Archive for the '25 Years Ago Today' Category

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25 Years Ago Today: Blues Mystery Author Peggy Ehrhart

Published on February 14, 2011 in 25 Years Ago Today. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest, fellow Sister in Crime Peggy Ehrhart. Peggy is a former English professor who lives in Leonia, New Jersey, where she writes mysteries and plays blues guitar. She holds a doctorate in Medieval Literature, and her publications include a prize-winning nonfiction book. Her short fiction has appeared in FMAM, Crime and Suspense, Flashing in the Gutters, Spinetingler, Crime Scene: New Jersey 2, Murder New York Style, and several other venues.

As a guitar player, she performs regularly with the Still Standing Band. Her blues mystery, Sweet Man Is Gone, was published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage in 2008. The sequel, Got No Friend Anyhow, was published in January 2011. I love Peggy’s story about what she was doing 25 years ago as it involves Greek mythology, which is one of the subplots of my own mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. Here is Peggy’s anecdote:

PEGGY: When the call came, my mother-in-law grabbed the first thing she could find to write on: a paper bag. She was babysitting and she handed me the message when I got home from the market.

“The acquisitions editor called,” it read in her careful script. “They want your book. Call him.” And there was a number.

One of the happiest days of my life—and a huge relief. What if my ten years of work had gone for nothing? But no—my first book had found a home. The acquisitions editor who’d called was from the University of Pennsylvania Press.

An odd home for a mystery novel, you might be thinking. But my first published book wasn’t a mystery. It wasn’t even fiction. It was a weighty tome called The Judgment of the Trojan Prince Paris in Medieval Literature.

It dealt with the medieval retellings of the Judgment of Paris myth. Paris was the Trojan prince who stole Helen from her Greek husband Menelaus, thus launching the Trojan War. But his claim to Helen stemmed from an earlier episode. The goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera requested that he judge their beauty, awarding a golden apple to the winner. Aphrodite bribed him with the gift of Helen, he gave her the apple, and when he claimed his prize, the angry Greeks attacked Troy. Homer tells the rest of the story in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

That book was an unusual preamble to a career writing mysteries—but maybe not. The Judgment of Paris was so popular in the Middle Ages because it was interpreted as a story in which a young man chooses his destiny. Aphrodite stood for a life devoted to the senses, Athena for a life devoted to the mind, and Hera for a life devoted to possessions.

Shortly after my Judgment of Paris book appeared in 1987, I too chose my destiny. Academia was great and I’ll never be sorry I spent all those hours in the library. But it wasn’t enough. In 1989 I bought an electric guitar and formed a blues and rock band, and shortly after that I started work on my first Maxx Maxwell blues mystery.

Read more about Peggy on her web site. Check out Got No Friend Anyhow on Amazon. The book is the second adventure for blues-singer sleuth Elizabeth “Maxx” Maxwell. As Maxx pursues the killer of record-producer Rick Schneider, the reader is taken on a ride that keeps pages turning in classic whodunit style all the way to a dramatic and unexpected climax.

For newcomers: The 25 Years Ago Today column is a regular feature on the Mysteries, Murder & More blog, inspired by the novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today.

25 Years Ago Today: Science Fiction Author Jaleta Clegg Recalls the Challenger Explosion

Published on January 29, 2011 in 25 Years Ago Today. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

One of my Bestseller Bound friends, science fiction author Jaleta Clegg, has shared a touching post recalling a day that shook up the whole country. I remember being in seventh grade, coming back from lunch. I saw the tear-stained face of my science teacher and knew something was very wrong. When I heard about the Challenger explosion, a sick feeling twisted the inside of my stomach. The anniversary just passed. Do you remember what you were doing?

Here is Jaleta’s memory. Jan. 28, 1986

It was a cold January day, although the sun shone bright through the windows. I sat on the couch in my mom’s living room, surrounded by silk flowers–red roses, white daisies, and gardenias. My wedding was less than three weeks away. I twisted flowers with ribbons and florists’ wire while I watched the shuttle launch prep on tv.

I’ve been a space junkie ever since I can remember. The night sky has always fascinated me. The stories, the science, but most of all, the travel. Science fiction was and is my genre of choice. I snuck out of bed at 4 am to watch the first shuttle launch. I waited through the interminable countdown with baited breath until the clock hit zero, the engines ignited, and the Columbia rose into space. I watched a shuttle launch live in 2006, a miracle considering I live in Utah and with eight kids, our budget was too tight to squeeze in a trip to Florida. Through the generosity of friends, my husband and I made it. The launch went off on schedule, picture perfect.

