J.L. Greger's Blog

Murder...A Way to Lose Weight


Do you edit constantly (at least in theory) but never lose much weight? One new scientific theory is the bacteria in your gut determine your ability to lose weight.

Curious? Then read the mystery MURDER…A WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT . You’ll learn a little about the science behind the theory that gut bacteria influence an individual’s ability to lose weight. If nothing else you’ll have an excuse for being overweight: Your gut bacteria made you overweight.

Other reasons for reading this novel:
1. It's an award-winning mystery with a poison not used in any other novel. (Won 2016 Public Safety Writers annual contest. 2016 Finalist for NM/Arizona book awards)

2) It's an insider’s view of a medical school with intriguing characters. Most doctors aren’t much like the old-time TV doc - Marcus Welby. They’re more complex.

3) IT MAKES A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT.

Recap of plot : Discover whether an ambitious young “diet doctor” or old-timers with buried secrets are killers in  MURDER...A WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT.

This new edition was necessary because my past editor became to ill to run her business.
Available in Kindle & paperback at: http://amzn.com/1978377282

Shopping for Mother's Day and other spring holidays is not easy. Flowers wilt quickly. Candy really isn't a good gift for overweight, especially diabetic, relatives and friends. Why not give a book - one about mothers?

The eighteen short stories in Other People's Mothers are snapshots of the wisdom, humor, and errors made by women as they interact with their children as youngsters and adults. The mothers in these vignettes are not reduced to stereotypes of good, like Carol Brady and Claire Huxtable in television programs, or bad, like the mother in "Mommy Dearest." They're funny, but real.

These women made choices. The narrators of the stories often didn’t understand the basis of the mothers’ decisions because of incomplete information or personal biases. Accordingly, they warped the portraits of the mothers. Think how you and your siblings remember childhood events differently.

Perhaps OTHER PEOPLE'S MOTHERS will help you take a fresh look at your mother and gain a more realistic understanding of yourself.

This book is perfect for anyone who complains (s)he's too busy to read much. Each story is less than fifteen pages long pages. Easy to read at bedtime.

And remember: Books are easy to wrap. While you can't borrow candy and flowers, you can borrow a book.

If you ‘re always in a rush, maybe you should try reading short stories—literature for people on the go.

Short stories are difficult to define. In 1846, Poe defined a short story as prose fiction that could be read in “one sitting.” The problem is “one sitting” is probably shorter now than then. H.G. Wells defined it as a “half-hour read.”

Short stories, like movies, tell tales by implications and quick shots without the superfluous explanation of novels. In theory, short stories contain the traditional elements of dramatic structure. However, the story usually begins in the middle of the action without an introduction of the setting and characters. Often, the resolution is abrupt and/or open to interpretation.

Short stories could be considered descendents of the Roman and Greek fables, Christian parables, and fairy tales. During the 1800s and 1900s, most major American and English authors wrote short stories for magazines. Arguably, the most “elegant” examples were written by Edgar Allan Poe and Alice Munro (2013 Nobel Prize in Literature).

My first collection of short stories—The Good Old Days? A Collection of Stories was just published. It’s available in paperback and Kindle formats. http://amzn.com/1537743813. ASIN: B01LXMSX1S. It's so new GoodReads doesn't have it on their list yet.

The fourteen stories in The Good Old Days? A Collection of Stories are loosely based on recollections of childhoods in the 1940s, 1950, and 1960s. These tales address major historical events and societal problems in the idiosyncratic way of memoirs. They are snapshots of events from one individual’s viewpoint, and the narrator for each story is different.

Although the quirks of characters in these tales are amusing, one aspect of several of these vignettes—child and spousal abuse in so-called “nice” homes—is not funny. Perhaps, these tales will cause you to redefine the good old days.

Last weekend was a tax-free weekend in New Mexico. Many residents rushed to stores to buy school supplies and clothes. I wondered:

* Did the stores sell more or less books (not notebooks) this weekend than on a usual summer weekend?

