DARING TO DREAM…THEN LIVING THE DREAM with CATHY ACE

 HALLIE EPHRON: Today I'm thrilled to welcome back a longtime friend of Jungle Red, Cathy Ace. We first hosted her back in (gulp) 2014 with her (was it her first??) Cait Morgan mystery set in **Vegas** -- a gutsy move for a Welsh(!) writer who was living in Canada. She's been on a roll ever since.

Today Cathy is back with fabulous news. The kind of news we mystery writers would kill for.

I'll let her tell you...

CATHY ACE: I wonder if you recall that song in the musical South Pacific which includes the lines: “...you gotta have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?”

It’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot recently, because the 14th Cait Morgan Mystery is set in Tahiti, in the south Pacific, where Cait can’t help but hum another song from the same musical while she’s in the shower washing her hair (I bet you know that song, right!?).

However, I think we have to admit that the extent to which our dreams become reality is often not something over which we have complete control. We can plan, we can do our best to make, and take, opportunities, we can act…but – sometimes – it seems as though Chance plays a part in our being able to take that final step and actually experience what was once no more than wishful thinking.

For example, as a bookish child growing up in a somewhat deprived area of a once-great Welsh port, I never thought I’d ever get to feel the sands of exotic Tahiti between my fingers, however much I dreamed and hoped I would.

But a chance to visit came along, and I took it…so I actually dipped my toes into the crystal waters of the south Pacific, and saw the stars in the southern skies. It was so much more than I had dreamed it would be…and that visit, and my subsequent ones, inspired me to write The Corpse with the Pearly Smile.

And now there’s another dream that’s starting to come to life for me.

I suspect that every author is asked the question: “Who would you choose to bring your characters to life on the screen?” It’s a question I know I’ve been asked ever since my first book was published in 2012…and this year it was announced that the talented Eve Myles (Keeping Faith, Torchwood, We Hunt Together) will be portraying Cait Morgan when Free@LastTV (Agatha Raisin) produces the TV adaptation of that first Cait Morgan Mystery, The Corpse with the Silver Tongue.

So how does it feel to live this dream?

Well, it hasn’t been a straightforward journey by any means: the books were optioned back in February 2020, and I think we all recall only too keenly what happened in March of that year. There were so many productions that had to be completed once TV shooting began again post-pandemic that our project was pushed back…and then there were a couple of strikes to contend with, so it wasn’t until May of 2024 that the official announcement about casting was made. I know everyone says that TV takes time, and now I understand what they mean.

This dream? Well, I’ve learned that getting excited about the prospect of something being “about to happen” can be draining…so I’m doing my best to only get excited when something has actually happened.

From the time of the initial discussions with the production company, I chose to be involved with the adaptation. I didn’t want to write the screenplay – it’s not something that’s within my realm of expertise, and I truly believed there’d be a better person to do the job. There was, and his name is Matthew Thomas (Marcella, Queens of Mystery, New Tricks). 

Now, obviously, this Welshwoman was delighted that a person with such a lovely, Welsh-sounding name was up for writing the screenplay, and you might imagine how thrilled I was to discover that Matthew is the son of the renowned Welsh author Leslie Thomas (The Virgin Soldiers, The Last Detective/Dangerous Davies) so the Welsh blood and the writing blood course through his veins. And I ADORE his screenplay – which excised all the right parts of the novel to create an adaptation that will run for two hours.

So we were off to a wonderful start. WOOT!

Then came the question of Cait. It was agreed that she’d be Welsh, because Cait is Welsh, and I am Welsh, and the casting of a Welshwoman was a hill upon which I was prepared to die…though I didn’t have to, because the wonderful producers completely agreed that Cait’s nationality would be honoured (with the extra vowel).

And Eve Myles is P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Not only is she an incredibly talented performer, but she’s also enthusiastic about the project. YAY! I’m thrilled, because there are relatively few working-class Welsh women portrayed on the screen (to be honest, almost none) and I wanted that to be the Cait that people “meet”, and Eve will do her proud.

As for Bud Anderson, Cait’s partner in life and crime? Well, the character is Canadian, he’s in his fifties, and he’s the person who keeps Cait tethered when she gets dangerously wrapped up in her own head, trying to work everything out. So…solid, dependable, and procedural (he’s a cop who’s recently moved up from overseeing a large homicide squad to a command role within an international gang-busting task force when we meet him in the first book).

Do I know who’ll portray him? Yes. But I’m sworn to secrecy until the papers are signed and The Announcement is made by those who are allowed to make it (the humble novel writer is not that person).

Then there are the locations: the book is set mainly in Nice, in the south of France, with a critical sub-plot running in British Columbia, Canada, and some Welsh asides. All three areas will be used for shooting the production, which is wonderful – the authenticity of the locations is critical in the books, and it will be in the TV adaptation – and I’m hoping I can snag a Hitchcockian appearance in at least one of the Canadian bits (I fear it’s unlikely I’ll be wafted away in a private jet to sip a glass of rosé in the background of a scene on the Cours Saleya in Nice…boo-hoo).

