Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime

Midwest Mystery Writers & Their Writing Tips

2012-01-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

Irene Hannon,Missouri Suspense-Romance Author

Irene Hannon, aprolific and successful author, has published 37 novels many of which won topawards, including two RITAs from Romance Writers of America and a Daphne duMaurier award. Irene writes in more than one genre, i.e., contemporary romanceand romantic suspense—all under the umbrella of Christian fiction.

Deadly Pursuit,the latest in her Guardians of JusticeSeries, is an example of her range. DeadlyPursuit has the essential elements of any good, satisfying novel:intriguing plot, fast pace, believable characters, and suspense with the addeddimension of romance. Finally, this bundle of intrigue, tension, and romance issuccessfully pulled together by an over-riding Christian set of values andperspectives. All in all Deadly Pursuit—whichwas recently named one of the Top 10 Inspirational Fiction titles for 2011 byBooklist—provides an eminently satisfying experience for her fans.

Followers of Irene’s suspense-romance novels know they allhave a high level of credibility, of believability. In our interview Irenerevealed how – even though she has no background in law enforcement or themilitary – she was, nevertheless, able to write from an insider’s point ofview. She writes using details, particulars, that only an insider might know.What is the key? Research. First, shegoes to public sources such as the Internet for general background. Then shegoes directly to professionals in the field, whether police, FBI, or medical. Asa self-described stickler for accuracy, it is this commitment to in-depthresearch that gives her suspense writing its hallmark authenticity.

In the development of her books, relationships are primary.“People are central to my books,” Irene says. In fact, Library Journal has called her “a master at character development.”However, she goes on to note that while plot is secondary to the characters’relationships, it is nevertheless essential to have strong and compelling plots.Each part is necessary for the completion of a successful story. For example,she may start with a situation, a scenario, then she thinks “what if” inexpanding the original idea, which leads to considering what kind of characterswould best fit this particular situation. Then she moves on from there. Herthinking process involves a cross between a structural and organic approach towriting.

Final note: Irene wants to be sure readers should “not beput off by the stereotypical notion that all inspirational novels focus onevangelism or in-your-face religion. These books are simply entertaining,compelling stories told in the context of a Christian world view. They don’tcontain explicit sex, graphic violence or four-letter words—but as Mary HigginsClark has said, you don’t need those to tell a great story.”

Irene Hannon’s Writer’s Tips

Know where to startyour book. Irene says this is critical, especially in suspense. “In ourfast-paced age, both editors and readers are only going to give you anywherefrom a paragraph to a couple of pages to hook them. If they’re not hooked bythen, they’re not going to buy the book; they’re not going to read the book.”So, if possible, the very first sentence should tell the reader that acharacter’s life is about to change. And very quickly after that you have tomake the editor and reader care about that character, to care that thatcharacter’s life is about to change. This is imperative because if there’s notrouble, there’s no story.

Don’t give up your dayjob. Even if you sell one, two, or three books. “It is really, really,really hard to make fiction writing a career. It is a tough business and only atiny percent of writers ever make this work.” You need an establishedfollowing, to write consistently, and have publishers regularly buying yourwork. Even then, the money is sporadic. You never know how your newest bookwill sell. There are no guarantees, especially in the current changingpublishing world. She, herself, had a day job for most of her writing career.Even with a good track record as an author, it was a leap of faith for her to leaveher former job for a full-time writing career.

For more writing tips go to Irene Hannon’s web site athttp://irenehannon.com and click on the “Extras” tab at the top of the screen.

How can you find out more about Irene Hannon?

You can go to http://irenehannon.com to find out more aboutIrene and her novels.

Enjoy!

Pam De Voe

For information about the Greater St Louis Sisters in Crimechapter’s activities visit our website: http://www.sistersincrimestl.org.

Oops!

2012-01-23T21:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, how our words can mislead!

Sign found by Mary Lou Merkel

Sisters on the Move with Joanna Campbell Slan!

2012-01-11T14:40:00.000-08:00

Make, Take, Murder (Midnight Ink/May, 2011)

This newest book in Joanna Campbell Slan's scrapbook mystery series with Kiki Lowenstein is a definite nail biter! Don't miss it!

Dumpster diving for her lost paycheck is definitely the low point of Kiki Lowenstein's day-that is, until she finds a severed leg thrown in with the trash. Who'd toss a body part in the garbage outside the scrapbook crafts store where Kiki works?

Joanna at signing

Accompanying the grisly "gift" is a creepy computerized voice message, a warning to the store's "rich and snotty" female shoppers. Kiki soon discovered that the leg belonged to Cindy Gambrowski, a customer with a tyrannical and violent husband-who's now harassing Kiki. Combing through Cindy's scrapbook projects for hidden clues, Kiki tries to find the killer.

Was it a crime of martial malice, or did someone else beat Cindy's husband to the punch?

What's Your Opinion?

2012-01-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

What’s Your Opinion? – the possessive apostrophe

As Lynne Truss pointed out the possessive apostrophe seemssimple enough (pages 39-67):

It indicatesa possessive in a singular noun, such as in thegirl’s book.

It also is used with plural wordsnot ending with –s, such as in the women’smovement.

And, “when the possessor is aregular plural, the apostrophe follows the ‘s’” – as in the

girls’ pens (more than one girl).

This is clear enough, isn’t it? A simple rule that is often misused (note ourDecember Oops blog post!). Nevertheless,even in simple rules there can be hidden traps. The particular one I am thinking of is the use of the possessiveapostrophe with proper names ending in –s. What to do?

Again, as Truss points out, there appears to be two minds onthis one. First, there is the side thatinsists that the apostrophe must not have another –s following it (page 55). For example:

Mary Jones’ book = correct apostropheusage according to this group.

Second, there is the other side, which is Lynne Truss’s side,that a –s must follow the apostrophe. For example:

MaryJones’s book and Keats’s poems =correct apostrophe usage according to those of Truss's mind.

It is worth noting that Truss also points out that there are exceptions tothe rule, such as for Jesus: Jesus’disciples. [Note pages 55-60] This, naturally, complicates a supposedly simple matter even further.

I’ve noticed that the above difference in apostrophepreference for proper names ending in –s is one of those issues people getquite adamant about. What aboutyou? Has this been a sticking point foryou? What’s your preference andwhy? Have you run into difference withyour editor on this point? If so, whatdid you do about it?

Oops!

2011-12-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

I found these two signs recently and couldn't resist sharing! If you've found any "interesting" new approaches to language - share your pictures with us on this blog!

Bill Hopkins (judgehopkins@yahoo.com) sent in this picture of a sign found at Mizzou:

Sisters on the Move with Claire Applewhite!

2011-12-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

Lucky for her fans, Claire isn’t letting the grass growunder her feet. As you know, Claire’s secondnovel in her ‘nam Noir series St. Louis Hustle came out this past summer. Now, hot on the heels of St. Louis Hustle (set in St. Louis’sfamous Coral Court) is her third ‘nam Noir book - Candy Cadillac. Just in time for the holidays! This is the perfect gift for your favoritemystery buff or for yourself.

Candy Cadillac: A case of mistaken identity or deliciousdeception? BARBARA LACEY, a sultry blonde, saunters into the Night and Day, aSt. Louis bar owned by ALFIE GREENBLATT. For hours, she waits to deliver amysterious envelope to a man that never appears. Reluctantly, she entrusts itto ALFIE and steps into the back alley. Minutes later, Alfie hears the crisppop of a bullet. He calls SERGEANT REGGIE COMBS to investigate BARBARA’s death.Accident…or murder?

The book trailer for Candy Cadillac can be viewed on YouTube onClaire's channel at Claireapplew2 by going to Youtube and entering ClaireApplewhiteor Candy Cadillac trailer.

Come and meet Claire this week at:

The Women’sCloset Exchange Meet and Greet
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

11575 Gravois Road
St. Louis, MO 63126
(314) 842-8405

and at:

CelebrityBooksellers for the Holidays
Claire Applewhite will be recommending her favorite books of the year.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Left Bank Books 321 N 10th St Saint Louis, MO 63101 (314)367-6731

You can also learn more about Claire and her novels at her web site: http://claireapplewhite.com/

A Year in Review - 2011

2011-12-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

What a year! TheGreater St. Louis Chapter of SinC offered so many interesting topics and eventsthis past year from social media to contests to tips on writing yourmystery. The monthly meetings were heldin the evening of the second Wednesday of the month at Creve Coeur CommunityCenter unless there was a special event. We will keep the same schedule this year – stay tuned to the http://www.sistersincrimestl.org website for details.

Officer Joe Ellis, St. Louis County Police

Ø In January, Officer Joe Ellis, Police Departmentof St. Louis County introduced us to inside details of police work and policelife. Using humor Joe managed to presenta serious topic in a captivating way. Unfortunately, we lost Joe this year. He will be missed.

Ø In February we had a critique session formembers and guests.

Ø Julie Eudy kept us up to date on the role ofsocial media for authors in our March meeting. This is one topic every author, whatever the genre, needs to know.

Julie Eudy

Ø For our April meeting, we took a change of paceand had a book discussion. The best wayto sharpen your writing is to look at your favorite authors and analyze whatmakes their writing so compelling.

Ø Elaine Abramson captivated the members with hertalk in May on how the right contests can open career doors. An intriguing approach.

Ice Cream Social

Ø In today’s publishing world, the author is herbest, and often only, publicist. So, ourJune meeting found Pam De Voe presentinga hands-on approach to writing and distributing press releases.

Ø Party time in July for members and guests withan ice cream social at Vice-President Pam De Voe’s home.

W.E. (Bill) Mueller

Ø InAugust, W.E. (Bill) Mueller discussed elements needed in writing a short story.

Ø September found us at Bouchercon, which washeld here in St. Louis this year. What aconvention! Many of our members participated as speakers or moderated panels.

