The trouble with quirks and flaws

Can you take one more post about characters with flaws? It's a fascinating topic, but one that risks becoming a cliche. How many reviews and blurbs begin with the phrase "a flawed but likeable hero"? It seems as if nowadays the main character MUST have flaws in order to be weighty enough to carry a story or a series (not to mention land an agent or publisher). Those flaws are supposed to give them a uniqueness and humanity that sets them apart from the million other heroes striving to solve mysteries and save the world on the shelves of fiction. Sometimes in addition to flaws, the characters have "quirks" bestowed upon them by authors hoping to make them even more unique. Some quirks are endearing, such as feeding homeless cats, whereas others are more serious, like giving a character OCD or autism, for example, which somehow gives them special powers.

A relatable character with depth and flaws that give them humanity and create a quiver of tension –as in, "Oh no, is he going to screw this up again?"– is the centre point of a good story. If the reader doesn't engage with the hero, they will not engage with the book. But there's a risk that writers are using flaws and quirks as a substitute for real depth. Making the character an alcoholic or an abuse victim allows the writer to push certain well-worn buttons that create an instant, but superficial connection. Moreover, many of these standard flaws have themselves become cliches. In fact, the alcoholic, divorced, embittered cop is one of the most overused cliches in the business. It takes a very skilled writer like Rankin to get beyond the cliche. Unfortunately as standard flaws become cliches, writers are forced to forage farther afield in search of bigger and better flaws.

Real depth means layers of ambivalence and past experiences that inform how the character reacts on the page, even if the writer never tells us about those underlying influences. It means knowing your characters as well as you know your family; knowing how they will react, knowing how they feel in every situation you put them in, however mundane, and then allowing them to surprise you by doing something unexpected from time to time. Real people are often but not always consistent, so characters need that freedom too.

Some writers achieve this by creating detailed backstories and character sketches before they begin. Others get to know their characters along the way and then add depth and nuance in later drafts. I suspect most good writers do a combination. The experiences the character goes through at the beginning of the book will change them and affect how they react in later scenes. That's one reason I have trouble with outlining ahead of time. When I write a scene, I try to slip into that character's skin so that I feel, see, and experience that scene as they would. That's why I always try to walk in my character's shoes and experience the things I'll put them through, including subjecting myself to winter camping in order to write THE TRICKSTER'S LULLABY.

This "walking in their shoes" feeling doesn't occur during outlining, at least to the same depth. Only once I'm in that character's skin can I truly imagine how they will react, and that will inform how the scene unfolds. I may end up the scene in a very different place than I had planned (in that hypothetical outline), but if I've done it right, it should feel real, credible, and human to the reader.

My characters end up being flawed – Amanda Doucette can be reckless and infuriating, and Michael Green is always forgetting his family obligations  – but those traits grew out of my constantly asking "what would they do next?" as I am writing. It allows me the most delightful surprises along the way and helps the characters to evolve and grow. Michael Green in NONE SO BLIND (tenth in the series) is a very different person from DO OR DIE. Amanda is also growing. I think this evolution is one of the strengths of a series. Readers want to engage with an interesting character, and they want to follow along in their life and watch not only what happens to them, but also how they change.

Inching towards perfection, but never attaining it. That would be the end of the series, not to mention boring.

Old Friends

by Rick Blechta

First off, I’m referring to books as old friends in this post, and readers, all of us have these I’m sure. You know the sort of book you reach for when you’re sick or depressed, the ones that have a real resonance for you, the book that would accompany you to a desert island. These are the sort of books that you can slip into like a pair of comfortable slippers.

In the case of crime fiction, those old friends might come from a very large family. With Sherlock Holmes, or Miss Marple or any number of series, you could be sick for several months (God forbid!) and still have lots of reading material.

This past summer, in casting around for audio books to listen to on one of our many trips to the New York City area, I stumbled on a webpage with all thirteen of the Nero Wolfe radio plays produced in 1982 by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Gold mine!

Starring Canadian actors Mavor Moore as Wolfe and Don Francks as Archie Goodwin (and they are both utterly fabulous in their roles), the plays were fully dramatized and had terrific casts made up of acting veterans of the day. When they were first broadcast, I can remember hurrying our two sons to bed so I could give my undivided attention every week when the next one was on the air. These dramas are something I’ve remembered so fondly for many years. Around 1998 I actually contacted CBC to find out if they were available for sale. No dice. While they apparently were available from a company called DH Audio, they no longer seem to be available. (I’d be more than happy to purchase them, so if you happen to discover where I can do that, please let me know.)

But here’s the bottom line on this one. My “old friend” is available as free listening (or downloading if you know how to do it) from this website: https://archive.org/details/NWolfeCBC. Give a listen if you will.

Who knows? You may find a new “old friend.”

Developing Character

I was interested in John's post last week, talking about character-driven versus concept-based writing. The books I enjoy most have always been the first of those, so it's probably inevitable that the ones I write come down on that side. Indeed, once I have the character and the environment set up I do have exactly the feeling John mentioned: that even between times, when I'm not there, they go on with their own life.

