lindaojohnston

Choosing a Genre

by Linda O. Johnston

Or does the genre choose us?

I’ve written here before about choosing a theme in the fiction we’re writing, but now I’m going to discuss selecting a genre.

Me? I’ve written in many genres, starting with mystery short stories way back when, then moving into time travel romances, mysteries, paranormal romances and romantic suspense. And often writing in more than one of those genres at the same time.

How did I choose the genre each time?

Well, it was partly what popped into my head and hung on there. And that was most often because whatever genre I decided to write in was also one I was currently reading a lot in.

Therefore, in that respect, the genre I’m reading most at the moment does often choose me, insisting that I write my own story or several in that genre.

So… mysteries? For me, always. Well, almost always. Though I’m still reading mysteries, my own mystery writing has slowed down. Not that I don’t include mysteries in what I’m writing, though, since my current focus is romantic suspense.

Yes, you might have noticed that a common tie between many of those genres I’ve written in is romance. I love love stories! Even when I’ve written a strictly mystery story, my protagonist almost always has a romantic relationship.

For example, in my first published mystery series, the Kendra Ballantyne Pet-Sitter mysteries, Kendra is a lawyer on hiatus because of some nasty things that happened in her life, so she’s making a living now as a pet-sitter. Her wonderful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Lexie is often with her. One way or another, she keeps tripping over murdered bodies. And, of course, sexy PI Jeff Hubbard comes into her life to help her solve all those mysteries.

Oh, yes, that other sort of genre—well, theme—that is almost always include in my stories, especially these days, is animals, mostly dogs, whether or not it’s a romance or mystery or something else. And Kendra’s stories were in some ways about me since I was a practicing lawyer at the time and one of my Cavaliers then was Lexie. But I’ve said all that here before.

Now? Well, I always have dogs around me, and so do the protagonists in my current Harlequin Romantic Suspense stories. The last in my current series, the Shelter of Secrets, is finishing up next year, and I’m already working on the first in the next series.

And you? What’s your favorite genre to read? And if you’re writing, what genre(s) are you writing in?

Choosing a Theme

by Linda O Johnston

Every writer writes what they know and what they love—at least, hopefully. Sometimes, it’s also a specific genre or genres.

Of course we can go all sorts of directions in our writing as well as in our lives.

But me? It’ll come as no surprise to those of you who know me or read my stuff that I love dogs. And they’re not only important in my life. They’re important in my writing. And they’re the general theme of my writing.

I have had sixty-two novels published so far, with the sixty-second, my fourth Shelter of Secrets story for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, available starting now. It’s CANINE PROTECTION. Yes, canine. And number sixty-three, the fifth in my Shelter of Secrets series, CANINE REFUGE, will be published next year. I can’t tell you offhand how many of my books have featured dogs, but the great majority of them have.

Why? Well, they always say to write what you know, and I know dogs, and yes, I love them. My first mystery series, the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, featured a tricolor Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lexie—the same name as one of the Cavaliers I owned when I wrote those stories. And Kendra was a lawyer who lived in the Hollywood Hills with Lexie. Yes, I was a practicing lawyer then, living in the Hollywood Hills, writing what I knew, kind of.

And right now, my first ruby Cavalier, Roxie, is staring at me as I write this. Her tricolor sister Cari is sleeping somewhere else, but she very often snoozes under my computer desk as I write.

Yes, I’m hooked on Cavaliers, but I don’t write much about them since I don’t want to overdo it with my readers. But other dogs, including service dogs, K-9s, and even pets—yes!

And including shelter dogs, like those in my Shelter of Secrets series which is ending next year. I’ve started writing the first book in a new series. And surprise, it also features dogs!

I’m always fascinated to learn why other writers write what they do—and if they also have ongoing themes in what they write.

So please comment here, you writers who are reading this. Do your stories contain any ongoing themes, and if so, what—and how did you decide to feature them?

Image by Ermir Kolonja from Pixabay

Why write?

by Linda O Johnston

As I’ve said before, writers write. But why?

I’m sure we each have our own reasons for wanting to write and to get our work out there in various ways for others to read.

Sometimes it’s because we have things to say that we want the world to know about, right, you writers out there? That’s one reason I write. Anything good about dogs is best for me.

But why else do I write?

Well, it’s who I am. I started writing as a child. I even had a story about a couple of kids who got together to travel to see the world. My mother saved what I wrote, and I think I have a copy—although I’d have to hunt around to find it.

And after? For one thing, I loved my English classes, learning spelling and grammar and how to write. I still have an affection for grammar, although it’s changed over the years. Who would have thought that?

In high school, I got into advanced English. And then, when I went to undergraduate school at Penn State, I majored in journalism with an advertising option. That helped since I also did some writing and editing for my dad, who had an advertising and public relations agency, and I eventually became his employee. Before I became full-time there, I wrote articles for a small newspaper, making use of my undergraduate degree in journalism. But while I worked for my dad, I met the guy who became my husband and he got me interested in law school. And yes, although that involved a lot of reading and studying of law cases, there was writing involved there too.

