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WORK TITLE: Dancing for the General
WORK NOTES:
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RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Female.
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CAREER
Mystery writer and teacher.
WRITINGS
Also author of collections of short mystery stories, including Organized Death, Trophy Hunting, and Trouble in a Politically Correct Town.
SIDELIGHTS
Sue Star is the pseudonym of writer Rebecca S.W. Bates. Her other names are Cameron Kennedy, Rebecca Williamson, and Minta Monroe. As Star, she has published the “Black Belt Mystery Series,” featuring single mom Nell Letterly who solves crime in Boulder, Colorado. Star has also published collections of short mystery stories in Organized Death, Trophy Hunting, and Trouble in a Politically Correct Town. Her stories often feature families in chaos. In real life, Star teaches young adults.
Murder in the Dojo and Murder with Altitude
The first book in the “Black Belt Mystery Series,” Murder in the Dojo, finds karate instructor Nell Letterly taking over the dojo of a man who was killed with her own martial arts weapons. Naturally, the police suspect Nell. But she needs this job so she can stop the foreclosure on her house and to feed her unruly teenage daughter. Nell goes after the real killer.
In the second book, Murder with Altitude, Nell finds another dead body, this time during her morning run. Again the police suspect her, but she is trailing other suspects, including an angry lawyer and a greedy developer.
Murder For a Cash Crop
The third book, Murder For a Cash Crop, finds Nell investigating the death of a famous landscape artist who died in a fire suspected of being set for the insurance money. A prime suspect is Nell’s best friend Alice Albright, who owns a gallery, and who has just started selling marijuana since it was legalized in Colorado, but without a license. Her suspects are a shady French cook and the ex-wife of a famous painter. Through all this, Nell is taking care of her crotchety father, dealing with her estranged husband, and exasperating over her daughter.
“Star’s latest Nell Letterly mystery is like eating a slice of cake: nothing too substantial there, but enjoyable and delicious nonetheless, a guilty pleasure of a book perfect for the beach,” according to a Kirkus Reviews Online critic. The critic added that although formulaic, the lighthearted story is ultimately a satisfying mystery with a charming heroine.
Dancing for the General
Star teamed up with Bill Beatty for Dancing for the General. Set in 1957 Ankara, Turkey, American teacher Anna Riddle is caring for her niece, Priscilla, whose U.S. State Department employed parents had to leave unexpectedly. Visiting a tomb one day, Anna and Priscilla hear a gun shot and find the body of man in a business suit who is carrying a letter to Anna’s former fiancé, who was killed in 1945. Embroiled in the mystery, a Turkish detective is told by his superiors to stop investigating, and a young Romani girl dances for a general, learning his secrets.
According to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, readers who are patient will learn how all the pieces of the mystery fit together, adding: “Historical fiction fans won’t want to miss this one.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, February 19, 2018, review of Dancing for the General, p. 60.
ONLINE
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (April 25, 2016), review of Murder for a Cash Crop.
Sue Star writes mysteries about families in chaos. In her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, martial arts, and hanging out with her family. Murder in the Dojo, Murder with Altitude and Murder for a Cash Crop are the first three books of her Nell Letterly series, about a single mom who solves murders and tries to avoid being a suspect in Boulder, Colorado. She also has three collections of mystery stories, Organized Death, Trophy Hunting and Trouble in a Politically Correct Town.
Rebecca S.W. Bates writes speculative fiction. She lives in Boulder, Colorado where she raised three daughters and taught Spanish. Now she writes full time and enjoys traveling as much as possible. She has published several SF and fantasy short stories, most recently in Alien Aberrations, Infradead, Sorcerous Signals, and the Colorado Book Award nominated Broken Links, Mended Lives.
Sue Star on writing a fun story on legalized recreational weed
November 8, 2016/in All About the Book, Interviews /by IR Staff
Murder for a Cash Crop received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Sue Star.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Murder for a Cash Crop, scheduled for release on May 1, 2016
What’s the book’s first line?
