06 October 2015


by Barb Goffman

  • How does a groundhog react when cornered?

Robin Burcell

Donna Andrews


Old groundhog who visited my yard.

Now, back to the questions:
But don't stop there. All the other nominated stories are available online, too, through these links: http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html (for the Anthony finalists) and http://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2015/06/read-all-macavity-short-story.html (for the Macavity finalists). You should check them all out, especially if you're going to vote. They're all good reading--no question about it.



Robert Lopresti said...

Very funny, Barb, and informative.

janice law said...

Good luck with the voters at the Boucheron.

My most interesting research conversation was with a nice fellow at the state agricultural office about whether pigs would eat a person.
Answer, yes they would and with relish.

Sherry Harris said...

After reading this I'm once again grateful I'm not a police officer and that other people are will to do that job!

Barb Goffman said...

Thanks, Rob! See you soon.

Janice, now that is cool information to have. I feel the wheels turning ...

Sherry, there are so many jobs I'm thrilled other people are willing to do. Imagine being the person who works at the crematorium whose job it is to grind down with a mortar and pestle the bones that didn't make it to ashes during cremation. A real job!

Melodie Campbell said...

Great post!
Oh my...questions:
For The Bootlegger's Goddaughter (out 2017) How do you make an illegal grappa still blow up?
For Rowena Through the Wall: What REALLY is said ( and done) during a Satanic wedding?

Barb Goffman said...

What is said and done during a Satanic wedding? Come on, Melodie. Don't leave us hanging. Can you give us a hint?

B.K. Stevens said...

Great post, Barb! For both of my novels, INTERPRETATION OF MURDER and FIGHTING CHANCE (released today!), I had to do a lot of research about martial arts. Fortunately, I have a resident expert--my fifth-degree black belt husband. If you really want to write realistic, specific descriptions of martial arts scenes, though, listening to explanations isn't enough. You have to act them out, and sometimes you have to act them out many times, so you can get details straight, pause to jot them down, and begin again. And since my husband knows a great deal about martial arts and I don't, he always played the winner in our enactments, and I always played the loser. Research can be a painful process.

Barb Goffman said...


Leigh Lundin said...

Oddly enough, I knew the answer to the groundhog question, but then I’m a rural kid. (Plus, I’d also read your story.)

Most of my research I obtain either by reading or doing. The latter includes shooting, flying, and living with an alligator.

Vis-à-vis the pat-down, it could depend heavily upon the chemistry of the patter and the pattee.

I have a question for Janice: Is that pickle relish or mustard?

Barb Goffman said...

Living with an alligator? That requires more information, Leigh.

Jeff Baker said...

The oddest research question I've asked (online, for a story I haven't written yet!) is what clothing Egyptian slaves would have worn 3000 years ago. (Answer, usually none. Too hot for clothes!) As for nude pat-downs, I know (more research, I've never been in one) that in prison, inmates are strip-searched regularly, but I didn't know how cops would approach it in a nudist colony setting. (And I don't believe I just wrote that last sentence!)

Barb Goffman said...

Imagine working amid all that scratchy sand without clothes and suntan lotion. Shudder.

Dixon Hill said...


So, if the pat-down occurs at a nudist colony in the Bayou, instead of being called the "patter and pattee" are the participants just both referred to as the "patois"?