There Are People Out There!

 I, Donis, am actually going to a conference next month! I'm signed up for Left Coast Crime in Tucson, AZ, in mid-March. This is the first time I've basically been out of the house since before the pandemic, and I certainly have not attended a large gathering like this in at least three years. I'm going this year because a) it's in Tucson, which is a 90 mile drive from where I live, and b) I'm going to have to learn to be around other people some time, and I am vaccinated to the nines so why not now?

I'm lucky to be on a panel entitled Why We Love Research on Friday, March 17,  10:15 AM - 11:00 AM, which is to be populated by fellow (mainly) historical novelists Clare Broyles, Francine Mathews, and Susan McDuffie, which should be great fun, because I actually do love research. Reality is usually a lot more fascinating and even shocking than anything one can make up.

I am torn between looking forward to LCC with great anticipation and feeling just a little bit apprehensive. The last time I attended Left Coast, I came down with the flu afterwards and that was no fun at all. 

I think attending conferences is very useful. Every time I attend a writers’ workshop or conference, I learn something and come away with good ideas, but the major thing they do for me these days is allow me to mingle with fellow writers. Other writers have been extraordinarily helpful to me. but I can't afford to go to as many conferences as I'd like. I've been doing this for many years, and I keep trying a little of this and a little of that, and attempting to judge what promotional activity works best for me. 

I wonder if I'll remember how to interact with people after all this time? I actually do force myself to make the rounds at the conferences I attend and talk to as many people as I can, but I'll never be as effective at it as someone who is naturally outgoing. However, I'm guessing I'm a much better schmoozer than J.D. Salinger, who could buy and sell me. So as effective as that technique is, it must not be the end-all and be-all of book promotion. That's what I tell myself, anyway.

Road trip!

 Two weeks ago, I blogged about promotion and my upcoming in-person book launches in Toronto and Ottawa. As could be expected in Ottawa in early February, the weather did its best to sabotage both events. The day of the Toronto event, the city (indeed much of the eastern half of the country) was in the deep, deep freeze, with a brutal wind and temperatures not rising above -20 C (about -5 F) not counting the wind chill. It snowed all day long. Torontonians are used to balmier weather and many don't even have snow tires, so I was sure no one would come. Although some were understandably deterred, many did brave the winter and we had a lovely event with a reading, book chat, and truffles. The Ottawa launch at Perfect Books had similar problems. After a lovely, sunny, warm morning, the skies suddenly clouded over mid-afternoon and dumped a mess of freezing rain, ice pellets, and snow on the city. Traffic ground to a snail's pace and parking amid the snowdrifts was a nightmare. Once again, I was afraid no one would come.

The incomparable Sleuth of Baker Street

I should have had more faith in Canadians. We're an intrepid lot. People slithered their way along roads and drifted in to the store swaddled in scarves and slush-covered boots. They filled every chair in the place. I am so grateful to all my readers, friends, and family for continuing to support me through ice, snow, and polar vortexes (or is it vortices?). Not to mention more than twenty book launches.

My next step was to arrange readings and signings both in the city and farther afield. These are always more fun with another writer friend, and who better than my long-time dear friend, Mary Jane Maffini, who also had a brand new book out in her very popular local Camilla MacPhee series? I have toured all over the place with Mary Jane over the years, from the east coast to southern and eastern Ontario to the northern USA. So we got our heads together and devised a list of libraries within manageable driving distance from Ottawa. We call the tour Thrills, Chills, and Laughter; an evening with two award-winning mystery authors. I'm more of the thrills and chills writer, while Mary Jane supplies most of the laughter. The libraries that we approached have been very receptive to the idea, as eager as we are to see real people again.

We are still finalizing a couple of libraries, but here's what we have so far:

April 26 - Mississippi Mills Public Library, Almonte branch. 6:30-8:00 pm

April 29 - North Grenville Public Library, Kemptville branch 2:00-4:00 pm.

May 9 - Clarence-Rockland Public Library, 7:00-8:00 pm.

May 16 - Brighton Public Library, 6:00-8:00 pm.

All these events are free and everyone is welcome. Books will be for sale on site.

If you're in the neighbourhood, come on by. WhooHoo, road trip!

Creative Procrastination

 by Charlotte Hinger

My all-time favorite way to avoid the onerous task of writing a novel used to be through excessive research. I really knew how to milk that one. But I was saved by a scoldy part of my brain that monitors such nonsense. The rescue was quite simple. I forced myself to write a quota of pages every day. Five pages a day, five days a week. 

After producing the five pages, I allowed myself to research until the cows came home. It worked beautifully. Especially before the internet became my prime source of information.

 Now I've fallen prey again to my relentless curiosity. I have an instant attention span. I'm hooked immediately by obscure bits of useless information. When I watch TV, I frequently pause the program to look up tid-bits. 

For instance, the other night I watched an old movie about Mary Queen of Scots. Did she and Queen Elizabeth ever meet, I wondered. The answer was yes, Safari informed me. Frequently in movies and even in one of my favorite operas, but in real life, never. Was her second husband, Lord Darnley really that bad? Yes. He was a real mess. Did she really marry Bothwell? Yes. But historians don't know why. Not for sure. 

All of this carrying on interrupted my TV watching. It didn't matter. In fact, learning more about the background of this period in history increased my pleasure. 

However, excessive interruptions are deadly to the creative process of writing a novel. For this reason, I've switched to longhand for the first draft. Through the years, I've learned more about the craft. I'm convinced it's very important to get the story down on paper as quickly as possible in accordance with the writer's natural bent. Some of us are simply slower than others. I am not a fast writer, but writing in long hand does away with accessing the internet or responding to email. 

What's more, longhand stops me from "improving" a chapter into infinity. Through longhand, I have to get on with the story. Editing kicks in when I transfer the pages to the computer. 

But much to my dismay, I've acquired a new way to procrastinate. I tend to become overinvolved with other activities. Committees, meetings, etc. Some of this was accidental when I was too stupid to realize the work involved, but on other occasions I take too much on through an over-developed sense of duty. That condition evolved from growing up in a very small town where everyone had to pitch in or a community wouldn't hang together. 

