Why I Thank the Scrooges in My Life

Though I was raised by Scrooges and have a Bah-Humbug spouse, I refuse to succumb to holiday depression. Every year I experience a kind of seasonal euphoria that certainly isn't due to childhood traditions. My parents only reluctantly engaged in celebrations "for the children" -- all the while expressing distaste for the commercialism and bitterness over memories of Depression-era privations. Then, as atheists, they debunked the Nativity story. Perhaps I was a changeling child, because I still bustled around singing Christmas carols, making decorations from construction paper, and tuning the TV to seasonal specials. As an adult, I am the champion of the holiday spirit in my home. My Indian husband was raised in a Hindu household without Western traditions. He spends his Xmas complaining about the expense and the bland seasonal food he has to choke down. Yet every year, I happily decorate a tree, send seasonal cards, cook traditional fare, and play holiday music that no one else listens to. I welcome my children and relatives who can visit, and send my love to those who must be absent. I remember the faces that I have not seen in many years because of distance and death. I count my blessings and give more to charities. And I thank the Scrooges. They forced me to cultivate a personal meaning for the holidays that has nothing to do with religious orientation or retail hype or transient circumstances. As Scrooge's nephew explained to him in Dickens' A Christmas Carol, I embrace the season "as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!" Happy Holidays to all.

Why Do We Binge on Holiday Shopping?

Every year I swear off excess holiday shopping, and then I walk into a mall and binge. A Psychology Today article explains why I am so easily seduced into this shopaholic state. Consider the seasonal red-and-green color scheme used by many retailers: Red stimulates and energizes--even our spending. Studies show that waitresses wearing red get 14% to 26% higher tips than waitresses wearing other colors, for example. Add green, an optimistic color associated with wealth (ah, happy thoughts), and I'm eager to spend. Meanwhile, merchants drench the air with holiday scents wired directly to emotions and memories. Pine scent especially evokes feelings of happiness and nostalgia, according to studies. And while I'm in the mood, other stores pipe holiday music into my ears to hype nostalgia further. Research shows that nostalgia elevates positive mood, creates a sense of emotional connection, and inspires a rosy view of the past--so I want to revive childhood's holiday magic with my dollars. Then I just have to touch a soft cashmere sweater on a display table, and I'm standing in line to purchase, because studies find that we’re significantly more likely to buy what we touch. That's why retailers design stores with merchandise roadblocks. Since we’re naturally drawn toward the center of a display, stores put pricier items there, with the second-best placement just to the right of center where the right-handed majority will likely touch first. Even the frustrations--jammed parking lots, shoving crowds, and a race against time--work against sober shopping. Anxiety interferes with rational decision-making, psychologists warn. So is the answer to just shop online? If only I could, but every holiday I end up at the mall at least once--and face temptation. So here's my New Year's resolution: I'll just say no to red-and-green, pine-scented, "dreaming of a white Christmas," warm and fuzzy, anxiety-spurred retail traps next year. For now, I'll ruefully wrap an overabundance of gifts. For more on the pyschology of holiday shopping, see http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-why-behind-the-buy/201212/is-your-brain-holiday-shopping

My Offer to the Book Club Circuit

I would love to see more book clubs put my mystery Lies Agreed Upon on their 2014 agendas, and I can be available in person for Southern California group discussions--and perhaps even meetings in other areas--if given enough notice. I admit I am still perfecting my book club presentation. I have developed suggested discussion questions, of course, but the book groups I have attended want to know more; they are interested in the creative process. I have found myself talking about plotting and character development, background research, editing and rewriting, word choice and writing style, time management and writer's block. But I sensed I was omitting a key ingredient of creative writing. I realized after a recent book group meeting that I needed to do better at sharing the "magic" as well as the mechanics of writing. By that I mean those serendipitous events--a random memory, a TV news story, a phone conversation, a chance encounter in a shopping mall--that inspire an "aha" moment and a new plot twist or a new character or even a whole new story. There were plenty of those as I wrote my novel. I assume that my mind, focused on an imaginary world, tended to strain and re-purpose real-world input to fit the fiction. But it felt much more exciting than that. It was as if the universe purposely delivered insight, illuminating truth with a beam of light from on high or from deep inside, but definitely from somewhere beyond conscious control. As Harry Potter's creator J.K. Rowling has said, “There's nothing better when something comes and hits you and you think 'YES'!” For me, fiction writing relies as much on that occasional epiphany as it does on steady wordsmithing--and I promise to share more of those "YES" moments if invited to speak with your book group. Download suggested discussion questions at http://authorkatherinesharma.com/discussion-questions-1.html

