Our speaker for October 13, Julia Chambers, is the director and founder of The Seeker’s Round Table (an educational community for metaphysical subjects). Julia is a professional numerologist as well as a 7th generation dowser and student of “The Gift.” Her approach to metaphysics is spiritual, down-to-earth and practical.

Julia Chambers will discuss the world of metaphysics, her experience as a numerologist, visionary and dowser, as well as share perspective as director of one of the largest metaphysical education organization in the Austin community. This broad understanding provides information for the use of metaphysics in mystery stories.

Numerology is a mystical/spiritual belief system that revolves around the study of numbers and patterns. Numerology is founded upon the principle that there is purpose, reason and meaning behind all structure and design; even ultimately that all pattern and logic points to a grand Creator and unique purpose in all creation. What we consider today as the “mystical” vs. the “scientific” sides of numbers and mathematics were not always considered opposing views. In the duality of numbers, one side dealt with the physical while the other dealt with eternity, and they existed as a whole. Today we tend to regard them as separate entities.

Dowsing is the practice of using a held device, or the human body (such as in muscle testing), to tap into energies (sometimes referred to as chi) around us and to get information. Sometimes this information

Metaphysics and Mystery

OCTOBER 2013 VOL. 19 • NO. 10

Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter, meets monthly on the second Sunday of the month at 2 p.m. at Mangia Pizza at 8012 Mesa Drive, Austin. Mangia is located in the Mesa Plaza Shopping Center at the northwest corner of Mesa Drive and Spicewood Springs Road, between Mopac/Loop 1 and 360/Capital of Texas Highway.

The Pflugerville Public Library is hosting a local author showcase on Monday, November 4, 2013, 6:30 p.m., as part of their annual NaNoWriMo celebration.

The following HoTxSinC members are scheduled to appear...

Janice Hamrick www.janicehamrick.com

Joan Hall www.joanuptonhall.com

Elizabeth Buhmann elizabethbuhmann.com

Kathy & Bob Wernly kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

Russ Hall www.russhall.com

is used for things like finding water or discovering weaknesses in the body. And sometimes dowsing is used to seek information for more spiritual purposes.

NEWSLETTER DESIGN BY THOM ZAHLER ART STUDIOS

www.tzasonline.com

For more information on the Heart of Texas Chapter contact- hotxsinc@yahoo.com

Do you want to write crime fiction?

Do you want to learn how your favorite authors create fast-paced plots and complicated characters that keep you up all night reading?

Come to our special FREE one-day event: Anatomy of a Mystery at BookPeople (6th

and Lamar) on Saturday, November 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Highly-acclaimed mystery novelists Karen MacInerney, Janice Hamrick, and Reavis Wortham will give you the inside scoop on what it

takes to create some of today’s most memorable mysteries.

Special Bonus: First 25 attendees receive a FREE Austin Mystery Writers notepad and pen, plus a chance to win a FREE AMW tote along with other raffle items including books and more!

Come for all or part of it. Each author will conduct a mini-workshop and participate in a panel discussion moderated by BookPeople’s crime fiction coordinator Scott Montgomery.

Anatomy of a Mystery is a joint presentation of Austin Mystery Writers and BookPeople.

Anatomy of a Mystery

BookPeople 603 N. Lamar Blvd Austin, TX 78703

512-472-5050 ext. 404

As the owner of Garden Cat Vintage and author of FIRST MONDAY MURDER A Jimmie Rae Flea

Market Mystery, I jumped at the chance to present to Sisters in Crime Heart of Texas Chapter.

Sue Vertrees asked me to share how the things I find and the places I go inspire me to create characters and settings for my Flea Market Mystery series.

The road to publishing the first book in my series

has been long, winding and full of surprises along the way. I’ve owned my antique business for 17 years and have been writing my entire life. I consider myself both a ‘vintage’ (more than twenty years old!) journalist and tireless “junker.” Wait, a minute! Did she just say, “junker?” you may be asking yourself.

To best understand how I began writing a Flea Market Mystery series, first you’ll have to know a little Junkin’ 101. I’m often asked, “What is the difference between an antique dealer and a ‘junker’?” The difference is this: an antiques dealer collects, buys and sells items that are at least 100 years old or older. On the other hand, a “junker” tends more toward vintage items (at least 20 years or older) and especially collects, buys and sells almost anything that is worn, discarded, repurposed, rusty, patinaed, faded, mended, hand-made and/or tattered. I do

both! I collect, sell and buy both true antiques and “junk.” I’ve been the owner of Garden Cat since 1996—we’ll get to that part of the story in a minute. Suffice it to say, I really enjoy the creative process of having my own antiques business. I literally spend hours setting up my booth at vintage markets and antiques shows, creating physical scenes or ‘vignettes’ that hopefully pull customers into another place in time.

Ah, like writing! Isn’t this what we do when we write? We select the precise words and string them together to pull a reader into another place and

time—into the world we’ve created, caring about what happens to the characters we’ve created.

