Happy Dance by Kait Carson

Thank you all for suffering through the last year and a half with me. I am pleased to announce that No Return, the novel of my dreams and nightmares, has been completed. Hopefully, it contains more active verbs than that last sentence. Funny how after you spend four months hip deep in edits, those things stand out like neon signs on a moonless night.

So, you might ask, what’s next? In the category of yes, she’s at it again, I’m three days into drafting Death by Deception, book four in the Hayden Kent Series. Here’s a sneak peek at the rough blurb: 

A day on the water turns tragic for Hayden Kent and her best friend, Mallory Corbett. Their plan to bag Florida’s delectable lobsters for a romantic Valentine’s dinner ends when they spot an empty boat adrift. The boat belongs to Pete Delaney, a local dive shop owner and Mallory’s new love. Closer inspection reveals eddies of blood swirling on the deck. As the pair investigate, they learn that Pete’s secrets run deeper than the wreck of the Thunderbolt at high tide. Can they find his killer before they become collateral damage?

It’s such a pleasure to return to familiar characters and landscape. When I finished Death Dive I hadn’t planned to write another Hayden Kent mystery. The story arc was complete, and the characters were all in good places. Instead, I found the further away I got from the Florida Keys, the more I missed it. When Hayden tempted me with a plot I couldn’t resist, I was all in. Because I know these characters so well, plotlines and story twists are flying from my fingers. The only learning curve is to Google the once familiar streets to see what’s changed. I haven’t been to Marathon in eight years. A long time even if you are living on island time. Sorry, Mr. Wolfe, you were mistaken. You CAN go home again.

Writers, have you ever returned to the scene of a past series? Did you feel at home? Readers, do you enjoy new offerings in a series that’s been dormant for a bit?

Kait Carson writes the Hayden Kent Mysteries set in the Fabulous Florida Keys and is at work on a new mystery set in her adopted state of Maine. She is a former President of the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime and a member of Sisters in Crime, Guppies, and Sisters in Crime New England. Visit her website at www.kaitcarson.com. While you’re there, sign up for her newsletter.

 

 

Ten Writing Maxims You Never Learned in School by Nancy L. Eady

I wrote my first blog post on my personal blog, workingmomadventures.com, in February 2011. In doing so, I knew exactly how this gig was going to play out. Someone, a publisher or agent or other person connected with the book industry, would stumble across my blog, find my writing fascinating, get in touch with me and lead me forward to fame and fortune. It didn’t take long for me to realize that the publishing world works very differently, so I moved to plan B – write a mystery novel. When I wrote “The End” on the first draft, I just knew I would receive phone calls and offers galore, the book would be printed and I would ride off into the sunset in a blaze of glory, surrounded by admirers, a possible movie deal and pockets full of cash. 

Ummm, not so much. I would love to tell you that as of today, I have lots of advice to give you from the mountain top, but the truth is I’m still scouting towards the foothills of the industry. I have yet to find an agent, to sell my novel, to finish any one of the several sequels I have started, or to win any awards.

But even in the foothills, there are lessons to be learned, so I thought I’d share a few that I have gleaned so far. 

1) It is impossible to proofread your own work with 100% accuracy. As one wit said (probably Mark Twain or Ben Franklin – always good guesses when it comes to quotes), “Facts are stubborn things, but fallacies are stubborner.” Our brains are amazing, but they know what we intended to write whether we put it down on paper or not, so they automatically fill in missing words and skip over extra words to help us out. 

2) Any error you leave in your writing will appear in the worst place possible. I learned this one doing legal writing in the course of my day job, but it holds true for fiction as well. I’d catch every single mistake in a brief except the mistake at the very beginning where I gave the brief the wrong name, told the judge the motion was from the defendant rather than the plaintiff, or asked the judge to grant the motion I was trying to get him/her to deny. The same is true for any submission you make or query letter you write. As hard as you work to proof-read your materials, proofread your first and last pages double hard. The worst mistakes always pop up there. 

3) Do not have characters with names starting with the same letter or containing the same sound. Apparently, that can confuse readers. My first novel included names like Ashley, Molly, Maggie, Johnny, Henderson, Herring and Howard. It was the second or third re-write before they changed to names like Heather, Rose, Jackson and Tony. 

4) Find and replace is your friend, especially when you have to change names from Ashley, Molly, Maggie, Johnny, Henderson, Herring and Howard to Heather, Rose, Jackson and Tony. 

5) When you type “The End” on your first draft, it isn’t. Novels take a lot of revision. Some people love revisions and some people hate them, but the revisions have to be done. 

6) When you can afford it, use the services of a professional editor. I was hesitant to do this with my first draft. I didn’t really understand how the process would work and I certainly didn’t want anyone taking over my story. Still, I plucked up my courage and my finances and sent my baby away for a developmental edit. Am I ever glad I did! The editor does not hijack your story but rather works with you to point out its strengths and weaknesses. She or he may provide suggestions as examples for you to follow, but you choose what you do and how you do it. 

 7) Never stop learning. Writing organizations such as Sisters in Crime and their on-line subchapter, the Guppies, offer reasonably priced on-line courses. In addition, many books have been written discussing various aspects of writing. 

8) Persevere. Never, ever, ever give up. Many people quit writing after the first novel goes unsold, the first story is ignored for the anthology, or their blog readership stays in double digits. With rare exceptions, the people who succeed in getting their works published didn’t give up. They kept writing until they got published, even if the first novel, the second novel, the third novel, etc., ended up staying in the desk drawer. 

9) Community involvement matters. And here, I’m not talking about volunteering at your local humane shelter (although that certainly does matter) but rather being involved in your genre’s writing community. It keeps writing from being such a lonely pursuit, gives you contacts in the industry, provides you with emotional support when you are discouraged and provides learning opportunities. 

10) When you have a day job, sitting down at night and opening your laptop to start writing is the international signal for children, dogs and Microsoft Word updates to interrupt you. Go ahead and plan on moving your bedtime back at least an hour, or you’ll never get anything done. 

What maxims has writing taught you so far? 

 

How Long Does It Take to Write a Novel? by Connie Berry

 

One of the questions I’m frequently asked is “How long does it take to write a novel?” I could answer “Ten years,” because that’s how long I tinkered with my debut mystery, A Dream of Death, before it appeared in print. 

True confession: I’m a serial reviser. Without a deadline, I could revise a book until the Second Coming. If possible, I’d follow my readers home from the bookstore with a red pencil. But now I have deadlines. The problem is telling my publisher how long I realistically need to finish a manuscript.

