Charlaine Harris

Sleuthfest: Part 5

Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris began her keynote speech by giving an entertaining description of her typical day and all the requests she fields. She discussed how her writing schedule has changed and how the publishing industry has altered in the past ten years. It’s a challenge to agents and publishers as contract negotiations have changed forever. The traditional model may be going the way of the dinosaurs. The difference between traditionally published books in the bookstore and self-published e-books is editing. And to conclude, “All books benefit from editing.”

Indie editors are on the rise. Some are professional; others take advantage of newbie authors. So while e-books are here to stay, they bring along a lot of baggage. Regarding TV/film sales: Be prepared to concede certain rights or walk away from the deal. Charlaine says that when people meet an author, right away they demand to know if you’ve sold to TV or the movies. Writers are in the entertainment industry. We want to deliver our books to readers anyway we can, even if it’s an e-book carried in your purse. Her advice to aspiring authors: “Read, read, read. Put your butt in the chair and write.”

Nancy Cohen and Charlaine Harris

Does Your Muse Need A Makeover?
Lisa Unger, Peter Abrahams, and Julie Kramer, with Elaine Viets moderating.

Lisa began by stating how her first publisher turned down her option book, but she was lucky that another publishing house picked it up. Peter reinvented himself as a YA author. And then he wrote a first-person story from a dog’s viewpoint. His agent suggested he take on a pen name when he started writing with broader humor within the crime fiction genre. Julie’s work got darker over time. She’d already been orphaned by her first publisher. Afraid her current publisher was about to cancel the series, she killed off a significant character. It shook the series up. Peter advises authors to “Have the story come out of you rather than following the latest trend. Find that unique part of you and blow it up.” Lisa says, “Have respect for your own voice.” And Julie wished that she’d changed from journalism to writing fiction a lot sooner.

Stretching Credibility
Marcia Talley, Mary Ann Evans, Nancy Cohen, Julie Kramer, moderated by Bob Williamson

We discussed how we keep our characters real in the midst of absurdity, like dead bodies popping up everywhere in amateur sleuth stories. We talked about the daily news as a source of tales stranger than fiction, and how we might use humor to involve our sleuth in “over the top” situations or as a behavior to mask uncertainty. Grounding the stories are the sleuth’s personal relationships.

Saturday evening, we enjoyed the Sleuthfest cocktail party with appetizing hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. This gave attendees the opportunity to mingle with editors and agents in a social setting. Following was bestselling author Heather Graham’s dinner party at Disney’s House of Blues. The food was amazing and the entertainment—with Heather as vocalist and MWA members in the band—was lively. People danced and chatted and it was great fun. Many thanks to Heather for her generosity in sponsoring this event!

Michael Meeske, Kathleen Pickering, Nancy Cohen, Traci Hall

You can view my Sleuthfest 2012 Photo Album on my Facebook Author Page. Please “Like” the page while you’re there!

Sunday morning wrap sessions and a discussion with the keynote speakers ended the conference, but I skipped out to go to the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City.

Coming Tuesday: Guest Blogger and Mystery Author Camille Minichino

Networking for Writers

It’s always great to gather with other writers and talk about the craft you love. This past weekend, I had the privilege of presenting a Fiction Writing Workshop to Florida Sisters in Crime. If you live in Northern Florida, consider joining this dynamic group. On Saturday, the library community room was filled with over 50 attendees, all eager to take notes.

We covered fiction writing essentials in the morning and business aspects in the afternoon. In between, people met each other and mingled. That’s the best part of conferences, too. You never know who you’ll discover sitting next to you in a seminar or at the bar. You’ll make new writer friends, greet old acquaintances, and learn the industry buzz. Everything I’ve learned about the business of being a professional writer, I have gained from other authors.

Nancy and chapter president Kathy Bain

We’re a generous group, and online blogs offer a tremendous amount of valuable information. So do professional organizations, and in Florida, we have branch chapters of RWA, MWA, and SinC, and this year the national Ninc conference will be held here, too. Sometimes even RT makes an appearance in FL.

Don’t know what all these abbreviations mean? Then jump on the bandwagon and find out. After sitting alone at the computer for days on end, don’t you yearn to talk about writing with other like-minded individuals? If so, look for a writing workshop near you and sign up to attend.

*****

If you live in SE Florida, there’s still time to sign up for the Author’s Academy:

Saturday August 13, 10am – Noon

Point of View. Whose head are we in and why are we there?
Instructor: Diane A.S. Stuckart, author of the Leonardo da Vinci series.

