The Torment of Trivial Pursuit

by Julia Buckley















Last night my son asked if we could play Trivial Pursuit; this is ironic, since the last three times we played as a family we all ended up in bad moods, and last night was no exception.

My oldest son hates it when he doesn't know the answers; I think he got that from me. Generally, because the questions vary so wildly, I will get some sort of obscure query about the Bataan Death March and will fail to answer. Then my opponent will get a question like this (which is actually a question in one of the versions of Trivial Pursuit): "Which fictional mouse, created by Walt Disney, has become an American Icon?"

This will drive me crazy. I never get the mouse question. Last night, when I landed on "literature," I was thrilled to think I might actually earn a chip. My question, however, was about a comic strip--one I'd never heard of. Is this how we define literature, I wondered? Then I looked back at the box and saw that the brown, in its newest version, stands for "the printed word." I failed the comic book question, and then my nine-year-old got the question about Emily Dickinson, so we were both furious.

And yet in a few weeks, we will all want to play Trivial Pursuit again. Why? I've been thinking about this today, and I can only assume that it's about the mystery. That perfect question is out there, and I will know the answer next time! And so it lures me like the siren of board games, and I falter again and again. I did not know which eastern state has the largest display of collectible spoons. I was not aware that Pete Rose achieved his 4000th hit right before his 42nd birthday.

But I did get one terrific mystery lover's question: "What is the more politically correct title of Agatha Christie's TEN LITTLE INDIANS?" I answered, I was correct, and my family decided I had some value as a player.

So do you know? Or should I try the mouse question? :)

What's the most annoying question you ever got--assuming that you are trivial enough to play trivia games?

(fair disclosure: this was a blog I wrote about a year ago, but we DID play Trivial Pursuit again this week, because it was our spring break.)

The Secret Weapon of the Undercover Cop: Attitude

Marco Conelli (Guest Blogger)

When I look back at my police career, I dwell fondly on my time as an undercover police officer in the Bronx Narcotics unit. Many people commonly confuse undercover cops with plain clothes officers. Big difference. As a true undercover you revoke your identity and no one knows who you are.

People who have read Matthew Livingston and the Prison of Souls have told me they enjoyed the way the characters could be identified with.
When Matthew, Dennis, and Sandra have to confront their criminal in an abandoned church, they are not overly confident or sure of themselves. They are much the way I was the first time I “stepped out” with a body wire taped to my skin and carbon paper smeared into my hands and face to make me look “dingy.” They are scared!

Matthew, Dennis, and Sandra used the very tool we should all exercise, common sense guided by good judgment. I remember the first time I locked stares with a drug dealer; I didn’t have my legs underneath me. I had entered a small apartment building, stepping from the bright summer sun into the dark lobby inside. By the time my eyes adjusted I was faced with three nasty fellows who were quick to inform me, “We ain't never seen you before.”

While I stammered through a defense indicating that I had been there plenty of times, the next question was fired at me twice as fast. “If you were here before, what color did you buy?” Well, the intelligence I had received before I went to this location informed me that they sold vials of crack-cocaine. In this section of the Bronx, crack vials were identified by the color of the cap. I quickly looked at my surroundings to see how much room I had if I ended up in a fight.

When my eyes scanned the floor I saw empty vials and a few green caps. All I had to do now was sell my performance. I looked at the three of them, who were growing nastier by the second, and replied, “Come on, guys, I always buy green tops here.” After that they felt a bit more relaxed and proceeded to high five me and sell me three vials for $9. Five minutes later they were in the custody of my backup team, none the wiser.

When I look back at barely being 23, I see how my confidence grew daily with every undercover experience. I value those experiences and pass them along to my teen age sleuths. Somehow they are each a young version of myself. By the way, would you like to know what gets an undercover transaction completed successfully? You can take all the disguises, stories, and unique “non cop” looks and throw them out the window. The thing that gets you over is...attitude! And there is nothing the bad guys can do about it.

Marco Conelli is the author of the young adult mystery Matthew Livingston and the Prison of Souls. He is also an active Detective in the NYPD, in his 18th year of service to New York, or as he puts it, “this great city.” In addition, he’s a songwriter and musician with several CDs to his credit. However, he says, “You mystery folks are much more interesting than those hot headed musicians.”

Nouns? Becoming verbs? What is happening here?

By Lonnie Cruse



Now then, folks, I can change a noun into a verb with the best of 'em, but I am NOT responsible for the latest trend . . . changing trademarked company names or products into everyday verb usage. So why am I posting this? Because someone called me on the cyber-carpet for doing just that on a discussion list awhile back and it's taken me until now to come up with a response . . . that I cared to print.



This morning I asked my friend, Debby, a question about airline flights, while we chatted on the phone. Her response? "Google it."



See, I told you it wasn't just me. So we Googled it. Googling it seems to be where it's at. And we got answers on Google. And in case you're interested, Debby no longer sweeps her kitchen floor. She "Swiffers" her kitchen floor. So do I, but don't tell anybody.



A couple of years ago I was doing a library talk/signing with author Melanie Lynn Hauser. She wrote CONFESSIONS OF A SUPER MOM and in the book she mentions "Swiffering." She told the audience her hubby wanted to know when Swiffer became a verb. Maybe SHE started the trend? Who knows?



All I know is that it IS a trend, I'm not responsible for it, but I'm just as capable of Googling or Swiffering as the rest of you.



Of course that brings up the point that authors are cautioned to avoid using "was" "has" and words ending in "ing" or "ly." Hmmm. So now we have a double no no. Or do we?



The rules for grammar and punctuation have changed drastically in the last decade or two. I remember a discussion not long ago, on a writer's group, about using contractions. Many were taught never to use them, BUT using full words often sounds awkward in dialogue. Picture this:



I was not going to tell you. (Oops, used the "was" word.)

I wasn't going to tell you.



In my experience, most people use the contraction for general speaking but use BOTH words if they want to emphasize the "not" part.



"Had" seems to be another no no for writers. Personally I like the word, but what do I know? So I cheat and use words like: I'd, she'd, and sneak it in that way. I never said I wasn't (was not?) sneaky.



Which of all of the above do you use in everyday conversation? Listening to people around me, I notice a lot of contractions. Nouns serving as verbs. Ly and ing words. And we do want our written dialogue to sound normal, not stilted. Yet we can't over do it.



I'm most certainly never going to win any awards for grammar, either in my writing or speech. (Speach? Sigh.) I've forgotten most of what I learned in school about it. Yes, it does grate on my nerves when I hear some younger folks who haven't been out of school as long as I have say things like: "I brung it." But some of the newer trends like contractions in speaking or writing or changing trademark words from nouns to verbs is probably here to stay, and we might as well learn to live with it



Alrighty then, anybody up for a bit of scrap booking? Thanks for reading our blog. Blogging is fun. Did I just do it again?

Following the Maybes

Elizabeth Zelvin

I don’t write about writing as frequently as my blog sisters on Poe’s Deadly Daughters. Maybe that’s because my method doesn’t bear too much analysis. In the division between outliners and into-the-mist writers (or seat-of-the-pantsers, as some call them), I fall definitely—or mistily—into the category of those who don’t or can’t outline. Picking my way through a mist, with light shining only a little way ahead and no idea what lies beyond that bit of illumination, is an excellent description of how I write a novel. As I’ve said before, writing short—a poem, a story, a song, a blog post, or a letter to an online therapy client—is a whole lot easier than writing in the mist.

In a recent online discussion about how people write, I was interested to learn that for some writers, outlining means not a sheaf of pages that look like a Power Point presentation, but a collection of little notes. Using index cards or Post-its, they write signposts along the path of the story. For example: “The power fails, lights go out, covering up second murder.” “Journalist wrote a story about the developers.” “Protag and friends search boyfriend’s room for victim’s notebook.” “Roommate is bulimic, hears murderer while in bathroom throwing up.”

“Ohhh,” I said. “Is that outlining? I do that—or something very like it.” My examples are in fact notes from a manuscript later in my series. All of them were written during the writing of the first draft—not before, but during the process, as they occurred to me. Some of the events mentioned made it into the draft, others did not. The story took itself in different directions. But that’s exactly what these little-note outliners say happens to their stories. The outline is not inflexible, and it can’t be allowed to trammel the creative process. On the other hand, it is much harder to write not knowing what’s going to happen next, no less in the end, from moment to moment the whole length of 250 pages.

So what’s the difference between outlining and what I do? Is there a difference? For one thing, these notes by no means tell the story. They cover only those flashes in the midst that happen to catch my inner eye. When I think of a mist with headlights trying to break through and mysterious happenings hidden behind its veil, I think of a drive my husband and I once took along the Blue Ridge Parkway on a day so foggy that the Blue Ridge was invisible. It was very quiet, the damp air a heavy blanket muffling sound and movement. Once or twice we spotted a deer cropping grass by the roadside, undisturbed by the beam of our headlights glancing off it.

The note taking is like that. If the headlights fall to the left, I see a deer—make a note. There may be a bear to the right that I never see. Sometimes the note-thoughts come to me as I write, sometimes as I lie in bed thinking of yesterday’s writing and of today’s to come. Sometimes not just plot ideas but lines of dialogue and even occasional descriptive passages bubble up while I’m out running. That’s why I carry a lightweight digital recorder. I get it down before I can forget it and make the note when I get back to my pen and my Post-its.

But here’s the biggest difference. To me, “outline” means “commitment.” If I say I’m an outliner, I must have sticky notes, and each note must represent a bit of the story that I am committed to tell, even if the rule is that it’s okay to change my mind later. Every single one of my notes (including the true versions of the examples above) start with “Maybe.” “Maybe the power fails…” “Maybe the journalist wrote a story…” “Maybe the roommate is bulimic…” I’m not committed. But I don’t want to throw away what may turn out to be perfectly good plot points, certainly not just because of my lousy aging memory. Writing it down is like taking a quick photo of that deer at the edge of the mist. I’ve got it, and if I want to, I’ll use it later—maybe.

An Interview with Angela Henry

by Sandra Parshall

Angela Henry is the author of The Company You Keep, Tangled Roots, and Diva’s Last Curtain Call, featuring African-American sleuth Kendra Clayton. She founded the award-winning MystNoir Website, which promotes African-American mystery writers, in May 2000. Born and raised in Springfield, Ohio, she now works as a reference librarian at an Ohio community college. Visit her web site at www.angelahenry.com.

Q. Tell us a bit about your heroine, Kendra Clayton, and how you created her.

A. Kendra is what I like to call the girl next door with an edge. She's smart, funny, gutsy, and fiercely loyal to her friends and family. But, on the flip side, she's nosy, sarcastic, hardheaded, and impulsive, which is what gets her into a lot of trouble. I created Kendra by using traits from many of my female friends and relatives. There is a little bit of everyone I love in Kendra.

Q. Librarians are smart, savvy people - did you ever consider making Kendra a librarian sleuth?

A. Actually, when I started writing the first book in the series, I was working for an adult literacy program much like the one Kendra works for. By the time I finished the book four years later, I was working in the library field. So, I let Kendra keep my old job.

Q. Will you write a fourth book about Kendra, or are you working on something new?

A. I am working on a Young Adult book apart from this series. But, book number four in the Kendra series is already written and should be in bookstores sometime in 2009. I'm contracted for two more, bringing the series to six. Beyond that I have no idea, though I'd like to keep writing the series for a long time.

Q. Did you grow up wanting to be a writer, or did that urge come to you in adulthood?

A. I always knew I'd be a writer when I was younger. I'm an avid reader and always wanted to create stories and characters of my own. I started writing short stories in high school and got a lot of encouragement and positive feedback from my teachers.

Q. You've said that nine years passed from the time you started writing your first book to the time you were offered a publishing contract. Do you think publishers were reluctant to take on a mystery series with black characters? Or were you simply having the same run of bad luck that many beginners have? Or was it a combination of both factors?

A. Well, I'm more inclined to think it was bad luck and timing. A lot of the feedback I was getting for my first book was that editors loved my characters and they loved my "voice" but it wasn't suspenseful enough to compete in the tight mystery market. My agent never told me that any editors had rejected it based on the race of my characters. Also, I did have one publisher that was very interested but the editor that expressed interest left the publishing house and I was left in limbo. We could never get a yes or no answer and eventually gave up.

Q. Do you believe imprints dedicated to black fiction are helpful or harmful in the long run? Do they help writers find their most likely readers? At the same time, is it possible they prevent writers from breaking out to a larger audience?

A. I think black imprints can be a double-edged sword. For a lot of black authors, myself included, being published by a black imprint helped me get published and build a readership. I'm very grateful for that. But, books published by black imprints are usually only promoted to black readers, which makes it really hard for an author who wants to break out to a mainstream audience and make some of the big bestseller lists. It's not impossible. But it's very hard.

Q. You started out with BET Books, which was soon sold to Harlequin. Did the change of ownership affect you in any way?

A. Yes, it did. BET was a smaller publisher. Harlequin is bigger and has much better distribution, which is wonderful. You can find Harlequin books all over the world. However, I'm just beginning to see one of the not so wonderful things, and that's the bias some people have against books published by Harlequin. I experienced it first hand not long ago at a book fair I participated in. Another author asked me who my publisher was. When I said Harlequin, I got an earful about how all Harlequin books, no matter what the genre, were formulaic and all the same. Another Harlequin author said she's been dealing with that type of attitude towards Harlequin for years. I guess I was just naive. I knew people had biases against certain genres, and even genre fiction in general. I had no idea there was publisher bias going on too. As if authors don't have enough to deal with.

Q. Your books have been published in both trade and mass market paperback, haven't they? Do you think this strategy has helped you build an audience?

A. Yes. My books sell very well in mass market. My print runs in trade tend to be smaller. So, the mass market re-release really helps build my numbers. Now my books are also available in ebook format, which helps even more.

Q. Your latest mystery examines racism in the film business. Hollywood is a long way from Springfield. How did you do your research for the book?

A. Well, the character of Vivianne DeArmond, the actress Kendra's sister is accused of murdering, was loosely based on Dorothy Dandridge, the first African-American actress to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. I read a biography of her and her struggles in Hollywood as my research.

