5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Bouchercon

by Gigi Pandian

Named for mystery author and editor Anthony Boucher, Bouchercon is the big convention for fans of mystery fiction. It takes place each autumn, and the location bounces around the world. Mystery readers and writers gather to talk mystery, meet their favorite authors, discover new books, and generally have a good time.

Juilet Blackwell, Gigi Pandian, Sophie Littlefield
at Bouchercon 2009 in Indianapolis.

I attended my first Bouchercon five years ago, in 2009. I was taking my writing more seriously, but I wasn't yet published. Two author pals suggested I attend Bouchercon with them. I admit it sounded a bit daunting, because I knew only a handful people in the mystery community, and there were going to be over 1,000 people attending. But I figured as a huge fan of mysteries, I owed it to myself to check it out. It turned out I had such a great time that I've been back multiple times, and can't wait for this year's convention! Murder at the Beach takes place in Long Beach, CA, from November 13-16, 2014.

For those of you thinking about registering but who haven't yet done so because of reservations such as the ones I initially had, here's what I can tell you to put your mind at ease:

5 Tips for Getting the Most out of Bouchercon

1. Realize that many mystery writers and readers are introverts, so you're not alone! The vast majority of us are pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones when we attend big conventions. But everyone I've met over the years has been friendly, so with only a small amount of effort, you'll find yourself with new friends in no time.

In the photo directly below, taken at Boucheron 2012 in Cleveland, I hadn't met half the lovely women in the photograph before that weekend, but by the time I flew home, I thought of them as friends.

Gigi Pandian, Juliet Blackwell, Victoria Laurie,

Chantelle Aimée Osman, Susan Boyer, Lesa Holstine

at Bouchercon in Cleveland..

2. Though the schedule is jam-packed with fabulous programming, you shouldn't feel you have to do everything. Take time for coffee breaks with new friends, as well as solitary breaks back in your hotel room to recharge. Truly. Give your brain at least a little bit of time each day to rest. You might even get out of the hotel and see some of the sights in the city you're visiting. (This year they've got some cool organized tours.)

Bouchercon is a lot bigger than mystery conventions like Malice Domestic (celebrating traditional mysteries) and Left Coast Crime (the West Coast's mystery con), meaning there's so much to see and do -- but also that it's even more important to take a break. 

Mysti Berry, Gigi Pandian, Sophie Littlefield. 

Meeting online friends in person.

3. As soon as you arrive, look through the program book and circle the events you want to be sure to attend. That way you can be sure to get in the good stuff you want to see, such as a panel on a topic that interests you or an interview with one of your favorite authors. Trust me. If you don't write it down on paper or put it in your phone calendar, you'll miss things you meant to see. I've done this multiple times, so I need to follow my own advice!

4. Once you've figured out everything you absolutely must attend, be open to new experiences. One of the reasons I had such a good time at my first Bouchercon was because I had no expectations. I didn't have a book out to promote, so I was attending to see what the convention was all about. I loved picking up bookmarks from new authors, having hallway conversations with people as passionate about mysteries as I was, and meeting interesting people at the bar. None of  those things were formal parts of the program, yet they were core parts of the Bouchercon experience. 

Opening ceremonies of Bouchercon in Cleveland

at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

5. Don't forget to look over the attendee list. The long weekend will be over before you know it, and you want to be sure to connect with people you might not have another opportunity to see. Be it saying hello to a favorite author at their signing, or meeting up with a friend you know through an online mystery discussion group, making a checklist of names in advance is helpful. 

I hope to see you at this year's convention! 

--Gigi Pandian

Malice Domestic

Juliet Blackwell and Gigi Pandian at a 2011
Sisters in Crime reading: Juliet reading from her
witchcraft mystery series, Gigi reading from
her first locked-room mystery short story.

Next week, Gigi and Juliet will be at Malice Domestic, the book-lovers convention that celebrates the traditional mystery. If you'll be there, be sure to say hello! Details about their panels are below. 

But first, a fun little story: In 2007, both Gigi and Juliet were new to the mystery world and didn't know a soul. The 2007 Malice Domestic convention was the first either had attended. Juliet was up for an Agatha Award (for Feint of Art, writing with her sister as Hailey Lind), and Gigi was being awarded the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant (for Artifact, when it was an unpublished work-in-progress). Though the two would come to learn they lived only a few miles from each other in California, they first met at the opening ceremonies on the other side of the country -- when Gigi told Juliet how much she loved Feint of Art! -- and immediately became friends. 

