Sunday, May 20, 2007

DARRELL JAMES INTERVIEW

Darrell James is an intriguing person, and why and how he writes what he does is fascinating. I hope you'll take time to read his interview on my web site at http://www.deeannpalmer.com.

Watch this blog for a video from author Marilyn Meredith. I haven't seen it, so that'll be fun.

Marilyn discovered no one can contact me from my blog. You can always comment here by clicking on Comment at the end of a blog. Of course I always see those. But now I'll always sign off with a contact email address for your convenience.

I had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. Hubbie and I spent all day Saturday at a community college in a nearby town for a high school jazz festival. Our oldest son, a trumpeter, was the guest artist. We heard him solo with the college evening band and then with their number one day band. He also held a trumpet master class.

We heard some of the advanced high school bands, and then our son's wife's novice band competed.

She's a student teacher and began the first jazz band the high school she's in has ever had. She warned us they were beginners, and had only played for four months, so not to expect too much. They were very good! Came in second in their division.

We visited with a man who's a good friend of our son. We hadn't seen him for years. He's now the director of jazz studies at the University of Tennessee in Memphis and had come out to be an adjudicator and to see his parents for Mother's Day. It was great to talk to him again.

Our son took him out to dinner and then came to our house to spend the night. The next day his brother and his wife arrived, and we had a wonderful time. Played Wheel of Fortune, were taken out to dinner by my husband, then came back home for cake and ice cream. It' was so great to catch up on all their news.

My kitchen TV had died, and hubbie had given me a new one. For years I've wanted cable on this set so I can watch favorite shows while cooking dinner. Otherwise, I don't have time to watch. Our youngest son showed us how we could hook it up. It's terrific.

Have a great week. Remember to read about Darrell James (Body Count: A Killer Collection) and watch for Marilyn Meredith's video.

Dee Ann
heists2683@mypacks.net
http://www.deeannpalmer.net
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--------------------------------------- Friday, May 04, 2007

GETTING STORY IDEAS

Hooray! The switch to Google at Blogger has finally let me in to write on this blog. It took some doing.

Just days after the murders by a deranged person in a Kansas City mall, I was in a California Albertson's market, wheeling my cart down an aisle as I studied the shelves for the product I needed. Suddenly a younger woman in the same aisle said in a quiet voice, "They're locking all the doors. I heard the manager at the end of this aisle call for security and order the doors locked."

My first thought was to abandon my cart and get out of there. But that wasn't an option. The doors were locked.

"What do we do,"--I laughed, half in jest yet nervous--"drop to the floor or what?"

Just then I saw the doors beyond the Starbuck's stand in the store open. I relaxed. "The doors are open now," I told her.

I'm sure the woman was as relieved as I was. She said, "These days you never know, do you?"

Thinking of Virginia Tech and Kansas City, I replied, "No. You don't."


Thinking later about that incident. I realized what a great story idea this could be. Two strangers meeting as they hit the floor in such a situation could develop into a romance. Or it could be tweaked and used in several ways in a murder mystery or a suspense.

It's a perfect example of how writers get ideas.

To learn more about how writers get story ideas, watch my web site for my interview of Darrell James, author of "Making it with Gammy" in "LAndmarked for Murder," and "Body Count: A Killer Collection."

Have a wonderful day!

Dee Ann
http://www.deeannpalmer.com

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