by Claire M. Murray
The call came for a crime story revolving around a song from the ’60s. There were so many from which to choose. What inspired me to select “Spirit in the Sky” and give my story the same name?
While searching for a song to wrap around a story, I read an article about the arts community in Malden, Massachusetts, dedicating a mural to composer/singer Norman Greenbaum. Greenbaum was born and raised there. Malden was my home for 18 years and workplace for 25. Better yet, the mural would be painted on the back of a building where I’d once worked.
I had my song.
With the song firmly in mind, and through dozens of replays while I wrote, “Spirit in the Sky” guided my story as it guided the three characters whose friendship was forged as soldiers in Viet Nam and lasted through the next fifty years. What crimes are involved? How is the song a crucial element of the story?
I hope you’ll get your copy of Peace, Love, and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the ’60s and read all 22 stories by Earl Staggs, Jack Bates, Linda Kay Hardie, Jeanne DuBois, Terrie Farley Moran, Heidi Hunter, Merrilee Robson, Claire A. Murray, Michael Bracken, Maddi Davidson, Joseph S. Walker, Dawn Dixon, Karen Keely, Paul D. Marks, Wendy Harrison, Mary Keliikoa, Maxim Jakubowski, James A. Hearn, C. A, Fehmel, Catina Williams, Josh Pachter, and John Floyd. Edited by Sandra Murphy and published by Untreed Reads.
Available wherever ebooks and print are sold, especially through our publisher Untreed Reads.
Book Update!
My box of books arrived yesterday!
Of course, I didn’t know it was there, and our complex mailboxes are all together at the other entryway. So I walked over with a small tote to get the mail. Uh-oh, key in mailbox, meaning larger package in separate box.
Once you open the package mailbox, the key remains in it and you cannot relock it. So here I am trying to carry a box of eleven books plus a tote full of mail and use a cane. Wasn’t working. I ended up pushing the box with one foot all the way back to the condo. Push, step, push, step. Gave that leg a good workout!
Then for a write-in session, I took a photo of the books, which I’d set out on a table, and then uploaded it to my Zoom background (settings/background and filters). It’s a good way to remind people of the book without being in sales mode.
Find more from Claire at https://www.cam-writes.com