Since then, Juliet has had more than ten books published, and this year Gigi is up for an Agatha Award for her locked-room mystery short story "The Hindi Houdini." What a fun ride it's been! 

MALICE DOMESTIC 26: May 2-4, 2014

Hyatt Regency Hotel, Bethesda, MD

Gigi's panel is Saturday at 9 a.m.

Make It Snappy: Our Agatha Best Short Story Nominees

B.K. Stevens (Moderator), Barb Goffman, Gigi Pandian, Barbara Ross, Art Taylor

Juliet's panel is Saturday at 2 p.m.

Witches and Werewolves and Ghosts, Oh My!: Woo-Woo Authors Appear in Character
Dina Willner (Moderator), Juliet Blackwell, Dana Cameron, Jim Lavene, Leigh Perry/Toni Kelner

Why Conventions Are Inspiring

Gigi here. Last week, I was in Monterey for a mystery convention. I already posted a bunch of photos from Left Coast Crime on my own blog, but I wanted to talk about a different aspect of the convention today: why conventions are so inspiring.

Aspiring mystery authors quickly learn the difference between craft conferences and fan conventions. When I was learning how to write a book I attended wonderful writing conferences like the Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference. Now I primarily attend fan conventions as an author. I've heard some new authors complain that they get lost in the shuffle at fan conventions. It's true. You might not sell many books. You might be seated at a signing next to an established author who has a line of fans out the door, while you twiddle your thumbs. You might speak on a sparsely-attended panel. But you know what? None of that matters. Because you'll also meet readers you never would have connected with if you hadn't been there. You'll connect with other writers who are going through the same things you are. You'll catch up with old friends who live across the country and you only have the opportunity to see at conventions. You'll see authors who inspired you to become a writer yourself. It was an exhausting few days (especially for us introverts who need time alone to recharge), but when I returned home I was more inspired than I'd been in months.

Photos of some of the inspiring happenings at Left Coast Crime: 

Seeing friends be brilliant on panels.

Juliet Blackwell speaking on a paranormal mystery panel. 

Mysti Berry speaking on a San Francisco mysteries panel.

Running into one of my literary idols, who has become something of a mentor. 

Aaron Elkins and Gigi Pandian.

Hanging out with friends I don't see nearly often enough.

Gigi Pandian and Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts.

Dressing up. I rarely have a reason to don a dress and Fluevog shoes! 

Pat Morin, Gigi Pandian, Sue Trowbridge (LCC Fan Guest of Honor).

5 Lessons Learned From My Sabbatical as a Full-Time Writer

—Gigi Pandian

For the past three months, I've been a full-time writer. I'm using a sabbatical from my day job to complete my latest mystery novel. I have just over 10 days left of the 100-day sabbatical. Here are some of the surprising things I've learned so far:

1. Time does not equal productivity. 
I don't believe in waiting for creative inspiration to strike before I begin writing, but that doesn't mean I can be creative for 8 hours straight. I would often find that 3 hours of focused writing would amount to a better output than a full 8-hour day.

2. Having freedom is both good and bad.
It's nice to be able to meet a friend to socialize whenever you feel like it, spend a leisurely afternoon reading a great book, or cook a new recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen for lunch—but there are still only 24 hours in the day. Writing "full time" can easily create a false sense of endless time. If I want to get things done, I have to set my alarm to get up each morning and create writing goals for the day.

3. It's lonely out there!
I'm fortunate to have so many full-time writer friends who I can meet up with to both socialize and write. If I didn't have that support network, I'm pretty sure I would have gone crazy by now. In my day job, I share an office with one of my closest friends, and we're always bouncing ideas off each other. Without that structure, it's easy to become a hermit without realizing it's happening.

4. Shifting your writing process is possible.
I thought I had it all figured out. I was completely convinced I was a "cafe writer," someone who had to get out of the house to be disciplined enough to write. It turns out I can write at home—as long as I set goals and turn off the internet.

5. "Living the Dream" in reality isn't the same as the fantasy. 
I've realized I have no desire to write all the time. I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to try out being a full-time writer on a temporary basis. It has taught me some surprising lessons about what I want out of life. I'm still in my post-cancer "seize the day" mode, so I had wondered if I would find myself wishing my sabbatical could continue—but on the contrary, I can't wait to get back to my normal life. I've learned that the life I've set up for myself is the one I want: surrounding myself with amazing friends and family plus keeping a fulfilling day job that gives me a few mornings a week to write mysteries.

