Save the Date: HISTORYTELLERS Scavenger Hunt on March 17!

Hiya, Flappers!

As you may already know, my fiction has a penchant for the past and paranormal--emphasis on PAST for this post. With two novels partially set in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, respectively, and one entirely taking place in the 1920s, I'm teaming up with fellow authors of historical fiction this weekend for the HISTORYTELLERS Scavenger Hunt!

On Sunday, March 17th, 12 authors of historical fiction set in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s are joining together to offer a bundle of their books to one lucky reader--which could very well be YOU! Talk about the cat's meow.

The book on offer from yours truly is COATTAILS AND COCKTAILS, a 1920s murder mystery that won FIRST PRIZE in the 2018 Red City Review Book Awards. For a preview, you can read the 5-star review here: http://redcityreview.com/reviews/coattails-and-cocktails-by-rumer-haven/

To find out how to participate, hunt organizer and author Sarah Zama has the rules at her website: https://sarahzama.theoldshelter.com/historytellers-how-to-hunt. Easy-peasy.

Also, if you'd like to help spread the word (the more, the merrier!), you can simply copy-paste the following TWEET:

Are you a reader of #historicalfiction set in the first decades of the 1900s? Then we're on the same page! Join the #Historytellers scavenger hunt for a chance to win 12 novels set in your favourite period! http://sumo.ly/12u1T #historicalfiction #amreading #freebooks

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As for my writing partners in crime, all of us participating authors are testing the circuit today to ensure everything goes without a hitch on Sunday. (Please note, then, that what follows below is only a test. The official entry form and clues will ONLY be up on Sunday.)

TO MY FELLOW AUTHORS
This is the link to the blog next to me in the hunt: https://lillian888.wordpress.com/

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All right, then. That'll do it for today. I hope you explore the links above, share them with others, and join us on Sunday for the scavenger-huntin' hootenanny! See you then, dears.

Leeds UK Author Event - 3 March 2018!

Hello, daahhlings. It's been a long, long while. But guess what?

It's Flapper Friday!

And I've got a ✨FREE✨ ticket to the Leeds book-signing event burning a hole in my fishnets!

For a chance to win, dears, simply comment at my author page on Facebook with your favorite 1920s slang term. To be eligible, please ONLY share your comment on my post here: goo.gl/grptvh.

I'm leaving the contest open through tomorrow (Saturday, the 6th) and will select one winner at random. In the meantime, you can find more event details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/leeds-uk-author-event-2018-tickets-32387845919 (hosted by Hourglass Booksigning Events). In addition to the daytime signing with me and loads of other authors, there will be a Flappers & Gangsters-themed after-party at the same location!

So, if you're in the UK this spring, I hope you can make it to the signing and/or party! Meeting in Leeds would be the bee's knees!

NEW RELEASE! Coattails and Cocktails, by Rumer Haven

COATTAILS AND COCKTAILS

by Rumer Haven

Genre: Historical Mystery, Romantic Suspense
Publisher:  Fallen Monkey Press
Cover Designer:  RoseWolf Design

Release Date: September 14, 2017

A body clearly shaken, but not stirring…

Summer, 1929. Murder isn’t on the menu when Chicago tycoon Ransom Warne hosts a dinner party at his country estate. But someone’s a victim—and everyone’s a suspect—when drinks and desires lead to disaster.

Hollywood starlet Lottie Landry has returned home to celebrate her engagement. She’s famous for her on- and off-screen romance with co-star Noble, but, privately, she’s having second thoughts. As her former guardian, Ransom doesn’t approve of the match. Yet his own affections raise questions when his wife, Edith, suspects him of having an affair—just as Noble suspects Lottie. Stirred into the mix are Lottie’s friends Helen and Rex, a young journalist and football hero who can feel tension building in the Warne mansion like a shaken champagne bottle.

And once the cork pops, a body drops.

Coattails and Cocktails is where Agatha Christie meets The Great Gatsby, a whodunit spiked with new love and old baggage, public faces and private vices. Filled to the brim with romance and mystery, it’s sure to intoxicate.

Cover Reveal: COATTAILS AND COCKTAILS, by Rumer Haven

Very excited to share this with you, Flappers!

