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Chatting with Authors by Will Zeilinger & Janet Elizabeth Lynn

June 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Author Interviews, Chatting with Authors, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Will Zeilinger, YouTube

Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn had been writing individually until they got together and wrote the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955. Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus a couple of short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.

In 2020, Will and Janet created “Chatting With Authors.” This channel features informal interviews with authors of varied genres, produced via Zoom, and aired every Friday. Below are some of the chats from the past year.

Sheila Lowe, a real-life forensic handwriting expert, has appeared in countless forensic TV and radio shows, newspaper and magazine articles, and blogs. Her Amazon number one best-selling series, The Forensic Handwriting psychological suspense books, features Claudia Rose. Sheila’s new Beyond the Veil Series is paranormal suspense about a young woman who reluctantly communicates with dead people.

Listen to Judge Debra H. Goldstein, Author of the Sarah Blair Mystery series, Should Have Played Poker, and the IPPY Award-winning Maze in Blue. She’ll describe how her short stories and novels became finalists for several awards.

Fantasy readers will enjoy hearing from Christopher Ochs, author of Pindlebryth of Lenland. He tells about his collection of the mirthful macabre in If I Can’t Sleep, You Can’t Sleep. His short stories have been published in several anthologies and were finalists for several awards.

Carol L. Wright tells us how she escaped a career in law and academia to write Mysteries and More. She created the Gracie McIntyre Mysteries where justice always prevails. Her short stories have appeared in several literary journals and anthologies.

Hope you enjoyed these interviews. To hear more interviews go to Chatting with Authors.

The Skylar Drake Mystery Series

SLIVERS OF GLASS

STRANGE MARKINGS

DESERT ICE

SLICK DEAL

GAME TOWN

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Characterization by E. J. Williams

May 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Starting a Novel Series with a Partner by E. J. Williams tagged as first in a new series, writing, writing craft, writing partners

Starting a Novel Series with a Partner
Characterization

by E.J. Williams

(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)

My husband, Will Zeilinger, and I co-write the thrillers of INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY SERIES, as E. J. Williams. Our tales transport the reader from 1962 southern California to various international locales. In the first new book of the series, STONE PUB, we find ourselves in County Cork, Ireland.

The first book sets the tone and is the foundation of all future books in a series. The main characters will appear over and over again. They have to be strong and memorable. The character must be able to grow and change through several books while remaining exciting and unpredictable. Keep in mind that you, too, will be living with them for some time, so you, as the author, must like them also.

As a couple, we often think back to people we’ve met or know, then we kick it up a little…or a lot. At first, it wasn’t easy to choose. We had so many. Then we realized we didn’t have to choose…we could combine, which made for powerful, strong, funny, and capable characters that can sustain the reader’s interest over the course of the series.

Supporting each other and valuing the ideas we each bring to the table make for great characters. Remember, the crucial thing is to write a good story. So stay tuned. There is more to come.

STONE PUB is the first in the series, and yes…we are still married!

Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn

Website: Will Zeilinger

Janet”s and Will’s
Skylar Drake Series

(Hover over the covers for buy links. Click on the cover for more information.)

SLICK DEAL

GAME TOWN

STRANGE MARKINGS

SLIVERS OF GLASS

DESERT ICE

STONE PUB: An Exercise in Deception

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Vintage Inspired by the Jet Age–Tail Fins

April 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as cars, E.J. Williams, Jet Age, Tail fins, Vintage, writing research

Tail Fins

If you happen to be of a certain age, you will remember tail fins on the cars from your childhood.

Although most people think the trend of having tail fins on cars lasted approximately from 1955 to 1965, the first subtle appearances of tail fins began in the late ’40s. What started as a small chrome trim piece on a tail light, or a subtle fin of a few inches in length.

Growing in size each year until they (literally) peaked in 1959. American cars were not unique in this fad. By the early ’60s, the appeal began to wane. With a few exceptions, by 1965, they had disappeared from the automotive landscape.

A Little History

General Motors and Chrysler deserve the credit with starting the finny “arms race.” Harley Earl and Bill Mitchell at GM and Virgil Exner at Chrysler attempted to wow the public with each new model year by introducing the most outlandish fins on their vehicles. Ford was in the mix too. Remember, the original Thunderbird also employed design elements that took their cues from jet aircraft. This trend carried through to the 1963 model year. The full-sized Ford lost its fins by 1962.

Even European automotive designers got into the act. French Italian designers have always been avant-garde, but even the British and Germans, who tend to be more conservative, slapped fins on some of their cars.

And the Winner Is…

The ultimate fins of the era belonged to the 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz. The eye-popping red paint job and fins that look like they could impale someone made this car unmistakeable…Even today.

SLICK DEAL

GAME TOWN

STRANGE MARKINGS

SLIVERS OF GLASS

DESERT ICE

STONE PUB: An Exercise in Deception

0 0 Read more

Weird Things in 1950s Los Angeles by Janet Lynn and Will Zeilinger

March 3, 2021 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as historicals, Los Angles, research, writing

From our archives . . .

Did you know the Capitol Records building has been sending out hidden messages since 1956?

As many tourists will tell you. One of the most recognizable landmarks of Hollywood (besides the Hollywood sign and the Chinese Theater) is the round Capitol Records building. It opened on April 6, 1956. That evening a red light on the tip of the spire atop the building at 1750 Vine Street (a couple blocks north of Hollywood Boulevard) began spelling out H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in Morse code.

Then Capital president Alan Livingston ordered the light be added as a symbol that the Capitol Record label was the first with a presence in Los Angeles. Except for the years 1992 when the light blinked out C-A-P-I-T-A-L 5-0, celebrating Capitol Records fiftieth anniversary and 2016 when it flashed C-A-P-I-T-O-L 7-5 for the company’s seventy-fifth anniversary, the red light atop the spire continues to flash the original message.

World famous singers and musicians made Capitol Records their label, including: Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, Judy Garland, Dean Martin and many more.

Even the most casual observer can see that the wide curved awnings over the windows on each story and the tall spike emerging from the top of the building resembles a stack of records on a turntable. But, Lou Naidorf, the building’s designer, didn’t have that in mind at all.

While Hollywood has undergone a lot of changes, this landmark has held its ground. Even in the 21^st century, while many well known artists are recording music in a digital format. Turntables and vinyl LPs have regained popularity. Perhaps the meaning of the Capitol Records building’s design will once again be connected with the entertainment capitol of the world.

This iconic building was featured in several movies, including the 1974 movie “Earthquake,” 1997’s “Volcano” and 2004’s “The Day After Tomorrow” where it met an undignified demise. Despite these cinematic disasters, the light atop the building blinks out its H-O-L-L-Y-O-O-D message to this day.