Today also marks 20 days until Pirate Vishnu (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery #2) is released!

A century-old treasure map of San Francisco’s Barbary Coast. Sacred riches from India.
Two murders, one hundred years apart. And a love triangle… Historian Jaya Jones has her work cut out for her.

Here's one of the fun promotions that's going on leading up to the book launch:

Two chances to win one of two signed copies of Pirate Vishnu along with an India wall-hanging that has a pocket to hold letters or magazines:

Chance #1: Sign up for my email newsletter by February 10. All subscribers are automatically entered.

Chance #2: Like my Facebook page by February 10. All new Likes are entered, and all existing fans who comment between January 1 and February 10 are also entered.

And if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can also join me at the book launch party!

Pirate Vishnu Book Launch Party with Gigi Pandian

Sunday, February 9

6 p.m.

A Great Good Place for Books

6120 LaSalle Ave., Oakland CA

(in Oakland's Montclair Village)

Day 28 of Being a Full-Time Writer

Exactly four weeks ago, I started my sabbatical. For 100 days, I'm a full-time writer.

It's thought of as being "the dream," right? Spending your days writing. Following nobody's schedule except your own. Sitting around in your pajamas while playing with plotting and prose.

But I'm finding it's not that easy.

Writing full time really means writing full time. Instead, I find myself spending a lot of time "doing research" (often a euphemism for "playing on the internet") or doing completely unrelated tasks when I should be writing.

The problem, I'm finding, is that there's a big difference in kick-starting productivity when you know you have to be at work in a few hours (my usual schedule) and when you know you don't have to be back in the office for three months (I go back in February, after turning in a book).

Four weeks in, I'm still finding my groove. So far, to stay productive I'm making writing dates and joining other writers at work spaces such as cafes where students and freelancers hang out. When someone else is expecting me, I have no excuses. The laundry can wait. I'm heading out the door to a few minutes of conversation and a few hours of writing.

 

--Gigi

Gigi's Book News

It's been a while since the Pens have posted on a daily basis, but we still keep the site up for the archives as well as to post news of interest about what we've been up to. Most of us now have personal blogs, email newsletters, and are on Twitter, so you can keep most up to date there. Since I haven't done an update on the Pens site since we wrapped up daily posts, I've got a lot going on so I thought it was about time I did one here!

Artifact: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery was released August 28, 2012. I held the book launch party at A Great Good Place for Books in Oakland, CA. (Photos here.) 

I found out this week that Artifact is being named a Best of 2012 book by Suspense Magazine! The full list of books will be in their December issue, coming out the first week of December.

 

In a couple of weeks, I'll be heading to southern California for the book launch party of the next Jaya Jones mystery. Fool's Gold: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Novella is a prequel to Artifact  being published in Other People's Baggage, a collection of three interconnected mystery novellas (Henery Press, December 3, 2012). This was a really fun project to write a mystery connected to two others through a luggage mix-up that leads to mystery and mayhem. 

In Fool's Gold, when a world-famous chess set is stolen from a locked room during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, historian Jaya Jones and her magician best friend must outwit actresses and alchemists to solve the baffling crime. (More details here.)

If you're in the Los Angeles or Orange County areas, I hope you'll join me and my co-authors Diane Vallere and Kendel Lynn at one of the launch parties:

Thursday, November 29, 2012 

6-8 pm at Traverler's Bookcase in Los Angeles

Saturday, December 1,  2012

3-5 pm at Mystery Ink Bookstore in Huntington Beach

More event details: http://gigipandian.com/news-events/

Writer Pals

by Gigi Pandian

Far from being a solitary pursuit, writing wasn't something I was able to do well until I surrounded myself with other writers. Shortly after I moved to the Bay Area, everything in my life began to fall into place: wonderful friends, a great guy, an amazing job. But something was missing. Writing a book was still one of those things people say they really want to accomplish but don't actually find a way to do. 

A couple of years after setting into my life in Berkeley, a woman who had recently completed her MFA in creative writing moved to my neighborhood. Emberly Nesbitt was the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, and we discovered we were both working on novels. Em and I wrote together during my first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and the momentum stuck. We met frequently at local cafes to motivate each other.

