Barbara DaCosta

Joy of Books---Hooray!

2012-01-23T08:30:00.002-06:00

It only took 60 hours for this wonderful video Joy of Books to be filmed. Sean Ohlenkemp, a Canadian ad-man, along with wife, friends, and helpers, created this fantasy of "what happens at night when the bookstore is closed." Moving thousands of books, the team mixed and matched themes, jacket colors, sizes, shelving, doo-dads, and toys in pursuit of the message: There's nothing like a real book.
This video also became a case study in online viral phenomena, going to over 1.5 million views in less than a week as it was passed around between book lovers. I don't know if I skewed the statistics, though, as I've watched it at least a dozen times.

Charles Dickens and My Great Expectations

2012-01-22T09:37:00.004-06:00

It will soon be the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens, one of the greatest English writers to live.
It will soon be about 200 months since I began to read Dickens' famous novel, Great Expectations, at the suggestion of a young friend who is now no longer quite so young.

Why, you might ask, has it taken me so long to read the book? There are all sorts of excuses: work, life, restarting it several times in order to refresh my memory, switching from my hectic daily life to the leisurely pace of nineteenth-century literature...but the best reason I can think of for my slowness can be found on page two of the book.

"Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. "Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!"
A fearful man, all in coarse gray, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.

When I first came to this passage, I stopped. I read it again. I'd never read prose like this, that was so utterly poetic, so filled with rhythm, and which created so evocative a scene. I read it aloud. I copied it down and posted it above my desk. Later, I memorized it. This one snippet from a scene had grabbed me and so thoroughly mesmerized me that I've been reading that same passage over and over for the last 200 months.
That's my excuse for not finishing Great Expectations.
What is your favorite Dickens' work? Why?

More Writing Myths for Busting

2011-12-19T14:29:00.001-06:00

"How many of us have been held back by myths? ....I’d like to add my own favorite writing myths to be busted. (Whether these are myths or delusions, I’ll leave to you to decide.) 1. You have to be neurotic to be a good writer/poet/artist/actor.
Reality: Health and happiness are ever-so-much-more-pleasant states of being.
You don’t need to be miserable to be a successful creative artist! If, however, you like creating suffering characters, what you do need is empathy. That, plus observational skills. Of course, you’ll still tap into your own experiences to some extent as you write, but you don’t need to go to extremes in your own behavior. All you need is to amplify a quality to make it stand out in a character. In other words, the personality quirk that allows someone to justify stealing a car is not that different from the person who steals a paperclip."
Read the rest of my article at Buried Under Books, then, add some of your own myths that deserve busting!

When is a Picture Book Not Just a Picture Book? Ed Young's The House Baba Built

2011-12-08T21:59:00.001-06:00

This beautiful book captures author-illustrator Ed Young's life in Shanghai during World War II. He tells a story that will captivate young and old alike, a story that functions on many levels. Most touchingly, it is a tribute to his father, whose concern for his family led him to build the house, and whose message to his children has been carried out in Ed Young's numerous books over the past fifty-some years.
The message is basically this: Do good work.
Ed Young can be seen in this BBC video, discussing the book, its meaning, and how it was made.

Plagued by Plot?—Try Logic!

2011-07-18T10:14:00.002-06:00

How do writers deal with plotting? And how do they deal with being stuck with the plot? Find out what these squiggles to the left mean and how they can help solve the most intractable plot problem in my essay at the blog Buried Under Books.

Supersize Me—Organic Style

2011-04-16T11:22:00.006-06:00

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, and apples have more than doubled in size since that adage was coined, what are we to do? Eat a half apple a day or a whole one?
Even organic apples have become supersized. Here are two apples that I bought on my quest for my one-apple-a-day snack. No wonder I barely had room for dinner after consuming the hefty one on the left! By my calculations, at close to three-quarters of a pound, it had three times the volume of the smaller one, which was a "standard" lunch-box-sized apple.
"Organic" once meant getting something safe and scrumptious that might not be cosmetically perfect. The main thing was that it was not plumped out with fertilizers or hormones. Now, however, organics have become big business, and with that has come the new standard shown here: perfectly shaped, perfectly sized, perfectly colored, and, as with the apple on the left, as perfectly super-sized as any hormonally plumped out, genetically manipulated, chemically sprayed commercial apple might be.

Intricacies of Life

2011-03-26T18:29:00.001-06:00

Everything in life is interconnected. They say a butterfly's wing beating can create an effect across the world. All the more so a wave in the ocean. Not only the force of the wave as it travels, but the thousands of big and littles ways that the wave and its aftermath touches the lives of so many. A picture of a boat on the roof of a building, amidst absolute desolation. How does one move a ship off a building? How does one start to clean up?