Traditional Feasts Serve Up Food's Emotional Power

Busy prepping for Thanksgiving Day's shared feasting, I began to think about the role food plays in our lives and our literature. There's no denying that food generates some of our most evocative memories of emotions, places, and people. Few other experiences can match eating for both cultural uniqueness and universality. Numerous old saws equate food and love (the way to a man's heart, of course). Why? In The Omnivorous Mind, John Allen has written a whole book about the evolving human relationship with food. Nearly all cultures engage in feasting to commemorate past or seasonal events with an abundance of food. The practice probably began about 1 million or 2 million years ago, posits Allen, when humans began hunting really big animals, like mammoths, and needed to share temporary excesses of food so that it would not go to waste. When agriculture developed, humans added harvest feasts--which led to our own Thanksgiving tradition. But our relationship with food is more than historical; somewhere along our evolutionary path, we developed the special wiring that makes food so central to human social and emotional life. For one thing, Allen points out, the digestive system produces hormones like insulin, leptin and ghrelin that act on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays a key role in memory; thus, we tend to remember food events, and a certain food can trigger vivid recall of people, settings and feelings. The brain's dopamine system, which rewards us with feelings of pleasure, also becomes active when people look at a favorite food--or someone they love. In our brains, food really is linked to love. To get ready for the feasts still ahead, you may want to sample food's emotional resonance in stories such as Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, Babette's Feast by Isak Dinesen, and A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote. And you can check out Allen's book at http://www.amazon.com/The-Omnivorous-Mind-Evolving-Relationship-ebook/dp/B008533FSI

When Gender Roles Change, Does That Change Fiction?

Two consecutive events got me thinking about gender roles and writing: On Nov. 16, my book club discussed Herman Wouk's novel Marjorie Morningstar, and on Nov. 17, Doris Lessing, author of The Golden Notebook, died. The assumptions about gender roles in the two works represent quite different views. Published in the 1950s and set in the 1930s, Marjorie Morningstar tells the story of a young New York Jewish girl who rebels against social expectations and dreams of becoming an actress, only to end up (chastened by lost illusions and lost virginity) as a conventional (but happy) wife and mother. It is a book that reflects the traditional views of my mother. Moving on to the 1960s, The Golden Notebook's protagonist is a writer and single mother, Anna Wulf, whose psychic fragmentation is expressed in the novel's format of story interposed with Anna's notebooks: a black notebook for her youth in Africa, which formed the basis of her one successful novel; a red notebook for Cold War politics and her disillusion with Communism; a yellow notebook for a fictionalized self; and a blue notebook as an intimate diary. Anna seeks to weave together all the pieces of her reality in one "golden notebook." A favorite of feminists at the time, the book deals frankly with female sexuality, work, love, men, marriage and motherhood. It is a book that echoes many of my feelings as a working wife and mother at a time when gender equality was an unrealized dream. Fast forward to the 21st century. "We've come a long way, baby," and the majority of millennial women (which includes my daughter) tell researchers that they believe they live in a world without gender barriers, where they can have both a rewarding professional career and a fulfilling personal life. "Balance" is their mantra, with seven in 10 listing a "work/life balance" as an important quality of the successful female business leader. So successful writing now must create female protagonists who transcend gender roles. But that's actually nothing new. Both Marjorie Morningstar and The Golden Notebook are really about the desire for, and obstacles to, self-realization regardless of gender--which is why the books continue to be read despite some sweeping social changes. To quote Doris Lessing: “What's terrible is to pretend that second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don't need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you're capable of better.” Current and future generations still face those issues; gender bias simplified or complicated but did not remove such challenges.