When I eventually started practicing law, I did write some legal briefs, then became a transactional attorney. And I’ve always said that contracts are just another form of fiction!

As I practiced law and before, I also started writing actual fiction, and started getting it published–including winning the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for the best first short story of the year for my first published story—and so it continued.

Why? Because I loved it. Still do. I like trying different forms of fiction, though now I’m concentrating on romantic suspense and mystery.

How about you? How and why did you start writing? Did you always like it? Do you like it now?

Write on!

Getting Out There

by Linda O. Johnston

Writers write. But to help sell what we write, we need to do promotion not only online, but also in person. So, we have to get out there.

Okay, I admit I’m doing it less than I used to before the pandemic. Not that I’m terrified about getting sick, but I kind of got used to not going to as many conferences as I used to. I previously attended Malice Domestic, Left Coast Crime and Bouchercon and the Romance Writers of America conferences often, as well as local meetings.

Now—well, I did go to Bouchercon and an RWA conference last year. This year, I’ve mostly just gone to meetings of local chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America and Orange County Romance Writers, sometimes on Zoom.

Oh, and coming up will be the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, and I’ll be signing at the local SinC and MWA booths there on Sunday, April 21.

Enjoyable? Yes. It’s always fun to see other writers in person, and to sell as many books as possible and get to autograph them for the buyers.

And I have to admit I miss the frequent lunches I used to attend with other Writers in Residence members. But some have moved away and it’s become more difficult to get together with any of them.

More conferences in the future? I hope to.

So—well, how do you get together with other writers these days? With readers? Only online, or do you see them in person too?

Writers & Time

by Linda O. Johnston

I’m a writer, and I’m a fan of time—but sometimes it stumps me. Kicks me in the butt. Gives me a hard… time.

For one thing, time in stories is a major factor. How long will the story go on? How old is the protagonist, and will they age much in it?

And what is the time when the story takes place: contemporary times? Historical? Sometime in the future?

And then there’s my own time. I’m good at fulfilling deadlines, but sometimes I really have to work at it.

In fact, one of the reasons I swapped the date for my post this month is because I was determined to finish a first draft of a novel I’m currently working in, with a deadline approaching, and I was focusing mainly on that.

But I’m generally used to dealing with time and finding ways to handle it. For example, years ago when my kids were young and I was practicing law, I got up an hour earlier than the others in my household and wrote then. And a while later, when I wound up having to commute for more than an hour each way every day for my law job, I’d already started getting published, so I’d head very early to my job and hide in my office for an hour before starting to work—and everyone knew I was writing then and left me alone.

And now? Hey, I’ll stop writing this soon and get into the edits of that manuscript I mentioned. I did finish a very rough first draft, but there’s lots more work to do.

How about you? How do you deal with time in your life and writing or other work?

Promotion

by Linda O. Johnston

It’s November. A special month for me. I have two new books being published this month. Yes, two. My sixtieth and sixty-first traditionally published novels.

I’m delighted, of course, but still want to do more.

Meantime, I am now in the middle of promoting those books. What are they?

One of them is CRY WOLF, the second Alaska Untamed Mystery that I’m writing for Crooked Lane Books under my first pseudonym, Lark O. Jensen. I’m going to let the world know about it in a variety of ways, including additional blogs and a chat at Writerspace. I’m being interviewed by some people online. And I’m doing a Great Escapes Blog Tour, also online.

The other is CSI COLTON AND THE WITNESS, a Harlequin Romantic Suspense book in their vast series about the large Colton family. Because it’s a series with a large following in itself, and this story is the eleventh in this year’s miniseries, The Coltons of New York, I’m mentioning it a lot but not doing as much promotion for it.

So what do writers do when they want the world to know about their stories? They get out there and tell people in whatever way makes sense!

I’ve been doing this for a long time and have tried many ways of blaring my books out to anyone who’ll listen, including being on panels at conferences, giving talks at chapters of local writers’ organizations, whatever I can find. I’m doing a blog tour and have done several before. I’m volunteering to write articles for various publications.

Do they help? Who knows? I do sell books, but I’ve not had a bestseller. Not yet. But I’m working on it—and the promotions surely don’t hurt.

So what do you do when you have a book published? How do you publicize it? I’d be delighted to hear new ways of doing it, and the other writers who read this would most likely enjoy hearing it too. What works best for you?

And even if you’re not a writer, what kind of publicity do you like to see best from writers?

Let’s get out there!

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.

Words!

by Linda O. Johnston

Some of my fellow Writers in Residence inspired me to write this post by mentioning, in past weeks, their enjoyment of, and working with, words–most especially Miko Johnston, who wrote “Wordplay,” and Jill Amadio, who wrote “You Say Potatoe…” I always enjoy our posts here, but those two really jostled a lot in my mind.