I say yes when I shouldn't. But after giving the situation some thought, I've decided to go back to a set time. All I have to do is say, "I can't between 8-12 in the morning. That's when I work." That's a simple declaration that will force me to man up to writing difficult scenes and tackle plot problems. 

Worse, I'm very clever at finding ways to escape when I'm not sure where a book is headed. Who wouldn't want to run away?

Writing Historical Mysteries

 

by Sybil Johnson 

My comment on Thomas’ post on Monday was a suggestion to have a workshop on writing historical mysteries. That came to my mind for two reasons: (1) I’m working on trying to write one myself and (2) I attended a talk on Sunday given by Naomi Hirahara on the subject. 

I’ve known Naomi for over ten years. She’s a lovely person, great writer and has been a help to me a number of times. She’s also an Edgar-winning author of multiple traditional mystery series. She ventured into the historical mystery area with Clark and Division, which follows a Japanese American family’s move to Chicago in 1944 after being released from a California wartime detention center.

I cannot say enough good things about Clark and Division. It has all of the things I look for in a historical mystery. It has an interesting plot and I learned a lot of things I knew nothing about. So I was very interested in hearing what she had to say.

The talk was fairly short, about 30 minutes or so, but full of interesting information. Here’s my summary:

- Write about a period/situation, etc. that really interests you. Something you’re passionate about. Build your expertise on the subject. Visuals are helpful when you can find them. You can’t find photos of a period before photography existed, but you might be able to find drawings. Also old maps of the area you’re interested in can be helpful. Find experts that you can consult with specific questions. Be sure to thank and advocate for the experts that help you. 

- Know your limitations. 

 - Narrow your focus. Pick a particular time period and geographic area to concentrate on. You can’t include everything. 

 - Periods before and after a big event could be a good place to start a story. 

- Tell the story from a perspective never told before.

 - Write from your strengths. If you’re good at describing, lean on that. Are you good at writing in 1st person? Write in 1st person. Same goes for 3rd person. If you know a lot about the history of a place, consider setting your book there. 

 - Be aware of your emotional/cultural blocks.

 - You will not please everyone. That’s okay. Write the best book you can write.

- The way to do twists in stories is to subvert expectations. Figure out what the reader thinks about a person or situation and twist it so that it’s something different.

We talked a little about process. Some writers do all of their research first, then write. Some do it concurrently or do just enough research, then start writing. I remember hearing that Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander novels, uses this approach. For Naomi, her approach depended on the book.

There’s a lot more that could be said on this topic. Here are two books I found that could prove useful: How To Write Killer Historical Mysteries by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Once Upon a Time It Was Now: The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction by James Alexander Thom

For those of you who’ve written historical mysteries, any advice for those of us just starting out?

Curses

by Charlotte Hinger

Writers are a superstitious lot. Curses that people put on our ability to write hold us back. Here are a few that "everyone" knows about writing.

1.  You will never write another novel as fresh as the first one. 

    This one nearly did me in. I heard it from my best friend. Since I started so high on the totem pole and then had trouble selling my second book, it was easy to believe this. The truth was that my first book was deeply flawed. Most of us become better writers as we go along. The craft of writing is learnable, teachable, and acquired through practice.

2.  Writers peak out in middle age.

    I can't remember where I read this. Truth is a lot of writers don't start until middle age. Some of the most successful, prolific writers I know started writing after they retired. Yet, I've noticed that folks who hope to write when they "have the time" will never find it. There's a lifetime of experimentation and learning the craft that late-comers miss out on. 

3.  It's not what you know. It's who you know. 

Oh please! I'm from Hoxie, Kansas. Not only did I not know anyone, I didn't know anything either. When you finish a book--hopefully in a genre, you're familiar with--then start reading and researching marketing advice. I believe that writer's conferences with time allotted for hearing pitches is an excellent way to start. 

In short, don't let preconceptions stop you. 

Workshop Ideas, Please?

 By Thomas Kies

Over the past few years, I’ve taught Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing classes at our local community college.  I love doing it because I love talking about writing, publishing, books, and storytelling.  

The college has asked me to shake things up a bit for the spring and lead some workshops.  I’ve already reached out to the Carteret Writers Network and they’d like to have me do workshops at the new home of our county’s arts council, a beautiful location with the perfect space.  The college has bought into the idea as well. 

I’m reaching out to you for your advice on what workshops I should lead. What would you like to be part of?  Or what would you like to teach?

In the past, I’ve done session entitled “Good Guys, Bad Guys, and Plot Twists” for the North Carolina Writers Network at the writers' conference in Wrightsville Beach and I’ve done a similar workshop for the Pamlico Writers Group. 

In my classroom, I’ve covered character development, story arcs, character arcs, plot twists, colorful descriptions and the value of emotion in writing. 

We’ve talked about heroes and antiheroes and how to create a relatable protagonist and how all villains may not be bad…or at least that's what they tell themselves.

I’ve covered self-publishing vs hybrid publishing vs traditional publishing. I’ve talked about the value of finding and getting a good literary agent. We’ve discussed how long a chapter should be, how many words should your novel be, and how to begin and end a scene. 

But now, I’ve got to develop two or three solid workshops lasting about two hours each.  The audience will most likely be comprised of both new authors and those who have had some writing experience. What do you think?  If you have an idea, let me know in your comments below!!  I can use your help. 

What's Behind Me?

By Johnny D. Boggs

A fellow writer asked what dictionary I use.

Hey, I did not say that this was a stimulating conversation.

I turned around, made notes, and answered that a Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary sits right behind me. Deluxe Second Edition. I probably could buy a new one, but with the plethora of online dictionaries, is that worthwhile? Besides, next to that is Webster’s unabridged An American Dictionary of the English Language from 1860.

Since I mostly write historical fiction, I probably pull the latter out more than the modern Webster’s. Unless I pick up that 1876 copy of Webster’s A Common-School Dictionary of the English Language.

Then I spy the two-volume A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles from 1951, which I often peruse, unless I grab Richard Thornton’s two-volume An American Glossary from 1962.

My Roget’s Thesaurus is A Treasury of English Words and Phrases from 1883.

An atlas? Well, there’s a modern Rand McNally, but I also have a Cram’s Unrivaled Family Atlas of the World Indexed from 1885. I have to be careful with that one, because I can look at maps for hours.

