My Year In Books, 2020

 

It’s time for my annual reading wrap-up. A much more fun topic than everything that’s going on in the world right now.

In 2020 I “consumed” (more on why I used that word in a moment) 117 books, 9 more than last year. The largest category was mystery/thriller at 46%. 15% of the books I read were in the non-fiction category, up 10% from last year.

I used the word “consumed” and not read because I’ve added audiobooks to my list. I listened to 19 of them last year (usually when I’m working on a painting or macramé project). Most of those were the audio versions of the Dark Shadows books by Marilyn Ross, originally published in the 1960s/70s. Enjoyable stories and quite different at times from the storylines in the soap opera.

In my December 16, 2020 post I gave a number of recommendations here for books I read last year. I won’t repeat those. You can see them here: https://typem4murder.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-suggestions-2020.html

I read 4 books about the 1918 pandemic last year. They all have something to recommend them. Some delve deeper into the science and the state of medicine at the time. Others center on what was going on in the world at the time and the social reaction/cost. If you only read one, I’d go for “Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918” by Albert Marrin. I found that one the most interesting to read.

In the mystery category, the majority of them were cozies. Of those, my favorites were the Postmistress mysteries by Jean Flowers aka Camille Minichino and the Sylvia Stryker mysteries by Diane Vallere, set in space. Yes, I still consider them cozies because they really have a cozy feel in an unusual setting. If you like cats in your cozies, I recommend the Nick and Nora mysteries by T.C. LoTempio. I also re-read several Agatha Christie books. For whatever reason, I find her comforting. Even though she’s often put in the cozy category, I don’t think all of her books belong there.

In the kids category, I particularly enjoyed The Greystone Secrets books by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Two of them are out with the 3rd coming out in April. Looking forward to it. These really need to be read in order.

In the scifi/speculative fiction category, besides the Thursday Next novels mentioned in a previous post, I also enjoyed the Maze Runner series. And, yes, I watched the movies as well. The first movie adhered pretty closely to the novel, but the others veered away from the book story lines quite a bit.

There are so many other good books I read last year, most of which I would recommend. I only gave up on 1 book last year. Pretty unusual for me to stop reading. Even if I think the book is so-so, I’ll generally finish it. You can learn a lot about writing from reading the books you don’t like (and figuring out why you don’t like them) as well as those you do like.

That’s it for my reading wrap-up. Onto another topic next time.

I’m curious, did you find yourself reading more last year than in previous years?

The Responsibility of Writers

Last weekend I participated in a cozy mystery panel with Sue Ann Jaffarian, Jane DiLucchio and Diane Vallere at the La Mirada Library in La Mirada, CA. We’re all members of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime and have all known each other for quite a while. It was quite a fun panel to be on.

Several of the attendees didn’t know what cozy mysteries were so we talked about some elements they usually include. When asked why they read cozies, one audience member said it was for the escapism, another because justice always prevails in the end, something that doesn’t always happen in the real world.

The phrase “the lighter side of mystery” was bandied about. People who read extensively in the mystery genre know what this means, but I admit that it is kind of an odd phrase to use. After all, someone was murdered or some other crime occurred that affected characters lives permanently.

As writers, we have to remember there are people in the real world who are murdered. This was driven home to me recently when someone in a cozy group I’m a member of told us a friend had been murdered and they couldn’t face reading mysteries, even cozy ones right now. I suspect I’d have the same reaction if someone close to me was murdered. I hope they’ll eventually be able to enjoy reading cozies again, but I’d understand if they couldn’t.

While we, as writers, have fun devising plot points and ways to “creatively” murder someone on the page, we have to remember in our creative zeal that people actually are murdered in the real world. We need to treat the crime respectfully. I can’t really think of a book I’ve read that doesn’t, but I still think it’s important to remind ourselves of this every time we sit down to write.

Author Branding, What's That?

The idea of branding confuses me some. I suspect it always will. I’ve never worked in retail or dealt with marketing, although family members have so I’m not completely ignorant of what goes on. Still, I don’t have that kind of mind.

From what I can tell, branding is a way of differentiating a product from others so you get noticed. I hear about author branding often enough I figure I should learn more about it so I was looking forward to a presentation on the subject at last Sunday’s Sisters in Crime/Los Angeles meeting.

The speaker was multi-series author Diane Vallere. I’m amazed by how much she gets done and how fearless she is. I’ve seen her go from self-published author of two series to author of four series: 1 self-published, 2 published by a large publisher and 1 published by a smaller publisher. SinC/LA member Ellen Byron even wrote a blog post on WWDVD—What Would Diane Vallere Do.