NaNoWriMo with Emberly Nesbitt

Everything snowballed from there:

It was through Em's encouragement that I sent my NaNoWriMo novel to the Malice Domestic Grants competition, which fosters the next generation of traditional mystery writers by giving grants to promising unpublished writers. When I found out I was being awarded one of their grants for Artifact, I attended Malice Domestic -- my very first mystery convention. It was there I met Juliet Blackwell.

Gigi Pandian and Juliet Blackwell

It turned out Juliet was the president of my local Sisters in Crime Northern California chapter. Since I hadn't previously known any local mystery writers, I would never have attended a meeting without her recommendation. Juliet and I became friends, and I also found myself serving on the board doing the chapter newsletter. 

Sisters in Crime NorCal Board in 2010

I learned about another group at that Malice Domestic convention: the Guppies Chapter of Sisters in Crime, a chapter set up for unpublished authors to have an online community. It was there that I learned how much time and effort it takes to learn to write a good novel, how to query an agent once your work is ready, and also how to not get discouraged in this crazy business.

Guppies Avery Aames (Daryl Wood Gerber) and Gigi Pandian.

I continued to write with Em at cafes, attended events in the mystery writer community, and signed with an agent I love working with. It was then that Sophie Littlefield rounded up a group of writers she thought would be a good fit for a group blog.

Juliet Blackwell, Gigi Pandian, Sophie Littlefield at Bouchercon

Since we wrote across genres, we hadn't all met each other before. I only knew Sophie and Juliet. Yet somehow we instantly clicked. (Sophie, to this day I don't know how you did it!) We picked a blog name, then got together for a photo shoot at a local cemetery (hey, many of us are mystery writers, after all).

Pens Fatales photo shoot in 2009

 
I didn't realize at the time how much of a community the group would become. Not only for writing, but for life in general. When your friends take you wig shopping and buy you a fun wig after you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, and then throw a big dinner party, you know you've chosen wisely.

A Pens Fatales dinner party

   

The Pens Fatales after wig shopping for Gigi

Last month at Left Coast Crime: Gigi Pandian, Sophie Littlefield, Juliet Blackwell

If you're a writer, definitely surround yourself with other writers. It doesn't have to be in person. Some of my best friends and critique partners are people I primarily know online, a couple of whom I've never even met. Even if you're an introvert, having at least a few writer pals who understand will make all the difference.

The Mystery Writer

Let's face it. When I look back over my life, I was destined to become a mystery writer. Shall I count the ways?

• I prefer rain to sunshine.

• I seek out gargoyles and other mysterious sights wherever I travel, and have done so as far back into my childhood as I can remember.

• I played "The Bad Angel" in the play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus.

• I have my own custom fitted vampire fangs, which I acquired 12 years ago at Gargoyle Statuary in Seattle (a city I adored when I lived there, in part because of its near-constant cloud cover).

• I prefer ruined castles to lavish ones, and preferably in winter when there's snow on the ground and hardly any people around.

• I've never been "cute." I've been called sultry and sexy and even goth on rare occasions, but not cute. I can rock black or red attire, but look absurd in pink or pastels of any kind.

• My photography is dark and mysterious instead of light and cheery. When I started a photography blog it was the natural thing to call it Gargoyle Girl.

• I was obsessed with Scooby Doo as a child. Obsessed.

• Shortly after that Scooby Doo obsession, I formed my own detective agency, which I named Snoopy Detectives. 

• It's been two years since I moved from an apartment into a house, which gave me my own study for the first time. Even so, the room is already bursting at the seams with mystery novels.

It's too late to fight it, so I'm going with it. So far it's been a fun ride.

 —Gigi

Gigi's Inadvertent Sociological Experiment

Since I had the same long, curly hair for 20 years, from 16 to 36, I took for granted the responses I'd get about my hair. Compliments and pick-up lines, sure, but also nicknames like "Poof" because of how frizzy my curls could get.

In the past eight months I've tried out many different hairstyles, and it's been fascinating to see how people respond differently to me when I have different hair.

The biggest eye opener? There's a big difference between the hairstyles men and women respond to.

The Pens picked out this wig with red highlights for me (shown on the left), and it quickly became my favorite wig during chemo. When I was up for leaving the house, I'd don this wig, and on most trips at least woman would make a comment about cool it was. I'm used to people commenting on my hair, but not quite that frequently.

When I was healthy enough to go back to working out of my office in San Francisco, I got myself a real hair wig (shown on the right). I picked out one that's pretty close to what my hair would look like if it wasn't curly, since I thought it would be fun to try out straight near-black hair. On my way home from the beauty store that day, I stopped at the market, and a guy hit on me.