Saturday September 10, 10am – Noon

How To Get Published. Learn what it takes to get your work published.
Instructor: Joanna Campbell Slan, author of Photo Snap Shot.

Saturday September 24, 10am – Noon

Finding an Agent. Query Letters, Synopses, and the Pitch!
Instructor: Nancy J. Cohen, author of the Bad Hair Day mysteries.

All workshops are held at Murder on the Beach Bookstore, 273 NE 2^nd Avenue, Delray Beach, FL. All instructors are multi-published authors. Charge for each workshop is $25 per person. Cash, check or credit cards accepted. Make Your Reservation Now! Call 561-279-7790 or email murdermb@gate.net

Playing Tag at Amazon

Tags are labels we apply to our works on Amazon. They’re like keywords, so when readers search for a particular genre or subject, tags increase the chance of our book popping up in their search window.

Find your book page then scroll down to where it says Tags Customers Associate with this Product. You can add up to 15 tags yourself. Then direct your fans there to “Agree” with your tags. They have to click on the Agree with these Tags box and then check off each tag. You can see the little numbers beside each one increasing if you’re doing it right.

Remember to add tags to every edition of each book. This means that for my latest science fiction romance, Silver Serenade, I had to tag two pages:

Paperback edition: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Serenade-Nancy-J-Cohen/dp/160154782X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1309289737&sr=8-3

Kindle edition: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Serenade-ebook/dp/B003VRZVKI/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&qid=1309289737&sr=8-3

Tags that I added are science fiction romance, futuristic romance, iwofa, paranormal romance, space opera, The Wild Rose Press, action adventure, romance, Silver Serenade, Nancy J. Cohen.

Other people added exciting, suspense, sci-fi romance, thriller, thrilling, book recommendations. The Kindle addition has some of the above plus Florida author, Kindle, and Faerie Rose.

Oh, and you can also “Like” a book page and an author page now. So do this as well.

Now let’s visit Killer Knots, my latest Bad Hair Day mystery. http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Knots-ebook/dp/B002BTT0MC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1309290523&sr=1-1

The Kindle edition has these tags: cozy mystery, romantic mystery, amateur sleuth, cozy, cruising, female detective, murder mystery, mystery, mystery series, women sleuths, bad hair day. Also added are beach read, Caribbean cruise, cruise, cruise mystery, hair care, humorous mystery, islands, Kensington, Kindle, female detective, female main character, Florida, Nancy J Cohen, travel mystery, women detectives.

Now for each edition—paperback, trade pb, large print—I have to add tags all over again.

Consider that I have fifteen books in print with multiple editions for each one. That’s a lot of tags! Some of the author loops will run tag parties, where people post links to their Amazon sites and they help each other by Agreeing to the tags on these pages. But it helps to educate your fans, too. This is one of the ways they can help their favorite authors.

Please “Like” my author page at http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-J.-Cohen/e/B001HD1ELI/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_1 and check out my book pages to Like and Agree to the Tags.

Post some of your links here and let’s get a tag party going!

Anna Maclean, Mystery Author

Jeanne Mackin, aka Anna Maclean, is the author of several novels for St. Martin’s Press and Kensington, plus she has published short fiction and creative  nonfiction in various journals. She is the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers and has written art columns and feature articles for newspapers and arts magazines. Her journalism has won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education in Washington, D.C. She teaches creative writing at Goddard College in Vermont, has held workshops in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and New York, and has traveled extensively in Europe. She lives with her husband in upstate New York.

Guest Blog by Anna Maclean

When I write historicals, either mysteries or historical fiction, it is for me a kind of time travel. I get to visit places distant not only geographically, but also chronologically. ‘Visiting’ mid-nineteenth century Boston, for writing my series of cozy mysteries with Louisa May Alcott as the sleuth, was great fun, and very interesting. Think of what was going on at the time: women’s rights was a beginning movement and the earliest suffragettes were making their voices heard (Louisa’s father, Bronson, as enlightened as he was, still believed a woman’s place was in the home); the abolitionists were protesting, sometimes violently, against slavery; well-to-do Bostonians were making those fascinating ‘tours’ of Europe and bringing home tales of the Roman coliseum and the art galleries of Paris.

