Matty Dalrymple's Blog

At a thriller writers conference last year, David Corbett called out the movie MICHAEL CLAYTON as an excellent example of development of secondary characters. I finally got a chance to watch the movie, and he was right. (How could you go wrong with the likes of Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack, and a very unlikeable Tilda Swinton?)

He also gave shout outs to KILLING EVE, IN BRUGE, VERTIGO, BODY HEAT, and IRONSIDE.

Who are your favorite literary secondary characters?

Great list of claustrophobia-inducing stories from the wonderful Michael Koryta. I loved the inclusion of "Young Men and Fire," a gripping and heartbreaking non-fiction work about the Mann Gulch fire. I might put "What Stands in a Storm" next on my to-read list. Which would you pick?
https://crimereads.com/claustrophobic...

Last week Wade and I had a rejuvenating vacation on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, filled not only with R&R but also with many book-related activities! I had a signing of "The Sense of Reckoning," which is set on MDI, at the venerable Sherman’s Books in Bar Harbor; restocked the "Reckoning" supply in the “gift niche” at The Claremont Hotel, which serves as the model for the fictional Lynams Point Hotel; checked out the venue for the talk I will be giving with MDI Fire of ’47 researcher Sean Cox at Bar Harbor’s Jesup Library on October 27; and snapped a photo of The Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels on a shelf in the Southwest Harbor Public Library, which also makes a brief appearance in "The Sense of Reckoning."

We also visited friends at their home on what we fondly refer to as Porkchop Island, which could make a great setting for the next Ann Kinnear book—what’s more suspenseful than an isolated locale complete with sand dunes and a backhoe appropriate for digging (and burying)?

Most of my time, though, was spent finishing up a draft of my next (non-Ann Kinnear) book to send off to my editor, Jen Blood. (Check out Jen’s Erin Solomon thriller series—highly recommended!) My next book features a child (and, later, teen) dealing with the physical and emotional consequences of her ability to affect others through the power of her mind. My working title for it was "A Mind Diseased":

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?
​
That would have continued my practice of using Shakespeare quotes for titles (“the sense of death” is from "Measure for Measure," and “the sense of reckoning” is from "Henry V"). However, when spoken out loud, it requires an oddly portentous delivery (“A Mind … Diseased”) to avoid having it sound like "A Mine Diseased" (perhaps the story of the Chilean miners?). Plus, since this was a different cast of characters, and, I hope, the start of a second series, it seemed as if a different title theme would be preferable.

Thanks to my creative and marketing-minded husband, Wade Walton, I now have the title for my next book: "Rock Paper Scissors." (Possible sequel title: "Hangman.")

I can’t wait for Walton Marketing to provide the blurb for RPS so I can share that with you!

Cheers!
Matty

This past week I spent three days in Philadelphia for the jury selection process for a federal trial—yes, that’s right, three days on jury *selection*, and we’re still not done! The wheels of justice turn exceedingly slowly (if I may adjust the quote to fit the circumstances).

My trips in and out of Philadelphia via Amtrak did give me an opportunity to do a little fact-checking for my third book, which has a scene that takes place at 30th Street Station. Check out my blog at http://www.mattydalrymple.com/blog to see the current draft of that scene, and see if you can tell where the error is—and maybe you’ll identify some other errors I’m not aware of! Post your comments here!

The article below appears in the Winter 2016 issue of Dickinson Magazine, along with a blurb in the "Fine Print" section about indy publishing and the second Ann Kinnear Suspense Novel, The Sense of Reckoning.

"Trading One Craft for Another"

by Matty Dalrymple

What do you do when two passions in your life vie for your time and energy? Is it possible to do justice to both? Must one eventually win out over the other?

For me those two passions are writing and flying.

My husband is a pilot and flies a 1979 Piper Arrow, which is suspiciously like the one the character Walt Federman flies in my novel The Sense of Death. As a frequent passenger in the Arrow, I decided to take a “pinch hitter” course, which teaches a non-pilot how to control and land a plane in case athe pilot is incapacitated. I took my first lesson in a Piper Warrior—a sort of baby Arrow—at Brandywine Airport in West Chester, Pa. (which also makes an appearance in The Sense of Death). I was hooked.

I continued my lessons, and went from being nervous about even taxiing the plane to being so blasé about it that my instructor once asked me if I planned to take off from the taxiway—ah, yes, never taxi faster than a fast walk. I went from slewing all over the runway on landing to doing a fairly decent job of staying on the centerline. I even started learning about how the engine works and doing the calculations necessary to plan for fuel consumption during a flight, despite the fact that I never thought of myself as particularly mechanically—or mathematically—inclined.