So living the dreams is…well, it’s wonderful, and I’m excited, and it all seems to be coming together (at last). I am determined to hang on for the entire ride…and I shall continue to dream, and take whatever opportunities arise. Because that sand in Tahiti feels wonderful, and the idea that my ninety-year-old mother might, after all, see her daughter’s characters on the screen is still there…still a hope, a dream, but now – more than ever – within grasp.

HALLIE: So Cathy leaves us with this question: What dreams have you seen come to fruition…and did they live up to your hopes?

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Cathy Ace FB: https://www.facebook.com/Cathy-Ace-Author-318388861616661 Cathy Ace website: http://www.cathyace.com/ Cathy Ace Twitter: https://twitter.com/AceCathy Cathy Ace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyace1/

Magnificent Mindblowing "Moonflower"

HALLIE EPHRON: I’m happy to report that I’ve just finished watching MOONFLOWER MURDERS. It’s absolutely magically mind-boggling, the way the author Anthony Horowitz (he wrote the novel, a sequel to his MAGPIE MURDER) and the screenplay, braids together two (or is it three?) different narratives – a murder in the past, a novel inspired by that murder, and a murder in the present.

The present day sleuth is the brilliant Lesley Manville, and her “guide” to solving the present-day murder is the sleuth from the *novel* Atticus Pund, played by Tim McMullan, with an assist from the dead author of the novel. With a great ensemble cast, some of whom show up in the multiple time streams.

For those of us who write murder mysteries, it's utterly engrossing. A tour de force. Not something I’d ever attempt but I enjoyed watching (and reading the novel) it. And CHEWING on it after.

So what’s the most complicated plot “braiding” you’ve ever attempted, and how did you keep track??

LUCY BURDETTE: Hallie, John and I have this on our list to watch! (So late to the party.)

I think A POISONOUS PALATE was the most complicated so far because it involved a disappearance/murder in the past, more murders in the present, and two points of view. My usual first person narrator Hayley Snow was there of course, but there was another voice from the past interwoven.

I knew Debs had done this so I asked her advice. And I kept thinking about how Rhys had described printing out the two pieces of a story and laying them out along her hallway to see how they fit together. I think I was trying to do that mentally! It was fun and I’m sure I’ll do something like that again.

RHYS BOWEN: I’ve done several novels that jump between past and present, requiring a lot of thought. But I think the most complicated was my new book, The Rose Arbor.

So many stories intertwined. A young g reporter in the trail of one missing girl finds links to other girls and to her own history. In the book every fact she finds about one missing girl has repercussions to other crimes and to her own life.

Plus I have scenes from WW2 and the voices of all the missing girls. It was like creating a jigsaw puzzle! But so worth it in the end

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Oh, I am so with you… I have loved Magpie Murders from moment one, I was just ecstatic over it, a relentless proselytizer, and could not wait for Moonflower. Which I love as well.

When I was in the UK some months ago, to be on a panel with Anthony Horowitz,(I know, swooning) I had a long talk with him, and his wonderful wife, Jill Green, the producer of the shows about it(also I am still swooning. ) Anthony credits her as the brains behind the production.

They were just in the planning stage for how to create Moonflower, and we had a long talk about how that would be presented – – Magpie was so gorgeous and innovative, and as we always say, they wanted to do the same thing, but differently. Which I think they wildly succeeded in!

As for me, I have done very complicated structures—well, let’s say complex, instead of complicated. It’s still very linear when I write it, it’s just that each timeline has its parallel events. The key, I think, is to decide whether you want the parallel points of view to be serial or simultaneous. In other words, does the next point of view continue the story, or show the story you've already heard at the same time.

And I always label the chapters with POV and time:
ELLIE
Now

Because the key is make sure readers are never confused, and that is much more complicated when you consider the limitations of audiobooks.

Hilariously, I have learned that it is much harder for me to write a single point of view with one timeline than it is to write multiple points of view with multiple timelines.

JENN McKINLAY: What a fabulous event, Hank! I’d swoon, too.

I’ve never done multiple timelines but I did braid all three of the ensemble casts from the Cupcake Bakery, London Hat Shop, and Library Lovers mysteries in DEATH IN THE STACKS. Never again. 

But I do remember reading SLEEPING MURDER by Christie (published posthumously) when I was just starting to read mysteries and Miss Marple solves a case from decades before and it made such an impression on me, I still remember the twist. I thought that was some very clever braiding. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am so behind on my watching! I started The Magpie Murders but got distracted--story of my life--and didn't finish it. So naturally I didn't want to start Moonflower until I've seen Magpie.

It's fascinating reading how others handle these braided plots. Hank, I don't think it ever occurred to me to differentiate between serial and simultaneous. On reflecting now, I'd say I use both, but lean towards serial as it moves the plot along. I've done more than a few multiple timeline novels, but I think the most complicated thing I've done is the continuation of a plot thread through four novels--No Mark Upon Her through Garden of Lamentations. That one nearly made me pull my hair out!

HALLIE: So anyone else out there watching MOONFLOWER MURDERS and have you been delighted or perhaps a bit befuddled? I found it a real hang-on-and-enjoy-the-ride.