Ninth Annual Write of Spring at Once Upon a Crime

2011-02-14T15:05:00.004-06:00

Don't ask me how they do it, cramming a dozen mystery writers and fans and books galore per hour into a tiny space. Somehow Pat and Gary at Once Upon a Crime manage to do it every year. So much so, that they are this year receiving the Mystery Writers of America's Raven Award for service.
Independent bookstores like this, feed on an ongoing basis, the thirst of many a reader, and help maintain the fabric of our communities. The staff has read practically every mystery under the sun, they know what else you might enjoy, and they provide a warm atmosphere in which to explore your literary tastes. As a Publishers Weekly Shelftalk blogger just wrote, "We [bookstores] want to the store to be a place you come in when you’re sad and need to smell the books to feel better or get a hug from someone who is sad that you’re having a terrible day. We want to be the store you can call at closing and we’ll leave a book you need for a present on the doorknob for you to pick up after work .... We pay sales and property taxes that fund the schools, the roads, and the Little League field and we’re happy to do it. We bring authors to the schools and host wonderful, free events for the whole community. We need you as much you need us."
Once Upon a Crime is just one of the many bookstores that fit this bill (and the Twin Cities is lucky to have many good bookstores of all stripes, including chains). They support authors, and we authors like to support them, in return, through events such as this.
This year, I'll be appearing with just a few of my mystery-writer buddies---forty-nine, to be exact--- Saturday, April 2, 2011, from 12–4 pm. Once Upon a Crime is located at 604 West 26th Street (near Lyndale Avenue South) in Minneapolis. Among some of the authors appearing: Monica Ferris, Laura Childs, Susan Runholt, Mary Logue, Steve Thayer, and many more. Here's the link to the store.
We'll be happy to see you!

Fact-checking is Good

2011-01-18T10:52:00.002-06:00

Detail of postcard from c. 1910, Minnesota Historical Society collection.

It's never too early to start fact-checking. While working on a children's story about Duluth, I paused to check a couple of facts about Duluth's iconic Aerial Bridge. I began with using the great online resource of the Minnesota Historical Society, and local resources such as the Duluth Public Library and the wonderful Lake Superior Maritime Museum. These led me to talk to Tony Dierckins, author of Crossing the Canal: An Illustrated History of Duluth's Aerial Bridge and to read his fabulous book.
The bridge is the centerpiece of Duluth's tourist attractions, and has been since it was completed in 1905. Until the harbor freezes up each winter (the lake is so big that it doesn't freeze except along the shore), the bridge goes up and down many times each day—halfway up for the Vista Queen and other small but tall-masted craft. But when the big shiphorns exchange salutes with the bridge operator and the lift bridge goes up all the way, that's when crowds gather to see the huge oreboats and "salties" go through the canal.
These days, the bridge is commonly called the "Lift Bridge." My research taught me that one should, however, never make assumptions. If you look closely at this photo, maybe you can see what I mean.

November is Novel Writing--no, Picture Book Idea, no...

2010-11-10T20:41:00.001-06:00

It's November, and I'm caught in the middle! Do I participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), or one of its many spin-offs such as Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo)?? Do I write 50,000 words in a month (in my dreams!) for Nano, or a few thousand for PiBo? Do I want to write for adults, or for children? Do I make flow charts of plots, or sketches of goofy monsters? Or do I simply go with the coolest web badge?

2010-11-09T08:31:00.001-06:00

You know how when you walk into some people's houses, you feel like you know who they are? Their personalities, values, and how their minds work? Have you ever had that feeling about computer software?
I certainly have. For years, I've tussled with writing with word-processing programs: scrolling for miles, searching for key points, cutting and pasting sections, bracketing reminder notes to myself, losing or confusing drafts, and scribbling notes on printouts. Other programs had arcane, convoluted, and confusing internal logic with oddly named functions, and constantly crashed.
So, when I stumbled across Scrivener a few years ago, it felt like putting on an old glove. Developed by a writer for writers, it captures all of the various tasks that a writer does in creating a work, long or short, straightforward or complex. Not functions jerry-rigged and patched into a program, but rather organically grown out of actual writers' needs, and structured in ways that are sensible to a writer. Where do I file this research note, this website reference, this character trait, this audio interview? Can I subdivide this chapter? Can I meld three scenes together from different chapters? Can I jump from section to section? What reference styling will I need for my notes? Can I automate screenplay styling? Comic books? Novels? Theses? Can I label and color-code and make index cards and customize output?
Scrivener does this and more.
I write about Scrivener not so much as an advertisement for it, but because for many people, it will feel like a lifesaver, and it should serve as a model for software designers. It is insanely cheap, and the user forums (on which the designer participates) are informative, civil, and helpful. A real community has been created that has endured even as the software has matured and become a real company. The new manual and tutorials are thorough. The popularity of this program among writers has been such that people have switched from PC to Mac in order to use it. However, the developers have surprised everyone and in addition to their new Mac release (Scrivener 2.0) they've come out with a Windows version.
Scrivener deserves high accolades.
Not bad for an old glove.

DaCosta New Story Published

2010-10-05T21:59:00.003-06:00

"As the Number 18 bus pulled up, Terrence stuck his weather-beaten hands back into his pockets to warm them for a brief moment. He hated panhandling, but with a bum back and bum eye, there wasn't much work he could get."

In this story, "For Want of Some Gloves," I tackle the layers of honesty, thievery, and assumptions that so easily can creep into our lives. The story appears in Why Did Santa Leave a Body, a collection of holiday season mysteries now available from North Star Press. Edited by Brian Landon, the book also features stories by Jessie Chandler, Michael Allan Mallory, Brian Landon, Camille Hyytinen, Joan Murphy Pride, Dennis Anderson, Kathleen Lindstrom, J. Henry, T.J. Roth, and Marlene Chabot. ---Barbara DaCosta

The World's Tiniest Watercolor Kit

2010-09-20T19:57:00.009-06:00

Writers distract themselves by doing crossword puzzles, making labels for file folders, and by sharpening pencils. Artists, on the other hand, are quite unique and distract themselves by doodling, sorting art supplies, and by sharpening pencils. Some painters go over the deep end spending hours preparing convenient and functional travel kits for trips or outdoor work. Since the invention of Fimo clay, painters have used Fimo to make paint wells to fit in metal boxes such as those from Altoid Mints or Sucrets. In fact, there's a whole underground culture online about creating these kits.
I found an even smaller and easier method: dispense with the Fimo, and use a box that already has an acceptable interior paint job. I found the perfect one in the junk drawer. The only drawback with not having paint wells is that the paints mingle some as they're used, which is not to everyone's taste.
For my mini-kit, I only needed to cover the box edges with clear tape (unlike the Altoids boxes, this one has no "lip"), so that my brushes wouldn't get damaged.
This amount of paint kept me and three kids in business painting to our hearts' content for almost an hour. Not that I was wasting time distracting myself, you understand.

