Guest post by Camille Minichino

“I Child-Proofed My House  . . . but they get in anyway.”

It’s a well-known fact that I’m not a kid-person. I’m not into them. They’re not my thing. I don’t do kids.

Don’t introduce me to your children until they’re ready to discuss quantum mechanics with me. (Diana’s kids are there already!)

So how did Maddie Porter get born and invade six of my books (the sixth miniature mystery, “Mix-Up in Miniature,” will be out next spring)? Maddie is now 11, well below the age I can relate to, the discussable age, and she’s also a skinny redhead, the likes of which I never saw growing up in my Italian neighborhood.

I’ve always resisted the “characters want to be heard” myth. Creating a character and moving her around 350 pages in a believable way takes a lot of work.

I was on a panel once with the great Reginald Hill. Someone asked him, “Do your characters ever take over and write the story?”

“If only they would,” he answered. “I’d go and have a spot of tea.”

I’m with Sir Reginald on that, but there’s no doubt that Maddie the Kid crept onto my screen before I could think about whether I wanted to deal with a preteen.

Maddie is precocious and loves sweets, which helps, because I can imagine manipulating her to talk about string theory, and her computer skills make her a good little sidekick sleuth, but I’ve warned her, she’d better not start acting up like some of the kids I see at the mall. I have ways of eliminating characters I no longer have use for.

My newest series, an academic mystery, features Sophie Knowles, college math teacher in a small New England town. What a relief. Sophie hangs around with only adults and college kids (my favorite segment of the population) all day.

Sophie has no children, but her boyfriend has a 10-yr old niece. Oh, no! What if Melanie demands her own story?

Not that I believe in characters taking over.

For each book, I create characters whose lives and professions are unfamiliar to me. I love doing the research, talking to willing subjects to get the inside scoop. Among the people I’ve observed and interviewed are cops, funeral directors, ice climbers, veterinarians, EMT workers and medivac pilots. And now, kids.

To develop Maddie I had to actually deal with kids, to capture their behavior, speech patterns, buzz words.

What do you know? They’re not as bad as thought. I even grew to like a couple of them. Still, no theme birthday party invitations, please.

Photos: CM with slide rule; Square Root of Murder cover

Camille Minichino is a retired physicist turned writer, who minimized her chances of having children of her own by spending her childbearing years in a convent. Her akas are Margaret Grace (The Miniature Mysteries) and Ada Madison (The Professor Sophie Knowles Mysteries, debuting July 5). She’s at http://www.minichino.com

Type-A-Parent

This week I’m off to speak at Type-A-Parent conference. I’m looking forward to meeting some excellent bloggers and mommies! It will be my first visit to North Carolina which I hear is wonderful! I’ll also be stopping by Dallas to be on Conversations Cafe hosted by Cheryl Nash. If I can get my hands on the video link, I’ll post it upon my return.
In the meantime, summer is finally in full swing here in San Francisco. The weather is beautiful and the kids are having a ball. Our kitchen remodel is almost complete…waiting with baited breath – I’ll post the pictures here perhaps after our vacation to Montana – oh, yes. There’s that too – an extended camping trip with the family to Big Sky – can’t wait.

What are your summer plans?

Time Management meets Bob

(Blogging over at the The Ladykillers today: but I’ve copied the post here too for your convienance)

Meet Bob. He is 22 months old. According to some child-rearing books children between the ages of 18 to 24 months are “Developmentally at a level similar to Neanderthals two million years ago.”

Seriously? I’m living with a Neanderthal? Oh, don’t worry, the book goes on to explain that Neanderthals were smarter, more verbal, and more agile than ape-men (what a relief) but also more aggressive and stubborn.

Well, you got that part right.

So what does Bob have to do with Time Management?

First off, there is a lot to learn from Bob – he’s stubborn and tenacious – which may be qualities all writers need to possess.

Secondly, he does what he wants. I laugh as I write this – but it’s pretty much true.  If he wants to sleep- he does, if he wants to eat- he does, if he wants to play in the garden but it’s raining he pounds on the window with his little fists – you get my drift. He either does what he wants or fights for it.

So how does all this relate to “Time Management”? I think we all make time to do what we like to do. The question I get asked more often than anything else is, “With three small kids, where do you find the time to write?” My answer is, “I make the time.”

It’s about priorities.

Here are my tips about making the time:

1. We’re all busy, when you can make out a little time to write, even if it’s ten minutes – have an idea about what you’ll be writing (i.e. the scene where she finds the body or the confrontation between characters x and y)this way, you are making the most of the precious few minutes you’ve set aside.
2. Therefore, think about your story before you sit down to write. I love to do this when I’m working out. It’s the part of me that loves to multi task. Asking yourself the “what if” question while you’re doing a repetitive action like on the treadmill is great to get ideas flowing. If you don’t like working out – doing household chores like dishes or laundry can get pretty repetitive too.
3. Working on a novel? Then rinse and repeat step 1 and 2. Seriously, all it takes is thinking about your story (planning) and writing (executing).

Want to kick it into high-gear for 2011? Here are your bonus tips:

a. The more frequently you do step 1 and 2 the easier they get.

b. See yourself doing steps 1 and 2. Writing a to-do list with “write 1000 words” on it, is not enough to actually get yourself to do it – trust me – I’m a consummate list maker. What will actually get you doing your to-do list is seeing yourself accomplishing your tasks (sounds a bit new-agey – sorry- but it’s true). You need to engage your frontal lobe (this is a part of the brain that our Neanderthal friend in the beginning of the story, Bob, has not developed yet.) So, before bedtime take a few minutes (and I do mean few minutes – this takes about 2 to 3 minutes – YOU HAVE THE TIME TO DO THIS) and use your mind to see yourself writing.  What time is it? Where are you? Who is watching the kids? What are you writing? Work through any road block you may have, to complete the task of writing, in your mind at that moment. Don’t wait for the next day to work through these potential blocks because then your time will be spent on that instead of writing.

So that’s it – now go do it! Remember you are NOT a Neanderthal -you have evolved past that.

(Disclaimer – I don’t actually think Bob is a Neanderthal either – I love my little guy with all my heart.)

Bookmark this page and check back in 2011 and let me know how my tips are working out for you!

In the meantime – Merry Christmas to you and yours and have a very blessed 2011!

Guest Post

Please welcome the author of DYING FOR A DATE, Cindy Sample, as she blogs about “The Love Interest” over at http://theladykillers.typepad.com/the_lady_killers/

Motherhood is Murder – Trailer

Motherhood is Murder Video Trailer

Bundle of Trouble – Chapter Five – Podcast

Muppets – Bohemian Rhapsody

Probably everyone has seen this – but I thought it was so hilarious I had to post it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkugOvoLus&feature=player_embedded