Back to the Challenger launch. This was not the shuttle’s first launch. The media circus surrounding it came because of one astronaut: Christa McAuliffe, a school teacher slated to become the first teacher in space. All sorts of special lessons were scheduled to be broadcast from the shuttle to schools across America. School children everywhere watched the launch live, just like I watched from my seat on the couch.

The countdown reached zero, the engines ignited, the shuttle rose into the air on a column of smoke.

And then the unthinkable happened. The shuttle exploded. In an instant, Christa McAuliffe and her fellow astronauts were gone.

I stared in disbelief at the tv as the news people replayed the horrible scene. How could this have happened? A cold snap compromised the rubber in one small gasket. The first teacher in space was gone. A nation watched, horrified, as the events unfolded.

Twenty five years later, Christa McAuliffe has touched my life in ways I could not even have imagined then. A local school teacher, who ran shuttle simulations in his sixth grade classroom, had a dream that blossomed into a full-blown center with starship simulators that take children on trips far into the galaxy and into a future full of danger and intrigue and aliens. I went ahead with my wedding, ending up with eight wonderful children and twenty five years of memories of my own, good and bad. I graduated from BYU as a teacher in 1992. My teaching certificate sat in a drawer until 2002. Recovering from a bout of cancer left me feeling I needed to do more, give more.

I walked into the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center on an April morning in 2002 and told Victor Williamson, the creator and director of the center, that I wanted to become a volunteer. He got a panicked look in his eye, looking to his staff as if to say, who is this crazy woman and why is she in my office? Fortunately, one of the staff knew me from my college days and vouched that I was not as crazy as I sounded. I volunteered that summer, working as a camp cook. I was offered a paid position that fall, as a teacher for the daily field trips. I am now the planetarium director, curriculum specialist, costumer, story consultant, office assistant, and still camp cook. We touch the lives and imaginations of thousands of children each year at our center.

To borrow a quote from Christa McAuliffe, “I touch the future. I teach.”

Her spirit lives on through her legacy from that fateful accident twenty five years ago. She touched my life then and she still touches it today.

For more information on the Challenger, start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster

For more information on the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center: http://www.spacecamputah.org

For more information on my writing and ramblings: http://www.jaletac.com

Jaleta Clegg is the author of Nexus Point. When Captain Dace crash lands on a primitive planet, she finds herself on the run from villagers who are sure she’s a demon and the Patrol, who’s sure she’s a smuggler. Accused of piracy, facing death or worse at the hands of those who should be rescuing her, she must find not only some way to survive but also escape. Unfortunately, the world has other plans.

25 Years Ago Today: Win A Book From Adventure Memoir Author Cara Lopez Lee

Published on January 18, 2011 in 25 Years Ago Today. 17 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome Cara Lopez Lee, an author with a fascinating background. Cara is the author of They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away (Ghost Road Press, November 2010). She will be giving away a copy of her book to one lucky commenter. All you have to do is post a comment for Cara by Jan. 23 at 11:59 p.m., EST and include your email address. +1 Retweet this post. +1 Share on Facebook. This giveaway is open in the U.S. only.

Cara is also the creator of the Girls Trek Too blog, dedicated to inspiring women to live life as an adventure. She has explored Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. Her stories have appeared in The Los Angeles Times and Denver Post, and she has been a writer for HGTV and Food Network. Cara was a journalist in Alaska and North Carolina. She and her husband now live in Denver. Here is what Cara was doing 25 years ago.

CARA: Twenty-five years ago, I fell in love with a drummer in a rock band. It seems unfair to musicians to laugh at this. Many of them are decent people. My editor has a heavy metal band. Why is it cool to have a musician publish my memoir, but ridiculous to date one? Do I seem defensive?

Maybe that’s because my high school sweetheart was a rock singer. He dated all my friends.

When I met the drummer, I was in college and he played in the LA-area restaurant where I waited tables. This had to be love, because I was too smart to be a groupie. When he went home to Denver, we dated long distance. Then I found out he was cheating, with a married woman. That’s when I decided it would be a great idea to follow him to Colorado.

The night I arrived, when I stepped out of my VW Bug, the other woman leapt out of nowhere, shouted, “Welcome to Colorado!” and hugged me. Three nights later, the drummer didn’t come home.