It was a time of great activity and tension…exactly what I, as a novelist, most like to work with. So in the first book in the series, Louisa and the Missing Heiress, I made a mystery using many of those ingredients: the slavery issue, women’s rights, the new giddiness of foreign travel. Louisa is somewhat down-and-out, working hard as a teacher trying to keep food on the table, but because she is of a good family, because her father is already famous as a philosopher and educator, she can freely mingle with the ‘best’ of Bostonian society. And because she is a woman of conscience who believes in equality for all, she also gets to mingle with the down-trodden. It makes for a great mix, I think.

Louisa, when this novel begins, is still unknown as a writer and years away from writing her classic beloved novel, Little Women, but I use her experiences to show the development of the writer she will become: a woman of great independence who is also devoted to her family; an author who can write the most enduring children’s fiction of all time but, under a nom de plume, also write tales of exciting luridness, full of fallen women and dangerous men.

Henry James and Edith Wharton brought skeletons out of those very genteel mid-nineteenth century society closets; so did Louisa. In the series, I work with a Louisa who is observant and involved in the movements, and weaknesses, of the world around her. She lived in a fascinating time and place and it helped make her as a writer.

Perhaps that would be my first recommendation to people who want to write a mystery: find a time and place that truly captivates you and then work with a character who can ‘use’ that great setting to the best advantage.

Excerpt from Louisa and the Missing Heiress by Anna Maclean:

The clock chimed four-thirty. I sighed and stirred, tapping my foot more quickly under the concealing hem of my brown linsey-woolsey skirts. Where was our hostess? Surely she could have tried on every hat in Boston by now. Had she forgotten? Dot had never been the quickest mind – she had wept over fractions and torn her hair over South American rivers – but to completely forget her own welcome-home tea party!

I looked outside the room into the hall. The huge, ornate coat tree was close enough to the parlor that everytime I looked in that direction and saw Mr. Wortham’s velvet coat hanging there on its hook, I had the eerie sense that someone else was standing there, watching. Something strange, hostile, dangerous, floated through that house where newlyweds should have been so happy.

Much as I wished to see Dot, I decided it was time to leave. Abba was waiting for me at home with a basket of clothing to clean and mend for the women’s shelter and other tasks with which society could not be bothered. Mr. Wortham was standing at the bay window, looking out into the street. I went to him.

“I do hope Dot is all right. This is not like her.”

“I fear a year in Europe may have changed her,” he said. “It is liberating to travel, you know.” But he was frowning and his dark eyes seemed darker than usual.

Book Link: http://bit.ly/mxX0ww

Anna’s Website: http://www.annamaclean.net/

Palm Beach Boat Show

I attended the Palm Beach International Boat Show ( http://bit.ly/gkJK9O) on Friday. This must be one of the more interesting things I’ve done lately in the name of research, seconded by the Flagler Museum as reported below. I’m immersing myself in the yachting world for a proposed new mystery series, and this involves a tremendous amount of world building in an unfamiliar milieu. It’s similar to how I created my hairdresser sleuth, Marla Shore, for my Bad Hair Day series. Only now it’s a totally different setting where I have no prior experience and limited contacts, so there’s a steeper learning curve. Personal interviews, on-site research, trade magazines, and trade shows are some of the ways I’m gaining the knowledge I need.

We drove north on I-95, exiting at Okeechobee Blvd and then heading east, past City Place, toward downtown Palm Beach. There we followed signs to a parking garage where event parking cost $20. By the time we arrived at 10:00am, the only remaining spaces were on the roof. Imagine what it will be like this weekend?

We walked two blocks to the show entrance where we showed our E-tickets ($12 each as opposed to $14 at the door) and were given pink plastic bracelets to fasten on our wrists. Then we entered a white tent filled with exhibits of all sorts of marine related items: branded tee shirts, insurance, thin leather wallets, Coast Guard exhibits on boater safety, Wi-Fi setups, fiberglass coatings, fishing rods, binoculars, sunglasses, fish sculptures, and even Egyptian sheets.

How do I remember what was there? I took notes. I went armed with the tools of the writing trade: notebook and pen, camera, business cards, and a canvas bag for collecting brochures. Oh, and a husband for toting said bag and providing pleasant escort duty.

More interested in the boats, we headed to the docks. A brick walkway borders the waterfront, probably a pleasant stroll when it isn’t so crowded. The sun beat down upon us, but being Floridians, we’d worn hats.

         

I looked at the show guide for the three boats that are in my story. I wanted to get a firsthand experience seeing and touching and feeling them.