Bouchercon Panel on Character Diversity with Pam De Voe, Claire Applewhite, and Jo Hiestand

Ø In October we merged our meeting with an eventat the Kirkwood Public Library where noted writers Susan McBride, Sharon Shinnand Judy Larsen spoke about their writing.

Ø Judy Moresi lead us in November with a “How toWrite a Mystery” workshop, offering many tried-and-true techniques as well asnew insights into writing your novel.

Judy Moresi

Holiday Party Book Exchange

Ø Finally, we wrapped up the year in December witha fun holiday party at President Mary Lou Merkel’s home.

When you think about your 2011, what can you say about whatyou have accomplished in your writing? Are you where you want to be? Didyou keep (mostly) to your writing plan? Doyou need more information on a particular topic such as police procedures orpsychological profiles of criminals? Ifso, join the Greater St. Louis Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Come to the meetings, learn from notedspeakers, and share information, insights, and ideas with other writers.

What's Your Opinion? - the split infinitive

2011-12-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

The split infinitive – is it a sign of poor English, “the cardinal sin of English grammar” as some, according to Bill Walsh, insist? Or is it merely colloquial English? What’s your take on this critical issue?

Bill Walsh in The Elephants of Style has a whole section on whether the split infinitive is allowable or not. If you know the book, you know that Walsh comes down on the side of not only accepting the split infinitive but that is the best, clearest, way of communicating what the writer means (p.64). He asserts that splitting the infinitive (the to form of a verb) is best because in English our modifier is usually directly in before the word it modifies – and changing its position causes confusion in the reader or listener.

So, what side do you come down on this life-or-death issue? Do you cringe when you to see “… to boldly go…” or are you comfortable with it? Should it only be used in informal writing, to indicate someone is using non-standard English, or can it be used in any situation, by any character, whatever their social status and education level, in your novel?Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-11-12T14:07:00.000-08:00

Sharon Woods Hopkins, mystery author, member of SinC

Sharon Woods Hopkins’s first mystery Killerwatt in her Rhetta McCarter series, is hot off the presses. There is no doubt that our new mystery writer has a strong career ahead of her. Killerwatt surges forward, jolting us through potholes of misdirection and carrying us careening around deadly hairpin turns as we follow the trail of terrorists bent on destroying the nation’s electric grid. Set in small town Missouri, where key elements of the electric grid are shockingly vulnerable, Killerwatt provides both a high tension mystery based on a simple premise: terrorists can attack anywhere and at anytime.

Sharon is a long-time lover of mysteries, but due to the vicissitudes of life - family, job, other dominating interests – wasn’t able to devote the time it takes to write a full novel until Killerwatt. She considers herself to be a pantser writer. That is, what I call an organic writer and what she refers to as someone who writes by-the-seat-of-their-pants: a pantser writer. That is, she doesn’t lay out a detailed structure and a firmly set plot line before starting to write. She develops a general idea of a story and sets out to write a 40-50,000 word first draft, “free wheeling a bit,” as she says. Admittedly, this may take her longer to craft the first draft, but she believes it gives her story more spontaneity and allows her “very vivid imagination” to flow. After the first draft, she goes back and “fleshes out the story” – including characters, plot line, pacing, and dialogue.

Sharon’s Writer’s Tips
Learn the mechanics of writing: Having a good – even a great – story idea isn’t enough if you don’t know the mechanics of writing. Attend as many writers’ conferences as possible. At these conferences you will learn even more about constructing a story and on how to write well. Also, buy books on grammar and on constructing a story; read them; learn from them. Among the books that you should get and study is the Chicago Manual of Style. Sharon calls it “a bible.” It’s critical if you want the publisher to get past your first page. No one is going to bother reading your story if it’s full of stylistic and grammatical mistakes. Why bother when there are so many other good writers out there?

Be true to yourself and, at the same time, be open to suggestions: Sharon freely admits this is not always easy. We all love the words we’ve written – they’re our “babies.” Nevertheless, she points out that it’s important to learn to accept criticism and rejection. You have to swallow your pride and say, “Oh, tell me why you think that?” when someone criticizes your work. Then, dispassionately consider what they’ve said and decide to make changes -- or not. Not every suggestion is constructive and not everyone’s input should be acted upon. Make a rational decision – after non-judgmentally considering how the suggestion will affect your writing and the story.

More about Sharon Woods Hopkins
You will find Sharon’s book on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel’s web sites. They are also available at Hastings book store in Cape Girardeau and other locations. Killerwatt is available in both print and e-book form.

You will be able to find out more about Sharon Woods Hopkins, her book, and her upcoming events at http://sharonwoodshopkins.com/.

Enjoy!

Pam De Voe

What's Your Opinion?

2011-11-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have just returned home from a couple of weeks in Siberia, Russia. During that time (since I speak no Russian) I had several interpreters. Before leaving Novosibirsk I gave Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots & Leaves to one young woman who went above and beyond for me. Eats, Shoots & Leaves is such a delightful book - and it’s about punctuation!

In my long, sleepless, journey home (due to weather problems, etc., my trip home was longer than expected), I mulled over the many humorous issues arising around punctuation that Truss included in her treatise. Some were controversies over what should be used and when, others just errors found everywhere.

Punctuation is an important, yet difficult, part of our craft. So, I thought that even though most of us aren’t specialists in this area (me especially!!) it would be fun for us to take up some of Truss’s punctuation issues. I’ll give Truss’s quotations and you give us your opinion as well as the reasoning behind it.

Today: the long debate over the semicolon

“Is it endangered? What will we do if it disappears? … Save the semicolon! It is essential to our craft!” (p 105)

Truss quotes Lewis Thomas in support of the semicolon (p114):
"'The semicolon tells you that there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added […] The period … tells you that that is that; if you didn’t get all the meaning you wanted or expected, anyway you got all the writer intended to parcel out and now you have to move along. But with the semicolon there you get a pleasant feeling of expectancy; there is more to come; read on; it will get clearer.'
The Medusa and the Snail, 1979"

On the other side:
“Just as there are writers who worship the semicolon, there are other high stylists who dismiss it—who label it, if you please, middle-class.” (p107)

“…George Orwell tried to avoid the semicolon completely in Coming Up for Air (1939), telling his editor in 1947, “I had decided about this time that the semicolon is an unnecessary stop…” (p 108)

What side of the divide are you on? Let us know – and tell us why! There is only one restriction: be polite in stating your opinion; no rude or obnoxious comments will be accepted.

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-10-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

Sara Paretsky, best-selling author, creator of V.I. Warshawski, and founder of Sisters in Crime

Sara Paretsky, iconoclast and social justice advocate, joins her story telling abilities with her personal passions in producing the masterful V.I. Warshawski series. V.I. Warshawski, as many of you know, broke through the gender wall, becoming the first female private female detective to do so. Sara is credited with transforming the mystery genre through the development of this character. If you don’t believe me, here’s further proof (in today’s digital age) check out Wikipedia. How many other female characters in the mystery/detective genre have their own spot on Wikipedia!?

Body Work, the most recent of the V.I.Warshawski series, is out and is a New York Times bestseller as well as being named one of the top mysteries of 2010. Also included in the Body Work publication is an unexpected treat: Photo Finish, a short story featuring V.I. Warshawski. If you haven’t had a chance to read Body Work, do yourself a favor and do it now -- especially if you crave dynamite, fast-moving action, vibrant and forceful characters, and complex, yet believable, plots.

Not only has Sara changed the genre itself, she founded Sisters in Crime (SinC) in 1986, thereby fighting discrimination against women in the mystery genre. It’s an interesting irony that women read more, including mysteries, than men, yet were underrepresented as protagonists and as authors. SinC has been a significant catalyst for change in this. Sara asserted that SinC: 1) grew the mystery genre, making it more female friendly, and therefore the successful literary form it is for New York publishers today; and 2) empowered women and gave them a chance to have their voices heard. SinC “provided a place for voices that hadn’t been attended to, to be attended to.”

When I asked Sara if she thought the book publishing industry has changed enough so that an organization like SinC is no longer necessary – because women had reached parity -- she noted that when SinC did not pay attention to the gender fairness and representation issue the industry started to skew toward male dominance once again. My take-away from this comment is: Decision making is often an unconscious act. SinC puts pressure on those in the industry to pay more attention to the decisions they make and especially to pay attention to any possible unconscious (or conscious?) bias. She definitely believes SinC still has a role in providing an equal playing field for female and male authors in the mystery genre.

Sara’s Writer’s Tips
Find your authentic voice: “Don’t try to image what or where the market is. … Most people who try to write to the market find themselves out in the cold because the market is a fickle and shifting thing.” Whatever is selling today very likely won’t be by the time you get your story written. Don’t worry about what’s popular this very minute, write the story that’s in you. Be true to your voice and your vision; they are authentic to you.

Have a commitment to language and story: “From my perspective as a reader, there are two things that make a good book: one is a commitment to language, and the other is a commitment to story.” She noted, “The most important key to writing - besides reading a lot and getting language into your bones and blood - is the gift of empathy. To really explore human nature in all of its funny and tragic and banal manifestations so that you create vivid and incredible characters.”

Where to go to find more about Sara Paretsky and her novels:
Visit Sara’s website at http://www.saraparetsky.com/ to learn more about her, her books, and her appearances.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Sisters on the Move with Judy Moresi!

2011-10-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

With her newest novel Tribal Fires, Judy Moresi never misses a beat as she plunges her readers in a contemporary mystery involving Indian artifacts, greed, and murder.

Tribal Fires:
From the Great Pyramid at Giza to the Amazon jungles, photographer SHEA McKENNA faces danger on a global scale. Adventure is the last thing on her mind, however, when she accepts a mundane assignment to photograph American Indian artifacts for the Missouri Westward Museum. After the theft of relics, the discovery of a forged war lance, and the brutal murder of a museum employee, St. Louis' finest declares her a suspect. She is determined to solve the crimes and clear her name, but events at a Patrons Ball and a fiery Indian powwow provide more questions than clues. As Shea gets closer to the truth, she winds up with a ruthless murderer hot on her trail.