I asked my father if he’d help me return to California. He said yes. That’s when I decided to stay.

I earned my journalism degree from CU Boulder, became a TV reporter in Alaska, and traveled the world. Chasing that drummer was the dumbest mistake I ever made, but I’d do it again. Stranding myself in Colorado forced me to learn independence.

I’m now married to a man who occasionally plays guitar. But he’s not in a band.

You can read more about Cara’s work on her web site and blog. They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel, and the Power of Running Away is the story of Cara’s nine years in Alaska, where she landed in a love triangle with two wild alcoholics, and the year she ran away from that life to backpack around the world alone. Check it out below on Amazon.

For newcomers: The 25 Years Ago Today column is a regular feature on the Mysteries, Murder & More blog, inspired by the novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today.

25 Years Ago Today: Win A Book From Contemporary Mystery Author John Desjarlais

Published on January 10, 2011 in 25 Years Ago Today. 14 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest John Desjarlais. John will be giving away a trade paperback copy of his novel Bleeder to one lucky commenter, so be sure to leave John a comment and to include your e-mail address so that you can be entered into the drawing. The deadline is Saturday, January 15th at midnight, EST and is open to those in the U.S.

A former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio, John Desjarlais teaches journalism and English at Kishwaukee College in northern Illinois. His first novel, The Throne of Tara (Crossway 1990, re-released 2000), was a Christianity Today Readers Choice Award nominee, and his second historical novel, Relics (Thomas Nelson 1993, re-released 2009) was a Doubleday Book Club Selection. Bleeder (Sophia Institute Press 2009) and Viper (Sophia Institute Press, March 25, 2010) are the first two entries in a mystery series. His short stories and poems have appeared in many national periodicals. A member of The Academy of American Poets and Mystery Writers of America, he is listed in Contemporary Authors, Who’s Who in Entertainment, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.

John’s character Selena De La Cruz from the upcoming novel Viper is answering the question “What were you doing 25 years ago?” Here, Selena recalls trying to join the boys’ soccer team in Middle School.

SELENA: I wanted to join the boys’ soccer team in Middle School. Not that they had a problema recruiting boys for the team, as happens in some school districts. And it wasn’t because there wasn’t a girls’ team – there was, and they were pretty good. But growing up with three brothers, I needed more competition. A challenge.

So my brother Antonio took me to the boys’ field to introduce me to the coach. I politely asked to join the team, bouncing a ball knee to knee to show him what I could do. But the man spat out his whistle and laughed at me. “The cheerleaders are over there,” he said, pointing behind me and widening his stance.

It sure looked like a goal to me.

So I drop-kicked the ball hard right between his goalposts, so to speak.
I was suspended for three days.

Ay, my Mami had the fire of an amazona in her eyes when I got home.
“Y que te ha entrado a ti? El que diran?” she scolded while stirring
habichuelas on the stove. “What has gotten into you? What will they say?”

“They’ll say I should have been allowed to try out,” I said, displaying the unbecoming gringita habit of speaking my mind.

So I was sent to bed without supper as well. This is one of the ‘rules’ of growing up Latina: do not forget a woman’s place. I keep forgetting this rule.

That’s it. I’ll “see” you again when you read Johnny’s book Viper. For now, adios.

Read more about John on his web site. Be sure to check out Bleeder below on Amazon. When classics professor Reed Stubblefield is disabled in a school shooting, he retreats to a rural Illinois cabin to recover and to write a book on Aristotle in peace. Oddly, in the chill of early March, the campgrounds and motels of tiny River Falls are filled with the ill and infirm — all seeking the healing touch of the town’s new parish priest, reputed to be a stigmatic. Skeptical about religion since his wife’s death from leukemia, Reed is nevertheless drawn into a friendship with the cleric, Rev. Ray Boudreau, an amiable Aquinas scholar with a fine library — who collapses and bleeds to death on Good Friday in front of horrified parishioners. A miracle? Or bloody murder? Once Reed becomes the prime ‘person of interest’ in the mysterious death, he seeks the truth with the help of an attractive local reporter and Aristotle’s logic before he is arrested or killed — because not everyone in town wants this mystery solved…

Don’t forget to leave a comment and your e-mail address to enter the giveaway drawing.

