Month: August 2023

Writers and Conferences

by Linda O. Johnston

As you read this, I’ll be at Bouchercon, a mystery writers’ conference that’s in San Diego this year. I attended Bouchercon in Minneapolis last year. And it’s my second writers’ conference in 2023.  I was at the Romance Writers of America conference in July in Anaheim.

Yes, the conferences I’m attending are close to me this year. But I didn’t attend some others that were also close, such as California Crime Writers, which was in Culver City, and Left Coast Crime, in Tucson, Arizona.

Then there was a conference on the east coast that I used to go to every year: Malice Domestic, in Bethesda, Maryland.

Have I attended all of them before? Yes, and many in the same year. Of course things closed down because of COVID but they’re ramping up again. So’s my attendance, a bit. Will I ever return to the same level as before? Maybe, but I don’t know yet.

So why should writers go to conferences? Why do I go to conferences? Well, they’re a great place to connect with other writers, learn what they’re up to, see old friends and meet new ones. Editors, too. Depending on the conference, the traditional publishing houses also send some of their people to meet up with their authors and perhaps find new ones.

 The conferences also help writers learn more about their craft, since there are usually a lot of panels to see where other writers reveal their writing secrets. Maybe. But at least they talk on specified subjects that might be of interest to an attending writer.

And speaking of those panels, if you’re a published author you’re often assigned to be a speaker on one or more. At Bouchercon, my panel this year is: Mysterious Creatures: Wild Animals and Pets. I’m really looking forward to it. And yes, in case you’re not aware of it, I write a lot about creatures and pets in my stories, primarily dogs.

 How about you? Do you attend writing conferences? How do you decide which ones to attend? What do you hope to get out of them?

Oh, and by the way, I’d love for you to comment on this but I can’t promise when I’ll be able to respond–although I’ll try while I’m still at the conference.

Ramblings from a rainy L.A. in a power cut…

By Rosemary Lord

My apartment smells of burnt candle wick. That’s because the power keeps going out and I’ve been lighting candles everywhere on and off for the past few days. And the power always seems to go out again just as it’s getting dark… Most inconsiderate.

How is that whenever there’s a bit of rain, L.A. comes to a standstill? Drivers go crazy. The local media gets very dramatic. Noah, get out your Ark! They should try living in England, where downpours are the norm, sometimes for days on end, and snatched golden sunny days are relished and worshipped.

So, I’ve been scribbling like mad – with my trusted pencil and yellow pad, in the candlelight, to finish this blog. Research was challenging, as I couldn’t recharge my laptop or phone to get online. But I can still use my dog-eared Oxford English Dictionary given to me by a late and very dear friend, writer Gerry Davis – of Dr. Who, (he created the Cybermen) Doomwatch, Final Countdown fame. I was then a working journalist, so I didn’t consider myself a ‘proper’ writer. He often offered to help me with a novel I was writing at the time. But this foolish, pigheaded girl was too embarrassed to show Gerry her amateur attempts at writing. Boy, do I regret that now!

But I digress.

Writing is, of course, my ‘go to’ thing when things get tough. I write down my thoughts – and solutions.  I cheer myself up by writing down affirmations. Of things I want and how I want my life to be. It really does feel good to do this. And I always write, ‘thank you,’ at the end. Because I was brought up to say please and thank you!   I write the same wish repeatedly. Pages and pages of the same sentence over and over. (A bit like the schoolteacher telling you write one hundred time, “I must not talk in class”! But more fun!)

In one of my recent decluttering binges I came across a large notebook from several years ago, when I was still pursuing an acting career. Rick and I were struggling financially, so I wrote I Now Have Tons of money. I Now Have Tons of Money.  (I tend to capitalize a lot!)  Pages and pages of I Now Have Tons of Money.

I had obviously put it aside and moved on to something new. Probably I am now a published author. I am now a published author…

But all these years later, when I discovered those handwritten affirmations, I stopped. And grinned. And remembered. About a year after I’d written those particular repeated affirmations over and over and over, (then forgotten all about them – until their recent discovery) I was cast in one of the leads in a revival of a 1920’s comedy at the local Richmond Shepherd Theatre in Hollywood. Guess what the play was called?