A whiff of weed floated through the open windows of the karate studio.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
When the house next door burns down, Nell has to save her loved ones from a plot to cash in on legalized marijuana—a plot that might bring her fugitive, soon-to-be ex back to town.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
When Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, I knew I would have to write a fun story spinning off from that industry.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
For a fun glimpse of Boulder, Colorado and one quirky family who lives there.
Around the Globe with SUE STAR
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Posted by Stephen Lawrence Brayton on June 22, 2012 at 3:14pm
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When I saw this week’s featured author’s book in my review list I knew I had to invite her for an interview. As you can tell by her picture, she’s into martial arts and in my book that makes her worthy of a little attention (as well as the fact if I tick her off I risk getting hit with those kamas she’s weilding).
The problem I ran into was when I went to pick her up in the transporter, she immediately blindfolded me and, like so many authors before, took control and set her own destination. (I have lost count of how many authors think they can just- Ouch! Okay, Okay, go where you want. Just don’t hit me again.)
Anyway, when we step out, we’re at the foot of a gorgeous mountain rise at the end of a lush field of wildflowers and she’s set out a nice offering of wine and cheese. All right, I forgive the blindfold, but put down the weapons and let’s talk.
1. Who are you and what makes you the most fascinating person in your city?
In real life I’m Rebecca Bates, and I write mystery, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. I use the Sue Star pen name for mysteries of a lighter nature. Some folks in my city may remember my fascinating stint with Sisters in Crime. I’m the one who asked the coroner at one of our public meetings what a body would be like after nine months in a cave.
2. Without revealing a deep dark secret (unless you want to), what one thing would people be surprised to learn about you?
I used to dance with a troupe of Turkish folkloric dancers, and we performed at international events.
3. What interested you to be become a writer rather than something else such as an international spy?
What makes you think I’m not an international spy?? Really, I did spy on my neighbors’ night-time activities while living in Brazil as a teenager, and that led me to making up my first stories. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to quit. I can’t not write.
4. Writers are readers. With which author(s) would you enjoy sharing dinner? Why?
I get to pick anyone? I’d choose Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra for his amazing imagination, Daphne du Maurier for her haunting moodiness, Herman Wouk for the way he shows human nature in the face of history-making adversity, Agatha Christie for her cleverness, and Arthur C. Clarke for the mind-blowing journey he takes me across the universe.
5. If I were stranded on a deserted island (or suffering a four hour layover at the airport), why would your book(s) be great company?
Murder in the Dojo would warm your heart and make you forget about time. And its self-defense tips might come in handy warding off marauding pirates.
6. Share your process of writing in regards to: idea and character development, story outline, research (do you Google, visit places/people or make it up on the spot?), writing schedule, editing, and number of rewrites.
I write almost every day, even while on vacation, even if it’s just notes jotted in the notebook I carry around everywhere. I usually only write for an hour or two each day, the earlier in the morning the better. New projects start from snippets, like a provocative suggestion someone makes, an interesting tidbit from the news, a fascinating place that I visit, or a daydream of what-if? Whatever the source, the snippet has to resonate with me in some striking way. Then I put the snippet out of my mind and go back to work on whatever else I was doing. Most of those snippets vanish forever, but sometimes one of them won’t let me alone, and then I start to wonder what kind of character would carry that idea into a story.
Once I have a bare-bones character (gender, age, occupation), then I ask myself how did that character get to be in that position? Once I know what choices the character made in his/her history, then the rest starts falling into place, like character traits, relationships with significant others, and goals. Plot comes out of all this. I ask “what’s the worst thing that could happen to this person?” Knowing the character helps me to know how she/he will cope with the problems I throw at her/him. That more or less gives me the ending and a turning point or two. I don’t outline other than this–I envy those who can! Magic happens, and the story grows in unexpected ways as I write towards the ending I already have a vague idea of having.
For research, I mostly rely on books for broad issues before starting to write. I try to keep my projects in comfortable terrain, somewhere within my experience, and I make everything up — that’s fiction! But fiction has to be believable. After I start to write, I research smaller details as I need them, and then Google is a handy tool. I can’t begin to tell you how many edits and rewrites I do!
7. “I think I have a good idea for a story, but I don’t know where or how to begin. Your process may not work for me. Any advice?”