You’ll have an opportunity to get a signed copy of Tribal Fires from Judy on
October 15, 2011, Saturday; Big Sleep Books 239 N. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63108; 314-361-6100 www.bigsleepbooks.com

October 22, 2011, 10 am – 6 pm; INDIE BOOKSTORE CRUISE, October 22nd, 10am-6pm. Judy will be at The Book House leg of the journey to sign Tribal Fires. Then it's off to the Hacienda Mexican Restaurant for lunch with her fans. For more information, check http://www.stlindiebook.com/

November 19, 2011, 1-3 pm, Saturday; Main Street Books 307 S. Main Street, St. Charles, MO 63301; (636) 949-0105 www.mainstreetbooks.net

To find out more about Judy, her novels, and her schedule, go to her web site at http://www.judymoresi.com/ .

Sisters On The Move With Eleanor Sullivan!

2011-10-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

Eleanor Sullivan has crafted three dynamite, tension filled contemporary mysteries. And now she has just come out with Cover Her Body, A Singular Village Mystery, the first in a new historical mystery series.

Eleanor will be signing books on
October 8, 2011, 1-3 pm; Big Sleep Books 239 N. Euclid, St. Louis, MO 63108; 314-361-6100
October 12, 2011, 6 pm; Talk and signing. Foul Play Bookstore 27 E. College Avenue, Westerville, OH 43081; 614-818-2583
October 15, 2011, 2 pm; Book Launch party. Zoar Community Association Zoar, OH
October 21, 2011, 6-8 pm; Talk and signing. Main Street Books 307 S. Main Street, St. Charles, MO 63301; (636) 949-0105

Cover Her Body:
After 3 successful mysteries featuring head nurse Monika Everhardt, Eleanor turned her attention to the past, crafting a series of historical mysteries set in the 19th century religious settlement of her ancestors, the Northern Ohio village of Zoar.

In Cover Her Body, A Singular Village Mystery, a 16 year-old girl is murdered because she's pregnant, but the only person who suspects it wasn't an accident is a young midwife, who puts her own life in danger when she tries to find the killer.

To find out more about Eleanor’s intriguing new medical and the challenging conditions and life of historical Zoar, Ohio, go to www.EleanorSullivan.com.

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-09-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Victoria Laurie, Cozy Mystery author with a paranormal twist

Victoria Laurie’s writing career is another one of those amazing stories we all love to believe in. Victoria burst onto the mystery genre scene in 2004 with Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye, the first of her Psychic Eye mystery series. And in seven years she has published another 16 novels in three different series [the Psychic Eye series, the Ghost Hunter mystery series, and the Oracles of Delphi Keep series for children], as well as become a New York Times bestselling author. All of which goes to show that talent and hard work pay off. What’s not to love?

This year Victoria is writing five novels. That’s right: five. Vision Impossible from the Psychic Eye series is already out; Ghoul Interrupted, from the Ghost Hunter series will be out in December; and the rest are scheduled for publication next year. Her fans will be kept happy and busy reading.

What motivates such a prodigious writer? What keeps her going? How does she DO it? Read on and find out.

Victoria merges the paranormal with the mystery genre. Her chief protagonists are Abby Cooper, a psychic intuitive, and M.J. Holliday, a medium and ghost buster. An interesting combination within the mystery genre. But not unusual for Victoria, who is herself a psychic intuitive and who also has skills as a medium. In other words, when we say “write from experience,” Victoria does just that.

Many stories involving psychic intuitives and mediums, portrayed them as kooky, nutty, weird people. Realizing these writers failed to portray them realistically, and since Victoria also loves telling stories, she decided to write her own mystery-paranormal cozies. Clearly, she has struck a cord with many readers.

As Victoria says, the way she gets so much done is by living by the clock. She’s up at 5:00 am and runs every morning. She is in the chair writing by 9:00 am and works until 4:00 pm, when she stops for dinner, then back in the chair for a few more hours of writing. And, she does this every day. Yes, every day.

Her writing technique is organic, not structured. She strongly feels that outlines don’t work well for her creatively and simply box her in. When she approaches a new novel, she has in mind only a good, solid hook and the conclusion – the end scene. After that, she flies by the “seat of her pants” for the rest of the story – almost 300 pages. Each day she comes to the computer and “just writes,” claiming the best method is to “just go.” This system gives her characters and stories a dynamic, yet nuanced, quality. At the same time, Victoria is quite flexible, even ruthless, in editing her material. She cheerfully acknowledged cutting twelve chapters in one novel and even completely rewriting another one. How many of us have the heart to do that to our own work? Ah, bravery.

Thus, you now understand how Victoria Laurie has become a New York Times bestseller. She possesses certain essential ingredients for success: a talented and entertaining story teller; an incredible ability to use tough-love on her own work; a committed workaholic; and highly focused.

Victoria Laurie’s Writer’s Tips
Limit your literary voice to the Power of Three. Don’t get carried away with your own writing ability. Allow the reader to fill in details. Use only three details to describe a scene. Three also has a nice cadence, a good rhythm.

Use the power of compounds. When writing dialogue don’t use formal speech, use compounds. For example, don’t have a character say “does not,” have her say “doesn’t.” At the same time, stay away from too much slang. Read the dialogue out loud; you will automatically pick up on whether the speech is too formal.

Remember: ANYTHING can be changed. Don’t get hung up on being perfect; DO NOT STOP. “The important thing is to move forward.” In fact, sometimes when a character appears to be stuck, Victoria will physically move the character from one scene location to another, just to keep the action going. Again, remember, “whatever you put in your story you can fix later.” The goal is to get to the conclusion and then edit the middle to fit the ending.

How can you find out more about Victoria Laurie?You can find more about Victoria, her characters, and her novels at http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/L_Authors/Laurie_Victoria.html and at www.lvictorialaurie.com.

Her books are available in the most bookstores and on Amazon.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

For information about St Louis Sisters in Crime and our activities go to: www.sistersincrimestl.org.

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-08-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

Jim Butcher, New York Times best-selling author of Harry Dresden Fantasy/Detective Series

Jim Butcher is a master detective/fantasy story teller with the track record to prove it. His Harry Dresden series, a no holds barred roller-coaster ride, provides forceful, forward moving action; complex plots; fully developed, realistic (as real as a vampire, etc., can be!) characters; and lots of detail about other beings and their culture/social organizations/lives. Clearly, although spontaneity and unpredictability are a hallmark of his stories, careful thought and structuring are required to produce this effect realistically. In our conversation, Jim shared many of his writing techniques with us. Here are some highlights of what he had to say.

Keep the plot and each of the subplots fairly simple: there’s a problem, move to the high point of the problem, resolve it. Catch the killer. The challenge is in the timing: getting everything to happen together, where each piece is interwoven into the whole. It’s important to tie in the Big Middle of the book with each plot point. To achieve this congruity, Jim maps out each subplot and then makes sure they tie in with each other.

As important as plot is, Jim doesn’t separate character and plot because he believes a person’s nature is integrated with their behavior. Therefore, to create a sense of realism, character and plot can’t be divided from each other. The plot creates the major milestones but, once that is set up, the characters need to be in agreement- in agreement, but not cookie-cutter cartoon characters. His readers know that his characters are as complex and multifaceted as any person you’ll meet. As he says of the Harry Dresden series’ characters, they are “enemies he can rely on and friends he can’t trust.” And, doesn’t that just reflect life? Plus, and most importantly, while this allows for a sense of reality, it also keeps the reader on her toes.

In building this myriad and diverse lineup of characters and supernatural beings, Jim relies on research and experience. On research he says: “No matter where you go around the world, the big events that push people are all the same. The motivations that drive people are all the same. We really are very similar to one another underneath a lot of the surface stuff. And so, when I try to create a new race or subculture, I try to take that into account. Almost always I have a model in mind that I use, that’s in the background. Sort of a template that I put out for them.” His vampires are an example of how he develops such a template. He looked at how they were portrayed in literature and in movies. Essentially, he found 3 versions of vampires: horrible, undead walking corpses; romantic, sexy vampires; and blood-drinking monsters, who absolutely must feed off blood all the time. So he said, “Okay, let’s look at these 3 different stereotypes and let’s break them out into 3 different groups and figure out how they are oriented and how they figure into their world.” Here he’s dealing with vampires, but it could be any group – human or supernatural. If you write about people from other cultures and subcultures, his careful research and ability to move beyond stereotyping applies to your work, too.

Jim’s Writer’s Tips
Do your crime research: Make sure you do your research about crime scenes and criminal psychology. “There’s an extremely useful series of books called the How Dunit Books from Writer’s Digest that were absolutely invaluable to me. I don’t know if they are still in print, so you might have to find them in used bookstores. They were books like Deadly Doses, a writer’s guide to poison; Scene of the Crime, a writer’s guide to forensics.”

If you’re going to include fantasy: “Make sure that when you get into the supernatural that you find a way for it to make sense. If you just say, ‘this is how it is and it happens’ that may not be good enough for an audience. The audience likes to understand, to look at a story and say, ‘Oh my gosh, because this is the way this world works, this is a consequence, the result of these actions.’ That makes your world much more real to them. All writers have to understand stimulus-response, that when you write something that is a stimulus for your character then you write the response. That’s the core of writing action scenes; the core of writing emotional scenes. It also works that way on a meta-level with your reader to know that your world has consistent rules they can observe and understand.”