In Disaster Tales, We Seek Guides to Survival

I currently find myself immersed in coverage of the typhoon aftermath in the Philippines. Why is there such a public fascination with disaster, whether natural or man-made? Sure, there is a vicarious thrill from imagined terrors while reassuringly safe on a comfy sofa in a climate-controlled den, but I think it goes deeper. It's really the survivor stories we want to hear. The silent dead and destroyed buildings are only backdrops. We are all vulnerable to unexpected disaster, from a natural catastrophe to a personal crisis like a car crash or cancer, and we want to be survivors, too. There are many great true-story books about disaster and survival to guide us. Just a few that I've read: Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson about the 1900 Galveston hurricane; the classic A Night to Remember by Walter Lord; The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger; Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer; and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. From these, I would boil disaster survival down to three ingredients: luck (which I can't control), preparedness (which I can purchase with supplies, training and support services) and the right mindset. This last, the psychology of the survivor, is the secret that I think we seek in disaster stories. People who survive seem to stay calm and clear-headed, to take quick appropriate actions, and to remain adaptable and resilient. Why aren't they paralyzed or panicked by fear and hopelessness? The answer seems to be that survivors conquer fear with their faith in a positive outcome. The source of that faith can be religious belief or scientific knowledge or disciplined self-reliance. But, basically, to survive, you often need to believe in your own survival despite the odds. So feed your faith to starve your fears, as the proverb says, and check out some of these inspiring disaster tales on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Disaster-Books/lm/160WDNETXV59H

Meeting the Challenge of Holiday Book Giving

Retailers have replaced the Halloween decorations with Christmas glitter, and I just realized that books, which used to be at the top of my holiday shopping list, have slipped from favor this year. In the past, I had an algorithm for selecting gift reading material: I started with the recipient's personal basics (sex, age, politics, favorite pastimes, etc.) and added in our relationship (close enough for me to know fiction preferences or distant enough that a generic "desserts of the world" was more apropos). Then I divided the sum of factors into the recommended best-sellers and, voila, several potential book gifts were calculated. My selection sometimes missed the mark, but it was often better, or at least no worse, than a sweater in the wrong size and color or an unneeded gadget. This year, I face several complicating factors. Many people now opt for e-books over paper copies, so I need to know not only preferred reading content but preferred reading format. Also, more and more people tell me they don't have the time or inclination to read hours of prose. Scratch them from the book gift list. I'm seeing in my own life that many how-to books (cook books, gardening guides, medical manuals, etc.) have been reduced to clutter now that I can get information as needed from Google search, Pinterest and Wikipedia. How about those beautiful "coffee table" picture books about French chateaus, Picasso or tropical birds? Well, the formal living room where people sat down to converse in front of a coffee table is becoming passé. It's about casual, open-plan living, and parties with the kitchen and a flat-screen TV as focal points; oversized books in that environment are just magnets for wine stains. That said, I assure you that I do have books on my holiday shopping list--just for a smaller and more select group than in the past. A book that opens up worlds of imagination, knowledge and inspiration, in whatever format delivered, is one of the most thoughtful and long-lasting pleasures I have received, and I'm sure others will agree. Of course, Amazon.com offers a trove of recommendations for holiday book gifts, but here is a shorter list from squidoo.com to get your 2013 shopping started: http://www.squidoo.com/top-books-for-christmas