The Mistake That Almost Got Away

2010-09-12T19:23:00.003-06:00

I recently attended the Anderson Center's 11th Annual Celebration of Minnesota Children's Authors and Illustrators in Red Wing, Minnesota. The Anderson Center is nestled on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. It's a wonderful place that sponsors arts programming, exhibitions, residencies, and more. This annual celebration is sponsored by the center, along with the Red Wing Public Library, the Red Balloon Bookstore, and the U of M's fabulous Kerlan Collection of children's books and manuscripts.
The day featured speakers, signings, a Civil War reenactment, balloon animals, and many other fun activities. I heard talks by Michael Hall (My Heart is Like a Zoo), Sharon Werner and Sarah Forss (Alphabeasties), Mike Wohnoutka (Davey's Blue-eyed Frog), and met Joyce Sidman, John Coy, Lauren Stringer, and others.

At the celebration, I met up with Debra Frasier, author and illustrator of A Fabulous Fair Alphabet, a children's picture book that debuted at the Minnesota State Fair to great acclaim. She had a fun activity for people of all ages: to assemble their names out of the colorful letters she'd photographed at the fair and used in her book. Debra's activity tent was very organized, with large laminated letters carefully sorted into bins. There were also these 4-foot long foam noodle things, a bizarre invention that I've seen used as musical instruments, as play swords, or for pool exercise. Debra was using them as oversized letter holders. A narrow slit along their length was to be the gripper for the laminated letters.
I turned down the offer of help. What could be so difficult about putting my name letters in order into a slot on a foam noodle?
Plenty, it turns out.

This was long after I'd dried off from the day's earlier incident: I'd been minding my own business talking to someone at another booth, when a young girl on stilts wobbled by behind me. She bumped into me, teetered, and grabbed onto the edge of the canvas booth roofing for balance. The roof had been holding a nice big batch of cold rainwater since the night before and suddenly, all of that water went down my back! At least I kept the booth's display material from getting wet.
Debra's fair alphabet booth activities seemed a bit less high-risk, so I headed over there. I chose colorful letters for my name and using the noodle like a paper clip, stuck them in the lengthwise slit. But the letters kept falling out. Finally one of the kind helpers approached me again and gently suggested that most people turned the noodle so the slit would face upward. I turned the noodle over and started over.
Finally, success! Here's the colorful result:

But there was STILL something wrong—that I didn't notice until that evening at home, when I looked at the photo. See if you can spot it.

How is a Book Made?

2010-05-01T16:01:00.000-06:00

Those of us who work as writers and editors know how much work goes on to prepare a manuscript for publication. But that's only part of the whole process. There's further work done within a publishing house, including more editing, cover art, marketing, and sales, just to mention a few areas. The material is prepared for the printer, these days, digitally, where it goes through a sequence of pre-press preparation, printing, collating, binding, packaging, and shipping.
Here's a look at how a book is physically put together by a printer here (created for Webcrafters Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin).

Hey, Wait, Come Back! I Wasn't Finished Yet!

2010-03-25T07:28:00.004-06:00

Writers and artists often do on-site research for their works-in-progress. That's what I was doing recently, trying to capture those fleeting moments between winter and spring, this year on the early side in mid-March. It's when the ice goes out on the lake, cracking, crunching, sloshing as it changes forms. Warm-weather birds begin to return and join the morning avian chorus. The ground starts to thaw, grass tinges green, tulips and day lily leaves start to peek through the soil, and humans resume their outdoor activities.
On-site research doesn't always work out how you expect, though. This mallard on Minnehaha Creek was too busy to stick around and pose.

Eighth Annual Write of Spring

2010-01-04T11:25:00.007-06:00

I'll be appearing along with more than 50 Minnesota mystery authors at Write of Spring, Once Upon a Crime's annual celebration! Saturday, March 20th, 12-4 pm, 604 West 26th Street (off Lyndale Avenue South). Here's the schedule:

12:00 • Joel Arnold, Judith Yates Borger, Laura Childs, Katie DeCosse, Pete Hautman, Monica Ferris, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Priscilla Herbison, Kathleen Hills, William Kent Krueger, Jackie Maher, David Oppegaard, Deborah Woodworth

1:00 • Carl Brookins, Gary Bush, Jan Dunlap, Margaret Frazer, Brian Freeman, Ellen Hart, Jenifer LeClair, Victoria Houston, Camille Hyytinen, Andrea Sisco, Beth Solheim, Roger Stelljes, Richard Thompson

2:00 • Barbara DaCosta, Pat Dennis, Barbara Fister, Steve Horwitz, David Housewright, Chuck Logan, Larry Millett, Julie Schaper, Rick Shefchik, Anthony Neil Smith, Steve Thayer, Christopher Valen, Lance Zarimba

3:00 • KJ Erickson, William Fietzer, Lois Greiman, Judith Koll Healey, Dean Hovey, Julie Kramer, Michael Allan Mallory, Sujata Massey, Scott Pearson, Susan Runholt, Marilyn Victor, JP White

