A is for adze

Welcome! I’m doing both the Blogging from A-Z Challenge in combo with Camp NaNoWriMo. I’ve kind of grown attached to my characters in the Milk Carton Murders, so why create new ones? So this murder mystery will be from before Dave Robertson (my MC from my MCM story) moves back to the rural town of Lamont to live with his widowed dad. To do it any other way would spoil the Milk Carton Murders.

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Milk Carton Murders 07

2013 March 31

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

The Milk Carton Murders

(A brief synopsis of the story and previous excerpts can be found here.)

I thought this week I would try to share a bit about what my rural town looks like. Dave, my MC, is walking the three blocks from the sheriff’s office back to the newspaper. He grew up here and his mom and dad were foster parents when he was a kid. One of the three coffins dislodged from the Wiscoy Creek bank had a milk carton clipping of a missing girl pinned to the remains that turns out to be a girl Dave's parents had fostered over 20 years ago. Other comments by Dave’s dad make Dave wonder if his dad is the killer.

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Milk Carton Murders 06

2013 March 24

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

The Milk Carton Murders

(A brief synopsis of the story and previous excerpts can be found here.)

We'll leave the killer's perspective now and return to Dave's POV.
Some background. Dental records were confirmed that the skeletal remains were in fact the girls pictured on the milk carton clippings. Dave's dad went to the senior center so Dave takes the opportunity to go back up into the attic to dig around for old files or photos despite the fact he hates it up there. Like typical attics, everything just got added and pushed back further and further over the years. As if moving back in time with every box he moves, he reaches the other end of the attic by the front window. 
As before, italics is the voice in Dave's head.

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Spring Cleaning Giveaway

Spring Cleaning Giveaway Hop is brought to you by I Am A Reader Not A Writer, whose guidelines for this hop are to, "clear out your overflowing bookshelf and pass some of your books on to other booklovers.  Time to pass on those books that just weren't for you or the review copies that you are never going to get read."

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Milk Carton Murders 05

2013 March 17

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

The Milk Carton Murders

(A brief synopsis of the story and previous excerpts can be found here.)

Some background. These are cold cases that happened about 20 years earlier.
Continuing from last week in the perspective of the killer when he/she reflects back on the day when said killer's mate showed up at the door with a child. 

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Help Pick My Words for A-Z Challenge + Camp NaNoWriMo

Help Pick My Words for A-Z Challenge + Camp NaNoWriMo


A SEAT-OF-MY-PANTS MINI-MYSTERY

I'm combining April's Blogging From A-Z Challenge with Camp NaNoWriMo and doing a seat-of-my-pants mini-mystery. I have 26 letters of the alphabet to cover, one letter for every day in April except Sunday, so by April 30th all 26 letters will be covered. A blog post a day using a word that starts with the letter of the alphabet for that day. For the NaNo portion of the challenge, I'm doing the minimum word goal of 10,000 word. Keeping it light--only about 385 words a post.

So to make things even more crazy-- for all my Facebook, blog, twitter friends/followers--you can help me. Pick a word you want me to use and I'll start my list now so my list is ready by April 1st. (Keep it clean. :) Follow the link above to my Facebook note and put your word choice and name in the comment section of the note OR leave it in the comment section of this post. If you use a user name instead of your real name, that is OK too, just leave a link to which ever it is, Facebook, twitter, blog, etc so I can give you some PR in return. Credit for the word used will be given on the blog post of the day.

I must be insane for doing this and there is no guarantee the story will make sense by the time it's done, but I'll do my best!


A - adze - Sharron Maxwell (FB not public)

B - beheaded - Zach Amrhein - (FB not public)

C - ceremoniously- Jeri Amrhein (FB- Not public), cathecting-Dennis, Buffalo Creativity Club


D -diluted - Jen Claud

E - Ernest Hemingway - Ed Martin

F - foible - Nicholas Ruggiero

G -groggy - Ron Freeman

H - halibut - (FB) Phoebe Scalf

I - infallible- Kai Fisher (FB - Not public)

J -jealous - Ron Freeman

K - kerfuffle- Kate Warren

L - lagniappe - (FB) Chip Etier

M - marathon - me

N - notorious - Storm Amrhein

O -obsessed - Ron Freeman

P - publishing - Ed Martin

Q -quell - me

R - Russian literature - Ed Martin

S - synthetic - Tiffany Sill

T - tumultuous - Dennis, Buffalo Creativity Club

U - undercover - me

V - voluntold - Jen Claud (FB- Not public)

W - willow - Teresa Cypher

X - Xizang - me

Y -Yelled - me

Z - zydeco - (FB) Chip Etier

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Mik Carton Murders 04

2013 March 10

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

The Milk Carton Murders

(A brief synopsis of the story and previous excerpts can be found here.)

