Ami Maxine

Killing Friends (on paper, of course)

When I opted to do the Kickstarter to raise funds for the cover of Wherever Would I Be, I was able to include some add ons to the project. This is a way for the project to earn extra money. I spent a lot of time checking out other projects to see what was common – but a lot of them had things I couldn’t pull off in time (like character art and fancy printed versions of the book). I did include a few common ones – such as book marks and journals with the book cover art. And then, I don’t remember if I came up with the idea or if someone suggested it, I included an opportunity to have a character named after them in my next book – a murder mystery.

Now, I didn’t think many people would take me up on this – maybe a couple. Maybe. But certainly not EIGHT people. I mean…that’s a lot of people to kill off on paper. 😂

I did talk to a couple of folks about putting them into other books (you’ll see Jake in Goode versus Melville and Ashley in my Anne of Green Gable’s world story). And two others I asked to be on the detective team. Then – I had to write my childhood librarian and admit that I couldn’t bring myself to kill her off even on paper – so would she like to oversee the records department? ¯\(o_o)/¯ She said sure.

That left me with three friends to…well, off.

Throughout this entire process, I never once considered the fact that characters I completely make up become real to me – as if they were living, breathing people walking around. My writing bestie and I talk about characters like they are real. So what happens when such a character shares the name and features of someone who really is walking around in my life?

Cut to writing my first body drop with the name of a dear friend. This went, oddly, ok. It was easy to distance myself from that, I think – because clearly my friend is not dead. But when I got to the scene where my main character has to go tell this person’s mother? Yeah. Bring on the tissues.

If you do ever consider following suit on an endeavor such as this, there are a couple things I would recommend. First, put a cap on it. Decide how many characters you can actually do this with. Next, because this is a murder mystery, I did double check with the folks I planned to kill off that they were ok with this – especially with how they were going to die. I also ran their backstory by them. I wasn’t, after all, writing about them as they are – the character just happened to have the same name. Which, I also gave them choice over – how they wanted the character named. For example, if they are Samantha but prefer Sam – that sort of thing. One friend came up with a variation of their name so that it would only be obvious to those that know them that the character is named after them. (I did include a caveat on the Kickstarter add on that it had to be an appropriate name – I didn’t want a Boaty McBoatface situation on my hands.)

This entire thing has been such an unexpected experience – but it’s also been a really great one. The support feels great. And the excitement of seeing their names in print is something I can understand. I still remember the first time I saw my name in print, as well as the first time I saw my name as a byline. I can’t wait for them to get to experience this. (❁´◡`❁)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: 3D

This year for Christmas, a couple of dear friends gifted me something that I never would have thought to get for myself – and I love that it shows how well they know me. (Thanks Cody and Jim!!! ❤) If you are new here and didn’t already know, I have a love of the story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. So much so that my first book (All Falling Things – which found a home with Scarsdale and will hopefully have a launch date soon!) is loosely based on this story.

Y’all – the drawers even open and close!

The gift? A 3D puzzle based on the story. (❁´◡`❁) I opened this Christmas morning and couldn’t wait to put it together – so I did that night. There were SO many tiny pieces – and whoever designed it really had an attention for detail. If you’ve never put one of these together, it starts by setting up the smaller set pieces, and I had such delight in seeing them all come together. (If you’ve ever wanted to attempt one of these and have been too intimidated – don’t be. The instructions are super easy to follow!)

Once all the smaller set pieces are put together, it’s time to assemble, as they called it, the scenes. In this case, the setting for where Alice fell down the rabbit hole and the setting of her actually falling. (They even included her kitty looking after her!) Once the two scenes were together, there was some wiring to put in place for the LED lights. Then – time to assemble it into its ‘book’. (There was even a mirrored piece that runs the length of the back, which makes the forest look like it extends even farther back!) Once all was said and done, it was a blast to put together – even if I felt like I had bruised the pads of both of my thumbs. 🤣

There is a motion censor at the top that turns on the lights for a bit whenever it senses someone walking near it. I can’t help but smile every time it catches my attention. (I may have spent some time looking up other 3D puzzles after I finished…) I never would have thought before to buy one for myself before, but I absolutely enjoyed the entire process.