Wow. I just learned something. My hometown of Timmonsville, South Carolina, was in Darlington County in 1885. That find sends me to Google to learn that Florence County wasn’t first formed until 1888.

My King James Bible is from 1868. Translations have changed over the years, you see.

For grammar I have that bible commonly known as “Strunk and White” but properly called The Elements of Style. It’s the Fourth Edition, but I still have the battered Third Edition that I used all through journalism school and my newspaper career.

The Elements of Editing and The Elements of Grammar sit next to the well-read On Writing Well by William Zinsser and Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Second Edition.

Those are the closest constant books. History books and biographies, etc., might be stacked in front of that shelf, but those will change depending on what I’m working on at the time.

Then there are books on the shelves above the printer. First Names. The Chicago Manual of Style. The Washington Post Deskbook on Style (to see what Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee might have been reading circa 1972-1974). A modern Roget’s (well, it was modern when I bought it in college). Tons of books on slang – always make sure slang references include an etymology if you’re writing historical fiction –  and English usage.

More reference books, books on firearms, 19th Century catalogs from Bloomingdale’s, Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck & Co. … Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable … Old West dictionaries … the 1955 reprint of Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society … Colonial American English … The Complete Oxford Shakespeare (there's also a 1942 edition of The Complete Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare from Houghton Mifflin somewhere around here) … foreign-language dictionaries … various state historical atlases … David Dary’s Frontier Medicine … 19th Century baseball rulebooks … Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing (to keep me grounded) … and even the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, which a foul-mouthed writer recommended to me years ago.

Yes, you are absolutely right. The writer who asked me what dictionary I use was sorry he asked.

More thoughts on promotional outreach

Frankie's Friday post about promotional outreach touched close to home because my latest Amanda Doucette book, WRECK BAY was just released last week and I have been wrestling with how to promote it. Frankie was hoping to initiate a discussion about what works and what doesn't in this evolving world of book promotion. Evolving is a key word here. Social media is changing rapidly, as is software for presenting promotional material, and the nature of book selling itself. It's really difficult to keep up, let alone guess the next trend.

I was sorry no authors put forward their thoughts in the comments section, but the problems are complex and the answers perhaps too lengthy for a quick comment. I hope the post initiated some discussion and reflection beyond the blog. I decided my thoughts merited a whole blog, so here we go.

It's been twenty-three since my first novel was published, so I have been in the promotional game for a while. Wow, has it changed! When I started, I held in-person launches with food and wine in the gorgeous, marble-columned lobby of National Archives Canada, which hosted many author events for free (you just had to supply the food and drink). In 2000, the online world was very limited; no social media and only the beginnings of email and websites. Many potential readers didn't use the internet for communication, so I designed and printed out rudimentary post cards. I had a d-base file of readers which printed sticky little address labels on my dot-matrix printer. I bought reams of stamps. One by one, I mailed them to friends, family, and anyone I thought might be interested. 

My second promotional activity was throwing a box of books into the trunk of my car and driving around to every bookstore within a day's drive. I introduced myself as a local author, gave them a sample copy, and said I'd be happy to do a signing. This netted me a personal connection with most of the bookstores that remains helpful to this day, even though a great many of those bookstores have closed or changed owners.

About a year later, my friend Mary Jane Maffini and I (both at similar points in our book careers) decided we needed that new innovation called a website and I enlisted my then-teenage son to set one up for us, using html. It was clunky and impossible for us to edit, but at least we had a presence! A couple of years later, we decided we each needed our own website, and a techie friend volunteered to design them. 

My third promotional activity was probably the most valuable yet in my nascent mystery career - attending literary festivals, particularly mystery conferences. So many benefits! The most obvious being networking and sharing writing and publicity tips with other writers. Making connections with book industry people like librarians, booksellers, and reviewers not just in my own backyard but around the the world. Forming friendships that continue to be nourished through social media, notably Facebook. I started with Bloody Words before my first book was even published, and have attended Malice Domestic, Bouchercon, and Left Coast Crime, as well as smaller regional festivals. If it weren't for finances and the pandemic, I would go every year. My list of contacts grew as my books got out there.

The mailed launch invitations continued for several books, and the d-base grew with each book. Sometimes I held joint book launches with local crime writer friends like Mary Jane, which increased both our reaches as well. But at some point we decided to ditch the paper in favour of email. I admit to being haphazard about collecting reader contact information. As people emailed me about my books or invited me to speak at bookclubs, I collected their emails in a dedicated folder in my email program, which gave me a record of sorts. I would painstakingly go through these to invite people to my launches or to inform them of a new release. Inefficient and old-school, but it did work. 

The next big leap forward was the arrival of Social Media. I created a personal Facebook page in 2009, and my editor created an author page and urged me to use it. I kept forgetting to, and instead used my personal page for a combination of friendly chat and book information. Facebook was, and still is, an interactive platform, and readers often became Facebook friends who enjoyed stories about my cottage, my travels, and my dogs as much as the book information. But social media platforms kept multiplying, and we authors were urged to keep up. I joined Twitter a few years later, but found it of limited use except to make very specific announcements about a new release, a signing, or good review. Posts seemed to disappear into the void within a few minutes of being posted, and I made no effort to cultivate connections there. Amid the recent controversy and the increasing toxicity of the platform, I have cancelled my account there. Meanwhile my plugged-in daughter urged me to join Instagram. Facebook is a medium for people you already know, she said, but Instagram will allow you to reach new readers, particularly a younger audience. She made a valid point, so I did join and I do post upcoming news there (and occasional photos of dogs) but it's no place to cultivate connections unless you're a celebrity. It takes little extra time and effort, however, and maybe it increases my visibility. 

The last ten years have seen an explosion in online promotional options. Mail chimp and other software to organize your contact lists, newsletters, blogs, Goodreads and Amazon pages, youtube channels, book trailers, TikTok, and probably others I've yet to hear about.  More and more of this online engagement falls on the author's shoulders, with only the bestsellers and those rich enough to hire PAs and other publicity machines getting outside help. It's become overwhelming. Many of these new avenues required time and some tech expertise to master and maintain. There are authors who love this kind of thing or have handy family members to help, but not me. I have little patience for spending hours tearing my hair out online. It ranks above housekeeping (another necessary evil) but below dog walking, skiing, kayaking, and seeing friends. Plus I usually have a book to write.

