E.F. Watkins Blog

My latest book is a departure from my mystery series, but is a project I’ve had in mind for over a decade. It’s based on some of my experiences and also those of a woman who founded the horse-rescue farm Bright Futures, in western Pennsylvania.

In the late 1990s, I left my 25-year newspaper job to do part-time and freelance p.r. I also moved to a more rural suburb and resumed weekly riding lessons at a new stable. I was studying dressage, mostly for enjoyment, and entering an occasional local show.
One day my instructor put me on a new horse that she was thinking of buying for her lesson string. The poor mare was extremely skinny, and apparently suffered from a breathing problem that hadn’t been dealt with at her current stable. Not expecting much, I got on her…and connected with a beautiful soul. She moved out with pep and tried hard to do everything I asked, including a lovely dressage leg-yield. I told my teacher, “She’s great!” My teacher agreed, but thought the price being asked was too high, considering she would have to get the horse back into condition.

By the time I came back for my next lesson, she and I both had the same idea–“Let’s go halves on her!” Neither of us had deep pockets, but we felt that arrangement could work. We’d also split her board, feed and medical bills. My teacher had a plan to nurse her back to health, and use her as a lesson horse. We renamed her Brenda.

This worked okay for about a year, but Brenda’s ailment, called heaves, proved more entrenched than we’d hoped. She would improve in winter but go downhill in warmer weather, when of course we’d most want to ride and show her. Her second summer with us, at only her third show, she started coughing and breathing too hard to perform. We couldn’t push her anymore.

I won’t go too deeply into the various complications that followed. My trainer moved to a different barn, where Brenda did not get the extra care she needed. I finally bought the horse outright from her, and moved Brenda to yet another farm where she did no work at all, just got the right conditions to recover a bit. But financially, I couldn’t keep that up for long. By the early 2000s, the Great Recession already loomed on the horizon, undermining my shaky part-time sources of income.

Online, I found Bright Futures, a farm that aimed to find new homes for rescued horses, but also would keep indefinitely any that couldn’t be adopted. I talked on the phone with the owner, Beverlee Dee, who ran the place single-handedly in those days. It was eight hours away, so I knew I was saying goodbye to Brenda forever. But I felt she still had too much life in her to be put to sleep. I would never risk having her fall into the wrong hands and sent to auction…which generally meant, to slaughter.

After Brenda had gained a much-needed 200 lbs., Bev came out with a trailer and picked her up. I cried over her leaving but hoped this would be the best choice for her. Fortunately, it was. Bev kept her alive for almost two more years, under the best possible conditions–getting the kind of food and medications she needed, and turnout most of the time so she could breathe fresh air. Finally, one day, I got a tearful call from Bev to say that Brenda had passed away during the night, out in her pasture. I felt that also was for the best, so neither of us had to make the tough decision to put her down.

During all this time, Bev had shared with me many anecdotes from her early days starting Bright Futures, some of them heart-tugging, others dramatic. We discussed by email putting them together as a nonfiction book, but that never seemed the right format. Many years later, after I’d published several novels with Amber Quill Press, I asked Bev if I could fictionalize her stories a bit, for a novel about a woman starting a horse-rescue farm. She okayed that idea, and later gave her blessing to the finished draft of REBOOT RANCH.

Finding a publisher became the last challenge, because the novel shaped up as women’s fiction, rather than an easily marketed genre like romance or mystery. To tilt it in either of those directions, I felt, would distort its main theme–the passion and dedication required to pursue a “charitable” cause such as animal rescue. It took me about three years to discover Who Chains You Publishing, which specializes in books about exactly that topic! I feel they’ve done a great job of editing and packaging this book, which has truly been a labor of love.

REBOOT RANCH concentrates on the story of a much flashier equine, Murphy, who is a blend of two Thoroughbreds Bev handled at her farm. But keep an eye out for the chestnut mare “Valentine.” She is my fictional tribute to the only horse I ever (if briefly) was able to call “mine”–the unforgettable Brenda.

When my first publisher Amber Quill Press closed its metaphorical doors in 2016, it came as a sad blow to me. I already had the prospect of a new publishing contract on the horizon, which softened the effect. But, for business reasons, that company was not interested in re-publishing any of the eight novels I’d put out through AQP, over a span of 13 years. I had to resign myself to letting them all go out of print as both paperbacks and ebooks.
The good news is, last year a friend tipped me off to a company, Crossroad Press, that specializes in re-publishing books that have gone out of print for various reasons. Even better, although they’re open to a range of genres, so far they tend to specialize in horror and paranormal themes.
I was fortunate that AQP gave all of its authors full rights to their books, and I already had purchased the cover art for my last two paranormal mysteries, DARK MUSIC and HEX, DEATH & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL. I gave both books a last going-over—not just for typos, but for any necessary pop-cultural updates (both were published in 2013)—then sent them electronically along.
DM came out first, and HEX recently joined it on the Crossroad Press site. Both can be purchased on Amazon and many other sites as ebooks; DM is also available as a trade paperback, and HEX soon will be, too.
My spooky books always have sold well at various events around Halloween. I still have a small stash of the AQP paperbacks, but browsers often ask me if they’re also available as ebooks. Now, finally, I’ll be able to say that they are.
Of course, I’ll still be selling my Cat Groomer Mysteries, too. But I’m glad to once again have something to offer readers who prefer something darker…especially at this time of year!