Mystery Chills Can Be One of Halloween's Treats

Halloween, today's candy-fueled fest of costumed self-expression and safely self-inflicted shudders, has become a retail bonanza. But despite commercial hype, from costumes for dogs to excessively ghoulish decoration, the real human fears underlying the celebration's melange of Celtic and Christian traditions seep through. In earlier European society, Halloween reminded that harvest warmth would soon yield to the specter of icy hunger, that it was a small step from laughing children to silent graves, that there were dark forces untamed by prayer. In festive disguise, we still acknowledge the thin mental veil between living and dead, good and evil, safe daylight and stirrings in the dark. That's why Halloween, although it is more associated with the horror genre, is a great time to curl up in a warm, cozy place to read a mystery. A good mystery, like Halloween, allows us to unmask and conquer the monsters and ghosts that haunt us. To quote Emily Dickinson: "One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place." Of course, I would recommend my own book, Lies Agreed Upon, but for a list of especially Halloween-themed mysteries, check out http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Holiday-Mystery-Books/Halloween-Mystery-Book-List.html

Time to Debunk Those Myths About Millennials

I started out with a beef about the "millennial" generation. I have three children who are "millennials," and only one has finished reading my mystery novel! It's because millennials just don't read anything longer than 140-character text messages, I grumbled. They Tweet, Instagram, and check Facebook multiple times a day, but they don't have time to consume books because they are so busy communicating and connecting and letting everyone know where they are and what salad they are eating. Since they can quickly get all their entertainment online, it's not surprising that they've lost the habit of sitting for long hours with a Kindle e-book or turning printed pages without lots of graphics, I reasoned. Besides, old-fashioned mysteries about human failings and betrayals can't compete with a generation raised on movie wizardry, sexy vampires and zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, the statistical data says otherwise: The "2012 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying Behaviors Annual Review" actually found that those born between 1979 and 1989 spent more money on books in 2011 than older Americans, buying 30% of books, while the well-off boomer generation of their parents only bought 24% of books. In jumping to conclusions about millennials based on a sample of two, I'm guilty of joining a lot of other misguided social pundits. I've had numerous conversations with boomer friends who bemoan millennial selfishness, short attention spans, unreasonable workplace expectations, and so on. If you have slipped into the millennial-bashing rut, or if you are a maligned millennial, you should read the amusing Washington Post blog piece "Please stop having dumb opinions about Millennials" by Alexandra Petri. It's time to debunk that "Me Me Me Entitled Trophy-Wielder Constantly Instagramming My Hookups While Having No-Strings Attached Salads" caricature. See the article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2013/10/07/please-stop-having-dumb-opinions-about-millennials/

Strange Cultures Offer Common Mythic Truths

Recently, I read three books about worlds outside my cultural experience: The Round House by Louise Erdrich, a novel with a Native American cast of characters; King Peggy by Peggielene Bartels and Eleanor Herman, the story of an American secretary made "king"  in Ghana; and Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, describing the Chicano world of his childhood. It was sometimes a struggle to relate to the mythical devices in these books, from a female buffalo savior in The Round House, to stools imbued by spirits in King Peggy, to a giant gold carp-king in Bless Me, Ultima. The alien symbols and cultural assumptions initially seemed just dashes of authentic "color" and quaint folklore; it took effort to find the deeper spiritual meanings. It required abandoning the metaphors of a 21st century white American for the universal poetry of myth. Joseph Campbell, the famed mythologist, once likened myths to a kangaroo pouch for the human mind and spirit, a sort of "womb with a view." So how do you jump from your own cozy pouch into a strange one? It's not always a comfortable or easy leap. But I have found that the reward of a different view is worth it. “Mythology is composed by poets out of their insights and realizations. Mythologies are not invented; they are found....Myths come from the mystical region of essential experience,” Campbell wrote, and thus myth "goes past your mind and into your very being, into your very gut." When we can connect with that essential human experience--ignoring its setting in a strange place, its expression in a strange language and its conflict with our own accepted myths--we can learn something valuable about being human, about ourselves, which is the ultimate reward for a reader. For a quick introduction to Campbell on myth, see the interview http://www.context.org/iclib/ic12/campbell/