Jim’s 2011 novels:
Fortunately for Jim Butcher’s fans, two more Harry Dresden novels were published already this year. Changes brought his readers a tumultuous series of surprises – stimuli – each of which creates a powerful impact on Harry’s life – responses. This is a definite must-read. Next, just out at the time of this blog, is Ghost Story, the 13th book in the Harry Dresden series. In keeping with Jim’s hallmark writing style, each one is filled with humor, crises, suspense, and hang-on-to-the-seat-of-your-pants (cliché! But, why not?) action.

Inside Jobs, an anthology of Jim Butcher’s short stories is also available. Check it out!

Visit Jim’s website at http://www.jim-butcher.com/ to learn more about him, his books, and his appearances.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Misters on the Move with Paul Schmit!

2011-07-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

Paul Schmit is a Mister in the Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime chapter. His first novel, Atonement, was published in January and since that time has garnered local accolades and was selected for monthly discussion by a local book club.

"Atonement walks an entertaining tightrope-one part sinister crime novel and one part Mayberry R.F.D. The characters come popping off the page as Schmitt infuses his writing with a sweeping current of wry humor that crackles thru nearly every sentence. Money, murder and politics create a heady mix as big city hooligans meet 'small town' sensibilities and the quips come fast and furious. A debut that delivers. Raymond Chandler and Andy Griffith would be proud.”
Ed King, Owner of Big Sleep Books

"Atonement is a wonderfully cautionary tale of greed run amok. Paul Schmit has created the quintessential Minnesota small town whose inhabitants, quirky and conniving and humanly flawed, will keep you reading this compelling tale long into the night. Take it from me, murder has never been so much fun."
Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author

Paul will be available to sign his book on Saturday, November 12, 1-3 pm, at the Maplewood Public Library, 7550 Lohmeyer; Maplewood, MO. He will be on a panel discussion with fellow Sisters members Bill Mueller and Jo Hiestand.

Atonement:
The small, sleepy Minnesota town of West Clover Bottom is rocked when their beloved mayor and his wife are found floating in Clover Bottom lake, shot execution style. Chief of Police, Archie Schultz, and his girlfriend, that pesky Ruth Ann Boyer, put aside their contentious relationship to solve the case. They're assisted by a host of small town characters - Deputy Jerome Dixon, who epitomizes every wacky TV sidekick; Ruth Ann's Uncle George, never far from his spiked coffee; Betty, the owner of the local diner, who Archie is convinced, uses sawdust in her version of hamburger helper; and a host of other eccentric individuals. Ruth Ann discovers a clue that seems to point to the reason for the killings. Was the mayor's bimbo wife behind the plot? Ruth Ann's questions are too close for comfort and she becomes the target of arson and suffers a severe injury. As Archie investigates this turn of events, he uncovers a real estate scandal that involves the city council. Atonement is a tale of greed and scandal, all laced with humor. Follow Archie and Ruth Ann as they finally restore West Clover Bottom to its tranquil state.

St. Louis Hustle by Claire Applewhite--Book Signing!

2011-07-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

Claire Applewhite will sign copies of her latest release, St. Louis Hustle, on Saturday, July 16, 2011 from 1-3 pm at Big Sleep Books, 230 N. Euclid, St. Louis, Mo. 63108. Refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

Promotional Tips for Today's Writers

2011-07-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Promotional Tips from Lois Mans, publicist and graphic desinger, from Big Ideas Studio

Haven’t you heard the ubiquitous advice telling you about the need to promote yourself – whether you’re published author or an author in the making? If you are a published author in today’s market, it doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re with a small publishing house or a mid- to large size publishing house - unless you have an already established and well-known reputation - much of your promotional activities will fall most heavily on your shoulders, not that of your publisher’s shoulders. If you are an author-in-waiting, your own promotional activities at this stage may insure your future successes in the publishing world. Self-promotion is an area you must pay attention to whether you like it or not.

Okay, you say, besides setting up a web site, what else do I need to do? Well, this month I talked to Lois Mans, a well-known publicist and graphic designer, about that very question. Lois founded Big Ideas Studio in 2008 after a highly successful career in marketing and promotion. She has close to 20 years of award-winning design and marketing experience in advertising, events, promotions, direct mail and project management. With this extensive background in the field, Lois was able to offer many useful suggestions from the very basic to the more elaborate avenues for developing your own promotional portfolio.

First, as a graphic designer, Lois specializes in print design, not web design, although she can and does create unique and personal web visuals for her clients. According to Wikipedia, a graphic design “is a creative process … undertaken in order to convey a specific message (or messages) to a target audience.” Your message is YOU, the author – who you are and what you write. The target audience varies: agents, publishers, book sellers, readers, … Graphic designers focus on visual communication and presentation; they will help you present your writing persona using a combination of words, symbols, and images “to create a visual representation of ideas and message.” (Wikipedia) A graphic designer is a trained professional who works creatively in the visual communication field, just as you, the writer, works creatively with words.

Lois talked about the need to develop your own logo. As a graphic designer she works with clients to develop a unique logo, which captures who they are in one dynamic image. In your case, it would convey your basic writer’s identity. This image, identity, will be on your promotional materials from business cards, book jackets, flyers, book marks, book signing invitations, and banners, to stand up posters to be used at book launchings and signings. The above photo is an example of how Claire Applewhite effectively uses banners and stand up posters at her book signings.

Are you saying, “But, I don’t know what image I want. Besides, won’t a simple picture do?” Ask yourself: Is a simple picture of you strong enough for others to remember you and your writing; does it express a symbolic message saying what’s special, different about you? According to Lois, a graphic designer works as a member of your team to develop your own memorable, unique image.

Besides a logo, there is the message itself. For example, do you have a business card? Does it give the receiver more than your name? Will the receiver remember who you are by looking at your card? As an example, of how a graphic designer can help you develop a better, more useful business card look at the two following examples. Neither of these will be lost in a stack of cards. That agent you’ve wanted to have further conversations with will have no problem finding your card in the stack of oh-hum business cards she collected at the last writers' conference!

So, in a nut shell [cliché!], think of a graphic designer as someone who helps you develop or refine your image. She helps you visually communicate who you are and what you do. In other words, a graphic designer can help you build your tool box with the tools needed for promotion and public relations.

In the case of Lois Mans, she not only is a professional graphic designer, she is also a publicist. Essentially, this means that she can both develop visual communication materials and set up, as well as maintain, open lines of communication with your potential or present readership, through such things as e-mails, blasts, contests, and other consistent Internet driven contacts. As Lois says "Big Ideas Studio is a one stop shop. No job is too big, too small, too specialized, or too daunting."

For more information on what a graphic designer does and how she can help you, visit Lois Mans’ web site at www.bigideasstudio.com.

Sisters on the Move with Jo Hiestand

2011-06-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Jo Hiestand has two new novels one in each of her series: Swan Song, A McLaren Case Mystery and A Well Dressed Corpse, A Taylor & Graham Mystery.

“Immaculate research, attention to detail and an elegant style are the hallmarks of Jo Hiestand’s writing. An atmospheric novel.” –
Peter Lovesey, author of the Sergeant Cribb and Peter Diamond series.

Opportunities to meet Jo at upcoming events:

Saturday, June 25, 1-3 pm, at the St. Charles Public Library, Middendorf-Kredell Branch; 2750 Hwy K; O'Fallon, MO. With Sisters members Paul Schmit, Bill Mueller, Jo will participate in a panel discussion on elements of mystery writing. They will also sign books.

Saturday, July 9, 1-3 pm, at Chapters Books & More, Union, MO. With Sisters members Paul Schmit, Bill Mueller, Jo will have a book signing.

Friday, September 16, 4-6 pm, at the Webster University Alumni Authors Event, Webster University, Studio Union Building, 470 E. Lockwood, Webster, MO. A meet and greet gathering with Jo autographing books.

Saturday, November 12, 1-3 pm, at the Maplewood Public Library, 7550 Lohmeyer; Maplewood MO. With Sisters members Paul Schmit, Bill Mueller, Jo will participate in a panel discussion (TBA) and book signing.

At each of these events Jo will also have a CD recording of The Swans' Courtships, the song featured in her current McLaren Case mystery Swan Song. The song was recorded by professional folksingers in England and is a great companion piece to the book.

Swan Song:
Ex-police detective Michael McLaren had no intention of delving into another cold case murder. And certainly had no intention of making his inquiries a new career. But when his fiancée dangles the intriguing aspects of the unsolved murder of local folk musician Kent Harrison before McLaren, he snaps at the bait.

A popular music teacher at Grange Hall Performing Arts College, Kent Harrison had been, perhaps, more popular as a musician -- a minstrel in the vein of 16th and 17th century troubadours. Though singing periodically with Dave Morley, a music shop clerk dying to make his name, money, and the big time, Kent usually appeared as a solo act. Especially during the Minstrels Court, an 8-day medieval event at Tutbury Castle. It was there that Kent, albeit unknowingly, last appeared and gave his swan song to his fans.

McLaren first questions Kent’s ex-wife. Was she still bitter over their divorce last year? Or had a possible argument escalated into murder? Other suspects soon crop up: Kent’s neighbor, a local herbalist, Kent’s fiancée, a covetous colleague…even the curator of another castle who tried to lure Kent into performing there. Through the maze of unearthing the truth about Kent’s murder McLaren must also rescue someone near and dear to him, kidnapped to scare McLaren off the investigation. It’s a hard task when a web of jealousy, anger and lies permeates both cases.

Go to http://www.mclarencases.com/ for more fun and information about the McLaren cases.

A Well Dressed Corpse:
Two missing people from a sleepy English village… Is the phantom black dog responsible, or merely a harbinger of the news?