Q. If you had to compare the status of black actors in Hollywood and black writers in publishing, which group would you say has made more progress in recent years?

A. Hmm. That 's a hard one. But I'll go ahead and say authors just because I think it's easier to get published than it would be to be cast in a movie or a series, especially in a lead role. I think the opportunities for black actors in Hollywood are more limited than the opportunities for authors.

Q. Mystery writers in general love librarians because so many are fans of the genre. How have your fellow librarians reacted to your success as a mystery writer?

A. I've had so much positive feedback from other librarians. I'm so humbled by all the support. If you ask me what book events I enjoy doing the most, it would be library events hands down. Librarians rock!

Q. Reference librarians in particular are dear to the hearts of many writers, as well as students, because our work demands a lot of research. As a reference librarian yourself, have you seen a shift away from libraries and toward the internet? Do you use the internet for research?

A. I use books and the internet for my research. I work in an academic library and even with all of the almost overwhelming amount of online resources and databases available, many students still gravitate toward books. Many don't like or feel comfortable with computers. That makes me confident that books and libraries are here to stay.

Q. What does the future hold for you as a writer? What would you like to be doing five or ten years from now?

A. I'd like to still be writing, hopefully full-time and in multiple genres.

Sugar Eggs

Sharon Wildwind

Easter reminded me of sugar eggs, or as they were also called, panorama eggs. Feeling nostalgic, I swooped around the Internet to see if they still existed. They did, and they didn’t.

Panorama eggs have apparently enjoyed a resurgence. Williams-Sonoma, the California foodie company makes them, as does a number of high-end candy companies, and boutique speciality food shops. All of the sites were sold out for the Easter season, testifying to the egg’s continued popularity. But they just weren’t what I remembered.

In my day, panorama eggs came from Japan. They were made of a hard, often sparkly, sugar shell, decorated with equally-hard, mass-produced flowers and swirls of icing. They didn’t come with a warning, printed in several languages, but they came with something more succinct. A mother, who held you by the shoulders, looked you straight in the eye and said, “Don’t eat this!” You didn’t get one in your Easter basket until you were old enough to know that sugar eggs were for looking, not for licking.

There was a small hole in one end, covered by a piece of cellophane. You closed one eye and squinted into the hole with your other eye. Inside was the most marvelous scene. Miniscule bunnies romped through a meadow, or a hen and her dozen chicks arranged themselves among flowers and decorated eggs. In a well-made egg, the miniature panorama painted on the inside of the shell looked so real that it seemed to stretch forever.

In some decade between nostalgia and reality-TV, the U. S. government passed a federal law that says all parts of anything sold as candy must be edible. The eggs changed. For one thing, many of them are now done with a larger, vertical hole, instead of the miniature peep hole at one end. The bunnies or chickens are made of nougat or royal icing or marshmallow or something that looks cute and clunky at the same time. No more painted panoramas, no more sparkles. For all I know, those original sparkles were ground glass or mica chips, so maybe this is a good thing.

To make up for the blah inside, the outside now sports blowzy flowers, icing swirls, or pastel polka-dots and ribbons. Pleasing to look at, probably terrific to eat, but I doubt that these eggs, like those of my childhood, will sell on e-Bay for several hundred dollars in the year 2058.

What I objected to most about the new eggs was that a child today wasn’t going to have the benefit of my annual post-Easter ritual: deconstructing the egg. Okay, so, panorama eggs were probably costly, and maybe I should have treated them with more respect, but I had to get at that story of how they were put together.

Never soak a panorama egg in a pail of water. Just trust me on this, okay?

The best way to take them apart was a combination of archeology and forensic techniques. First, insert a cold chisel or screwdriver under the icing swirl that held them together and tap lightly with a hammer. Repeat at intervals all the way around. Once you’ve removed the decorative icing, you will be able to see where the two halves join. Do a test probe into your egg with the screwdriver edge. If you encounter cardboard, it means you’re going to need a sharp knife, maybe like your Girl Scout pocket knife, to slice the two halves of the egg open.

Once you’re inside, examine everything: how it was painted, the way the tiny rabbits were cut out, how they were fastened to the cardboard floor, how the floor fit into tiny grooves cut down the length of the egg. One of my most fascinating discoveries was the year I realized that both the floor and the small creatures had been painted over layers of recycled Japanese newspapers, stiffened with glue and shellac.

Unfortunately, by the time you’ve delved the mysteries of the egg, it’s pretty much a mass of sugar, cardboard, and ubiquitous sparkly stuff. Go wash your hands.

Fortunately, as writers, we can do the same kind of forensic analysis on written pieces without getting ground glass all over our hands. It’s called modeling, and it’s one of the best learn-to-write techniques going.

Pick writing you love, and writing you hate. Go for the real extremes here: the books you want to cradle and keep on your shelf forever; the ones you throw across the room while uttering undeleted expletives.

Start by writing out a passage in long-hand. Like not soaking sugar eggs in a pail of water, this is something you’re going to have to trust me on. There is something about writing in long-hand that gives a feel of the flow that a keyboard doesn’t, no matter how skilled a keyboarder you are.

Next, take each sentence individually, look at it, take it apart down to it’s component words and punctuation marks. Analyze it, make a pattern, and finally, model a sentence just like it. I don’t mean simple word substitution, though that is one way to do it, and I have done it to advantage. I mean write another sentence that reproduces the essence of the first sentence.

“I put our bedroom fan in the side window so it would draw air from the front of the house, but I would dream of turkey buzzards circling over a corrugated rice field, of sand-flecked winds blowing across the formless and decomposing shape of a large animal, of a woman’s hair and fingernails wedging against the sides of a metal box.” (James Lee Burke, In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead, p 140—This is one of my love, cradle, and keep forever books.)

Component parts:
bedroom fan, side window, drawing air from the cooler front of the house—comfort, lots of nostalgia there, temperature change, sound
but—change direction
turkey buzzards and corrugated rice fields—conflicting images: buzzards are ugly; a corrugated rice field in Louisiana is a beautiful thing, but keep in mind that Dave Robicheaux is a Vietnam veteran. He’s got to be equivocal about rice fields.
formless and decomposing shape—more equivocal imagery—the Tibetian Book of the Dead treats decomposition with respect
of a woman’s hair and fingernails—nice images, flowing hair, well manicured nails
wedging against the sides of a metal box—one final turn.

Pattern: comforting image, full of nostalgia and sensual undertones; but; conflicting, equivocal image—once, twice, ending with a third turn toward something not at all comforting.

I slid the silk dress over my head listening to the rustle the fabric made against my hair, but the sound couldn’t shut out the way Mirna called to me as I’d walked away from her, down the corridor smelling of wilted flowers and overcooked eggs; the plea any mother might make. “Damn it, Jessie, find my son. Find him and kill him.”

Okay, so I’m no James Lee Burke, but that will give you an idea. Don’t be surprised if your modeling takes a wicked turn you never expect and that half-way through your construction you veer in a different direction from what you originally intended. That’s part of the beauty of the exercise. All sorts of side trips open up.

Now, go wash your hands. Happy spring.
_______

Never tear down a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.
~G. K. Chesterton, mystery writer

Writer's Retreats

by Julia Buckley
















Every spring my family and I take a little trip--just a quick getaway during our Easter break. Last year our retreat was buried deep in the Michigan woods--a lovely place that inspired peace and eventual inspiration (see photo above). By the very next DAY, however, we found ourselves under a winter storm watch (and it was April, mind you) and our retreat looked like this:
















This year Easter came much earlier, as we all know, and so we may be facing even colder weather on our "spring retreat." Unfortunately, I made arrangements dreaming of warmer weather. Our hideaway is right on the river, with a little balcony from which we can watch the boats:

The weather forecast for Michigan tells me that the temps should be somewhere between 30 and 40; I'm not foreseeing too much balcony time, nor do I think too many people will want to take their boats out on the frigid water. But who knows? Maybe this weather and the quiet, off-season time in a resort town will be the very thing I need to inspire all sorts of writing.

So, as I pack and head off to our cold spring break, I ask you: what's your favorite writer's or reader's retreat?

An Interview with Cait London

By Darlene Ryan

USA Today best selling author, Cait London, has seen more than 60 of her books published in her twenty-year writing career. She’s written romance, westerns, romantic suspense and now she has a new trilogy with a paranormal element. A Stranger’s Touch, the second book in the series will be released on March 25.

The Aisling triplets, Tempest, Leona and Claire have each inherited psychic talents. Descendants of a Celtic seer and a Viking Chieftain, the three contemporary women are connected by their senses, so intimately they can’t live together. First-born, Leona, is a powerful precognitive. Tempest can soak up the history of an object held in her bare hands. And last-born, Claire, is an empath, able to read others feelings.

Q: Your new series is part suspense, part paranormal. How did the idea for the series evolve?

Cait: The idea for this trilogy evolved several years ago. It was quite challenging because there is a story arc with multiple threads flowing through each book until the last. Yet each book has its own independent plot and subplot, the threads weaving along the story. To actually begin writing the different dimensions was thrilling. I have three daughters, so the relationship between the siblings and between them and the mother came easily. Writers have much research built into them, ready to be tapped and you’ll find much of me in my books. I’m basically an artist, so I understood much of what Claire (At The Edge; Claire for clairvoyant) would feel about texture and color when creating her handbags. Tempest (A Stranger’s Touch; Tempest for her fast-moving personality) is a sculptor, and I understood the visualization there. Also, I’ve read Viking history for years, and my sister and I like to think we have some psychic abilities. I’d
met a couple of psychics, who were extremely interesting, and one had worked with police. The pieces of the fabric were there, just waiting to be brought to life. BTW, I interviewed a tremendous amount of resource people while creating this trilogy.

Q: Could you explain the basic set-up for this trilogy?

Cait: The story arc begins with the first book, develops through the following stories, and ends in the last book. While each book has an individual story, the threads that flow through all books will end in the third book. For writers, an arc could be dangerous: If the first book does not launch well, that could be detrimental to sales of the succeeding books. I knew I wanted to write the stories. But I also knew the dangers. Thinking back, this trilogy may have evolved naturally from the eerie suspense of Flashback and Silence the Whispers two of my favorite books. Quite a lot of work went into this set-up, including a very careful chart of all the names and their meanings. Not only story threads, but important items particular to this family are highlighted. The same newspaper article flows through all three books and is critical in explaining the actions of the triplets. BTW, the name Aisling dates back to that Celtic seer and it is a professional name assumed by the triplets’ mother, a professional psychic. These books are NOT paranormal in the sense of shape-shifters, vampires, etc., rather the stories involve telepathy between the siblings, etc.

Q: At the Edge is the first book in the series. Claire is the last born of the triplets and she’s an empath. How does that affect her life and the story?

Cait: As the youngest, Claire is more sensitive and protected by her older siblings. She’s very delicate and must live an isolated existence, away from too much contact with others. She lives in rural Montana—one of my favorite places to visit, and her life gets exciting and complicated when Neil Olafson (Viking name) moves in next door. An extrovert, Neil is an intrusion into her quiet, secluded, creative world. The conflict of the personalities, her need to help Neil seek his abducted son, causes Claire to venture out of her safety zone. The story thread in this set-up book begins when Claire is attacked. Throughout the story she becomes stronger, and faces her own past. At the Edge is the launch book and introduces the family.

Q: A Stranger’s Touch, the second book in the series will be out the first of the week. This is Tempest’s story. What are her abilities?

Cait: Tempest’s gift (or curse) lies in her naked hands. When the “middle-born” holds an object in her naked hands, she understands its history: who held it, what they were thinking, and a little of their history. Therefore, Tempest must always wear gloves. She’s a metal sculptor and exceptionally curious. She’s also very physically active, on the go, and one who lives on challenges. Tempest is able to flow between all the strong personalities in her family, because she is not that sensitive—unless she takes off her gloves. A Stranger’s Touch has several mysteries, plus that ongoing thread, and Tempest is set to discover all of them as she seeks to unwrap a cold-case murder. Tempest is a hunter, in danger from her past, the present, and the thread circling her family. Set near Lake Michigan, one of my favorite retreats, and also the setting of With Her Last Breath.

Q: The final book is the trilogy will feature first-born Leona. Can you give us a preview?

Cait: For Her Eyes Only (10/08) is based on Leona’s resentment of her inherited abilities. She is determined not to be like her professional psychic mother, or her grandmother. She refuses to live her life in fear of the dangerous threads that have wrapped around her family. Not until her family is endangered does Leona come into her namesake’s protective mode. Since childhood, Leona has been labeled as the potentially strongest of the clairvoyants. And she comes into her own in For Her Eyes Only. Leona, the lioness, will have to enter abilities she’s denied all of her life to save herself and her loved ones. This is set in Lexington, KY, a place I visit often.

Q: Do you consider settings to be characters?

Cait: Yes, definitely. I chose each one of these settings very carefully. One of the threads has to do with water/fog and/or the lack of it. Settings are very important to me and I’ve actually visited all of them, or fictionalized where I’ve been on site.

Q: Is there the possibility of more books about these characters?

Cait: Readers have already asked that I continue this series, using the mother, Greer, the psychic who often works with police. At this time, I have no plans for a prequel.

Q: You’ve been writing romantic suspense for several years now. Do you plan to continue?

Cait: I always love stories that have many layers and a little bit of the psychological. Romantic suspense is the perfect place for that. My books aren’t for everyone. Romantic Suspense can be defined as anything, and there are many tiers. My writing leans more to emotional conflict and play between the characters, rather than forensic and police involvement. I write to my personal preferences as a reader: less graphic, less detective/police/military. As a writer, I’m highly involved with my career and have changed sub-genres several times.

Q: What is it about suspense that appeals to you as a writer? Is it the struggle between good and evil? The opportunity to write in depth about people facing life changing events? Or just the chance to make sure the good guys win in the end?