I did create an Amazon and Goodreads author page, but I don't do anything with them and don't know if they're any use. I created a Youtube channel but have not put anything on it, and I have dreamed about a book trailer but once again - no technical expertise to turn the dreams into reality. I have run like a madwoman away from the supremely narcissistic TikTok. Because I can't figure out Mail Chimp, I do not have a newsletter, and although I now have a website that I designed and can edit on my own, it is frequently neglected. The one other online presence I maintain is this blog. I no longer use my onerous and often out-of-date email lists to promote events, but instead rely on Facebook invites, Instagram, and my website.

The pandemic accelerated a seismic shift in book promotion. The shift to virtual appearances had begun earlier, with some book clubs hosting virtual talks with authors. Video chats allowed authors to attend events and connect with others much farther afield. When March 2020 shut down the world, however, all book signings, tours, festivals, and other events came to a crashing halt. All my events through the next two years were cancelled, and many since then have been doubtful. It was a very isolating and lonely time, but virtual technology had its up sides. I held virtual launches for my last two books, and invited friends on both my email lists and Facebook from all across the world. More people attended those than could possibly attend my in-person events. In that sense the reach is far greater. 

But I have always loved meeting with readers, friends, and fans in person. I love seeing old friends, sharing laughter, hugs, and love of books.Virtual appearances - staring at thumbnails or, worse, that little green camera light - lack that sense of human connection. And without knowing that our stories touch people, what is the point of writing them? So I am planning two in-person launches, in Ottawa and Toronto, to introduce this latest book over the next week. And I am planning a number of bookstore signings and library readings over the next few months. It's probably not the most efficient way to reach a bigger audience, but it feeds my soul.

What works and what doesn't? I'm not sure, but part of the question is what are you willing to put work into? No writer can do everything and still have a life and write the next book. No writer is comfortable with all the platforms and online possibilities either. For myself, I will continue to use Facebook and Instagram for ongoing book news, as well as this blog and my website for a more detailed background. I will do virtual events as the opportunity arises, and I will be open to learning new things that seem exciting. But I will also continue to seek out in-person connections through book signings, readings, conferences, and tours. 

Timid Words for Horrific Acts

 by Charlotte Hinger

Please. There is a word I never want to hear again. It's "unacceptable." I mean the word itself. "Unacceptable" is a weak, timid, exhausted word that is invariably used incorrectly. It should refer to unpleasant, offensive behavior and that which "simply will not do, my dear."

When a young bride neglects to send thank you notes, her behavior is unacceptable. Farting in public, is unacceptable. Neglecting to make proper introductions is unacceptable. So is using a cell phone during a public event.

Beheading people is not "unacceptable." It's a horrific act that disregards the impact on grieving families and the inflammatory effect on nations that respect human life.

Kidnapping and raping children is not "unacceptable." It's an atrocious despicable act that not only destroys precious souls, it sends whole nations reeling into despair.

Destroying a nation's art and cultural archives is not "unacceptable." It is blatant disregard for precious collections that symbolize the collective myths of a country's heritage.

When the Secret Service fails in it's mission to protect the first family it's more than "unacceptable." It demonstrates an appalling failure of competence and a casual sense of duty.

I'm for using accurate labels. Not to do so waters down the significance of vicious activities with horrendous consequences.

I've listened to Americans struggle to find the words to express their horror? sorrow? grief? over the death of Tyre Nichols. We can't manage, because we can't understand. 

Our feelings about this beating death, this murder, are confused by our original suspicion of systemic racism because the police officers were black. We are deeply aware of corruption in a number of police departments, and reel from an abundance of evidence that it exists in other institutions.

What has happened to our country?

We're missing a word. What is it that would adequately describe our spiraling despair over school shootings? The pervasive sadness over the violence that seems to grip America?

The Director

 As a writer of crime, I love reading about crime and the history of fighting crime. The fascination of crime is that such acts represent the breakdown of society, if only temporarily. Government can pass all the laws it wants but unless we each abide by the social contract--a belief in fairness and that the rules protect us and apply to everyone--then civilization becomes meaningless. Ultimately, every crime story is then a search for justice and a reason to believe in the social contract. 

So in my interest of writing about crime and the pursuit of law and order, I recently finished The Director: My Years Assisting J. Edgar Hoover by Paul Letersky with Gordon Dillow (Simon & Schuster). As expected, the book provided a lot of insight into the inner workings of the FBI, especially details about its Director, the still controversial J Edgar Hoover. We got the lowdown on his rumored homosexual romance with Clyde Tolson (there wasn't one), his secretary Helen Gandy (as keeper of "the secret files" was in her time one of the most feared personalities in Washington DC), and Hoover's contentious relationships with all the US presidents during his tenure. While Letersky soft-shoes around the excesses of the FBI in terms of operations against political opponents (to include Dr. Martin Luther King Jr) and its involvement in COINTELPRO (government surveillance of American citizens), he does admit the agency's use of "black bag jobs," meaning warrantless searches, breakins, and illegal wire taps--the spice of a good crime novel. By the end of the book, the social contract holds firm, mostly.

Post-Pandemic Outreach

Frankie, here.

Today's post is more to invite discussion than to offer any conclusions I've reach. I'd like to hear any thoughts  you have. I've been thinking -- as my title says --  about what form(s) of outreach I should be engaged in now that a pandemic has upended our lives. In a world in which artificial intelligence was recently  a plot element on a day time drama ("soap opera") with a child's toy used to substitute one voice for another -- or in real life where a robot might roll up to your table and take your order at a restaurant -- the future is here. And much of it is both scary and really cool.

But getting back to my dilemma -- with limited time and budget, I'm trying to reach as large an audience as possible. This time I don't want to wait until the thriller I'm excited about and hope my agent will be able to find a home is ready for release. I want to be proactive. I want to engage with potential readers and build "excitement" so that they are eagerly waiting for the book. Some authors are excellent at doing this. They remain in contact with readers in between books. This time, I want to approach my next book and first standalone with the same professionalism.

I had began to feel comfortable on /Twitter. Then, with the pandemic, I was too depressed by what was happening to go on daily or even weekly and share news or thoughts. Now that I'm ready to go back to Twitter, it is not the same as it once was because of the controversy around the change in ownership. 