Some writers can turn out two or even three mysteries a year. I’m amazed by that because that kind of discipline has never been my gift. I usually think in terms of a year per novel. To me, that’s ideal—but not always possible. I published my first two mysteries in 2019 because when I got my contract, I had one finished manuscript and another partially complete. I  wouldn’t do that again because the two novels competed against each other for publicity and awards, and a debut novel always garners the most attention. Publishing two books in one year also meant I had absolutely nothing out in 2020. I felt like there was a party going on and I hadn’t received an invitation.

Publishers have schedules, and getting a book to your editor in time to make a deadline might mean shortening the writing process. Is that possible? I ask myself. Would it be better to take my time to produce the best book I can write—or should I buckle down, get my butt in that chair, and make the deadline, trusting that my skills, though rushed, won't leave me?

I wish I had answers! What advice would you give?

How long does it take you to write a novel? Have you ever been rushed by a deadline? 

An Interview with Valerie Burns by E. B. Davis

 

Thanks to Maddy’s social media savvy, Baby Cakes Bakery is becoming a huge success—so much so that she’s attracted the attention of her former nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Brandy Denton. When Brandy blows into New Bison like an ill wind and disrupts a vlog Maddy’s filming, their argument goes viral. After Brandy’s body is found in the freezer at Baby Cakes, Maddy instantly goes from viral sensation to murder suspect.

As Maddy is still reeling from the murder, a stranger shows up in the bakery claiming to have been a friend of Octavia. He believes Maddy is in danger. When a second body washes up on the lake shore, it seems clear someone’s out to kill to keep a secret—and it may have to do with her great aunt.

Maddy rallies her aunt’s friends, the Baker Street Irregulars; Sheriff April Johnson; and her veterinarian boyfriend Michael—not to mention her English mastiff Baby—to do some digging and root out whoever’s behind the killings . . .

Amazon.com

 

The third book into the Baker Street series with A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death, Valerie Burns wraps up so many backstory-plot questions that I can’t wait to find out what happens next. Throughout the first two books, there was a question as to Aunt Octavia’s state of mind when she died. Was she paranoid? Main character, Madison, or Maddy is finally able to answer that question.

 

It’s no wonder that Sheriff April Johnson and Maddy are friends. Both suffer from a lack of self-trust. April has no confidence in her intellect. Maddy can’t make decisions easily. When both are backed by Aunt Octavia—April before Octavia’s death—Maddy—after Octavia’s death—together they support one another. But on the case, April is sidelined due to her relationship with the main suspect—Maddy.

 

Please welcome Valerie Burns back to WWK.                            E. B. Davis

Why does Maddy assume she’s under attack when she hears an explosion? As the daughter of a navy admiral, Maddy has spent a lot of time on military bases. So, when she hears loud noises that sound like gunfire, her first instinct is to drop and take cover.

 

Have you ever lived in a place such as New Bison, Michigan? I have lived in a place almost exactly like New Bison. In fact, I spent several years in Southwestern Michigan just down the road from the town that New Bison is based on. Now, I live in a small town in Northern Georgia which is actually smaller than New Bison, but I do miss the beauty of Lake Michigan.

 

Although Maddy has wondered if Aunt Octavia was paranoid before her death, Maddy is now wondering if her heartthrob veterinarian Michael is bored with her. Can paranoia be an inherited trait? Hmm. Good question. Maddy has trouble making decisions and is indecisive. Much of her indecision stems (I think) from insecurity. She’s the only daughter of a navy admiral who makes lots of decisions without hesitation. The Admirals decisions are often decisions of life and death that impact not only the men and women under his command, but the millions of people in this country and others. Her decision to marry Elliott ended badly, which didn’t help her confidence. However, both Maddy and Great Aunt Octavia were mystery lovers who are always looking for clues and red herrings to solve a puzzle. Sometimes, a sleuth can misread or misinterpret a clue, which was the case when it came to Michael.

 

Why does Michael call Maddy “Squid?” Michael is a veteran of the U.S. Army, while Maddy is the daughter of a Navy admiral. There’s a frenemy kind of relationship between all branches of the military. The slurs have no ill-intent, but are representative of the competitive brotherhood shared between the military. ‘Squid’ has become Michael’s pet-name for Maddy.

 

Is a Rivian an electric vehicle, like a Tesla? Yes. The Rivian is an all-electric vehicle that has some dog-friendly features like their Pet Comfort Mode. Pet Comfort allows the driver to establish a comfortable temperature for pets left in the vehicle for short time frames.

 

Are there really some ego-driven people who will do anything for revenge? Sadly, yes.

 

Maddy’s fiancé left her at the altar (literally during a live internet video shoot). How long does it really take to put life-changing events, even if in the long-run positive outcomes, behind? How long has it been since the aborted wedding? Each person is different and the time it takes to recover from life-changing events will differ for each person. Maddy recognized fairly early that she never loved her ex-fiance, which probably helped her recovery. There is no time limit on grief.

 

Baby sounds like a wonderful dog, but how does Maddy deal with all the drool (yuck!)? Maddy has learned to come equipped with a towel for cleaning up the drool. Each breed of dog has pros and cons (excessive shedding, drool, high energy, etc.). Before getting a dog, always do your research.

 

Is there such a thing as “pet comfort mode” for autos? YES! The actual feature may have different names, but the premise is the same. It’s a feature that allows pet owners to set the temperature of their vehicle so that pets remain comfortable when the owner has to run inside for short periods of time and their fur baby has to remain in the car. Some manufacturers include cameras so the owner can watch their dogs on their phones. Others include music to keep your pet company.

 

You mentioned a cortado, a term I had to look up. It’s a coffee drink. Were coffee terms old world or has someone made them all up in the last twenty years since the Starbuck’s craze happened and gourmet coffee places sprang up everywhere? Coffee has been around for a long time. There’s a legend that a goatherder in 850 CE noticed his goats behaved differently after eating berries from an evergreen bush. After sampling the berries, the goatherder experienced “exhilaration.” Coffee plants were brought from Ethiopia to Arabia and cultivated around the 15^th century. As coffee consumption spread across the globe, baristas have found different ways to brew and serve coffee. I suspect the fancy names are a result of gourmet coffee houses and experimentation. From cold brews to red eyes, the possibilities are endless.

 

New Bison has at least one old family of an oil tycoon. Carson Law owns the Carson Law Inn, but she is also a milliner. How does she balance those businesses? Did the oil come from land around New Bison or was it transported from there? Carson Law is the daughter of New Bison’s oil baron, Beauregard Law. The oil wasn’t discovered in New Bison. He was, however, the owner of the company that produced the oil. Carson isn’t involved in the day-to-day management of the business her father started. The Carson Law Inn was her childhood home. Thanks to her dedicated staff who take care of the daily management of the inn, she can focus on her other interests including her millinery business and philanthropy.