Our mission was successful. I went aboard all three models, glad I was right on the mark about some things in my story and seeing other details I’d have to modify. We learned to remove our shoes before stepping onto the swim platforms and boarding the yachts. We explored the flying bridge, the cockpit and salon, the lower helm, the galley and dinette. We climbed down narrow stairs and peered into staterooms that looked cozy and inviting. We drooled at the luxurious interiors with rich woods and designer fabrics.

         

          

           

        

If I didn’t have a specific goal in mind, I would have liked to explore the megayachts parked at the far end named after James Bond movies like Octopussy and Quantum of Solace.

          

Seeking information, I must have asked the dumbest questions anywhere but the yacht brokers were happy to enlighten me. “Hi, I’m a mystery writer,” I would start out. “I’m writing a book with scenes on different yachts, and I need my information to be accurate.”

Now tell me which of my questions sounds the dumbest [and remember, All blog commenters this month get a chance to win a collection of romance novels; click on Contest tab for more details]:

“Would you mind telling me, is this deck space called the cockpit?” [Initially I thought the cockpit is where you drive the boat like on an airplane; but now I know better. That’s the helm.]

“What do you call this kind of wood flooring?

“Is this upholstery actually leather?”

“What do the squiggles in this diagram mean?”

“What is this type of door called?”

“Is that an engine room? Oh, I’ve never seen one of those before.”

One of the bigger yachts had the aft section open to view, showing storage space and a stairway that dipped downward. I accepted an invitation to take a look and soon was being given a tour by the engineer. Yes, this ship was big enough that she needed a full-time engineer to tend the twin engines, generators, a/c system, waste cleansing system, desalinization machine, and more. The lean man who spoke with an accent explained about separating fuel from sludge and who knows what else. I felt like I was being given a tour by Scotty on the Enterprise. By then, my head was spinning with bits of technology that I would never need to know. Like, if a fire broke out in the engine room and it couldn’t be contained with the fire extinguishers, they’d evacuate the room and pump in carbon dioxide to smother the oxygen. No one could reenter for twenty-four hours. At least, I think that’s what the engineer said, but don’t bet on it. My thoughts reeled, and I bumped my noggin on the way out, forgetting to duck under the low ceiling.

The guy outside asked if I’d lost a necklace. My hand went to my neck: empty! Thank God he was honest and gave me back my gold chain. I hadn’t even noticed it had dropped off. Was the heat getting to me, or was I a total ditz?

We consumed hot dogs and ice cream at the food court, which offered outdoor seating by the amphitheater with cheery red and blue umbrellas and white plastic chairs. If your tendencies run more toward alcoholic beverages, there are a couple of tents by the water where you can buy beer or rum drinks. One of these bars had a guitar player serenading guests. Various vendor stands offered fast food and soft drinks.

         

As for other facilities, the lavatories are inside trailers conveniently located by the show entrances. There’s also an indoor exhibit hall with air conditioning if you want to cool off.

It was a fun experience and a glimpse at a life many of us will experience only in our dreams. As for my research, mission accomplished!

Tips for Writers

Welcome to our guest blogger, Geraldine Evans! Geraldine is a multi-published author who writes the popular Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series. She also writes the Casey & Catt mystery series and has published various historical and romance novels, plus nonfiction articles. See Geraldine’s earlier blog below on Metaphors.          

Geraldine is a Londoner but now lives in Norfolk, England where she moved, with her husband George, in 2000. Deadly Reunion is her eighteenth novel and number fourteen in her humorous Rafferty & Llewellyn series. She is currently working on her next mystery in this series.

Ten Tips for Writers

By Geraldine Evans, author of the Rafferty & Llewellyn and the Casey & Catt crime series.

1. Don’t write what you believe to be the most popular trend – unless it’s one you’re passionate about. Chasing trends – fading or otherwise – is usually a mistake. As a writer, you should be doing your own thing, writing about things you feel strongly about: whether that subject be the destructiveness of war or that love conquers all. Write about your own obsessions. And strive for originality whilst you’re at it.

2. Don’t think that it’s an editor’s job to correct your spelling, your grammar or your facts. Yes, they will do this, but they’ll regard you as lazy and not willing to go that extra mile if you leave these for the editor to correct. Bestsellers can get away with being sloppy, but for the rest of us, it’s a big no, no. Because, when the bad days come – and they’re never very far away in the publishing industry! – they’ll be less willing to push for your retention.

3. As a sub-clause to 2, don’t treat your editor or the other staff as your personal servants. Always be polite and appreciative of anything they do for you, especially when it’s above the call of duty. Mention them in your acknowledgements or dedication.