Cait: I love unwrapping the story, the causes, the journey and the end. I love writing about people who are not always perfect and who do make wrong decisions. Perhaps the flawed interest me more. The writing challenge comes from creating a balance between the protagonists and the worthy antagonist. I love exploring the characters’ doubts and how they make their life-decisions. What happens next, dropping twists/dead bodies, red herrings, I love them all. I suppose exploring the motivations of characters interests me the most. I’m prone to write about small town secrets.

Q: You’ve written romance, westerns, romantic suspense and now paranormal suspense—more than 60 novels by my count—is there a genre you haven’t tried that you’d like to tackle?

Cait: I’m working on that one . (Smiles.)

Q: Before you became a writer you were an artist. What skills as an artist do you feel you bring to your writing?

Cait: Callouses. When I started writing to sell, I understood that not everyone is going to be happy with my story ideas. I’ve come to believe that writing to sell is very different from the love of writing alone. Writing to sell can mean a lot of compromises within the storyline, these requested by the buying editor. Basically, when painting a canvas, or writing a story, you’ve invested a tremendous amount of time and creative energy into the piece. When trying for publication, you’re sending your child out into the cold cruel world. You may get back that arrow through the heart, or interest. But writing is like painting in that there are different POVs, and perhaps another critic will like your work. It’s a matter of luck, of endurance, of regimen, and realizing that not everyone will love your baby. Or perhaps your baby is flawed J. After a certain amount of publication, you gather more balance between what story you want and what the editor may want to change. Writing and painting are the same in that there is a background fabric and highlights brought forward. The background emphasizes and textures the foreground, which would be the main story line.

Q: What’s your writing routine like?

Cait: I write rough draft very early in the morning. It’s like my nest is uncluttered, no phone calls, etc. Take a break, answer e-mail, business stuff, etc., and pretty much editor or do business the rest of the day. I ran a straw poll some time ago and questioned professionals how much time they spent in writing, and how much on the business end. The average was about 75% on business, which included promotion, networking, groups, etc. So that 25% writing time is very dear. When I am on deadline, I can write throughout the day. I am more regimented and work on a writing schedule, but there are always life-interuptus situations or galleys or copyedits, etc. I do my own website and blog and ad layouts and bookmarks, mailing addresses, etc., so that all takes a tremendous amount of time and breaks in my schedule. A story usually begins to really palpitate at the end and then I edit constantly to streamline.

Q: How have you managed to be so prolific? Do you have any writing advice to share?

Cait: I’m just full of it. Of stories, I mean. I’ve studied plotting and conflict and keep a ready supply of words that incite stories. I also keep story ideas in my toybox, called Nuggets. I’m big on lists and databases, so there is always something simmering, so far as story ideas. I can get them from anywhere, i.e. a windmill missing a paddle in KS, an Amish girl riding a paint pony alongside the road, my own background, items around the house, and I keep a lot of visuals around.

And I have lots of advice you can find at my website, http://caitlondon.com or my blog, http://caitlondon.blogspot.com. Here’re some basics:

1. When considering an offer, never answer immediately. Brand this into your brain: “Can I get back to you? I’d like to think about it.”
2. You get out of writing, what you invest into it. Energy spent equals proportional results.
3. Write every day. Write something. When I started, I sent out queries or thank-you notes (for rejections), or a reader letter every Monday.
4. About thank-you notes and courtesies: Always thank editors for their time, even if you aren’t exactly happy with them. Stay pleasant. The professional writing community is actually very small and networks.
5. When receiving criticism, do not chop up your story right away. Stand back, let your ideas cool and then come back to the piece.
6. Accept that all writers have different levels of talent. Spark and Talent play huge parts in career professionals. Therefore, do not compare someone who has had years of publishing behind them, several editors and tons of experience to your own work. This can be defeating. Do not defeat yourself by reading an acclaimed author amid your own creative struggles.
7. Write the piece straight through. Then edit. But push the story out with all of its vibrancy, before editing. When editing, balance the weight of the characters. Very important.
8. I have never been involved in critique groups. I think they work for some writers, but not for others. It’s a different strokes thingie. But remember that publication moves really quickly, and you may be contacted by an editor for an overnight rewrite. You should have some confidence in yourself alone, without consulting with a group. Your group may not always be available within a night or a day, so be prepared to write on your own.
9. If you don’t know how to write clear, effective business letters, practice. Work on business language, and use business language in e-mail when addressing an editor. This seems basic, but unfortunately, many writers do not possess good business language/writing.
10. Address Revenge, Possession, and Escape. I got those fine items from Jayne Ann Krentz. Add Needs. Who has it? Who wants it? Why? What?

Coke floats and lovely librarians, ahhhhhh . . .

By Lonnie Cruse

Last Saturday, March 15th, I held the official launch of my new book, FIFTY-SEVEN HEAVEN at the Metropolis Public Library, in Metropolis, IL. The book actually came out from Five Star in December, 2007, but with the uncertainty of the weather in this area between late November and early March, I decided it was safest to schedule it mid-March. Thankfully, we missed the last snow storm which hit us the weekend before. Whew! It did, however, rain cats and dogs. Sigh.

FIFTY-SEVEN HEAVEN isn't set in the 50's, but does feature a couple who grew up then. Like me. And it was a fun time in history. So I decided to hold a contest for best 50's outfit worn to the the launch. I also offered free Coke Floats to all attendees. I gotta tell ya, my hubby makes a mean Coke Float. So does my son, Joe. Everybody loved 'em.

I must take time to brag on the librarians at the Metropolis Public Library. Always supportive of my books, they went above and beyond for me this time with cookies and cupcakes AND dressing in Fifties garb! Thankfully they requested not to be included in the contest because no way could I choose between Mary Pansing's jean pedal pushers and white bobby socks, Karen Laird's red poodle skirt and black poodle shirt, Cheryl McQueen's black checkered skirt and poodle shirt, or Beverly Adams' pink skirt and bobby socks. Way to celebrate the 50's, ladies! My own outfit was jeans, blue jean heels (which I rarely wear, can't stand up in 'em) and a pink tee covered by a longsleeved shirt, both decorated with 50's items, including the obligatory poodle, and with the collar turned up.

Contest winner, Teyoni Sheve, (pictured right and it's pronounced Tea-on-e) received a free signed copy of my book. She's not wearing her 50's outfit in this picture. I forgot to take the picture at the time, so had to connect with her later. Congrats, Teyoni! Hope you enjoy the book.

I've always loved libraries, but as an author with Five Star, they are my bread and butter. I can not thank the Metropolis Library and the librarians enough for their continuing help and support.

And if you haven't had a Coke Float lately, you are really missing something. Yummm! But according to hubby, put the vanilla ice cream in FIRST. Otherwise, the Coke sort of, um, explodes everywhere when you drop the ice cream in last. And when you launch your books, consider your local library for the setting. Great place to attract book lovers.

What's shocking? entertaining? political? art?

Elizabeth Zelvin

When I started sending out my mystery about recovery from alcoholism to agents and editors several years ago, I quickly discovered that the topic of alcoholism served as a kind of litmus test, sometimes telling me more about the reader’s psyche than about the quality of my writing. Some said outright that they found the subject depressing—though my protagonist succeeds in turning his life around, the story ends in a burst of hope, and I hope I don’t sound too humorless if I say I think the book is funny. One editor, I remember, said that readers are looking for escape, and my irreverent but affectionate depiction of life in the 12-step programs was too much of a dose of reality. I find this puzzling in the current state of our culture, which embraces reality TV shows on the one hand, and on the other, mysteries and thrillers that focus on gory forensics and/or the psyches of serial killers. How come we find sociopaths and torture entertaining but people giving up their cynicism and despair along with the booze depressing?

This paradox occurred to me a few weeks ago when my husband, who surfs the online news daily, called my attention to an article about the resignation of the president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. We were interested because we’ve been to Williamsburg and have an ongoing general interest in history. I’ll be visiting Virginia on my book tour later this spring. And I happened to have had a lunch date the day before with a friend who lives in the state.

What had caused the furor in America’s oldest institution of higher learning? Two issues, it seems, had offended the powers that be: a controversial art exhibit on campus—the Sex Workers Art Show—and the president’s decision to take down a monument known as the Wren Cross—designed by the great architect Sir Christopher Wren and, according to one’s perspective, a symbol of sectarian religion or a work of art.

If indeed I understood the facts correctly—not always easy in the online news—I had mixed feelings about the package as presented. Censorship of art? Thumbs down! As in the Mapplethorpe brouhaha a few years back, I don’t believe that work conceived as creative art should be judged by conservative moral standards. Sex work as the politically correct conceptualization of prostitution? I don’t buy it, and I’ve been concerned for quite some time by the increasing tyranny of “political correctness”—a term handed down to us from Stalinism, as many people nowadays never knew or don’t remember. I’m not sure I don’t smell thought police on both sides of this particular controversy.

As for the Wren Cross, hmm. As an American Jew, I am horrified that some of our leaders seem to think America is “a Christian country.” I’ve always assumed it was a secular state all of whose citizens were free to choose our beliefs. On the other hand, Christianity has been the major inspiration for art in Western civilization for many centuries. Forbidding the display of art using its symbols is yet another kind of artistic censorship. How different is it from banning, say, the Easter bunny? Or should we ban the Easter bunny? How many people know it’s a pagan symbol, not a Christian one? The rabbit goddess Estre, an avatar of Ishtar, was said to lay multicolored eggs.

I don’t have answers. And I hope nobody gets too mad at me for asking questions. But let me offer one more anecdote to meditate on. A university that I’ve promised not to name has forbidden its theater department to produce and perform Eve Ensler’s feminist masterwork, The Vagina Monologues—the play that put the V word into our everyday vocabulary, and high time, in my opinion. The ongoing ban is moot, because every year, a new group of students organizes the play and one feminist department head or another helps enough with funding to make it happen. This pleases me, as a member of the half of the human race that’s got them. How about you?

The Invisible Villain

Sandra Parshall

“I knew who the killer was the first time I saw him.”

That’s probably the most common complaint I hear about crime fiction, and it’s often followed by either “It ruined the story for me” or, even more alarming to a writer, “As soon as I knew whodunnit, I stopped reading. What was the point of going on?”

I don’t fully understand this attitude. I figure out who the villain is fairly early in at least 75% of the crime novels I read, and it never ruins the story or makes me stop. I read for a lot of reasons, and the puzzle factor is last on the list. “Why?” intrigues me much more than the simple “Who?” ever will. Twisted reasoning, long-buried secrets, hidden rage that’s simmered for decades before boiling over – that’s the stuff I love, and even after I’ve figured out “who” I will stick around to learn the whole story behind the killer’s actions. Meanwhile, I enjoy knowing that the hero or heroine is misjudging this person. I like seeing the villain wiggle out of potentially disastrous situations, all the way up to the ultimate unveiling. Knowing who the killer is adds another, almost always enjoyable, dimension to the book for me.

Still, I realize most mystery readers want to be surprised, and I’m sure most writers fully intend to keep the villain’s identity under wraps until the end. So why do they often fail? The most likely answer is that writers are too close to their stories to see the flaws. An author thinks the villain is cleverly concealed and can’t see the obvious give-aways. (We might ask why an editor doesn’t spot the problem, but we’re not likely to get an answer.) Whatever the reason, authors make the same mistakes again and again.

Ask any mystery reader about the “new boyfriend” cliche and you’ll get a groan and a roll of the eyes. If the crime-solving heroine has a new love, and the guy does nothing but stand around being supportive or getting in the way, you can bet he’s the killer. (Linda Fairstein did a nice, wry twist on this theme in one of her books, but I won’t give the title and spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the novel yet.) The same goes for any other character – if this person has no real reason to be in the story, just hovers around the edges or tries to insinuate himself into the investigation, he or she probably did it.

Many writing teachers advise authors to cast suspicion on the killer early on, then clear him or her in a convincing way so the reader will rule out that person as the villain. But today’s mystery readers, with their devious minds, have little trouble spotting this ploy. A guy’s been cleared before the story is one-third over? He must be guilty, and at some point his alibi will turn to dust and blow away.

Steering clear of PPS (Purposeless Character Syndrome) is the easiest way for a writer to avoid painting “I did it!” on the killer’s forehead. The villain who is hard to spot has a job in the story from the beginning. He’s can be touched personally by the crime or play a role in the crime-solving – but he’s not on the murder scene before anyone else shows up and doesn’t find supposedly valuable evidence, he’s not the one and only person who receives phone calls from the killer, he’s not obviously trying to misdirect the investigation. When the camera shifts to him, there’s a good reason and it seems to move the story forward.

But there aren’t any hard and fast rules. Concealing the villain’s identity until the end is tricky, no doubt about it, and what works on one reader may point a neon arrow at the killer in another’s mind. One story that had me fooled all the way through is P.J. Tracy’s Monkeewrench, and I thought the authors (a mother-daughter team) did a great job of misdirection. Usually, though, I don’t care if I guess the killer early. I can enjoy the book anyway.

Is this an important issue for you? If you guess the killer’s identity, do you feel deflated and enjoy the book less after that point? If any books have kept you baffled until the end, I’d love to know the titles. I’m always looking for something good enough to satisfy the merciless, bloodthirsty bunch in my mystery discussion group. Hasn’t happened yet, but there’s always a first time.

Appropriation of Voice

Sharon Wildwind

About a month ago, I discovered a magazine called Cloth, Paper, Scissors, which focuses on collage and mixed-media art as a means of artistic discovery. In the very first issue (Winter, 2004, pages 40-45), was an article by the writer Jenny Cruise about how she makes a 3-dimensional collage of a book before she begins writing it.

Here’s what she said about one collage, “Determined to find pearls for my nicho [Latin American display niche or box] that wouldn’t break the bank, I went to the local Goodwill and not only found three necklaces for $2.75, but also a broken pocket watch that looked exactly like my book, even though there was no pocket watch in the story.”

The writer in me groaned. I knew exactly what she meant. I envied her pocket watch find. What a gift to caress in your hand a tangible object that encapsulates your story.

What I’ve tried to encapsulate lately—cultural voice—is far less substantial than a pocket watch. It slips, twists, and falls out of my grasp. In my work in progress, I need characters from two different cultures: Greek and Vietnamese.