 

Maddy does actually make hard-boiled eggs for the Easter Egg Hunt for the Sheriff’s (April’s) department. April is learning how to dye the eggs organically. Why is that important? No one eats the dye—although the recipe at the back of the book looks intriguing. There are several good reasons to use natural dyes rather than chemicals. Chemical dyes may contain ingredients or allergens that some children are sensitive or allergic to. Some of the colors included in dyes available in the US have been banned in other countries. It’s true that children don’t eat the shells, however if the eggs crack during the boiling process the dye can get inside. Natural dyes are also good for the environment.

Which church does Maddy attend and why? Maddy attends First Baptist Church of New Bison. It’s the church that her boyfriend, Michael Portman and his grandmother, Hannah attend. Miss Hannah believes that it’s important for Maddy to be seen with her and Michael, so she can “stake her claim.”

 

Why would Michael partner with his old flame? Did he really expect that Maddy would be fine with it—like not uncomfortable at all? Living in a small town, often doesn’t provide a lot of choice, especially where pet care is concerned. Michael’s ex, Dr. Alliyah Howard, is a good vet. She is highly skilled and brings a lot to the table. She is a canine ophthalmologist, which is rare and would benefit the residents of New Bison who wouldn’t have to take pets with eye problems to Chicago for treatment. She is not only a veterinarian, but is also a human doctor. Michael and Aliyah’s relationship is over. From his perspective, he can’t imagine why Maddy, the love of his life, would be insecure about him or his love for her.

 

We get to know the Admiral better in this book. He seems to have a softer side and knows he messed up Maddy’s upbringing. Have Maddy’s recent life changes brought him relief? After the death of his wife, Admiral Jefferson Montgomery was so deep in grief that he threw himself into his work. He was ill-equipped to raise a small girl. As Maddy has grown up and become more independent, he is able to see his mistakes. He realizes that simply throwing money at his daughter was not providing the love and support she needed. Maddy owns a successful business. She has solved several mysteries and proven that she doesn’t need a husband or her father to take care of her. Although Maddy’s transformation is still in process, she has grown tremendously, which would be a relief to any parent.

 

Are tobacco-chewing men the worst? YES!

 

Will we be seeing more of the Admiral? Will he retire? Will he drive Maddy nuts just when she’s starting to be more decisive? The admiral is finally able to see Maddy as independent woman who is fully capable of taking care of herself. He also likes her boyfriend, Dr. Michael Portman. I think the admiral will enjoy visiting New Bison. He also seems to have gotten along well with Carson Law. I think more visits to New Bison may be in the admiral’s future.

 

What’s next for Maddy and her Baker Street Sleuths? I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but events at the end of A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death, play a major factor in next steps for Maddy and her Baker Street Irregulars. So, please keep a look out for the fourth book in the series.

 

Finding Inspiration in Strange Places by Martha Reed

When people find out I’m an author, one of the first questions I get asked is: “Where do you get your ideas?” Since I write crime fiction, I try to play nice and not scare them with my answer. It is true my research rabbit holes tend to go dark and deep, teetering on the borderline of the macabre, but as Manfred Mann’s Earth Band sang in Blinded by the Light, “But Mama, that’s where the fun is.”

Earlier this month, I was handed a cracker of a deep dive research opportunity when I toured the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office (and associated state-of-the-art laboratories) with fellow members of the Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime.

I’ll admit I earned a few wide-eyed surprised face emojis on my Facebook page when I posted this field trip event.

First, a bit of history. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office we toured opened in 2009. Working downtown, I’d passed the block-long building hundreds of times never knowing what it was. The previous Pittsburgh Morgue looked like a properly ghoulish Victorian House of Horrors. Bodies were stashed in basement coolers. The old morgue was infamous for being the late night Pittsburgh post-Prom date rendezvous location. I kid you not. What can I say? Pittsburghers are my kind of people.

During our tour, there was knowledge on the slabs. The visit turned out to be a goldmine of previously unknown forensic information that I was able to fold into my current developing work-in-progress manuscript. Details like: How long can sealed evidence submitted to the ME’s laboratory be held before the lab receives a court order for its return or its destruction? In the Allegheny County ME’s Office, the minimum hold policy is one year. So, for my story, what does it mean if the evidence is destroyed before the year is up? Was it simply an accidental oversight, or was it enemy action?

Did you know that a baseball cap is a great resource in aiding identification? The brim may hold fingerprints while the sweatband holds DNA. Did you know that one part of the standard equipment of an actual morgue unit is a bug zapper?

In the laboratory, who is responsible for comparing dental records to establish identity (Forensic Odontologist). Who studies bone records to uncover possible trauma (Forensic Anthropologist). Any CSI nerd might guess these two answers, but did you know that a Forensic Engineer studies and deconstructs any floor or building plans that are involved in a suspicious death? Would developing any of these back office laboratory characters or adding a sentence or two about the labs add to your story and give it a better sense of being real?

Crime fiction and mystery readers these days are so over-saturated with CSI TV forensic details that I give thanks whenever I uncover anything new and interesting that might capture their jaded attention and keep them glued to my pages.

Do you have an inspiration resource? What are your surprising sources of inspiration?

Grammar by Nancy L. Eady

To me, grammar is a funny looking word. It is one letter away from being a palindrome – a word that is spelled the same forwards and backwards. It would be “grammarg” if some enterprising person wanted to change it to fit the palindrome mold. If you were trying to guess how to spell “grammar” without ever having seen it, the most likely first guess would be “grammer.” A person who studies and writes about grammar is called a “grammarian.” I am not such a person. 

I have a decent grasp of the basics of grammar, such as what is a noun, verb, adjective and adverb. (Those of you who, like me, are of a certain age, probably can’t think of the word “adverb” without hearing a song in your head that begins “Lolly, lolly, lolly, get your adverbs here.” Thank you, Schoolhouse Rock!) I remember from my school years that a preposition is something that we are not supposed to end sentences or phrases with, except that now it is okay to do so. Or, as Winston Churchill said once when criticized by a young proofreader on ending a sentence with a preposition, “This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.” 