[One thing I will note, about this kit at least, is that it would be rather difficult to put together with small children involved – there is a level of fine motor skills required to place and snap the pieces together that tiny hands would find rather difficult. ]

Winter Dance Party

Last night, I attended a tribute to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Big Bopper at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, WI. This was not an event that would have probably caught my attention, despite my love for all things live music. But when my bestie asked if I’d want to go along with her and her mom, I of course said yes. Live music, the bestie, and Mama H? Always a great combination.

What I hadn’t anticipated was the history lesson in store for me. I thought we were just going to relive some great music from the fifties. I knew who each of these singers were. I knew their music. I knew their fate.

What I didn’t know was that on Feb 1, 1959, these three played their second to last show at the Riverside Ballroom (meaning the specific night and location in relation to their deaths). They would go on to Clear Lake, IA, the next day – and then Holly chartered that fateful plane – for him, Tommy Allsup, and Waylon Jennings. They were, after all, zig-zagging around the Midwest in winter, with several hundred miles between back-to-back venues. (Carl Bunch ended up leaving the tour previous to this due to frost bite.) Jennings would give up his seat to Big Bopper (who had the fly), and Allsup would lose his seat to Valens in a coin toss.

Poster from Feb 1, 1959 show at Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, WI.

What I didn’t know, which I learned on the car ride to the venue, was that my friend’s mom had been in attendance at that show in 1959 – she had been a few months shy of turning eighteen. This tribute night wouldn’t just be a reminder of their music for her – it would be a reminder of that specific night. (When the ticket cost ninety cents if you showed up early enough, and we’d have been turned away for showing up on blue jeans.)

Photo and signatures of Holly, Valens, and Big Bopper hanging in the foyer of the Riverside Ballroom.

1959 Tour Schedule

Jan 23 – George Divine’s Million Dollar Ballroom, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 24 – Eagles Ballroom, Kenosha, Wisconsin (Debbie Stevens also performed)
Jan 25 – Kato Ballroom, Mankato, Minnesota
Jan 26 – Fournier’s Ballroom, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Jan 27 – Fiesta Ballroom, Montevideo, Minnesota
Jan 28 – Prom Ballroom, St. Paul, Minnesota
Jan 29 – Capitol Theater, Davenport, Iowa
Jan 30 – Laramar Ballroom, Fort Dodge, Iowa
Jan 31 – National Guard Armory, Duluth, Minnesota
Feb 1 – Riverside Ballroom, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Feb 2 – Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa

The Surprisingly-Ongoing Saga of Eric

Eleven years ago, I got a new phone number. And for the first time, I truly understood what Ellis was singing about in her song GeorgeAnne.

Now, if you’ve never had the pleasure of attending an Ellis gig – you need to if you ever get the chance. Especially if you love stories. My favorite part of any live gig are the stories between the songs. Sometimes, you learn a bit about the singer/band. And sometimes you learn about the inspiration for the song. The story that always preceded GeorgeAnne never disappointed – no matter how many times I’d heard it. Mostly because of the pure delight that Ellis gets from reliving it. (I did a deep dive for a video with the story on YouTube but came up short.)

Picture this – you get a new phone number, and then you continue to get call after call after call from people looking for GeorgeAnne – her boss, friends, even her mother. And every time someone would call for her, Ellis would delight in it. To the point where her giggles made GeorgeAnne’s boss assume she was in the room. (She obviously tells the story better than I do.)

I’ll be dating myself here, but I got my first cell phone the summer after I graduated college. When I moved for grad school, the carrier had such awful service that I had to switch. This was back before carriers were decent nationwide or you could carry your phone number. So I ended up with an area code that was long distance for my parents to call. (I quickly lost track of how many times I explained that it didn’t matter what my area code was if they used their own cell phone to call…they continued to complain about it.)

