Connie Murphy is a senior FDA investigator dedicated to protecting public health and safety. While conducting routine inspections, intrigue and danger intervene, and she gets involved in drug smuggling, food poisoning, economic fraud, industrial espionage, human trafficking, and identity theft. She uses her interviewing and interrogation skills to uncover problems when people are less forthcoming, hide documents or fail to tell the truth.
Each story is based on real FDA cases with the names changed to protect the guilty.
About the Connie Murphy Mysteries(eBooks 10-12):
KILL A THIRST –Local hospitals are overwhelmed with food poisoning cases. Is someone trying to eradicate the elderly and homeless populations on Long Island? Connie must navigate the competitive government organizations to determine if the cases are connected and use her investigative expertise and tenacity to reveal the cause for the illnesses before more people die.
COMPOUND A PROBLEM – When Connie follows up a routine consumer complaint, she learns the company is making a nutritional supplement without FDA approval. The more questions she asks, the more pushback she gets. Her instincts tell her they are not disclosing everything. She suspects they may be doing something illegal and it is up to her to uncover what it is.
A BITTER PILL – While inspecting a company manufacturing a nasal spray to reverse the effects of addictive opioids, Connie discovers an unapproved drug in an unauthorized human clinical trial. When management dodges her questions, she suspects they are hiding something and must find another way to gather the incriminating evidence.
This set can be purchased at Amazon.com
Today we’re talking with BarbaraHelene Smith, author of the “Connie Murphy Mysteries”. Nice to see you again. Our listeners want to know where you get the ideas for your stories. That’s easy. The plots for the mysteries are based on real FDA cases – some I’ve worked on when I was an investigator, others are ripped from the headlines, and occasionally I dig into the FDA compliance archives. An alert may result from a consumer or trade complaint, manufacturer’s recall, or a problem found during routine inspections.
Once you have the idea, how do you go about writing the story? What is your process? When a problem is identified, Connie must follow a trail until the root cause is determined and the corrective action is initiated to prevent the problem from recurring.
I usually outline the major points in the case, which is the roadmap I follow. I may have to do additional research about a specific drug or the manufacturing procedure to better understand the details.
Once that is done, I add material about the location, people Connie interacts with – her colleagues, family, friends and other government agencies. The FDA does not work in a vacuum. Over the course of my career, I’ve worked with the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs, and state and local government agencies, and weave some of my experiences into the stories.
Each story goes through multiple drafts before I send the manuscript to other writers who have not read the earlier drafts, and then to the Editor, who catches spelling, grammar and punctuation errors I may have missed.
Do you have a specific place and time to write? I do most of my writing on the computer in my study. I’m a morning person and tend to write from seven until … I get tired or lose my focus – about 3-4 hours, unless I’m on a roll.
Writing can be a lonely occupation and you can’t do it alone. I attend writing classes and seminars, and belong to critique groups where we read and discuss our stories with other writers who belong to different genres. Their critiques provide valuable feedback for improvement.
How long does it take to write a book? It depends on the length of the story, but I usually write an e-book in eight to ten months. I’ve now been working on a novella. “Uprooting the Family Tree”, for two years, which I plan to publish this summer.
That’s a long time to be focused on one project. We’re looking forward to reading it. Thank you, BarbaraHelene, for sharing your writing experience with us.
ASSUME NOTHING is a collection of short mysteries about four ordinary women, who find themselves in extraordinary situations, while looking for the truth.
Do you like short, fast-moving mysteries with a unique protagonist?
ASSUME NOTHING is a collection of short mysteries about four ordinary women, who find themselves in extraordinary situations, while looking for the truth. Each story can be read in a couple of hours while on a beach, an airplane, by the pool, next to a fire on a cold afternoon or sitting in a comfy chair with a steaming cup of coffee, tea or glass of your favorite wine.
Search for Justice – Kelly Williams hasn’t seen her eight-year-old son since her husband gained custody after their divorce three years ago. Determined to find Tommy, Kelly enrolls in a class designed to locate missing persons. There she meets Roger Ross, who offers to help, but his trust falters when Kelly reveals a secret past. Will Roger follow his instincts or the evidence that never lies?
Vanished – If Holly Hall had a life most women would envy, why did she leave her husband? When Bill discovers Holly and half the money in their joint account are missing, he hires a private investigator to find her. The pursuing cat and mouse game reveals both Holly and Bill have been living different lives.