I could use TikTok, but I have nothing to do in that space.  I think I would be more comfortable on YouTube, but having a channel is a commitment to having regular content to offer an audience. I would have to have a theme that would make the effort required -- and the technical knowledge I would have to acquire -- worthwhile. 

Or, I could go "old school" and go out in the summer and do some shorter trips to bookstores and libraries. Except gas is expensive -- and by now many readers are accustomed to interacting from the comfort of their home. And it is easier for authors to do a virtual book tour from our own armchairs. All we need to do is book some stone stops on other people's websites. We can hire a comfort to set it all up. I've done that. It was easy. But would  it work as well now with so many people doing tours,

Perhaps the best way to reach out to readers and reach as large as audience as possible for a new book is simply to up my game. To continue to post here and use Twitter to draw an audience to the site for my posts and those of my colleagues. To book a virtual tour on other people's websites when the next book is forthcomiing. I could also start to blog about my research on my website. I could even start putting out a newsletter. I've been planning to do that for years. But I want it to be something that readers will enjoy receiving. I could book more virtual events to supplement the in-person events I might be invited to do or able to book. And continue to attend crime fiction conventions and request panel assignments.

Of course, as always writing the best book possible seems to be the starting place. Now, as even before the pandemic, we all have the option of taking our publication fate into our own hands. We can become independent publishers without the past stigma. Many writers have done exaactly that. So, should I also get my first two manuscripts out of my desk drawer and see if my agent thinks we can sell the revised versions to an editor. Even though I'm a better writer now, would the investment in time be worth the effort if I am not sure my agent could place them. But I could hire an editor and go independent, becoming a "hybrid writer" at least for those two books. I wouldn't even have to update them. They might work even better now because they are almost historicals written at a time when the characters would not have been expected to take out their phones to text or the GPS to get to where they were going. 

I know this matter of outreach  has been a subject discussed across social media. Has anyone reached any conclusions? Thrown up your hands in despair? Hired someone else to do it all or supplement what your publisher done? Found software that allows you to do it all virtually without breaking a sweat? If so, please share.    

My Year in Books, 2022

 

by Sybil Johnson

I hope your week is going well. Internet problems at home has forced me to do this post from my local library. The view of the ocean is really nice.

Anyway, it’s time for my annual reading wrap-up.

In 2022 I “consumed” 93 books, 26 fewer than last year. Consumed because it’s a combination of listening to audiobooks and reading. The largest category was mystery/crime at 60%. The majority of those were cozy mysteries at 39%. I continued my reading of Nancy Drew books in order, reading 10 of them last year. These are mostly the 1960s/1970s editions, but I did read a few of the 1930s/40s versions. Mostly the ones where the stories drastically changed. Interesting to see the differences. 20% of the books I read were in the non-fiction category, up from last year.

I listened to 4 audiobooks, 16 fewer than last year. Two of those were books in the Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota mysteries by Larry Millett. I found them to be highly enjoyable stories. The narrator is top-notch on these.

In the cozy mystery category, I’m continuing my trend of reading paranormal cozies, including The Vampire Knitting Club mysteries I started last year. In the non paranormal area, I also love the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates aka Vicky Delany. I highly recommend it.

In the historical mystery category, one of my favorites was Execution by S. J. Parris. The story is set in England in the Elizabethan era. There’s a plot to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne and a death that may or may not be connected. This is not the first book in the series, but the first I’ve read. There was enough of the back story, I didn’t have a problem understanding what was going on.

One of my favorites in the non-fiction category was The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson. I had no idea that fly-tying was such a big thing and could result in a theft from a museum. Another interesting one was Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. This is the book the Netflix series, Mindhunter, is based on. A very interesting read.

If you’re interested in learning how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs, I highly recommend Egyptian Hieroglyphs for Complete Beginners by Bill Manley. It was a nice review for me. I wish I’d had this book when I first started studying Middle Egyptian.

Another great non-fiction book was Eiffel’s Tower by Jill Jonnes. It chronicles the building of the Eiffel Tower and the exposition it was a part of. Very, very interesting.

I’ve also gotten into the Sandhamn murder series by Viveca Sten. Originally written in Swedish, I’ve been reading the English translations. I would categorize them as police procedurals set on an island in the archipelago. There’s a Swedish TV series based on these books, which I highly recommend. I watched the episodes through my local library via hoopladigital.

That’s my summary. I’m curious, did you find yourself reading more last year than in previous years? Did you read different things?

The Magic of Best Sellers

 by Charlotte Hinger

The making of bestsellers fascinates me. My wonderful agent, Claire Smith (b.1934-d.1998)  once said publishers couldn't hype a book onto the bestseller list. It took buzz. Buzz is when everyone is talking about (and buying) a book. This year's sensation was Lessons in Chemistry. It isn't a great book. It isn't an important book, but I swear it was the most satisfying book I've read in years. 

I loved it. But why? Without knowing the reason, I bought it in hardcover for two granddaughters. 

Another huge bestseller years ago was a non-fiction book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  I wanted to read this book and tried to get it through the library. Believe it or not, there were already 147 holds on the copy. I wasn't willing to be the 148th in line and ordered it through Amazon. Not only was I willing to pay good money for the Japanese author's slender little instruction manual, I had already listened to it on an audiobook. I had even started folding underwear and my socks vertically and started sorting items for Goodwill by category.

My life is basically the same. I do some things well and some things poorly. I have good days and bad days, but mostly my days are pretty satisfying and on the whole I'm a happy person. I have a lot to be thankful for. The book had some great hints, but the "life-changing magic" seemed to bypass me.

So what in the world happened to make such a simple little book zoom to top of best-seller lists? I think that the author was Japanese lent credibility. We associate Japanese décor with uncluttered simplicity. Simplicity is appealing to those of us who are overburdened with the demands of our stressful societies and our plethora of electronic gadgets.

The book has a serene cover with a blue sky. It promises happiness. Serenity. A perfectly ordered house with everything in its place. There is a compelling narrative. The author, Marie Kondo, started down this decluttering path when she was in kindergarten. At the age of five, she could not wait to get home after school and begin organizing her things. It's her passion. She built a business out of organizing stuff.