It started me thinking about how you begin to set up a character with a life of its own. Before I ever start, I like to know a great deal about their background, probably much more than will ever appear in print. I want to know where they've come from, what they've done, their likes and dislikes, their upbringing and genetic inheritance.

It's been interesting having that on my mind this week when I've had my grandchildren visiting. They live a long way away so I don't see them every day, just about six or seven times a year, so the differences as they grow are very visible. They're aged 11, 9 and 7, just beginning to develop their own ideas, but you can still clearly see the inheritance both of looks and abilities. One has her father's beautiful brown eyes and scientific interests. The boy has his paternal grandmother's auburn hair and his maternal grandfather's mathematical ability. The third one has big blue eyes like her mum and likes writing stories which I like to think just might come from me. It's a genetic cocktail which contains all sorts of other components from ancestors I've never even met.

But then you add in, for instance, place in the family. The oldest one, like my older sister, has a highly developed sense of responsibility; the youngest one very much sees himself as being there to be looked after. (And, confession time, as the youngest in my family, I do still, even at my advanced age.)

Then you chip in the outlook of their parents and their philosophy of child-rearing (an awesome success, given the kids' behavior – I am a very lucky granny). This will be a huge important influence, especially on their happiness and well-being, but nothing is certain and as they grow up and become independent, they could react to it positively or negatively.

This is all the sort of stuff that I need to know about my characters before I set out and on that I can base what will happen to them and how they will react. In writing a book you can do that.

With grandchildren not so much. For they, as Kahlil Gibran put it, 'dwell in the house of tomorrow which you cannot visit, even in your dreams.' Frustrating, and fascinating.

Pitch Perfect or Perfect Pitch

This week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how TV shows are pitched, and, subsequently, thinking of the differences between TV content and the material I typically put in my novels.

Obviously, there are similarities between TV series and book series, but the differences, I’m learning, are striking. And most of them have to do with content.

As a reader, I’m all-in on character. Give me a compelling character, and I’ll watch him take out the garbage or sit with her in a cafe as she reads. The plot is secondary. When the great man himself was writing the books, I would buy each Robert B. Parker Spenser novel each year –– would eagerly await it, in fact –– to see what the characters have been up to since we last spoke. TV is different. Characters need to be compelling, yes, but there’s only so much time between commercials. So content carries the viewer. Plot. Tension. And the content needs to be current and relevant.

My Peyton Cote series stars a female US Border Patrol agent, who’s also a single mother. I can do a lot with that in 80,000 words. What’s her mother like? What’s her learning-disabled son dealing with at school? Why’s her ex such an asshole? And where’s this new relationship with the State Trooper going to go? Was that comment at work a gender-related micro-aggression?

But the demographics of readers (and, as a teacher, it pains me to say this) is different from the typical makeup of the TV viewer. When was the last time you saw a teenager on the train reading a book? Peyton Cote on TV needs to be newsworthy, her conflicts timely. That is, she needs to be someone we might see dealing with issues we hear about on the news. On TV, Peyton’s gay sister might also be one of Putin’s spies, something Peyton won’t find out until season three. And that new man in Peyton’s life, the State Trooper we all love? Well, the gay sister is seducing him to learn something about a Maine politician. A stretch? Maybe, but you get the point. Timeliness and relevance trump character. In fact, that quaint northern Maine town where Peyton is stationed? Well, that might be home to Chinese spies. ISIS is old news.

Anyway, all of this has me thinking. How much can I add to my books? Where do I draw the line between character-driven work and concept-based work? And, more importantly, where will you?

I’d love to hear others weigh in on this topic.

Investigation Discovery Channel

When I’m on vacation, time seems to stand still. Then I get back and reality sets in and I realize I have a blog post to write with no idea what to talk about. I figured I’d think about a topic when I was on vacation but did I? Noooo!

I could talk about my trip up the West coast of the U.S. Not much to say there other than it was hot everywhere and California, Oregon and Washington all seem to be on fire.

Or I could talk about the phantom that has suddenly taken up residence in my car. I lock the car and everything seems to be hunky dory, windows rolled up, etc. Then I go back to it later and find the doors still locked, but the windows rolled down. Kinda creepy.

Instead, I think I’ll talk about my recent obsession with the Investigation Discovery Channel. Have you all seen this channel? It’s a gold mine for mystery writers. Just full of reality crime shows. Some of them are a bit cheesy, but I’ve found several of them worth watching.

I had never heard of this channel, and didn’t realize I received it as part of my cable package, until a friend told me she was appearing in one of the episodes of Nightmare Next Door as a crime commentator. That’s when I discovered I received the channel and the obsession began.

I don’t watch all of the shows just some here and there, but I’m still rather obsessed with ID. Some of the show names are a little too much for me: Fatal Vows, Evil Lives Here, Evil Kin, Deadly Dentists... I mean, how many dentists are there involved in crimes that they can create an entire series about it? I did watch an episode of Evil Kin, though, since it talked about a Kansas case that Charlotte has discussed in some of her blog posts – the Bloody Benders. It was quite interesting.