Tons of Money!  I kid you not! We had a great run, got terrific reviews, and it led to other bigger roles.

So, I am a firm believer of writing my affirmations each morning. I am just more careful with the wording of my affirmations because I know they worked!

Okay – the power has just come back on again. Now, where was I….

“I write because I want to have more than one life,” Novelist Anne Tyler was quoted as saying. “Writing is our opportunity to peek into other people’s lives,” – or create other lives.

I’ve just started reading “How To Write a Mystery,’ a handbook from the Mystery Writers of America, edited by Lee Childs. Anne Tyler and several of our fellow writers contributed articles.

Our local writer, Naomi Hirahara, has had her first successful novel, The Summer of the Big Bachi published in 2003. It was the first in a series of mysteries about an ageing Japanese-American Gardener, Mas Arai, who became an amateur sleuth. She’s had over 20 more published novels since then and gave a terrific workshop at a recent Writers’ Conference on how her road to publishing success – and the failures along the way.

In this book, she writes about the accidental detective, the amateur sleuth. She says that no other genre reveals more about the writers’ inner life – or their personal life. Especially, new writers create amateur sleuths with a background familiar to the writer- similar to themselves or someone in their lives.

Beth Amos likens the suspense buildup in mystery writing to a roller-coaster: first the build-up, then the exciting plunge, then another build up.

Louise Penny, Charlaine Harris, T. Jefferson Parker, Laurie King, write in this book about “turning your first, raw draft into a clear, compelling story.” Jeffrey Deaver says, ‘Always Outline!’ Catriona McPherson writes about adding the humor.

I’m still thumbing through this thoughtfully produced book, inspired to read the inner workings of such an assortment of writers.

And I still find myself Yak Shaving from time to time. What, you might ask, is ‘Yak Shaving’?  It’s from a long-ago blog. Where do I start…? It’s when you find yourself setting out to accomplish one thing, but going off at tangents, taking a circuitous route in order to accomplish your original goal – much later than you had intended.  It’s doing something as irrelevant as shaving a yak (don’t ask!), instead of the goal you set out to accomplish.

I think we all find ourselves yak-shaving from time to time – except for those super-human, prolific novelists who churn out novel after novel, without stopping and who never, ever get distracted from their goals! Hmmm. Just how do they do that?

But the rest of us, we may have to do a bit of pencil-sharpening, fridge-defrosting or ironing before we sit back down to write the next page. Ironing is a good distraction because you can watch television while you’re ironing and tell yourself your doing research, watching re-runs of Murder She Wrote. I’ve thought this through, as you can see.

Now – back to writing page 173 – before the power goes out again.

……………………………..

Returning to the Partial Manuscript!

Having spent a computer and internet free vacation, I returned with the determination to get organized once and for all. Naturally, this included culling and filing away a gazillion documents on my OneDrive in that thing they call the Cloud. I still don’t trust it and much prefer the old-fashioned file-drawer with hard copies neatly put into hanging folders with colored coded labels – but I just don’t have the space. I live in a tiny little cottage.

Somewhere deep on my hard drive in a generic pale blue folder labeled BOTTOM DRAWER – was a partial manuscript. It was something I had written in 2017 for NaNoWriMo. For those unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. The flagship program is an annual, international creative writing event in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November. I’ve done it a few times but given up after the first ten days because of the pressure. However, it appeared that in 2017, I had persevered!

To my shock, I had written 52,000 words. I do not remember writing any of it. Not a word. Is it possible to have written it in a dissociative fugue? I have re-read the partial three times and it’s not too bad at all.

Aptly titled The Diversion, I wrote it during the most miserable year of my life – my husband had left me for a much younger woman (argh! I know! What a cliché!), I’d had to sell our beloved house in Oregon alone and move into temporary accommodation and, after twenty-five years in the USA, had decided to move back ‘home’ with my two dogs – horribly traumatic for them. The icing on the cake was that I was turning sixty. It was a wretched time.

As it turned out, the change was a blessing in so many ways that I am grateful it happened. But, at the time – to quote the late Queen Elizabeth – it was my own annus horribilis.

I’ve changed so much since I wrote that story so I’m approaching it with fresh eyes. Thankfully there are plenty of resources online for this sort of thing and these tips have helped but I’m open to any suggestions from my fellow scribes.  