The best way to learn about the grammar of your language is to study another language. It wasn’t until I began learning Spanish that I realized the wide variety of verb tenses that exist. According to Google, English has twelve verb tenses: simple present tense, present continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous, past simple, past continuous, past perfect tense, and past perfect continuous, future simple, future continuous tense, future perfect, and future perfect continuous tense. But at the same time, there is also the “participle” form of a verb, which is when a verb has a “-ing” thrown on it. My best guess is that the participle is folded within the continuous tenses, past, present, future.  I remember the phrase “present participle” because when we finally reached it in basic Spanish, I thought, “Huh, I didn’t know we had that.” 

I always despised English tests that involved grammar questions. They most often consisted of one sentence written incorrectly, with four choices from which you had to select the correct sentence. When I would read the sentences, I could think of several ways to communicate the same sentiment more effectively, but none of those would be in the four choices.

All that being said, grammar is important. A writers’ job is to communicate. If you attempt to communicate in English without following the basic rules English speakers use, chances are you will not succeed. Or, if the mistake is something like using the plural form of a verb with the single form of a noun, the reader will understand what you mean but the mistake will jar the reader out of your work. 

Most writers understand the rules of grammar at an instinctual level. We have a feeling for what is “good writing” versus “poor writing” and grammar plays an important role in that evaluation. But I have never diagrammed a sentence and if you held a gun to me, I still couldn’t name all twelve English verb tenses in spite of having written them out three paragraphs above. That doesn’t mean I’m not grateful for those warriors out there who do make the study of grammar their business. After all, someone needs to keep track of the rules! 

How much did you study grammar before writing? Have you ever diagrammed a sentence? What kind of grammar mistakes do you look for in your editing?  

Sinister Summer Listening: True Crime Podcasts by Sarah E. Burr

I’m always listening to a true crime podcast. Whether I’m cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, driving, or walking the dog, I’m tuned into crime. It helps me with my writing, as I’ve learned so much about police procedures and the current technology out there helping law enforcement to solve crimes. To expand my horizons a bit more this summer, I’ve branched out beyond my usual Crime Junkie, Dateline, and Anatomy of Murder binges (although I very much still listen to them). I’ve been searching for different perspectives and presentations of true crime, and in doing so, I’ve come across some really interesting shows. I wanted to share them with you in case you want to explore the world of true crime.

Dateline True Crime Weekly: This is my new favorite podcast. True Crime Weekly keeps me up to date with the goings on in the world of true crime. Each Friday, host Andrea Canning syncs up with Dateline producers to talk about updates in current cases and trials happening across the country. Through this, I’ve followed Karen Read’s trial and other current events, like the Gilgo Beach Killer, Scott Peterson’s appeal with the Innocence Project, and “Mommy Doomsday.” It’s also very short, running about twenty minutes or less.

Drowning Creek: As an engaged true crime consumer, I feel conflicted whenever I listen to this podcast. The premise of Drowning Creek is that the disappearance of eighteen-year-old Justin Gaines is all but solved. The only reason there hasn’t been an arrest is because the police have a confession, yet no body. However, the person who confessed to Justin’s murder has since recanted his claim and said he was coerced. Now, I’ve listened to enough podcasts to know false confessions happen a shocking number of times. What gets me about this podcast is that the host (who isn’t new to the genre) finds the idea of someone giving a false confession ridiculous. He repeatedly comments along the lines of “Who does that?” Actually, a lot of people do. According to researcher Jerome Skolnick in Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force, more than six thousand false confessions occur annually in the United States. So, for this show’s host to dismiss the idea really gets under my skin and has made me listen to this limited series with my devil’s advocate hat on. It makes for a different listening experience, which is why I’m recommending it.

Park Predators: Host Delia D’Ambra highlights crimes committed in national parks worldwide. With all the outdoor activities summer brings, Park Predators is a sobering reminder that evil can strike in even the most scenic of places. Not only does Delia share insight into these outdoor crimes, but she also reminds listeners how they can protect themselves while enjoying these majestic landscapes. Through this podcast, I’ve gotten to “visit” some beautiful parks, too, which is an added benefit.

Under the Cover of Knight: This is such a unique podcast; it’s almost hard to describe. I’d say it’s a mix between true crime and slice-of-life. It's an odd combo, but it really works well. Under the Cover of Knight dives into the perplexing life and death of Susan Knight. Susan may have been just an ordinary individual living in a small Texas town…or she could have been a spy. With dozens of interviews with people who “knew Susan best,” the listener begins to wonder whether anyone really knew this woman at all. I have my own theory of what happened to her, which is completely overlooked by the investigative team because (in my opinion) they were too trusting of their sources. I highly recommend this story and would love to hear about your own conclusions!

Cold Blooded: Investigative journalist and host Scott Weinberger is one of my favorite podcasters out there in the industry. His background as a deputy sheriff and reporter provides a unique perspective to all his shows (he also cohosts Anatomy of Murder, my all-time favorite podcast). In this limited series, Scott and Detective Danny Smith (who should be given some type of accolade for being one of the best detectives I’ve come across in true crime) share their reinvestigation into the murder of Miami firefighter Billy Halpern. Cold Blooded listens like a movie happening in real time. It has everything from gangsters to car chases to drug rings to interrogations with felons. This will definitely get your heart pumping!

 

All of these shows are available wherever you get your podcasts. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Turn Up the Heat by Judy L Murray