Some background. 

This is from the perspective of the killer, who has a now old dog named Baxter.

***

 

The mutt was just a puppy when it first started, a stray himself--kids weren’t part of the plan. Then one April day everything changed. The love of my life got out of the car, child in tow, and casually came up the walk as if it was normal--as if the child was another Baxter found on the side of the road.

“Adorable, isn't she? You remember her don’t you?”

“Yes, Samantha Briggs, she was sent back home a few months ago so why is she here?”

“You mean Sally. Her name is Sally now, isn’t it sweetie?”

 ***

The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. This week we have over 80 participants! You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

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No Strings Attached Blog Hop

3/12/2013 - CONGRATULATIONS to Vicki S., winner of my giveaway of Bread & Butter the Murders of Polly Frisch

This blog hop is brought to you by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer blog. 
MARCH 5 - 11

This is hop for all the people who hate jumping through hoops to enter giveaways.

This is a no strings attached, no requirements to enter hop. You don't have to tweet about it, blog about it--none of that. Just enter below. Here at my blog you are entering to win one copy of

Bread & Butter: The Murders of Polly Frisch.

Check the links at the bottom of the post for other participating blogs.

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The true account of Polly Frisch from the town of Alabama, New York, who, in 1857, was arrested for the murder of her husband and daughters. The punishment for such a crime was the gallows. Would Polly be the first woman in Genesee County history to be hanged for murder?

Bread & Butter is the true story of Polly Frisch who poisoned her family with arsenic and the five trials it took to convict her. New. Right from publisher's shipping box. 2nd edition published July 2000. Perfect bound. 5 1/2"W x 8 1/2"H. Signed by both authors, Ellen Bachorski--and myself, Cindy Amrhein. (Soon to be on Kindle!)

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Although comments are always welcome it is not required to enter this giveaway. To enter to win a copy of this book, use the rafflecopter below between March 5-11 (Ends at midnight on the 11th EST). This way the winner is randomly picked and I have contact info to notify the winner. It's that simple! One entry per person. The winner will be announced in this blog post for all to see within 24 hours of contest's end and an email sent to the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email or another winner will be chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here is a list of the other bloggers participating.

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The Milk Carton Murders 03

2013 March 3

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

The Milk Carton Murders

(A brief synopsis of the story and previous excerpts can be found here.)

Some background.

Dave’s dad worked in the printing department of the Wiscoy Dairy before he retired. When Dave was younger his mom & dad were foster parents. Dave had gone away to college and was working as a journalist for a newspaper in Chicago. When his mother died 5 years ago he moved back home to take care of his dad and works at the Lamont Weekly Times. When Dave sees the Wiscoy Dairy milk carton piece with the picture of “Sally,” he is confused. The picture is right, but the name says Samantha Briggs. He pulls some old photos from the attic in which Sally is wearing a blue gingham dress. He puts the SIMM card from his camera in the computer and sees the girl in the coffin is wearing the same dress. Dave already told his dad what they found at the creek. He tries again to ask his dad some questions.

***

 

“She didn’t stay with us long did she?”

“No —couple months. She was a tough one Sally was, couldn’t ever accept her parents weren’t coming for her—they were gone. Dead. She became detached. Kept insisting her name was Sammy, like if she could pretend she was someone else everything would be okay. She was a difficult child to take care of—just couldn’t adapt.”

 “Sammy? I don’t remember her using the name Sammy,” Dave said.

“No? Well maybe I’m thinking of a different one. That could be—yes. Your mother and I did care for a lot of kids over the years.”

“Do you remember her last name? I’d like to see if I could find her. See if she turned out alright, had a good life.”

“No, no I don’t remember. Don’t waste your time. You’ll never find her anyway.”

“Why do you say that, dad?”

“Well, because they’re girls, David. Almost impossible to find girls.”

***

The link to the other Weekend Writing Warriors is here. This week we have over 80 participants! You're bound to find something to pique your interest.

***

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

Weekend Writing Warriors is a blog hop. The object is to write eight sentences from your writing, published or unpublished, for the other participants to critique (as well as anyone else who wants to comment of course). This is a snippet from my WIP, The Milk Carton Murders.

- See more at: http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/#sthash.KzbxXmen.dpuf

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Childhood Books Shape Your Life

I was called out by a fellow writer and blogger, Teresa Cypher,  to choose my top five all time favorite books. I thought to myself, wouldn’t these books have to be the ones that most inspired my joy of reading, my taste in what I read—and maybe even my life? If that was the case, they would have to be books from my childhood.

Since I do my book reviews over at my other blog, History Sleuth's Deductions, I posted it over there. Here is the link to the post.

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