Ending a Novel Series: Calling it Quits by Janet Elizabeth Lynn
September 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as hardboiled mysteries, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Series novels, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger
My husband, Will Zeilinger and I co-write the Skylar Drake Mysteries, a hard-boiled detective series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our new book, GAME TOWN, is set in Hollywood and exposes a scandal that rocks the toy industry in Los Angeles. GAME TOWN is the fifth and final book of the series.
Ending the Skylar Drake Mystery series was a heartbreaking decision for us. After all, the series has been in our lives for five years. It was difficult to end the relationship not only with Sky but his partner Casey Dolan, FBI Special Agent Olivia Jahns, and their secretary Lory Carrington. However, the time was right to let them find their own way.
So, the question we had to face was do we do a sequel or spin-off?
Doing a sequel would bring back the characters and more glimpses of 1950s Hollywood. Spin offs, re-orienting the characters we fell in love with and the villains who pushed the twists and turns of each book are still possible. I think it’s important that as writers and creators we assure our readers that everything turned out okay for the characters and they moved on.
For now, we have no plans for a sequel or spin off.
Some series can standalone. Others may be ruined by a sequel because the readers wanted to remember the characters the way they were.
Whatever the future holds for those in the Skylar Drake Mystery series it’s been fun creating great characters, clever plots, fun subplots and making up the twists and turns, and devious red herrings too.
What’s in the future for us? We’ll be writing more books, short stories, and more separately and together.
For now, we are a little depressed. We understand that this is par for the course when ending a series. And the best cure for the depression, they tell me is to move on and keep writing. So, stay tuned…there is more to come.
GAME TOWN is the fifth in the series and yes . . . we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
The Skylar Drake Mystery Series
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VINTAGE 1950s: 15 Minute Television Shows of the 1950s by Will Zeilinger
June 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as A Skylar Drake Mystery, hard-boiled detective novels, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Vintage 1950s, Will Zeilinger
15 Minute Shows
Throughout the 1950s, short local television programs popped up all over the airwaves. The majority were only fifteen to thirty minutes in length. Some of the programs were musical, comedy, or children’s radio programs that were ported over to the TV screen.
As in the transition from silent movies to talkies, moving from radio to television wasn’t always easy. The talent sometimes did not possess “screen appeal.” Unless a program was sponsored by a large corporation, the cost to produce a program was prohibitive. Studio time, talent and crew were all expenses that had to be worked into the budget, so most early television programs were limited to fifteen minutes in length.
Who knows? Maybe that was the seed for Andy Warhol’s famous statement, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Here are a few of the fifteen minute programs I discovered:
Through Wendy’s Window
(1948–1950), began as a short cartoon-sketch program, it evolved into a longer interview series. It starred Wendy Barrie, Dave Davis, Morey Amsterdam, Rusty Arden
The Cliff Edwards Show
(1949– ) Television pioneer Cliff Edwards,also known as “Ukelele Ike,” hosted and began with his own radio program in the 1930s. He brought his musical talents to the new tiny screen in 1949. You may have heard his voice in many cartoons. Remember Jiminy Cricket in Walt Disney’s Pinocchio?
The Gabby Hayes Show
(1950–1954) was a western television series that showed clips from old westerns, or told tall tales for a primarily children’s audience. The star and Roy Rogers sidekick, George “Gabby” Hayes hosted the show that ran on NBC at 5:15 p.m. Eastern for fifteen minutes.
The Hazel Scott Show
(1950– ) Classical pianist turned jazz pianist Hazel Scott hosted the music series. She was the first African-American woman to host her own TV show. It starred Hazel Scott, and featured Gloria Lucas.
The Jaye P. Morgan Show
(1956– ) Her first big hit song, “Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries” in 1951. She made her debut as a regular vocalist on Stop the Music (1949). She was a consistent guest performer on all the best variety showcases, including Perry Como and Ed Sullivan‘s shows, and managed to hostess her own variety program, The Jaye P. Morgan Show, accompanied by her singing siblings “The Morgan Brothers” (Duke, Bob, Charlie and Dick.)
The Spade Cooley Show
(1957– ) Beginning in June 1948, Cooley began hosting a variety show on KTLA-TV in Los Angeles, California. It was broadcast from the Santa Monica Pier Ballroom. The show became a mainstay of television in the area, and won local Emmy awards in 1952 and 1953. Some notable guests included Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore.
Other well-known stars had their own short television programs as well, including Dinah Shore, Patti Page, Jonathan Winters, Walter Winchell, Jo Stafford. Tony Martin and, Vaughn Monroe.
Gradually, the most popular programs grew in length to thirty-minutes and ultimately, to the sixty-minute format we know today.
Books by Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn
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Starting a Novel with a Partner
May 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as hard-boiled mysteries, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger, writing partners
My husband, Will Zeilinger and I have been writing together for more than five years. We co-write the Skylar Drake Murder Mysteries, a hardboiled detective series that takes the reader to 1950s Los Angeles and other areas of the west. Our newest book, GAME TOWN, the fifth in the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, was released April 15!
Without organization, writing with a partner can be a disaster. Some partners just start writing and go paragraph, by paragraph each checking the paragraphs as they go. With this method, a book would take forever to finish, like a millennium!