Sink or Swim 6 – Meet Kris Langley From Twenty-Five Years Ago Today

Published on January 9, 2011 in 25 Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim Reality Show. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

I reported earlier that as a tie-in to my brand new mystery novel Sink or Swim, I’m launching a guest blog feature that involves literary characters competing in a mock on-line season of my fictional reality show. Authors will be able to enter their characters into the contest and the three posts with the highest number of unique visitors at the end of the year will be declared the winners. I recently did a sample interview written from the perspective of my Sink or Swim character Cassidy Novak. I thought it would be fun to also interview my Twenty-Five Years Ago Today character Kris Langley. All contestants in the mock season of Sink or Swim will receive the same questions.

Character’s name, age and place of residency:
Kris Langley, 27, Fremont, Massachusetts

1. Tell us about the book or series you’re from.
I’m from Twenty-Five Years Ago Today by Stacy Juba. Here’s the blurb: For twenty-five years, Diana Ferguson’s killer has gotten away with murder. When rookie obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant Kris Langley investigates the cold case of the artistic young cocktail waitress who was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, she must fight to stay off the obituary page herself. Lucky for me, it has a little romance mixed into all that fighting for my life stuff.

2. What is something about yourself that no one else knows?
I murdered my cousin Nicole…or rather, I felt like I did. I played a horrible prank on her when we were kids, which led to her being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was abducted and…killed. I grew up. She didn’t.

3. Tell us about an unusual job or hobby that you’ve had?
I’m an obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant, working the graveyard shift. I’ve had to calm down irate callers who were annoyed that we messed up the crossword puzzle. I need to decide whose orders to follow when my editors fight. I know every funeral director within a 50 mile radius. And I’ve had to listen to Bridezillas who got bent out of shape because of the order that I listed the bridesmaids’ names in their wedding announcement. It’s never boring.

4. What is the strangest or most exciting thing that has ever happened to you?
Stumbling across Diana Ferguson’s murder on the microfilm and knowing that I might be the one to solve it after 25 years. I’m interviewing her family and old friends, trying to nail her killer. Her nephew, Eric Soares, is helping me investigate the case, making it hard to concentrate with all that chemistry between us. I also got my first newspaper byline recently, which was really exciting.

5. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
I’ve give some of the money to families of cold case homicides so that they could use it as a reward for people who come forward with information. I’d also look into giving some money to police departments to help with the running of their cold case units.

6. Please tell us your author’s name and web sites.
My author is Stacy Juba, who also wrote the mystery novel Sink or Swim and the patriotic children’s picture book The Flag Keeper. She has a young adult paranormal crossover book, Dark Before Dawn, coming out in January 2012 and will be re-releasing her young adult novel Face-Off in the near future. Visit the Books tab for more information about her novels, and the Store tab for buy links.

Looking Backward in Time – December 1960, 1935, and 1910

Published on December 21, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Norma Huss, author of the novel Yesterday’s Body, has been combing past editions of newspapers and has shared a special treat with us. One of the themes of my blog is “25 Years Ago Today” inspired by my novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, in which a newspaper editorial assistant stumbles across an unsolved murder while researching her “25″ and “50 Years Ago Today” columns on the microfilm. Norma has gone back 50 years, 75 years, and 100 years, finding interesting tidbits to share with us from the month of December. I hope you enjoy this walk back in time.

Fifty years ago, in December 1960, the United States was building fallout shelters to protect their families from atomic disaster. On December 6th, one was dedicated in down-town Lancaster, PA. The shelter was designed to protect one family of six for two weeks. The 10 by 10 by 7 (the height) structure had 8-inch-thick masonry walls and was stocked with bunk beds, canned food, stove, radio, flashlight, and games. (I do hope they included water, although that wasn’t mentioned.)

Also that December, three days later a truck loaded with Christmas trees missed a curve and plunged into the Susquehanna River. (The driver made it out of the submerged cab and survived.) In another three days, a surprise storm dumped 12 inches of snow that must have stayed around a while as the temperature dropped to 10 degrees.

Seventy-five years ago, residents of a nearby town were startled when four goats broke through a fence and raced through the streets. Residents scurried to the safety of their porches while the guests at the General Sutter Hotel wondered if wild mountain goats were common in the area. In other news that day, the Lancaster Liederkranz mourned the loss of Gaboot, a 20-man beer stein known as the mightiest mug ever to cross the club’s bar. A man lifted it to refresh the orchestra members, and kapow! The Gaboot fell to the floor and broke into pieces.