COATTAILS AND COCKTAILS

by Rumer Haven

Historical / Romantic Mystery

Releasing September 14, 2017

SUMMARY

A body clearly shaken, but not stirring…

Summer, 1929. Murder isn’t on the menu when Chicago tycoon Ransom Warne hosts a dinner party at his country estate. But someone’s a victim—and everyone’s a suspect—when drinks and desires lead to disaster.

Hollywood starlet Lottie Landry has returned home to celebrate her engagement. She’s famous for her on- and off-screen romance with co-star Noble, but, privately, she’s having second thoughts. As her former guardian, Ransom doesn’t approve of the match. Yet his own affections raise questions when his wife, Edith, suspects him of having an affair—just as Noble suspects Lottie. Stirred into the mix are Lottie’s friends Helen and Rex, a young journalist and football hero who can feel tension building in the Warne mansion like a shaken champagne bottle.

And once the cork pops, a body drops.

Coattails and Cocktails is where Agatha Christie meets The Great Gatsby, a whodunit spiked with new love and old baggage, public faces and private vices. Filled to the brim with romance and mystery, it’s sure to intoxicate.

~*~  Add it on Goodreads!  ~*~

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35911613-coattails-and-cocktails

  ~*~  Find me on Amazon!  ~*~
http://viewauthor.at/RumerHaven

Madness to the Method, Part 2: The Outline

In my previous post, "Madness to the Method, Part 1: The Brainstorm," I discussed how all of my stories originate from a very sloppy, scattered place: my brain. And the only way to get them out of my head is to kick up a windstorm in there and blow the ideas out onto paper like so much debris. At some point, though, these ideas need to be swept up into a plot pile, which then gets tidied into a story arc.

I've written short stories and vignettes here and there ever since I was a kid, and in crafting those, I usually do just sit and write from start to finish, having a general idea of where I want to go but pretty much making it all up along the way. So when I first took a crack at writing a novel, I automatically assumed I could approach it the same way. Which, when I now think about it, was incredibly naive and insane. Writing a few hundred or thousand words is one thing (don't get me wrong, short stories also benefit from advance planning), but taking on several tens of thousands is quite another. It can become a management nightmare if you just run into such a vast and wild, unexplored frontier with all creative guns blazing and no strategic plan. So as I continued to revise my first manuscript, I had to learn the hard way that backing cohesion and proper pacing into a novel is difficult as hell, and it would have behooved me to have an outline first.

Which is what I did for my second manuscript. I gathered my miscellaneous brainstorming and started to slot it into sections. Still spastic scribblings in my journal, by no means neatly divided into tiers of A, B, C, i, ii, iii, but guidance nonetheless. This bullet-pointed bird's-eye view helped me tremendously by giving a sense of the story's shape and direction without also confining my creativity. I wasn't bound to every idea that I jotted down here, nor were any of them fleshed out enough to dictate every step of the journey. Some writers might prefer a more detailed outline than this, but I've found I personally thrive under this balance between the concrete and the as-yet abstract. The organized and the organic. That gives me the breathing room I need to let myself change my mind if the characters want to head somewhere else, and it allows for those moments of magic when, truly and almost inexplicably inspired, you just write without knowing where it's going and end up creating something better than you could've ever achieved if you'd thought about it too hard.


Giving myself over to the story this way inevitably demands script changes, then, and sometimes I still manage to write myself into a corner. I leave certain aspects open to possibility so reach the inevitable fork in the road where I must commit to one outcome versus another. And I don't always want to go with what I originally planned--or have written myself so far outside that scope that it isn't even an option anymore--at which point I'll sit with pen and paper yet again and hash it out. In the case of both Seven for a Secret and What the Clocks Know, I was closing in on the final chapters when I needed to stop, step back, and brainstorm my way through a State of the Story outline: basically, Here's where my characters are at right now. Is this where I want them to be, and, if so, what are their options from here? It became a decision tree of sorts that ultimately helped me work out the solutions (and bust through my writer's block).

Ultimately, every writer needs to find what method works best for him or her, and surely the process continues to evolve with experience. With only two novel manuscripts down, a third in the works, and a fourth largely in the brainstorm stage, I have personally learned that I will never again attempt one without some semblance of an outline and especially encourage the practice to anyone out there who is writing a novel for the first time. 