A few years later, I decided to change my number – because at this point, it didn’t matter your location; you could pick any available phone number. And then my own little GeorgeAnne scenario began. Calls. Texts. All looking for someone named Eric. Ellis had started to assume that GeorgeAnne gave out her old number to people she didn’t want to talk to anymore. I came to the assumption that Eric was just lazy about informing people. (Though I also question the voicemails given that the recording was now a female-sounding voice that noted her name was Ami. Clearly Eric isn’t here anymore.)

The worst? When we had a bad snow storm, and the local schools were closed three days in a row. Each day at around 5 a.m., I awoke to an auto-call letting me know this information. Now, I didn’t have any children in the local school system – but apparently Eric did. The worst part was I couldn’t call to be removed from the list because the school continued to be closed.

The best? Eric didn’t even tell his brother that he had a new number:

Screenshot of a Text Message Thread.
Bubble One: Carlos said you're not going to make it down. How come? Anyway, one way or the other, tell Samuel I said Happy Birthday.
Bubble Two: Who is this?
Bubble Three: Your brother dipshit.

I suddenly understood the delight Ellis felt in telling her stories about GeorgeAnne.

Now, it’s been a long time since this happened, about a decade. The calls and texts lasted maybe a year (GeorgeAnne’s lasted much longer than that). But then cut to the recent cold snap we had in the Midwest. I had traveled back from Chicago, my car covered in salt, and opted to swing through a car wash before heading home. Something I’ve done before without incident.

But then my car died. In the car wash. ( >﹏< )

Thankfully, the worker in the attached gas station was able to push my car out and jump the battery. She warned me not to stop it again, to take it straight to somewhere that could check the battery. So I did. Ended up needing to replace the battery, and during check out, they asked for my phone number (to find the attached customer account), and I spouted it off. He looked up the account.

Then he goes, “Eric?”

😐😐😐🤣

He’s Here. He’s There. He was in Chicago.

When I first heard about Ted Lasso, I had no interest in watching it because I don’t really have an interest in soccer (a.k.a. football). We didn’t have the option to play it where I grew up (tiny town, minimal extra-curricular activities – so small my school had to join with another just to have an American football team, and even then we didn’t have enough folks to have cuts).

But I kept hearing over and over – it’s about so much more than that. And they weren’t wrong. At its core, the show was about connections and the complexities of being human. And I LOVED it. Well, love it. As in present tense, still do.

As a character-driven writer and reader, I loved the way all of the characters evolved over the series’ three seasons. The Rebecca and Keely friendship. Ted coming to terms with his mental health. The layers of friggin’ Roy Kent. I know I’m far from the only one to say how quickly this character became one of my favorite things on television. (Or how Brett Goldstein quickly became one of my favorite storytellers. His follow-up Shrinking is quite fun, as well.)

That all being said, I’m not really one for attending stand up shows. I’ve watched some on streaming platforms (looking at you Noah Trevor), but I’ve never gone so far as to spend money on a ticket for one. (Not that it’s not a valuable thing to spend money on – just not usually my scene.) But then Brett Goldstein announced he’d be in Chicago. And I almost bought a ticket…but didn’t. Then he announced new shows because the first sold out too quickly – and I felt like I’d regret not taking the chance to see him live.

I attended the second of his three shows at the Chicago Theater (which is such a lovely venue – I’ve been here a few times). And it was SUCH a delightful evening. Never underestimate the impact a night of good laughs can have. (If he’s coming to a venue near you, and you’ve been on the fence – get the ticket. You might regret not going, but I can’t imagine anyone walked out of that theater regretting having attended.)