*  I realize a major purpose of tax-free weekends is to increase sales, but shouldn’t these tax-free weekends also promote education of children. How many parents thought about which of their purchases would help their children succeed in school? For that matter, did they think about what “success in school” meant to them and their children? Now I’ll be cynical, does the color of a notebook really matter?

* Did shoppers ever think about their own education? Does reading novels, especially those with scientific or historic facts, contribute to their education and knowledge of the world?

Maybe, all books should be tax-free on a tax-free weekend too.

Just a thought from a writer frantically working on her next novel.

JL Greger is the author of Murder...A Way to Lose Weight (a medical mystery with insights into modern weight control research) and Malignancy (a thriller set in Cuba with facts about international scientific exchanges). These novels won first place in the PSWA (Public Safety Writers Association) annual contest for published novels in 2016 and 2015, respectively.

It’s hot now in Albuquerque. When it’s in the high eighties and nineties, I like to escape into a book that takes me far away. How about you?

Why not escape into the Middle East and visit Beirut, Doha, and Khasab with woman scientist, Sara Almquist, in my thriller, I Saw You in Beirut. But why is Sara such a good guide in the Middle East?

In the 1990s, I consulted on biological (medical and agricultural) issues at the United Arab Emirates University in El Ain and the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. I got chills as I watched ships line up to pass through the Straits of Hormuz and gasped at the still visible shrapnel damage in Beirut, but I was also awed by the beauty and history of the region. Did you know Lebanon has Phoenician tombs that are contemporary with the Egyptian pyramids?

What do you know about medical discoveries made in Iran and Iraq? I knew several of the researchers involved in the Shiraz experiment, which identified zinc deficiency in villagers in Iran in the 1960s.

I also found humor in a laboratory, which one sheik in the Emirates built to help keep his racing camels in optimum form. There was a throne for him and especially deep, narrow swimming pools for the camels.

Then I included l tidbits (not long essays that slowed the plot) on science, geography, and history of the region in the novel. The net result (I hope) is several locations became colorful characters in I Saw You in Beirut. http://www.amazon.com/dp/1610092201

Now is the time that many book club prepare their fall reading list. The choices aren't easy. A successful entry can be read at several levels.

Murder...A Way to Lose Weight is such a book.

1. It has a twisted plot.

2. You'll learn something. For example, do you know how diet products and diets are tested in clinical trials? Did you know altering the bacteria in the gut is now believed to help obese patients lose and keep off weight? There's even a section called "The science behind the story" with references at the end of the novel.

3. There's a theme. In this case - medical ethics and women's roles in research. Any group can talk for hours on these topics and this mystery gives you several view points.

4. You'll meet characters you'd find interesting in real life. In this case scientists and clinicians, who have an assortment of vices, hangups, and virtues.

So, get an insider’s view of a medical school in the mystery MURDER...A WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT as Dr. Linda Almquist investigates two diet doctors who are endangering the lives of the obese participants in their clinical trial. When she finds one diet doctor dead, the police suspect the other diet doctor. Then Linda receives a series of threats, and the search for the killer widens to include a number of characters in the medical school.

And yes, the author was an associate dean in a medical school at one time.
http://amzn.com/1610092392

Amy BennettAmy Bennett writes today about a topic she knows well "The Art of Juggling for Writers with Other Jobs.” I think this may strike a chord with many.

With the release of my fourth Black Horse Campground novel, At the Crossroad coming up, I keep getting asked the same question: So when are you quitting your job with Walmart?

Let's say I don't anticipate giving my notice anytime soon. Or to my part time employer, either.

For the last four years, I have worked a full-time, forty-hour-a-week job as a cake decorator, as well as a part-time job (anywhere from 20 hours a week to 12 hours a month) helping out at Noisy Water Winery. This, in addition to maintaining a semblance of normal family life (meals, chores, together time, etc.), means that there is very little time left for the writing. For me, it has always been this way. My first ventures into writing fiction were back when my son was a toddler. His nap times were my writing times. When he and my niece and nephews were older and I was homeschooling them (in addition to working full time), I had to carve out “schoolwork” and “homework” time for myself as well as for them.

