (and believe me payments are meager and they doesn’t stretch very far) and the limited resources, there is very little money in this bank.

Now, picture Monday morning, peak traffic time is usually 9:30 or there abouts when everyone is going to pick up their mail (there is no postal delivery in our town/village – unless you live on the outskirts at least several miles away). This is the time the armed robber thinks will be a great time for a heist.

What would possess anyone to think he could rob a bank at gun point and get away any day, but particularly given the scenario I just described.


He didn’t— succeed--that is...12 minutes later he was sitting in a squad car about 9 miles away, wondering what happened.

Clues—every mystery writer needs to ferret out clues. Even if your book starts with the crime solved, the reader wants to know why—if not—how and a myriad of other answers to questions he may not know to ask.

Three essentials in every mystery are:
Motive: maybe he needs money – desperately, is a given

Means: He has a gun, a truck and he has done something similar before –he was just released from incarceration we find out later. How he came into the possession of a gun is another mystery if he is already a criminal.

Opportunity: Driving along a deserted or nearly deserted section of highway, there right next to the highway a bank—quickly he surveys the area, a gas station to the south—neat rows of storage sheds to the west, quiet street, fairly early(for him but not us country folk)…He parks his truck in the driveway between those storage sheds, out of sight. He meanders back to the bank, a 1/2 block away. The rest, as they say, is still a mystery.

If jail didn’t teach this man anything, there is something wrong with him, our system or both. It’s a mystery to me.

Printed Words: Thoughts Are Things

Printed Words: Thoughts Are Things

Thoughts Are Things

Thoughts and Little Notes From Out There That Float on the Ether

“Apart from its vulnerability to fire, human hair is almost impossible to destroy. It decays at such a slow rate that it practically takes forever.”

“The polar bear has absolutely no fear of man—and will stalk people at every chance, even in the face of gunfire.”

            Writers are an information sponge. Facts, quotes, over-heard words, their ears and mind ever alert for that brilliant addition to their vocabulary, method, motive or anecdote to inject into just the right paragraph to mold their prose to fit the reader’s ear. The above tidbits come from as diverse sources as readers and writers are unique. They are from instant oatmeal packets, to books of notable quotes, to a tiny magazine called “Bits & Pieces” and motivation from internet marketing gurus.

Open up your mind’s eye and be ever alert for that gem that might change your thinking and your life. For, as Florence Shinn author of The Game of Life says, “The game of life is the game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later, with astounding accuracy.”

Thoughts drift like snowflakes accumulating in the nooks and crannies of our minds undisturbed until we need them. “Thoughts are things. Choose the good ones,” says Mike Dooley author of Notes From The Universe.