Family Matters – Lucinda Lawrence inherits a fortune from a total stranger. While attempting to uncover her benefactor’s identity, half-siblings begin to surface and then are mysteriously murdered. The evidence mounts against Lucinda, making her the prime suspect.
Fakes, Frauds and Forgeries – When Paige Jenkins learns her grandmother’s Santini portrait is a forgery, she initiates her own search to discover the truth. After identifying two more fake paintings, she contacts Byron Cruise, an insurance investigator, whose company insured the paintings. In her quest for answers, Paige repeatedly finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, and unwittingly becomes involved in robbery, kidnapping and murder.
Excerpt from Search for Justice:
Kelly drove to Tommy’s school and stared at the empty playground, not sure what to do. I could go into the building, identify myself as Tommy’s mother and take him home with me. But that would be kidnapping. Mom always said, ‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’. Besides, Tommy thinks I’m dead. It would be a shock to suddenly appeared.
She waited across the street and watched as different groups of children came out to play in the yard. When she spotted Tommy’s blue-and-white striped shirt, she left the car and hid behind a palm tree. Her heart ached. She wanted to climb the fence and hug him, but resisted the urge. I found him, she thought jubilantly. I know where he is. He’s safe and happy.
She walked to the car after Tommy’s class went inside the school. A sudden wave of panic flowed over her. Maybe I shouldn’t leave.What if Buddy takes Tommy away again?
Assume Nothing by BarbaraHelene Smith is available as an e-book and paperback at Amazon.com.
Any public group depends on volunteers to keep the organization active and worth attending. In a non-profit like LCRW, the officers, coffee maker, room set-up crew, and providers of edible goodies are all volunteers, and we are proud of them. Oftentimes, the monthly educational presenter is a group member and thus, also, a volunteer. We firmly believe in “authors helping authors.”
If you are a regular visitor to the LCRW website, you may have noticed the presentation titles and presenter names have been jumping around on our calendar. That’s a side effect of depending on volunteers. Life happens, as we say, and people need to juggle responsibilities. It’s all right. We do what’s necessary to keep the calendar full and the information flowing. By leaving all the monthly listings up, anyone can see what types of subjects we cover.
On Saturday, June 27, the presentation will be given by New York Times Best Seller Kathryn Shay. She will explain HOW to add conflict to your story. I, for one, need this class. I can write a good soap opera-type scene, but adding a separate conflict that the character has to overcome or solve and that keeps the reader turning the pages is one of my weaknesses. (So are long, wordy sentences.)
If you know Kathryn Shay as a romance writer, you are fortunate. May I also recommend her book, The Perfect Family. It’s an in-depth look at what happens to a family and its circle when one of the children comes out as gay. Until I read this warm, natural account, I did not understand the ripple effect.
And this blog post is also a grand example of how easy it is for a writer to change topics mid-essay. I think I need a class on how not to do that! The culmination remains: LCRW has many different levels of writers and wonderful volunteers that make our group worth belonging to.
Come visit us. Your first time attending is always free, and our dues are only $20.00 a year. Did you notice how I just changed topics again? It’s all right in this type of writing.
Kimberly Gore is a multi-genre author whose imagination thrives on curiosity, compassion, a dash of mischief. Her young adult novel Seven Little Secrets won first place in the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, while Knucklebone captured top honors in two national competitions judged by author Cynthea Liu, literary agent Jennifer Jaeger, and the Write On Con/Reading Room Aspiring Writer’s Competition. She also penned Save Me a Song and the middle-grade adventures The Miss-Adventures of Amy and Tracy and The Wish Problem series and she’s written several “how-to” guides. Beyond the page, Gore co-wrote a screenplay optioned by Minor Distractions Entertainment, created and produced IMPRINT Journal, a local literary magazine, and has spent two decades coordinating Rochester’s largest writer’s group, hosted by Barnes & Noble in Greece, NY. A seasoned instructor and conference speaker, she’s taught creative writing for community education programs and presented on the craft of storytelling at Astronomicon, Lilac City Rochester Writers, and RIT’s StoryCon.