The pattern has continued. Women love the streaks of color and often comment on it. Men don't approach me as often in that cool wig, but with the more natural hair, I get hit on at least as often as I used to. What's the deal?

I never selected any of my wigs for their potential for being hit on, but it was nevertheless interesting to see how it played out.

When I wanted more variety, I got myself an even shorter wig with purple streaks cut at a cute angle (shown on the left). The response was very similar to the wig with red highlights. Women agree with me that it's very cool. But guys? I have no idea.

It's been a few months since I finished chemotherapy, so pretty soon I'll be sporting a short cut of my own hair. It'll be interesting to see what happens then.

—Gigi

Strategy: Finding a Balance

by Gigi Pandian

I'm swaying in the wind right now, somewhere in between the extremes of being strategic about publishing decisions and simply having fun with writing mystery stories.

There's a good balance somewhere in there, but finding the perfect personal balance is a bit like standing on the head of a needle. It's far too easy to fall to one side or the other.

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to keep writing fun. My goal of publishing at the present time isn't to strategically optimize sales. Otherwise I probably would have continued on my traditional publishing trajectory that I was on before I received my breast cancer diagnosis, or have come up with a super-strategic self-publishing plan. Instead, one of my biggest 2012 goals was to celebrate the end of my cancer treatments in August with holding my first mystery novel, Artifact, in my hands, and celebrating with good friends.

But...Somewhere along the way of following the steps to publish a good quality end product, I began to think more strategically.

I knew after working with an editor that I should produce Advance Reader Copies four months before the book's release date if I wanted any chance of garnering advance reviews. And I knew that meant also creating ARCs in a specific industry-standard way. Then there's the endless amount of possible publicity....

But hang on a minute! Didn't I decide to do this to have fun? I took this path because I wanted to share the mysterious adventures of treasure-hunting historian Jaya Jones, her magician best friend Sanjay (aka The Hindi Houdini), and all the other characters that won't stop rattling around in my head. I don't want to go online for the purpose of selling books. I want to enjoy interacting with other writers and readers. If I gain some readers, then that's great. But I'm not happy when I'm in the mental space of being overly strategic about my actions. You could probably count the number of times on one hand that I've used a hashtag on Twitter. I don't think like that when I'm chatting on Twitter. Nor do I want to.

But I need to do something, right? Because otherwise I might as well be writing my stories in my little Bay window only for myself. I'm sure I'd still write stories in a journal even if nobody else would ever see them. But that's not what I'm doing. I'm drafting, writing, revising, writing, revising, getting critiqued, attending workshops, writing, revising, getting edited, revising, revising some more, proofreading, laying out the text, proofreading, revising, proofreading....

So yes, I'd like my mysteries to find an audience. And I'd like to make enough money from them to finance my travels to research further books (it's the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series, after all, each story going from San Francisco to some foreign destination to solve a mystery and track down a treasure).

Therefore I've got a binder of research notes where I'm keeping track of ideas about how to do a good job publishing to find an audience. I'll do the leg work, but then I try not to take myself too seriously.

This week I'm proofreading my ARCs before they go to press. I can't quite convince myself to stop fiddling. I need to step back, take a deep breath, and remember this is amazingly fun. Because it is.

Even Indiana Jones is Afraid of Snakes. It Must be a Guy Thing.

When I was a little kid, I had a theory that girls were afraid of spiders and boys were afraid of snakes.

My best friend, a little boy who lived across the street, would torment me with spiders. Spiders didn't seem to scare the boys. Even though I was a tomboy—matchbox cars, a skateboard, and a constant coating of dirt—spiders freaked me out.

But when the couple who lived down the street told us there were snakes in their large ivy lawn, I wasn't the least bit afraid. Who cared about snakes? But my best friend was terrified, as were the other little boys in the neighborhood. (Looking back, the couple probably told us about the snakes so we'd stay out of the ivy.)

Around that time, the first Indiana Jones movie came out. And he, too, was afraid of snakes! If brave Indy was afraid of snakes, little-kid-me knew I was onto something. All men must have an irrational fear of snakes. But women? We knew better.

I was too young to have it occur to me that most *people* were creeped out by snakes. I just didn't happen to be one of them.

Because of my childhood theory about the gender divide of the fear of snakes, I grew up even less scared of snakes than I otherwise might have been. Since I assumed little girls didn't fear snakes, I had no reason to be afraid. Snakes are cool, not scary. But spiders? That's another story.