One hundred years ago, on December 6, 1910, 8 inches of snow fell on Lancaster. Never fear…large snowplows and gangs of shovelers helped keep all the trolley lines operating. They must have done a good job because the next day, 450 children lined up for free shoes given by two local stores as a result of a fund-raising venture. However, there were only 150 pairs available, so a second benefit was scheduled for the 300 children turned away.

Oh yes, there was another incident two days later of extreme family discord. Residents in a tenement over Woolworth’s store heard a woman screaming at her husband. After she’d turned the air blue, she pulled a stocky horsewhip from her dress and lashed him as he ran down the stairs and out into the street. (Hmmm. Never happen now. No horsewhip, no place to hide it in skin-tight jeans, and…that building is gone.)

Thank you, Norma! Please check out Norma’s book, Yesterday’s Body, on Amazon and wish her congratulations as the novel is a 2011 EPIC finalist in the mystery category. Visit her web site for more information about her writing.

25 Years Ago Today: Historical Nonfiction Author Velda Brotherton

Published on December 20, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest Velda Brotherton. Velda has been writing for 28 years. She is a native of Arkansas and lives there with her husband. Her published works include six historical romances, six regional nonfiction historical books, numerous historical newspaper columns and magazine articles. Her latest books are The Boston Mountains: Lost in the Ozarks and Arkansas Meals and Memories: Lift Your Eyes to the Mountains, both published in 2010.

Welcome, Velda. Tell us, what were you doing 25 years ago?

VELDA: What I wasn’t doing was emailing, talking on a cell phone or working on a computer. Not a real one, at any rate. A young writer friend had a computer . . . well, we called it that. It was a Kay Pro that, when all folded up, resembled a portable sewing machine. Open it had a small screen, about 8″ square and no hard drive. One large floppy contained the program, it went in one slot, the other was used to record her work. In addition, she had a Daisy Wheel printer that was slower than I could type. Paper was tractor fed.

My friend lived deeper in the Ozark forest than we did. Her kitchen was outdoors beneath the rest of the house and it had a dirt floor. She had electricity but no running water. When she was writing, the Kay Pro was spread out on her bed. Every Saturday we got together to help each other with our “first novels.” She’d been to a writer’s conference in New York and so was much more sophisticated in the world of writing than I. Though she and her husband had very little money, her family did have, and they took care of her financial needs when it came to writing.

We too had come to Arkansas to get away from the rat race, but we had a modern home. I couldn’t afford a computer, though. We were mesmerized by this new technology. I continued to bang away on my small portable typewriter, discarded pages piling up all around me. Then one dark night she ran off, leaving her husband and her computer behind. After a while, when it became obvious she wasn’t going to return, he sold it to me. I was in heaven. I guess the Kay Pro made up for the loss of my only writer friend. No one ever heard from her again. If I were a mystery writer, I might have made something of that, considering her strange circumstances, but I never could get the clues planted and the red herring well placed, so I tend to write in other genres.

I wrote three or four novels on that Kay Pro, using a program called Word Star using MS Dos. There were codes for everything because there was no mouse. For years I thought any computer with a mouse was nothing but a toy. Learning those codes stands me in good stead today, for they can still be used and come in handy when editing and moving around through a manuscript.

Currently, with my 11th and 12th books published this past spring and all the promotional needs connected to that, I look back at those days with a certain fondness. No Internet, no Facebook, no online videos to distract us. Yet, I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Times have sure changed! Read more about Velda on her web site and blog.

You can order The Boston Mountains: Lost in the Ozarks at http://www.oldampub.com and discover stories about the lost communities of the Boston Mountains and the people who lived there. The book contains 137 photos, maps and illustrations.

25 Years Ago Today: Romance Author And ‘V’ Fan Joselyn Vaughn

Published on December 13, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest, author Joselyn Vaughn. I really enjoyed reading Joselyn’s post about the 1980s science fiction mini-seriesV. I can relate to her childhood games. I wasn’t a huge V fan, but I was addicted to Battlestar Galactica and the Star Wars movies. I used to pretend I was a viper pilot blasting the Cylons, or Princess Leia escaping the Death Star. I’m sure you’ll enjoy Joselyn’s account below about how V inspired her to play similar games. We writers always had lofty imaginations, even as kids!

Joselyn’s latest book is Courting Sparks, a contemporary romance from Avalon Books. Joselyn lives in the Great Lakes State with her adoring husband, the world’s most inventive toddlers and the laziest beagles. She believes there is nothing better than a warm hug, a good romance novel and chocolate. When not changing diapers or removing a toddler from a precarious situation, Joselyn enjoys sewing, running, shopping at thrift stores and reading books longer than thirty pages.