Nothing has really changed except that now I am published. That dream that kept driving me when I was feeling too tired to sit at the computer or pull out the notebook and pen is now the reality that continues to drive me. And let's face it: now, I feel justified in spending the time writing rather than, say, dusting the knick-knacks every day (I live in New Mexico; you can write your name in the dust on my end tables, just don't put down the date!)

In all honesty, I don't know if I would have become a writer if I'd had all the time at my disposal that I had to use to make a living and raise a child and have a life. Because I had (and still have) other, very important things to do on a daily basis, I have no choice but to prioritize the time that I do have to write and make the most of it. It doesn't keep me off of Facebook as much as it should, but I crave the time I can carve out to write and I look forward to it. And the truth is that, the “real world” jobs help keep my creative well full... I meet people and interact with them, observe behaviors and situations that I need to leave the house to experience, and they all help to create my fictional world and characters.

So I'll try to keep all the balls in the air for as long as I can. I'm getting quite good at this!

Bio:
Amy Bennett's debut mystery novel, End of the Road , started as a National Novel Writing Month project in 2009. It went on to win the 2012 Dark Oak Mystery Contest and launched the Black Horse Campground mystery series, followed by No Lifeguard on Duty and No Vacancy , which have both been awarded the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval. At the Crossroad is the fourth book in the series.

Visit her website at www.amymbennettbooks.com and The Back Deck Blog at http://amymbennettbooks.blogspot.com

Blurb for At the Crossroad
Trouble often comes in threes. It's no different at the Black Horse Campground.

On his first day as detective with the Bonney Police Department, J.D. Wilder finds three cold case files on his desk—three women who have disappeared over a fifteen year period at five year intervals. It seems that no one has ever taken the cases seriously... or even properly investigated them.

Then J.D. receives a visit from two former colleagues who inform him that he's about to receive another visitor; a woman from his past who is in trouble and needs his help. Again. The timing couldn't be worse, since he's finally about to ask Corrie on a date, but then Corrie also has a visitor from her past show up... someone who's hoping for a second chance with her. In the meantime, Sheriff Rick Sutton has his hands full dodging his ex-wife, Meghan, who insists on discussing personal business with him... business that has to do with digging up a painful past.

When three bodies are discovered that prove the missing women were murdered, J.D.'s investigation reveals that all of their visitors have some connection to the victims. But which one of them killed three women... and is prepared to kill again?

When trouble comes to Bonney County, Corrie, Rick, and J.D. band together to protect each other and their community. But can they solve the mystery before the murderer strikes again?

If you can't wait to buy AT the CrossRoad , here's an excerpt:

J.D. returned to the Black Horse more wide awake than he had been in days. Amato's words rang in his ears, while a voice in his head warned him that if he didn't get some rest, he was going to be completely useless when the time came to have his wits about him and his energy. Still, a night spent in mostly inactivity wasn't going to allow him to rest. He went into his cabin and changed into his running clothes. He needed to release some tension and energy if he was going to rest at all.

He slipped out of the cabin, casting a glance toward the campground store. It was almost six thirty a.m. and Corrie's apartment light was on but the store's lights were still out. He had missed the Friday night fish fry dinner, but he hoped to be back once she was open and be able to talk to her more. And get a decent breakfast.

He started out, following the path he'd taken a couple days earlier. The cool morning air was amazingly refreshing, helping clear his mind while invigorating and relaxing him at the same time. His breathing eased as his strides became more purposeful. He was near a breakthrough in the cold cases. He could feel it. Officer Amato had information that could help reveal the truth about what happened to the three women. After that... he'd have to wait and see.

He rounded the curve where he had seen the small cemetery the last time he had run this path and he slowed to a stop. He had pushed it to the back of his mind and had all but forgotten about it until this moment. Now was as good a time as any to pay his respects. His run had already accomplished its purpose. He knew he'd be able to sleep when he got to his cabin and he'd probably stroll back to the campground after this. He allowed himself a grin as he left the path, picking his way through the tall grass and brush to where the grave sites were.