She's the ultimate authority and very opinionated. No one else could have written from the same point of view.

But making a fortune from tidying up! Who would have thought?

This is a simple book.

There is a lesson here for beginning novelists who complain that they are stuck in ordinary towns with ordinary uninspiring people. The greatest writers see the stuff of stories right in front of them. It doesn't take great adventures to come up with great fiction. And the same could be said of non-fiction.

I write about Kansas. Go on. Say something. I dare you. 

Twilight Zone and Writing Truths

By Thomas Kies

Anne Serling, daughter of Rod Serling, posted a letter her father wrote to a high school student back in 1961,  It read:

The following comment would best represent how I feel about writing: Write and keep writing. Develop your own style. Respect another writer but never imitate him. Learn patience because it is as necessary as a typewriter—and never be afraid to speak out and say what you believe. This is the function of the writer—to call the truths as he sees them.

Sincerely

Rod Serling

Later on, Serling said, “The writer’s role is to be a menacer of the public’s conscience. He must have a position, a point of view. He must see the arts as a vehicle of social criticism and he must focus the issues of his time.”

When I was a kid, I recall sitting on the couch in my grandparents’ cottage on Waneta Lake in upstate New York watching shows like Ed Sullivan, Lawrence Welk, My Three Sons and Gunsmoke.  But my all-time favorite program was the Twilight Zone.  Rod Serling’s introduction as those surreal images flashed and faded on our screen scared the bejesus out of me.  “You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!”

At the time, I thought those episodes were written and produced just to give viewers the willies.  In reality, they were social commentary. 

In the episode called He’s Alive, a young Dennis Hopper plays a character who is clearly a fascist. He gets guidance from an unseen creature hidden by the shadows.  Eventually, he’s persuaded to kill, but ends up dead himself.  It’s finally revealed that the creature was the spirit of Adolf Hitler. 

Rod Serling's closing monologue warns that while Hitler may be dead, his spirit is kept alive everywhere where bigotry, racism, and white supremacy exists.

In an episode called Number 12 Looks Just Like You, young people are strongly encouraged to undergo a transformation. They have a limited number of features to choose from since in this world, everyone looks very much alike.  The upshot to this is “When everyone is beautiful, no one is.” It's a world that simply doesn't tolerate people who are different. 

In Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, an idyllic neighborhood is suddenly cut off from the rest of the world, power goes out, and there’s no phone, radio, or television service.  Rumors, theories, and false information run rampant, and the neighbors turn into a violent mob. 

Does that sound faintly like January 6^th?

I dare say that every episode of Twilight Zone had a message of some kind.  Some were banal and some were daring, especially for the time in which they were written and broadcast. But they all had a truth they were telling.

The point of this blog is that as writers, we not only should be telling a damn good story, but we should let our conscience guide us as well.  I try to do that with my books, and sometimes run afoul of readers.  Not many, but some.  

One of the guidelines Stephen King has about writing, is, “What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want. Anything at all . . . as long as you tell the truth.” 

Superstitions

By Johnny D. Boggs

I just made an emergency run to the grocery.

I was out of blueberries. Had gone days without any. Which explained why this week has been so lousy. 

Sources for magazine assignments blowing me off. Outlining a novel not coming together as I’d hoped. Sentence I just wrote reading like crud.

Here’s my morning ritual: Get up. Let the doggies out and feed the big one. Hit the coffeemaker. Shower. Get dressed. And, most importantly, make myself a smoothie.

The ingredients vary, depending on what’s available. Raspberries. Strawberries. Blackberries. Spinach. Celery. Tomatoes. Oranges. Peach. Grapefruit. Lemon. Chile. Carrots. Apple. Cucumber. Zucchini. Brazil nuts. Protein powder.

And 20 blueberries.

For good luck.

I am not so insecure and insane that I must have a 20-blueberry smoothie when I’m on the road. When I’m home, however, I remain fairly certain that failure to include those 20 blueberries dooms me to a frustrating day at the Mac. That the Kansas City Royals and South Carolina Gamecocks will stink if they’re playing. That the check I’m expecting won’t be in the mail. 

If I happen to have only 23 blueberries left, I’ll likely add the extra three. Maybe.

A 20-blueberry smoothie could be a ritual because I happen to like blueberries, though, as a native of South Carolina, I’m a much bigger fan of peaches. Maybe the specific number is just a tradition. Perhaps it’s comforting.

Or I could be superstitious.

But I have no problem stepping on cracks in sidewalks. I don’t worry if a black cat walks in front of me. Thirteen is just another number. There’s no rabbit’s foot around. I won’t walk under a ladder, but that’s because my dad was a building contractor, and there might be someone on that ladder, or there might be a hammer or a gallon of paint atop the ladder, and I don’t want a carpenter or a hammer falling on my head or being bathed in paint if I accidentally slip and hit that ladder.

When I coached Little League, I would try to wear the same socks, shoes, etc., if we were winning. Once we lost, the mojo was gone and I’d find new duds or wash the luck back into what I had been wearing. I would chastise anyone who started packing up equipment before the game was over.

And I will never step on a foul line.

Superstitions apply to writing, too.

The first book I ever sold was mailed (back when we actually mailed typed manuscripts), per the publisher’s guidelines, in 12-point Monaco. Most people that I run into these days have never even heard of Monaco, but I use it all the time. Well, if a publisher demands 10-point Times New Roman or 14-point Calibri, I’ll try to comply. If I happen to forget, I just think, Hey, Editors, all y’all have to do is hit “Select All,” and change the font and point size, silly.

Then when the editors have a bad day, they have only themselves to blame.

One Hundred Years Ago Today

My father and mother, 1947

 Donis here. January 19 is a big birthday date in my little corner of the world. Today is my brother-in-law Chris DeWelt's birthday. Happy birthday, Chris! I'm also wishing a happy birthday to my friend Judy Starbuck. But this year is special, because today would be my late father's 100th birthday.

Carl Casey was born at home, in Haskell, Oklahoma, my grandmother's second child after my aunt Lucille. My grandmother told me that the doctor used chloroform on her for her second child, and she was very happy about it. However, she said that when the baby came, her sister Mary, who was attending the birth, said, "Look at them* eyes!" Grandma was alarmed and tried to see what was with the kid's eyes, but she was so groggy from the chloroform that she fell asleep. Turns out my dad was born with his blue eyes wide open, looking around curiously (according to Aunt Mary, not the most reliable of witnesses.)