Absolutely, try different methods until you find one that works for you. Generally, don’t try to force what’s not working for you. How-to writing books (Writers Digest has a very good series) and writers workshops and conferences are great resources for finding new methods.
8. I saw an amusing T-shirt the other day which read ‘Every great idea I have gets me in trouble.” What is your philosophy of life?
Basically, not to have one! But overall, I believe what my great-grandmother, a German immigrant, always taught: it’s good to be great but greater to be good.
9. Please tell me you’re not going to stop writing? What’s next for you?
How could I stop? My near-future science fiction novel is coming out soon — The Signal, by Rebecca S.W. Bates. After that, some of my short stories will appear in the multi-genre collection Tough Mothers. Beyond that, I’m currently working on the next book in the Black Belt Mystery series, which is scheduled to come out in spring, 2013.
10. Where can people find more information on you and your projects?
My publisher’s website: www.dmkregpublishing.com
My blog: http://rebeccawriter.blogspot.com/
This is not a writing blog but rather a place where I erratically post tidbits that interest and inspire me and ultimately find their way into my projects.
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Introduction
Rebecca writes science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and suspense under various pen names. As Rebecca S.W. Bates she is the author of the Centauri series. As Sue Star she writes the Nell Letterly amateur sleuth series and romantic suspense. With Bill Beatty, Sue writes historical mysteries in exotic, foreign locales. Cameron Kennedy writes women’s fiction and magical realism, and Minta Monroe writes horror. All pen names also write short fiction.
Sue Star: 1. Discipline—I can’t not write. Even when I’m on vacation I write every day, even if it’s only a paragraph. 2. Passion—if I don’t feel that burning desire to dig into a project, it’s not worth doing. Passion is the magic footprint that makes a story sparkle. 3. Instinct—I’ve learned to trust my instincts about a story. Then “magic” happens, and a story ends up writing itself. 4. Art—I’ve learned that I can paint, too. No matter the form, creativity is all about the journey, not necessarily the destination.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Today's Colorado Mystery Author Guest: Rebecca Bates
As promised yesterday, fellow Colorado mystery author Rebecca Bates is visiting my blog today. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post.
Above is the cover photo for her most recent book, Murder in the Dojo, which was published in August, 2011 under her pen name of Sue Star. In the book, Nell Letterly’s dream job as a karate instructor involves a few little first-day glitches. She finds the guy she replaced very dead—killed with her martial arts weapons. The police don’t bother to investigate anybody else. Her boss suddenly disappears. The dojo is a dump and the students know nothing. Plus, she faces foreclosure on her house, and her teen-age daughter hates her. What to do about all this? Line the students up and look positive. After work, find the killer before the killer finds her.
Below is Rebecca's guest post about The Mysterious Case of Pen Names. Please leave a comment for Rebecca to let her know what you think, and feel free to ask her any questions you want about the post, her books, or her life as a writer.
The Mysterious Case of Pen Names
Whatever happened to Alice Sheldon, William Anthony Parker White, Frederic Dannay, and Manfred B. Lee? Today we remember their famous pen names better than we remember their real names.
We writers work hard at this writing business, and one small reward is seeing Our Names in Print at long last. That should justify all the hours we’ve spent, locked away in our imaginary garrets, having to answer our mother/spouse/child who calls up to ask, “What are you doing?” and we have to answer except, “Nothing.” And then comes the day when we can finally point to Our Names in Print and prove that we’re not absolute and utter derelicts. Why should we lose out on that sense of achievement with a pen name?
Lots of writers have used pen names for many reasons. Alice Sheldon felt that she needed to hide her gender to break into a male-dominated science fiction world, and so she became James Tiptree, Jr. William Anthony Parker White wrote and edited both science fiction and mystery — he became Anthony Boucher, a name that spawned Bouchercon and the Anthony Award for the mystery field. Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee wanted to collaborate, and they became Ellery Queen.
There are as many reasons for using a pen name as there are writers who’ve used them.