But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I want to share my journey to publication and how I use my passion for both antiques and writing as my author platform (the various ways I market my mystery series to my target audience). This journey has been far from the glamorous one I dreamed of 25 years ago in Professor Jack M. Bickham’s

‘Novel Writing Class’ at The University of Oklahoma. You see, I hold a Bachelor of Arts in

“Flea Markets, Funky Old Stuff and Murder! Oh, My!”

By Lisa Love Harris

continued on next page

Journalism with Emphasis on Professional Writing from OU. This is the same program that turned out such well known mystery authors as Tony Hillerman and Carolyn Hart. No pressure, right? Ha! Professor Bickham loved to challenge us. As the author of more than 70 published genre novels he’d tell us we should all just quit writing—that way there would be less competition for him! Of course, in his own crusty way he was really challenging us to persevere. This is one of the best things I learned from Professor Bickham. Well, this and scene and sequel, pacing, “ticking clocks,” and well, a lot of other valuable writing information.

For years I spent a lot of time and money dreaming of becoming an author, but not writing fiction. I worked in public relations, as an editor, as a student recruiter, as an information specialist, a book store manager and free-lanced for numerous publications. Lots of writing, but not the stories I dreamed of creating. Oddly enough, writing fiction intimidated me because I realized how little “life experience” I had. Boy, did that change!

In my late twenties, after my husband had completed a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy and we’d both gone back to college to complete our degrees, we found out our first child was on the way. My husband took a job in North Texas and we settled into life in the historic neighborhood of McKinney, TX. My friend used to say, “Ya had to be a little bohemian to live in the ‘hood!’” It was true, but there were marvelous Victorian treasures discarded and sold at garage sales all the time. With a minor in American Literature, I loved finding anything Victorian. I loved the sense of history each

item oozed. And I loved the almost-free price tag—as now, a few years later we were a family of four.

I took a booth at a local antique mall when our daughter was three months old and set up my antiques business. If you’ve never been to a garage sale, estate sale or flea market, please understand that often antiques and vintage treasures are sitting next to Thigh Masters and Tupperware. I’ve found so many treasures scouring beneath layers of cluttered tabletops. An 1845 prayer book I picked up for a dollar continues to be one of my favorite finds. Even today the history of each piece I find fascinates me. Sometimes I learn about the item. Other times I just wonder who it belonged to

and what their life was like. My journalistic side still takes over on occasion. I have to admit that some of the items I’ve found I had to let go because there was a bad aura about them. This has happened with old pieces of vintage clothing, paintings, and other strange things I’ve purchased only to pass on later.

In addition, I have driven miles and miles to get to a sale only to get there and realize the people/place/ and/or situation seem “wrong.” The way I figure it (realizing of course I have an over-active imagination) if it seems like something about a particular place or person is “plot worthy,” I’m outta there! Better to put

from previous page

continued on next page

my protagonist, Jimmie Rae, in a predicament than myself.

So where do I find this stuff? Since most of my finds are garden oriented, I usually head to the garage, barn or fields of an estate sale first. While other dealers are headed to the a/c, clean domestic bliss of the house, I’m digging through spider webs, brushing little creatures off my arms, and literally tip-toeing through glass shards to get to the good stuff—like chippy window frames and doors, handmade farm furniture, rusted metal, and forgotten yard art. I figure the search is as much of the fun as the item itself.

A brush with cancer 10 years ago gave me the kick I needed to actually begin writing the story forming in my head. I created characters from people I’d met along the way. I created a town called Niceton based on all my favorite

Texas towns (many from south central Texas!) I even created a classified ad at the beginning of each chapter to foreshadow the upcoming action. In short, I wrote FIRST MONDAY MURDER based on what I knew with, of course, a heavy dose of imagination added.

In 2006 I joined Sisters in Crime and Sisters in Crime Guppies (The Great Unpublished). I met my critique partner Susan Schreyer through Guppies after we moved to Seattle for a few years. Susan helped me in so many ways particularly in understanding that I didn’t have to make a choice between writing and being an antiques dealer. She encouraged me to use my antiquing business as my author platform. She is a wise woman indeed!

My protagonist, Jimmie Rae, has a favorite

mantra—peace, love, and all the good stuff. Three years ago, I began a blog by the same name. It has become a place to share my blacktop adventures, my finds and the wonderful friends I’ve made along the way.

In so many ways, my passion for old things has helped me create a mystery series, platform and actual business that I might never have even considered if I’d given up all those years ago.

I’m currently working on the second book in the Flea Market Mystery series, VINTAGE MURDER The Next Jimmie Rae Flea Market Mystery. I plan to launch it next March just in time for Antiques Week at Round Top, TX.

Thank you for the opportunity to share my journey with you. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. My booth is at Hermann Antiques in Brenham, and I also set up Garden Cat at Vintage Markets and Antique Shows in central Texas. If you’d like to join me on my blacktop adventures, my blog is

www.peaceloveandallthegoodstuff.blogsport.com.

Until next time, Peace, love, and all the good stuff, y’all.

from previous page