Winter Postcard: Wish You Were Here

2009-12-27T11:12:00.003-06:00

A picture arrives from a friend in Hawaii--a fine sand, sunny beach on the ocean, no clouds, waves gently lapping, palm trees swaying. "Wish you were here...." she writes.
I sigh as I put on my sweater, my snowpants, my hat, my jacket, my scarf, my boots, my mittens, and walk to the lake, where finely grained snowflakes spin through the air, as frosty breath rises from my mouth, and I listen to the quiet that comes with a thick blanket of snow. In the distance, someone's set up an ice-fishing shack, and nearby, a long dock has been marooned away from shore for the winter. Skiers glide by, ducks congregate around an open patch of water by a storm drain, children and dogs frolic. I walk out onto the lake where the wind has created ripples in the snow, and I think of my friend in Hawaii. Maybe she's lying in the warm sun. Maybe she's reading a good book, sipping ice tea. Maybe she's building a sand castle on the ocean beach.
Or--just maybe she's dreaming of building a snow-castle on a lake.

Mystery Festival at Loft

2009-12-01T11:58:00.001-06:00

The Loft Literary Center's first Mystery Festival was held on a balmy November 2009 weekend and had well over 100 attendees. Among the presenters were William Kent Krueger, Mary Logue, Carl Brookins, Rich Thompson, Julie Kramer, Lois Grieman, Ellen Hart, Erin Hart, and Jess Lourey.
After an inspiring and humorous keynote by Vince Flynn, workshops covered technique, genre history, sub-genres, and the book-publishing biz.
Some highlights include Mary's presentation of the "Mystery Wheel," a technique by which you can chart and brainstorm relationships between the plot and characters; Kent's hitchcockian-suspense-filled talk on how to create and use suspense in your novel; Erin's coaxing of imagery and metaphor from listeners, and Jess' admonitions to PLAN your series from the start including creating a character and locale bible. "Just make sure it doesn't become a scrapbooking project that keeps you from your writing," she warned.
Presenters also presided over lunchtime table discussions, which were very popular with attendees.
Kudos to the Loft staff and volunteers and everyone else who made this event happen!

Rebel in a Recliner?

2009-10-31T11:18:00.003-06:00

Into the category of "if I wrote this in a novel, no one would believe it" stories goes this one. A Duluth-area man souped up his La-Z-Boy recliner chair with a motor from a lawn mower and gussied it up with stereo speakers, headlights, and pinstriping. Catch is, he got picked up for a DWI after drinking too much and crashing into a car in the bar's parking lot. The Proctor, Minnesota Police Department is auctioning it off on Ebay. The bids are already over $37,000. How long before the man gets a book contract? (Read the NPR news story or the EBay bid page.)

Update: After a complaint from the La-Z-Boy company, the sale was withdrawn and then reposted as the DWI Chair. Final sale just over $10,000 proceeds to city of Proctor (11/8/09).

Morning Glories

2009-09-21T07:16:00.014-06:00

Morning glories have always been a favorite flower of mine. This year, even though I planted them early enough and they produced spectacular leaves, they didn't bloom. June, July passed, then August. There was no way to rush the blooms, no way to know if the weather would improve (too wet, too dry, too cool) . Then September came, the decisive month, the last chance. Would these sprawling dark-green vines that finally had shown some tiny flower buds bring forth their stunning flowers just as fall made its decisive mark? Taunting the weather gods, the flowers finally made their appearance in the middle of the month.

I never had thought much about the flower's name, though. I knew morning glories bloomed during the daytime, but I didn't know exactly when the one-day blossoms opened--they were usually fully open by the time I'd be out in the garden. So today, putting on my scientist's hat, I decided to track their activities. Before sunrise, around 6 am, with a nip in the air, a few blooms were already open to greet the new day, and gradually, over the next two hours, a couple dozen other stunning blue flowers joined in, reflecting the newly bright blue of today's sky.

Yes, fall is coming,
the dry trees leaves rustle blowing down the alley.
But a late reprieve:
Glorious flower opens in the morning;
morning glory.

Photograph ©2009 Barbara DaCosta

Fall Book Events

2009-09-16T07:56:00.001-06:00

Two big book events are coming up:

The annual Twin Cities Book Festival is coming up, Saturday, October 10th at Mpls Community and Technical College. This is FREE and open to public, usually has thousands of attendees. Event includes readings, talks, used book sales, vendors (most of the area publishers and many authors), book arts, children's activities, and more.

The Loft Literary Center is having its first Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Festival, Sat-Sun, Nov. 14-15, at Open Book. Vince Flynn is the keynote speaker. Others presenters include: Carl Brookings, Masha Hamilton, Mary Logue, William Kent krueger, Jan Dunlap, Philip Donlay, Jess Lourey, Ellen Hart, Susan Runholt, Erin Hart, Rich Thompson, and more. $180 members/$195 non-members.

See you there!

New Crime Anthology Honors Bookstore

2009-08-24T19:44:00.007-06:00

"Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem, and Suspense is a perfect name for a new anthology of short stories by some of Minnesota's best-known crime/mystery writers, as well as a few from outside the region. The book is a tribute to Minneapolis-based Once Upon a Crime bookstore and its owners, the husband-wife team of Gary Shulze and Pat Frovarp. Their little store...which routinely hosts readings by some of the nation's top-selling writers, was just voted Favorite Mystery Bookstore in the country by Crimespree magazine. Once Upon a Crime—the book—was born several years ago when Shulze was hospitalized with leukemia, according to Gary R. Bush, a Minneapolis author who co-edited the anthology with Chris Everheart.