I had a fleeting experience, thirty years ago, with a few Vietnamese people, but not with their culture. In the year I spent in Viet Nam I was never inside a Vietnamese house; never ate, as the Army called it “on the economy,” meaning to eat Vietnamese food; learned only three or four useful Vietnamese words; and came home with no appreciation of Vietnamese culture, art, history, or values. My loss.

My Greek experience consists of attending one rather lengthy Orthodox Greek church service, and watching My Big, Fat Greek Wedding.

At least, thanks to the opportunity to take cross-cultural classes from a brilliant and talented anthropologist, I know how much I don’t know. I’m better off than the woman I met recently at a writers’ event. She was struggling with the same problem of including characters of a different cultural background in her book, and I asked her how she’d approached it.

She admitted that she knew nothing about the other culture, but had attended one of their holiday celebrations and took lots of photographs of the costumes, and she figured she could wing it from there because, “underneath, we’re all alike, aren’t we?”

No, we aren’t.

The best way to write characters from other cultures is to grow up in the culture, like Jane Haddem in an Armenian culture, or spend decades in close association with it, like Amy and David Thurlo living in the Four Corners area of the American southwest.

Not having those options, the next-best choice would be to interview as many people Vietnamese and Greek people as I can, preferably people who are the same age and had the same experiences as my characters will have.

Except that I don’t have the time, money, or contacts to do that. And, in one case—Vietnamese who lived through the fall of Saigon in 1975— I can’t, at this point, risk contamination. Even if I could get up the courage to ask my two Vietnamese co-workers what their experiences were in March and April 1975, their answers would inevitably be colored by the thirty-three years that have passed since then. What I need is raw data, to live in 1975, not 2008.

So after much struggle, here’s what I’ve come up with on how I’m going to attempt to write characters from other backgrounds without, I hope, appropriating their voice. I don’t know if it will work or not, but at least I’m making some headway in developing characters.

1. I admit that I don’t know enough about the other cultures to write a main character. I could never write Father Tibor to the same degree Jane Haddam can or develop the same intricacies of the Clah family like the Thurlo have done. So, my Greek and Vietnamese characters will weave through the story like ribbons, but I wouldn’t dare try to write the story from their point of view.

2. I’ve acculturated two of the characters to American culture, and I make the other characters’ response to that acculturation part of the story. One of the most culturally-jarring experiences I ever had was to be introduced to an Australian aborigine, who spoke in what I had pigeon-holed in my head as the accent assigned to a bulky, red-faced, British-heritage Australian. The combination of face and voice didn’t match my pre-conceived ideas, and I know I can use that kind of tension to advantage in the story.

3. My protagonist will hit a wall each time she comes up against cultural differences in one of these characters. I intend to write her as the outsider, always looking in with respect, but not having an innate understanding of what she’s looking at.

4. Sound and pictures help. I’ve spent far too much time lately looking at the fall of Saigon on YouTube. I’m watching the body language and the facial expressions. It also has helped to play Greek and Vietnamese music as background. Fortunately, my library has a large collection of audio-books in other languages. I’ve listened to some of those books, not having a clue what the words say, but just absorbing the rhythms, the rise and fall of how the language is spoken.

-----
Writing quote for the week:

There are nine-and-sixty ways of composing tribal lays—and every single one of them is right!
~Rudyard Kipling, British writer

Exciting News for Mary Stewart Fans

by Julia Buckley



















Chicago Review Press has reissued two classic Stewart suspense novels: The Ivy Tree and Nine Coaches Waiting, with moody new covers and trade paperback formats.

While I wouldn't re-read most books simply because I saw them with different covers, Stewart's books are an exception. The cool new covers are just an excuse to read her books again.

I'm also glad to see Stewart in the trade size, since the old books I have, which may well be relics from the 60s or 70s, are hard to read in mass market size with the extremely tiny print that many books had back then.

Nine Coaches Waiting is a book with a Gothic feel, and this new cover captures that with its mysterious dark look and red lettering. Kudos to whomever decided to re-imagine the cover for this classic tale.

Canada Calling: Nate Hendley

Nate Hendley is a Canadian true-crime writer who recently had a book published by Greenwood Press of Connecticut on the outlaws Bonnie and Clyde. A full-time freelance writer/author, Nate lives in Toronto, Canada with his fine wife Alyson and two cats. You can view his website at www.natehendley.com

PDD:
What makes “the bad guys” fascinating? Why do people love to read about bank robbers, family massacrers, and American gangsters?

Nate:
I can think of two different reasons. On one hand, people can sort of live vicariously through the action of bad men. Anyone who’s ever fantasized about robbing a bank would find a certain delight in the actions of say, Jesse James or John Dillinger. Bad men live outside the law, outside morality. Some people find that fascinating.
 
At the same time, I think people are intrigued by the efforts by law enforcement officials to capture and/or kill various bad guys. There is a sense that “justice will prevail” and it’s extremely gratifying when you hear about some low-life who has been captured, cornered or killed. My Bonnie and Clyde book, if I may be so bold, is a good example of this. You might root and cheer for Bonnie and Clyde in the early chapters, but once "the good guys" have been introduced, in the form of the Texas Rangers and Frank Hamer, the story turns into a question of ‘how far will they go before the Rangers nail them?’

PDD:
The killings of the Donnelly family and of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were horrific. Should there be a line that a true-crime writer won't cross, or is anything, no matter how gruesome, fodder for the writer?

Nate:

Yes. There is actually a recent example in Canada of this in Canada. Back in the early 1990s, there was this horrid couple in St. Catharines Ontario named Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. They kidnapped, raped and murdered at least two teenage girls, possibly more. Paul was also a serial rapist on the side. For whatever reason, Paul and Karla videotaped their little sex torture/murder sessions. Anyway, when Paul came up for trial (he was arrested after a long investigation that saw Karla more or less cooperate with authorities for a reduced sentence), the judge imposed a publication ban on evidence. The end-result was that only the judge, jury and lawyers could actually view the sex-murder tapes in the trial. It was verboten to broadcast them on TV or even watch them (unless you were a judge, juror, lawyer or Paul Bernardo).
 
A crime reporter named Stephen Williams put together a book called Invisible Darkness: The Horrifying Case of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. The book contained descriptions of the taped torture sessions. Authorities somehow concluded that Williams had actually viewed these tapes, something Williams denied. He was actually criminally charged with two counts of disobeying a court order.
 
The charges put the crime writer community in a bit of quandary. On one hand, people naturally sympathized with a fellow writer being put upon by the forces of law and order. On the other hand, there was a sense that the Bernardo case was so slimy that it was immoral to probe too deeply into it, for the sake of a book.
 
I think timing is a big issue. Williams’ fault might have been that he wrote his book too soon after the killings took place. The case was still very raw for a lot of people and they were offended at the notion of “making a buck” by writing about it. Once a few decades have past, it’s generally a lot easier to write about touchy, controversial topics. Williams, by the way, did manage to beat the rap in the end and didn't go to jail.
PDD:
Last year you published a book on motivation for non-fiction writers. Do non-fiction writers have to psych themselves up in a different way than fiction writers?

Nate:
Yes. As a fiction writer, you can let your imagination go wild. There are workshops, for example, to promote creativity in artists—a category that certainly covers fiction writers. Non-fiction writers, however, have less to go on. It’s hard to do a creativity exercise to generate enthusiasm about a 1000 word piece on Computer Numerical Controlled lathe machines. Non-fiction writers generally write on command, at least when they’re starting out. You have very specific parameters in which to write—strict word count, deadline, and everything has to be factual and verifiable. This tends to instil a sense of pragmatism among non-fiction scribes. I psych myself up by thinking about the financial ruin that might befall me if I don’t get an assignment done in time

PDD:
You're also a professional proof-reader and copy editor. What is the biggest problem you see in submitted manuscripts? What do writers need to learn to do better?

Nate:
The biggest problem I can see in most manuscripts is over-writing. This is particularly the case for beginning writers, who feel they have to make every last word golden. I have found this to be the case in both fiction and non-fiction writers. The more confident you get about your abilities, generally the fewer words you need to put on page to convey a story.
-----
Next month Canada Calling visits Linda Hall, a mystery writer fascinated with how mysterious water can be.

Riepe Ridge looks like a war zone . . .

By Lonnie Cruse

"Riepe Ridge looks like a war zone." That was the latest word from a customer at Humma's Drug Store when I stopped by to pick up my prescription recently. News that was not terribly surprising. Much of this area in southern Illinois and western Kentucky now looks like a war zone. Tree limbs and branches down everywhere, far too many to count, and the trees they were ripped off are reduced to half their original size with twisted pieces of limbs left dangling. Many large trees were completely felled to the ground as well, roots now laying bare, having been ripped out of the ground as the trees toppled over. One of the largest trees in the woods that borders our back yard just missed hitting our well house and the gazebo when it came down in seconds. It will take days to cut up and burn or haul off.

So what caused this disaster? Tornado? High winds? Lightning strikes? Run amok chain saws? Nope.

Ice.

Thin, transparent, lightweight in appearance, certainly lighter than the trees, the ice fell like a soft rain, enveloped all the trees for miles, and within a few hours made this area look WORSE than when the killer tornado ripped through here several years ago. Falling limbs and trees blocked roads, damaged buildings, and took out electrical power in almost the entire area, leaving us all in the dark and many with no heat or water for anywhere from several days to a week or more. Local power crews were kept hopping, without sleep and barely time to eat. Crews from other states came in to help. Many residents were forced to move to local hotels or in with family or friends who were, lucky for them, on the edge of the devastation. Another lucky few had or bought generators. Or like us, had a ventless gas fire place to heat the house and a stray cup of tea now and then. Incidentally, oil lamps are handy, but they're not real easy to read the latest mystery by.

The icy covering on the trees was so beautiful and so very deadly to them. Spring is nearly here and I'm afraid to think of what the Dogwood and Azalea Festival will be like this year. So many trees with no branches to hold the blooms. This huge devastation all caused from something that seemed so thin, so see-through at the time started me thinking. Life is like that too. Things happen to us that seem small or unimportant on the outside, or maybe to an outsider, but those things can bring us down to the ground . . . if we let them. Or at the very least, damage us to the point of being unable to function properly for a period of time.

Thoughtless words. Criticism. Disloyalty. Jealousy. Hate. Anger. Foolish joking. Gossip. Whatever. These things can quickly and silently destroy us . . . if we let them.

The trees that actually fell were most likely too old and either weak or diseased to withstand the coat of ice, and they quickly toppled, pulling their very roots out of the ground. No chance for survival or regrowth there. The very strongest survived without nary a branch breaking off. The rest survived with damage but will likely bud out, and in a few years the eye won't be able to tell any difference. Humans are like that too.

How strong are you? Can you withstand some damage? Survive without toppling over and pulling your very roots out of the ground? Just some thoughts for the day.

Interview with Betty Webb

Interviewer: Elizabeth Zelvin

Zelvin: Let’s jump right in with a question about the obvious passion for social justice that makes your Lena Jones PI series a standout. Were you brought up not only to care but to do something about the suffering of others? Or did you have a sudden awakening—in the Sixties we called it “getting radicalized”—because of an experience of your own or something you happened to hear or read about regarding, for example, the underage polygamous wives in Desert Wives?

Webb: I had an unusual childhood in that my father’s family was from the Deep South (Alabama) and my mother’s family was from the North (they arrived in America in 1635).
When the Civil Rights Movement came along, there was a lot of heated discussion about the issues involved, and it got very, very personal. After seeing firsthand what any form of blind prejudice could do to a community’s soul, I took part in my first lunch counter sit-in at the age of 13 and never looked back. During the anti-war Vietnam years, however, I noticed that many so-called “social reformers,” while decrying the fate of African-Americans and the Vietnamese, never gave a thought to the many unjustices towards women, so I wound up rebelling against the rebels. It’s always been amazing to me how so many Human Rights movements leave women out of the equation, almost as if women aren’t really human. Same for children.

When I moved to Arizona in 1982, I encountered the same environment. Lots of concern for the rights of various minorities – as long as they weren’t women or children. Men raping little girls in the polygamy compound was considered an expression of religious freedom.

Zelvin: I’ve heard that Desert Wives actually helped bring about legislation that addressed the plight of women like those you wrote about. Can you tell us about that?

Webb: When I wrote Desert Wives, there was no Arizona statute against polygamy. Again, the so-called religious freedom aspect got in the way. But when Desert Wives revealed the tax and welfare fraud the polygamists were engaging in, and a Arizona representative senator got his hands on the book, he took a couple of cartons of it down to the Arizona House and Senate. A state senator took up the cause, and soon the Arizona legislature finally passed an anti-polygamy statute. But I’d like to point out that the statute was passed not because the government was worried about what was happening to the women and children, but because the government was miffed about the financial fraud.

Zelvin: Your new Lena Jones book, Desert Cut, focuses on a different kind of abuse.
I’ve noticed that the specifics don’t appear in descriptions of the book. I haven’t read it yet—I’m looking forward to that pleasure—but I’m sure I know what kind of abuse you’ve tackled this time, partly because I lived in West Africa many years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer and remain aware of cultural issues there. Are you leaving it unstated to avoid what mystery readers call a “spoiler”—giving away the plot instead of letting it unfold—or for some other reason?

Webb: I’m leaving it unstated (except for 1/3 way through the book) because I don’t want the plot spoiled. But it’s not just happening in West Africa. The practice is prevalent all through sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East – and now in America. The only reason there hasn’t been an outcry is because it happens in secrecy, and its victims are women and children. Again, it’s almost as if the worst outrages against women and children are considered not to be part of the Human Rights equation.

Zelvin: Your new series, set in a zoo, will be very different from the Desert books. How do you feel about writing in a more lighthearted vein? Do you plan to pursue both series as long as possible, and if so, on what kind of schedule? And why the zoo? Have you had to research the topic, or did you have a preexisting relationship with zoos and zoo animals?

