I think the most important attribute for a writer is to appreciate and love what he or she is doing. So, here is a summary of my feelings toward writing and I hope you will endorse them as yours.

1. I write because I just love to write. It's fun turning an imagination into words.

2. It is fun to re-read about what I've written, even though more than half will end up in the trash can.

3. I like to write because it often brings back beautiful memories and sometimes sad memories.

4. I like to write because in doing so, I learn a great deal through research.

5. I like to write because it's a wonderful pastime, better and more productive than watching television.

6. I like to write because someday I will see my name on a book cover or in a magazine. It is not a matter of showing off. It is a matter of accomplishment.

7. I like to write because I can earn money if I'm lucky.

As a senior citizen who wants to write and would love to write, you now have time. Remember: "You are not too old to get on with it, but you are too old to waste time." So "make this the day when you really started writing."

Questions/Comments? Contact Jim at james@jamesfalk.net, or visit www.jamesfalk.net.

James Falk, as a teen-ager, used to dream of being a big-time racketeer. Fortunately, his dream didn't come true. A 10th grade dropout, he finished highschool after four years in the Marines and went on to earn a B.A. in Journalism and an M.A. in Communications.

By Carole Shmurak
Rereading Strong Poison (HarperPerennial, 1930) always makes me feel like I’m visiting with long-lost friends. Here they are again, the Sayers repertory company: Lord Peter, his valet, the ever-efficient Bunter, Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, the somewhat ridiculous but useful Freddy Arbuthnot, the masterful barrister, Impey Biggs and the bibulous reporter, Salcombe Hardy. And, of course, the gentle humor and not-so-gentle erudition of the author.

This is the first book in the four part sequence that features Lord Peter Wimsey’s romance with Harriet Vane. But the romance doesn’t overshadow the mystery, which is an intriguing one. Who poisoned Harriet’s former lover, Philip Boyes? And how was the poison administered? Although Harriet does seem to know altogether too much about arsenic, Peter is sure she isn’t guilty, and he has thirty days to discover who is.

The real heroines of this story are the “superfluous” females, Miss Climpson and Miss Murchison. (In 1920’s England there were over a million women who would never marry because of the great numbers of men who were killed or maimed in World War One - they were thus “superfluous.”) Lord Peter, recognizing their intelligence and ingenuity, staffs a “typing bureau” with these women, and employs them to investigate matters where their talents are most useful. In Strong Poison, Miss Murchison finds employment as a typist for a suspicious lawyer (who is Boyes’s cousin) and Miss Climpson befriends the nurse of a wealthy, aged actress (who is Boyes’s great-aunt). Between them, they uncover the facts that point to the murderer. Then it is Lord Peter’s job to figure out how the murder was carried out.

Some of the scenes in this book are pure comedy: when the Bible-quoting Bill Rumm teaches Miss Murchison to how to pick locks, when Miss Climpson finds the great-aunt’s will by means of a seance, and when Peter’s family gathers at the ancestral home for Christmas dinner, Sayers is at her wittiest. The scenes among London’s bohemian set, which Sayers knew well, are wonderful social satire.

With ingenious plotting, clever dialogue, social commentary, and a little romance, Strong Poison is one of the tastiest of the Golden Age mysteries.

Louis Bayard is the author of the national bestsellers, The Pale Blue Eye (nominated for the Edgar and Dagger Awards) and Mr. Timothy, a New York Times Notable Book. A staff writer for Salon.com, he has written articles and reviews for the New York Times, The Washington Post and Preservation. His latest novel is The Tower.

Q: What advice can you offer writers when it comes to breathing life into their characters?

A: Well, of course, we observe the people around us, and we apply bits of our own history, but I’ve always thought imagination is a sadly underrated quality. We don’t have to have lived the same life as a character to project ourselves into that life. “Write what you know” can be very constricting advice if taken literally.

Q: Other than increased books sales, what has been the most significant impact on your career as a result of having a book named New York Times Notable Book?