The shows I particularly like on ID are People Magazine Investigates and Breaking Homicide. The former covers fairly recent high profile crimes and the latter pairs a former police sergeant with a forensic psychologist to re-examine cold cases.

The most recent show I’ve started watching is The Coroner: I Speak For The Dead. I probably wouldn’t have watched it except one of the actors who appears in the reenactments in the shows lives in the same apartment building as a friend of mine so I became curious. The crimes all come from the files of Dauphin County, PA coroner Graham Hetrick.

Sometimes watching these shows triggers an idea in my head that helps me solve a plot problem or come up with a new character. Plus I do find the cases interesting.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who is obsessed with this channel. There’s a contest currently going on for a chance to win a walk-on role called ID Addict of the Month. I think I’ll skip it though it would be fun to appear in one of their shows.

Have any of you watched this channel? Any favorite shows?

Walking the fine line between “flawed” and “annoying”

By Rick Blechta

If you haven’t read Tom’s excellent post from yesterday, you might want to drop down below this post to check it out. It brings up some important points in basic character development.

His post, as often happens here on Type M, inspired mine for this week. As all writers do, I’m always concerned that people can relate to my characters. They can be good or bad and readers can respond to that, but the last response I want from them is indifference, or maybe incredulity. So far I’ve never been called for the latter, but have swung and missed on the former.

I totally agree with Tom that characters need some sort of flaws to remain interesting over the course of a novel, much less through a whole series. Adding flaws to characters is something that’s not all that difficult. The big questions are: How far does one take it? And how far is too far?

I can’t remember the title of the novel, and besides it was written by a friend so I wouldn’t tell you, but I sadly could barely finish the book because the character had flaws that I found completely irritating to the point where I wouldn’t have minded if he’d come to a quick and gruesome end. Not a good thing in the first novel in a projected series.

Way back in the dawn of time here on Type M 2006, I wrote a post about a situation that arose in writing my fourth novel, Cemetery of the Nameless. I was well into the novel (probably around page 70) when I realized I did not like my protagonist one little bit. He was irritating, to be honest. I didn’t set out to make him that way, he sort of took on that mantle all on his own. And no matter how I tried to change him, he kept whining. Not good.
I did consider killing him off early on and then letting someone else take over as the protagonist. That might have even been an interesting writing exercise. Problem was, I only felt comfortable writing in first person at that point, and the difficulties to get my novel out of this mess using this plot device seemed, well, strained and a heck of a lot of work.

I eventually decided to “recycle” a character from my second novel, The Lark Ascending, and even though she tended to be “difficult” too, at least I didn’t find her annoying and her addition to the cast really allowed me to take the story to another level.

The problem is, what if a writer doesn’t recognize that they’ve made the most important character in their story annoying? And worse yet, what if the book’s editor has the same issue?

I suspect this is what happened with my friend’s novel. I do know he would describe his protagonist as “crusty, opinionated and irritable but endearing” and my response was he’s also dead annoying. Needless to say, I didn’t read any more of the series.

I’m sure a lot of us ink-stained wretches spend the dark hours of the night worrying about stuff like this. I know I do.

What's Wrong with You?

The lead character in both Random Road and Darkness Lane, Geneva Chase, has been described as:

• Dysfunctional, yet remarkably endearing.
• A likable if flawed heroine readers will want to see more of.
• Flawed but dedicated heroine

Geneva Chase is tall, blonde, attractive, on the edge of forty, and athletic. However, she’s an alcoholic, she’d been married three times (one less than Hemingway), and when we meet her in Random Road, she’s hooking up with a smarmy married attorney. Genie is a reporter working for her hometown newspaper in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It’s not where she wants to be, but she’s drank herself out of every other good journalism job she’s had. For Genie Chase, there’s nowhere else to go.

She’s kind of a train wreck. But she’s smart and a snarky smart-ass and readers seem to relate to her. Especially the smart-ass part.

Do protagonists need character flaws? I think they do, unless your character is either Superman or Jack Reacher. Both incredibly popular and both perfect.

But I think flaws make characters more believable and relatable. Believable because everyone in real life has character flaws and we can relate to people who make mistakes and sometimes make bad decisions. Not that we’ve ever done anything silly or stupid.

Who are some of my favorite characters and just how flawed are they? One of my favorites is Ian Rankin’s retired Detective Inspector John Rebus. He smokes too much, drinks a bit too much, and his personal life is a mess. Oh, and he’s grumpy and Scottish, let’s not forget about that.

Sherlock Holmes, of course. Annoying, arrogant, insufferable, smokes a pipe, and is a coke addict.Yet the character is an evergreen icon.

How about Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch? He’s in a constant state of conflict with authority. But don’t we like that in a person? Harry is always stickin’ it to the man. A good quality unless he works for you!

Let’s give a shout out to the flaws infesting Nick and Amy Dunne in Gone Girl, and heavy drinking Rachel Watson in Girl on the Train, and the kick-ass heroine Lisbeth Salander in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  

My personal flaw is I haven’t figured out how to work in the word “Girl” into any of my titles.