Webb: Oddly enough, The Anteater of Death and the rest of the zoo mysteries (there will be at least five) came about because I was dealing in so many heavy subjects, especially during the writing and research for Desert Cut. I needed a laugh, and since my volunteer work at Monkey Village in the Phoenix Zoo had me laughing all the time, I thought... why not? I'm crazy about animals. My current menagerie includes 4 cats and two dogs, but in the past I’ve owned horses, goats, chickens, hamsters, parakeets... the list goes on. Animals are so straightforward. Well, except for the monkeys, who lie and sneak around a lot. As to Teddy, my zookeeper sleuth, she harkens back to my younger days in California, and to the time I briefly lived on a boat. Ah, those were happy, goofy days.

I'll continue the Lena Jones Desert series, too, but every other book will be a zoo mystery.

Zelvin: In general, how much research do you do for your books, and how do you go about it? What is your writing process, both on a daily basis and in the course of producing a new manuscript? What part do you enjoy most? What do you enjoy the least?

Webb: The research for Desert Wives took around three years; the same for Desert Cut. I am fortunate in that as a journalist, I had access to not only my own stories and research, but stories written by other journalists, as well as their research (I still have friends in the business). I was able to interview the victims of these practices, as well as the doctors who eventually treated them. I research not only before, but also during the writing – it’s a never-ending process. I still keep an updated file on polygamy and the practice in Desert Cut, because I care about the causes, not just the books.

My writing starts around 4 a.m. every day and continues to around noon. Then I take a walk, read, watch a little TV (Twilight Zone reruns, Jerry Springer, etc.), and – when my brain has returned to more-or-less normal – go back to work. What part of the process do I enjoy most? The research and dreaming up the plots and characters. What do I enjoy least? Writing the first draft. Second, third, fourth, and fifth drafts are fun, but first drafts terrify me. I’ve tried writing first drafts both with and without outlines, but no matter how I approach those devils, my first drafts leave blood tracks on the keyboard. If I could figure out a way to write a book without doing a first draft, I’d be the happiest woman on earth.

Zelvin: You were a reviewer for many years as well as a writer. To what extent did that affect you as a reader? as a writer? as a writer among your fellow writers? Do you still do any reviewing? What kinds of mysteries do you read for pleasure? What else do you read?

Webb: Being a reviewer for 20 years – I’m still doing it, now for Mystery Scene magazine – has had a lot to do with my own writing. I’ve been able to see where books can go wrong, when they go right, what kinds of characters hold my interest, and what tone and style work best for what plot. By the way, I use this knowledge in my Creative Writing class I teach at Phoenix College.

Since reviewers get books several months before they’re published, I’m able to see trends in the making. One time, though, I received a nasty shock from an ARC (advance review copy). As I was reading a new P.D. James novel for review, I discovered that she not only had the same plot I was working on for Desert Shadows, but actually used the same last line I did! So I had to re-plot and re-structure my own book in three months (I’d promised delivery on a certain date). It just about killed me.

What kinds of mysteries do I read for pleasure? To no one’s great surprise, I like the dark plots, haunted main characters, and lots of atmosphere. However, I still enjoy a well-crafted cozy (or I wouldn’t have bothered to write one, myself!), just as long as the character and plot don't tip over into goofy. I also read a lot of what has been termed “literary fiction.” Carol Shields is my god – or should I say goddess? I think her Unless is one of the finest, most compassionate books ever written. And Larry’s Party is stunning. Another favorite is Frederick Buechner, a minister who writes brilliant, non-self-righteous fiction. His Lion Country, about a shifty diploma-by-mail preacher, is an out-and-out miracle.

Zelvin: The bio on your website suggests a very interesting life, listing such varied occupations as folksinger, artist, chicken farmer, and go-go dancer as well as journalist and writer. Has it always been fun? What are the high points for you? Are there any dark passages in your life that you’re willing to talk about? And how has your own experience affected the way you write and what you choose to write about?

Webb: I’m one of those people who, when looking for a job, always asked myself: which would be the most fun? And I always went for the fun job, even when it paid less. Oddly enough, being a folksinger turned out to be boring for me, because I had to keep singing the same songs – rehearse them, even! Booooring. Chicken farmer was fun because chickens are crazy. But being a journalist was the most fun I’ve ever had, because I got to interview so many of my heroes – Buzz Aldrin, my beloved Carol Shields, Jimmy Carter... the list is a long one. The excitement of a news room is like nothing else; there are moments when I miss it so much I can hardly stand it.

Dark passages in my life? Ha! As the old joke goes, if I told you, I’d have to kill you. Let’s just say this: there’s a reason I murder people in my books.

Zelvin: In literature and in life, what remains on your to-do list? What are your dreams and goals?

Webb: I want each of my books to be better than the last. I believe that self-satisfaction is the enemy of progress, so I take heart in knowing that I have room for improvement. As for the other items on my to-do list, at this weird stage of my life, I’ve decided I want to make a CD of my own songs. Problem is, I’ve forgotten how to play decent guitar, and my voice is now a croak when it used to be a pretty soprano. But as soon as I’m finished with Desert Sins, the sequel to Desert Wives, I’m going to drag that old guitar out and croak my way through 12 tracks.

Betty Webb is a journalist-turned-mystery author who has interviewed everyone from U.S. presidents to the homeless. Her best-selling Lena Jones detective series, published by Poisoned Pen Press, has garnered rave reviews from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and other prestigious national publications. Desert Wives, a mystery set in one of Arizona’s notorious polygamy compounds, is in development to become a Lifetime-TV movie and series.

Double Life: Sheila Connolly & Sarah Atwell

Interviewed by Sandra Parshall

Sheila Connolly, aka Sarah Atwell, was an art historian, investment banker, nonprofit fundraiser, and professional genealogist before she became a mystery writer. She does her writing in a Victorian house in Massachusetts, not far from Cape Cod, and shares her life with a husband, a daughter, and three cats. This month she debuts with Through a Glass Deadly, first in the Glassblower Mysteries series from Berkley Prime Crime, which she wrote as Sarah Atwell. In August she kicks off the Orchard Mysteries with One Bad Apple, written as Sheila Connolly.

Q. You sold two mystery series to Berkley at the same time. How did that come about? How long had you been writing before you sold these two series?

A. I had been writing for two years before I snagged an agent. Unfortunately he was not a very good agent, but I was new to writing and what did I know? It took me two years to cut the ties with him, and then I started the agent search once again. Since I was writing mysteries (leaning more toward suspense in those days), Jacky Sach at BookEnds was one of my dream agents. I submitted several queries to BookEnds over a year or two, and all were rejected. And then one of the SASEs came back empty.

I went to high school in New Jersey, so I recognized the postmark, and made the brilliant deduction that the envelope had come from BookEnds. I sent a polite e-mail asking for confirmation that it had once contained yet another rejection, and Jacky got back to me quickly. Yes, it was a rejection, but she liked my voice and asked if I would be interested in writing a series for Berkley Prime Crime. She sent me the editor's "bible" (a brief description of the characters and the set-up) and I loved it–an independent, forty-something woman with a fascinating craft and her own business. I wrote three chapters and shipped them off. Jacky loved it; the editor loved it. Presto: The Glassblower Series.

I'm not sure I had even submitted the first book in that series when, with incredible arrogance, I told Jacky that I thought I could handle two series at a time. Luckily she didn't laugh at me. We kicked around some ideas and came back to the book she had originally turned down, which was about a woman who finds herself out of a job and a relationship, and decides to open a B&B in an old house in western Massachusetts. I loved the setting and the characters, but Jacky thought the B&B hook had been overused, and besides, there was this ghost in it. I sent the ghost back to wherever she came from, and started thinking what else was appropriate to the region and hadn't been done to death, and "apples" popped into my head. Jacky liked the idea and tried it out on the rest of the BookEnds agents, and they agreed, so we submitted a package (three chapters, a synopsis, and suggestions for the next two books in the series) and it sold to the same editor at Berkley seven months after the first sale.


Q. How much time do you have to write each book? What kind of writing schedule have you established for yourself – and is it working?


A. The interval varies. We've tried to keep the two series staggered, but sometimes the publisher has other ideas. For instance, the next orchard book is due on July 1, and the next glassblower book is due on September 1. No, I'm not panicking. I completed something like 16 books before I sold anything, which comes out to about three a year–the number is a little fuzzy because I kept revising books.

Of course, I'm still learning about editorial revisions and copyedits and galleys, etc., and it's hard to know how much time they will call for. Then my first editor moved on to another job a few months ago and handed me off to a different editor (who is wonderful), so I ended up doing two rounds of edits for the same book.

In terms of day-to-day work, I'm at my computer by eight most mornings, spend an hour or two clearing e-mails and reading blogs and generally taking care of business, and then dig into the WIP. Although when I started writing I worked on as many as three books at once, now I find I like to focus on one at a time, start to finish, although that's not always possible. I take a very quick break for lunch, then I'm back at the laptop. I do find my "creative" brain shuts down mid-afternoon. But I do this seven days a week, unless life intervenes. Fresh air, sunshine, and human contact can in fact be good for the creative process.


Q. The first book has just been published. How do you plan to promote it without cutting into your writing time?

A. I earned an MBA a couple of decades ago, and you'd think that would make marketing and promotion easy. Wrong! My degree is in finance, so I'm much better prepared to analyze how much money I've spent on promotion, and my expected return on investment.

I've collected a lot of excellent suggestions from other writers as I learned the ropes–and I belong to more than thirty loops as well as multiple real and virtual writing organizations, and I read plenty of blogs. My overall impression is, do what you can without breaking the bank (or losing your sanity), and do what you enjoy. And pace yourself. It's easy to get caught up in either writing or promotion at the expense of the other, and you need to find a balance that works for you. I'm still hunting for that. I like to attend conferences, I blog, I manage a contest for an on-line RWA chapter, and I plan to use all the alumnae and social organizations and craft-based resources I can identify. But the most important part is having a major publisher who can get my books on the shelves, and I've been very lucky with that.

I'm not sure signings are the best way to go, or at least, not a slew of them. My Berkley publicist recommends doing one or two regional (and well publicized) signings and making sure all your local contacts, friends and family know about them. I love independent bookstores, so I would be happy to offer my presence there, if they're willing, and will certainly sign stock wherever they will let me. And I would expect to tap both bookstores and libraries in the areas my series are set–Tucson (which has an excellent small mystery bookstore) and western Massachusetts.


Q. How are your two series protagonists alike? How do they differ? Do you find yourself getting ideas for one while trying to write about the other?


A. My protagonists are definitely different, and I want to keep them that way–that's one reason for not jumping back and forth between the books in the series. I love Em Dowell, my glassblower–she's written in first person, and she's got a sharp tongue and a warm heart. She doesn't take guff from anyone, whether it's her sometimes love interest, police chief Matt Lundgren, or the Chicago thugs who threaten her.

On the other hand, Meg Corey, my orchard owner, starts out bewildered by much of what has happened to her (not least, finding a body), and she's trying to come to terms with an unexpected new life. She surprises herself when she decides to commit to living in a small town and making the orchard pay, even though she knows nothing about growing things. I'm enjoying watching her develop her hidden talents.

I'd have to say that Meg is probably more like me, but Em gets to let loose all those zingers I wish I had the nerve to say. I see them both as women who are fighting to define their place in the world, and who have plenty of room to grow.


Q. How did you research glassblowing?


A. I've actually been fascinated by glassblowing for years, which is one reason I jumped at the chance to write that series. I live near two long-established glass centers, Pairpoint Glass and the Sandwich Glass Museum, so of course I made a beeline to those, found a woman glassblower, and asked all sorts of questions. And then I had to try it for myself, so I took a class. I've gotten to know some of the smaller shops around where I live, and all the artisans are very dedicated people, always experimenting and stretching themselves to try new things. It's a privilege to watch them. It's a very timeless craft.


Q. You’re publishing the Glassblower Mysteries under a pseudonym and the Orchard Mysteries under your real name. Will you promote both series at the same time, using both names, or will each booksigning focus on only one series?

A. My agent made a point of including in my Sarah Atwell contract the right to acknowledge and promote both names, singly or together. But each series offers different promotional opportunities. For the Glassblower Mysteries, I can tap into the crafts angle (and I'm hoping some of the local glassmaking institutions will carry the books); for the Orchard Mysteries I can build on the genealogy background, as well as harvest fairs and apple-related events (it's no accident that One Bad Apple is coming out in August, when apple-picking starts).

Q. Before you turned to writing full-time, you had several very different jobs. Did any of them prepare you for being a novelist?

A. Absolutely, although I didn't know it at the time. I worked as a non-profit fundraiser for many years, which involved writing grant proposals–which are often creative fiction! I also worked as a professional genealogist, both for an institution and as a private contractor, and that sharpened my research skills (as well as providing all sorts of interesting story ideas). Genealogy is always a mystery, and sometimes the best way to tease out a fact is to approach it obliquely or indirectly. That's very useful training for a mystery writer.

Q. What are you looking forward to most eagerly as a published writer? Is there anything you’re apprehensive about?

A. The fame, the glory, the adoring crowds, the wealth... No, I'm not that naive. Since I've loved books all my life, I feel incredibly privileged to have produced one (and then more than one) myself. My books are going to be sitting on a bookshelf next to those of writers I've admired for decades. I share a publisher with Agatha Christie!

And I do relish those moments when people ask, "What do you do?" and I can say, “I'm a mystery writer,” and watch their eyes light up.


Q. What aspect(s) of writing craft have you struggled with? What comes most easily to you?

A. I am extremely lucky that I write quickly. I know there are people who agonize over every word, and get hung up on getting a single paragraph or chapter just right before they can move on. I'm more the Nora Roberts school: produce a vomit draft. You can pretty it up later, but get it down on paper (or screen) first. I don't even hate editing (except maybe the third or fourth time I have to massage one manuscript and I can't remember what I wanted to say any more).

Q. Are you in a critique group – and if so, do you plan to continue working with critique partners after you’re published?