Setting the Mystery Scene With Seasonal Color

The seasonal setting is one of the choices I ponder when writing a mystery story. Seasonal weather and color palette can be used to form a background mood for the characters and plot. For example, in Lies Agreed Upon, the story was intentionally set in June in New Orleans. So, while scenes featured sunny days in a city of colorful pastel facades, which generally paints a lighthearted mood, the positive vibes were offset by the drama of frequent thunderstorms and by heat and humidity that sapped energy and increased irritability. By opting for a summer season, the story could use the lush greens of natural fertility and tranquility as a contrast to the intricate blackness of wrought/cast-iron decor, a hint to the dark human forces at work. In my next story, the setting is the Mid-Atlantic Coast in October. Fair, brisk autumn skies can turn gray with cold rain, so energizing weather alternates with depressing gloom. The warm colors of fall--red, orange, yellow and brown--evoke a sense of enthusiasm and comfort. But yellow and orange also are warning colors, brown can inspire a sadly isolated mood, and red is the hue of anger and blood as well as love. And with the choice of October, I can intentionally draw on Halloween black to emphasize themes of death and evil. For more about color psychology, go to http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm

Kindle Alert: Don't Miss This Bargain Offer

Attention Kindle readers: The e-book version of my debut novel, Lies Agreed Upon, a spicy gumbo of mystery, romance and murder set in New Orleans, is being promoted by Kindle Nation Daily next week at a special $2.99 price. Take advantage! The Kindle price is going back up after the promo period. If you like Kindle bargains and discovering new authors, and you haven't already joined, check out the Kindle Nation Daily site at http://kindlenationdaily.com/ and the related http://www.bookgorilla.com/

Taking 'Lies Agreed Upon' Discussion Beyond Genre

One of the key ingredients of a good book club meeting is a set of good discussion questions. Thought-provoking talking points help readers to go beyond plot, style and personal experience. They get readers to "think out of the box" to consider deeper, universal themes and to look at a book from different and perhaps uncomfortable angles. My book club doesn't usually deal with genre mysteries, romances or sci-fi because genre books don't often lend themselves to much discussion. I wanted my mystery, Lies Agreed Upon, to be an exception. So, in putting together discussion questions for the book, I tried to avoid a focus on the plotted "how" of crime, investigation and solution, or even the "who done it," since these questions generate little debate. I tried to direct the reader to think about the "whys" of tragedy: the ambiguity and malleability of character, the impact of social and historical injustices, the role of toxic family dynamics, the universal vs. the local viewpoint, and the shadows cast on the present by the past. Hopefully, these are issues that rouse differing opinions and reveal nuances in the story that enrich the reading experience. At the same time, I tried to craft discussion questions to avoid "spoilers." To see my suggested discussion questions, go to http://authorkatherinesharma.com/discussion-questions-1.html. I invite readers to share and post more talking points, of course!

Read the Kirkus Review of 'Lies Agreed Upon'

Kirkus, a trusted authority in book discovery since 1933, has posted a review of my self-published debut mystery, Lies Agreed Upon, and it's a generally positive assessment of my Indie effort. Quoting from the review: "Sharma portrays New Orleans as beautiful, corrupt, complicated, secretive and tragic—far more than just an atmospheric backdrop for Tess’ genealogical investigations. She skillfully shows how the family betrayals, murders, lies and vengeance Tess uncovers are inextricably linked with New Orleans’ history, racial and sexual politics, and geography. The author handles dialogue (and dialect) well, which gives vitality to her large, varied cast, and she depicts Tess herself [my protagonist] as likable, enterprising and sympathetic." There is criticism for the extra effort required to follow the "complicated family relationships," even with the family tree supplied for reference (which unfortunately doesn't render as well in e-readers). That's something some readers have also noted in their review posts on Amazon and Goodreads. But the Kirkus reviewer still concludes, as do most Goodreads and Amazon review posts, "That said, Sharma paces the novel well, gradually unfolding layers of mystery until the final truth is revealed." The novel is summed up as "an often engaging New Orleans mystery with romantic and humorous touches." To address the one recurring point of criticism, I am mulling whether to scatter excerpts of the family tree at strategic points in the book. Would it overemphasize genealogy and drag at pacing further, or would it help? What do you think, readers? For the full review, go to https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/katherine-d-sharma/lies-agreed-upon/