Wassup in my WIP

~ * ~

A woman shares her sordid tale in the drawing room. 

Only she has lived to tell it.

~ * ~

Wassup in my WIP

~ * ~

Two gentlemen argue in the library. 

Only one will live through the night.

~ * ~

(Seven for a) Secret Santa SALE!

~ * ~

Should old acquaintance be forgot? 

I should say not!
 

Now through New Year's, 

Seven for a Secret is ON SALE for $0.99!

~ * ~

Find your preferred retailer here:   

http://books.simonandschuster.com/…/Rumer-Hav…/9781623421106

And while the paperback isn't also on sale,  

let's not forget what a lovely stocking stuffer it makes...

Just sayin'. ;)

~*~  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  ~*~

#MusicMonday - SEVEN FOR A SECRET Soundtrack

Kicking off a new feature today in hopes of becoming a little more consistent in my blogging efforts. :) And so, without further ado, today's Music Monday selection is...

"TONIGHT YOU BELONG TO ME"

by The Bird and the Bee

Today's little ditty comes to you from my unofficial soundtrack for Seven for a Secret. In the book, Lon plays the original 1926 Irving Kaufman version of "Tonight You Belong to Me" on his Victrola. But this sweet, modern rendition provides the perfect bridge between the novel's past and present story threads. I can almost hear it playing during the epilogue, actually--that final scene with Kate and Dexter. The song's rippling, almost glimmering synthpop evokes a celestial, standing-in-line-for-Space-Mountain-at-Disney-World sound befitting Kate's and Dex's planetarium jobs and all the stargazing throughout Seven for a Secret.

That's it for today, rockstars. Have a happy week!

Friday FACT or FICTION?

TRUE or FALSE:

In Seven for a Secret, the Hughes mansion is based on a real Chicago property.

First of all, have you seen the BOOK TRAILER yet? If not, curl up with some popcorn here before scrolling down to today's answer...

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Answer: TRUE!

The novel's fictional mansion where Lon Ashby and Eva Hughes meet on the staircase in 1925 was directly inspired by the Francis J. Dewes house in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Located only a block away from the Hampden Court apartment building that likewise inspired the story's Camden Court, this Chicago landmark dates back to 1896. Like the fictional Warren Hughes, Francis Dewes was a wealthy brewer and had his home designed in a German-inspired, lavishly ornamented neo-Baroque style.

"But before Lon could turn around, the great gray Hughes mansion loomed ahead, with some Choice Society stragglers milling around its steps and shimmering like fireflies in the dark. The music of a piano and string quartet floated on the air to greet him as ladies’ giggles popped like bubbles above the notes."

While I lived in a Hampden Court studio apartment just up the road, I walked by the Dewes mansion almost every day--and salivated over it almost every time. I was just like Kate, gawking at the exterior architecture and peeking through windows without shame. Back then, the home was commercially owned, and you'd often see a wedding reception filling its gated garden. Today, this city mansion is once again a private residence (lucky bastards). It is truly one of Chicago's hidden gems, transporting you to the past (and across the ocean) for a moment; so if you ever find yourself on the city's north side, I highly recommend strolling on over to 503 W. Wrightwood (on the corner of Wrightwood Ave. and Hampden Ct.). It's near Lincoln Park Zoo and Lake Michigan, which makes for a lovely day excursion.

But though you can't tour the inside of the house anymore, don't be dismayed. YoChicago provides a wonderful three-part video tour on YouTube. Below is Part 2, which shows you the entertaining spaces where the fictional Hugheses threw their glittering parties, including the one where Lon meets Eva. I took some liberties, of course, but the key features are all there--such as the staircase...

His gaze trailed up the fall of green to see an alabaster elbow peeking through the swirling black and gold-gilded iron. Then, on approaching the landing, he saw a shoulder, a protruding clavicle...a jaw...and a face, turned away from him. [...] Lon stepped onto the landing and walked to the next flight of steps where the woman sat.

Happy Book Birthday, SEVEN FOR A SECRET!

Hard to believe that a year ago today, my first book baby was born. Hip-hip-hurray and high-fives and huzzahs all around to  

SEVEN FOR A SECRET!