Here are a few tips I’ve discovered online so far:

Janice Hardy’s Three Step Plan for “Returning to a Partially Finished Manuscript” suggests: 1. Read the entire manuscript again. 2. Review and Update the Outline Past Where You Stopped Writing (Pansters can skip this) 3. Revise three chapters prior to where you stopped writing.  Hardy also suggests creating an “editorial map.” I always do a chapter-by-chapter summary noting the date, time, setting, bullet points about what must/is happening in that chapter, and then copying and pasting the first paragraph of the chapter and the last paragraph of the chapter. It was a tip given by a Kerry Madden a wonderful author and writing instructor at UCLA Extension. I do that exercise with all my manuscripts.

In Liz Hudson’s Writing Voices essay A Confession: Returning to a half-finished manuscript is tough, she suggests writing off-manuscript short stories and scenes, flashing out characters backstories and personalities that will never make the book. I love this idea.

But now I keep faffing about and every time I get to P.199 where I stopped writing on November 30, 2017 (I have written and published six books since then), I come to a stop. It’s like I am teetering on the edge of the blank page and I just can’t seem to take the plunge and trust the creative process.

Recently on this blog, I mentioned I wanted to rediscover the joy of writing. When I re-read this partial manuscript, the joy was right there on the page because I’d written it without any thought of what I would do with it.  Now I want to finish the book I can already feel the heaviness of expectation. Will my agent like it? Can I get it published? Does it matter anyway?

I’d love your thoughts!  

I DREAM OF WRITING

by Miko Johnston

We often say writing is a solitary endeavor, but that isn’t really true. It takes a village to be a writer, or at least to be a good writer, whatever that means to you. Certainly it includes getting published, selling books and receiving mostly favorable reviews.

The process of writing may not be solitary, but it is sedentary. It requires long periods of what former WInR Kate Thornton called BIC (butt in chair). Sitting at the computer may be good for building the story but not for building muscle. Therefore I must balance my writing time with more physical activities, and as I get older I find that normal routines like housework or light gardening are not enough. I need a regimen of specific exercises to ward off the effects of aging, arthritis and apathy.

One of my exercises is a type of squat, where I pretend to sit down and get up. I begin by standing with my upper arms straight out, perpendicular to my body and parallel to the floor, and then I cross my forearms. The pose reminds me of the titular character from “I Dream of Jeanie” so much, one day I started humming the theme song to keep time as I lowered and raised my bottom.

That’s what may have inspired this post.

If I met a genie who granted me three wishes, what would they be?

I’d have to establish the ground rules first: how big an ask is possible? World peace? Cures for the most horrendous diseases? Depolluting our planet? I suspect that would be beyond the scope of a genie, so I’d have to focus on more personal asks. And with only three, I’d have to be very shrewd about what I chose.

However, since every discipline nowadays seems to be super specific, perhaps that extends to genies as well. Might there be an athlete genie who can’t make your kids call you more often but can give you toned abs? Or a knitting genie who can correct those dropped stitches without ripping out multiple rows?

And what about a writing genie? Could they turn you into a best-selling author? Improve your dialogue? Inspire a brilliant twist in your mystery? Or finally get that idea you’ve toyed with for years (decades!) plotted out and on the page?

Imagine that I were a genie and had the power to grant you three wishes, only they had to be specific to writing. What would your three wishes be?

Miko Johnston, a founding member of The Writers in Residence, is the author of the historical fiction series, “A Petal in the Wind”, as well as a contributor to several anthologies including the recently released “Whidbey Landmarks”. Miko lives in Washington (the big one) with her rocket scientist husband. Contact her at mikojohnstonauthor@gmail.com

An Interview with Wendy Walker

by Jill Amadio

Sometimes, as writers, we flounder around seeking ideas, whether from our own lives, others’, and from the daily grind we read about in the media. One author I greatly admire is Wendy Walker. I interviewed her recently, and am sharing her impressive insights here. Her multi-faceted career has included commercial litigation, investment banking, and world business. She lives in Connecticut and writes novels, thrillers, and audio originals.

  What is your background? Has it provided material for you?