Looking back on all of the books I’ve written since my first publication, in 2003, I can spot a continuous thread. I only got excited about each concept when I saw a chance to make some serious point. That might come as a surprise, since I’ve always written genre fiction–first paranormal thrillers and mysteries, and now cozies. They’re not heavy reading and I always aim to entertain my audience. But as far as my motivation goes, something clicks into place and makes me want to commit when I also can explore a social issue.

My earliest inspiration came from Ira Levin, author of Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives and The Boys from Brazil. His first two books, especially, were subtly satirical. A 1966 Time Magazine cover had asked the question, “Is God Dead?” and Levin speculated whether Satan might take human form and seize power, instead. By the early ’70s he saw the pushback that married women often faced in trying to have lives of their own, and wondered just how far men would go to maintain the comfortable status quo. You could call his thrillers light reading–the sex and violence are thoroughly PG–and yet those two titles still serve as shorthand for an evil offspring or for a woman who conforms to an unreal standard of perfection, with no mind of her own.

In my early thrillers I touched on the use of remote viewers by the U.S. government, the possible abuses of genetic engineering, our tendency to worship celebrities, and corporate greed versus the small-town environment. My paranormal mysteries, though lighter, compare the options available to a contemporary young woman with those of one who lived in Victorian times (Dark Music), and wade into the dark waters of religious fundamentalism, erotomania and homophobia (Hex, Death & Rock ‘n’ Roll).

Even when I signed on to write a cozy mystery series about a cat groomer, I knew I wouldn’t be totally satisfied unless I could sink my teeth–and my claws–into some meaty subject matter. My young amateur sleuth, Cassie McGlone, deals with at least one serious cat issue per book. The Persian Always Meows Twice subtly highlights the problems that can arise when an owner dies without providing for the care of his surviving pet.  (Though in this case, it isn’t his fault–he was murdered, and his estate is hung up while the crime is under investigation.) The Bengal Identity looks at the popularity of “wild” hybrid cats for pets, and the harm that can be done by underground, unscrupulous breeders. Feral Attraction involves with a colony of cats encroaching on a condo community, but their chief defender–who is murdered–has crusaded for other causes, too. In my next mystery, Gone, Kitty, Gone, someone steals a celebrity’s well-known pet and uses him as hostage to demand her attention; this lets me explore the dark psychology of a stalker. In researching each book, I always learn more about these situations than I’d known before, and I hope to share that information to my readers.

Whether you’re a reader or a writer yourself, how do you feel about mysteries or thrillers that deal with social controversies? Would you rather have the plot revolve around some less complicated issue such as personal resentment, jealousy or greed? Do you like a story that teaches you more about a social problem, in an entertaining way, or do you prefer totally escapist material? I’d love to get your input!

At the end of 2015, I retired from a full-time editing position with The Record/ Herald News in New Jersey, where I had worked for ten years. Previously, from 1972 to 1998, I wrote for another daily newspaper, The Star-Ledger. When I started out, newspapers were thriving, and if you wanted a writing job with a regular paycheck, becoming a reporter was your best bet.

You’ll notice that at large mystery conferences many guest speakers and panelists of a certain age come from newspaper backgrounds. Unfortunately, these jobs are dwindling today and the ones that remain aren’t what they used to be. That’s a shame, because my newspaper career taught me skills that can benefit any writer.

Some ground rules of journalism may or may not help you as a writer of suspense fiction:
Pyramid Style. You put the most important information at the beginning of the story. Not only does this grab the reader’s attention of the reader, but if an editor has to cut for length, only the more trivial and unimportant details will be sacrificed. Of course, if you put all of the key information into the first paragraph of your mystery, you’ll produce nothing but very short “flash” fiction! But you should start with a grabber of an opening scene.
Strict Objectivity. In a news article, the reporter does not give her opinion of the event or the people involved. The most she can do is ask participants and witnesses about their feelings and quote them. Feature writing or an investigative series may describe a person or a scene in a moving way, but stops short of passing judgment or telling the reader what to feel. A writer from a journalism background may need to learn how to break this rule and convey strong emotion in her fiction.
The Deadline is Sacred. Some newspaper stories have tighter deadlines than others, but whether you’re writing every week or every day, something has to go in that slot. If you don’t produce on time, the higher-ups may reconsider your employment. In fiction, you should rewrite to make the piece is as good as it can be, but you’ll still need the discipline to meet deadlines for a publisher, or even a short story contest.

