Patricia Gligor's Blog
January 23, 2019
Marnie Malone
Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Traditionally, the holiday is ALL about romance. But, that's about to change. Because. . .
Someone is stalking Marnie.
It’s Marnie’s last week at the law firm of Cliburn & Reeves and she feels like she’s riding an emotional roller coaster. Up when she wins the divorce and custody battle for Callie Jackson against her abusive husband, Jed. And plummeting down when one witness after another decides not to testify against Mark Hall, an attorney at another Charleston firm and an “alleged” serial rapist.
Marnie receives one threat after another and she constantly feels the need to look over her shoulder, convinced that someone is stalking her. With Sam out of town on business, she’s alone in the big, old farmhouse and strange things are happening. Noises in the attic, creaking floorboards and someone watching her from the woods.
As she tries to determine the identity of the stalker, the list of men who have grudges against her grows longer each day. In her line of work she’s made enemies. Is the stalker someone from the past or one of the men on her list? And, how far will he go?
Marnie Malone
Someone is stalking Marnie.
It’s Marnie’s last week at the law firm of Cliburn & Reeves and she feels like she’s riding an emotional roller coaster. Up when she wins the divorce and custody battle for Callie Jackson against her abusive husband, Jed. And plummeting down when one witness after another decides not to testify against Mark Hall, an attorney at another Charleston firm and an “alleged” serial rapist.
Marnie receives one threat after another and she constantly feels the need to look over her shoulder, convinced that someone is stalking her. With Sam out of town on business, she’s alone in the big, old farmhouse and strange things are happening. Noises in the attic, creaking floorboards and someone watching her from the woods.
As she tries to determine the identity of the stalker, the list of men who have grudges against her grows longer each day. In her line of work she’s made enemies. Is the stalker someone from the past or one of the men on her list? And, how far will he go?
Marnie Malone
December 9, 2018
'Tis the Season
"Unfinished Business" is FREE on amazon today and tomorrow - December 9th and 10th. If you'd like to read the Prologue before deciding whether or not to buy the book, here's the link to my blog:
http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com
Unfinished Business
http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com
Unfinished Business
November 15, 2018
We all wear many hats
In one of my favorite movies, "Sleeping with the Enemy," starring Julia Roberts as Laura, there's a scene where she’s back-stage trying on all kinds of hats. It's a great scene accompanied by the song, "Green-eyed Girl." With each new hat, Laura becomes a different person or, at least, she gets to alter her personality to suit the persona of the hat she's wearing. And she’s having so much fun!
Throughout our lives, we all wear many hats. We are wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, employees and friends. Each of our roles in life brings out different aspects of our personality and we use different skills in each relationship.
Writers need to wear many hats too. Writing is a solitary profession, at least for most of us, but marketing requires us to put on a different hat and, in doing that, to alter our personalities accordingly. For example, when I write I need absolute silence and solitude. No phone, no radio, no TV. It's just me and my computer. I think, I plan, I dream, I write - alone.
Then comes that glorious day. Your book has been accepted or you're ready to self-publish it. And everything changes. Now, a writer needs to change hats. To go from recluse to social butterfly in the blink of an eye. I feel like a chameleon changing colors each time I don a different hat.
No more sitting alone and creating. It's time to socialize. To schedule book signings, advertise on a blog and on several social media sites and to tell everyone about the book. We need to become "shameless self-promoters" if we want to sell our books.
Even when we're at the grocery store, waiting in line, we're promoting. I always carry business cards and I'm sure to have copies of my books in the trunk of my car at all times because you never know when someone you meet - old friend or new acquaintance - will want to buy your book.
Although you could say I'm an introvert/extrovert because I love my alone time but I also enjoying interacting with people, I’ll admit I’m most comfortable and happiest when I’m wearing my writing hat – bringing my characters and my plot to life.
Patricia Gligor
Throughout our lives, we all wear many hats. We are wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, employees and friends. Each of our roles in life brings out different aspects of our personality and we use different skills in each relationship.
