Guest Author: Peg Herring

Imaginarians, today my blog is being taken over by the awesome mystery writer Peg Herring. She brings us a brilliant interview with her character, Seamus, a detective who works for the dead since he's well, dead. How intriguing is that? I'm gonna have to pick this series up right now.

Thanks, Melissa, for sharing space in the Imaginarium!

A Dead Guy Talks about You-Part 3

Interviewer: We’re back with Seamus, our dead detective, who’s been telling us what it’s like to return from beyond the pale to investigate for the dead. Seamus, you were telling me earlier about how difficult it is to adjust to being back here. What’s the hardest thing to get used to?

Seamus: The worst thing for me is how slowly people move. Interviewer: Everyone, or just some people? Seamus: Everyone. See, the dead are free of the weight of mortality, so returning is always a shock. Living people are used to gravity and how hard it pulls on the body. You’re used to slogging across a room, dragging yourself up stairs, and countering the force of physics so you don’t roll down those same stairs as you come back down. We have to get used to it again, every time.

Interviewer: What else is difficult?

Seamus: There’s lots of noise around you all, but there’s also noise inside the human body. Your hearts beating, your lungs pumping air in and out, your feet scraping along, stuff like that. Interviewer: I guess we ignore those things. Seamus: Yeah, when was the last time you listened to yourself breathe? It’s only when you don’t hear it for a while that you notice, and that’s why cross-backs are bothered by it. All that commotion makes it hard for us to hear the host’s thoughts.

Interviewer: What do you do about it?

Seamus: Get used to it. We’ve got lots of time to adjust, since we don’t sleep. I generally spend the time my hosts are resting getting used to their rhythms. Once I’ve spent a few hours with them, I get myself in sync with them. But some of you are tricky. Even your thoughts are noisy sometimes.

Interviewer: Noisy thoughts?

Seamus: Some people never stop, you know? Their minds run all the time, thinking about stuff. Lots of times it’s getting ahead: how to make money, how to get somebody to notice them. They wear me out.

Interviewer: Well, a person has to think about such things if she is going to succeed.

Seamus: Then remind yourself once in a while to think about what it really is you want. If it’s money or getting famous, then I guess you’ve gotta keep after it. But most of us don’t really want either of those things as much as we get caught up in the hype.

Interviewer: Hype?

Seamus: I can’t explain it. Life sorta drags you along, and you forget to question what people say is good or necessary. Do you really need extra-full eyelashes? Or washboard abs? Do you really want those things, or is somebody trying to tell you what you want so they can sell you what they want you to buy?

Interviewer: Now you’re waxing philosophical, Seamus. Are you a minimalist?

Seamus: I’m not even sure what that is. I’m just saying you have to take stock once in a while, you know? Ask yourself if what you’re chasing after and thinking about all the time is what you really want. If more of my hosts did that, they’d go to sleep easier at night, and I wouldn’t have to put up with their restlessness. It’s exhausting.

Interviewer: The host’s anxieties wear on you?

Seamus: Yeah. Thoughts of a host under stress are like a flood rushing along, pushing everything in front of it. We have a tiny spot in there, inside your heads, and sometimes it feels like those thoughts are going to overwhelm us. It’s like we’re on an island, and the tide keeps rising, making our spot smaller and less secure.

Interviewer: It sounds horrible. How do you deal with it?

Seamus: (with a grim smile) I have to. It’s my job.

What a cool interview. Thanks Peg. Here's some more details on Peg and her amazing work.

Schedule: Peg Herring’s Blog Tour for May (and one post in June) consists of a mix of interviews with Seamus, the Dead Detective, and posts on writing. The previous stop was at http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com, and tomorrow’s post will be at http://nancyjcohen.wordpress.com. A complete schedule is posted at Peg’s blog, It’s A Mystery to Me. When the tour is over (June 11th), the complete Seamus interview will be posted on Peg’s blog. Prizes: People who comment on any blog post on the tour will be entered in drawings for several prizes: Dead Detective T-shirts, copies of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY and DEAD FOR THE MONEY (paperback or e-books available), and the chance to be a character in the third of the series DEAD FOR THE SHOW. Multiple winners will be drawn.