Journalism rules that definitely benefit the fiction writer:
Butt in Chair. At a newspaper, you can’t wait for the muse to strike. If you stall by going for more coffee and chatting up a co-worker, an editor will tell you to sit down and get to work. You can’t stew in self-doubt about your level of talent, either. Just start writing; even if the first draft is drivel, you can fix it later.
Get Your Facts Straight. Writing mystery fiction also involves checking facts–about police procedure, weapons and poisons, financial scams and legal loopholes. These days the Internet makes research easier, but often that’s just your starting point. Track down experts, interview them and visit them if necessary. I’m an introverted person, but after all those years at newspapers I can call up a stranger, make an appointment and slide right back into reporter mode when interviewing them for some aspect of my novel.
Show, Don’t Tell. A beginner may write, “Linda was so sad, she felt like crying. How could something like this happen? She felt like the sun would never shine again…” A journalist can’t fall back on this kind of subjective approach, and learns to describe a character’s frame of mind through facial expressions, tones of voice, posture, actions, etc. Even in fiction, that’s often the most effective type of writing.
Establish Your Priorities. Under time pressure, a reporter has to scan her notes and quickly decide the overall thrust of the story. Based on that, she must choose what to emphasize, what to downplay and what to leave out completely. When you learn this, you’re less likely to be sidetracked by a subplot or a secondary character, so that your story becomes unbalanced or morphs into something you never intended.
Cut or Be Cut. At a newspaper, your word count is based on the space allotted. An important, breaking story or an investigative masterpiece may be given more leeway, but if you write a column or a feature that needs to be contained on half a page you can’t run over that. Most journalists learn to trim their own writing, because if they don’t the editor will, perhaps more brutally than they’d like.

Though a newsroom can be a stressful place, I appreciate the discipline I acquired from my years in the business. I hope that in these days of blogging, news website and ezines, those skills won’t be lost completely, because they can help any writer become more productive and effective.
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It’s happened to the best of us. We can polish a piece of writing for weeks and still overlook an outrageous gaffe staring us right in the face.

If you’re lucky, you’ll catch it before anyone else sees it. if you’re somewhat fortunate, the only other person who sees it will be a friend who discreetly calls it to your attention. If it’s just not your day, the mistake gets mailed off to an editor and jinxes your chance for a sale. And if the gods really frown upon you, nobody catches it at all before it gets published!

Worst comes to worst, at least you can hope it’s funny.

One of my earliest howlers occurred in the first novel I ever attempted, during my college days. Writing about a theater student, I opened a scene with the line, “Ginny had not been back to the school cafeteria since The Night of the Iguana…” A friend who read this commented, “At least she finally identified the ‘mystery meat’!”

By the time I finished a draft of my second published novel, Ride a Dancing Horse, I had begun working with a critique group–lucky thing. I read the group a scene in which the hero silently admired the heroine’s outfit. I intended him to be referring only to her sense of style when he thought, “That wasn’t an easy top to pull off.” Only after they began giggling did I notice the double-entendre.

I often rewrite my old stories, and with the rapid social changes today that can be perilous. Around 2004, I was reworking Black Flowers, a book I’d first drafted about 10 years earlier. I had a wealthy, sophisticated woman, at an art gallery reception, hunt for a wall phone to call home and check on her kids. Someone in my critique group gently suggested, “Wouldn’t someone like that carry a cell phone?” Duh!

A couple of my fellow New Jersey writers shared with me tales of their own literary faux pas. Jo-An Reccoppa, author of New Math is Murder, once submitted a newspaper review of an Italian restaurant in which she praised “a delicious, zesty marina sauce.” She meant marinara, of course, but her spell-check didn’t know the difference. We assume it was served over seafood.

John Picinich, while a youthful copy editor for Reuters, sent out a horror short story about an Egyptian god with the title “Sorbek’s Present.” After it was accepted by a magazine, he learned that the correct spelling of the god’s name was “Sobek,” and quickly emailed the editor to make the correction. (Fortunately, he only incurred the wrath of Sorbek, who’s a lot mellower than Sobek.)

Finally, think how embarrassed you’d be if you had penned this sign, seen in the vestibule of an old-fashioned Catholic church: “Candles with be lighted by St. Joseph on request.” (For a really big donation, he’ll personally call the numbers at your next Bingo game.)

Can you match these bloopers? If so, please share in “Comments”!