Writers need to wear many hats too. Writing is a solitary profession, at least for most of us, but marketing requires us to put on a different hat and, in doing that, to alter our personalities accordingly. For example, when I write I need absolute silence and solitude. No phone, no radio, no TV. It's just me and my computer. I think, I plan, I dream, I write - alone.
Then comes that glorious day. Your book has been accepted or you're ready to self-publish it. And everything changes. Now, a writer needs to change hats. To go from recluse to social butterfly in the blink of an eye. I feel like a chameleon changing colors each time I don a different hat.
No more sitting alone and creating. It's time to socialize. To schedule book signings, advertise on a blog and on several social media sites and to tell everyone about the book. We need to become "shameless self-promoters" if we want to sell our books.
Even when we're at the grocery store, waiting in line, we're promoting. I always carry business cards and I'm sure to have copies of my books in the trunk of my car at all times because you never know when someone you meet - old friend or new acquaintance - will want to buy your book.
Although you could say I'm an introvert/extrovert because I love my alone time but I also enjoying interacting with people, I’ll admit I’m most comfortable and happiest when I’m wearing my writing hat – bringing my characters and my plot to life.
Patricia Gligor
July 3, 2012
Is truth stranger than fiction?
In 1965-1966, my main interests were boys, learning how to drive and school, pretty much in that order. So I paid little attention to the news, never dreaming how what was going on then in my hometown would mirror the novel I would write many years later.
You see, I learned something recently that actually gave me chills.
Truth: Fear gripped Cincinnati women when the headlines reported the grisly attacks taking place in their city. From October 1965 to December 1966, a man attacked, raped and murdered seven Cincinnati women. He strangled them, using either an article of their own clothing or something that was readily available to him. With one exception, the women were attacked in their homes. The media dubbed him “The Cincinnati Strangler.”
One of the victims of the Cincinnati Strangler lived in Price Hill, which borders Westwood, and all of his attacks occurred on or near the west side of Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Police apprehended Posteal Laskey, a cab driver, after the last attack. He was arrested and convicted of the seventh murder. He never confessed to having committed any of the crimes but the attacks stopped when he was taken into custody. He died in prison in 2007.
Fiction: In my mystery novel, "Mixed Messages," the Westwood Strangler is on the loose on the west side of Cincinnati and the women of Westwood are terrified. He attacks women in their homes and he uses an article of their own clothing or whatever is at hand to strangle them.
There are other similarities between "Mixed Messages" and what really happened but I can't reveal them without giving away the plot.
Was it merely a coincidence that what I wrote all those years later so strongly paralleled what really happened? Or, even though I don’t consciously remember the news stories, did my subconscious retain bits and pieces for all those years? I guess we’ll never know.
You see, I learned something recently that actually gave me chills.
Truth: Fear gripped Cincinnati women when the headlines reported the grisly attacks taking place in their city. From October 1965 to December 1966, a man attacked, raped and murdered seven Cincinnati women. He strangled them, using either an article of their own clothing or something that was readily available to him. With one exception, the women were attacked in their homes. The media dubbed him “The Cincinnati Strangler.”
One of the victims of the Cincinnati Strangler lived in Price Hill, which borders Westwood, and all of his attacks occurred on or near the west side of Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Police apprehended Posteal Laskey, a cab driver, after the last attack. He was arrested and convicted of the seventh murder. He never confessed to having committed any of the crimes but the attacks stopped when he was taken into custody. He died in prison in 2007.
Fiction: In my mystery novel, "Mixed Messages," the Westwood Strangler is on the loose on the west side of Cincinnati and the women of Westwood are terrified. He attacks women in their homes and he uses an article of their own clothing or whatever is at hand to strangle them.
There are other similarities between "Mixed Messages" and what really happened but I can't reveal them without giving away the plot.
Was it merely a coincidence that what I wrote all those years later so strongly paralleled what really happened? Or, even though I don’t consciously remember the news stories, did my subconscious retain bits and pieces for all those years? I guess we’ll never know.