'Putting this book together was a labor of love,' said Bush, who writes books for children, young adults and adults. 'Pat and Gary have been so good to us and other authors, we wanted to honor them. They don't care whether you are a beginner or have had 30 books published. They will treat you equally, with respect, and push your books. They're kind and encouraging.' " Featured authors are Everheart and Bush, Stanley Trollip (who writes with Michael Sears as Michael Stanley), Maureen Fischer, Anne Frasier, Pat Dennis, Terri Persons, Sujata Massey, William Kent Krueger, David Housewright, Lois Greiman, Pete Hautman, Ken Bruen and Marilyn Victor. Launch party for "Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem, and Suspense" 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27th at Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th St., Minneapolis (612-870-3785). See Mary Ann Grossman's full article in the Pioneer Press.

Poe Celebrations

2009-06-12T08:04:00.007-06:00

There are some fabulous events happening this year to mark Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday (in addition to the stamp issued by the USPS mentioned below in a previous blog entry).

Poe Conference: "The Third International Poe Conference will meet in Philadelphia Oct 8 to 11, 2009, at the Hyatt Hotel. At the conference, Poe scholars will present new scholarship, participants will attend a premier of a musical composition, inspired by Poe, and written by Augusta Reed Thomas and see a performance by Norman George as Poe." The National Park Service maintains the Poe National Historical Site in Philadelphia, where a number of additional events will be held.

Baltimore's Year-long Celebration: "The city of Baltimore will host Nevermore 2009, a yearlong celebration of the life and works of one of Baltimore's most famed residents. The year will be filled with a variety of events, including birthday celebrations, lectures, wine tastings, art exhibitions, theatrical performances, special tours and more." These events include an October reburial of Poe next to his grandfather.

Feature Articles: The New York Times has put together a slide show of images from Poe manuscripts and published works in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. The New Yorker recenlty featured a lengthy article by Jill Lepore on Poe.

Virtual Writers Conference Begins

2009-05-20T05:41:00.005-06:00

What a terrific idea! Gayle Trent, author of Murder Takes the Cake, has put together a virtual writers conference featuring guest writers, editors, agents, and others. Topics include book trailers, plotting, publishing, social networking, and more.
The advantages: attend any time, attend everything, no expense of travel, and you don't have to get out of your pajamas.

New Stamp Honors Poe

2009-04-25T21:20:00.005-06:00

The United States Postal Service has once again issued a beautiful literary stamp, this one on the occasion of Edgar Allen Poe's 200th birthday. Poe (1809–1849, was a poet, soldier, editor, author of the famous poem "The Raven" ("Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore...."), The Murders in the Rue Morgue, and the Fall of the House of Usher, among others. Poe is considered by many to be the father of the detective genre; his own death is still considered to be a mystery.

Buy stamps at post offices or online. Visit the Poe Museum's website for more information about this important American writer.

Stamp copyright USPS 2009.

Got Website?

2009-03-25T10:13:00.001-06:00

It used to be that to create something like a poster, for example, that you'd take pencil and eraser and paper, pen and ink and maybe a ruler (if you were really high-tech and serious you'd have a light table). Then, you'd get to work, sketching, erasing, drawing, inking. In a matter of hours, you'd be done.

Now, websites. It's simple, they say. You can make a website bing-bang-bung done! Realistically though, the creative process is no different, even though the tools are. Think, design, rework, start over.... Of course with computers, there's also the "delight" of learning new software, and the absolutely unforgivingly exacting manner in which programming needs to be done. Every little imperfection means that either your webpage won't work or will look odd. Hours, days, and weeks can go by as you search for that one tiny little crumb of code that's messing the whole thing up.

In the old days, mistakes were easy: you firmly held down the paper with one hand, gripped your eraser in the other, and rubbed out your mistake. Then you swept and blew the eraser crumbs off the paper, and re-did the problem section ... and you were done.

Visit my new site http://www.barbaradacosta.com and let me know what you think!
Photo by Barbara DaCosta ©2008

Ｗrite of Spring

2009-03-25T09:52:00.000-06:00

Once Upon a Crime, one of the Upper Midwest's finest independent bookstores is putting on their annual "Write of Spring" Saturday, March 28th, 12–4 pm. I'll be appearing there at 2 pm.
There'll be more than 60 authors besides me appearing that day: Carl Brookins , Gary Bush, Laura Childs, Chris Everheart, Brian Freeman, Ellen Hart, Steve Horwitz, Wm. Kent Krueger, Lori L. Lake, Jess Lourey, David Oppegaard, Bruce Rubenstein, Julie L. Schaper, Roger Stelljes, Christopher Valen, Pat Dennis, William Dietrich, Lois Greiman, Bob Gust, Camille Hyytinen, E. Kelly Keady, Jenifer LeClair, Chuck Logan, Michael Mallory, Larry Millett, Peter Rennebohm, Rick Shefchik, William Swanson, Richard Thompson, Marilyn Victor, Robert Alexander, Sean Doolittle*, KJ Erickson, Barbara Fister, William Fietzer, Jeff Foster, David Housewright, Victoria Houston, Dean Hovey, Kathryn Koutsky, Linda Koutsky, Linda Morganstein, Susan Runholt, Steve Thayer, R.D. Zimmerman, Joel Arnold, Judith Borger, C.C. Canby, Philip Donlay, Monica Ferris, Erin Hart, Pete Hautman, Judith Koll Healy, Priscilla Herbison, Kathleen Hills, Julie Kramer, Mary Logue, Sujata Massey, Scott Pearson, and Deborah Woodworth. See the website for the full schedule, or click on poster image above.