Gobs of gratitude to my readers and followers for making this past year the cat's meow.

And many thanks to author/editor Sarah Allan for hosting me at her blog today for a delightful lil' interview:

sarahallanauthor.blogspot.com

Cheers, you fabulous flappers, you!

SEVEN FOR A SECRET Soundtrack

I listened to a lot of classical music and big band jazz while drafting Seven for a Secret, but as I rounded the corner on completion, I decided to compile the actual soundtrack that had evolved over the course of the story. The playlist I've listed below is what I played on a loop during my final revisions before querying the manuscript. Not every song or artist is an exact match to what's in the book, but for me, this compilation captures the spirit and sound of this dual-period story perfectly. (Song titles are linked to corresponding YouTube videos.)

"I Try" by Macy Gray - This circa Y2K classic is what Kate sings and sways to after moving into her new Camden Court apartment.

"Chicago Bound Blues" by Bessie Smith - Following a friend's wedding, Lon drinks his sorrows away to this song by the iconic 1920s singer.

"If You Don't, I Know Who Will" by Bessie Smith - This is the gritty, sultry blues tune that Kate hears while making love to Dexter.

"Auld Lang Syne" by Duke Ellington - There are so many versions of this song, and though this one isn't from the 1920s, it's akin to the jazzy rendition that Lon would have heard at the Aragon Ballroom.

"Squeeze Me" by Fats Waller - Another tune from Lon's New Year's Eve at the Aragon.

"Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" by Nina Simone - Lon listens to a live jazz band play this at the Green Mill club in Chicago's Uptown, and Nina Simone's version bridges it brilliantly to modern day. 

"You & Me & the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Kate doesn't have any 1920s-brand jazz in her CD stack, but the Swing Revival that was in full, well, swing by the late '90s sets the right mood as she plans a meet-and-greet happy hour for her new neighbors--her new hot neighbor, more specifically...

"Tonight You Belong to Me" by Gene Austin - Lon actually plays the original 1926 Irving Kaufman version of this sweet little ditty on his Victrola, but Austin's 1927 recording was easier to find. :)

"Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire - While not referenced by title in the scene, this is the Fred Astaire song I imagine Kate playing at her Camden Court happy hour, as its lyrics lend themselves well to the "Heaven" section of the book.

"Moonlight Serenade" by the Glen Miller Band - A late 1930s classic, this one really gets the seniors two-steppin' at Kate's happy hour and suits the night-sky motif that runs through the book.

"A Room with a View" by Artie Shaw - Another 1930s staple, this Big Band song also plays at Kate's cocktail party and alludes to her voyeuristic tendency to spy on the neighbor living across the courtyard.

"Everybody Loves My Baby" by Fats Waller - Though this particular recording dates to 1940, the song is a jazz standard from 1924 and what Lon sings on his way to his Aunt Estella's house.

"Smooth" by Santana (feat. Rob Thomas) - After all the vintage throwbacks, the New Millennium had to represent on this soundtrack again, and this song totally evokes that period for me, as well as radiates the Chicago summer heat. 

"Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin - A classical-jazz hybrid, this song was said to be Al Capone's favorite request at the Green Mill jazz club, and it's what Kate and Dexter hear there, too, over seventy years later.

"Tonight You Belong to Me" by The Bird and the Bee - While not explicitly featured in the book, this song plays in my mind and heart during the epilogue as the perfect bridge between the past and present story threads. It's such a sweet, modern rendition of the 1920s original, and its rippling, almost glimmering synthpop evokes a celestial, standing-in-line-for-Space-Mountain-at-Disney-World sound befitting Kate's planetarium job and all the stargazing throughout Seven for a Secret.

*BONUS TRACK*
Okay, this is a little embarrassing on two levels, but until my editor pointed out that using radio songs as ringtones wasn't really widespread as of 2000 (Embarrassment #1: My Faulty Memory), when Kate hears her cell phone go off at the end of the book, the ring was originally Lou Bega's "Mambo No.5" (Embarrassment #2: Trying to Incorporate Lou Bega's "Mambo No.5" into My Novel). Oh, whatever. Like you aren't dancing to it right now... FYI, Kate's phone is now set to the Nokia tune.