Sue Sevard Brockport, NY Memoirist
The idea of filling each day as a writer had never before crossed my mind until the death of my husband, Jim, in 2010. For a reason I have never understood myself, I decided to write the story of our meeting, marriage, life, and love as a gift to our children. This project took me three years to complete and 4 writing classes at RIT and 3 at Brockport State, plus multiple memberships in writing groups. When I finally completed the book and published Autumn Leaves, I felt I had given my best and left a legacy for my four children. I never expected the book to be enjoyed by friends, relatives, and readers across the United States. By the time that book was completed, I was hooked on the writer’s bug. What can I write now? As the director of the Brockport Museum & Library of Local History, I found a new mission – writing stories about Brockport’s heroes. That idea started me on a new and interesting hobby which I shared with fascinating people from Brockport’s past.
Louise Penny is one of my favorite authors. I just finished reading, The Black Wolf, her twentieth book. Her novels have been translated into over 23 languages, sold millions of copies worldwide, and repeatedly reached number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. She has also earned prestigious awards including multiple Agatha and Anthony Awards, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2017.
Penny is a Canadian crime-fiction author, best known for her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec series. She was born on July 1, 1958, in Toronto, Canada, and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. After graduating at age 21, she embarked on an 18-year career as a radio host and journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She left the CBC in 1996 to take up writing. She started a historical novel but had difficulty finishing it and eventually switched to writing mysteries.
Besides her wonderful writing, there are two features I like about her books:
The intricately constructed plots often reflect current events, and explore universal themes as love, friendship, loss, and redemption.
Her characters are unique and familiar.
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, head of the Homicide Department of the Sûreté du Québec, inspired by Penny’s husband, Michael Whitehead, is not the typical world-weary and troubled detective, but compassionate and kind. Gamache and his team, including his second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, investigate conspiracies and murders by unconventional means.
I suggest you start by reading her first novel, Still Life, in which she introduces the characters living in the Village of Three Pines. In Three Pines, based on her town of Knowlton, Quebec, Canada, you’ll meet an assortment of memorable residents: an artist (Clara Morrow), a psychologist-turned-bookstore-owner (Myrna Landers), a cantankerous poet (Ruth Zardo) and her pet duck (Rosa), and a gay couple who own the local bistro and bed-and-breakfast (Gabri Dubeau and Olivier Brulé). Gamache lives in Three Pines with his wife, Reine-Marie, but when the crimes are set in more distant locations, the quaint village of Three Pines and its residents are central elements of the novels.
What is LCRW, you may be asking? It’s the acronym for Lilac City Rochester Writers.
Have you visited our author page and gotten acquainted with our members? Here’s a glimpse.
Do you like to read romance novels written by a New York Times best-selling author? Kathryn Shay is one of our members, and she also gives presentations to our group on the craft of writing. It’s a privilege to learn from her.
BarbaraHelene Smith spent her career as an FDA inspector. She has published twelve books about the different types of investigations the FDA handles. The Connie Murphy Mystery series is exciting, and it teaches at the same time.
Rick Taubold writes in varied genres and hosts an online magazine: Fabula Argentia. We think his best book is Punctuation for Fiction Writers. In it, he explains and gives examples of how to use correct punctuation for dialogue, which is different from that used for regular prose.
Rick Iekel also writes in varied genres. He wrote the book The Roc – Journey through the 20th century. It’s the history of Rochester, New York’s airport. He was the best person to write it as he worked at the airport for 30-plus years.
Donna Collins’ name will pop up in your magazines where her recipes and articles about country life appear.
John Caligiuri is our resident science fiction and alternative history author. He mentions local places (near Rochester) in his stories. It makes one feel more involved in the action when they recognize the locale.
Kim Gore teaches writing classes, hosts a writing group, and has multiple books out in different genres, both fiction and non-fiction. She is also a regular presenter in our group and publishes an annual Halloween anthology. She’s our “firecracker.”
This is only a synopsis of the authors you would have the privilege of spending time with if you attend LCRW. Click over to our authors tab to read more about each one, and others not mentioned here. We love visitors at our meetings and always welcome new members who we can help advance in their writing journey.
As a long-time workshop leader, I’m in awe of how some writers are masters at putting themselves on a path of creative self-destruction. In a way, it’s a beautiful, albeit demented, thing to behold—sort of like watching Glen Powell wrangling that F-5 tornado in Twisters. As a writer myself, I watch them and think, Wow. And I thought I was good at making myself miserable and getting in my own way.
What is it that makes these master self-saboteurs so good at what they do?