One dark March evening Vera Howarth vanishes from her village. Despite search teams, TV appeals and a police investigation, she is never found, and her disappearance transmutes into a local ghost story. That was 23 years ago. Now Reed Fitzgerald, the organizer of the village well dressing custom, goes missing, and the incident is linked by speculation and fear to Vera’s. Detective-Sergeant Brenna Taylor, her boss, Detective-Chief Inspector Geoffrey Graham, and other members of their Murder Team from the Derbyshire Constabulary are called in to investigate when a handful of bones is discovered in the forest that hugs the village. During the search, Reed’s body is found several feet from the skeletal remains. Vera?
Were the two killed by the same person? If not, why are the remains lying so close together?

Things turn oddly suspicious when Brenna learns that Christine Stevenson, another villager who was involved with Reed, committed suicide the previous year. Is there a tie to the long-vanished Vera as well? Not such a far-fetched question, as it is common knowledge that Reed is a womanizer. Love ‘em and leave ‘em should be tattooed on his arm--a visible keepsake from his affairs. Reed’s not the only person who keeps something around reminding him of a former love. The village constable still has a lock of Vera's hair, never telling his wife of it or his previous engagement to Vera. Has he kept silent to avoid marriage problems, or because he had something to do with Vera's demise, steering the subsequent investigation in the wrong direction? As the police team investigates they discover a tangle of jealousy, betrayal and lies, all involving Reed and Vera. And harking back to the ghost stories of the region.

Go to http://johiestand.com/welldressed.html for more on A Well Dressed Corpse and other novels in the Taylor & Graham series.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Sisters on the Move with Claire Applewhite!

2011-06-13T12:08:00.000-07:00

Claire Applewhite’s newest mystery is St. Louis Hustle, the second in her Nam Noir series.

“Author Applewhite has created an engrossing tale that presents the setting almost as one of the cast of characters. If you like neatly rendered, nicely plotted fiction, you’ll finish St. Louis Hustle in one sitting. For those who know little or nothing about St. Louis, Applewhite's novel is the perfect gateway to the Gateway City.”
John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author

If you missed her opening you still have a chance to meet Claire and have her sign your book:

Claire will be signing books, including St. Louis Hustle, on

Saturday, July 16, 2011 from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at Big Sleep Books, 239 North Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63108. Call 314-361-6100 for more information.

Saturday, August 6, 2011 from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at Main Street Books, 307 S.
Main Street, St. Charles, MO 63301

St. Louis Hustle:
Memories of St. Louis City Hospital and the Coral Court Motel linger in the minds of those who walked their halls. In St. Louis Hustle, the second in the ‘Nam Noir series. Elvin Suggs, Di Redding and Cobra Glynes encounter these landmarks in their first case. It should have been a simple one.

Sleek Emily Davies begs Elvin Suggs to trail her philandering husband, Nick, Di grows suspicious. A nurse at St. Louis City Hospital, Emily and her lies lead Elvin, Di and Cobra to the Coral Courts Motel, a notorious “no tell motel.” They become entangled in a web of lethal deception, as they unravel the mystery of the St. Louis Hustle.

ISBN Number:
ISBN 978-1-60318-306-2

To find out more about Claire, as well as her baction-packed mysteries and compelling romance novels, go to http://claireapplewhite.com/.

Claire & her fans at her book opening at Barnes & Nobel, May 2011

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors and Their Writing Tips

2011-06-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Marlis Day, youth and adult mystery author, member of SinC

Have you been thinking you’d like to write mysteries for a younger audience? Perhaps middle schoolers? But, you aren’t sure what would be appropriate or how the story should be formatted. Do you think a book for fifth graders, for example, is the same as for an adult but with a more limited vocabulary? If this sounds like you, meet Marlis Day, author of The Secret of Bailey’s Chase and Back to Bailey’s Chase.

Marlis has penned novels for both adults and middle school aged children, and today we are going to hear about her mysteries for young people. As a teacher and avid lifelong reader herself, she believes passionately in the importance of encouraging a love of reading in the young. Ergo, her writing the Bailey girls’ adventurous mysteries.

One of the first things you notice about Marlis’ Bailey’s Chase series is the formatting. She writes short chapters, each a complete mini-adventure in itself, while at the same time allowing for anticipation of future escapades. These bite-size pieces of story take into consideration a couple of things important to consider when writing for a younger crowd. First, ten-year-olds need steps, closure, even as they move along through a novel. These mini-adventures help anchor them in the longer story. And, second, each chapter is short enough to read to a younger child in one sitting. Younger children will also enjoy the mystery, but may not yet have the reading skills to approach the book on their own. A secondary benefit of reading the stories to children (of whatever age) is that while you are developing their love of reading and stories, you are also bonding with them. A double benefit!

Other important elements young readers like are: adventure, fantasy, a fast pace, humor, suspense, not too many characters to keep track of, and closure. And, of course, they like the good guys to win. A good writer, as Marlis demonstrates in her Bailey’s Chase series, can serve up all of these story elements -- without distorting the child’s world through the use of gratuitous exaggeration or hyperbole, thereby making it more evil and horrific than it need be. In other words, Marlis advocates mysteries that are exciting, but not too graphic. She believes stories should leave young readers with a sense of empowerment (they can face difficult or troubling issues and solve problems) as well as a sense of overall safety.

Marlis’ Writer’s Tips
Read, read, read: It couldn’t be more clear. If you want to write for juveniles and/or young adults, find out what they are reading and read, read, read. Marlis has years of experience as a teacher, but even if you don’t, you can find out what and why various novels interest your target audience by reading the books that are popular with them now.

Connect with other writers: As with many other successful writers, Marlis highly recommends connecting with others who share your passion for writing. Go to conferences, join mystery and children’s writers’ organizations as well as critique groups. You will learn new and useful things to help your own writing when you do, and you’ll also learn more about the publishing world. Everything will be useful to you and to your craft.

More about Marlis Day
Her books are available through your local bookstores as well as on-line, for example, through Amazon.

You will be able to find out more about Marlis Day at www.marlisday.com. If you’d like to contact Marlis directly, her e-mail address is marlisday@gmail.com. She loves hearing from her readers, so don’t be afraid to reach out to her.

Enjoy!

Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Thier Writing Tips

2011-05-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Stephen Brayton, mystery writer, member Sisters in Crime

We’ve heard a lot about e-books over the past few years. In the eyes of many, they are beginning to dominate the publication industry and are quickly overtaking print copies in sales. So, I looked at Stephen Brayton’s bringing out his novel, Night Shadows, exclusively through the e-book venue with great interest.

This first time novelist’s path to publication could be the new model for most new authors in the future.

While Stephen’s Night Shadows has just come out, he already has quite an Internet presence, in keeping with the expectations of his publisher. As he says, in today’s publication environment most new authors are required to have a significant Internet presence BEFORE their first book even comes out. This would mean such things as a web site, a blog, being on Facebook and Twitter as well as being active with other authors and readers and their sites. Thus, if you are an aspiring author, according to Stephen’s experience, it is not too early for you to reach out and become involved in the larger virtual community of writers and readers.

At the same time, Stephen is adamant about the importance of joining critique groups to hone your writing skills. These groups are important for several reasons, most notably: 1) having a regular meeting time keeps you writing on a regular basis; 2) their criticism helps you see where your own weak points are before you send your novel or short story out to an agent or publisher; and 3) as you analyze other people’s writing your own writing skills improve.

Stephen’s Writer’s Tips
If you’re serious about writing, don’t give up: As with most published authors, Stephen has been writing a long time, since he was a youth. By writing you improve. Join critique groups for support and encouragement. Keep writing. Eventually, if you carry on, and always push to improve, you will achieve your goal.

Seek others of your kind: By this Stephen means that if you want to write mysteries, connect with mystery writers. They can help you work out what kinds of research you need to do or help you with genre details, such as, the differences in setting up real clues versus red herrings. Also, seek out “those who know, if you don’t know.” For example, you don’t have to have a background in law enforcement to write a detective novel, but you should talk to those who do have relevant backgrounds: lawyers, police officers, and private investigators. He’s personally talked to at least a half dozen private investigators in preparation for his stories. This research adds depth and credibility to your work.

Stephen’s new novel: Night Shadows
Stephen Brayton writes a mix of genres: mystery plus the para-normal. In Night Shadows, Detective Harry Reznik is a highly identifiable protagonist with serious anger management issues, but whose humanity also shows through as he comes face to face with personal tragedy. In fighting an insidious rash of murders in Des Moines, Iowa, Reznik partners up with FBI agent Lori Campisi. Their search leads them through the streets and by-ways of Des Moines to the otherworldly source of the murders.

Stephen has a second novel coming out this July as an e-book: Beta. Beta, which also takes place in Des Moines, has a new protagonist: Mallory Petersen a young private investigator-martial arts instructor.

To find out more about Stephen Brayton and his novels, go to his blog at www.stephenlbrayton.blogspot.com or his web site at www.stephenbrayton.com. Stephen’s novel is available through Stephen’s Internet sites, Amazon and www.omnilit.com.

Enjoy!

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-04-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Qiu Xiaolong, mystery author and poet

In 2000 Qiu Xiaolong wrote his first novel in the Inspector Chen series, Death of a Red Heroine, winning the 2001 Edgar award for Best First Mystery. Since then he produced five more novels in the series and sold over one million copies. Quite impressive.

Xiaolong (he uses the Chinese style of writing his name: family name first, given name second) also published two books of translations of traditional Chinese poetry; one of his own poetry; and, most recently (in 2011), Years of Red Dust, Stories of Shanghai, a series of vignettes about Red Dust Lane’s residents’ lives over the last several decades. For his fans, this last book will be particularly fun, since Red Dust Lane will already be somewhat familiar to them through the Inspector Chen series.

Xiaolong, a native of Shanghai, China, came to St. Louis, Missouri to study at Washington University in 1988. After the Chinese government’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations and the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989, Xiaolong decided to remain in the United States. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.