Seriously? Do I want to turn up the heat? This impossibly hot weather seems relentless. It’s our first topic of the day around my house. Any day we get a drop in temperature, we’re grateful. Which causes me to think about the ‘heat’ in my stories. Is it reflected in my characters’ mental states, their physical actions, and my readers’ enjoyment. Heat in stories can refer to the weather. It often refers to the level of romance. I think of it as a contributor to the level of excitement and ebb and flow throughout my stories. I try to be conscious of how I turn up or lower the temperature level of tension, pacing, anguish or joy. In book one of my Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series, the weather introduces the little waterfront town of Port Anne, Maryland. Books Two and Three are set in summer and fall. Here’s an example from Murder in the Master. Notice how weather helps establish setting while enabling a place, Port Anne, to actually have feelings: …It was May and Port Anne, halfway between Philadelphia and Baltimore, was feeling the winter doldrums shift to bustling anticipation of the summer season. …Striped buoys and nautical flags flapped in the sunshine... Here is a sample of how the warmth of a summer night can turn up the heat between characters: Helen handed Joe the binoculars and covered his hands with hers. She directed his eyes toward a point beyond a nearby cover. ‘It’s a heron sitting at the end of the breakwater. He must be looking for a late-night snack,’ she whispered…Their faces were almost cheek to cheek as they passed the glasses back and forth. I am just a few chapters away from wrapping up the first draft of my fourth book, Villian in the Vineyard. This time, I chose the month of February. February doesn’t easily reflect the hopeful attitude inherent in other times of the year. My characters are not in the throes of summer fun or anticipating the cool, beautiful fall. It also is very different from the holiday cheer of a December story. February is often bleak, treeless, tiresome, sometimes even threatening. However, February provides my readers a new setting while remaining in their familiar, favorite place. Here’s a sample of how weather can affect your setting and characters’ actions: “Oscar? Hello? It’s Helen.” She stood at the tasting room door in the winter quiet and listened to the distant swash of water ebbing against the bay shoreline in the distance. The sky was grey, and a sense of approaching snow hung in the air. “Oscar?” Still nothing. She tugged at the wide door and stepped inside out of the wind… Can weather help reflect a character’s state of mind? Absolutely. Consider the utter gloom and swirling fog surrounding Manderley of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca that contributed to the young bride’s mental anguish. Would her story be as impactful and believable if set in the sunshine? Here’s a sample from my Villian in the Vineyard: …She turned to the sliders, placed her hands on the cold glass and stared at the dark water. The wind had picked up. It was keening around the edges of the house. “Do you know what Jane Marple would say? This is a wicked murderer and the wicked should not go unpunished.” She faced her children, her cheeks flushed. She dug her nails into her palms….“I am not hiding behind my desk waiting for the next hit.” As a writer, ask yourself, am I using weather to my stories’ best advantage? Perhaps you are a reader with examples from your favorite books? I’m looking forward to your replies. In the meantime, I’m returning back to my hermetically sealed, air-conditioned study to write. Stay cool as you turn up, or down, your book’s heat. Judy

Bibliophilic Friday: LEVIATHAN WAKES by James S. A. Corey (Review by Nancy L. Eady)

Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the science fiction series, The Expanse, written by James S. A. Corey. Mr. Corey is a pen name for two writers, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who wrote the series as a collaboration. I read the book for the first time upon a recommendation from Goodreads and I’m glad I did. The science part of this science fiction book is solid, and the situations the characters work to resolve have themes similar to situations working adults the world over find themselves in today.  

The book is set several centuries in the future. Earth has billions of people living on it and has evolved into a single government planet. Mars has not only been colonized but also has gained its independence while its people, who live in domes on the surface, work to terraform the surface. In addition, over ten billion people live in asteroids and the larger moons of the outer planets such as Saturn and Jupiter. When the novel opens, people have lived scattered around the outer planets in this matter for at least three generations.

What intrigued me the most about the first book is that, although not labeled as such, it is a mystery. James Holden, one of the two point of view characters, is the executive officer of an ice harvester spaceship called the Canterbury. Its sole job is to harvest ice from the rings of Saturn, then carry those blocks of ice to asteroids and other stations for their water supply. The other point of view character is Detective Miller, who is a member of the police force on Ceres, a large asteroid with a huge port and several million people living in it. In the first few chapters, Holden’s ice ship is killed by a mysterious stealth ship which destorys it with nuclear missiles while Holden and four other crew members are on a salvage mission nearby in one of the ship’s shuttles, and Detective Miller is handed a missing persons case to work on outside of his regular hours. The novel then takes twists and turns until you learn both who killed the Canterbury and why, and what happened to the missing person. 

The story is told in an alternating format. One chapter tells the story from Holden’s perspective, then the next chapter goes back to Miller, even after the two storylines meet. Ultimately both men find the answers they’re looking for, although those answers do not necessarily provide an “and they all lived happily ever after” ending. The answers and resolution of the novel are, however, satisfying and make sense within the context of the story.  

The writing and pacing are riveting. The plot is action-packed, but you also get to know and like multiple characters.  There is a lot of food for thought on the nature of freedom and right and wrong throughout not only the first book but also the series. Leviathan Wakes also perfectly sets up the rest of the nine-book series. Each book is an interesting, entertaining and sometimes horrifying case study of what various people do when confronted with tools and weapons of unimaginable power. And yet all nine books together explore an overarching riddle that is finally solved in the last novel.  

If you’re looking to expand your reading into a different genre, give Leviathan Wakes a try. 

Talking About Novels In My Novels by Marilyn Levinson

I enjoy having my characters discuss books in many of my novels. It must be the old teacher in me rearing its head. I was a high school Spanish teacher in another life, and what I loved most was conducting literary discussions in Spanish with my more advanced students about whatever novel or
stories they were reading. I’ve also led many book club discussions and enjoy raising provocative questions regarding the book we've all read to see how the members react.

The first time I did this was in my second published book, a YA called A Place To Start. My protagonist's English teacher leads a class discussion of "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut." Then he and a girl he doesn't like are forced to work together on a report of Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery." What fun it was to write their reactions to this very powerful story that first appeared in The New Yorker.

Gabbie Meyerson, the sleuth in my mystery, Giving Up the Ghost, has taken over an English teacher's classes midyear in the sleepy village of Chrissom Harbor on Long Island. Her students are reading The Great Gatsby, which takes place on Long Island. Though she hasn't taught in many years, Gabbie is determined to make reading this book an adventure for her students. After they read a scene about one of Jay Gatsby's famous parties, she has them compare it to parties in the Hamptons they've read about. 

Through questions and prodding, she helps them to understand the various characters in the novel, and to see how their interactions bring about tragedy, that Gatsby's death is a result of cause and effect. Now motivated, the students are eager to do their written assignments. As for Daisy, one student wonders if Jay Gatsby really loved her, or if she was an illusion he created based on her beauty and wealth.

Book discussions play an important role in Murder a la Christie and Murder the Tey Way, the two books in my Golden Age of Mystery Book Club mysteries. This series is my tribute to authors of the Golden Age of Mystery, which took place roughly between the two World Wars. Book clubs exist for the purpose of group discussions--about the book and whatever topics the book inspires. In Murder a la Christie, Professor Lexie Driscoll is conducting the book club's first meeting in her friend's elegant mansion. She gives the group a brief bio of Agatha Christie and has begun talking about Dame Agatha's The Mysterious Affair at Styles when another friend becomes ill and dies. A heart attack is the general consensus, though Lexie suspects poison.

Lexie continues to investigate and to lead discussions of Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The A.B.C Murders, and A Murder Is Announced. As more club members are murdered, parallels are drawn between them and the murders in Christie's novels. At the end of Murder a la Christie,  Lexie gathers the members in a circle a la Christie and exposes the murderer just as Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot might do.