I never expected to use a pen name. I like my name. As Rebecca Bates, I’ve been fortunate to meet lots of folks in the mystery community through my work with Bouchercon and Sisters in Crime. My friends won’t know me as someone else.
But I write in multiple genres. It helps me grow as a writer to explore the variety of structure and style that readers of different genres expect. I want to keep growing, instead of producing the same kind of story over and over. As soon as I finish a project in one genre, I jump to another (but only the genres I like to read!) I wander all across the board. Readers won’t necessarily follow you there unless, for example, your name begins with an “S” and ends in King. So I’ve fallen into using pen names. Pen names are clues for readers. Pen names point readers to the particular type of story they like to read.
My first novel, a romantic suspense, came out under my maiden name, Rebecca Williamson. Since then my science fiction stories have come out under my married name, Rebecca Bates. Now I’ve written an amateur sleuth mystery, which is a more traditional whodunnit, set in today’s funky world, and it’s part of a series. Fans of such cozies don’t always want their heroines to brood about the mysterious men they’re attracted to. They don’t always want to save humanity through science. I need to separate those types of stories, so as not to lead my readers astray. That’s my reason, why I chose to go with a pen name. I just fell into being Sue Star.
Being Sue is no secret. Keeping a secret like that today would be difficult, unless I moved into a cave (no, thanks!) Sue Star is one of the hats I wear. It’s fun, being more or less anonymous, but at the same time anonymity is challenging in introducing pen names to readers. !Caramba! Who knows if this mysterious case of using pen names will ever be satisfactorily resolved? One thing’s for sure: I’m looking forward to the journey.
Thanks, Rebecca! Now, who has a comment or question for her?
Cameron Kennedy
Cameron Kennedy writes women's fiction with a touch of magical realism.
When not focusing on her family, she enjoys designing and sewing garments, raising orchids, and painting landscapes. Her novel The Jigsaw Window, about the sandwich generation is available from D.M. Kreg Publishing.
Photo at Right: Cameron Kennedy paints some wild waves breaking on the Oregon coast.
She can be reached at: cameronkennedyauthor@gmail.com
Rebecca S. W. Bates
Rebecca S.W. Bates writes speculative fiction.
She lives in Boulder, Colorado where she raised three daughters and taught Spanish. Now she writes full time and enjoys traveling as much as possible.
Her novels, The Signal, Prelude to Proxima and Sphinx of Centaurus are available from D. M. Kreg Publishing. Her science fiction story collections, Tough Mothers, The Time is Light, Sharing Sol and Tightropes Through the Eco are also available from D. M. Kreg Publishing.
She has published several SF and fantasy short stories, most recently in Alien Aberrations, Infradead, Sorcerous Signals, and the Colorado Book Award nominated Broken Links, Mended Lives.
Photo at Right: Rebecca S. W. Bates enjoys sunrise at Machu Picchu.
She can be reached at: rswbates@yahoo.com
Minta Monroe
Minta Monroe writes darker fiction, particularly involving the occult or supernatural.
Despite her writing preferences she loves a good time and has a great sense of humor. When not writing, she enjoys chasing ghosts around the world. Her novel The Mound Dwellers is available from D.M. Kreg Publishing.
She also has published two collections of short stories, Home Sweet...Death and Crossing Over. Both are available in ebook format.
Photo at Right: Minta Monroe having fun with one of her idols, the female pirate, Anne Bonny, in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
She can be reached at: mintamonroeauthor@gmail.com
Rebecca Williamson
Rebecca Williamson writes suspense with romantic elements in exotic settings from the recent past.
She grew up in Turkey and Brazil and now lives in Colorado. She enjoys traveling, especially to visit her three daughters who live overseas. She is the author of The Drowning of Chittenden, available from D. M. Kreg Publishing. Her next novel, Tenth Mountain, will come out in 2018, also from D.M. Kreg Publishing.
Photo at Right: Rebecca at Bouchercon.
She can be reached at: rebeccawilliamsonauthor@gmail.com
Sue Star
Sue Star writes mysteries about families in chaos.
In real life, she teaches young adults, and in her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, martial arts, and hanging out with her family. Her three novels, Murder in the Dojo, Murder with Altitude and Murder for a Cash Crop follow the exploits of Nell Letterly as she solves murders and tries to avoid being a suspect in Boulder, Colorado.