Bloomington Writers' Festival and Book Fair

2009-03-16T08:50:00.007-06:00

Come enjoy the 6th Annual Bloomington Writers' Festival and Book Fair, Saturday, March 21, 2009 9:30 am - 4:30 pm in Bloomington, Minnesota. The keynote speaker is mystery writer William Kent Krueger, speaking on "This Writer's Life." Kent will also discuss "Importance of Narrative' in morning and noon panels.
An afternoon panel "Is It A Crime?" features authors Carl Brookins, Ellen Hart, Susan Runholt, and Gary Shulze (co-owner of Once Upon a Crime Bookstore in Minneapolis). And, the Twin Cities Sisters in Crime will have a booth.
Panels and keynote are $10 each. To register, contact the center.

National Train Day to be Held in May 2009

2009-03-07T21:39:00.000-06:00

National Train Day will be held May 9th, 2009. Check your local papers for events!

Macbeth 101 for Writers

2009-02-21T20:26:00.003-06:00

My model for fiction writing came from eighth-grade English class, when our three tormented student teachers acted out the famous witches' scene from Shakespeare's Macbeth: "Double double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble .... eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog" and the other gory ingredients too repugnant to recall here. None of us ever forgot Macbeth or those three student teachers, nor the list of memorable ingredients that we delighted in reciting at lunch hour the rest of the year.
I imagine that the three student teachers were trying to teach us how to appreciate and read and analyze Shakespeare. For me, the lessons were more oblique, finding use decades later:
• don't turn your back for even a minute on twenty-five eighth-graders
• literature read aloud is has a different effect than when read silently
• if you're going to speak in public, be assertive, especially in front of dozens of kids
But the most important lesson to me as a writer was that you don't have to look far for ingredients; real life supplies an ample amount—people, things, ideas, coincidences. Then, you mix it all into a brew so well-blended that it becomes something new and original. There's the magic—all you need is the cauldron.

On Writing

2009-01-27T22:41:00.006-06:00

Once Upon A Crime in Minneapolis recently hosted a fabulous panel discussion with writers Mary Logue, K J Erickson, and Ellen Hart. Presenting to a packed room, the three well-known authors covered topics from knowing one's characters, to writing a series. Here are some nuggets I jotted down (blending the voices of the three, who are old friends who often finish each other's thoughts):
On writing: When the writing is flowing, it's like being in a groove, and you know it's working so it feels great; the novel takes on a shape, becoming a living thing, growing organically, or like fractal. For the three, a writing group has been essential for their growth as writers, and as a balm for the solitary task of writing.
The great puzzle: If, as according to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours to master any particular thing, how is it that an author's first book is often their best? Conversely, why does it take so long for some authors to become well known?
On characters: They take on their own lives. When writing a series, you get to know them over time, and you realize different things about them. Of course, you can always throw a little conflict in their paths to shake things up for them—and for you, as well.
On agents and editors: They should act as advocates for readers, understand the market, and are ideally there to help the writer do their best work.
The publishing industry: there are natural cycles to it, small presses will grow as bigger presses struggle, technological changes have to be embraced, that there's still—beyond the blockbusters that every publisher seeks—a need for diverse, interesting writing; the big presses will always need to seek out new, good books.
KJ closed the evening with a passionate plea for both readers and writers to understand the important role of independent bookstores, whose staff actually read and recommend books to customers, and sponsor author events.

On Very Short Stories

2008-10-18T08:55:00.002-06:00

I've figured out why I'm very fond of short stories—especially the 300–1500 word range—it's from years of writing short journalistic pieces. Whether in the form of a poem, column, essay, letter to the editor, or terse pay-by-the-word ad content, or blog entry, brevity is often the soul of expression.
So when an article by Sandra Seamans on "flash fiction" at
Bookspot Central came to my attention, I was thrilled to read about its popularity in the mystery genre.
Any short fiction demands succinct delivery, all the more so with short-short fiction. In fact, there's a newish form, the six-word biography (see article in New Yorker). It was reputedly started by Hemingway, who is said to have written the tragic “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Try it out and let me know what you think!

Book Voyeur on the #18

2008-09-04T12:18:00.016-06:00

What's almost as good as seeing someone read one of your own books? Seeing them reading a book by someone you know!
This morning on the bus, I was seated across from three people reading books. First, a man with a thick sheaf of pages of a braille book held against his ample stomach, fingers rapidly dancing through the bumpy white text. Naturally, I couldn't read the title. Next to him, a small white-haired woman held a well-read copy of They Call Me Mother Graham by Morrow Coffey Graham, mother of the evangelist Billy Graham. And next to her, a young, hip-looking gal with leggings, short skirt, bracelets and piercings—her colorful hair sticking out in all directions—who was glued to a book whose cover I couldn't see. Of course, that just made me more curious.
When she at last shifted the book to her other hand, I got a glimpse of the cover. To my delight, it was not only a book I'd read and liked—Iron Lake, but it was by someone I knew—my colleague from Resort to Murder William Kent Krueger.
Ironically, I'd just seen Kent the night before at the launch for his new book Red Knife, which I'm looking forwards to reading. The young woman and I began talking. She confided that Iron Lake was the first book of Kent's she'd read, and she was really enjoying it.
"He's from around here, you know that?" I asked.
She nodded, and quickly ducked her head back down to the book, captivated.