When a 'Bad' House Joins the Cast of Suspects

Without giving away my next mystery plot, I can reveal that a strange old house is going to figure among the murder "suspects." I'll be drawing in part on memories of an old Victorian home that my parents rented briefly when I was a teen. The "gray elephant," as they dubbed it, had many unsettling quirks. For example, my bedroom was upstairs at the back and was pierced by four doors: a door from the upstairs hall, a door to the servants' stair from the kitchen below, a door to a cavernous closet under the eaves, and a door to narrow steps up to the attic. At precisely 2 a.m each night, all those doors, if not firmly closed, would open together on their own, with eerily groaning hinges and sighs of musty air from their black portals! It was definitely scary, and it became my nightly ritual to carefully check that every door was tightly shut before climbing into bed. There was probably a logical explanation, but it was natural to suspect unseen, hostile forces. And like most old places, the house had its share of unhappy past occupants and deaths. Many people believe houses can develop a "negative energy," whether paranormal entities or the lingering aura of past residents. Just witness the success of modern "paranormal investigators," feng shui planners, and the "space clearing" services featured in a June article in the elite New York Times. I don't believe the old "gray elephant" was haunted in the usual sense, but it did seem to have the sort of dark magnetism that would repulse positive, upbeat buyers and so favor unhappy histories. I will leave it to future readers to decide whether my fictional house is the cause or the result of unpleasant human energies. Have you ever experienced a "bad vibe" house? If so, for a rather tongue-in-cheek NYT article on space clearing, see http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/garden/scrubbing-the-house-right-down-to-the-vibes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Life's Disturbing, Inexplicable 'Coincidences'

"Coincidence? I think not" has become a parodied dialog line in paranormal tales. It is inspired by "synchronicity," which is a fancy way of describing the experience of seeing two or more events as meaningfully related, even though they are unlikely to be causally related and may not be simultaneous in time. For example, suppose you are reminiscing about a beautiful rose garden when a total stranger hands you a bouquet of roses and walks away. Suppose you dream that a friend is in the hospital, and the next day you learn the friend has just been in a car accident. The concept of synchronicity was first described by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in the 1920s. Skeptics say the human mind is programmed to find patterns, to the point of connecting random events. Others see evidence of worlds beneath or beyond the everyday. I'm not a writer of paranormal fiction, so I generally use the plot spice of synchronicity sparingly. But since most of us have experienced inexplicably interconnected events at some point, a fictional world without any "synchronicity" also seems both unreal and uninteresting. Have you experienced "synchronicities" that impacted you significantly? For more explanation, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

Why I Write As Katherine, Not K.D. or Keith

Did I make a mistake by publishing my debut mystery Lies Agreed Upon as a woman author? Book publishers claim studies show men don't read books by women -- so I've presumably lost a chunk of audience. I could have copied Joanne Rowling -- who obliged her publishers with J.K. Rowling so she wouldn't scare away the boys -- and published under the gender-neutral K.D. Sharma. Or I could have created a male false identity with a name like Keith Sherman. It seems very19th century, when the Bronte sisters wrote as the Bell brothers and Mary Anne Evans penned under George Eliot, but female authors do still don male names today. Maybe it's because they listen to the financially pinched publishing industry. A Wall Street Journal story last year quoted Penguin editor Anne Sowards: "It sometimes makes sense for a female author to use a pseudonym, particularly when the main characters are male, or when it's a genre with a strong appeal to men, like military science fiction, certain types of fantasy or gritty thrillers." She goes on to say, "For a new author, we want to avoid anything that might cause a reader to put a book down and decide, 'not for me.'" I pondered avoiding a bio photo and adopting a male pseudonym, but then it occurred to me: 1) Studies show that women make up the majority of readers of most fiction genres, and especially mystery fiction, and the female reading public is not biased by author gender; 2) I'm self-publishing, so I don't have to kowtow to the publishing industry; and 3) I'm self-promoting, including leveraging my social media networks, so it would be hard to get away with a false identity anyway. So I decided to focus on being an author, who also happens to be a woman. For the WSJ story, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324355904578159453918443978.html