Unlike most small cemeteries he'd encountered, there was no fence surrounding this one. In fact, there were only three wooden markers, crosses, all of them uniform but in different stages of weathering. He stopped when he got close enough to make out the lettering and suddenly the breath rushed out of him, leaving him feeling weak and dizzy with shock.

The first marker, the most faded, bore the name Carla Sandoval. The second, Rosalie Edwards. The third, the one with the least amount of weathering and the least faded lettering, read Benita Rojas.

Beside the one for Benita Rojas was an open grave. A plain wooden cross lay nearby. Both looked recent. Only a few days recent.

J.D. stumbled back, afraid that his eyes were playing tricks. He fumbled for his cell phone and let out an expletive when he realized he'd left it in his cabin when he changed his clothes. He reached the path and took off at a dead run back to the Black Horse Campground.

He'd been right; there had been more to the disappearances than what was common knowledge.
He hated it when he was right.

Let's hope this hard-working author has great sales of her new mystery.

Locations are characters in all novels, but not all locations are unforgettable characters. How do you make a location a major character in a novel?

First, you start with a city or location that excites you. Then you research the site. Personally, I think travel to the location is essential. Now let me show you how locations became characters in my thriller, I Saw You in Beirut.

In the 1990s, I consulted on biological (medical and agricultural) issues at the United Arab Emirates University in El Ain and the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

I got chills as I watched ships lining up to pass through the Strait of Hormuz and gasped at the still visible shrapnel damage in Beirut, but I was also awed by the beauty and history of the region. Did you know Lebanon has Phoenician tombs that are contemporary with the Egyptian pyramids? What do you know about medical discoveries made in Iran and Iraq? I knew several of the researchers involved in the Shiraz experiment, which identified zinc deficiency in villagers in Iran in the 1960s.

I also smiled as I toured the laboratory and swimming pools, which one sheik in the Emirates built to help keep his racing camels in optimum form.

Then I developed a heroine-Sara Almquist, a globe-trotting epidemiologist-to guide readers through the plot twists of I Saw You in Beirut. Its her memories of the Middle East that are crucial for identifying and rescuing a nuclear scientist form Iran.

Why don't you arm chair travel to the Middle East with Sara? You'll learn lots of tidbits on science, geography, and history of the region. I think you'll agree the locations in this thriller are unforgettable.

Tennessee Williams’s great quote (slightly adapted) from the Glass Menagerie is the concept behind most mysteries and thrillers, perhaps most fiction.

Before you disagree, Think. Plots are really a series of actions. Authors develop more interesting characters when they “show” their actions.

Do you want to cite examples to support or disprove the statement: Mysteries and thrillers are attempts to find in motion what was lost is space?

In my latest novel, I Saw You in Beirut, my heroine uses memories of her student days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and of her career as a globetrotting epidemiologist to provide clues for the identification and extraction of a nuclear scientist, known only as F, from Iran. But memories are often biased or incomplete, and she travels to the sites of her memories to gather new evidence.

For more thoughts on the topic: http://tinyurl.com/z7pta66
Win a free copy of I Saw You in Beirut in a GoodReads Giveaway: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

Women are now entering almost every conceivable career. It wasn’t always so. As a woman tenured in the sciences at a major university in the late 70s, I can tell you it wasn’t easy or particularly fun being one of two women speakers at an international scientific conference.

You might think that all goals are possible for a woman now. Maybe, but consider all the nasty comments about Carrie Fisher’s mature appearance in the new Star Wars movie. Think about the depiction of women in thrillers and action movies. Except for Helen Mirren, most female action heroes look like Angelique Jolie. That’s why I made a middle aged, woamn scientist the heroine in my thriller I Saw You in Beirut.

I Saw You in Beirut is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1610092201
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-saw...
FREE GIVEAWAY AT GOODREADS: Enter on January 9 to 15:
https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
A woman searches for clues in her past to rescue of a scientist from Iran in I Saw You In Beirut .