A: Not a damn thing. To begin with, you can’t squeeze “New York Times Notable Book” onto a license plate. Nor does it assuage creditors. I tried it at a bar, too, with very modest results. This is what my mother said, “Notable for what?”

Q: Your historical/thriller books have drawn from very specific eras. What amount of research did it require?

A: It’s a lot of research – several months for each book – but it’s not as much maybe as people think. In the final pages of “Mr. Timothy,” the hero is on a ship bound around the world. Its a very brief section, but I thought, ‘Holy God, if I want to get the fact right, I’m going to have to read every damned Patrick O’Brian novel ever written.’ In the end, all I had to do was grab a few choice terms out of Moby Dick and cop a couple of place settings from Voyage of the Beagle. Presto! Less than an hour. What I’ve come to realize is that readers don’t need an avalanche of detail to situate them in a historical period. One really good detail can take the place of ten.

Q: While at Princeton you studied under Joyce Carol Oates. How did this affect your writing style?

A: I’m embarrassed to say, not at all, because I made a point of not reading her work. I didn’t want to be one of those ass-kissing students who said, “Oh, MS. Oates, I just love that part in them when you …”

At any rate, Joyce wasn’t the kind of teacher who wanted to be imitated. What she did was encourage us to find our own voices.

Q: What did you learn from being a contestant on Jeopardy?

Ha! I learned about Balmoral. That was the one I missed. And I learned what a competitive SOB I really am. I wanted to win, baby! And not just one game, I wanted ‘em all! Since then, I’ve gone through a very long and grueling process of game-show detox. I should write my own addiction memoir.

Carlotta Holton is the author of Salem Pact and Touching The Dead, and is a member of the National Federation of Press Women and an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association.

Carlotta Holton has just received her second award for Touching the Dead from the National Federation of Press Women Communications Contest. Click here to purchase the book.

Author Pens Book of Gang Life—Truth Is, She Lived the Sweet Life

Imagine a book that changed your life—Perhaps it’s a rag-to-riches story that parallels your own life; maybe it’s a story of hitting rock bottom and managing to overcome the greatest of demons; or maybe it’s a memoir that makes you think, “Wow…someone else gets it.”

Now imagine finding out that the book you believe in—the very one that changed your life—is a lie. A huge, fabricated-out-of-thin-air lie. The joke is on you. It doesn’t matter if the author gets to keep their advance, or still managed to make thousands, even millions of dollars in the first few weeks of sale. They can have the money. You feel betrayed, like a dear friend stabbed you in the back.

Oprah publicly chastised James Frey after his memoir, A Million Little Pieces was found to be a fake account of his drug addiction and subsequent withdrawal. When readers learned the truth about Frey and his fake memoir, the book went from being on the best seller table in the front of the store to the bargain bin in the back. It doesn’t matter that the writing is in a class of its own; the fact that it’s a lie is enough to turn readers off.

Last week, history repeated itself for millions of readers when Margaret Seltzer, a.k.a. Margaret Jones’ memoir, Love and Consequences was found to be a fake. In the (for lack of a better term) “memoir,” Seltzer describes herself as a young girl in foster care growing up in the ghetto of Los Angeles running drugs for gangs. In real life, Seltzer grew up in an upper-class section of town in San Fernando Valley with her parents, graduating from a private high school.

Penguin Books has recalled all copies of Love and Consequences and has canceled the publicity tour which was to begin in Oregon. Seltzer told The New York Times that the book is entirely fabricated, and admits (when asked why she did it,) “maybe it’s an ego thing.” The truth about Seltzer was revealed when a story ran in the House & Home section of the Times. Seltzer’s sister, Cyndi Hoffman, saw the story and contacted Sarah McGrath, Seltzer’s editor, and told her the story was a lie. Ms. McGrath tells the Times that she was stunned to learn the truth.

A word of caution to all aspiring novelists: Real life is much more interesting than a fake one. If you’re writing a memoir, don’t lie to your audience. The truth will always prevail.