I’ve worn many hats in my life! Once an aspiring figure skater, I redirected that energy to get a job at Goldman Sachs in mergers and acquisitions just after college. At the time, I never thought about being a writer. From there, I went to law school and worked in corporate litigation, and later family law. I was a stay at home mom for several years, and it was then I started to write. It took seventeen years to make this a sustainable career, and I have been a full time writer ever since! I use all of my experiences in my work – from legal knowledge, to finance, to parenting, and especially the psychology I learned while being a family law attorney.

Any characters based on you, as your alter ego

I think there are parts of me in all my characters. But the one I drew most closely for is Molly from “Don’t Look For Me.” While the character was eventually given some very difficult situations, including the loss off a child, which I do share, the initial spark for her and the book came from a moment I had one afternoon when I felt overwhelmed by life and my responsibilities as a mother. Her love for her children and the heartache that love can bring, are deeply explored in the book.

When did you decide to become a suspense writer, and why?

After publishing two novels that were general fiction I almost gave up on writing. The books didn’t do very well and I was no longer able to juggle writing, being a lawyer, and a single mother with three children. I asked my agent at the time what I could write that would be more marketable and she said, “the next ‘Gone Girl’.” I had heard of the book but didn’t really know what was different about it. When I looked at the genre of psychological suspense, I knew I had found the perfect home for my interest, skills, and knowledge.’’

Where do you get your inspiration?

Book idea comes from everywhere. I think once you know you need to find them, you begin to see them in every aspect of life. From news stories, to things I hear about people, and experience myself, ideas are sparked. My philosophy is this – if something catches my eye ad makes me curious, then it will probably be the same for others. I make a mental note of it and then ask questions about what made me take notice and what could be the story behind it. Not all of these moments lead to as book idea, but many do.

What is your writing process, routine, if any?

I have to write first thing in the morning. Staring at a blank page is very difficult for me. I find that I will do almost anything to avoid it. Even tasks that I normally would not look forward to will pull me away from sitting down to write. I will usually find a place away from my desk that feels less like doing work. I like to put my feet up, I have my laptop on my lap over a blanket, with a cup of coffee and some little treats nearby. That way, I feel like I’m not working, but having a luxurious morning.

How important are minor characters?

All characters in a book are important. I think of them as scaffolding for the main characters and the plot. Through minor characters, I can challenge, explore, and deeply develop the other characters that are more central to the book. Sometimes, the minor characters will become so interesting to me that I will bump them up to major characters and give them more page space.

How do you do your research?

I rely very heavily on the Internet and also specialists in different fields for my research. I will usually start online to get a rough idea of the topic and then find someone who works in the field or has personal knowledge of the aspect of the book that I’m researching.  People are remarkably generous with their knowledge  and time. I always feel a little bit nervous when I reach out to them and explain my plots. Sometimes they will just laugh, and other times they will come up with plot twists that they have thought of themselves. It’s fascinating!

How did you become editor of some of the Chicken of the Soul books?

After my first two novels were published and I realized that I had not established a financially sustainable career, I began to look for all kinds of work as a writer. At the time I had not practiced law for several years while I was staying home with my kids. I still wanted flexibility to be with them after school, so I was reluctant to go back into that field. As it turned out a local business group had purchased the business of Chicken Soup for the Soul. They asked me to edit a book about being a stay-at-home mom, I ended up doing three books with them and it was a wonderful experience.

Do any suspense authors inspire you? If so, why?

I find inspiration in almost every book that I read in this genre. Whether it’s a particular plot twist that took my breath away or the depth of a character, or a writing style, each book is unique and has something to offer in terms of learning to be a better writer myself. I look at writing as both creative and technical. I need to have idea and character, but I also need a box of tools that I can use to tell the story. It’s wonderful to have so many talented people in the field to draw inspiration from.

Favorite settings?

Most of my books are not dependent on the setting. I like to explore my characters’ minds. For me, that is the setting hat I like to be in when I’m writing. Some of my books do not even give the names of the towns where they take place. Of course, it’s important to have some context for the characters in the world they live in. I make sure to sketch those out, but many books tend to be very light on setting and deep on the emotional lives of my characters.

Are you an outliner or seat-of-pants?