In Murder the Tey Way, murders and mysteries abound as Lexie and her book club analyze some of Josephine Tey's novels: The Daughter of Time, Brat Farrar, Miss Pym Disposes and To Love and Be Wise. At one point, Lexie tries to determine someone's guilt by employing Tey's fondness for the psychology of facial expressions that was popular in her day. The subject of gender bending arises in To Love And Be Wise, bringing about an interesting exchange among the club members. The subject leads Lexie and her friend to speculate about male-female roles, which may have relevance to the murders they are investigating.

Note: Both Murder a la Christie and Murder the Tey Way have been republished this year by Rowan Prose Publishing. Giving Up the Ghost will be republished by them in 2025.

Killer Characters - The Most Difficult Stage in Writing

The Most Difficult Stage in Writing

When it comes to writing, all authors are different. We thought you might like to know what we each find the most difficult stage in writing.

James M. Jackson - Writing a synopsis takes me for-flipping-ever. I hate every single second of it, and I count them all. The last one took 20,249 seconds.

Connie Berry - The initial draft—just getting words on the page. Once there, the fun begins. I love the quote (attributed to Dorothy Parker?): “I hate writing. I love having written.”

Lori Roberts Herbst - Writing the first draft. I love outlining and coming up with ideas, and editing is probably my favorite stage. But during the first draft, everything seems so big and knotty and senseless as it comes out of my head.

Korina Moss - Because I under-write my first draft, it’s very stilted language with bursts of dialogue—just to get through to the end and make sure the story holds together. The next stage is writing it with the proper prose, and that part is arduous for me. 

Molly MacRae - Possibly convincing myself that I can do it again. Will the feeling of doom and dread that I don’t know how to write ever go away?

Sarah Burr - Writing the first three chapters of a manuscript. If it’s Book One in a new series, you have to introduce the main players, yet keep things moving, and if it’s a subsequent novel in the series, you have to recap without giving too much away or making it boring.

Grace Topping - Getting started on a new project. Without a contract deadline, it gets harder and harder.

Annette Dashofy - The latest part of the muddle in the middle when I’m trying to figure out a smooth transition into the final act. That’s where I am as I answer this question. I might’ve responded differently if I was stuck at a different stage.

Heather Weidner - The editing and revising parts are the hardest for me. I really have to stay focused when I have edits to work on. (I sometimes have to bribe myself with tiny rewards to keep myself motivated. Okay, Heather, you can have ten minutes for an internet break after you finish one more chapter.) 

Margaret S. Hamilton - The first line.

Marilyn Levinson - The sitting down part and getting started each day.

Mary Dutta - Coming up with the plot. I love revising once that's done.

Susan Van Kirk - I’m afraid I’ll have to be boring and say it is the oft-cited muddle in the middle. I know how my mystery will start and end. What happens in between is often a total mystery to me.

Debra H. Goldstein – Coming up with the idea that I think is worth writing about.

Martha Reed - The middle muddle when I need to decide which story arcs need to be highlighted and how best to weave them together to keep the reader engaged. 

Lisa Malice - As a pantser, the hardest stage on the novel-writing process is that first draft, especially the opening scene. It needs to really grab the reader, so that first chapter gets rewritten quite a bit.

Kait Carson - All of it. Oh, sorry. The beginning. As a plotster I struggle with too much backstory while I tell myself the set-up. It all comes out in the end.

Nancy Eady - The first draft.  Once I have something down on paper, I can edit because I have something to work with.  But getting something down that first time is hard. 

Shari Randall - Writing the first scene. I adore rewrites and edits, but figuring out where to begin a story is the challenge.

K.M. Rockwood - Getting the first draft down completely before I give in to the urge to go “fix” things. I do make notes for myself, but if I went back & edited everything, I’d be like Ignatius J. Reilly, who spends years working on the first sentence of his manuscript.

E.B. Davis - Where to start. I often write the end before the beginning.

Katherine Center: A Model for Conducting an Author Presentation

by Paula Gail Benson

Katherine Center

Until she came to my local Barnes & Noble, I had not heard of Katherine Center. As I was leaving one Saturday, I was intrigued by the sandwich billboard at the store’s entrance that announced her visit the next day. From my car, I called to learn I needed to buy a book and get a wrist band the night before the event to be seated.

I returned to the store, made my purchase, and googled her. Her website prominently featured the Bookpage quote: “Katherine Center is the reigning queen of comfort reads.” A reader review from Melissa proclaimed: “If you’re not reading Katherine Center, you’re not living your best life.”

Wow. Impressive.

I learned two of Katherine’s books had been developed as Netflix films. One of them, Happiness for Beginners, was available to view, so I watched it. The story was about Helen, a divorcee, who went on a wilderness survival adventure and unexpectedly found her brother’s roommate also on the trip. Delightfully funny, a charming rom-com. I looked forward to seeing Katherine in person.

To get a seat, I arrived a half hour early. I was surprised to see Katherine already in front of the group asking questions and telling stories. As the chairs filled, I heard people talking. They had come from areas ninety minutes to two hours away. Some had followed her from a previous appearance on her tour with her latest novel The Rom-Commers, about an aspiring screenwriter hired to fix a veteran writer’s bad script. Two sisters, both teachers, sat in front of me talking about how much they loved Katherine’s books and planned to spend their summer reading them. Once the time for the presentation came, Katherine spoke for at least an hour and a half before beginning to sign books (which was handled efficiently by the B&N staff).

Katherine was amazing. I completely understood why all those gathered were devoted to her.

So, what did she do and why should it become the playbook for all author appearances?

First, she arrived early (her tour appearances were spaced to achieve this) and did not sit down the entire time she was there. Not before the official presentation nor during the signings. (In particular, she remained standing during the signings so she could take photos and give hugs.) Her energy was phenomenal, and it fueled the excitement in the room.

Second, she had a great sense of humor, the target of which, for the most part, was herself. She told about, a few days previously, appearing at a church and reading an excerpt from her novel before realizing it ended with a phrase concerning if the sex wasn’t right someone was doing something wrong. Embarrassed, she looked at the minister, who assured her there was no problem with what she read. She actually read the same passage for us.

Which brings us to three, if you do a reading, make it lively and short. She chose well because the scene highlighted the two main characters and made readers want to know more.

Four, approach the experience as if you’ve been invited to someone’s home. Be on your very best behavior, which includes being kind, courteous, and grateful.

Five, embrace your readers. Recognize that they have spent hours with you and your characters and let them know you appreciate them.

At this point, I have stocked up on Katherine Center’s books and advise you to do the same. I agree with her reader, Melissa, if you’re not reading her, you are not living your best life.

Has an author’s personal appearance ever left you as a new fan?

Me with Katherine Center

How Do You Measure Productivity?