Those are literary characters with flaws, but television has long jumped on the bandwagon. Nurse Jackie was a drug addict. Tony Soprano was a homicidal mobster. Walter White cooked meth. Flawed, flawed, flawed, but we rooted for them, wanted them to win somehow, maybe grow and overcome their problems.

A friend of mine called me when she’d finished reading Random Road and told me how much she enjoyed Geneva Chase.  Then she said something that surprised me. She said, “I like her because I know she’ll never really be happy.”

Is that a relatable flaw?

With Geneva, she’s very self-aware. She knows she has a problem. Using the character’s point of view to show they have insight makes flaws more palatable.

Early on a writer can make a character more likable in spite of his/her flaws. Geneva’s life is a mess, but she has a dog that she adores, a terrier named Tucker. Who doesn’t like puppies?

Or if you have a villain? Bad guys are way cool to write. They’re the ones who are going to kick that puppy. Bad guys will be a whole other blog subject.

As your characters are working through the mystery you’ve created for them, their flaws often get in their way, impeding them, creating tension, adding to the crisis. Isn’t that what a novel is all about?

Enough about character flaws.

Time for shameless self-promotion. On September 2nd and 3rd, I’ll be at the Poisoned Pen Mystery Conference at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona. The guest of honor is Ian Rankin (notice how I mentioned Detective Inspector John Rebus earlier in this blog?). I’ll be on two panels on Monday, September 3rd, along with many other wonderful authors—Sleuths and the Media, and Unconventional Women.  FYI…I’m the only guy on that last panel. That’s going to be interesting.

Then, at Bouchercon in St. Petersburg, Florida, I’ll be on a panel on Thursday, September 6th, discussing Journalists in Fiction.  https://www.bouchercon2018.com/schedule/panels/

If you’re attending either of these conferences, please look me up. I’d love to meet you!!

Women Killing It! A Crime Writing Festival

By Vicki Delany

A couple of years ago, Janet Kellough (author of the Thaddeus Lewis historical mysteries and the speculative fiction novel The Bathwater Conspiracy) and I were moaning about the sad state of affairs in the Canadian literary festival world: Canadian female crime writers are almost never invited to these things.

Non-Canadian female crime writers seem to be invited. Male Canadian crime writers get invited now and again. But rarely Canadian women.  I suspect it has a lot to do with the general disregard the ‘literary’ world has for crime writing. Most festivals invite a mix of bestsellers as well as local authors, certainly short story writers or poets and the up-and-coming in the ‘library world’. But when and if they invite crime writers for some reason all they seem to want are the international bestsellers. 

And, for whatever reason (yes, I do know of exceptions so please don’t write to me saying, “But what about…” ) those are not often Canadian women.

Being the sort not to just moan about problems, Janet said, “Let’s have our own festival.”

And so we did. Our first attempt was such a success, we’re doing it again.

August 31 – Sept 2 is the 2nd Annual Women Killing It Crime Writers Festival in Prince Edward County Ontario.

We’ve invited eight Canadian female crime writers, of various decrees of fame and notoriety, and one other to be the featured local author.  

We’ve tried for a full variety of both women and writing, and I think we’ve archived a great balance. A dark and gritty police procedural, the lightest of cozies. A writer most prominently known these days for her award-winning short stories, and another who’s made a splash in the world of Young Adult Fiction. A big name author and others less well known. TV producers in Hollywood and a retired teacher in Regina. A historical novel and one set in a future, where things are the same as they are today… but not quite.

Last year’s workshop was so well attended (overly-well attended, as we didn’t like turning people away) we’re having TWO this year. I’ll be leading Page One Chapter One: how to start your novel with impact, on Saturday morning.  The Sunday morning, Gail Bowen will give a workshop on Ready, Set, Write! outlining the pre-writing process you need so that you end up writing the book you want. 

Friday evening meet all nine authors at a table-hopping event, where you can get up close and personal with each of the authors and engage in some fun quizzes and enjoy refreshments.  

Saturday afternoon we’re having a proper afternoon tea and four of the mixed-sub-genre authors will talk about their work or perhaps read a bit.

Then Saturday evening, it’s time for more refreshments and a panel discussion on “The Word In Which We Live” in which the four grittier authors will talk about the setting of their books and how they see their novels fitting into the real world in which we all live.  We’ll be having two auctions during the evening, in which attendees can bid for a chance to see YOUR name immortalized in fiction.

All events are within walking distance of downtown Picton, Ontario.

I hope some of you can join us.  For more details go to:  https://womenkillingitauthorsfestival.wordpress.com/

Each event is $30 and tickets are available at Books and Company in Picton or at  https://www.eventbrite.ca/o/women-killing-it-collective-17332980451

Free Associating

I'm in Philadelphia tonight -- a quick trip and home tomorrow. I realized earlier today that it's my Friday to post. I have nothing in mind. I've had a long day of train travel and driving around the city, and I'm tired. The other part of this is that when the writing is going well switching gears makes me nervous. I'm afraid I'll lose my flow.

So having nothing in mind to write about, I decided to try free associating. The television is on in my hotel room, and I decided to change channels and write about the next word I heard. The next word was "beer."