4. While you’re still struggling to get an acceptance, abide by the rules. Always check a publisher’s personal preferences when it comes to submissions (reference books – Writers’ Market (US) and Writers’ Handbook or Writers’ and Artists’ Yearbook (UK): if they say they only want three chapters and a synopsis, do not send them the entire typescript, for instance. Make sure you get the editor’s name right by ringing up before you type your submission letter and asking if the name you have is correct. It’s irritating when someone hasn’t troubled to get your name right, so why start off on the wrong foot with Ms Ed?

5. It’s a good, if expensive, idea, to have your work professionally criticized/edited before you submit (Writers’ Market (US) Writers’ Handbook or Writer’s and Artists’ Yearbook (UK). That way you’d be greatly improving your chances. Astonishingly, even nowadays with the world awash with computers, people are still slapdash in their presentation. And they still submit after the first draft. Don’t follow their example.

6. If you have an agent and she really ‘does the business’ for you, it’s a gesture much appreciated if you acknowledge this, not only in your published work, but also by sending a timely gift. I remember my literary agent was astonished when I sent her a large and expensive bouquet of flowers. I’ve been one of her favorite clients ever since (or so she tells me).

7. Do your best to network in the publishing industry with other professionals. There’s so much to learn, so make your learning curve as sweeping as possible. Attend some of the industries’ festivals and conferences. Subscribe to writers’ magazines so you keep abreast of what’s happening and who’s looking for what, etc. Don’t be a shrinking violet or your just blossoming writing career might be over before it’s properly begun. Once you’re published, you’ll need to market like crazy. You’ll want your own website and blog. You’ll want a newsletter, you’ll want to set up blog tours. You’ll need to send postcards out to bookstores and libraries and create (or pay someone else to create them for you) other marketing materials like bookmarks and flyers to give away at the talks and signings you’ve also done your best to organize. You’ll want to sign up with various online writers’ networks like Yahoo Group MurderMustAdvertise, for instance, which are full of helpful hints and tips for the newbie and the not-so-newbie.

8. Don’t get stuck in a rut with your writing. Okay, you might be a mid-lister, but that’s no reason not to carry on trying to be something more in your ever-shrinking spare time. Having a shot at the occasional one-off in the same or even a different genre is one way of keeping on striving. Another is to venture into publishing new or backlist novels as ebooks. It’s free to put books up on Kindle and Amazon’s DTP platform (now called KDP (K for Kindle), makes it reasonably simple even if you’re not techie-minded (or so they tell me. But I’m a technological thickie!) and used the services of Kimberly Hitchens (hitch@Q.com) to get my books ready for epublishing. She even found me a reasonably-priced artist to design my jackets.

9. Sign up for other writers’ blogs. It’s truly amazing what you can learn from more experienced, like-minded people. Link with them on your website and offer to host their guest blogs. We’re all in this together and we need to help one another.

10. Finally, enjoy what you do. Don’t always be yearning for bestsellerdom. I’ve read many bestsellers that I didn’t enjoy at all and I’ve read novels by writers I’d never heard of, which I enjoyed hugely. Remind yourself periodically that that’s what it’s about. Satisfying the reader, giving them enjoyment, is what it’s all for. And let’s face it, bestselling writers have, as far as any of us know, satisfied only one reader – the editor who took them on – the rest, as any of you who have read disappointing, hyped books will know, is often smoke and mirrors. But if you make it to the top, help those below you. The publishing world is so fickle that next year it might be you at the bottom of the pile. Make sure, in your rise to the top, that you don’t step on people, particularly those with long memories and a mafia-like desire for revenge.

Geraldine’s Blog Tour: http://bit.ly/e1jseQ **Prize Drawing from all blog commenters!

Geraldine’s website: http://www.geraldineevans.com

Geraldine’s blog: http://www.geraldineevanscom.blogspot.com

Deadly Reunion

Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty is barely back from his honeymoon before he has two unpleasant surprises. Not only has he another murder investigation – a poisoning at a school reunion, he also has four new lodgers, courtesy of his Ma, Kitty Rafferty. Ma is organising her own reunion and since getting on the internet, the list of Rafferty and Kelly family attendees has grown, like Topsy. In his murder investigation, Rafferty has to go back in time to learn of all the likely motives of the victim’s fellow reunees. But it is only when he is reconciled to his unwanted lodgers, that Rafferty finds the answers to his most important questions.

To Purchase Deadly Reunion:

Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4qjgay4

Amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/4jm3tob