That wouldn't be out of character, though. My dad was full of life, outgoing, rather boyish, and playful. He was a wonderful daddy for little kids. My grandmother told me that he was "the playing-est kid she ever saw," and he only stopped playing with his friends outside because they all got too old and he couldn't find anybody willing to play with him.

...One year later...

My father didn't live anywhere near long enough to even think about celebrating his 100th birthday. He died of a sudden heart attack in 1967, when he was 44 years old. He left a young wife and 4 children. Our mother was beyond devastated. It colored the rest of her life, though once she managed to live through the early horror of it all, she did a good job of raising the children on her own. My dad was a 19-to-23-year-old Marine posted in the Pacific theatre during WWII, and even if, as far as any of us kids saw, he was a cheerful person, he was also fatalistic about the fragility of life. So even though he died so early, he had so much life insurance and property that my mother never had to work and was able to pay for all of us to go to college. She never remarried, or even dated after he died.

I was a teenager when he died, the eldest. My youngest sibling was 18 months old. He's in his 50s now, and never really knew our father. Even so, my brother notes that he grew up in a sad household. Our dad's death changed the course of all our lives.  I know it's a major reason I write the kind of books I write, set in the time and place they are set - the time and place of my father's family, a time and place he would have been familiar with. 

Carl has been gone much longer than he lived, but his short life was everything to me, my siblings,  all his family, and many other people, as well. So happy birthday in heaven, Daddy. We all still think about you a lot.

______

* I never once heard my grandmother or any of her many siblings use the word "those".

The power and perils of technology

 This is going to be a short post about the brilliance and frustration of technology. AKA the domino effect. Recently, my family got me a beautiful new Apple Watch in a sophisticated blue colour. As instructed, I connected it to my iPhone and started to explore it and discovered it was lacking some features I wanted. So I hunted around in Apple Support and found I had to upgrade the watch's OS, which I did, and then it was perfect. But it decided to also talk to my laptop, which I hadn't expected. It could turn it on, for example, and it made my phone go dark and put it in bedtime mode after I told the watch when I planned to be in bed.

All this was fine until this week, when Facebook started to go nuts, jumping around whenever I tried to scroll through my feed. Rebooting Safari and even turning off the whole computer didn't help. I upgraded the laptop's OS to the latest. Still no dice. So it was back to the internet, where I found lots of people had complained about FB skipping and there were numerous websites and youtube videos claiming to have fixes. I found the most common ones and did one of those; I cleared the browser's history. I was about to clear all my "caches" as recommended, but was leery of losing a whole lot of data and function.

Then I noticed many posts of FB complaining about the same thing. So I held off on the cache purge. This morning FB seemed to be behaving better, but my calendar reminded me it was my time to post on Type M. I clicked on the link on my banner, then on the little orange icon at the top, which always takes me to the admin page. This time... nothing. It just took me to the blogger main page. Blogger had never heard of me, I didn't have a blog, did I want to create a blog?

I fiddled around with Google accounts and passwords, queried my blog mates and finally got back on the internet, this time finding the Blogger "Help Centre". Here there was a useful link about "Why can't I sign in to my blog?" Essentially I had to be invited back in by the administrator, and once she did that - Thank you, Charlotte!- here I am. Out of Blogger exile. Apparently in clearing my history, I had also erased the crucial connection that allowed me admin access to the blog. 

All of this because Facebook freaked out and I ventured down the treacherous path of trying a DIY fix. Fixing one thing (in fact, it didn't fix it) caused a cascade of other things to go wrong, and I have lost the better part of two days, not to mention considerable hair, trying to figure out how to fix them, instead of writing the erudite blog on storylines which John's post inspired and I had planned. 

So instead you're getting this blog on the daily small frustrations that eat away at our time and creativity. I also wonder what other unpleasant screw-ups are waiting for me that I have yet to discover. Did I inadvertently erase some other crucial piece of information, or is it all the fault of my new Apple Watch, which looks so innocent and pretty displaying the time on my wrist. 

No wonder i like to write my first draft with a pen on yellow pads of paper. 

Narrative Tension

This week, I want to share a writing activity that I’ve used with students often. It’s one they tell me they return to for review. If you try your hand at this, I hope you might share it with me.


What’s My Back-Story? A Plot-line Activity

Must every story be told in a linear narrative style? No way. Readers want a scene that allows them to figure out the story on their own. So how do we tell stories cinematically? By using scenes to convey the storyline. This allows the writer to use flashback sequences while starting in the middle of the action and continuously pushing the story forward.

Activity: Read the following plot-line and determine which numbers (there are several, after all) at which you could begin.

Carefully consider how you will include the information that came before your starting point? And decide how much of that previous information you need to include.

Write a first- or third-person opening scene (narration and dialogue) beginning at one point on the line and dropping in the necessary previous material as the scene moves forward.

1. Mary Howard grew up in Readfield, Maine, the daughter of a doctor.
2. She went to the University of Maine at Orono, where she studied history, graduating with a 3.5 GPA, and met Steven Smith, a political science major, whom she married following graduation.
3. After graduation and one year of marriage, Mary dutifully helps Steven launch his political career.
4. Mary, now in her mid-30s, helps Steven becomes a Maine State Legislator and raises their three kids.
5. Unbeknownst to Mary, Steven begins an affair with a fellow Maine State Legislator.
6. Mary gets a phone call from an intern in Steven’s office, who tells her of the affair.
7. Mary confronts Steven. This takes every ounce of courage she has. In 15 years of marriage, she has morphed from the confident, bubbly Mary Howard, to the housewife of powerful Maine State Legislator Steven Smith. As his career has taken off, her identity somehow got lost.
8. Mary listens as Steven tells her the affair is just “a sideline” that “this is how some political marriages are.”
9. Mary packs her bags, grabs her kids (now ages 11, 9, and 7), and walks outside, determined to start a new life.
10. She drives to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a place she’s only seen on TV.
11. In Santa Fe, she enrolls the kids in school, gets a job in a bookstore, and hires attorney Phil Rogers, who is 35 and single.
12. Mary doesn’t know what to do when Rogers asks her to dinner six months after she’s been in Santa Fe and following what was a surprisingly easy out-of-court settlement with Steven. She wonders what message a date would send to her kids. Would her acceptance tell them that they are all starting over? That it’s okay to move on? Or would they think she’s callus?