Since Xiaolong was born and raised in Shanghai, he knows the city and its streets well. Nevertheless, and while his mysteries are set in the 1990s, he feels it’s imperative to continually update his knowledge of the quickly changing Shanghai environment. He is able to do research on contemporary concerns and events through newspapers, satellite dish TV, and Internet research. And, of course, he makes frequent trips back to Shanghai. The dynamism and credibility of his stores rest firmly on a foundation of research and personal experience. As a result, his work is a nexus of a challenging mystery and, seemingly, an insider’s view of contemporary China. An engaging mix.

The Inspector Chen novels are like a three-legged stool: they have complex plots with fully developed characters reflecting the changing Chinese social environment. In developing his stories, Xiaolong stresses both plot and character development as essential elements existing with an over-riding theme. For him, while the mystery is critical, it should be connected to something greater, something beyond the crime itself. For instance, in Red Mandarin Dress a murder case (the plot) is central to the story, while Inspector Chen’s psychology informs the investigation (thereby, accenting the role of character). However, Xiaolong goes on to say, “At the same time, for me it’s also a time to explore the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution. Or maybe it’s even more than that – it’s how the Chinese collective unconscious works. It should be different than America’s collective unconscious because we have different archetypes. So,” he asks, “how can that influence what happens?”

Confucianism, Taoism, femme fatal – themes from Chinese culture -- are all part of the collective unconscious. “I think why and how: in what kind of social, historical, cultural circumstance does my tragedy take place? I try to see things at the root. In this way, I think about why the criminal would want to be a serial criminal.

“Here in America we can say a serial criminal is born evil, we can just say that. But, in Red Mandarin Dress the criminal isn’t that bad.” In other words, while he believes both plot and character are essential, they are, at the same time, a window which allows us to explore a larger theme through the story itself.

Xiaolong’s Writer’s Tips
Go ahead and do it: Xiaolong suggests that instead of thinking too much, hesitating too much about writing, “just go ahead and do it.” Once you start writing it’s quite possible some better ideas might come. But, if you don’t start, you may never write your book. “Start writing and then ideas will come along. In my case, ideas almost always come along in the process of writing.”

Do your editing: “Do your editing as much as you can. This is important and shouldn’t be forgotten. Sometimes, if you’re not in a big hurry, finish your manuscript and put it aside for a couple of months and then come back to look at it. Then you will find something you ought to edit.” When you finish it at first you think it’s perfect; however, if you come back to it in a couple of months, you will find something to edit.

Xiaolong’s novels:
You can find Qiu Xiaolong’s Inspector Chen mystery novels and his most recent book Years of Red Dust in local bookstores and on-line. To learn more about Xiaolong and his books go to his web site at www.qiuxiaolong.com. You can also contact him directly at qiu@qiuxiaolong.com.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-03-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Michael Allan Mallory, mystery author, member of SinC

If you like mysteries that blend a stimulating plot with lots of red herrings (or fish as David Suchet playing Hercule Poirot would say) and an overlay of contemporary social/political drama, look no further than Killer Instinct, the second novel in the Snake Jones mystery series by Michael Allan Mallory and his co-author Marilyn Victor.

As Killer Instinct careens from slaughtered wolves to murdered humans in northern Minnesota, Snake Jones finds herself torn between focusing on saving her struggling wildlife television show and being drawn into a battle between extremists on both sides of environmental issues. She finds she hasn’t any choice as the violence become more personal.

This series is not only an example of gripping mysteries, but of the benefits of co-authorship. In my opinion, co-writing a novel looks easier than writing one alone, but it isn’t. Co-authorship doesn’t equal one-half the work. If anything I’d expect that it would take more work because you have to discuss each detail that goes into the book, take your co-author into account. I would expect co-authorship to be more time-consuming and more difficult in many ways. Plus, it’s often difficult to get the final novel to move seamlessly, to not project somewhat different author voices. However, Michael and Marilyn have produced two excellent mysteries without the problems I was expecting. How did they do it?

Michael and Marilyn knew each for 15 years before they started writing the Snake Jones series together. They were both interested in wildlife and animals. They also belonged to the same writers’ group, which met regularly over the years. As a result, when they started writing together they knew each other’s style and how each worked. If there was a difference of opinion on what was happening in the story or how something should be written, Michael said “they never butted heads; they compromised.”

In the beginning of each novel Michael and Marilyn worked out a rough draft and decided who the killer was. After that they no longer had to be in the same space together as they wrote. For example, one of them would write 2 or 3 chapters and send it to the other, who would then read it over and add his/her changes. Then it would go back to the first for more editing/comments. It was a completely collaborated process. If a question came up as to whether something worked well or not, and they couldn’t quite agree, they turned to their writers’ group for input. And, because their fellow writers were disinterested readers – not having any ego investment in whether one idea or another was accepted – their contribution was invaluable to the collaborative process.

Their agent insisted on the importance of a collaborative agreement with the ground rules laid out. For example, what happens when there are disagreements, and especially who has the final, definitive, say in the project. Michael highly recommends such an agreement because it can avoid a lot of problems some may have in the collaborative process. He also noted that, while they did sign an agreement, in their case it wasn’t really necessary since they had already finished the first book.

Michael’s Writer’s Tips
Join a writers’ group: Michael has been a part of a writers’ group for many years and emphatically recommends them as invaluable to not only the developing author but to published authors as well. The writers’ group provides a venue for refining your craft. They give solid and much needed feedback, since their view of your material is much more objective than your own. As he said above, they are your disinterested readers.

Do a clean manuscript: Publishers are looking for reasons to reject you, don’t give them any. If your manuscript is too annoying to read because of typos or grammar errors, they will reject you right away. And, no, having a brilliant story or writing style won’t save you. As he says, “You’ve only got one shot to make a positive first impression.”
He and Marilyn write the first draft, which takes a while, then they go over it again and again: polishing, polishing, polishing. Michael maintains that it is in the last two or three rewrites that the “magic happens” with the story and its characters.

Michael Allan Mallory’s mysteries and more
You will find more about Michael and Marilyn’s books at www.snakejones.com/. I also suggest Googling his name, Michael Allan Mallory, in order to peruse a number of sites where you can discover many interesting and fun facts about him, such as his being an expert in Wing Chung kung fu, past president of the Twin Cities chapter of Sisters in Crime, and member of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, as well as his living with his wife and a “bodacious pure bred Maine Coon cat.”

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-02-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

Linda Morganstein, novelist and mystery author, member of SinC

Linda Morganstein is a transplanted Midwesterner, harkening originally from the east coast and then California. She has now settled in the Midwest where she has joined the notable band of Minnesota’s Sisters in Crime mystery writers. Her past work includes My Life with Stella Kane, a fictional memoir of a lesbian actress in fifties Hollywood and Ordinary Furies, the first in the Alexis Pope mystery series.

Linda’s second mystery in her Alexis Pope series is Harpies’ Feast, which will be coming out this month. In Harpies’ Feast, Alex, her protagonist, continues to grapple with challenging personal issues, while still looking for a peaceful, even nurturing, place to live. In this quest, she moves to a village in Sonoma, California. Here she discovers how elusive peace can be, as she again becomes embroiled in not only the intricate sexual lives of her new friends, but of also solving a murder.

In discussing her books and her writing process, Linda highlighted a couple of points.

As you know, most mysteries start off with a murder or crime committed within the first page, definitely within the first chapter or so. Not Linda’s. She doesn’t follow the classic pattern. Rather she entices her audience through characterization. Before she even begins writing her novel she develops detailed biographies for her characters, such as where they were born and what high school they went to; background information that may never be used but which gives her fully rounded individuals. Sometimes she even forgets that her characters aren’t real people. Typically, she cuts out pictures representing each character from magazines. Or, if she can’t find a picture she likes, she draws a picture. Her goal is to create thoroughly realistic three dimensional characters.

However, while characters are critical in her work, Linda said she doesn’t put it above plot or dialogue. She likened a novel to the body, which consists of the arms, legs, core; the whole body has to function together. In writing, “the plot, characterization, and dialogue are all of the same importance in this thing called a novel. … On some level you do have to break it down, as a way of thinking”; but in the end, they all operate as one. For example, when developing a scene, which is a part of the plot, because Linda knows her characters really well, she has no problem in deciding what they will say, thereby allowing the dialogue to fit into the scene and move the plot along.

Linda’s Writer’s Tips
Think about why you write: One thing that makes Linda “hysterically mad” is when people advise “just write for yourself.” Linda’s response to that is “if I just wanted to hear myself, I’d just talk to myself, it’s a lot easier.” She advised instead to get mad about the idea of writing for yourself. Then forget about it and do it anyway. “On some profound level you do have to write for yourself and get a joy out of that writing. And then you have to realize that realistically you’re not just doing it for that reason. You’re doing it to publish. You have ideas; you want to influence the world; you want other people to read it. And in our world, the way people read stuff is they get published. … So, write for yourself and realize that you’re trying to have a readership.” She added “Write as though you have a readership and write the best book possible, because that’s going to be the most important thing.”

Put on a thick skin: After you’ve written the best book possible, once you are really happy with it, put on your thick skin and go out there and try to get that book out, to get it published. Even if you don’t think you have a thick skin, you do. It’s like putting on a coat. For the sake of your work, do it. Because, as Linda pointed out, even “if you do get to become a famous writer you will develop as many enemies as you do fans. You’re always going to need that thick skin, because all of a sudden everybody is a critic. .. That’s not going to ever end. Probably it’s going to become much more intense. And you have to know that. That’s something you’re going to have to deal with. That’s always going to be, and, you kind of want that.” In other words, Linda wanted you to recognize that when others critique your work it’s because they are doing what you want: they are both reading your books (a good thing) and your work engages them (also a good thing).

Linda’s novels:
You will be able to buy Linda Morganstein’s earlier novels, as well as Harpies’ Feast as books or e-books through: www.amazon.com; her own website; local, independent bookstores in Minnesota, such as True Colors Bookstore, Once Upon a Crime Bookstore, and Common Good Books; and Barnes & Noble bookstores.