Now, I don't drink beer -- except my mother always claimed that she and my father taught me to walk by sending me toddling back and forth between them hoping for a sip of beer from the cans they were holding. I've never been sure whether she was joking. Neither of my parents were party animals. But it is true that like most couples of their generation, they did have beer in the house. I just can't imagine that I was so anxious for a sip that I would allow myself to be manipulated like that. If they had ever given me a sip, I would probably have had something to say about the bitter taste of the stuff.

I do like the Budweiser Clydesdales. I watch the Super Bowl every year for the continuing saga of the trainer and the horses and the dog next door owned by the woman who meets the man. . .

The only beer I've ever tasted and liked was a beer I had in Toronto years ago when I was visiting a friend I had met in Spain. Or maybe it was a lager. Or ale. I don't quite know the difference. But it was rich and full and not bitter. I've never been able to have whatever it was again since I lost track of the friend who might have told me what I had.

That reminds me of losing track of people. I was telling another friend about another family story -- a relative that my mother lost track of and always wondered about. I need to write a short story for an anthology and I'm wondering if I can use that. Maybe I'll have someone walk into a bar or tavern and order a beer. . .

I'm not sure what will happen after that. Maybe the missing relative worked in the bar . . .

Enough free associating. I'm going to write this down and think about it for a bit. So this exercise did serve some purpose after all. I have occasionally tried this when I was stuck for an idea while in the midst of a book. But it never worked this well before.

My Ideal Day, Redux

Back in 2013, I wrote an entry for this blog called "My Ideal Day", in which I described said ideal day. It went like this:

MY IDEAL DAY
"I wake at 5:30, refreshed and energetic after a restful night's sleep, full of good dreams. I go out on the back porch, where I sit among the trees and flowers and watch the sun rise, my mind empty. As soon as the sun is well up, I take a brisk nature walk among the junipers. I have a nice breakfast of coffee, croissants, and jam while reading the paper (fortunately the news is all good today) and dashing off the crossword.

After my leisurely breakfast, I sit down at the computer and write. The words cascade onto the page, each one a gem. In three hours I have ten pages of pure gold that will require very little editing. My husband and I head out for our favorite bistro where we have a light lunch, after which we stroll over to the independent bookstore and spend an hour or so browsing. We make a quick stop at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods and pick up a few fresh items for supper.

When we get home, I'm bursting with ideas again, so I head back into den and write for another couple of hours. It's hard for me to stop when suppertime rolls around, but my husband has whipped up quite a gourmet feast for us I quit writing in the middle of a sentence so I can take up right where I left off tomorrow. Don and I laugh and chat through supper, then after cleaning up, we sit together on the couch and watch a '40s noir movie. I take a shower, then read in bed for a while until I fall into a restful sleep, looking forward to tomorrow."

TODAY, in 2018, I woke up thinking about that entry. My days have not been ideal lately. They've just been actual, life-living days with a lot of strange occurrences and goings on. But, my, have the fates been giving me material to write about. To refresh your memory, Dear Reader, last time we met I told you about my husband's accident. He took a header into the kitchen wall and broke his upper arm in two places. This happened after he had to have emergency eye surgery, which messed with his depth perception. This happened a mere few days before I was supposed to fly to Oklahoma to do a couple of library events that had been in the works for months. Cancelled. So the past two weeks have consisted of doctors' appointments and nursing duties, and unexpected time to work on my manuscript. Don's hanging in there, thanks for asking. Kind of. His right arm is in a sling so he can't write or drive or dress himself.The splint is heavy and he can't sleep well, he's still a bit unsteady on his pins from the eye surgery, so he's very careful about how he moves. I told somebody he walks sort of like Tim Conway's little old man. He's seeing the orthopedist again this Friday and we hope he can get a smaller cast. We're managing all right, but we've had a lot of practice.

It's summer in southern Arizona, too, so it's hot, hot, hot. It was 114º F (45.5 C) yesterday, but not so bad today at 105º F. (40.5 C). At least we're used to it. July and August are our stormy months, and we've been enjoying spectacular dust storms. We had one last week that was the worst I've every experienced, and I've seen some doozies. Fortunately we had just gotten home from a trip to the store when it blew in. One minute it was clear and the next minute you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. We're cautioned to pull off the road when one of those blows in, because you could plow into somebody in a minute. And good luck if you have asthma.

Still, things could always be worse. I'm not getting as much writing done as I hoped, but I am getting it done.

I understand that Mercury is retrograde until August 18, which means stuff goes sideways for a while. I can't say I'm a big believer in astrology, but I'll happily blame it all on Mercury.

In pursuit of the perfect title

Barbara here. It's the August long weekend, and it's hot, sunny, and gloriously lazy. I am sitting on my dock by the lake, far from the bustle and obligations of city life. I am working in a desultory fashion, reading research books for my next Amanda Doucette novel, which is still a mere twinkle in my imagination but as of yesterday possessed of a title. It's always a thrilling moment when I hit the combination of words that make the perfect title. Sometimes it happens before I even know there's book ahead. PRISONERS OF HOPE was a title in storage for years until  I finally had the idea to go with it, and now the finished book will be released in October of this year.