I experienced such elation when I did something well, and such frustration when I did something badly, but gradually the elation started to gain on the frustration and I began to anticipate the thrill of actually becoming a licensed pilot.

But there was another consideration—my writing.

I found that when I took a lesson, my brain was on aerodynamics and radio communications and best glide speed long after the lesson was over. It would take me several days to clear my head of aviation to make room for writing and publishing. So in the fall of 2013, as I was getting ready for the publication of The Sense of Death, I decided to take a hiatus from flying.
I intended to return to lessons once the book was published, but then I discovered the truth that promoting a book is just as time-consuming as writing one.

Furthermore, I was working on the sequel, The Sense of Reckoning, and doing both of these things on top of my job as a project manager at QVC. Months went by and there were no new entries in my log book. I realized that trying and failing to fit in a flying lesson was even more distracting than the lessons themselves. I had embarked on the lessons because I loved flying, but it was becoming just another responsibility to discharge (and an expensive one at that). The hiatus soon became a sabbatical.

So here I am, grounded and rapidly forgetting all that hard-won aviation knowledge I had been packing into my reluctant brain. Do I regret my adventure in aviation?

Not at all. I believe that if it hadn’t been for my aviation experiences, the idea that I could actually write a novel, establish a business through which to publish it, and then manage its promotion to wider and wider audiences might never have occurred to me.

If I hadn’t taken that first pinch-hitter course I would have missed out on that feeling of pride when a landing won a high-five from my instructor, or when I felt that little bump on the completion of a turn around a point that meant I had completed the circuit at exactly the same point I had entered it.

But I believe I also would have missed out on the thrill of seeing my book on the shelves of a bookstore or of hearing someone talk about my characters as if they were real people. I believe that my experience with aircraft enabled my experience with my writing craft.

And I look forward to a day when I can resume my lessons and fly myself to a signing for my latest, aviation-themed novel.

I celebrated the new year by coming up with a working title for my third book … read to the end to find out what it is!

Much to my surprise, my third book is turning out NOT to be an Ann Kinnear Suspense Novel! I have a start on Ann Kinnear Book 3 (stay tuned for more news on that front), but I had another story rattling around in my head. The main character in this story, like Ann, has an extraordinary ability but, unlike Ann, it is one that poses a danger to others. Being a fan of Shakespeare (Google “the sense of death” and “the sense of reckoning”), the working title I gave the book was “A Furnace for Your Foe.” (Not one that trips off the tongue but, hey, it gave me something to name the file.)

One evening over dinner with Wade and a friend, I gave them an overview of the plot. Our friend suggested I read one of Stephen King’s novels … yup, I had just written a synopsis of "Firestarter." (My main character even had a name similar to King’s main character.) I must have read "Firestarter" a couple of decades ago, because every once in a while I would encounter a passage that seemed familiar—the plot as a whole felt new to me, but there must have been a brain cell storing the details. Hey, if you’re going to subconsciously plagiarize, Stephen King is a good source to choose!

So I reworked the story—among other changes, giving the main character a different skill than firestarting (and a different name). It’s coming along nicely—I already have 23,000 drafty words. ("The Sense of Death" and "The Sense of Reckoning" were each about 80,000—I think this one is going to end up being quite a bit longer.)

And I have the working title: "A Mind Diseased."

Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased;
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow;
Raze out the written troubles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?

William Shakespeare
Macbeth - Act v. Sc. 3.

Yesterday's launch party at Kildare's Irish Pub in West Chester, Pennsylvania, was fantastic--many thanks to everyone who came! Special thanks to my friend, Anne, who was my best buddy starting in fourth grade, when I moved to York, Pennsylvania, and right through high school and beyond; she and her husband, Mike, were spending the weekend nearby to celebrate the 28th anniversary of their wedding (in which I was the maid of honor).

I'm very exciting to be making a return appearance on Omnimystery News with a guest post on "The Sense of Place - The Story Behind the Story." Click the link to learn more about the backstory of "The Sense of Reckoning"--the historic fire which burned much of Mt. Desert Island, Maine, and part of the resort town of Bar Harbor, on October 23, 1947!

October 23 will mark the culmination of almost two years of writing, editing, publishing, and promotion work with the launch of Book 2 of the Ann Kinnear suspense series: "The Sense of Reckoning."