The question got me thinking about Stephen R. Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. The book has sold over 40 million copies and is still transforming the lives of everyone from presidents to parents. After revisiting that book, it occurred to me that highly effective people and highly ineffective writers have a lot in common. Indeed, I’d say they both share the same seven habits, except the latter applies all that initiative in the wrong direction.
What follows are examples of how highly ineffective writers manage to twist Covey’s seven habits for positive change into powerful lessons on personal sabotage.
Habit 1: Be proactive.
In his book, Covey writes that highly effective people take responsibility for their choices. They don’t just sit around waiting for whatever befalls them. They make it a habit to act rather than react.
The same goes for highly ineffective writers. Master self-saboteurs preempt any potential criticism of their work by being the first to trash talk it. They don’t succumb to outsiders trying to influence or support them with feedback, instruction, brutal honesty, or praise. When it comes to personal sabotage, highly ineffective writers always make the first move, pooh poohing all routes to a more productive and positive writing life.
Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind.
Imagine you are at your own funeral. What are people saying about you at your service? Covey says highly effective people decide how they want to be remembered—from their achievements to the values that guided their success. They then use those insights as the foundation for living a principle-centered life that helps them focus and flourish.
Highly ineffective writers also begin with the end in mind. Often, before they have even started their novels or memoirs, they fast forward to how all their efforts will likely play out:
Their book never sells because, let’s face it, unless you’re a celebrity or know someone, it’s next to impossible to land an agent or publisher, plus no one reads anymore anyway.
Or, miracle of miracles, their book does get published, but then they’ll be expected to (ugh!) promote it, and the idea of having to hawk their work feels exhausting, nerve-wracking, and, frankly, beneath them. Indeed, just the thought of marketing their book makes them not even want to write it.
Reviews! What’s the point of dedicating so much time and effort into publishing a book, just so a bunch of snobby critics and haters on Goodreads can trash their efforts for no good reason.
Or, equally dismal, their book is a smashing success, which means they’ll be under relentless pressure to replicate that success. The highly ineffective writer takes a moment to imagine their own funeral. “I can’t think of anything more pathetic,” says one of the small handful of mourners in attendance, “than an author who turned out to be nothing more than a one-hit wonder.”
Habit 3: Put first things first.
Highly effective people act. Every day, they manage their time and make choices in a way that feeds their personal and professional life. They say “no” to the things that don’t match their principles and goals, and they prioritize the things that provide meaning and balance in the here and now.
Highly ineffective writers also make choices every day about where they spend their time and energy. First things first, they choose to start their days by texting all their writing friends to see if anyone else got up early to write. Then they check out a bunch of Instagram reels and go down that rabbit hole of celebrity StarTracks until finally, after they’ve finished clicking through a slideshow of fifty unforgettable looks at the Venice Film Festival, they are ready to work on that new chapter…except now it’s time to go to their day job.
And so goes another morning, another week, another weekend. For the highly ineffective writer, every day is a race against the clock to say “yes” to as many things as possible—social media, rearranging the photos on the mantle, volunteering wherever they are needed. The highly ineffective writer is a master of prioritizing anything that is not writing.
Habit 4: Think win-win.
Forget about winners and losers. Highly effective people see life as a cooperative, not a competition. When interacting with others, their goal is to seek a mutually beneficial agreement or solution—a win-win where both parties feel satisfied with the outcome.
Highly ineffective writers go a step further with this mindset. They think in terms of win-win-win, which means when they sit down to write, they hope to satisfy three parties. Naturally, they want to fulfill their own creative goals; for example, to write a memoir about their childhood growing up on a small farm in Iowa. But they also want to make sure the people who appear in their story are happy, including their five sisters who read an early draft of their manuscript and all agreed, “That’s not how it really happened!” And lastly, they feel the need to accommodate the members of their writing group, one of whom offered this feedback: “No one is going to want to read about someone’s boring childhood on a smelly family farm in the middle of nowhere.”
With this kind of win-win-win philosophy, the highly ineffective writer sets out to revise in a way that will provide a satisfactory outcome for, well, for pretty much everyone they know.
Habit 5: Seek first to understand and then to be understood.
Listening. It’s a tricky skill because lots of people, even if they do allow room for others to talk, only listen enough to figure out what they want to say in return. Whereas a highly effective person makes it a habit to actively and empathetically listen before communicating their own views. They listen with the intent to understand.
Similarly, the highly ineffective writer understands exactly what someone is saying, mostly because they actively put words in the other person’s mouth.