Sometimes the title comes during the writing of the book. At some point I write a phrase or a character says something, and I think "There's the title!" This happened in one of my Inspector Green novels, when halfway through the book, Green and his sergeant are discussing suspects, and Green says "But what about the fifth son?" FIFTH SON was perfect. Sometimes I wait in vain for the epiphany and at the end of the first draft I am still at sea. I fiddle and worry and turn phrases and words over in my mind as I go about my day. In desperation I may eventually throw a bunch of theme words and descriptors into a Google search, enter "Quotations" and see what pops up. THIS THING OF DARKNESS, a quote from Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST, was discovered that way.

A book is never finished until it has the perfect title. A title should capture its essence or hint at a major theme or conflict. It should match the mood and voice of the piece. It should give the reader some idea of what lies inside. Titles with puns are popular with cosies but would be inappropriate in the gritty mystery/ thrillers I write. Punchy, one-word titles like FEAR hint at bare-bones thrillers, also not the type of book I write. Mystery titles should hint at mystery, rather than romance, horror or science fiction.

Sometimes the quest for a title becomes an urgent matter when the publisher demands one for promotional purposes or when the media puts you on the spot by asking what the name of your next book is. You could always say I don't know, but that's a promotional opportunity lost. HONOUR AMONG MEN was conceived when a newspaper reporter asked about my next book. I had already started researching PTSD among our soldiers but as yet had no idea of the plot or conflicts, but that phrase popped into my head on the surge of adrenaline the question provoked. It was a classic military phrase, and ended up suiting the story very well.

So back to that languid day reading on the dock yesterday. I was reading a beautifully written and illustrated book called ALBERTA THE BADLANDS, which was peppered with snippets of poetry by an early fossil hunter in the area. I came upon this quote from "A Story of the Past", by Charles H. Sternberg. "The rains of ages have laid bare the ancient dead."

THE ANCIENT DEAD. Perfect.

I only hope my publisher agrees. Now my story has begun.

These days, can a thriller plot actually be too outrageous?

by Rick Blechta

Many years ago now, I remember hearing of a story, perhaps apocryphal, about a group of terrorists who hijack a plan and crash it into the US capitol building in Washington. I remember thinking at the time, How ridiculous. That could not happen!

Well, it did in 2001, and while the home of Congress was spared, two massive buildings in New York City came crashing to earth and a section of the Pentagon was destroyed.

No one in power seriously thought about the effectiveness of weaponizing commercial aircraft. No one seriously thought cars and trucks would be used for the same purpose, either, yet just this thing has been quite effective numerous times to our great sorrow and tragedy.

Now here’s the kicker: the book referred to in the first paragraph was declined by several publishers. All of them said (in effect) that the major driver of the plot was just too outrageous and subsequently unbelivable. I wonder how those publishers felt after 9/11?

I was sitting with some author friends recently and we discussed this topic. For about an hour, we amused ourselves with more and more outlandish plot devices. Some of them were utterly ridiculous, but two or three made us grow silent. Finally I said about an idea that on the surface seemed laughable, “Someone could do this. It could work.”

I won’t tell you what it was, because it was an “out there” idea, and I don’t want to supply anyone with any ideas. The outcome could be just too horrible.

But since the whole world seems to be going crazy, what’s to stop someone from releasing a doomsday device?

Thrillers provide a great, white-knuckle reading experience, but if fiction suddenly became reality, would we be able to deal with it?

I’ve just laid out one sort of plot device. What if my plot dealt with an enemy nation that tried to subvert the government of the United States by means of hacking into the election system and changing results so the candidate of its choosing would be elected president?

Nah. That is just too ridiculous…

Apology

Aargh! I've had a frantic week of house guests, I have the copy-editing for my new book, Carrion Comfort, to do and my family is descending en masse any time now.  If I don't make the two separate birthday cakes for the double birthday of my daughter and granddaughter, it won't be the end of the world - it'll be worse than that.  So I'm afraid this is it.  Sorry, guys!

Weekend Guest Tracy Clark

I'm delighted to welcome Tracy Clark, this weekend's guest blogger.
Tracy's novel Broken Places, featuring former Chicago Police detective turned PI Cass Raines, was released in May 2018.  Borrowed Time, book two in the Raines series, will be published next year. Tracy can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and on her website tracyclarkbooks.com.

Take it away, Tracy!





The Writer's Mountain

I’m neck-deep in rewrites for the third novel in my Cass Raines PI series. It’s going well. Today. Tomorrow? Who knows? That’s what I want to talk about. The writing process. That mercurial, quicksilver-ish, sometimey thing that blooms like a hothouse orchid one day and withers on the vine like a desiccated strawberry the next.

Maybe you guys are used to the ebb and flow, the ups and downs, but I’m only two and a half books in, so I’m constantly amazed that this writing thing isn’t getting any easier. I mean, you’d think it’d get easier. You’ve written two books, you got it done, so why is book three just as hair-pullingly impossible? Where’s my bell lap? The end of the rainbow? At what point can a writer say with confidence, “I got this, people. You need another book? No problemo. I know how to do this. Bam. There you go. Another book. You’re welcome, world!”

