NEWS FLASHES!!
- Margaret Lucke will be leading a *free* workshop called "Seven Keys to Creative Writing" at the Hercules Library, 109 Civic Drive, Hercules, CA, on Thursday, October 25. at 2 pm. Come and learn about the seven secrets of great storytelling, and come away with tools for developing your story, from the first inspiration to the final polished draft.
Whether it's how to make a miniature lamp or how to craft a cupcake, "how-to" hints and suggestions are a big deal in mysteries these days. Taking a step back and an out-of-the-box approach, this week's "how-to" theme can even include "HOW did they DO that?" (as in, how did the sleuth solve the mystery). Stay tuned and you may find a How-To perfect for the upcoming holidays! :-)
HALLOWEEN FUN (2)
We had so much fun with candy last week that we're moving on to costumes. The question posed to the LadyKillers: What was your favorite Halloween costume as a child?
- Susan - When we were kids, we lived for several years in New City, New York, in rural upstate New York and then an exciting arts community. There were playwrights and painters, writers, and famous puppeteers among them and the adults dressed up fabulously - the scariest witches I have EVER seen. Hallowe'en was bigger than Christmas!
- Staci - Back in the 80s, California used to run a series of commercials to promote California raisins. One year, my best friend and I dressed up like those raisins, complete with the sunglasses and white hats.
- Margaret - When I was little, my mom and my best friend's mom got together to create amazing costumes for us. We were the King and Queen of Hearts one year, Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy another year. When my younger sister became old enough, she joined us and we were the Three Bears and the Three Blind Mice. We won the top prize in the neighborhood costume contests every year until finally the judges awarded the moms a lifetime achievement award and disqualified us from further competition. I can't remember liking one costume over another, but we loved showing off our costumes each year.
- Camille - No costumes as a kid, but this year at a family costume party: pinning a 50-year collection of BIPARTISAN political buttons to a shirt: all the way back to my first vote, for JFK, and including Clint for mayor, Harvey Milk, Barry Goldwater, Ferraro, Jesse Jackson, Wallace (!) and one with -- you may remember --"Nixon's the one; it's perfectly clear."
- Priscilla - My favorite costume was a horse. My poor mother (whose talent with
thread and needle did not move on to her daughter) stayed up all hours
making that head... [Wow! We need pictures! :-)]
- Ann - It's a toss-up between the gypsy costume my mother pulled together for me in the third grade (complete with tambourine!) and the "Voting Booth" costume I devised for myself in 1960: the year Kennedy and Nixon ran for president.
- Mysti - I don't remember any of my childhood costumes, but as an adult I had fun as Pippi Brando (or Marlon Longstockings). I wore a leather motorcycle jacket, and put my long hair in braids with a wire hanger woven in to make them stand out. Driving for miles on my motorcycle like that to the party was fun! I like mashup costumes. Mostly I remember the Castro celebrations before there was so much violence--being packed in with a sea of people celebrating together, not caring who was what gender. I felt so safe (I'm usually a little claustrophobic in crowds).
- Michael - [note: Ray was Michael's buddy "way back when."] Ray's dad told us to escort Ray's little sister to their grandmother's house several blocks away so he and I accompanied her. She was dressed like a fairy and went to several houses trick-or-treating on the way. We took our bags along and got some candy at each stop. One woman gave us a hard stare and said, "Aren't you two a little old for this?" We told her we were "fairy godfathers." Other than that, I can't remember may of my costumes. My mother was a real good seamstress and usually fixed me something real neat...
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