—Gigi

Romantic Destinations (Good for Some Kissing)

Since I've been stuck at home this past year due to circumstances beyond my control, I've only been able to visit romantic foreign destinations in my mind. Here are a few photos I took of some of my favorite romantic spots in the past. I plan on returning on my round-the-world trip, as well as making new discoveries.

Prague

With its medieval architecture, romantic cafes, and overall atmosphere, Prague is one romantic city. Unfortunately, the only time I've been there, I was on my own. So yes, now it's on my list of places to drag the unsuspecting husband.

Venice

Venice is a bit too crowded for my taste, but with views like this, it's possible to find moments where you can forget about the crowds. 

The ruins of Dunnottar Castle

If a crowded city isn't to your liking, remote castle ruins might do the trick. Maybe it's just me, but I find ruined castles much more romantic than standing ones. Art and tapestries are interesting, but crumbling stone ruins are even better for the imagination -- and also for finding a secluded spot away from the crowds.

An alley behind the Magic Box. 

 Oh wait -- maybe that's just for Buffy and Spike. 

--Gigi

When Nagging Backfires

This week begins my new year. No, my calendar isn't incorrect. Nor am I talking about Chinese New Year.

Back on January 1, I was undergoing daily radiation treatments. But as of Jan 31, I'm DONE with both chemo and radiation.

Some celebrating is definitely in order. I'm making plans with friends, moving forward with my Gargoyle Girl Productions business, cooking new recipes that are both healthy and delicious.

But there's a psychological stumbling block that's gotten in the way of that last item. Nagging.

I was already a pretty healthy eater, but now I'm going all out to treat my body well. There's no way I'm going to eat healthily if the food isn't tasty, so I've been experimenting with lots of cookbooks and recipes to find meals that satisfy both necessities. I've found many fantastic healthy recipes, which I'm really happy about.

But as soon as someone *else* tells me I should be eating something healthier, that's when I want to go order one of those mega hamburgers you see on Man v. Food. Washed down with a pint of vodka.

I don't actually want to eat that burger. Or to have more than a single martini. But if someone tells me I can't have those things? Then I want them.

I'm finding my own style of healthy eating that works for me, and if anyone else nags me about doing something differently, it's only going to backfire.

--Gigi

Too Virtuous for My Own Good?

by Gigi Pandian

Much to my dismay, I'm awful at having vices.

How cool would it be to sit in a candle-lit study with a cigarette and a glass of whiskey while typing away at a novel? Yes, very cool.

Alas, I tried smoking in college and hated it. More recently, I gave up alcohol during chemotherapy treatments, and found I didn't miss it one bit. What kind of tortured artist am I?

Gigi with a cup of strong coffee. Bliss.

Sure, I've got my coffee. But does that even count as a vice? Lots of studies show coffee is good for you.

One of my biggest fears about being a writer has always been that I don't possess enough angst to write meaningful stories. At first I thought cancer would solve this problem. Instead, it turned out that even in a supposed crisis, I don't freak out.

But I realized something else while going through cancer treatments. The books I was devouring weren't deep explorations of disease or crime or the human condition. I didn't want an excuse to cry. I wanted to be carried away on adventures that would inspire me to take my own. I was picking up lighthearted mysteries with a heavy dose of adventure -- the stuff I like to write.

So perhaps it's not so bad that I wrote some kick-ass pages last weekend while eating a kale salad instead of with a cigarette dangling from my lip.

Being at Peace with Uncertainty

by Gigi Pandian

I'm a planner. I haven't run out of milk or any other staple in over 10 years. I plan vacations years in advance and buy airline tickets months ahead of time. I don't start writing a mystery until I have a plot worked out.

But this past year, I had to let go of all that.

And you know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

When I wasn't healthy enough to go to the supermarket myself, my family and friends brought over groceries and made home-cooked meals. Giving up the control of being the one in the household to go to the supermarket was an adjustment. But it was amazing to learn how many people wanted to help.

When I couldn't travel, I had to cancel three upcoming trips. At first I was really disappointed, but I knew I had no choice. Once I accepted that, I realized there was a lot that I could do at home. Thanks to technology, I could work from home. That gave me a bit of normalcy. But when I wasn't working, what would I do with myself? I couldn't make plans that involved going out, so I lacked structure. And I didn't know how well I'd be feeling each day, so I had to take things one day at a time. That was the biggest challenge—not knowing.