Happy New Year

 

by Sybil Johnson

Happy New Year to everyone! Sorry I didn’t post a couple weeks ago. I was in Seattle visiting family. We didn’t have a power outage, but there was an ice storm that added unwelcome excitement to our time there. Luckily, we flew in on the Thursday before Christmas, which was pretty okay, just a little icy. Then the ice storm hit on Friday, which dropped the temperature significantly and closed down the airport for a bit. So glad we weren’t flying that day. The ice was the thickest I’ve ever seen it, like a pane of glass. Saturday dawned and temps went up into the upper 40s or so and all was well again.

I spent most of December doing stuff around the house, including making roman shades, and ignoring writing. I decided I’d start off January by organizing myself a bit, including going through my Inbox and actually reading things people sent me and filing things away that I wanted to keep. I have a tendency, if I don’t immediately have the time, to keep messages with links to look at later. Only later often doesn’t come.

I found these gems waiting for me in my Inbox. 

• I discovered that I’d missed my two billion second date. That’s the day I’ve been alive for two billion seconds. The husband sent me a message giving me my 1, 2 and 3 billion second dates. The first was in 1989, the second just this past July 30. Don’t remember why he calculated these, but remember we were both math/computer science or computer science majors so this is the kind of thing we enjoy.

• Someone I worked with at Xerox long ago sent me some pics from the 1980s. In them was one of me from the early to mid-80s. That’s my best guess, anyway. So here I am at my desk.
  
  
  
  

• A friend I study the Coptic language with sent me this interesting article on the Coptic church in the US. There are a number of Coptic churches in the Los Angeles area. I hadn’t noticed them until I started studying Coptic. The language is a liturgical language now, only used in the Coptic Church. That’s the Bohairic dialect. I have been studying the Sahidic dialect. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/coptic-church/555515/

• Duolingo sent me my statistics for learning Swedish this past year. I did 966 lessons, spending 4226 minutes on them. I spend 5 to 10 minutes a day practicing my Swedish. My grammar is fairly good, but my vocabulary is not that great. But it’s improving.

• A friend sent me a link to the most haunted houses in the UK. I don’t know what I think of ghosts. Let’s just say that I’m open to the possibility, but I’m not sure I want to go and visit them. I do love ghost movies, though. So, if you want to see some ghosts here’s where you can find them. https://www.historyhit.com/guides/most-haunted-houses-in-the-uk/

• Here’s another interesting article about how the English failed to stamp out the Scots language. Yes, there’s a Scots language. No, it’s not the same as Scottish Gaelic. A surprising number of people speak it today. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-english-failed-to-stamp-out-the-scots-language

• If you want to animate your family photos like in the Harry Potter stories you can go here to find out how. Seems a little creepy to me.  And here’s a YouTube video about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjBYSnoAWqg 
  

•  And, finally, you can access back issues of Suspense Magazine here.

 I’m not quite done with the clearing out of my Inbox, but getting pretty close. Who knows what else I will find.

Haunted by Books

 by Charlotte Hinger

During the Covid lockdown, I reread some of my all-time favorite books. I was curious, too, as to why they were memorable and so many I've read recently aren't.

Thanks to Amazon it's easy to track down these old books that I've remembered for a lifetime. I still own a lot of them. My interest is more than a nostalgia kick, although I am a nostalgic person. This obsession was stirred up by my whimsical treacherous muse who pointed out that great books depend on great characters.

The books I especially admire were mostly commercial successes, but that was not why they stuck with me. I loved the central character in each one. Also, these characters had a huge heart-wrenching problem worth wresting with.

For that matter, it seems to me the old writing books had a lot more information than the manuals I pick up today. I'm re-reading Maren Elwood's Characters Make Your Story. It's outstanding. It's tough reading and I don't think I understood some of her points until I had written several books.

Elwood insists that characters come from within. Spinning them from thin air doesn't work. You can give a man a quirky car, some semi-handsome physical attributes, a few snarly snappy lines and he will still seem like everyone else's cardboard cut-outs. Ditto for Too Stupid To Live Heroines. You know. The ones who never call for back-up. Or run around saying, "Oh I'll show him!"

Here is a just of a few of these old, old books I'll re-read and why:

Green Dolphin Street--Elizabeth Goudge. It's my all-time favorite whose theme touches a spiritual chord within me. Goudge, has the ability to make unlovable multi-dimensional characters profoundly lovable.

Love Let Me Not Hunger--Paul Gallico. This is a hauntingly beautiful insight into the cloistered world of the circus. Who knew that this society fostered it's own royalty? What I remembered forever and forever was Mr. Albert, the animal trainer. How did Gallico so vividly create such a noble humble old man whose personal story broke my heart?

A Distant Trumpet--by Paul Horgan. A historical novel telling about the Indian wars and the relentless campaign to hunt down the Apaches. And for years, whenever we moved to another town, another library, or even when I was visiting relations, I went to the their library to look up General Alexander Upton Quade. I couldn't believe he wasn't real. After forty years went by, I found out this character was based on the autobiography and writings of General George Crook. Horgan told the‎ story from the Indians' point of view as well as the soldiers'.

Not As a Stranger--Morton Thompson. One of the great all-time medical novels. Not only was it informative, I had such hopes for the protagonist. He was destined to be one of the all-time great doctors.

Five Smooth Stones--Ann Fairbairn. One of the great social novels and one of the few that delved into subtle Northern racism. This was published in 1966 when the Civil Rights Movement was roiling America.

Rebecca--Daphne du Maurier. Need I say more? One of the great classic mysteries, which was the forerunner of the gothic novels. At one time I couldn't get enough of them.

There are some common denominators to all the books I've mentioned. In addition to great characters, they all have great plots. Every single author is a masterful story-teller. And for some reason they are all l-o-n-g.

Will these books still resonate with me forty years later? Of course I won't have forty years, but never mind.