 I outline everything. In fact, I have a lot of trouble writing without a very detailed outline for every chapter. This is because my books tend to have complex plots  where many pieces that need to fit together. I start with a basic plot sketch, and then I make a list of disclosures that have to be made throughout the story so that the reader will be intrigued and the twists can be developed properly. From there, I create a detailed plot outline where each disclosure is added. This make it much easier for me to dive into the more creative aspects of the process, because I know that the technical pieces have been taken care of.

If your characters ‘talk’ to you, what is the experience like?

I’ve never noticed a particular moment when a character is ‘talking’ to me. But I definitely try to get into the head of my characters when writing their internal thoughts and dialogue. I tend to write in the point of view of the character and I love writing in first person. This allows me to really become the character while I’m writing, and live vicariously through them. From detectives to criminals to mothers and daughters, it’s a lot of fun to be different people every day.

Which is the most difficult part of writing suspense for you?

The hardest part about writing crime suspense is coming up with a plot twist that hasn’t been done, or that a reader  won’t see coming. The genre of psychological suspense is known for its twists that are not just the reveal of the good guys and bad guys. They are twists that are more based on assumptions made by the readers about timeline and characters’ intentions. Readers have become very savvy. And coming up with twists is not something that can be forced. All of mine have come when I have been doing other things away from my computer. But when they do come, it’s really extraordinary.

Publishing history?

In 2008 and 2009 I published books that were in general fiction. They were stories about women in the suburbs. I was interested in exploring the dynamics that exist between husbands and wives and also the impact of wealth on communities. When those books did not establish my career, I went back to practicing law. At the time, I found work as a family law attorney. I kept writing and eventually found my way to the genre of psychological suspense. I was going to write one last book before giving up altogether and I wanted to make it as practical as I could from a business standpoint. I got the great  advice to write a thriller and it turned out to be the perfect home for me. I wrote “All Is Not Forgotten” in the spring of 2015 and it sold in July at a five-way auction! Since then I have written five more thrillers, plus three audio originals. I am very grateful for this career.

Your marketing plan, or does the publisher handle it all?

More and more authors need to be their own publicist. While the publishing houses do a great job at promoting books, so much is done on social media now. I had a book coming out in June (2023) and I spend most of my time these days organizing my event schedule, creating content for social media, posting to social media, and providing content for blogs and other media outlets. Every author will tell you that this is now a central part of our career.

Which book was the most enjoyable to write?

Every book I’ve written has been enjoyable and in different ways. If I had to choose one, it would be my first thriller, “All Is Not Forgotten”. Because the book was not under contract, and because it was my first time writing a psychological thriller, I had a freedom in writing that was really wonderful. I was able to put on the page whatever I felt was relevant and important to the story. Ad I was also able to create a plot and characters that I felt attached to. There’s a purity to the process that is impossible to re-create when others are weighing in on every aspect of the book from a marketing standpoint. And I am grateful for that because it’s so important to having continuing success in this career. But I will always cherish that experience.

Do you scare yourself with your plots/characters/settings?

That’s a great question! The only time I was scared was after writing a plot for a book that’s coming out in 2024. It involves a serial killer and I wrote one point of view that takes the reader through the attempted murder of a woman in her house. I ended up using the layout of my own house because it was just easier to visualize as I was writing. I wasn’t scared at the time but about a month, after I finished the book, my house alarm went off in the middle of the night. It turned out to be a door that swung open but in that moment my mind was turning to those chapters. It was very embarrassing when the people showed up!

Any tips for first-time crime writers?

My best advice is to gather as many tools as you can. Many people come up with great plot ideas and characters. But being able to put that story onto the page requires a lot of skill that has to be learned. When I wrote my first novel I did not have the skills. It was a legal thriller that was never published and probably never will be. I had a great idea and thought that my writing skill as a lawyer would be sufficient. I read a lot of books in the genre and tried to understand how they were written. It was not until I worked with a writing professor that I realized the specific tools that are utilized in this process. It was a big mistake that I made and I wish I had taken a class or worked with a professional before I sat down to write my novel.

Your current WIP?

I am now writing two pieces of work every year. One is a traditional printed novel of psychological suspense. The second is an audio original that is fully scripted. At the moment I am about to begin drafting another audio play that will likely be out in 2025. I also have the audio play that I just finished coming out in 2024 that is called “Mad Love”. So I am very busy! But I love it.