New DaCosta Story "Hands" Premieres at Penny Dreadful

2008-07-27T17:32:00.021-06:00

I promised I would write some non-creepy stories, and so here is one. "Hands," can be found in the interesting new blog of online stories called Penny Dreadful. The blog is being run by Hotbutton Press, which is also host to Blog Booktours. Penny Dreadful will post a new story almost every day, all by different authors. (All anonymous, though we authors are allowed to spill our own beans.)
Penny Dreadfuls were pulp magazines printed on cheap paper and circulated to the lower classes in nineteenth-century Britain. You can read more about them on Wikipedia.
"Hands" was written and published in one day, a new experience for me. Its genesis was simply in wondering about the many chance encounters at libraries—specifically that of a library circulation desk clerk—and what if...?
Enjoy these stories!

READ PENNY DREADFUL www.pdreadful.blogspot.com

The World of Short Stories

2008-07-13T21:48:00.016-06:00

I didn't really set out to write "disturbing" stories, but a reviewer recently described my debut mystery story "Cabin 6" from Resort to Murder with just that label. There's a reason, though, that the story came out the way it did. Let me explain.

When I first met veteran legal mystery/thriller writer Lisa Scottoline (who's one of the most personable and entertaining writers out there), I had not yet begun to write mysteries, but had recently had a bizarre encounter with a scary person that just begged to be written about. I asked Lisa how writers live with the evil and creepiness of some of the characters and scenarios found in a typical mystery. Her answer was that it was important to choose one's on-the-page companions carefully, as you had to be able to live with them for a long, long time while you did the heavy lifting of creating a novel.

Several years later when I began working on Death by the Depot, my current novel-in-progress, I remembered Lisa's words. I began crafting a world populated mostly by people I wouldn't mind meeting, and situations that seemed close to real life. I decided to leave the psychopaths, car chases, and gore to some other writer who could do better by them.

My short stories are another matter. Short stories have become the place where I can take a scary situation or odd personality and let them develop in their own little petri dish. Since a short story can be written in hours instead of years, they have become a way for me to experiment with writing about "darker" sides of life. Thus, the above-described "disturbing" short story. But never fear, not all of my stories can be called disturbing! There are some lighter fare as well.

In any case, here's what the reviewer wrote about my Resort to Murder story: that DaCosta's "disturbing story 'Cabin 6' ... is her first story and it is a good one...."

"Good"? Now, there's a word that doesn't beg any explanation!

Read Kevin Tipple's entire Resort to Murder book review at Blogger News (7/13/08)

Celebrate National Train Day Saturday, May 10th!

2008-04-12T10:34:00.016-06:00

National Train Day, May 10th, 2008.

If you're like me, you remember the joys and wonders of taking a train trip. For people in my parent's generation, it was THE way to travel. Hundreds of passenger trains rolled through the Twin Cities each day, bound for Duluth, Winnipeg, the Dakotas, Omaha, Chicago, and Iowa...now, there is the lone Empire Builder, from Chicago to the west coast once a day in each direction. Efforts are underway to reinstate a train to Duluth (which ceased in 1985), and a high-speed train to Chicago.

The National Association of Rail Passengers and Amtrak will join together for National Train Day, to be held at train stations across the country. The event is designed to highlight the growing popularity of train riding, its environmental benefits, and to emphasize the need for rebuilding a strong passenger train network. Why May 10th? That day commemorates 139th anniversary of the laying in 1869 of the Golden Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, the final link in America’s first transcontinental railroad.

Sixth Annual Write of Spring Event 2008

2008-03-14T21:21:00.003-06:00

When the snow and ice begin to melt every March, one of the Twin Cities' favorite independent bookstores, Once Upon a Crime goes wild and invites almost every single mystery writer in the area to the store for the annual Write of Spring event. This year, I'll be appearing for the first time, along with such luminaries as Robert Alexander, R.D. Zimmerman, Pete Hautman, Mary Logue, Laura Childs, Monica Ferris, David Housewright, William Kent Krueger, Gary Bush, Ellen Hart, Carl Brookins, Sujata Massey, Lori Lake, and many other writers who've helped put Minnesota on the mystery map!

Write of Spring is Saturday, March 22, from 12 noon till 4 p.m. Come meet your favorite writers—see their site for schedule!

Once Upon a Crime is located at 604 West 26th Street (just east of Lyndale Av. S.), lower level of apartment building.
612-870-3785

What is NaNoWriMo and Why Did I Do It?

2007-12-04T00:16:00.000-06:00

Here's the challenge: write, in the month of November, a novel of 50,000 words length. Thirty days. That is the simple goal of National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo. Run by a somewhat ad hoc nonprofit organization, the now-annual event attracted over 90,000 of writers from every corner of the world, including a couple of thousand hardy Minnesotans. The idea is to "just sit down and write" without worrying about perfecting your work, without fussing, and without procrastination. After the month is over, then you can rewrite, revise, edit, restructure. Schoolteachers have had great success using NaNoWriMo to stimulate student interest in writing.

Why did I try NaNoWriMo? I was up for a new challenge, and wanted to try writing in a different manner than usual. Last year, I lasted all of ten minutes. This year, I was ready for it, and wrote steadily for the whole month, reaching what I thought was a very reasonable amount of 30,000 words (bear in mind that 1000–2000 words a day is for many writers an average daily output, and that most novels are actually going to be 65,000 words or more).

I prepared well for the month-long adventure. I thought through the structure for the new novel, which is a follow-up to DEATH BY THE DEPOT (the manuscript of which, almost complete, was ready for a month of fermentation).I stocked up on food, took care of winterizing chores, and warned people what I was up to just in case I got a glazed look in my eye. I filled my fountain pen, sharpened some pencils, and assembled a stack of color-coordinated scrap paper. I did some test runs with my new novel-writing software (the very wonderful Scrivener for Mac). I then opened the door for the novel's newly minted dozen-or-so characters to come in and start taking shape.