She also has two collections of mystery stories, Organized Death and Trophy Hunting. Sue is currently hard at work on the fourth novel in the Nell Letterly series which will be available in early 2018.
Women Write the Rockes features Sue Star at: Women Write the Rockies
See Stephen Brayton's interview with Sue at http://stephenbrayton.wordpress.com/
Photo at Right: Sue Star practicing with her kamas, a very lethal martial arts weapon.
Sue can be reached at suestarauthor@gmail.com.
Dancing for the General
Publishers Weekly. 265.8 (Feb. 19, 2018): p60+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Dancing for the General
Sue Star and Bill Beatty. D.M. Kreg, $15.99
trade paper (440p) ISBN 978-0-9893578-7-6
Set in 1957, this atmospheric spy story from Star (Organized Death) and Beatty (Hell Down Under) opens in Ankara, Turkey, where Anna Riddle, a young American teacher, has recently arrived to care for her niece, Priscilla, whose parents--Anna's sister and brother-in-law, who works for the State Department--had to leave the country at short notice. One hot summer day, while Anna and Priscilla are visiting an ancient tomb, the sound of a gunshot leads them to the body of a man wearing a Western business suit. Clutched in his hand is a letter written years ago by Anna to her former fiance, Lt. Rainer Akers, who was killed while on a mission to the Eastern Front in 1945. Anna soon becomes embroiled in a slowly unfolding mystery of political turmoil and dark family secrets. Readers may initially struggle to understand the link between Anna's narrative and chap ters devoted to Meryem Alekci, a Romani dancer whose life is in danger, but those who persevere will be rewarded. Historical fiction fans won't want to miss this one. (BookLife)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Dancing for the General." Publishers Weekly, 19 Feb. 2018, p. 60+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357533/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=507004e1. Accessed 30 June 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357533
Murder for a Cash Crop
by Sue Star
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A middle-aged mom decides to track down the arsonist who burned down her best friend’s house.
Nell Letterly, the brave heroine of Star’s (Murder in the Dojo, 2011) newest mystery tale, is just starting to get over her estranged husband when a freak accident rocks her hometown of Boulder, Colorado: A fire tears through the house of her best friend, Alice Albright. Alice had been running a struggling art gallery there, and suspicions begin to arise that she was selling newly legalized marijuana—without a license. Nell concludes, “I had to do something…I was going to free Alice from suspicion,” launching her into a twisted web of strange connections and revelations about the townspeople as she conducts her own investigation into the crime. Soon, bodies start turning up in the wake of the fire, including an old friend of Nell’s husband, and her determination to solve the puzzle intensifies. When Alice disappears in the middle of Nell’s search for the perpetrator, she starts to question her friend’s part in the crime. Is Alice an innocent bystander or is there something more sinister behind her innocent exterior? Nell is a scrappy private eye. “No wonder I had to solve his case for him,” she thinks after meeting one of the incompetent detectives working on the investigation. Nell chases down her leads—from the shady French cook who seems to know all the victims, to the spurned ex-wife of a famous painter—while juggling her responsibilities to her teenage daughter, and her own mixed emotions about her husband who abandoned her several months earlier. There’s a cinematic quality to this fast-paced, straightforward, easily digestible thriller, and it’s worth a read just to get close to the clever, “positively old-fashioned” Nell, who though out of touch as she might be, is an admirable, and relatable protagonist. At one point, she muses about pot: “Some thought it was nirvana, others thought it was evil incarnate. I just thought it was a poor substitute for meditation. Of course, I didn’t have experience with any stimulants other than meditation and heavy martial arts.” Star’s latest Nell Letterly mystery is like eating a slice of cake: nothing too substantial there, but enjoyable and delicious nonetheless, a guilty pleasure of a book perfect for the beach.
A lighthearted, formulaic, but ultimately satisfying mystery novel with a charming heroine.
Publisher: D.M. Kreg Publishing
Program: Kirkus Indie
Review Posted Online: April 25th, 2016