On that lively little note, thanks for jammin' with me to music both old and not-new-but-not-as-old. And now, we dance!

Calling All Flappers! Today, We DANCE!

I feel like I'm late to my own party for first posting this now, but the buildup to release day (a.k.a., TODAY!) has been such a weird and wonderful experience to savor. I'm so grateful to everyone who's been participating in the SEVEN FOR A SECRET promos and offering me support in general. I've been contacted by a lot of friends who have already downloaded their copy and started reading, so at this point, I'm just trying not to soil my knickers awaiting their reaction and the book reviews of kind strangers giving it a chance.

You can read the summary at my website or Goodreads. I suppose at this point, I should also divulge the deetz of where you can find this little sucker:

In the meantime, I'm having a ball over at the SEVEN FOR A SECRET Facebook party! So join me and other authors over there to answer some trivia and become eligible to WIN giveaways galore! The event runs until 6pm EST today.

And you still have six days to enter the SEVEN FOR A SWEEPSTAKES giveaway for a chance to win a free ebook, Origami Owl® key charm like the key to Olive's secret, and an Anna Chocola® cloche hat so you can step out Eva style.

All right then, it's been fun beating my gums here, but I'd better ankle and get back to the FB party!

SEVEN FOR A SECRET Teaser #2

AVAILABLE AUGUST 12, 2014

Omnific Publishing

Goodreads 

SEVEN FOR A SECRET Teaser #1

AVAILABLE AUGUST 12, 2014

Omnific Publishing

Goodreads 

A to Z: The Ease of Expertise

Ignorance is not always bliss. So if you're first joining me here and still don't get what Blogging from A to Z is all about, it's time to get in the know: A to Z Challenge.

Now that you're informed and ready to proceed, allow me to further educate you on Roaring Twenties slang so you don't go into my debut novel blindly.

~*~  KNOW YOUR ONIONS  ~*~

Meaning: Know what's up. Know what you're doing/talking about.

"So then I says to him,
'Listen. The next time you check under my hood, you'd better know your onions.'"
--Gladys on persisting car troubles, but her innuendo helps her colleagues pass the workday.

A to Z: The Bee's Knees She Ain't

Well, good morning, everyone! Welcome back to my humble abode, where by the end of the month, I hope to have you speaking in Twenties tongues.

In case you missed my original post about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge:

 A-Z, and all that jA-Zz

The full list of A-Z blog-hoppers

I now bring you the next installment of 1920s slang so you're hip to the jive by the time my 1920s novel Seven for a Secret come out. I will be the first to say that this one's rather mean, but it does appear in the book, so I'd be remiss not to help you translate:

~*~  BUG-EYED BETTY  ~*~

Meaning: An undesirable woman

"Fellas, just wait-n-see. 
I'm not the bug-eyed Betty I used to be."

A-Z, and all that jA-Zz

So...eight days later, I'm crawling to the doorsteps of the long-since abandoned Theme Reveal party, pathetically blowing on my kazoo to stir up some residual fanfare.

HELLO! Hello! Hello! goes the echo. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? 

Ah well, I'm still going to reveal my theme for the 2014 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, the topic that I shall be exploring through every letter of the alphabet for 26 days in April.

Ready? 

You sure? 

Okay then...

...wait for it...

~*~  1920s Slang  ~*~

Ta-da!!!

Disappointed? 

Tough tootsies.

This is so you'll be hip to the jive by the time SEVEN FOR A SECRET releases later this year (August 2014, Omnific Publishing). Up to the challenge? Then put your kale where your kisser is and meet me back here on April Fool's, when we'll flap our gums flapper-style.

Getting My Knickers in a Twist

Ahhh...today, folks, today I revel in modern conveniences. I am not a materialistic sort, and I learn to do well without when I need to--but waiting OVER TWO MONTHS for a functioning washing machine is for the birds. To keep a long story short, this was me before:

Red chapped hands...alas, too rough for writing!

And this shall be me ever after:

That's right, Washday. I'm giving you the come-hither look.

Forgive me if I'm setting my gender back decades, but boy, oh boy, my knickers can't wait to knock around that new drum!