JOSELYN: They say everything old is new again. I laughed out loud when I saw the advertisements for the V television program this winter. The original mini-series came out when I was in third grade. During recess, my friends and I would play V. I don’t remember anything about the original miniseries except that the V were lizard-like creatures who planned to eat everyone on Earth. Our play mostly revolved around protecting the Golden Child who was played by my friend with long summery blonde hair.

I was jealous because I could not player her with my brown permed hair. We would run around the playground with our Golden Child protected under the monkey bars, battling the bad guys, although I don’t know if we were the V or humans, which I now know as the Fifth Column.

We played V long after the mini-series ended and invented as many daring adventures as we could fit into our fifteen minute bursts of playtime. Sadly, the adventures may have been great fodder for novel plots or even episodes of the show. If only I remembered them.

You can find out more about Joselyn on her web site. Also check out Courting Sparks on Amazon. Daphne Morrow’s ready to date again, but the only spark she discovers is for her long time friend, Noah Banks, a physical double for her ex-boyfriend Aaron. Scorched photos of Daphne’s prom are discovered at the ignition point of a small forest fire and Daphne becomes the prime suspect. When the arsonist strikes much closer to home, Daphne must decide whether she can risk Noah’s friendship for a chance to court sparks.

Stop by to leave Joselyn a comment. And if you have a Kindle or like using Kindle apps., please check out my giveaway post – I will be giving away 10 Kindle downloads of a hot new book, deadline Dec. 16 at midnight.

25 Years Ago Today: Rock and Roll With ShapeShifter Author Susan Helene Gottfried

Published on December 6, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 7 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest Susan Helene Gottfried. Susan is the author of ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 1, ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes — Year 2, and Trevor’s Song. If you’re looking for a holiday gift for the music fan/reader on your list, then you can purchase Susan’s books and support a great cause, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, at the same time. Details are at the bottom of this post, but first, let’s meet Susan.

A tone-deaf rocker-at-heart, Susan worked in retail record stores, in radio stations, as stage crew, and as a promoter while earning two college degrees in creative writing. Susan walked away from a continued career in the music industry in order to write books, so it makes sense that most of her fiction revolves around rock bands. She says that once you get those record stores, radio stations, and fellow roadies and promoters under your skin, they never leave. When not writing, Susan captains the team at Win a Book, a promotional site for authors, book bloggers and readers.

Here is what Susan was doing 25 years ago:

SUSAN: My life changed 25 years ago. Maybe it was today when it happened. Maybe it was yesterday, last month, last week. I don’t know; it crept up on me. Not like Carl Sandburg’s famous fog, on little cat’s feet.

Nope, my life changed when I turned on the radio. When MTV invaded the homes in my suburban community and introduced my generation to the likes of Madonna, a-ha, Wham!, and Duran Duran.

It was the music of the 1980s, as full of innocence and longing as today’s music isn’t. And I was at the perfectly ripe age — somewhere in my teens — to let it take hold and transform my previously miserable, frustrated, writer-in-training self into a young girl with hopes and dreams.

It was the glamour of the music that got me going. Jon Bon Jovi’s duster jacket. The skinny women in the crop tops and hot pants and boots that caressed the curve of a calf. And while I never owned a duster jacket or wore hot pants — let alone looked good in them — I had a crop top. One. I bought it at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cancun, Mexico. I have a picture of myself backstage with Def Leppard’s Rick Savage, wearing that top. Under a cropped jacket. Probably with boots that caressed the curve of my calf. I remember those boots, too. They were white and fringed and had the perfect kitten heel on them.

Yep, I ate up that 80s hair band image. It was who I thought I wanted to be. Twenty-five years ago today, a lot of people wanted to be those rockers up on that stage. Me, I wanted to be the woman standing in the wings, looking out past the band and into the crowd. I wanted to know I was the reason all those thousands of people had jammed themselves onto the floor and were reaching over each other’s heads, every last one hoping for a handslap or a touch from the singer.

Now, twenty-five years later, part of that girl remains. I turned down a number of jobs that would have let me be that woman in the wings. I had another calling, a stronger one, and that was to write books. When I sit down to play with my fictional band, ShapeShifter, it’s that girl I tap into. That teenager who found her place in the world thanks to 80s rock and roll.