What is said: “I think the opening of your story would benefit from some trimming.” What is understood: “Burn your entire manuscript.”
Said: “Your novel was a delight.” Understood: “I’m just being nice so you’ll leave me alone.”
Said: “Thank you for your powerful submission. Unfortunately, your novel is not a good fit for our press.” Understood: “We hated your novel and we hate you, too.”
Habit 6: Synergize.
The synergize habit is like habit 4 (Think win-win)—only on steroids. Highly effective people look for opportunities in all aspects of their life to unleash the power of collaboration; to create outcomes greater than the sum of their parts.
Given that writing, for the most part, is a solitary act, how does the highly ineffective writer practice a habit that involves teamwork, unity, and the type of math where one plus one equals three? The answer lies deep in their psyche.
Residing within the mind of the master self-saboteur is a quartet of collaborators—the creator, the editor, the critic, and the stan. Every time the highly ineffective writer sits down to write, these other team members unleash a torrent of opinions:
“Generate! Generate! Generate!” the creator insists.
“I don’t care if you’ve only written a few paragraphs,” the editor interrupts, “those passive verbs aren’t going to rewrite themselves!”
Meanwhile, the critic at this mental gathering doesn’t say a word because the musk of his disdain already communicates volumes. And the stan, bless his little heart, keeps piping in, “Your writing is perfect. Don’t change a thing!”
“Synergize! Synergize! Synergize!” the highly ineffective writer intones, while rocking back and forth, squeezing their head. But how can they make the whole greater than the sum of its parts when nothing they write ever seems to add up to anything?
Habit 7: Sharpen the saw.
We can all lose our edge from time to time, which is why highly effective people follow a balanced program of self-renewal in four areas of life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. They regularly and consistently “sharpen the saw,” so to speak, to create growth and ongoing positive change.
The highly ineffective writer also sets goals in service to self-renewal, often to extremes:
Run a marathon.
Greet every sunrise with a sense of awe.
Help save a bunch of endangered species.
And, most importantly, write, write, write! Every. Single. Day!
And therein lies the final lesson in personal sabotage. Because while highly effective people seek a balanced program of self-improvement to renew their edge, highly ineffective writers are determined to make their saws so sharp they inevitably drive themselves right over the edge.
Joni B. Cole is the author of seven books, including the recent release Party Like It’s 2044: Finding the Funny in Life and Death. She is also the author of two writing guides: Good Naked: How to Write More, Write Better, and Be Happier (listed as one of the “best books for writers” by Poets & Writers); and Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive. Joni is the founder and facilitator of the upcoming “Good Naked Weekend Write-Away” in White River Junction, Vermont, Oct. 25 -27, 2024. For more information about her teaching, her books, or how to register for the Write-Away, visit: www.jonibcole.com or www.thewriterscenterwrj.com
I have no natural talent for writing, so it is a skill I’ve had to learn. I could blame my high school English teachers for not preparing me to tackle the written word, but my inattention during class is the more likely culprit. When I graduated from high school, I couldn’t construct coherent sentences or cohesive paragraphs, not that I made any serious attempts to try it at that time in my life.
My post-high school attempts at storytelling fell flat. I briefly considered taking journalism in college, but I had no ideas, so I chose math and science instead. I never did finish college anyway and the fastest computer at that time was the Cray II, and it took up two rooms. Only big businesses, universities, and NASA had computers.
Life moved on and I got married and had a family, so any dreams I had of writing languished. Then, after thirty-some-odd years, ideas came to me, but I still couldn’t write a readable story. Fortunately, a night-school flyer arrived in my mailbox – the one at the end of my driveway. (Still not up to the “everybody has a computer” era.)
Kim Gore, a member of LCRW, was teaching a class on creative writing, and I signed up. It helped, but I still had a lot to learn. From the writing class, I heard about a Critique Group in the Barnes & Noble at the Greece Mall on the Ridge. It’s every second Thursday from 6:30 pm – 8 pm, and tuition is free, which fits into my budget.
At the Critique Group, I found out about LCRW. The membership fee is only $20 a year, again easy on my budget, and I have learned from seasoned writers on how to tell a tale with clarity and color. I’ve even had a poem and an essay published in local papers.
LCRW offers encouragement, instruction and friendship and I recommend it to all aspiring writers. If nothing else, you’ll have fun. Don’t delay – you have a novel in you the rest of the world should read. Come join us.
Lilac City Rochester Writers 