Bev Landfair Joins Mexico Calling As Writer

As Beverly Landfair, I am accepting your invitation to blog on your site as I see fit.

Mavis Davis Breaks Into Detective Business

My First Murder: A Mavis Davis Mystery (Mavis Davis Mysteries Book 1) (Kindle Edition)



From a former Judge, a Texan and a part-time resident of San Miguel comes a writer who has invented a new detective named Mavis Davis, a likable character, who was a probation officer and now a process server and detective waiting for her first client. In walks Carl. Carl owns a diner and had fallen in love with a new, mysterious waitress, Doris Jones who was just murdered. The police think she was killed by a serial killer, but Carl thinks otherwise and hires Mavis to find out the truth. There are clues throughout and red herrings. Mavis, is the focus, and this reader wanted to know more about her and why she hangs out with her boyfriend and cop, Ben. The office staff promise lots of mischief for future books. I want to read more about Mavis. She has guts.

Detective Emilia Cruz Hollywood Bound

In an email Carmen Amato announces that Detective Emilia Cruz, her never-ending string of lieutenants, surly partner Franco Silvio, and gringo boyfriend Kurt Rucker, are leaving Acapulco and heading for Hollywood.

"In May 2015, I signed a contract selling the film rights to the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedural series, including books CLIFF DIVER, HAT DANCE, and DIABLO NIGHTS, to director and screenwriter Emily Skopov. Currently working with producers Michael Keyes of Something Kreative, and Zack Stentz (screenwriter "Thor", "X-Men: First Class") to set up production on "Three Rivers," a Pittsburgh-set gritty true-crime thriller co-written with Eddie Richey ("Phoenix"), Emily Skopov is best known for her work on such TV fare as "Xena: Warrior Princess," SyFy's "Farscape," and the indie feature "Novel Romance."

"Before signing on the dotted line, Emily and I discussed the vibe and quality of a movie or television series, maintaining the books’ authenticity, possible casting, film locations, the music (!), and alternatives to filming on location in Acapulco. Once we agreed on what we deemed were the critical issues, the lawyers negotiated terms and deadlines.

"Many authors seek to sell rights to a studio but working with a screenwriter cut the worry of whether or not the studio will ever get to the script stage, plus the contract gives me a consulting role. Had I sold the film rights to a studio, the project could have languished “in development” for a number of years. Instead, this contract has milestones built in to keep that from happening. A studio could have assigned the screenplay to a writer who knows nothing about Mexico. No worries there. Emily was actively looking for a project with a strong female character with ties to Mexico. She speaks Spanish, has visited Mexico, and is equally as passionate about the impact of cartel violence.

"Another key factor in the decision to work with Emily was our shared vision that the Detective Emilia Cruz book series can be the basis for an entertainment franchise appealing to both English and Spanish speakers throughout the Western Hemisphere. Here are the factors we considered:

"1. Dramatic Setting: Acapulco is an iconic location, and will play the same role for the Emilia Cruz series as does Hawaii for the “Hawaii 5-0” television show. Acapulco has greater depth to explore, however, because of the huge disparity in lifestyles and neighborhoods clustered around the most beautiful bay in the world. Skyscrapers and slums represent the two versions of Acapulco. Emilia Cruz is forced to survive between them.

"2. Premise with Multiple Possibilities: Detective shows are perennial favorites in the US. This one has a twist; Emilia Cruz is the first and only female detective on the Acapulco police force. She’s got drug cartels, Mexico’s culture of machismo, and the country’s murky law enforcement landscape to navigate. Especially in episodic television, these tensions can be built, layered, and exploited in the way that “House of Cards” has done so successfully. 3. Embraceable Central Character: Viewers love characters with whom they identify and the underdog is a classic favorite. Emilia Cruz’s backstory plays into this aspect of audience resonance. Her father, a chauffeur, was killed when she was a toddler. Her mother had a mental breakdown. Emilia grew up on the streets of Acapulco and fought her way into the police ranks and up the ladder to the detective squadroom, even as she parented her own mother.

4. The Latino Audience: Emily Skopov noted in a recent press release that “The time is right for an entertainment franchise that puts Latino characters center stage in substantial, complex and diverse roles that transcend simplistic categorizations.” We think the Latino audience, with its growing economic power yet lack of Hollywood vehicles, will embrace Detective Emilia Cruz. Advertising Age recently reported that Latino spending in the media market rose 8.1% to $8.3 billion from 2013 to 2014.

5. Transcending Boundaries: While the Emilia Cruz books reveal a spectrum of Latino individuals and lifestyles, they also incorporate a diverse cast that reflects Acapulco’s role as a tourism and investment crossroads. This diversity will help build a loyal audience. Emilia’s boyfriend, a hotel manager from New York, is a key character. Other opportunities for diversity include global businesses and investors, visiting cruise ship staff, tourists from around the world, etc. Relationships and motives in the series transcend color, ethnicity, and national boundaries.

Nina Miller to Read From New Novel

Nina Miller to read from new novel

Many people in the Ithaca community know Nina Miller from her work with Hospicare, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service, and many more service oriented organizations in Ithaca. But she is also a writer of creative fiction, and has just completed a new book, "The Mother of Invention."

This new novel explores issues close to most people's hearts: friendship, loss, aging, the risks of fracking, illness, marriage — all set in a college community. Miller will give a reading at 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes and Noble, as well as at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 17 at Kendall of Ithaca.