How Do You Measure Productivity? by Debra H. Goldstein

Writers often measure a day’s productivity in terms of how many words are produced, whether edits have been accomplished, or if blogs or other related social media are addressed. It is a great feeling when any of these things are marked off the to-do list. Of course, there’s always more an author can do. But, is this type of measurement always sustainable? More importantly, is it fun?

I don’t think so. 

At times, recharging one’s mental batteries and efficiency necessitates taking a break without feeling guilty. For example, after getting in late from traveling and then needing to be up early for four mornings in a row, I was exhausted on the day before I wrote this blog. Deliberately not setting an alarm, I crashed early. To my amazement, it was almost nine when I woke up. After a quick breakfast, I was about to start my writing day when I decided there were a few things I needed and wanted to do first: throw in a laundry, mail some letters, grab a Starbucks latte, go by the bank, pick up my laundry from the cleaners, spend an hour at the gym, do a full grocery run, switch the laundry, read a good book while a meatloaf baked, talk on the phone with a friend for an hour, and mindlessly watch a few episodes of HGTV’s House Hunters. At that point, I felt content and eager to do some writing.

Even if I hadn’t written a word, I’d have felt that it was a productive day. But, I wrote.

Rather than worrying about word count for a new project, I decided to address some of my July blog obligations. I didn’t plan to write more than one, but as relaxed as I was, I quickly knocked out all of them plus a guest blog. Those finished, I cleaned my desk and planned the next few days of writing projects. 

Although I enjoyed doing nothing during my vacation days, knowing how much I had to catch up when I got home weighed on me to the point that I didn’t have the spark necessary to focus on my works in progress. Taking a day to simply catch up on life’s obligations, with the inclusion of some fun activities, cleared my mind and renewed my desire to write.

Whether one does mundane things like I did, takes time to work in the garden, enjoys family life, or takes an actual vacation, the key is to take time for oneself without being consumed by guilt at not writing (or whatever else you might normally prioritize in your life). 

In the end, there are multiple ways to measure productivity; but, not without taking the time for fun (or as someone once wrote, smelling the roses). 

 

WHAT DOES A PUBLISHING HOUSE EDITOR DO?

 By Korina Moss

Before I became a published author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series, I had only a vague idea of what a publishing house editor does. I’m sure I still don’t know all their roles, but I do know what my relationship with my editor is regarding my series. Take into account when reading this that not all editors are the same and not all publishing houses are the same. In this post, when I refer to an editor, I’m basing it on what I know about the role of editors in my larger publishing house (Macmillan Publishing). This may be very different than what editors do in smaller independent houses. It’s also different than a freelance editor you might hire to help you with your manuscript before you send it out for querying or self-publishing. I’m also aware that I’m simplifying the roles of a publishing house editor and likely leaving out many other important duties their job entails.

One of the roles of an editor is to read and evaluate manuscripts sent to them by agents. If an editor loves your manuscript and thinks it’s marketable and will fit their house, they will bring it to the acquisitions team to discuss whether to make an offer. In larger houses such as the one I'm with (Macmillan Publishing), it is never the decision of just one person.

Once you sign a contract with the publisher, your editor is the project manager for that book or series. It’s their job to shepherd that book to completion. They are in charge of making a lot of decisions about the book, such as the direction of the marketing team, the cover art, possibly the title, and keeping track of the production schedule. I've heard from my author friends that their editors have given them varying degrees of involvement with these parts of the book process. In my case, my editor has asked my input on the cover art, and we’ve bounced around cheese pun titles. All the book jackets in a series should be cohesive, so the designers are also involved in the titles and cover art decisions. People often judge a book by its cover, so I’m happy to leave it up to the professionals. However, with each book, my editor asks for a short summary from me about things that might be germane to the cover, such as plot points, locations, season, etc., so they can align the cover design with my story.    

Once I hand in my manuscript, my editor will go over it and do what's called a developmental edit. This is different than line editing, which is fixing grammar, word choice, punctuation, etc., which is taken care of by a separate editor, the copy editor. A developmental edit means she makes suggestions for changes to the content, such as the pacing, characterization, inconsistencies, etc. A misnomer is that an editor makes changes to your manuscript or demands the author make changes. In my experience, that has never been the case. What an editor will do is point out where she thinks the trouble spots are, and then leaves you to decide if you agree and make the appropriate changes or not. Because I write a series, she also keeps tabs on past books. For example, in my third book, Curds of Prey, she thought my original ending was too similar to one I'd just done in Gone For Gouda. I hadn’t been happy with the ending either, for other reasons, but I had to get it in by the deadline. Since several weeks had passed since then and knowing my editor thought the ending was lackluster as well, I was able to read the manuscript with fresh eyes and come up with a much better ending. Among all the other things my editor does, she’s made me a better writer. 

Last but certainly not least, an editor champions their authors’ books, presenting them to the publishing team, who determines things like promotion and, if applicable, the lifespan of the series. 

To sum up, a publishing house editor is a manager, a teacher, and your biggest cheerleader. 

For you yet-to-be published or self-published writers, is what an editor does different than what you thought? For traditionally published writers, is this different than your experience with your editor?  

KORINA MOSS is the author of the Cheese Shop Mystery series set in the Sonoma Valley, including the Agatha Award winner for Best First Novel, Cheddar Off Dead and the Agatha Award finalist for Best Contemporary Novel, Case of the Bleus. Her books have been featured in USA Today, PARADE Magazine, Woman’s World, AARP, and Fresh Fiction. Book 5 in the series, Fondue or Die, arrives on October 22nd. To learn more or sign up for her free monthly newsletter, visit her website at korinamossauthor.com.  

You can preorder Korina's next book, Fondue or Die, for 25% off online at Barnes & Noble with code PREORDER25 now through July 17th with a free or premium B&N membership. 

For the Love of Sherlock Holmes: Doyle’s Sleuth Reincarnated on the Small Screen

By Lisa Malice, Ph.D.

If you’re like me, you learned to love mysteries from your parents. My first exposure came about when my family outgrew our Sunday night viewing of The Wonderful World of Disney and replaced it with The NBC Sunday Mystery Movie (1971-1977). With sleuths rotating through the weekly series lineup, my family followed Columbo, McCloud, and MacMillan & Wife catch the bad guys, though my favorite was—and still is—The Snoop Sisters, starring the incomparable Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two gray-haired mystery-writing busybody sisters who use their sleuthing skills to help their police detective nephew (Bert Convy) solve real-life murders. 