I’ve been thinking about the writing game a lot lately while muddling my way through book three, wondering where I took a wrong turn, knowing I’ll need to go back and save myself from embarrassment. Writing, I have decided, is a lot like mountain-climbing. Stick with me here.

The valiant climber of mountains starts off with the vigor of Sir Edmund Hillary—new rope, strong enough to suspend an elephant, at least for a time, new climbing shoes, those fancy little fingerless gloves that look so cool on Tom Cruise in those Mission Impossible films. The brave, dauntless climber is fresh, committed, intrepid, determined eyes fixed on the mountain in front of her. The summit is the goal, and she means to get there by hook or by crook. She starts up. All’s good. Then the mountain gets steep, the footholds iffy. Too late to turn back now, you’re up too high. The rope begins to fray. You call on Jesus. Those kickass climbing shoes get worn down and the gloves, cool on the car ride up, don’t do a thing for your bleeding, blistered fingers. You climb. You struggle. You retrace your steps when you can’t find a way through. Where is Tenzing Norgay, you ask. But don’t look down, don’t think about your trembling knees.

Somehow, sweat drenched and spent, you reach the top. You’ve made it. You did not give up. You did not falter, well, maybe you faltered a little bit, but though the effort was not graceful, you clawed your way to the end. You can now stand there at the summit, arms held high in victory, and breathe in the smell of sweet success. Surely nothing will ever be more difficult than this climb. You have arrived. You conquered the mountain!

Then you turn around and behold a vast mountain range—mountain after mountain after mountain. Your arms fall to your side. The smile of victory melts away and reality sets in and sinks to the pit of your stomach like a paving stone. You’ve climbed this mountain. There are dozens more. You will have to blister your fingers again, scrape your knees on jagged rock, fray the rope. Again.

That’s writing.

When you conquer one mountain (one book), the victory lap is short, because the next mountain looms. I’m new to the climbing thing, but I’ve already been asked more than once how I do it. How do you write a book? My answer is simple. I have no idea. I just climb, and I keep climbing till I run out of rock. The fact that I waltz knowingly up to the next mountain and do it all again, knowing what I know, is either a true testament to my mental instability or a confirmation that I was born to be a writer, just like Michael Phelps was born to swim or Muhammad Ali was born to knock a guy’s lights out in twelve rounds, or less. I write because I can’t not write.

Some days I write like the wind, scampering up that mountain like a freaking ibex, some days I waste paper and time and shave years off my life expectancy. That’s writing too.

I’ll eventually get to the top of the mountain I’m climbing now, but it won’t be seamless. I’ll breathe a sigh of relief when I’m done, though, and, hopefully, the story will be a good one. I just wish that reaching the top of Writer Mountain worked like a video game where you beat the challenge and then are powered-up with magic apples that make you a writing god, an expert, Superman. Maybe for some it does? Hope springs eternal. For me, I’m still writing myself into corners and getting myself out. I procrastinate. I write five pages, and then tear up two. Mountains are treacherous.

I’m sitting here now writing this blog post, eyeing Judge Judy on television. Some woman bought her new boyfriend of less than three weeks a car, and then he promptly broke up with her and now she wants her money back. I have pages to get to, but I’m not going anywhere until I find out what Judge Judy has to say about the whole thing. That’s writing too. It doesn’t take much to derail a work in progress. I’m also wondering about Tenzing Norgay. Wouldn’t it be great if every writer had a Tenzing Norgay?

Anyway, wish me luck. I wish the same for all of my fellow writers. Up the mountain we go!

Making gerunds history: tips from a summer spent revising

I’ve spent the past two months “streamlining.” Given a free moment here and there, I’ve reworked a draft of a novel, re-envisioning the plot, and trying to say more with less. The result is a book that entered the world weighing 85,000 words and now tips the scales at 65,000. And she’s a better read because of it.

In May, my agents called with “suggestions.” We spoke about ways to get to the ending quicker, and one way seemed obvious to me: eliminate one subplot; simply cut out one character altogether. So I sharpened my knife and went to work.

Cutting a character means retooling the plot, which might be easier than what I call “nickel and diming” the manuscript. In this stage, I examine the novel, word by word, sharpening and cutting, doing things like looking for gerunds and making those verbs active to eliminate “to be” phrases. (The book is written in first-person present tense, after all, so the “ing” phrases are glaring. He is waiting . . . No. He waits.) Sound easy? A quick search shows me there are still 2,234 uses of “ing” in the novel. Examining each is time-consuming (ridiculously so, in fact), but when it comes to writing, OCD pays off. I urge you to try this.

The other thing I focus on in any revision is trying to replace narration with dialogue. Are there places where one spoken line can replace 30 words describing the action? The beauty of dialogue is that it lets readers play a role in the book. Readers bring their own images of scenes and characters to the work as they read. As a writer, I want to use that. For instance, if I tell you the refrigerator is stainless steel, that’s enough. You will paint the rest of the picture of the kitchen for me, including a stainless-steel stove and granite counter top. I strive to always utilize the reader in this way. And dialogue works best for me. (He stepped back becomes “Why are you moving away?” she asked.)