On her website, Diane notes she writes “Fiction for women who like shoes, clues and clothes.” That’s her brand. It’s catchy and you know when you read something she wrote fashion will be some part of the book.

I came away from the meeting still somewhat confused but a little wiser about branding. Here’s a brief summary of Diane’s talk on Creating Your Brand.

Why the need for branding? There are a lot of books out there. It’ll help you distinguish yourself from the pack. And readers will know what to expect from one of your books. It’ll help you effectively promote everything you write and decide whether a publicity opportunity is worth the effort.

What your brand is and is not. Your brand is not your book or you. It’s not someone else’s brand, e.g. don’t say your books are just like Stephen King’s. Your brand is recurring elements in your books. As mentioned above, for Diane that’s fashion. Your brand is bigger than your genre, it’s everything you write.

Where to use your brand. Facebook author page, twitter, in graphic images used for promotion, newsletters... E.g., if fashion is a common theme throughout your books, you would post items related to fashion on social media. Diane is known for posting photos of clothes she packs for conferences.

Exercises to help you discover your brand by identifying common elements in the things you’ve written or want to write.

1) If you had a guarantee your next five books would sell a lot of copies what would you write? Write down five different ideas, writing as much as comes to mind. What do they have in common?

2) Think of at least three movies you wish you’d written because they fit you. What themes run through them?

3) What are your personal interests that are also in your books?

That’s what I got out of the talk. I probably missed a few things here and there. I’ve invited Diane to correct me. We’ll see what she says. I haven’t done the exercises yet. I think they’ll help me figure out my brand. And, if I get stuck, I’ll just ask myself WWDVD.

Guest Post: Diane Vallere

I'm delighted to welcome Diane Vallere as this weekend's guest. Diane is the current President of the Los Angeles chapter of Sisters in Crime and my partner-in-crime for our recent "Paint and Polyester" bookstore tour.

After two decades working for a top luxury retailer, Diane Vallere traded fashion accessories for accessories to murder. SUEDE TO REST, the first book in the Material Witness Cozy Mystery Series, has been nominated for the 2015 Lefty Best Humorous Mystery Award. Diane also writes the Mad for Mod Mystery Series, featuring a midcentury modern interior decorator who has modeled her life after Doris Day movies, and the Style & Error Mystery Series, featuring a former fashion buyer. Diane started her own detective agency at age ten and has maintained a passion for shoes, clues, and clothes ever since.

Jury Duty

by Diane Vallere

Last week I asked my Facebook friends if I was the only person who got excited about Jury Duty. The replies came fast and furious. Turns out there are two kinds of people in the world: those who dislike Jury Duty, and mystery writers.

Admittedly, I have two reasons for liking Jury Duty:

1) it feels like research, and
2) it gets me out of the house.

Much research can be done on the internet, but I think there’s something to be said for research that is done in person. You can read about what happens in the jury selection process from start to finish, but you won’t fully appreciate the experience unless you catch a subway at 6:30 in the morning, stand in line for half an hour before they scan your belongings, sit in an uncomfortable chair staring at a photograph of a flamingo (occasionally wondering about the significance of said flamingo photo in a Los Angeles courthouse), watch the people who ignore the sign that says “take a packet and sit down” and form an unnecessary line at the front window.

Plus, you’ll miss the blue carpeting that is stained with a previously-spilled cup of coffee and the scent of the popcorn being sold at the concession stand outside of the Juror Room. You will rarely get this kind of chance to see a snapshot of the people who are a cross-section of the town where you live, pretty much a crash course in human nature.

The thing about research is that it fuels two parts of our manuscripts: the facts and the world-building. Facts can be looked up. World building can be made up. But for both facts and world-building to come alive, you need to deliver the complete experience to your reader. It’s not just the words of dialogue that matter. Creating the setting where a dialogue takes place is important. Whether it’s a historic courthouse for a civil trial or a dingy community center for a town hall meeting or a fancy restaurant that has altered their hours to accommodate a club meeting, when a writer pays attention to what it feels like, smells like, and sounds like—in addition to what it looks like—the reader falls that much farther down the rabbit hole. Their surroundings fade away because we gave them a new place to hang. Even if it isn’t paradise, it’s sometimes the place where our characters hang, too.

And don’t underestimate that getting-out-of-the-house thing, either. Works wonders for a stuck manuscript!