It may have been today when it happened. Maybe it was yesterday, last month, last week. It doesn’t matter. It gave me the gift of a lifetime and even though I’ve moved beyond 80s tunes, music remains the stablizing force in my life. My comfort when things are rough. My inspiration. My passion.

During December 2010, I will be donating at least 50% of my royalties from my three books to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. If you recall the movie of similar name, you’ll know they donate new and refurbished instruments to schools, so that our children can have the chance to make music. Details are on my contests page: http://westofmars.com/west-of-mars/contests. Books make great holiday gifts, and this year, my books will give an extra gift — that of music.

25 Years Ago Today: Bestselling Medical Suspense Author CJ Lyons

Published on December 2, 2010 in 25 Years Ago Today. 5 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’d like to welcome my guest CJ Lyons. I’ve had the pleasure of reading some of CJ’s books and highly recommend them. Warning – you won’t be able to put them down! Her new book CRITICAL CONDITION, the finale of the Angels of Mercy medical suspense series, can best be described as Die Hard in a hospital. It’s due out Dec. 7th.

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about. In addition to being an award-winning medical suspense author, CJ is a nationally known presenter and keynote speaker. Her first novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), received praise as a “breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller” from Publishers Weekly, was reviewed favorably by the Baltimore Sun and Newsday, named a Top Pick by Romantic Times Book Review Magazine, and became a National Bestseller. Her award-winning, critically acclaimed Angels of Mercy series (LIFELINES, WARNING SIGNS, and URGENT CARE) is available now and the series finale, CRITICAL CONDITION, hits stores November, 2010. Her newest project is as co-author of a new suspense series with Erin Brockovich.

Here is what CJ was doing 25 years ago…

CJ: Most of the characters I write about are in their late teens, so they wouldn’t remember what they were doing 25 years ago, but I do.

25 years ago I was making the most important decision of my life.

Now, I’ve made plenty of tough decisions since them–many of them truly life and death decisions. But this was the one that would lead me to the place where I could handle holding someone else’s life in my hands.

You see, I was never meant to go to college–none of my siblings did and my parents weren’t especially supportive or encouraging. But I was a good student and earned three scholarships that paid my way, so I left home at 17 to follow my dream of becoming a theatre major, imagining that I’d someday be working on Broadway or maybe as a theatrical or motion picture director.

Then, one day, a biology prof invited a few of us to witness an autopsy on a homeless person. Suddenly my life of theatrical melo-drama was replaced by the real-life drama of a real-life person.

I changed my major, took the MCATs, and applied to medical school. Then came the waiting….not one of my strong suits.

Impatient to start my new life and needing to earn money to put myself through medical school, I graduated from college early to work. So that spring there were no distractions from my waiting, just mindless drudgery earning a paycheck alternating with anxiously pacing until the mailman arrived.

Because of my financial situation I had to turn down two prestigious but frightfully expensive schools–but that was okay, because they weren’t my first choice anyway. I thought if I got into them, I was a sure-in with my chosen school.

I got in…kinda. I was on the waiting list.

Unless some kids turned them down, I wasn’t going to med school after all. What to do? I could go back to the theatre, a lot of my friends were working now and would give me a job, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore. So I decided to join the Peace Corps–satisfying both my need for excitement and adventure as well as my desire to help people, make a difference (a theme you might have noticed in my books, lol!)

Joining the Peace Corps isn’t as easy as it sounds. Just like applying to med school, it’s a rigorous process with no guarantees.

Which translates to more waiting….but then one day I received not one but TWO envelopes in the mail. The big, thick kind that mean paperwork inside.

One from the Peace Corps. One from the University of Florida College of Medicine.

They both wanted me. I wanted both of them. So I had to decide….and that’s what I was doing 25 years ago.

I’m sure you’ve guessed how it all worked out….but if you want to learn more about what I did with my choice, feel free to check out my full bio on my website, http://www.cjlyons.net for the rest of the story.

Check out CRITICAL CONDITION on Amazon. In the middle of a New Year’s Eve blizzard, the staff and patients of Angels of Mercy Hospital are held hostage by armed gunmen. Their target is Dr. Gina Freeman, who is holding vigil over her wounded fiancé, Detective Jerry Boyle. Stranded outside the hospital is ER physician Linda Fiore, whose past holds the secret the hitmen are willing to kill for. With the cold-blooded killers in control, no one may live to see the New Year.

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