To learn more about Linda, her activities, and her books, go to her website at http://www.lindamorganstein.com/. You can also contact her directly through this website.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2011-01-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

Lois Greiman, Minnesota mystery author, member of SinC

Lois Greiman has produced a prodigious amount of work, almost 30 novels in several genres: romance, mystery, and fantasy since 1992. For this great turnout she has won well-earned recognition. Her newest mystery novel, Not One Clue, from her Chrissy McMullen series, will not disappoint new or loyal readers. This novel, as with the whole Chrissy McMullen series, proves that hot romance, laugh-out-loud dialogue and scenes, and mysteries can be the perfect combination.

How does such a talented author produce so much and how does she put it all together? Lois opened up her box of secrets and told us about her writing process:
“My books are character based, so I move off of how these particular characters would interact and then I work in the environment – the world around them, and see when these things happen, how they happen, or if they can happen. That’s where my research comes in.”

More specifically, her writing involves a series of consecutive drafts. “I do five drafts and by the fifth draft you hope that it’s making sense and the characters are interesting, you know the plot has a good pace.” For example:
 First Draft: Her first draft is written quickly. “I throw stuff against the wall, things should happen.” It’s just the bones, the skeleton of the book. She writes “as fast as I can, which is usually about 10 pages a day. It doesn’t even really make sense; it’s just a bunch of stuff that happens.”
 Second Draft: “I go through it looking for inconsistencies, it has to make sense: what happened here; what’s wrong with the plot. And then as I go through it, I hone and polish.”
 Third Draft: “By the third draft I’m starting to pick up the characters: who they are; what they want; and what makes them interesting.”
 Forth Draft: “The forth draft is a lot of dialogue; tweaking so that it’s fast.
 Fifth Draft: “The fifth draft I read aloud to myself and I feel that that really helps me with the keys of the piece and hearing redundancies and just smoothing out the whole piece. In that fifth draft, too, I try to do it as fast as possible so that I don’t lose my continuity.”
From this process alone, you can see that in making her books dynamic, fast paced, and fun, Lois puts in the labor and sensibilities of a true craftsperson; the sign of a highly professional author. As a result, her readers always know what to expect from Lois, whatever the genre she’s writing in.

Lois Greiman’s Writer’s Tips
If you don’t have to write, don’t do it. Find some other outlet for your interests. Writing is hard and can be discouraging. But, if you feel you have to write, just do it. Everyone wants to quit after about 50-100 pages. You have to write through this “squishy middle” and persist. “Believe long enough to get it done.”

If you quit too soon, you’ve lost it. This certainly seems to be a major theme in Lois’ world view as a writer. She says that a key to success is to “keep at it. That’s all.” You don’t know when your book will be published, maintaining “luck favors the tenacious.” Lois says she had “hundreds of rejections” before her first book saw the light of day in 1992. And, now, as I said above, she has published more than 30 books and produces two to three new novels a year in the romance and mystery genres.

How can you find out more about Lois Greiman?
You can find more about Lois, her characters, and her novels on her web site, www.loisgreiman.com, and at www.harpercollins.com/author. On Lois’s site you can enter contests, pick up her weekly newsletter, and find a link to contact her directly.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Go to the St Louis Sisters in Crime website for information about our activities: www.sistersincrimestl.org

2010 in Review - Greater St Louis Chapter of SinC

2011-01-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Our intrepid program chair for 2010, Jo Hiestand, had put together a year full of workshops and meetings brimming with new and exciting information for the mystery writer – and reader. A Big Thank You to JO!

Essentially 2010 was set up with either a fieldtrip, meeting (including at least one critique session), or workshop each month.
The year stated off with well-known author Eleanor Sullivan giving hints on building tension in your novel.
In the spring Will Bereswill lead us through the process of plot development.
In June we had two fascinating topics:
o Sheriff Gary Toelke spoke about various high-profile cases he was on, including the Shawn Hornbeck/Ben Ownby kidnapping cases.

o Josh Jung, from Midwest Crisis Cleaning, CCCC, gave us an insider’s view of what is involved in cleaning crime or accidental death sites.

Vicki Erwin, owner of Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO, let us in on the secrets of successful

book signings and the dos and don’ts of improving book sales.

Police Officer Joel Sneed discussed firearms at our August meeting. He brought along several weapons for a hands on demonstration, as well, which was great for an arms neophyte like me!

In September Hollywood screenwriter, author, and filmmaker Esther Luttrell came to St. Louis for a three-hour workshop on using screenwriting techniques to enliven dialogue. A great session for all who attended.

In our November meeting we enjoyed a double header: award winning Claire Applewhite and New York Times best seller Angie Fox shared their techniques and insights on publicity and marketing.

In between these meetings we enjoyed field trips to otherwise hard to visit sites.

We started out by visiting the St. Charles Sheriff’s Crime Lab, where we learned about evidence collecting and analysis. Dan, their forensic biologist, also gave us more insight into drugs, drug paraphernalia, and anaylsis – useful information for every mystery writer’s tool kit!

In April Medical Examiner Dr. Mary Case gave us a personal tour the St. Louis County Morgue. The tour was accompanied by a constant barrage of lively questions from our group. What a wonderful opportunity to get an insider’s view of medical and forensic procedures.

In the fall, our final field trip for 2010 was to the Creve Coeur Fire Station, where Captain Tim Hoffman and Fire Marshal Art Oestereich gave us a tour of the facilities. They introduced us to the amazing new technology that is changing how evidence can now be preserved in cases of arson or other crimes a criminal may be trying to hide by burning a building down. While there, the alarm went off and the team was gone in a flash! Impressive.

Our grand finale was our Christmas party at StlSinC president Mary Lou Merkel’s home.

Yeah! What a year!

Hope you can join us for the Greater St. Louis Chapter’s 2011. As you can see, there is always something interesting going on!

Our monthly meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 6:45 pm in room 2 at the Creve Coeur Community Center, 300 N New Ballas Rd. We usually have a brief meeting followed by a speaker. Police Officer Joseph Ellis, Neighborhood Policing Officer, Central County Precinct, will be our January speaker. Bring your questions on understanding police procedures in your novel.

See you,

Pam De Voe
Visit us and find out what's happening in 2011 at www.sistersincrimestl.org

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-12-12T20:15:00.000-08:00

Ellen Hart, Minnesota mystery author, member of SinC

Ellen Hart, author of more than 27 mysteries, multiple winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, the Minnesota Book Award for Best Crime Fiction, and more, writes marvelously unpredictable and challenging classic puzzle mysteries without stinting on character development. Her newest creation, The Cruel Ever After with St. Martin’s Minotaur Books, and the 17th in her Jane Lawless mystery series, is out this month, December, 2010.

The Cruel Ever After brings an international scandal – the ransacking of the Baghdad Museum at the beginning of the Iraq war – home to Minneapolis. While such a theme could easily turn a novel into a political, value-ridden tome, Ellen asserts that the author’s politics and values should not be the point of any good mystery. She notes we should always remember that first and foremost mysteries are entertainment. Her work is proof of this admonition’s success.

I asked Ellen about her writing process; how she develops her stories. In her writing, Ellen begins with a title, then she rifts on it: developing characters, themes, plots, clues and red herrings. For example, in The Cruel Ever After, the title just came to her; afterward she thought of a character, Chester Garrity, to go with the title. That raised questions: who could he be, why was he in Minneapolis? And, some answers: How about an antiquities dealer. Hummm. What could the crime be? Well, the antiquities business is interesting; there is a huge black market in stolen antiquities… And, so it goes. Ellen never outlines her stories, although she says she absolutely must know the title and first chapter before embarking on writing the entire novel. She finds E.L. Doctorow’s analogy of “writing is like driving car” fits her process style best. That is, when you’re driving at night you can’t see the road all the way to the end of your journey, but you have head lights to help you see what’s immediately in front of you and to keep you on track. Ellen loves this because it allows her to be surprised and to remain engaged with her story as it develops. It certainly works for her!

Ellen’s Writer’s Tips
Don’t Perfect: Don’t use perfection as an excuse to procrastinate writing. At first glance, this sounds like a contradiction – shouldn’t perfection of your writing be your goal and, therefore, encourage you to write better? Ellen points out that trying to perfect your writing as you go along can cause you to work and rework and rework your first few chapters for months. Don’t do it. Write your first draft as quickly as you can, perhaps in three months. That will keep your ideas, characters, plot lines, and so on fresh and flowing. You can, must, go back later to straighten out rough edges and fill in where needed, but the flow and excitement of your work will be safely in place.

Maintain Discipline: First, to become a published author you need talent, but you have no control over this. Second, you need luck – a lot of luck – but you don’t have control over this, either. Third, and most importantly, you need discipline. Fortunately, you have complete control over the latter, which is the most critical ingredient in your success as a writer. Set a schedule for your writing and make it a priority in your life. It could be that you will write 1,000 words or 5 pages per day or that you will remain at your keyboard for X amount of time per day. Stick to your schedule, whatever it is. This commitment relieves you of the burden of making daily decisions; it “takes the decision off the table.” It’s just what you do. You don’t have to think: will I go out to breakfast with my friends Saturday morning or will I write? Your decision was made beforehand: on Saturday mornings you write. Ellen believes discipline is key in separating who gets published and who doesn’t.

Be Workmanlike in Your Writing: To be workmanlike refers to your work habits. Besides the discipline you need to write, it also means listening and learning from others. Further, It means you must read. “The more you write, the more reading opens up to you in a new way.” Ellen maintains you’ll see books differently; you’ll notice how books are constructed and how other authors handle problems you have in your own writing. It is important to keep reading to improve your writing.