Have You Joined the E-Book Crowd?

Are you an e-reader? I've noticed the evidence of e-book popularity in my own book promotion for Lies Agreed Upon. I may prefer reading an old-fashioned paper book, but I also purchase e-books for my Kindle, especially because it is so convenient when traveling. So I was curious about e-reading trends. According to research in 2012, 21% of American adults reported reading an e-book in the previous 12 months, up from 17% in 2011. Doubtless the percentage of e-book readers has increased even more in 2013. And the e-readers are different from traditional readers -- in ways that make authors eager to seek them out. Compared with other readers, e-book readers read more books. E-book readers consume an average of 24 books a year compared to an average 15 for non-readers of e-b0oks. E-book readers also are more likely to purchase rather than borrow a book. E-book reading is happening across an array of devices now, including dedicated e-readers, tablets and smartphones. For more about e-reading trends, go to the report from Pew Research at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

Solving the Mystery of the Mystery Reader

As an avid mystery fan, and now the author of a mystery novel, I'm naturally curious about the profile of the average mystery reader. In 2011, Sisters in Crime, an organization for advancement of women crime writers, released its first survey of buyers of mystery books, based on data gathered by Bowker's PubTrack sales analysis division. It turns out that my fellow mystery readers look a lot like me in some ways: female (68%) and over age 55 (48%). They are also more likely to be Southerners (35%), to live in suburban areas (48%), and to have no children at home (77%). However, I depart from the norm when it comes to purchase behavior by embracing the digital age, making both print and e-book buys while shopping in book stores and online. In contrast, most mystery readers prefer retail stores (39%) over online (17%). And while 90% reported knowing about e-books, only 13% had read one (mostly those who were under age 30).  So how do I attract more mystery buyers to my online-only book distribution? Leading purchase drivers such as "well-known author" and "book series" aren't helpful, but one top-ranked purchase influencer is within reach: recommendations from friends and relatives, as well as other readers. So keep posting Amazon, Kindle and Goodreads reviews -- and talk it up, guys! For the full report, go to http://www.sistersincrime.org/associations/10614/files/ConsumerBuyingBookReport.pdf

Politics and Religion: Book Discussion Taboos?

My mother always told me that "polite company" avoided talking about politics and religion. Friends and book club members often tacitly follow the same rule. Here are some best-selling books that may be "taboo" because they touch on religious and political sensitivities:  Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan; Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg; and This Town, a blistering insider look at Washington by journalist Mark Leibovich. Yet surely well-meaning people can have a productive discussion about ideas that matter to them! Maybe we just need to set rules for civil discourse, rules opposite to the ones that seem to govern "debates" in the media arena. Here are my five suggestions: 1) Don't start a conversation unless you can all agree to be open to, and respectful of, other viewpoints; the goal should be self-education not changing others' beliefs or lecturing about your own. 2) Tread carefully and tactfully into unknown opinion waters; don't assume you already know other people's positions since they may agree, disagree, or not care a flip. 3) Stick to the facts (generally accepted information or research) and avoid expressing personal judgment or criticism. 4) Know when to keep quiet and when to quit (prepare an appeasing exit line such as "I'll have to consider that..."). 5) Steer the discussion from personal convictions, specific institutions and doctrines to more general theories. Turn "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" into "What is the role of religious faith today?" Please share your tips for successful discussion of a controversial book!