The result? A good solid start for me on a novel that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a couple of years; some new work methods for my repertoire. Some new writing buddies (the Twin Cities had just shy of 1600 people signed up, who produced 13,059,537 words, and placed 3rd internationally in number of words written, just behind Seattle and "Maryland"). Mostly, though, I had fun.

What's next? Now it's this novel's turn to ferment for a spell while I take care of other matters including DEPOT, and begin to dream up a story for next year's NaNoWriMo.

"Cabin 6" —A Story of Love, Obsession—and Murder

2007-11-14T20:58:00.000-06:00

The vast, northern Lake Superior is a mysterious place that harbors many secrets under its frigid waters, and in the many whispered confessions of the people who journey to its shorelines. As the waves crash and crash upon the rocky shoreline, a lone figure is seen leaving Cabin 6....

"Cabin 6," a tale of love, obsession, and murder, will appear in Resort to Murder, an anthology scheduled to be released this fall by Nodin Press. This anthology is a follow-up to the wildly successful Silence of the Loons and edited by well-known Minnesota mystery authors Ellen Hart, William Kent Krueger, and Carl Brookins, Resort to Murder features mystery stories set against the backdrop of Minnesota's perennial favorite vacation spots.
"Cabin 6" is the mystery debut of Barbara DaCosta, a Minneapolis-based writer. She is at work on her first novel, Death by the Depot.

Resort to Murder Praised

2007-09-27T11:14:00.000-06:00

Resort to Murder has been praised in the
St Paul Pioneer Press. "Some of the stories are about revenge, including David Housewright's "Miss Behavin' " and Hart's "14-A." Several tales offer an O. Henry-style twist, including Brookins' "A Fish Story" and Judith Yates Borger's "Hunter's Lodge." Pat Dennis describes a very odd mother-son relationship in "Mother's Day," and Deborah Woodworth evokes the dark north woods in "The Moose Whisperer." Barbara DaCosta's "Cabin" is the most surprising, and Michael Allen Mallory's "Bird of Prey" shows how far a writer will go for her craft. The sweetest tale is Joel Arnold's "Leave No Wake," featuring a pair of gay senior citizens. For lots of fun, there's Jess Lourey's "The Locked Fish-cleaning House Mystery," featuring a lively sleuth who lives in a nursing home and crashes weddings." - Mary Ann Grossmann

Barbara DaCosta was also mentioned in Andrea Sisco's review at Armchair Interviews. "For fans of Ellen Hart (I am a huge fan), she’s written a scathing take on the downside of marriage in 14-A that you won’t want to miss. Pat Dennis gives the reader a new take on Mother’s Day (I’ve got my eye on my kids now). Judith Yates-Borger takes on tradition and progress when a developer who wants to turn a resort into private homes loses his life over the decision in Hunter’s Lodge. And Barbara DeCosta deals with the death of a relationship in Cabin 6. There are also wonderful stories by William Kent Krueger (one of my favorite mystery authors), Carl Brookins and David Housewright (I loved Dead Boyfriend) and others."

Resort to Murder Blog

2007-08-15T13:45:00.000-06:00

Resort to Murder now has its own blog. Here you can find information about readings and signings, about the authors, and more!

BOOK RELEASE PARTY

2007-08-08T20:36:00.000-06:00

Join the authors of Resort to Murder: Thirteen More Tales of Mystery Monday, September 24 at 7 pm, for a book release party at Once Upon a Crime, 604 West 26th Street, in Minneapolis. There will be a limited supply of books signed by all of the authors, so you need to contact the store if you want one.

Resort to Murder's First Review

2007-07-25T09:05:00.000-06:00

Resort to Murder has been reviewed in the prestigious Publishers' Weekly. Here's what they had to say: "The Minnesota Crime Wave’s entertaining second volume of short stories from Minnesota writers (after 2005’s The Silence of the Loons) introduces some promising talent to a wider audience." Click here and then scroll down to "mysteries" for the complete review.

Why Mysteries?

2007-07-23T22:05:00.000-06:00

Since beginning to write mysteries, I've gotten two recurring questions from people. The first: "Why are you writing mysteries?" The second one comes with a smile and a questioning eyebrow: "Can I tell you this great idea I have for a mystery that you could write?"

Why mysteries? I've always loved reading, and was introduced to the mystery world as an adult. Immersed as I was in academic and professional writing, I soon found that writing fiction (and why not mysteries, since I enjoyed them so much), functioned as comic relief, an escape valve. It was fun to create worlds, characters, and plots out of wholecloth, with nary a footnote in sight.

Which leads me to the second common question. Creating a novel or a short story is like being in your own dream world. You can picture everything and everyone, even without having to spell it all out in words. But someone else cannot (at least for most of us) be there in your dream seeing and experiencing it with you. So when you've got that tantalizing thread of an idea playing in technicolor in your head, it's probably best to sit down and start writing YOUR novel!

Resort to Murder

2007-06-23T08:06:00.000-06:00

"Thirteen More Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Writers"

Here's a sneak preview of the Resort to Murder cover. The anthology features writers William Kent Krueger, Jess Lourey, Ellen Hart, David Housewright, Scott Pearson, Pat Dennis, Carl Brookins, Joel Arnold, Deborah Woodworth, Barbara DaCosta (featuring my story "Cabin 6"), Michael Mallory, Moira Harris, and Judith Yates Borger, with an introduction by author Lorna Landvik, and published by Nodin Press. Look for it in your stores soon!