His opener, Mo Welch, was fun. Her routine was about fifteen minutes, and Goldstein even played off a few of her jokes. Then we got an hour and fifteen minutes of Goldstein’s observational humor, during which he took cracks at himself, Florida, our public restrooms – everything but the city of Chicago. He claimed he had walked around before the first show to come up with some bits, as this was his first time in the city – but he claimed he couldn’t find a single thing to poke at. But I bet he says this to all the cities. (❁´◡`❁)

One thing I missed was that in the foyer of the theater, Goldstein had a question box for folks. He spent about fifteen minutes reading through and answering questions – which ranged from simple to strange, everything from what movie did he most want to do a Muppets reboot of (he answered Goodfellas…and, I mean, yes – I would watch the hell of out that) to advice for a couple about to tie the knot (he offered advice on keeping the physical intimacy of a relationship alive) to his favorite American snack (corn dogs) to who he thinks aliens should abduct (he pointed out there was a building nearby with the man’s name on it).

If you get the chance, definitely go. And seek out that question box. 🙂

Research: Murder Mystery Style

When I made the decision to pursue writing my murder mystery story I’d been kicking around for a few years, I knew that I wanted to take the time to make sure everything was written correctly. I’ve spent so many hours watching detective procedurals on TV, but I’ve also heard about instances were said shows got things wrong or they were sped up in an effort to tie things up neatly in twenty-one or forty-two minutes. (No one really wants to watch a bunch of detectives sitting around and waiting for weeks for reports to come back.)

I am not an expert on being a detective or forensics science or any of that. But I do love research. My first step was to take an Intro to Investigation course through the college where I teach. (We only used the first part of the textbook, so I thankfully had access to info beyond the ‘intro’ class.) I’m also hoping to dip my toes into a Forensics course once it fits into my schedule.

One of the things I learned in that class is that there is literally something called the CSI effect – which refers to the impact these sorts of shows have on public perception regarding forensics evidence. Studies have been done on this – finding that jurors who watch these shows place a higher “emphasis on forensic science in case,” believing such evidence to be “100% and that it should be produced in every criminal case.” These jurors are often reluctant to convict without such evidence. (CSI Effect)

I also reached out to a kind detective in the South Madison precinct (Madison, WI, USA) to ask some questions – and, yes, I was a little terrified she might not believe I was a writer. She was kind enough to respond. Whether or not she put me on any sort of list has yet to be discovered. 👀

Another perk of teaching at a college is the access this affords me to databases like EBSCOhost because I do love a good research rabbit hole. (I don’t so much appreciate some of the photos I’ve had to endure in some of these studies – like when I was trying to discover if burns appear differently on skin pre- and post-mortem. They do. Also, I absolutely do not have the stomach to be an actual homicide detective.)

What’s your oddest research rabbit hole?

Research: Superhero Style

I love research. I love diving down a rabbit hole of information in search of that one specific detail I need. I could spend an entire day doing nothing but research and go to bed happy. (Of course, the need for a roof over my head and food on my table means my attention is usually required elsewhere.)

Then I decided to write a sci-fi/fantasy book, and I had to ask the question – how does one research something that doesn’t exist? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 Well, you get creative.

In my case, the story is considered low-concept sci-fi/fantasy. This is not a brand new world that I created from scratch. It’s practically magic realism. The fantasy stuff I wasn’t too worried about. It was the sci-fi side of things. There are weapons and technology involved, for which I have no prior knowledge.

Once again, I’m thankful for the internet (and hope that the powers that be that see me researching all these weapons also see how much time I spend on thesaurus.com looking for just the right word). I did what research I could, basing the tech and weapons around real things. (Whyyyyy did I make my MC an inventor….? 🤦🏻‍♀️) I wanted the world to feel grounded in ours – so a lot of the laws of physics and whatnot are the same. The sci-fi aspect just takes things a step further.

One such rabbit hole of research involved me looking up how much damage five pounds of TNT can do (which is how much power the Air Force’s Shiva Star can store up – and the answer is about ten million joules of energy, or about the size of a pipe bomb). In my created world, they’ve gotten the tech scaled to something you can hold in the palm of your hand. I did my best to alter the science and hopefully explain it in a way that still made sense for both worlds.