Why? I love words! I always have, from the time I was a very young kid, and still do. Reading, spelling, grammar in grade school? Wonderful!

Miko described her fascination with words and their origins and imagery and sounds and more. Jill focused somewhat on the differences between the U.S. and U.K. versions of the same words and their spelling and uses in grammar.

And me, here? Well, let’s just say I do all I can with words in different schemes and environments. Yes, I write. I’ve always written, since I was a child, but I do a lot more now. My undergraduate college degree was in journalism, and I worked in advertising and public relations before becoming an attorney–and a published novelist. They all involved words!

Besides writing these days, I also do a lot with word puzzles, especially crosswords, cryptograms and acrostics. It keeps me fresh with the words I use as well as learning how others can play games with them, literally. Yes, I sometimes check the answers if I don’t otherwise figure them out, since it’s a good method to learn not only words but different and sometimes strange usages–although I’d much rather figure them out myself.

I find it interesting that I sometimes also have to figure out what recent slang and other words mean, even though many used to come to me just by hearing them and their usage. For example, I had to look up what the current usage of “woke” means. Yes, I had to become woke in its usage!

My own vocabulary was helped over the years by the fact I used to be fairly literate in the French language after studying it for over ten years as a kid. I rarely use it now, though I can often read French, but I don’t always understand when people speak it in my presence unless…they…speak…slowly. Yes, lack of usage has slowed me down, although I can always come up with a sentence in French, probably an elementary one. And if I see French words on a page, I can often translate them.

Plus, over the years I’ve learned some Spanish words, too. And after spending a significant amount of time in Germany years ago, I can sometimes recognize German words as well.

So… Yes, words and I are good friends. Buddies, chums, mates and more. Amies et amigos und Freunden. Guess I’ll keep talking and reading and listening and solving puzzles…and hope to learn even more words.

Book Choices and Choice Books

by Linda O. Johnston

A couple of weeks ago, Hannah Dennison wrote a post here about “So Many Books! So Little Time!” I certainly agree with that concept. I’m always writing, of course, and I’m also always reading. Like many writers, and readers, I collect a lot of books.

How do I decide which to buy? Well, I’ve been pondering that, and the results don’t surprise me. And I suspect that’s true with a lot of others who love to read.

First, I write romantic suspense stories these days for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, as well as mysteries for Crooked Lane. Guess what. Among the books I read the most are Harlequin Romantic Suspense books, and mysteries. For one thing, I am writing books for the vast and long-lasting Colton stories for HRS. I have one being published in December that’s the eleventh in the year-long Coltons of New York mini-series. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that I’ve been reading the earlier ones in that series this year. And I’ve done the same thing with the other Colton series I’ve written for in previous years.

I also have my own HRS miniseries about a Shelter of Secrets, where a very special animal shelter also shelters people in trouble. I do read other HRS books, especially those that also contain dogs. And yes, I read other Harlequin books, too, many of which contain dogs.

And that’s something else. I’m a dog nut, so I’ll also pick up a lot of books that are stories including dogs, even if they’re not romantic suspense or mysteries.

My mystery series for Crooked Lane is the Alaska Untamed series, under my first pseudonym, Lark O. Jensen. It has wildlife, and dogs, in it. I like to read many kinds of mysteries, and those that take place in Alaska also intrigue me, especially if they have dogs. And other stories in Alaska also get my attention. Plus other mysteries…primarily with dogs.

Anyway, you get the idea. I’ve got some particular interests and love to read stories containing those subjects. Do I also read other books, including best sellers? Sure, especially if they’re recommended by friends. But I have to figure out my time first.

How about you? How do you select the kinds of stories you read?

Something New?

by Linda O. Johnston

I love what I write, and I want to do more of it. I’m currently writing for two Harlequin Romantic Suspense series, their long-running Colton books and my own Shelter of Secrets series, as well as a mystery series called Alaska Untamed for Crooked Lane Books under my first pseudonym, Lark O. Jensen. I enjoy them all and have new books coming soon in each of them.

But my mind is at work on, yes, something new. Not sure what yet, but it’ll quite possibly be a mystery series. And it’ll have romance in it. And it’ll definitely have at least one dog.

That’s who I am, and what I write.

How did I become that way? I’ve developed my writing persona over a lot of years, and I write the kinds of things I like best.

But how about you? What is your favorite genre to write in? Your favorite kinds of characters? Any quirks, like mine of including dogs whenever possible? And do your favorite ideas morph over time or stay the same?

Think about it now. If you were going to change what you’re writing, how would you determine what came next? I have to admit I do ponder that a lot, though I recognize I’m fairly set in my ways.

Or do you always try something new? Or do you prefer staying with a particular genre?

I suppose that kind of pondering is part of the creative process. Writers write. And think. And plot. And create characters and stories, and even their own futures, to some extent.

It’s certainly who I am and what I do. And you?