I have belonged to more than one online critique group. One fell apart quickly because our styles didn't mesh. The next one held together for over a year, and even survived some cast changes. It too finally petered out, but I'm still in touch with one member and we swap material. I also have one or two other people who I can turn to for a reality check: Is this working? What's missing here? Would this character do this? And we exchange, which is important. I don't see stopping that, because it's too easy to lose perspective when you're writing, and you need an objective outside eye, and especially someone who can be honest with you.


Q. You’re a member of the Guppies Chapter of Sisters in Crime. How has the group helped you?

A. The Guppies are wonderful. Writing is a solitary occupation, and you spend a lot of time alone, and in your head. And once you get those words out, there's the whole depressing process of submitting to agents and editors and getting shot down, over and over, and most of the time you don't even know why. The Guppies are incredibly supportive, and that's important. We all need cheerleaders who understand what we're going through.


Q. What advice do you have for writers who are still struggling to break into print?

A. Believe in yourself, and don't give up. Getting published is hard. Rejection is a big part of the process, and not everyone can handle that. You have to have faith in yourself and what you're doing. You have to keep writing, because even if you can't see it, you're getting better. And don't take all the advice that's thrown at you. Pay attention to what other writers, agents, editors say, and take from them what makes sense to you. And for goodness sake, enjoy the process!

For more information, visit www.sheilaconnolly.com and www.sarahatwellwriter.com

How Long Can You Go?

Sharon Wildwind

Okay, so that title sounds like the subject line of less-than-desirable e-mail. Don’t worry, there’s nothing intimate or the least bit risque in this blog.

I’m talking about making a commitment or forming a new habit. How long can you keep a promise to yourself?

Have you encountered the colored-silicone-bracelet syndrome yet? Originally designed to promote awareness and support of causes, these bright, soft wristbands have found a new life as part of behavior-modification theory.

Part of that theory is that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. You put the bracelet on your right wrist, and every time you do something you’re not supposed to do—smoke, swear, make a negative remark at work—you switch the bracelet to the other wrist.

The first goal is to keep the bracelet on one wrist for a set amount of time. It might be five minutes or half an hour, or a whole day, whatever you think you can achieve. The next goal is to double the original time. When you’ve been consistently successful for half an hour, now can you do it for an hour? The ultimate goal is to keep the bracelet on the same wrist for 21 days, the theory being that by the time you’ve done that, you have established a new habit.

Once upon a time a few years ago, I hit a stretch where, between my day job and my writing job, I had a full-day commitment for 16 days in a row. Let me tell you, I was not looking forward to those days. Fortunately, at the same time, I was reading a marvelous book about making very tiny quilt squares. So, I promised myself I would make one quilt square every day for 16 days.

The rules I set for myself were simple: each square had to be 3” on a side; I could use a pattern from the book I was reading or make up my own pattern, but each square had to be different. No cheating and making easy 4-block squares day after day; and finally, I had to finish one square a day. Even if I was sick, or tired, of lacked motivation, I couldn’t let a day slide by and make two squares the next day.

Actually, knowing that there were small bits of colored cloth waiting for me each day made the days go quickly. Some days I did the square first thing in the morning, and that energized me. Sometimes I did it last thing at night, and that relaxed me. Following all of my self-imposed rules, I finished the 16 squares, and eventually—about a year later—put them together into a mini quilt.

As writers, all of us have a “should” list a mile long. Things we really want to do, things we really intend to do, just as soon as we get around to it. So, here’s my tiny contribution to helping you get one thing off that list.

Pick something small—let me emphasize this again: small—from your should list and make up some simple rules about what you’re going to do (or not do) for 21 days in a row. Send me an e-mail with what you plan to do and the date you plan to start and end. My address is in my profile: click on my name under “About Us,” then on “e-mail.” After that, you’re on the honor system.

I’ll check back with you after the 21 days are up. If you’ve kept up the struggle for 21 days, I’ll send you a tiny hand-made box or bag to celebrate your faithfulness to yourself.

So, here's my commitment. I've been woefully slack about reading the mystery journals to which I subscribe. So everyday, beginning today, March 11, and running until March 31, I'm going to read one article out of a journal every day.

Keep that spirit going!
_____
Writing quote for the week:

I look at the writer's journey as a three-part-trip: the struggle to write, the struggle to be heard, the struggle to survive. Each is a mighty battle, unless the writer’s luck is on constant overdrive.
~John Dunning, mystery writer

Mystery Writer Jess Lourey On Left Coast Crime and The Funniest Movie Ever

an interview with Julia Buckley

Hey, Jess! Thanks for being our reporter on the spot at Left Coast Crime. How did you enjoy Denver?

Best conference I’ve ever been to. There were some glitches getting registration set up at the beginning, but it all came together. I give a hats off to Christine Goff and Suzanne Proulx, the organizers. The panels were well-organized, the attendance was strong, and the food was delicious!

You were nominated for a Lefty for your book KNEE HIGH BY THE FOURTH OF JULY. I was chatting with Bill Cameron last week, and he said being nominated for a Rocky has made him quite egotistical. Are you suffering from that malady, too? :)

I am. My head’s as big as a car. In fact, I ran into Bill at the conference, and we got into a fight like Godzilla and Rodan until we remembered that we were up for different awards. Sadly, neither Tim Maleeny nor Bill won the Rocky, though both wrote page-turners. I was proud to lose the Lefty to Elaine Viets, the charming toastmaster of the conference and an all-round hilarious person.

What was the most surprising thing about LCC?

How friendly the people are. Actually, that’s probably not surprising for anyone who’s attended a mystery conference before because the mystery community is incredibly welcoming. At LCC, I met a married couple from outside of Denver who had read about the con in a paper and registered on a whim. They were going to meet up for drinks with some of their favorite authors later that afternoon. They were thrilled! Where else can you hang out with authors and pick their brains like that?

That's pretty cool. What were some fun panels that you attended at the convention?

I enjoyed my own panel, “Dying is easy: comedy is hard,” because Mario Acevedo was a hilarious moderator who shared his plan for world domination through mystery writing (he’s .000001% of the way there). Deb Baker, Terri Thayer, and Rita Lakin’s panel on cozies was notable for the engaging personalities of the presenters.

On Carl Brookins’ suggestion, there were also “Endless Conversations,” very informal give-and-take sessions between pre-published authors, published authors, and fans that took place all day long. They were a great deal of fun because you got to hear a variety of stories and interact with the audience more.

The all-round most best panel, hands down, was RT Lawton’s Surveillance panel. Those who attended got a 45-minute lesson on trailing spies on foot. Then, in groups of three, we were assigned a “rabbit” to tail for 45 minutes in a 5 x 5 block radius of downtown Denver. Our rabbits went into and out of stores and elevators in an effort to lose us. They didn’t know right away who was assigned to tail them, but they found out pretty quickly because we were so inept. My group’s rabbit lost us in a store and came out the other side wearing entirely different clothes with a wig, sunglasses, and a fake baby strapped to her. It was a blast! The goal was to take a picture of the rabbits making an “exchange.”
















Some of the "rabbits" included, at left: Marcus Sakey, Michelle Gagnon, and Jason Starr.

That sounds hilarious!

You’re a mom and a teacher, but you also carve out time to write mysteries and attend conferences. How do you do it? Do you take Geritol every day?

I think I might have overextended myself on this one. I lost my voice on Friday and am down to just a squeak today. I hope my virus doesn’t sweep the mystery community like a, uh, virus. If there are no short stories or new articles in Crimespree this week, you’ll know it’s my fault. Typhoid Jessie.

Your book AUGUST MOON comes out soon; are you writing a fifth Murder by the Month mystery?

My plan is to write September Mourn, the fifth in the series, this summer, and it’s slated for a fall 2009 release. In the meantime, I’m writing a historical fiction novel about a Lakota girl forced into a boarding school in 1903 South Dakota. Most days, I’m pretty sure I’m in over my head on this one, but the research has been rewarding, and the story is important.

Do you ever find time to read for pleasure? If so, what’s been the best book you’ve read recently?

It’s embarrassing, but I don’t have much pleasure-reading time during the school year. I’ve got Sherman Alexie’s Reservation Blues on my TBR pile and need to make time for it. The best book I’ve read recently is William Kent Krueger’s Thunder Bay, which one the IMBA Dilys Award at LCC. That guy can’t write a bad book.

When do you do your writing? Are you a morning or an evening person?

I might be an early morning person but I’m always sleeping then so I can’t be sure. I’m most comfortable writing when it’s dark out, I think because then I don’t feel guilty. My mom always said my sister and I needed to be outside doing something when it was sunny, and that has stuck in my psyche. Writing when it’s nice and bright outside seems somehow slothful and decadent.

Here in Chicago it is still under 20 degrees; I’m guessing that in your home state of Minnesota it might be colder than that—how was Colorado, temperature-wise?

Denver, Colorado, had the weather of a full month in Minnesota squished into one day. You’d step out the hotel in the morning with a winter jacket and hat on, and by lunchtime, it’d be so warm you’d have lunch outside. There was no snow on the ground, which surprised me.

Now that you’ve been reunited with home and hearth, how will you spend your down time?

I just got home around 45 minutes ago and knew I had to email you first thing. Probably I should next check my work email to see if there are any student fires to put out. Then, sleep. But remember that you’re always my priority, Julia. :)

Good to know. :)

Now, on to new things: Spring is coming! Do you have plans for spring break?

Alas, last week was my spring break, but I think I used it wisely. I made wonderful new friends, met supportive fans, and all-round enjoyed myself.

What’s your favorite spring flower?

Lilacs, lilacs, lilacs. They’re my favorite flower period. They might be a bush, though. Can something be both a flower and a bush? Hmmm. What’s yours?

I love lilacs too, and peonies. And of course the beautiful crocuses that nose out first, even while there's still snow on the earth.

Now that you’ve published four books, I’m curious to know if you’ve been contacted by anyone from your past who wanted to get reacquainted? If not, what’s the most interesting bit of fan mail you’ve received?

That’s funny you should ask. After May Day came out, I received emails from a handful of people I went to high school with, and that was fun because although I look like a grown-up, I don’t usually feel like one, and it’s fun to connect with your past like that. I still get a sprinkling of those with each new book, but not as many as I first did.

Your writing is very humorous, so I’m guessing you enjoy humor. Who is A) your favorite comedian? B) the funniest movie in the world C) a novel that makes you laugh out loud when you read it?

You are the best interviewer out there, Julia Buckley! You’ve always got fun but pithy questions. OK. My favorite comedian is Steve Martin, who I’ve had a crush on since I was nine but who I hear is cranky in real life. The funniest movie in the world is Spinal Tap. I’m still looking for that novel that makes me laugh out loud. I’m a fan of Hiaasen and Evanovich, but they’ve never gotten audio responses from me. How about the readers of Poe’s Deadly Daughters? What should I be reading to make me snort?

We'll have to wait and see what those readers say!

Meanwhile, how can readers find out more about the fun (and Lefty-nominated) Jess Lourey?

I’d be honored if anyone’s interested. My website is www.jesslourey.com, and I contribute monthly to the fabulously eclectic Midnight Ink blog. Thanks for the interview, Julia!

Thanks, Jess, for chatting with us on Poe’s Deadly Daughters!

ATTENTION TO ALL WHO ENTERED LONNIE CRUSE'S CONTEST: Mary Beth T. won a free signed copy of Lonnie's book! Lonnie would also like to send a free signed copy of Fifty-Seven Heaven to Kattryn Lilley and Marlyn (last name not listed)--if both will contact Lonnie at nevada1943@yahoo.com with a mailing address. Thanks!

Old Navy: A Battle Cry, Not a Brand Name

Roger Lee Crossland (Guest Blogger)

Retired Captain Roger Lee Crossland is the author of the historical mystery Jade Rooster. Captain Crossland served as a SEAL officer in Vietnam in 1971. In 2002, he was mobilized for duty with Naval Special Warfare Group One in Southwest and Central Asia as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In civilian life he is a trial lawyer. Captain Crossland says he isn’t old Navy, he just looks that way.

Periodically I see ads for Old Navy ™ clothing on TV, and I bridle. The clothing line has nothing to do with either the Navy, or indeed, anything to do with anything old. The Old Navy label doesn’t even sport an anchor. There isn’t a hint of nostalgia for a phrase that should convey the message of hardened men in hard times, packed in close quarters molded around ordnance and power plants and fighting the forces of nature as well as human forces in faraway places. I suppose I am being thin-skinned, but that brand name just rubs me the wrong way.

The true “old Navy” of the United States began with the publication of Seapower by Alfred Thayer Mahan in 1890. The Navy had been dwindling after the Civil War until this influential book helped the American public understand why the United States Navy existed. The old Navy, as the term is used in the Navy, began with what is now called the Naval Renaissance, the turnabout period for the United States Navy at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century.

This past December marked the sixty-sixth anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also marked one of the high points of the Naval Renaissance. December also marked the centennial of the Great White Fleet’s cruise around the world, which told the World the old Navy was a global force. The American response after Pearl Harbor demonstrated the terrible power of that particular global force.

At the turn of the century, navies were on everyone’s mind. Rarely was the United States Navy the focus of so much public attention. Every boy had a sailor suit and every girl a “middie” blouse. Far Eastern school uniforms were patterned after naval uniforms, the symbol of progress. Grocery stores sold hot items that displayed the image of a sailor to attract customers, products such as Crackerjacks™ and Sailor Boy Oysters™. Children all around the world played with tinplate dreadnaughts.

The ships of the era, hardly toys, were the greatest mobile convergence of technology of the time and steel magic carpets to exotic places. A ship held all the cutting edge technology then known…from electricity to ordnance to steel technology to propulsion to communications to navigation to optics. If you wanted to go anywhere far away, you went by ship. People in the jet age don’t appreciate that. Business men and women today hop on airplanes to Katmandu and it is considered no great accomplishment. At the turn of the century, sailors were the ones who went to the farthest, strangest places and met the most fascinating people.