Bu again – this is NOT my area of expertise by any means.

Enter my dear friend Cody. I sent them a message asking if they would be willing to read over the manuscript and check out to make sure the science (especially my fictionalizing of it) made sense. Thankfully, they said sure and offered some really great feedback to ensure that the story would pass muster with readers who DO know about these sorts of things. (I also accidentally outed the fact that I had named one of the characters after them in homage to our friendship – I thought I had changed all of them, but I missed a couple things – and even with my ‘clever’ misspelling, they caught on. 😐😐😐😬)

I definitely spent a lot more time down those research rabbit holes, trying to make everything fit, and I indeed loved every minute of it. It just might be a bit before I try and tackle something like this again. 😂

(A Lack of) New Years’ Resolutions

I very rarely make resolutions mostly because I don’t view Jan 1 as a fresh start – it’s just the next day on the calendar to me. I am a goal setter – I just don’t typically wait for the ‘new year’ to start them.

There are a few exceptions. One year, I decided I was going to write a hundred poems (drafts, of course) in a year. I repeated it the next year because I found it to be a fun endeavor. But as someone that teaches goal setting (as part of a study skills course housed in the English department at my college), I know the stress that such large goals can create – this is why we break them down. So I tend to focus on smaller goals. Plus, life is unpredictable – and I don’t want a major life event to sideline an entire year-long goal.

That being said, I wanted to get into a better habit of mindfulness last year, so I set a goal of 6069 mindful minutes (2023×3). I had been on track to reach that a month or so early – but then September happened (a series of major life events). Thankfully, I was able to get back on track, and I hit the goal on Dec 30, then went over on Dec 31. I plan to continue with the habit of mindfulness, but not necessarily as a year-long goal.

A lot of friends have been posting on Facebook and Instagram this last week about their book reading goals – whether they reached them or not. Aside from the story-a-day year-long reading challenge, I’ve never set a specific number of books to try and read in a year – mostly because I never know how much time I will actually have to read. Thus, before last year, I hadn’t ever bothered tracking what I read, and I honestly don’t know why I started tracking. Curiosity, I guess. 🤷🏻‍♀️ This year, a woman at my local book shop told me about Storygraph, and I have to admit I enjoy the app. If only because it demonstrates that, yes, I indeed don’t get to read much when the semester is in session. One quick look, and you can see when my breaks are. 😂

I also enjoy the other data it provides – such as the moods of the books (it can even recommend books for your based on what you have read and what mood you are in). (My top five moods in 2023 were reflective, emotional, informative, funny, and adventurous.)

I also joined two book clubs through my local shop, which helped to make reading more of a requirement (though the lengthy sci-fi/fantasy books have made it a bit tricky). Reading brings me joy, but it’s not always easy to sit down at the end a day after grading papers and staring at screens and want to read – even for pleasure.

Do you create resolutions? Have you ever attempted 52 books in a year? (A friend of mine posted that she gave up TV last year – and read instead. She hit 92 books. 😮)

Goode versus Melville: Editing

Back in September, I received the edits back from my editor, Elizabeth Buege (who is fantastic!), for GvM. The semester had started, though, and it took me a bit before I was able to start working on it. Knowing my emotions for this process, I did read over the editor letter right away, so I could let my feelings do their thing. I knew by the time I would get to work on it, I would be able to be far more objective about everything. (But, honestly, there was very little emotional romping this time around. [awkward happy dance])

Starting the last Friday in Oct, I gave myself a goal of twenty-five pages a week, hoping that I’d be able to fit that in around teaching and grading. (I somehow managed to finish two weeks ahead of schedule.)