But that's exactly what let me brainstorm about the projects that led me to create Gargoyle Girl Productions. And when I didn't want to be productive, I still didn't want to be bored. I took photographs of things around the house with a funky new camera lens, and hung out with my bookshelves full of books I hadn't previously had time to read. I had never before embraced giving up on books I wasn't into, but now I'm all about finishing only good books. Life's too short to spend time reading books we don't enjoy—or doing anything else we don't enjoy, for that matter.

When November rolled around, it was time for NaNoWriMo. But wait! I wouldn't be able to do my usual routine of spending National Novel Writing Month meeting up with a good friend at a cafe multiple mornings per week. This year, I was on my own. But I think that's part of what enabled me to write something completely different than I was used to.

Now I'm well enough to be going into the office, buying my own groceries, and hanging out a cafes. But there's still a lot of uncertainty in my life. I've always been mellow, and I'm glad it turns out that after being shaken up I've again found that place of being at peace. I still wish I could plan a bit more.... But based on how well I got through the second half of 2011, I'd say I'm doing pretty well being at peace with uncertainty.

Vive la France et le Cookie Monster

by Gigi

One of my fondest childhood memories is of having a Cookie Monster cake. I swear I can remember the heavenly taste of the florescent blue frosting. (I looked everywhere for a photo of what it looked like, but even Google let me down; 21st century Cookie Monster cakes look nothing like 1980 Cookie Monster cakes.)

From there, my experience with cookies went downhill.

Put a platter of cookies in front of me and I don't have to use willpower to resist them. Cookies have no allure for me. But present me with a plate of rich cheeses or buttery croissants, and that plate will be licked clean before you know it.

In spite of my struggles to move beyond intermediate French, I've always thought I'd make a good French person based on my taste in food.

Those French have it right. Strong coffee, rich savory pastries, good cheese just about everywhere, fresh produce at outdoor markets, wine carafes of whatever size strikes your fancy, long lunches every day.

Cheese shop. (I wish I was eating some cheese right now.)

A market with berry and asparagus varieties I hadn't seen before.

An outdoor cafe where it's virtually impossible to get your bill and leave (I'm not saying that's a bad thing).

Salad at a Paris cafe.

I frequently tell myself I'm going to slow down and take those long lunches. Days at work are busy, so it's easy to tell yourself that eating at your desk is the best thing to do. But I know in the back of my head that it's not the right choice.

Since it's the season of making resolutions, one of my resolutions is to step away from my desk for lunch, be it at at my home office or my workplace office. I should also resolve to sort through childhood photos to find a photo of that delicious Cookie Monster cake. But not right now. After writing this, I find myself with a strong desire to have a cup of coffee and a slice of cheese...

Soup is Good Food

Note: The title of this post was meant to be a reference to a Dead Kennedy's song, but then I realized it's also the Campbell's Soup slogan. Oh well. 

—Gigi Pandian

I've given up making declarations about things I'll never do. Life changes too much for it to make sense to say I'll never do a particular thing, even if it seems ridiculously out of the question at a given time.

Take buying a house. I never planned on staying in one place long enough that I'd do it, but here we are in a cute little house outside of San Francisco.

I also never thought I'd be interested in becoming a good cook. But our little house came with an amazing kitchen (below). For the first time in my adult life, I had sufficient counter space and a gas stove. Low and behold, I discovered cooking was fun!

My Dutch Oven is probably my favorite thing in the kitchen. I can make soup from scratch that tastes better than anything I can buy, and it gives me leftovers that last all week. (I'm always cold, so soup really is good food.)

Butternut squash soup with homemade croutons.

French onion soup.

I've learned that it's the little things that make the difference in cooking soup: learning that a shallot is not the same thing as a small onion, adding spices at the right time, making sure you brown the garlic and onions first, adding a flavorful garnish at the end. I realize that you probably already knew all of these things, but they're still new for me!

I read that Julia Child didn't learn to cook or learn French until she was 36—exactly my age—so there's still hope for me on both fronts. Yup, I've also been trying to get better at my French. Speaking of which, I should probably go do my lesson for the day. So I'll leave you with a few photos of the backyard garden where I get many of the ingredients for my soups.

Herbs in the backyard garden.

Chard in the garden. Chard is a great substitute in soups that call for Spinach.

Pretending to water the garden; in truth, I only approach the watering can to take artsy photos of it.