Warships especially were on the cutting edge. Recruiting posters of the period oozed adventure and displayed sailors with parrots perched on their shoulders or walking next to llamas. Actors like Randolph Scott and Fred Astaire captured the popular imagination in naval uniform, in bellbottom trousers. The United States then extended from coast to coast, so “adventure,” as defined by writers such as Richard Harding Davis, took place outside American borders. A sailor was truly someone special, an adventurer who patrolled the frontiers of the known world, akin to a modern day astronaut with just a tad less theoretical education.

Today we talk of the clash of cultures. This clash is hardly a new phenomenon and actually was part of the allure of the Navy. I set my historical novel, Jade Rooster in 1913, at the height of the Naval Renaissance period. The mystery involves the disappearance of a merchant barque and the discovery of four severed heads in a ship’s boat on the Yellow Sea. and the search for the barque. My story is set at the intersection of a complicated web of clashing cultures whose issues complicate the investigation.

The US and Japan are at odds. Even then, both countries sense the impending struggle for control of the Pacific. Japan is in the midst of a very brutal subjugation of Korea. The Koreans ask for American help, but coal is a very limiting fuel and the US cannot project its power that far. The US is pacifying the Philippines and fighting suicidal Moslem warriors, the Moros, a task that strains its resources.

Steam ships are in competition with sailing ships. Their crews training and routines were very different. Merchant marine sailors and naval warship sailors have little in common. Gritty black colliers are in constant conflict with pristine white warships. Coaling evolutions are dirty and required hours of loading, and worst still, require hours of cleaning. Colliers are the pariahs of the fleet. Warships hate to see colliers coming.

One of my favorite sequences in the book deals with this small clash of corporate cultures. The conflict between the crews of the protected cruiser Baltimore and the collier Pluto reaches a stage where the admiral directs them to work out their differences in a ship’s cutter competition. The rowing race is handled the way grown men engage in competition. No rules and no quarter.

The term “old Navy” has meaning to me. It is a battle cry that harkens to another time, a time of conflict and courage. If I wore the words “old Navy” on the label on the collar of my shirt, the hair on my neck would stand on end. Who knows what dangerous spirits it might invoke from the deep?

Quick rule change . . . hey, it's my post, my rules, or lack thereof . . .

By Lonnie Cruse (twice in one day?)

Okay, it occured to me after I posted my blog post early this morning with the contest for the tenth commenter (see below, I'm not your basic morning person, if you haven't guessed) that no one would want to post a comment at all, IF they could only post once because nobody wanted to be first. So far we have seven posts. Tenth comment still wins, but you may now comment more than once. Soooo, IF you want to try to win a copy of my book, free, autographed, read the blog post BELOW, make a comment THERE, and may the best commenter win.

And I'll add a second prize. In the comment section under THIS post, tell me a quick story about anything you remember from the 1950's (assuming you are old enough to be alive then) and the winner here will get the second prize, a signed copy of my book. You have all weekend to work on this and I'll anounce the winners next week, or ask Julia to post names on her day, Monday, along with her usual post. There will be someone blogging here tomorrow, but you can still post comments to mine after reading theirs. Make any sense? I was afraid of that. If anyone understands THIS post, I'll send you a free PDD bookmark.

Let 'er rip!

Anchors Away - Aweigh - A-???

By Lonnie Cruse


Though my book has been out since December, I'm *officially* launching it Saturday week, (March 15th 2-4 PM, Metropolis Public Library, 313 Metropolis Street, and in case you want to fly in for this event, the nearest airport is over in Paducah and I'll send someone to pick you up!) Where was I? Launching a book.

The library is providing cookies and I'm bringing Coke floats. Anyone wearing something from the Fifties is entered in a contest, winner taking home a free signed copy of the book. So why here, and why now? Here, because the Metropolis Public Library has always been VERY supportive of my books. And the meeting room downstairs is lovely. And I think the librarians are the greatest. Did I mention how supportive they are?

Why now? Because it's March and all threat of bad winter weather is past. NOT! Today we expect two grandchildren and four inches of snow. Hubby is about to hunt up the sled, in case. Hopefully NEXT week will be better. If not, bring snowshoes and maybe we'll make snow cream instead of Coke floats. Whatever.

Writing a book is tough. Can I do this? Will anyone publish it? Read it? Like it? Launching is worse. Will anyone come? Buy the book? Like it? Yes, I'll take some cheese with my whine.

Apparently publishing is getting harder and harder. Fewer people reading every year. Fewer books sold. And that, of course, trickles down to writers. More people seem to be writing and hustling to get published. So competition for readers is stiffer. Sometimes we think about giving up. Surprise you? Me, too. But mostly we keep on writing. And hustling. And worrying. And hoping. And serving things like cookies and Coke floats.

Meanwhile, I'm thirsty. Think I'll just do a test run of a Coke float. Just to be sure I remember how to make them. Hopefully, it will bring good luck. Coke floats were lucky for me 47 years ago when I met Hubby at the Blue Onion drive-in in Las Vegas. You just never know.

Okay, let's make this interesting. Tenth person to leave a comment to this post wins a free signed copy of Fifty-Seven Heaven. And you can't post more than once. Any takers? I'd include a Coke float, but you know how fussy the USPS is about liquids.

Reading for Romance

Elizabeth Zelvin

I don’t write romance, but I read for it. No, I’m not confessing to a secret taste for bodice rippers. I read mostly mystery and some carefully chosen fantasy, SF, and historical novels. But what most of my favorites have in common, regardless of genre, is fully realized, endearing characters and meaningful relationships, especially though not exclusively romantic ones.

Looking first at my favorite mystery series, let’s take Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone books. I love Sharon, but I’ve never fully bought her relationship, now marriage, with Hy Ripinsky. My pick among those books is Broken Promise Land, when Sharon’s assistant, Rae Kelleher, falls in love with Sharon’s brother-in-law, country star Ricky Savage. Some of it is told from Rae’s point of view, and for me it evokes that achingly emotional phenomenon, falling in love. Now let’s take Margaret Maron’s Judge Deborah Knott series. Like Sharon, Deborah makes a series of wrong choices before she finds a keeper. In her case, it’s a guy she’s known her whole life, Deputy Sheriff Dwight Bryant. And what a delicious twist it is that she lets her inner pragmatist insist she’s settling for a marriage of convenience, while Dwight conceals the fact that he’s been in love with her for years.

Sometimes an author fails to allow romance to triumph or draws the suspense out to my increasing frustration. I don’t think I’ve ever quite forgiven P.D. James for not letting Adam Dalgliesh get together with Cordelia Gray. And I wanted to shake Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, or perhaps her protagonist, Detective Inspector Bill Slider, for several books in a row as he shirked breaking with his irritating wife and committing to his delightful girlfriend.

Several years on the mystery lovers’ e-list DorothyL have taught me that I share my tastes across genres with quite a few other mystery readers. Even the ever-vigilant list moderators will allow members to post about Dorothy Dunnett and Diana Gabaldon. Both write mysteries, but it’s their more popular series, in both cases historicals with just a touch of woo-woo, that are so darn good. Dunnett’s Francis Crawford of Lymond and Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser both figured prominently in a hugely enjoyable discussion on the list of which fictional characters DLers would happily go to bed with.

Tellingly, the list included Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan, who’s a terrific character and as much of a superhero as Lymond and Jamie, but not sexy and gorgeous like them. Miles is only four feet tall with a big head and a condition something like brittle bone disease—but he’s such a great guy that readers were ready to jump his bones. Virtually, of course. And it probably helps that we know how good he is in bed. The Vorkosigan books are science fiction by genre, though they often contain a mystery. My favorite, A Civil Campaign, does not. It doesn’t need one to carry the story: it’s the perfect cross between space opera and comedy of manners. And the romance between Miles and Ekaterin is very satisfying indeed. Bujold dedicates the book to Jane (Austen), Charlotte (Bronte), Dorothy (Sayers), and Georgette (Heyer), and I think she does her sources of inspiration proud.

Considering my tastes, you’d think I’d have a romance in my mystery, Death Will Get You Sober. But I don’t. My protagonist Bruce is too busy getting sober to fall in love, though he goes to bed once each with his ex-wife (whom readers will learn more about in a future book) and a witness. And if he did, both his sponsor and his best friend Jimmy would remind him that AA wisdom suggests no new relationships in the first year of sobriety. Bruce is one of those characters whose perch on the author’s shoulder is the driver’s seat. He won’t be hurried, and I can’t force him. In the second book, he has a romantic interlude, but it’s transitional for both partners. In the third, he’s attracted to a suspect, but it doesn’t work out. In book four, he meets someone who might become a girlfriend and a recurring character. But I don’t know for sure. He hasn’t told me yet.

So for now, I read for romance, but I don’t write it—yet.

My life as a star of ER... NOT!

by C.J. Lyons -- guest blogger

(C.J. Lyons, whose first medical thriller has just been published by Berkley, is a physician trained in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy. She has worked in numerous trauma centers as a crisis counselor and victim advocate, and as a flight physician for Life Flight. Publisher's Weekly proclaimed her debut novel, Lifelines, "a spot-on debut….a breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller" and Romantic Times made it a Top Pick. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net.)

After spending 17+ years practicing pediatrics and pediatric emergency medicine, the most often asked questions I get aren't about how many lives I've saved (I don't know), how often I've been sued (never), or even why I went into medicine (a long story).

No, the questions I get asked over and over are: Is it really like on TV? And have you met George Clooney?

My answers are: no (thank god!) and no, but I sure wouldn't mind!

What's strange is that people don't believe real world ER medicine isn't like TV.

Yet, they assume that my novel, Lifelines (just published, yeah!!)—which IS as close as you can get to the real world of emergency medicine and still be entertaining, or at least as close as I can make it—has no relation to reality because it's "fiction."



When did TV become more believable than the characters we pour our blood, sweat and tears into?

Why would people want to think that a xenophobic drug addict with anti-social personality disorder and poor diagnostic skills (he makes three wrong diagnoses for every one he gets right!) like House is the way doctors are in real life?

Or that it's commonplace for attending physicians to seduce their 25 year old interns—grounds for dismissal, sanctions, and lawsuits in the real world—and there are no consequences?

Maybe they like to believe that us doctors really are ignoring our patients in order to have sex in the call rooms…and linen closets…and OR's, stairwells, rooftops, exam rooms, and wherever else those frisky Grey's Anatomy surgeons have done it.

Come to think of it, that would be a great incentive to go to work, knowing that these guys were ready and waiting to fulfill my every sexual fantasy and that I wouldn't have to worry about a pesky little thing called patient care to get in the way of my fun….

Then there's the most insidious TV misperception of all, one that seemed universally held by every patient who came to my ER. It's what I call the Burger King mentality—and I blame ER for creating it.

On ER, a patient arrives with a tummy ache and whoosh….thirty seconds later he's in a room, examined (without removing any clothes, these docs have x-ray vision!!!), a surgeon is found and lays eyes on him, proclaims him an appy ready to burst, and voila! An OR complete with staff, anesthesiologists, and equipment is ready for him. Right here, right now!

Talk about raising consumer expectations to an impossible level. This "have it my way, right away" mentality has grown to epidemic proportions.

Don't get me started…

So, here's the real scoop. Yes, scrubs are comfortable but they do tend to smell after you've been running around for 36 hours or more. Probably why, no, we don't get to have sex in the call rooms, stairwells, ORs or wherever. Actually, when you're working 36 on-12 off, you don't get to have much sex at all…

Yes, it's "cool" to see all the strange and wonderful things people do to themselves, like why for some reason, men always seem to change light bulbs in the nude and somehow fall on them, impaling them you-know-where….

No, it's not at all "cool" to see the reality of what people are capable of: murder, torture, rape, neglect, sheer indifference. Or the damage that a body can sustain: gunshot wounds, motor vehicle collisions, falls, stabbings, etc.

And if we need to blow off steam with a little gallows humor, it's not because we actually think it's funny or because we're jaded or callous—it's because if we didn't laugh, we'd be shutting ourselves in the supply closet and breaking down in tears, which wouldn't do our other patients much good.

Yes, we sometimes make mistakes (like House does on every show). No, we don't typically allow physicians go around disrupting everyone while popping pills.

Yes, working in the ER is fun and crazy and stressful and just about every other adjective in the dictionary.

And no, I still haven't met George Clooney—but if you see him, slip him a copy of Lifelines (on sale now!) and tell him to give me a call. Anytime. Day or night. Seriously.

For him, I'll find a clean pair of scrubs that make me look as sexy as those chicks on Grey's Anatomy….

Thanks for reading!

PS: I'm at Left Coast Crime this week, so grab me and say Hi!

Negative Space

Sharon Wildwind

Once upon a time—at least, I’ve heard stories about once upon a time—that there was a rhythm to being a writer.

That rhythm said:
Never submit a manuscript or look for an agent in August. Everyone in New York is out of town in August. As for December, close up and go home. Publish in May to catch the summer readers and in October for the Christmas market. Never, ever release a book in January. No one buys a book right after Christmas.

The seasonal rhythm of writing has vanished like the dodo bird. Finish a book on Tuesday; start writing the next book on Wednesday. Come home from a convention; get ready to go to the next convention. Submit a manuscript or hunt for an agent every day of the year, with the possible exception of Christmas Day itself. With electronic publishing, publish even on Christmas Day.

Yesterday, in a water color book, I came across this: It’s possible to paint an object by painting the spaces around it. The negative space becomes the thing itself.

The first writing negative space I encountered was in a class I took almost thirty years ago. We were required to keep a daily journal, writing down snippets of overheard dialog, descriptions of people or events; in short, anything that might make a good story. Only, we weren’t to grab our notebook and write these things down as they happened. The instructor asked us to wait a full twenty-four hours before committing to paper.

He said that beginning writers were often afraid to lose the moment. Fearful of not getting the dialog or the description exactly correct, we focused on immediate retrieval. He said that we needed to train our writer’s mind to do two things: first, to develop memory because there would be times that we simply couldn’t get to a notebook. Second, to let the thing we wanted to remember settle. If we couldn’t remember it after twenty-four hours, chances were what we thought so brilliant in the moment wouldn’t make a terrific story after all.

It wasn’t easy to wait. My fingers had this intense desire to scrabble in my backpack, pull out my journal and write. Sometimes I grieved over forgetting. If I’d only written it down yesterday . . .