One of the things I was looking for feedback on was specifically any place I could/needed to expand the story. Coming in at just over 55K (55,178 to be exact; 204 pages) when I handed it over, I knew the manuscript was on the short end of the range for the genre (YA low sci-fi/fantasy). I didn’t count every single word changed, but whenever I opted to delete a large section, I copied it into another doc (just in case) – which ended up totaling 5,892 words. By the end, the manuscript totaled 60,369 words, meaning 11,083 new words created in revision. *wipes sweat off forehead*

In other, well, words, there were some major overhauls to sections of the story, and I’m left with something I’m really excited about, and it’s a much better story for it. There is still work to do, of course. I’m letting it sit for a month, then I’ll tackle another round of edits before typesetting.

This will be the third time I’ve gone through this with a manuscript (though the first one is with a publisher, so it’s a bit different), and I’m feeling good about the process I’ve created. Would be curious to hear about what your process is like. 🙂

Books to Be Buried With, Part Two

Here are the answers to the second six questions Goldstein asks on his podcast. To read the first six, see last week’s post.

What is the sexiest book? — I guess I would have to say Bittersweet by Lavyrle Spencer. My mother gave it to me read when I was eleven years old because it took place where we lived (and the author had come to the area for research), even mentioning the intersection just up the road from us. Let’s just say that I was too young for this book, and I learned a lot of new words. For a long time, I thought this was her way of having “the talk” with me.

Which book do you most relate to? — Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain. I wish I knew back in college (and, honestly, before that) the term introvert and what it meant. I literally felt (and was quite often made to feel) that I was somehow broken for many reasons. I was, as the title indicates, quiet in certain settings. I would have a hard time coming up with things to say to new people. I’d be called a buzzkill when I’d ‘what if’ about a proposed situation. And on and on. My first ex in college said I ruined their good time when we were around their friends because it seemed like I wasn’t having a good time (I was – I just didn’t know what to say to all these people I didn’t know). Turns out – I’m an introvert, and there’s NOTHING wrong with me. I’m just wired differently. Now, I know that I don’t like small talk and prefer to get to the deep conversations (which new folks don’t always like). Now, I know that I like to be prepared for all the ‘what if’s because I need to know how much energy to conserve (and I know that energy is something I need to conserve). Now, I know that my brain is wired to be an internal processor rather than talking something out, so when I’m struggling to answer something, I can verbalize that I just need a second to think it through. This book was full of SO MANY (science-backed) “ah ha” moments for me. I just wish it had landed in my lap about a decade earlier.

Which book is objectively the greatest ever? — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Also, The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. I’ve only read this in translation (by Lilit Thwaites), but it was beautifully done.

Which book is the one you’ve read the most? — Practice Magic by Alice Hoffman. I first read this book not long after it was published and LOVED it. I read it every single year, and I was so excited when Hoffman wrote three new books in the series. I love the relationships, the magic, the writing itself. All of it.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read? — I don’t really have an answer for this one. This isn’t me taking the easy way out – just that I have a crappy memory, so if I’ve read crappy books, I don’t remember them. The only thing I can say is that there is one book I’ve never finished, which was Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was assigned in high school, and I just couldn’t get through it. I’ve been meaning to give it another try now that I’m an adult, but I haven’t yet. It just feels like it’s hanging out there – the ONE book I’ve never finished reading. (Ok, I’ll add the Twilight series to this, too. I think it could have been much better if it hadn’t been so rushed. Definitely need a few more rounds of revision.)

What is the book that’s literally made you laugh out loud the most? — I don’t really read ‘funny’ books, meaning those that are advertised as such, so it’s generally the little jokes that are snuck in that get me. I remember chuckling a bit through Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (and I certainly laughed a whole lot when I saw him read in town this last spring). I’d also include Christmas Bitch by Jack Lelko because I appreciate the snarky sass of the narrator and MC.

At the end of the podcast, Goldstein tells his guest that there is only enough room in the casket to take one film with them into the afterlife – so which one would they take? This is probably the hardest one because there are so many lovely books out in the world. So I’m going to take the cop out and say my own, Wherever Would I Be, simply so I can show it to my nana and papa.