So, outlining is the best way to get started on a novel with a partner.
But there are things you need to prepare prior to outlining. The important part is that you both agree and see the story in your heads as it unfolds.
Here is the process we follow:
1. Discuss when and where the story will take place. We chose to follow the seasons of the year. SLIVERS OF GLASS, which started the series, takes place in winter of 1956. Our latest book GAME TOWN takes place in early spring of 1957, with three books in between following the seasons of the year.
2. Research locations both of you would like to use, then pick one. This, we find, is where many stories fall apart. Many partners we know who write together can’t seem to agree. We usually pick 3 locations, Google them for the 1950’s, and pick one that we think will be the most interesting to the reader and us as writers. If we can, we visit these places.
3.Character Development is another thing that partners seem to have difficulty with. We each come up with a couple of character personalities and see which personalities we can use or combine into one. Usually we end up laughing over some of the characters we come up with. Then we get serious.
4. Outlining starts with me. I follow the three-act method. I rough it out then give it to Will. He goes through it, adds scenes, changes a few things and gives it back to me. This “back and forth” continues until we are satisfied, about ten times.
It is important to understand that an initial outline doesn’t mean it is carved in stone. The outline and story morphs as we do research and as the story unfolds. But the outline is something you both agree to then watch it develop.
The results, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series, SLIVERS OF GLASS, STRANGE MARKINGS, DESERT ICE, SLICK DEAL , and just released GAME TOWN.
Janet
The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series
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Featured April Authors: Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger
April 29, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as A Slylar Drake Mystery, hard-boiled mysteries, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Will Zeilinger
Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn wrote individually until they got together and created the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1956-57. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.
The next Skylar Drake Mystery, fifth in the series, GAME TOWN is available now and yes…they are still married!
Game Town
Excerpt
Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger
Two o’clock in the morning. I’d just left the Emmy Awards ceremony at the NBC Television Studio in Burbank. All of Hollywood and its finest had shown up to honor the best of television for 1956. The winners and losers were either at a party celebrating or hiding somewhere licking their wounds. My partner, Casey Dolan was in the passenger seat. It was pouring rain when we left Burbank, but seemed to be lessening as we headed away from the valley.
We’d been hired by Epic Studios to escort a couple of their up and coming starlets to and from the event. In truth, we were their bodyguards. The motion picture and TV studios weren’t taking chances with their human investments.
The two young ladies in the back seat were passed out cold. I suspected they’d had a little too much Champagne before and during the ceremony.
I drove through one of the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Ahead we spotted a lot of activity on the street. Dolan sat up and stared at the mess ahead, “What the Hell?”
Several police cruisers and what looked like government cars were lined up in front of a house. As we got closer, I saw the address. 859 in brass letterabove the front door – the address where I was to deliver the girls.
I parked at the opposite corner. Dolan said, “I’ll stay here and keep watch on the girls.”
When I sprinted up the wet sidewalk and ducked under the yellow police tape, I heard a familiar voice.
“Drake, over here!” It was FBI Agent Olivia Jahns
I followed Jahns into the mansion where the body of a woman in a pure white coat with a white fur collar was sprawled on the hardwood floor at the foot of a marble staircase. Her light blonde hair and fur coat were soaked with blood. The handle of a knife protruded from her waist.
“Who is…?”
“The victim’s name is Silver Brovor-Smith. She’s the mother of Holly Becker, one of the young ladies in your charge.”
We looked out the front door. The press had already gathered on the front lawn which didn’t help the chaos as the street.
The two starlets came running past me, “No!” Holly yelled when she saw her mother’s body on the floor.
Theresa, the other young lady, shouted, “Oh my God. Oh my God!” She struggled to join her friend Holly, but Dolan had his hands full, holding her back from the scene.
I took Holly by the shoulders and turned her away from the bloody scene. She looked toward the stairway.
“What did you do to her?” Holly shouted at an older man wearing a white tuxedo coming down the stairs. Holly broke away from me and ran toward him. She began kicking and punching him, screaming, “What did you do to her?”
Several officers pulled her away, but she continued kicking and flailing, “You killed her!”
The Skylar Drake Mystery Series
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Will Zeiling & Janet Elizabeth Lynn April Featured Authors
April 14, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as hard-boiled mysteries, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger
Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn wrote individually until they got together and created the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1956-57. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.
The next Skylar Drake Mystery, fourth in the series, GAME TOWN is available now and yes … they are still married!
Biltmore Hotel
We started researching our book GAME TOWN, in Hollywood, on Hollywood Blvd. This time we were looking for a nice hotel for our PI and hopefully a future girlfriend to meet for lunch. We checked the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, it was called the Biltmore Hotel in 1957. We visited the historic hotel and were amazed at the fine craftsmanship in the lobby and hallways!
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally named the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel is a luxury hotel located across the street from Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles. Opened in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel in the U.S. west of Chicago, Illinois.
In 1969 the Biltmore Hotel was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. The hotel has 70,000 square feet (6,500 m) of meeting and banquet space. Of its original 1500 guestrooms it now has 683, due to room expansion and reorganization.
Walking through the lobby we found a great place for a high priced but fabulous brunch or dinner for that special someone. Instead, we used the lobby for a clandestine meeting between the FBI and Skylar Drake and partner Casey Dolan.
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