But gradually, I came to realize the dimensions of what he was trying to teach us. There was a huge difference between things remembered in exact detail, and things remembered as fiction. For some experiences it mattered that I could recall the exact smell, the sight, the colors. For others, it was more important to remember the—gestalt, for lack of a better word—how I was moved by the thing rather than the exact details of the thing itself. Both had a place in writing, and learning how to do both made me a better writer.

I’m just beginning to learn a second lesson about negative space. If the business of writing has truly become a 24/7 occupation, and I believe that it has, then we, as writers, have the freedom to set our own seasons. Yes, there will always be deadlines, coming at us faster and harder, with none of this nonsense about taking August off or relaxing in December. But I truly believe that it will be the negative spaces with which we surround our work that will enable us to survive.

We have to develop a whole range of negative survival spaces. Five-minute vacations that we can take on a moment’s notice. Ways to shut off that nagging “What am I going to do about Elrod’s lack of motivation in Chapter 7?” long enough for Elrod to work out the answer for himself. Entire days off in which we restore, restock, replenish those creative gifts we have been given.
_____
Writing quote for the week:

It takes peace of mind and clarity to recognize and reorder meaningful, personal priorities . . . Many of us assume that we can continue to get along just by winging it indefinitely. We can't. We need an antidote for the hurried and harried lives that threaten to tear us apart.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach, author

Writer Bill Cameron On the World of Mystery and the Mysteries of the World

An Interview by Julia Buckley

Bill Cameron is a mystery writer whose debut novel, Lost Dog, received accolades from readers and critics alike. He is also one of the writers in the Lee Child-edited Killer Year Anthology. I asked him to chat about his writing, his nature-watching, and his life in general.

Hi, Bill! It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was hanging out with you at the Madison Bouchercon. How did it get to be 2008?

Through the awful onslaught of inexorable time. Oh, the bitter cruelty the universe casts upon us! But, boy, Madison was sure fun, wasn’t it? We gotta do that again some time!

Okay. This is a very cool photo of you, and solidifies my image of you as a Thoreau-like individual. But is that a giant gun on your shoulder? Or are you a National Geographic photographer? Those are the only two choices.

Yes.

Okay, seriously, it’s my tripod and spotting scope. In that pic I have been caught in the act of attempting to find birds to watch, which turns out to be surprisingly difficult, owing to the fact that I am a giant, noisy, lumbering oaf. Still, I enjoy going out to the woods or getting down to the river bottoms in the early morning and seeing who’s hanging out.

I’d like to pretend like I am a skillful and knowledgeable birder. Sadly, this is a typical conversation between me and my wife Jill while out on the peek:

Jill: Honey, what kind of bird is that?
Me (leafing frantically through the Sibley’s Guide): Um, er, eh . . . it’s, um, brown.
Jill: You’re holding the book upside down.

Still, that picture makes me look like I know my business, doesn’t it? Please don’t tell anyone of the tragic reality.

Well, you've been outed now, because millions of people read this blog. :)

Your book, LOST DOG, came out last year. Has it been fun promoting it?

It has, though at times it’s been tough as well. I enjoy getting out and meeting readers, but because I’m probably more introverted than extroverted, I can usually only handle a little bit at a time.

I’m so much of a fan that even when I do meet readers, inevitably the conversation ranges to any number of books in addition to my own. I love to talk about books I’ve read and to make and receive recommendations. I’ve had appearances where I think I’ve sold more books by other people than by me.

This means you are humble, and that makes you loveable, like Underdog.

What’s the most excitement you ever experienced at a book signing?

The first time someone who wasn’t already a friend or family member came out specifically to see me was both thrilling and really humbling. The hope for any writer is surely to produce work that gets read, but so much of the publication process involves rejection that once you finally get something in print, it can almost be hard to believe anyone actually wants to read it. So when it turns out someone actually does, well, it’s just an incredible feeling.

I love the title of your book. It applies, naturally, to your character, Peter McKrall, and to a lost toy dog in the novel. But do you ever see yourself as a bit of a lost dog? In an existential sense?

Interesting question. The simple answer is yes, though it’s not really that simple. Certainly I draw on my own views and experiences in my writing, but I don’t want to imply the events of Lost Dog are in any way autobiographical. That said, one of the things that drives my work is an attempt to wrestle with my own demons. The pages of my stories become a place to come to grips with the world around me, with the things that trouble me, with the things I find important. So while the events of Lost Dog aren’t directly reflective of me or my own life, the themes are reflective of what I consider crucial.

LOST DOG is a finalist for the Rocky Award, and your short story in the much-lauded KILLER YEAR anthology was called “an irony-filled gem” by the Chicago TRIBUNE. Has the fame gone to your head? :)

Yes. I am insufferable. My wife makes me sleep on the back stoop, I’m so bad. But if I behave for a couple of days running, she lets me back in the house and gives me access to the coffee maker again.

What are you writing now?

I’m currently at work on my third novel, tentatively titled Blood Trail. I completed Chasing Smoke, the follow up to Lost Dog, last year—-my agent currently has it out on submission.

Though the three books are essentially standalones, they are each part of the same milieu and feature recurring characters. Skin Kadash, one of the detectives from Lost Dog, is the main character in Chasing Smoke. Ruby Jane also returns, along with a number of other folks, though Peter does not. In Blood Trail, the primary focus is on two new characters, a young car thief and a woman fleeing her abusive husband, though Skin is also a significant point-of-view character again.

These books are not a series per se, but I do think of them as a kind of thematic triptych. Lost Dog is about confronting loss, Chasing Smoke about acknowledging mortality, and Blood Trail about renewal. I admit the whole renewal thing could tarnish my modest noir cred, but Blood Trail is shaping up to be fairly harrowing.

Because these books don’t comprise a true series, it won’t really matter which order they’re read, or even if all are read, though I try to reward readers who start with Lost Dog and then go to the others in turn. All that said, I still don’t know what will happen in terms of publication of either of the new novels, but hopefully I’ll have good news soon.

In addition to my work on the novels, I’ve written a number of short stories during the last few months, something I hadn’t done for years before the opportunity to write a story for the Killer Year anthology came along. I’ve discovered a new love of the short form, and found myself producing a hardboiled, contemporary version of Rumpelstiltskin, a melancholy short short about puppy love, and a gritty revenge tale. So far, I don’t know what will happen with any of them, but they’re all out on submission to various publications.

Well, as you know, I'm a LOST DOG fan, and I'll be eager to read the next two. And now that you have used the word "triptych," I have even more respect for you. :)

You are, it would seem, the rugged and outdoorsy type. Are you ever called the Hemingway of Portland?

I’ve been called that guy who never gets out of the comfy chair at the coffee shop, and my wife calls me Silly Billy. Somehow I have a hard time picturing anyone referring to Hemingway as Silly Ernie.

Speaking of Portland, you do a lovely job of describing this city in your mystery. Have you received accolades about your gift for creating setting?

Accolades? Goodness gracious!

It has been very gratifying to hear from people who were struck by the sense of place in Lost Dog. I think of setting as almost another character, so I try to treat it as seriously and infuse with the same depth and richness as I would with the people in my stories. Of course, in Lost Dog, the particular Portland I show is colored by the perceptions of the characters through whom it’s seen. Peter’s outlook might suggest a drearier Portland than I actually see myself. In Chasing Smoke, Skin sees Portland rather differently. Both views are, I think, true to life, but both are necessarily incomplete, limited as they are to what the characters in question see.

Would you ever live somewhere other than Portland?

I love Portland, and have no plans to leave. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t respond to the right opportunity if one came along. I love so many places. If money were no object, I’d probably keep apartments in New York and Paris (for fall and spring, respectively) and a nice beach house somewhere warm. But since reality insists on imposing its demands on life, I’m quite content with my little house here in Portland. It’s a great city, just big enough to offer a rich diversity of experience but not so big that I feel lost in it.

While it’s still cold, I’ll ask this: what are your summer plans?

Real plans, or imaginary? My real plans are to do a little gardening, do a little biking, and mostly just stick to earning a living and writing. With the family I hope to get away once or twice for a little camping or beach time, but we don’t have big summer plans.

Now, in my imaginary life, I’d like to bike with my wife across Europe, stay in lovely B&Bs every night, and then maybe settle down for a month or two on some Greek island. And then take the yacht across the Mediterranean to a few choice spots on the North African coast. Just, you know, fart around—live the life of the idle rich. Except I probably wouldn’t fit in so well with the yachting crowd, owing to my wretched propensity for projectile seasickness.

Still, it sounds awesome, as do the apartments in New York and Paris.

What books are currently on your bedside table?

I just finished Marcus Sakey’s new book, At the City’s Edge. Marvelous. Next for me is David Corbett’s Blood of Paradise. I also just picked up The Guilty by Jason Pinter, and that might be my airplane book for the flight to Denver for Left Coast Crime. I’ve also been snacking my way through Expletive Deleted, the anthology edited by Jen Jordan, which has been delightful. Sadly, there is never enough time to read as much as I would like.

Are there any indelible lessons you’ve learned now that you are a published author?

Whatever you think you know, you don’t. Whatever you think you’ve learned, it’s already obsolete. Last month is old and last year is ancient. But the future is at least two years away.

That is very Zen-like. What words of encouragement would you share with those who are still trying to publish their mysteries?

Don’t give up. You’ll hear that from many published writers, but I don’t think it can be said enough. And yet, I know it’s not always easy. I have struggled to follow that advice myself, despite my adamant belief in it. When the rejections start to pile up (and they do for every writer), it can be so tempting to give up. During the last year, I’ve questioned my own decision to write over and over again.

But in the end, what else can we do but keep writing? We can’t control the marketplace, or the decisions of editors and publishers, but we can continue to put words on the page. And if there’s one thing that’s certain in this business, books can’t be published unless they’ve been written.

So keep writing. If acceptance seems slow in coming, look for satisfaction in the process itself. As frustrating as the effort to get published can be, in the end, I believe writers write because they must. Let that be your focus. The market will find you when the time is right.

That was so profound, Bill! I'm going to frame it on my office wall.

How can readers find out more about you, your books, and your future endeavors?

I used to be a well-behaved blogger, but between the day job and writing, plus all the rest of life, I found that the time required to regularly post was too precious. I don’t forgo blogging completely, but my main info source right now is my website. When I do blog, it’s typically my monthly contribution to InkSpot.

The time may come when I revive my regular blog, but for now I use it only for announcements.

Thanks for chatting with me on PDD, Bill! I'll be looking for news of the new books.

Agent Check

by Darlene Ryan

You’re looking for an agent. You know you need to do some research. You’ve been to the websites of authors who write in the same genre as you do, to see who their agents are. You’ve checked out the acknowledgements in your favorite books to gather more agent names. You’ve checked the names at Preditors and Editors and the AAR site.

You’ve asked every writer you know about every agent on your list. And then…..you meet someone at a conference, or a workshop, at a signing or on-line and she tells you about this fabulous new agency that’s looking for writers to represent. Writers of paranormal haiku or Aztec thrillers, exactly what you’ve written. “It’s a brand new agency,” your new friend tells you. “But they have lots of contacts.” At this point you should be hearing a little warning voice in your head, your own personal, “Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!"

New literary agencies open fairly frequently. Just because you’ve never heard of someone doesn’t mean they aren’t legit. Doesn’t mean they are, either. This is where playing Super Website Sleuth comes in. We’re going to check out a couple of websites—The Nelson Literary Agency, a well-respected, legitimate, reputable literary agency, and The Scammit Agency, a not so legitimate, not so reputable agency whose name has been changed to protect the guilty.

[Disclaimer alert: The Nelson Literary Agency is not affiliated with anyone here at Poe's’ Deadly Daughters, especially me. But if they’d like to be, I have pages I can email.]

Okay, let’s go look at The Nelson Agency’s home page. It’s colorful, the font is easy to read, and there are no typos. All good. There’s a photo of Denver, where the firm is located, at the top of the page with the company address in the upper left corner. Just from this page we learn where the agency is, when it was established—2002, and how many deals they’ve completed in the last five years. Since there are several cover images on the page we even know some of the authors The Nelson Agency represents.

Now, let’s go to Scammit’s home page. It’s bright and professionally put together as well. But there’s no indication on this page of where the agency’s located. There’s no cityscape photo and no address. And there’s nothing that says how long the agency has been in business or how many deals they’ve made. But to be fair, all that information may be elsewhere on the site. Scammit does say they represent self-published and unpublished authors but there’s nothing about their published clients—no names, no deals, no covers. However, they do have a link to all the positive emails they’ve received.

Time to check out some other pages on both sites. Back to The Nelson Agency. What are our choices? We can find out more about the agency by clicking on About Us, or learn how to submit by clicking on Submissions. I’d like to know more about the agency. On this page there’s a brief blurb about Kristen Nelson and a list of the associations she belongs to. Note the SFWA membership. Sounds like a woman who would appreciate a good paranormal haiku.

[Disclaimer alert 2: Very few people actually appreciate paranormal haiku. I don’t know why, they just don’t. Please don’t send Kristin any paranormal haiku just because you read about her here. Please don’t send me any paranormal haiku either.]

Now what? We can click on a link to learn more about Kristin’s staff, or another to see who her clients are. But let’s go back to Scammit and see what we can learn About them. There’s no information here about the agency, either. Who owns the company? There are no actual agent names, or street address for the firm and no link to more details. And there’s no list of deals or clients. You can find a link to those emails from writers who’ve been taken on by Scammit, but what about the book sales? Making deals is how legitimate agents make money.

But Scammit is aggressively looking for new clients. It says so on their home page. And that should make you wary. Most reputable agents get zillions of submissions a month. They aren’t doing a lot of trolling for manuscripts. Manuscripts are falling out of the trees on their walk to work.

We could keep looking on both sites, but I think you get my point. Legitimate agencies, like The Nelson Agency, tell you who they are, what they’re looking for, and what they’ve sold.

Do your homework. A good agent, like a good bra, can lift you to the next level.