Miller has been a major force in the human service area for many years. She was the executive sirector of Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services and then Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County. She was a writing major at the University of Pennsylvania and won a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate studies in English. Twenty of her short stories have been published in literary reviews and anthologies. Miller raised three children in Ithaca with her late husband George. She now divides her time between Ithaca, Cape Cod and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

The Shadow Of The Wind

We had dinner last night with Dave and Cheryl Lelands at Don Felix's last night. When we made plans to get together, we didn't realize the day was Dave's birthday. During the evening they mentioned a trip to Barcelona. I remembered a writer who described living in the city he loved. He described the tree-lined walkway that assended a hill. Cheryl said, "Oh, you mean the Ramblas." Yes that was it and I asked if she'd been there. She said no, but she had read about the area in preparation of their visit.

The Ramblas was described in the book " of "The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The book was written in Spanish and years later translated into English.

I had an opportunity to attend a reading and interview of Carlos Ruiz Zafon at the Baghdad theater in south east Portland. Here's an edited version of what I wrote back then:

"Carlos Ruiz Zafon author of "The Shadow of the Wind" and now "The Angels Game" is about 45 and a little roly-polly. He was interviewed by a man from Tin House. The event was sponsored by Powell's books for the price of $19 each. The large audience sat enthralled while Zafon talked about writing and his books. We each received a free autographed copy of "The Angels Game."

"Like Phillip Margolin, Zafon does not just sit down and begin to write, watching the letters spew from his pen. He believes in outlining his novel in advance. His outline is built with images. He alluded to beginning a war. You place your units with their various specialties, then when the war begins you make changes and adjust. The perfect plan is only perfect until you throw everything out.

"When he begins to write from his outline, his job then is to add texture. He writes in his native language, Spanish, which is translated to English later when the book is complete. That process can take up to three years, so if we only know English, we are three years behind the Spanish speaking.

"The Angels Game" is the second in his four book series he plans to write from a writers perspective. This novel takes place in the 20s and 30s. It is filled with the sick undercurrent of chaos that led to the Spanish civil war and eventually broke out in Europe as WWII. I wanted to ask if he sees any parallels between the pre-civil war period in Spain to the world at large today. Maybe, I will email him.

"He's lived in so many places that he considers himself a man of the world, rather than a Spaniard or Los Angelino. He talked about getting away from a subject to write about it. He put his hand up close to his nose and tried to describe it. He couldn't. He couldn't even see if it was attached to something, but pull it away and he gains perspective; the ability to describe its lines, whirls, color and function. In a sentence he urged me to leave Portland (for Mexico) by saying if "one never leaves we can never understand it."

"I am convinced many writers write not only to put their thoughts into words, but to talk about themselves. It is an ego trip to have 500 people hang on your words and buy your books and dissect your thinking. Zafon, while modest, seemed to enjoy the evening."

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written.

"The Fifth Codex" By John Scherber

"The Fifth Codex" is the second in the murder series by John Scherber. Scherber lives in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and he brings his knowledge of the city into his books. When you are drawn to this city by his descriptions, you can walk the streets he walked and dine at the restaurants where he dined, and walk Quebrada from Canal to Pila Seca.  Scherber makes this expat favorite city the centerpiece of his novel. The reason, he recently said an interview, is the "...exotic backdrop with a lot of color and history."

The Fifth Codex - 342 pages Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc. (Published September 19, 2010)

The main character is Paul Zacher, a painter, who with his long time Mexican, girlfriend Maya, and friend Cody, an ex-policeman from Peoria get innocently roped into a deadly situation involving a Codex that could inflame Mayan separatists.

A codex is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper or similar material with hand-written content. The book is usually bound by stacking the pages and fixing one edge. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina. Examples of folded codices are the Maya codices

Scherber not only gives you a taste of San Miguel, but a flavor for the Mexican culture. Each book is sprinkled with Mexican history, but not so much as to take away from the story. Scherber  describes his "...villains as flawed people, not demons or monsters. "I’m interested in the way they rationalize the crimes they commit."

"The Fifth Codex" is a page turner. Scherber is a fine writer with a witty take on events as they happen. Available in Paperback or on Kindle.

Distractions

Somedays, it is hard to write without being interrupted and then there are some days when I don't feel like writing. Friday night was one of those nights. We went to dinner with friends at Mare Nostrum, a fine little Italian restaurant run by Brenda and Julio, her husband the cook. I was feeling slightly off and the next day I just wanted to stay in bed in between runs to the bathroom. My friend John Scherber, author of 20 Centavos, said every one gets sick once in Mexico. I took the day off, but freelance writing awaited and I wrote at least 3,500 words on Sunday for clients.

Today, I'm working on an article about the growth of the middle class in the world by 2030 and its affect on real estate in Los Angeles, when the doorbell rings. Carlos, one of the street kids and entrepreneur, asked if I wanted my car washed. "No gracias," I said.

Then I a loud voice going up the narrow street, "Santorini! Santorini, lady, Santorini!" It's the bottled water day. You put out your empty and a young man comes hiking up the street carrying a big water jug. Santorini for 25 pesos or about $1.75 mas o menos, more or less. I say more or less because the peso has been falling against the USD and is currently 15.51 to the dollar. When we first started coming to Mexico it was 10 to 1. That is a tremendous drop in the peso and makes things here cheap for those with dollars. Anyway, our water needs are now met until next Monday.

Another distraction is the weather. I look outside on the terrace and the sun is shining, it is warm and inviting. Of course, there are frequent fireworks, dogs barking, a rooster crowing, church bells tolling the hours (along with our clock by my desk), traffic on Umaran, and my need for another cup of coffee which is downstairs.

Did I tell you I love it all? At evening time Bev and I go to the third level terrace with a beverage and talk and watch the sunset out beyond the two hills to the west. We can see the many-colored houses climb the hills mixed in with the vegetation, hear bells and sirens and marvel at how far we have come from Portland.

Ok, back to Los Angeles. Oops, my coffee is cold.