Streamlining is a lot of work but gets me to a sharper finished product. I would urge any writer to look for places where action can become statements and where gerunds can become history.

*

Here are some pictures from summer moments spent away from the manuscript.

Running a 5K

With Keeley, Audrey, and Delaney (from right) at Passenger concert

The Artist Within

Not really a huge amount of time today so I thought I’d share some things I’ve seen recently you all might enjoy.

I believe there’s an artist in everyone. We all just express it in different ways. Some people bake, some people write books, some people draw and paint, etc. When I have the time I check out the boredpanda website and see what interesting things they’ve found. Here are a few that I’ve noticed lately.

When I think of bridges, I think of them as being functional, not terribly artistic. Here’s one that wowed me that’s in Vietnam: https://www.boredpanda.com/creative-design-giant-hands-bridge-ba-na-hills-vietnam/?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=none&utm_campaign=direct

And here’s someone who folded and decorated an origami crane a day for 1000 days. They’re so amazing. https://www.boredpanda.com/intricate-origami-cranes-1000-days-cristian-marianciuc/?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=none&utm_campaign=direc

Here are some very creative cupcakes. The strawberry one is my favorite.

And this guy created photographic art from his large library.

And here's my artistic endeavor:

My fourth book, Designed For Haunting, is now available for pre-order! It officially releases Oct 9th.

Some links:

Amazon: amzn.to/2M36ife
Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/2vphdIX
iTunes: apple.co/2O1iqxY
Kobo: bit.ly/2OxPZZf

A little about it:

October brings a message from Beyond The Grave...

Halloween is fast approaching in the quiet Los Angeles County city of Vista Beach, home of computer programmer and tole-painting enthusiast Aurora (Rory) Anderson. While her painting chapter prepares to open its annual boutique house, Rory receives an unexpected email from Beyond The Grave, a company that automatically sends out messages when someone dies.

“I think I have a stalker,” the message reads. “If you’re reading this I’m either missing or dead. My life may depend on what you do. Please find out what happened to me.” Haunted by her friend’s disappearance and possible death, Rory begins her search with the help of best friend and fellow painter, Elizabeth (Liz) Dexter. Can they discover who has designs on the missing woman and uncover the truth before one of them becomes the stalker’s next victim?

We authors owe a great debt to Judith Appelbaum

by Rick Blechta

First, you need to read this: Judith Appelbaum, a Guide for Would-Be Authors, Dies at 78

Back when I was getting started in the writing game, I bought books on publishing and production. It seemed the best course since the model I adopted was to get my first novel out quickly. I had some background in print production and family/friends in the business and this seemed best. My first two novels were self-published and surprisingly successful for a small effort. In producing them, I learned a lot about how the business worked — and also how much work it took. With a young family and a very full-time job, one thing was clear, I needed to let the pros take over.

Enter Judith Appelbaum. I read her excellent How to Get Happily Published in one sitting. Then I read it again, slowly and with a lot of highlighting and margin notes. If you are an author, new or “well-seasoned”, you need to read this book! This woman had great experience and clearly lays out how the publishing game works. Literally, everything an author needs to know about getting started and dealing with the publishing industry is in this book.

I was sad when I saw her obituary in the New York Times. Then I got a little angry.

“Why?” you ask.

Because besides being a first-rate author guru, Judith Appelbaum did something else very important for us. I’m angry because this bit of information has been nearly completely expunged from the coverage of her passing.

Now, please read this: Author Takes On Publisher Over Royalty Checks

At the time the lawsuit occurred (in the early ’90s), it was a very big deal in the publishing world. As you can see, the information that is so critical to an author (understanding the royalty structure and royalty statements) was a huge problem even for this industry professional of vast experience. If Judith couldn’t make heads or tails of her royalty statement — what about the rest of us?

It was a long haul to get HarperCollins to come to the table and deal fairly with the issue. You can be sure other large publishers were backing them up, and as the article lays out, the back-up Judith was getting from writer organizations was pretty significant.

One detail not in the article was that HarperCollins admitted that they had no clear idea about her foreign sales (actually, this is was what the lawsuit was mostly about, if memory serves). How can this be? Are publishing houses really this bad about their accounting?

The second article quoted sort of soft-pedals this. I don’t believe for a moment that publishers are this sloppy. The way royalties are handled tilts the playing field heavily towards them. I’ve heard experienced and reputable agents admit they don’t completely understand everything on royalty statements. Having everything being so conveniently opaque allows publishers to be on the windy side of contracts with their authors. “We can’t come up with that information!” is a pretty poor excuse. Wonder how that would go over if the tax man comes calling?

If you ask me, holding HarperCollins’ toes to the fire and getting them to finally pay up is possibly an even more important legacy to leave her fellow ink-stained wretches than Judith’s wonderful how-to book.

It is also pretty damning that her obituaries (and I’ve read five of them) do not mention Appelbaum vs. HarperCollins. Most of the articles about her lawsuit have also disappeared. Wonder why that is?

In any event, thank you for what you did for all of us, Judith. We really appreciate it.