murder and mystery in your hometown
Ever make up a bedtime story? You can be silly. You can fly off in all directions. You don’t have to make sense. And kids get into it, throwing in some goofiness of their own.
Going way, way, way back, I wrote down a few of my made-up ditties, including one about the kid who fell headfirst into a bowl of porridge and disappeared. I may resurrect it with the younger grands.
My fifth Jack Beer mystery is coming along. Like the earlier books, this one is set in and around Grand Bend except this time it starts out in an exotic locale. ‘Franklin’ offers up a hint. Or, if you’d rather not guess, I’ll send the prologue. Just let me know. (photo by Tim Hundey)
I recently read a good mystery in which the author made reference to the Niagara Escarpment’s Precambrian Shield geology… the problem being, the Bruce Peninsula’s exposed rock formations are not at all connected to the Precambrian Shield. Come evening I mentioned the book’s misstep to Jane, my wife. She felt I was nitpicking. Then again she wasn’t a geography major.
Same evening, we watched Sam Gamgee free his pack horse before entering the mines of Moria (Lord of the Ring trilogy, movie 1). But wait…. the ‘Fellowship’ had no pack horse on their journey to the mines (unlike the book). This time, Jane and I went to bed agreeing that was indeed a big blunder.
But nothing compares with William Shatner’s cover of ‘Lucy in the Skies with Diamonds.’
Been away from book stuff for a few weeks while my wife was laid up, so I took the opportunity to read some nonsensical sketches by Mark Twain (published in 1903). His ‘Personal Habits of Siamese Twins’ gave us a bad case of the giggles… particularly the part describing their roles in the Civil War: you see, twin Eng joined the Union side and twin Chang the Confederate side. Once in battle, they managed to capture each other. When a Tribunal couldn’t determine who exactly was the captor and who was the captive, the solution was to consider them both caught and to work out a prisoner exchange.
In addition to a notice for a subscription to History Magazine (love it), my father-in-law included an old penny with my birthday card. Our phone conversation afterward:
‘I found it,’ he said. ‘There’s a story behind this coin.’
‘Probably.’
‘There is,’ he said, forcefully. Translation… not ‘probably.’
So, I wrote a short piece, which a number of people seem to like. If you want a copy, get in touch at jrhundey@sympatico.ca. and I’ll send one along.
couldn’t get the real coin in focus.
Spent a week with a bunch of my family at a Muskoka cottage. On our last day, I said, sadly, to my daughter and daughter-in-law, ‘I need more time so I can sit in all the places I want to sit’ … which caused them to pretty much keel over. I didn’t get a chance to explain… due to the subsequent wise cracks. You see, there were three near perfect spots where I was able to sit and let my mind go blank (tonic for the brain) or in the alternative, to sit and let writing ideas come to life (setting can be a big stimulant). But I missed recharge opportunities and squandered plot sparks simply because I never got around to sitting in three other near perfect spots… unless I just resent not having tried out all six sitting spots for my evening Scotch.
Returning home from my walk I came across this critter which decided the cool water in this birdbath was meant for him.
Clearing 30 years-worth of stuff… it’s hard to let things go, even something like a beat-up copy of ‘The Circular Staircase,’ a 1908 mystery by Mary Roberts Rinehart. The book makes me smile… with its chapter headings ‘An Eggnog and a Telegram,’ ‘A Tramp and the Toothache’ and ‘When Churchyards Yawn.’ Then there are etchings of characters in Victorian dress and of candle-lit rooms (electricity was still new). My favourite is of a young couple embracing over the caption, “There is no use mincing matters – he was kissing her.” Quite racy for the time. So nope, I’m keeping it.
As I wrapped up my first book, Death at the Bend, I realized I wanted Jack Beer to live on and so my detective mystery series began. And while I’m likely conning myself, I’m gonna say, ‘I’ve been pretty successful.’ In her London Free Press review, Joan Barfoot spoke well of my work. People (many of whom I’ve not previously met… honest!) have sought me out to tell me such things as: You made me laugh out loud, I couldn’t put it down, and I was surprised by the twists and turns.
On the other hand, self-publishing, for me anyway, is small scale. You see, I’m an awful marketer and it’s the writing part I love. But even though my book income is unimpressive, I have been able to support various charities with my proceeds. And in the last two years, all of my profit has gone to the Terry Fox Foundation. The point is, I’d like to elevate my support for that worthy cause… which means I need to actually devote some time to marketing… starting with my website.
So, could you spread the word please?
PS. In case you wondering (and even if you weren’t) I draw on real places for my settings. And sometimes I do a watercolour… to get in the mood. The one below is the farmhouse in which Annie (from Things Left Behind) sought escape from her troubles. The painting emerged from two locations, one in Essex County and the other northwest of Exeter.