Bio: Peg Herring lives in Michigan and writes two series, the critically acclaimed Simon & Elizabeth (Tudor) Mysteries (Five Star Publishing) and the award-winning Dead Detective Mysteries (LL-Publications). When not writing, Peg enjoys directing musical groups, gardening, and talking about writing.

Links:
DEAD FOR THE MONEY (e-book) 
THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY (paperback)

Author Peg Herring: He Said, She Panted

Imaginarians, I am very excited to welcome author Peg Herring in the house today. She is the wicked cool writer of MacBeth's Niece and Her Highness' First Murder. Today she is talking about the importance using the most effective dialogue tags. She has an awesome Blog Crawl going on as well as a cool contest.

Thanks, Melissa, for letting me stop at your site on my Blog Crawl.
Yesterday’s post, “Slowing Readers=Bad Policy”, is at http://candidcanine.blogspot.com.

Post 3- He Said, She Panted

“I love your new trousers!” she panted. A cartoonist named Edward Stratermeyer invented the Tom Swiftie in the 1920s, and people have been having “pun” with them ever since. (“I fought with Geronimo,” said Tom bravely.) However, a writer is in trouble if he strays unknowingly into the realm of the Swiftie. (“There's room for one more,” Tom admitted.)

Adverbs attached to a dialogue tag (“I presented my case to the judge,” Tom said briefly.) or verbs that replace said with a little too much oomph (“Use your own toothbrush!” Tom bristled.) easily become heavy, irritating, or downright silly. (“Let's all play an A, a C sharp, and an E,” cried Tom's band with one accord.)

Said is the most effective dialogue tag. It is so unobtrusive as to be almost invisible, but it gets the job done. Dialogue should cue the reader as to the speaker’s tone, volume, and mood. If the words spoken are not enough--and it is sometimes hard to put a lot of emotion into a “No” or an “I won’t”--there are ways to make it work. One of them is to add an adverb to the dialogue tag, but most editors require that this be done sparingly. Another way is to add a brief sentence. Rather than, “‘I won’t!’ Cyril shouted”, the lines might read, “Cyril’s face turned a deep red as he spoke. ‘I won’t!’”

Dialogue tags are often unnecessary. Nothing is worse than a page full of “he said” and “she said”, especially when there are only two people talking. A periodic reminder, a sentence that tells what the character is doing as he speaks, is preferable. Writing with overdone or repetitive dialogue tags runs the risk of sounding repetitive or Tom Swiftie-like, making a joke out of a serious situation.

Who would want to steal modern art?” asked Tom the detective abstractedly.

Poser #3-Name three authors who make good use of humor in their novels.

The Prizes-Weekly prizes (your choice of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY in e- or print format) drawn from the names of those who comment on the blogs as we go. Comment once/day, but the first commenter each day gets entered twice in the drawing on Saturday!

The Pitch: THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, First in The Dead Detective Mysteries, paranormal mystery. Tori Van Camp wakes in a stateroom on a cruise ship with no memory of booking a cruise, but she does have a vivid recollection of being shot in the chest. Determined to find out what happened and why, Tori enlists the help of an odd detective named Seamus. Together they embark on an investigation like nothing she’s ever experienced. Death is all around her, and unless they act quickly, two people she cares about are prime candidates for murder.

Read more or buy the book at http://www.ll-publications.com/deaddetectiveagency.htm or Peg’s website, http://pegherring.com.

The Perpetrator: Peg Herring writes historical and contemporary mysteries. She loves everything about publishing, even editing (most days). Peg’s historical series, The Simon and Elizabeth Mysteries, debuted in 2010 to wonderful reviews. The second in the series will be available in November from Five Star.

The Pathway: tomorrow’s site is http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com, and the topic is “The Dreaded Adverb”.