Sunday nights during the summer were spent driving home from the family cabin listening to The CBS Radio Mystery Theater. The radio plays, broadcast 1974-1982, were engaging, suspenseful, well-acted, capturing our attention and imagination of the scenes, characters, actions, murders, and motives. (You can access these wonderful radio shows via www.CBSRMT.com.)

These shows captivated my young mind, prompting me to start reading mysteries, ones I pulled off my mother's vast shelves of books. She read the masters of British Mystery--Agatha Christie, P.D. James, Ngaio Marsh, and others, and I followed suit. But as my high school studies focused more on science and math, I found myself under the spell of Sherlock Holmes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic deerstalker-capped sleuth fascinated me with his vast wealth of knowledge, mastery of logic, and keen abilities of observation and deduction to identify a murderer, his or her motive, weapon of choice, and how the deed was done. I used my paper route earnings to buy my own hard-bound copy of The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes: 37 Short Stories and a complete novel from The Strand Magazine by Arthur Conan Doyle (1976), complete with all 356 original illustrations. With more than 600 pages, the book kept me reading night after night when I was supposed to be asleep. I still have the thick tome in my personal library.

Nowadays, I always have a good crime story on my nightstand, but my days also start out with a daily dose of mystery at the gym, eyes glued to my tablet as I watch an episode of my latest (rarely current) tour of murder while sweating away on the elliptical machine. Just the suspense is often enough to keep my heart-rate elevated. My brain cells get a work-out, too, matching wits with fictional detectives which wield powers of observation and deduction to rival that of Holmes. Apart from obvious portrayals of Doyle’s iconic characters, such Elementary (starring Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson), TV producers and screenwriters have filled the broadcast spectrum with a variety of Sherlockian adaptations. Each sleuth has a unique backstory, personality quirks, and entourages that round out the series bible.  

The most renowned, award-winning of these series is Monk (2002-2009). The story revolves around Adrian Monk (Tony Shaloub), a former San Francisco police detective on the autism spectrum, whose wife’s unsolved murder exacerbated his obsessive-compulsive and phobic tendencies. The local Homicide Chief (and Monk’s best friend) tolerates Monk’s idiosyncrasies to take advantage of the private detective’s heightened sense of observation and keen deductive intellect in solving some of the city’s most perplexing and high-profile murder cases. Monk’s female assistants serve as his Watson, always by his side to help when needed. The show is both humorous (the producers’ vision for the often-bumbling character was Inspector Clouseau of Pink Panther fame) and dramatic, especially as the eighth and final season winds-down with Monk finally solving his wife’s murder and bringing the culprit to justice.

A wackier version of Doyle’s detective is Psych’s Shawn Spencer (James Roday), whose powers of observation – drilled into him during his formative years by his cop father (Corbin Bernsen) -- feed into his eidetic memory. He passes himself off as a psychic detective, showing up the local Santa Barbara police detectives in closing their cases, while earning just enough to live the life of an adult who never wanted to grow up. His best friend, a straight-arrow pharmaceutical sales rep, Gus (Dule Hill), serves as Shawn’s reluctant Watson. The popular show with a talented ensemble cast ran for eight seasons then followed up with TV movies (more are promised – hooray!).

Currently, I’m watching The Mentalist, which centers on Patrick Jane (Simon Baker), a man whose keen abilities (hypnosis, observation, deduction) allowed him to pass himself off as a psychic. After the murders of his wife and daughter, he devotes his talents as a consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in solving high-profile murders. Each episode begins with Patrick tagging along with the CBI Homicide Unit to a high-profile crime scene – a dead body covered by a sheet. A quick examination of the body, a look around at the area, are usually enough for Patrick to deduce the cause of death, whether the crime happened (if in question), and a clue to the victim’s identity (when it is uncertain). Patrick’s mentalist capabilities make him a skilled interrogator with the ability to mesmerize reluctant witnesses into spilling the beans and murderers into revealing their guilt.

I’m also a fan of ABC’s Elsbeth, which is now filming its second season. Carrie Preston stars as a Sherlockian attorney, a court-ordered observer of NYPD Homicide, who draws on her singular point of view to make unique observations the detectives often overlook. Her astute deductive abilities allow Elsbeth to ID the real villain fairly quickly (rather than the suspect that the cops like for the crime). Like the series that drew me into mysteries and made Peter Falk a household name, Columbo, Elsbeth, is an inverted detective show—a howtocatch’em vs. a whodunit—and a joy to watch.

Do you have a favorite TV version of Sherlock Holmes? 

Tell us about the show and its master detective.

 

Expanding Your Writing Resources

by Heather Weidner

 Recently an author asked me how to find book bloggers and podcasters because he had a book launch coming up. My advice to writers is to start this process early and not to wait until you’re about to launch your book. You need to grow your network of resources as an ongoing process. Here are some things that have worked for me.

• Most bookbloggers, bookstagrammers, and podcasters do what they do because they love the topic and interacting with others. It’s not good form to reach out or start following someone a week or so before your launch and then contact them for a favor. A lot of these folks have a very full calendar, and they book MONTHS in advance. As you build your author platform and your network, it’s always good to interact with them, know what they feature on their sites, and know their preferences e.g. do they want a physical ARC (Advance Reader Copy) or an electronic one? You should build relationships with book influencers (e.g. like, share, and comment on their posts). Don’t just show up when you want someone to help you publicize your book.
• Always be professional. You are your brand. Make it easy for people. Follow the submission instructions, provide all the information they requested, and have your press kit (bio, photos, book cover, book links) ready and organized.
• Start a list, spreadsheet, or other electronic file to build your contacts. A book launch is a massive event. You need to keep good notes of your contacts, what you owe them, and deadlines. I have a giant spreadsheet where I have tabs for each type of resource, their contact information, and notes. I also have a calendar to show deadlines and key dates before and after my book launches. When you’re a guest, you need to make sure you share the interview on your social sites.
• Find out who is out there and who is an influencer in your genre. This takes some research time.
• See where other authors in your genre advertise their books. What events or interviews do they participate in? When I see interesting services or events, I add them to my spreadsheet.
• Use hashtags on social sites to find people who like/follow a topic. You can look for topics like #bookblogger, #podcast, #bookstagrammer, #cozymystery, etc. When you find interesting people, follow them and interact.
• Join writers’ groups. All of the groups that I’m a member of have bulletin boards, Facebook groups, or Slack sites for questions and recommendations. Find your crew. Networking is easier when you know people who share recommendations.
• Volunteer. You meet so many people with great stories, ideas, and connections. So many writing conferences and organizations are always looking for people to help. It’s a great way to meet others and to help out a cause.

What other ideas or suggestions would you add to my list?

 Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.