Back in 2013, the launch party for Book 1, "The Sense of Death," consisted of dinner at a local pub with my husband and a few of our close friends. This time around, I’m extending the invitation to a lot more friends, old and new—some of whom I may not have met yet except through my first book, Facebook page, or blog posts! I hope you'll join me at Kildare’s Irish Pub (18 W Gay Street) in West Chester, PA, starting at 5pm on Friday, October 23. (Starting at 6pm, you can enjoy live music by Kevin Eppler!)

"The Sense of Reckoning" deserves a bigger party because the list of contributors is longer! Wade Walton, in addition to being a great sounding board for, and originator of, plot ideas, once again penned a back cover blurb that really captures the spirit of the story. Wade and my sister, Mary Dalrymple, both served again as trusty beta readers, with Lynda Holl joining the team this time around.

Some roles were the same but were filled by different contributors—Jen Blood provided editorial support, pointing out where plot lines or characters needed to be fleshed out, and Rob Frankel designed a cover that’s already getting rave reviews.

Unlike my first book, I needed to do some historical research for "The Sense of Reckoning"—its backstory is the fire that blazed across Mount Desert Island and burned much of Bar Harbor on (surprise!) October 23, 1947. To ensure I got the details of the fire and mid-century MDI right, I worked with Sean Cox and Virginia Mellen of the Mount Desert Island Historical Society, Paul Richardson of the Bar Harbor Historical Society, and Robyn King and Kate Pontbriand of Acadia National Park’s research center. Fellow Dickinson College alum David Fried, MD, F.A.C.P., provided advice on the medical aspects of the story, and Sandra Paoli provided Italian translations. Most fun of all, Tim Stanley, Assistant Manager at the Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor, Maine, let me poke around the hotel (so if you ever need to hide a body at the Claremont, I know just the place).

If you’re near West Chester on October 23, I hope you can join the celebration in person!

If you’re further afield, I hope you’ll check in on Facebook for updates on the launch.

If you’re in Chester County, Pennsylvania, or an adjoining county, I’d love to attend a book club discussion of "The Sense of Reckoning."

And wherever you are, please go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble on October 23 to order your copy! (Print copies available on both platforms, ebook available on Amazon.)

Happy haunted reading!
M.

Just got back from two wonderful weeks on Mt. Desert Island, Maine, a combination of relaxation and work.

The relaxation for me generally meant sleeping in (no dogs needing to be let out and fed), taking walks, swimming in the cove, and eating great food (Fiddlers' Green!). My husband added hiking and kayaking to that agenda.

The work was the result of the fact that MDI is the setting for much of the action in THE SENSE OF RECKONING so I spent some time doing final research before sending the manuscript off to my editor, Jen Blood. Many thanks to Virginia Mellen and Sean Cox of the MDI Historical Society—Virginia has been helping me since last year to research mid-twentieth-century MDI and Sean read through the manuscript to make sure I got the details right of the Fire of 1947 that burned much of Bar Harbor.

We also got a behind-the-scenes tour of The Turrets at the College of the Atlantic. I already have a Chester County-based plot in mind for Ann Kinnear Book 3, but I may be exploring The Turrets in Book 4—that looks like a place that has a lot of good ghost stories to tell!

And we visited the lovely and gracious Claremont Hotel, which serves as the basis for the Lynam's Point Hotel in RECKONING—should I ever need to hide a body at The Claremont, I know just the place.

During production of the audiobook of "The Sense of Death," I figured I better acquaint myself with audiobooks from a listener’s perspective so I signed up on Audible and started using my credits. One of the first books I listened to was Andy Weir’s "The Martian"—what a great book to start out with!

Andy started out self-publishing on Kindle to provide his friends with an alternative to reading the serialized story on his web site and almost accidentally found himself with an agent and a publisher. Andy is a programmer as well as an author, and at one point in a talk he gave at Google about the book, he referred to the reader as “the user” which I think presents a thought-provoking perspective on the author / reader relationship.

Andy’s very funny writing is supported by R. C. Bray’s equally funny narration. I’m glad I listened to the book rather than reading it because I would have been tempted to skip over some of the more technical sections that turned out to be integral to the story. It also made me appreciate the art of effectively-used profanity—maybe I should add more swearing to "The Sense of Reckoning"!

With the advent of technologies like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and with our ever more frantic schedules, I believe that audiobooks will play an increasingly significant role in how readers consume content. I’m starting to delve deeper into the audiobook world and would love to engage with any of you who are audiobook listeners to get your perspective--if you are interested in participating in such a discussion, please drop me a note from the About & Contact page of my web site and let me know!