Or do you have any favorite books that mash up timelines? In different genres, even, since our friends the fantasy writers excel at it.

WORKING TITLE: What We're Writing by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN McKINLAY: Ever since my first fantasy book was spawned out of a random department that I wrote into the Museum of Literature romcom novellas, the working title was BOOKS OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN -- named after that fictional department of oddball books. Well, as we get closer to the publication date (still a year out) in Oct of 2025, the title has been changed to WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN. 

What do you, dear Readers, think of the change? Oh, wait, you probably want to know the premise so you can be better informed:

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her small village. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to her library, Zoe consults the Books of Dubious Origin department at the Museum of Literature and discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches who specialize in raising the dead and this little black book is their grimoire. 

Pragmatic Zoe rejects this ridiculous narrative, but when an undead friend of her grandmother's shows up at her house and asks Zoe to help her, Zoe realizes she will never get her quiet life back until she decodes the family grimoire and solves the mystery of what happened to her grandmother and her mother.

The book's potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls. With help from the strange and intimidating staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department, Zoe confronts her past and the legacy of her family, but will she embrace her destiny or return to the quiet life she held so dear?

As you can imagine, I have polled A LOT of people about the title change. And this is how it rolled out by preference:

Mystery Writers: BOOKS OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN

Romance Writers: WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN

Fantasy Writers: WITCHES

Academic Librarians: BOOKS

Public Librarians: WITCHES

How do I feel about it? Undecided. I trust Sales and Marketing to know how to best represent the book, but I was partial to the original title, the manuscript of which I am revising right now. 

In fact, here's a snippet:

     I put down my novel and shoved my blanket aside. I glanced out the window beside the door. There was no one on the porch. I cautiously opened the door. I checked the walkway to the street. No one was there. I studied the wind chimes hanging on the corner of the porch. They weren’t moving, so it hadn’t been a breeze. I shifted my gaze to the two wicker chairs to the right. They were empty but perched on the back of one of them was the raven.

     “Ah!” I started. Had this uninvited guest been making all of that racket? He was the only one here so it had to have been him. I was equal parts relieved and annoyed. I walked toward the bird. He didn’t move. I raised my arms and waved my hands at him. “Shoo!”

     He turned his head to the side and stared at me with one pale blue beady eye as if assessing my threat level. It was going to be high if he pooped on my furniture. 

     “Party’s over!” I clapped my hands. The sound was loud in the evening quiet. He flapped his wings and flew from the chair to the porch railing. I clapped again. “You don’t have to go home, big guy, but you can’t stay here.”

     With a leap, he jumped off the railing and soared out into the darkness. I glanced at the houses on each side of mine. All was quiet. I turned and went back inside, assured that peace had been restored.

     I had just settled into my chair and started reading when there was a thumping sound on the porch. 

     “Oh, hell no,” I muttered. “We’re not doing this all night.”

     I tossed aside my blanket and crossed to the door. I unlocked it and yanked it open. “I said, ‘Shoo!’”

     But it wasn’t the raven. Instead, standing before me was a diminutive ash blonde, a pale woman of a certain age--I was guessing  mid to late fifties. She was wearing a beige wool coat and clutching a stylish handbag which matched her equally fashionable shoes.

     “Can I help you?” I asked.

     “I certainly hope so, dear,” she said. Her blue eyes crinkled in the corners when she smiled at me. “I’m Eloise Tate, a childhood friend of your grandmother’s.”

     “Excuse me?” I asked. The odds of Mamie coming up in conversation twice in one day had to be a million to one. Years of my life had passed without my grandmother being mentioned and now she’d been mentioned twice. My gut twisted. Something wasn’t right. 

     “Antoinette Donadieu, Toni, she was your grandmother, yes?” Eloise tipped her head to the side as she studied me. “Your resemblance to her is uncanny.”

     “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be rude, but Mamie would be in her eighties now. There’s no way you’re old enough to have been a childhood friend of hers.”

     “Oh, but I was,” Eloise said. “Sadly, I passed away when I was fifty-two.”

     “Passed away?” I choked out the words.

     “Yes, but dear Toni brought me back and I was her faithful companion right up until the day she died. Now I need you, Zoe, to send me on.”

     “Send you on?” I repeated. There was a buzzing in my ears, probably panic, that made it hard to hear her.

     “You have the grimoire from your mother, yes? Which means you have the spell to send me across the veil to the other side.” She beamed and I noticed a fleck of pink lipstick on her teeth.

     “You’re telling me you’re dead,” I said. My eyes ran over her. She was clearly not dead. So…what in hell was going on here?

     “Oh, I can assure you, I’m very much deceased.” She nodded. “Toni planned to return me before she passed away, but the grimoire was stolen and Toni was murdered before she had the chance.”

     “Murdered?” My chest felt tight. I couldn’t get enough air, everything went fuzzy and I started to see spots. I leaned heavily against the doorjamb. “Who exactly murdered Mamie? Do you know?”

     “Why it was your mother, dear.” 

Now my second question is: How much does a title weigh in on your decision to buy a book? And should I be concerned? LOL.