Reviews: Developing a Thick Skin But Not a Thick Skull

If you're hot, cold or just lukewarm about my debut mystery, Lies Agreed Upon, please share your opinion with me and other readers by posting a brief review on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com! I really value honest feedback. Of course, more reviews can boost the book's attraction to curious readers and my Amazon/Kindle sales. But there's another self-serving reason I need your input: I'm working on my next mystery in what I intend to be a three-book series with the same main character. Your evaluations can help me write a better book the next time. Don't worry that a comment may pinch my ego. As a newspaper and magazine writer and editor for many years, I long ago stopped seeing my written work as sacrosanct. I've developed a thick skin but, hopefully, not a thick skull! I can honestly say that my writing has only been improved by the input of readers, editors and critics over the years. Besides posting a review, feel free to share your thoughts on my blog, my Facebook page or with my LinkedIn network. Also, visit my website for more background and contact info.

Why I Love Book Clubs

I joined a book club late in life (after age 50), and I regret I didn't join one sooner. I've reaped three very important benefits. First of all, my book club members were the first readers of my novel in a relatively raw form. Their honest critiques helped me to hone my plot and edit my writing (although I had to go outside my all-woman club for male input). Second, each club member gets to choose one book, fiction or nonfiction, that we read, which means that I am introduced to writers, ideas, styles and information that I might otherwise miss or avoid. It really broadens my intellectual and emotional horizon. Finally, the club brings solitary readers together in a group experience that, regardless of agreement or contention, deepens the impact of a book for each member. I'd love to get your ideas on making a book club more successful, or problems to avoid. I'd love to donate my book, Lies Agreed Upon, to your book club for discussion!

The Work of Creating Believable Fictional Places

The action in Lies Agreed Upon plays out against both fictional and real settings, and I tried to make the fictional environments as descriptively believable as the actual backdrop of historic New Orleans. In fact, it requires more research to successfully describe imaginary places as it does to describe real locations. To create a fictional place, I first look for historical models in my research reading. I also browse the Internet for tourist descriptions, local memoirs and news stories of similar places. I study photographs of sites that fit with the age, style, scenery and location. I look to my own experiences where appropriate. For example, in Lies Agreed Upon, the Lost Lady Restaurant does not exist. So I drew on dining experiences in the converted buildings of other old farms, plantations and inns, and I found descriptions of real-life Louisiana restaurants housed in old plantation outbuildings to use as models. Right now, I am researching for my next mystery set in Northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. I must create a believable neighborhood, with look, history and demographics that fit with both local reality and the grimmer turns of my plot. I spent my teen years in this area and still visit my father there, so I can draw on memory and recent observations, but the final environment will be a composite of lots of research, imagination and a few experiences -- including some surprisingly dark ones for sunny suburbia!

A Basic Inspiration for Lies Agreed Upon

People have asked me what gave me the idea for the story of Lies Agreed Upon and why I chose a New Orleans setting. Like Tess, the main character in Lies Agreed Upon, I first encountered New Orleans as a tourist. In my visits to the city, I loved its historic architecture, its culture and, of course, its rich culinary heritage. But I chose New Orleans as the setting for a mystery about an inheritance and a family feud because of a real event in my own family. My maternal grandparents came from Louisiana, but I knew little about them except that they had once been well-to-do landowners and businesspeople. One day my mother and her siblings, who had grown up in very modest circumstances in Texas, were surprised to learn of inherited land near New Orleans. A legal dispute over ownership ensued between my mother's family and relatives still living in Louisiana. Eventually, the Louisiana courts ruled that the property belonged to all descendants of the original owner: a Spanish immigrant who arrived in Louisiana in 1838, like Antonio Cabrera in the novel. None of his many heirs benefited from the disputed property as far as I know. The life stories of the real people in my maternal family tree bear no resemblance to the events in my novel, but the surprise inheritance, its hidden history and its family feud inspired my mystery tale. For more detail, see my website at www.authorkatherinesharma.com.