What’s Ellen doing and how can you contact her?
Go to www.ellenhart.com to find out more about Ellen Hart, her books, and up-coming events and happenings; about the Minnesota Crime Wave and their activities; and even get “Readers Guides” for your book club. If you’d like to have more contact with Ellen, you can join her on Facebook. Don’t be shy, she’s personable and would welcome your communication.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-11-09T20:07:00.000-08:00

Christine Husom, mystery/thriller author, member of SinC

Christine Husom’s third, and most recent, mystery/thriller in her Detective Corky Aleckson series is An Altar by the River. It plays up all the elements of a classic (if there is such a thing!) mystery/thriller novel by creating a familiar, yet dangerously unfamiliar world, for the reader. She does this by embedding a satanic cult and its machinations in a small Midwestern town. As with her other novels, the initial concept came from an actual incident, which Christine, as a consummate story teller, was able to develop into a tantalizing and believable tale.

Christine’s writings come from a combination of experience and research. Among her many jobs in law enforcement and mental health, she worked for the sheriff’s department in a Minnesota town. These positions gave her unique access to the troubled, underside, of rural life. Along with such access came an understanding of the trauma social outliers cause – in themselves and in those around them. What Christine did not learn through experience, she sought out through research by using written resources, experts, and others with personal experience. A winning combination as she develops her novels.

Perhaps one of the most important features of Christine’s novels is her ability to give dimension, depth, to all of her characters. She does this by furnishing her characters with lives filled with family, friends, and co-workers. Everyone is a part of a community and who they are today is clearly derived from that community. This is true for everyone, whether good or evil. No one is left as an unattached atom; they each have a history, a past, a place within their own social/familial group. Further, this social dimension gives her characters an added element of vulnerability on the one hand (Corky’s grandfather could become the villain’s target, thereby increasing the tension in the story) and resiliency on the other hand (family and friends provide much needed support).

Christine’s Writer’s Tips
To be an author you must be a reader: Just get out and read. Read the better works that are published: mysteries, thrillers and other kinds of writings, too. Read widely to learn and appreciate different writing styles and their effectiveness in telling the story. Read and examine their descriptive, characterization, dialogue, and plotting techniques. For example, “this helps to see how other authors have presented their characters…because we want make sure our characters are believable.”

Be convinced and be diligent: “I never thought I had the patience to write a book. But, you can discipline yourself. Tell yourself: I’ve got a story that I want to tell and this is what I’m going to have to do to do that.” Christine points out that with family and work responsibilities you may have trouble finding the time to write: it can be very, very difficult. So, figure out a schedule of what will work. Make a plan of what you want to do and how you’ll do it. It may mean going to the library or a local coffee shop with your laptop, or it may mean getting up an hour earlier or staying up an hour later at night. But, make a plan of how to do it.

Reach out to other writers: “Other writers are such a wonderful support.” Christine highly recommends doing this because she says they are not really competitive with you. They are willing to give you help. “And, I feel that way, too,” she says. In fact, she generously offers to help anyone who wants to contact her and ask questions. (look for her website below)

Christine’s novels:
You will be able to buy Christine Husom’s earlier novels, as well as An Altar by the River, as books or e-books through: www.secondwindpublishing.com; www.amazon.com; her own website; local, independent bookstores in Minnesota; and some Borders bookstores.

To learn more about Christine and her books, go to her website at www.christinehusom.webs.com. Her Blog address is www.christinehusom.webs.com/apps/blog.

If you want to contact her personally you send your email to her at christinehusom@aol.com.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-10-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Kathleen Ernst, adult and YA mystery author, member of SinC

Kathleen Ernst is already well-known to YA readers because of her many historical mysteries and her novels in the American Girl Series, including Clues in the Shadows, her most recent mystery for the American Girl Series. And, this year, expanding on her base, we see her talents continue to shine as she enters the adult mystery genre with the publication of Old World Murder, a Chloe Ellefson Mystery set in Wisconsin. If you like a well-crafted mystery with plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing, cast in a exceptional environment, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. It is characteristic of Kathleen’s style to set her mysteries in a distinctive time and place, which feed into the development of her characters, their perspectives, foibles, and strengths.

While some may tell you that as a writer you should write what you know, Kathleen is a wonderful example of the flip side: you can move out of the box of your own life experience by knowing what you write. From the time she was a child, Kathleen has been curious about other times and other places. As a child she loved writing, history, and the natural environment and these long-time interests have helped her as a novelist.

Kathleen describes herself as a “research junky.” She loves reading broadly, finding a stray tidbit and then immersing herself in the search for more information on its time, place, and material culture, which may then become the kernel for a novel. This research stage usually takes two to three months of very focused time. As she digs through the historical data, she starts to narrow her attention, developing one or two salient ideas. Kathleen likes to look for stories not told before, shining a flashlight on the exceptional in the ordinary. For example, in Clues in the Shadows, a YA mystery set at the end of World War II, she examined the impact of war on families, friends, and neighbors in small town America.

In doing her research she starts out with library research and then moves from there to finding primary accounts. For example, in Trouble At Fort La Pointe, when she wrote about a young girl of mixed heritage (French fur trapper father and Ojibwe Indian mother), she read about the Ojibwe culture, visited museums to find out about their material culture, talked to experts, and -- very importantly -- talked to members of the Ojibwe tribe. Once her story was written, she then had the experts and members of the tribe read it to be sure she was accurate in her portrayal. In Old World Murder she did the same with the police in the town her story was set, since the police world was new to her. And, as with the Ojibwe, she had several local police officers read her material for correctness. Such attention to detail and to accuracy strengthens her mysteries by making them more credible.

Kathleen’s Writer’s Tips
Be a wader: Once Kathleen decides on a place and time she’d like to explore in her novel, she “just wades right in,” as she says. That means she does months of research – by looking at the current literature, the material culture, and interviewing experts and/or individuals with a personal connection to the time and place. Then, she starts writing, which, as I’ve said, she does organically, that is, without a script.

Learn your craft and learn the industry: Put in the time to learn HOW to be a good writer before you try to market yourself to agents or publishers. If you don’t, you’re likely to get a string of rejections – not because you might not be good enough, but because you haven’t honed the necessary skills for your craft, yet. You may even need to write two to three mysteries before you write one that’s ready for publication. If you were a painter, you’d learn about painting and paint a lot of pictures before you even believed you were ready to produce work for the public. Writing is no different. Learn, practice, produce.

Kathleen’s novels:
You can find Kathleen Ernst’s novels in your local bookstores or on Amazon for yourself or your family’s young readers. Go to Kathleen’s website at www.kathleenernst.com to learn more about her, her books, and her schedule.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

St. Louis Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-09-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ridley Pearson, New York Times best-selling author of mystery/suspense series for adults and youths

Ridley Pearson is known for his dynamic, hang onto your seat, mystery/suspense stories. I had the pleasure of talking to him about his work this past week. Although he has written more than 20 adult novels (many New York Times best sellers), he remains curious, open to new ways of doing things, and always attempting to improve his craft. Here are some highlights of what he had to say about his writing.

“By design I’m a plot intensive person. But, I fully subscribe to the fact that the reason we read these books is because of character.” He maintains the reader is interested in who the story is about and what the character’s Arc is. This is something he is constantly working on, “on getting it right.” In his books, place is also a character. He asks: “What can only happen here? It can’t be something that can happen in 40 different cities.” For example, his novel Undercurrents could only happen in Puget Sound, the Walt Fleming series could only happen in Sun Valley, Idaho, and the Kingdom Keepers could only happen in Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Place is unique. Then he asks what characters would be involved in that place and finally what’s the story?

Thus, while plot is critical to developing a story, so is character. In describing character development, Ridley said, “You have to be schizophrenic to do this job right.” By that he meant you have be able to be in the head of every character you include in your story: from a twelve year old girl struggling with identity, to a middle aged sheriff of a burgeoning town, to a murderous extremist, to a protective mother of a teen, etc. In other words, Ridley noted, “part of writing is acting.” You have to be able to put yourself into these characters shoes, to envision their behavior based on their individual past experiences.

Ridley’s Writer’s Tips
Stay in the chair: This is the most important thing you can do. Decide how much time you want to devote to your writing, whether it’s 45 minutes or two hours, then stay in your chair for that full amount of time. Don’t get up to do anything else, not even to get a cup of coffee. Stay on task.

Read and don’t stop reading: Pay attention to what you’re reading. When you find a passage you admire – a particular description or dialogue – “especially if you’re blown away,” go back and read it again. Read it comma by comma. You will be reading to “inform your process.” This is a critical part of your education as a writer. Learn from others. And, remember, learning is a life-time endeavor. With all of his success and ability as a writer, Ridley still reads this way: always inquisitive and always learning.

Ridley’s 2010 novels:
The year is only two-thirds over and already Ridley Pearson has three new books out from his various series. The two young people’s adventure/mystery novels are from his Steel Trapp series and his Kingdom Keepers series. Steel Trapp 2 – The Academy has Steel becoming embroiled in secrecy, betrayal and conspiracy at his new boarding school. The Kingdom Keepers III: Disney in Shadow continues the adventure of five teenage models used to create hologram guides for the Magic Kingdom. As Ridley’s fans know, the technology backfires and the human models become holograms at night when the human side of them falls asleep. A technological glitch? Let the adventure begin.

Ridley’s adult mystery/suspense novel, just out this August, is In Harm’s Way from the Walt Fleming series. But, a surprise awaits Ridley’s readers. Lou Boldt from his Seattle, Washington series turns up to work with Walt in solving a Sun Valley, Idaho murder. There’s never enough of a good thing!

Visit Ridley’s website at www.ridleypearson.com to learn more about him, his books, and his appearances.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Attending a Mystery Writer's Convention - Killer Nashville

2010-08-24T06:58:00.001-07:00

I just returned from an exciting weekend at a mystery writer’s convention: Killer Nashville. Several of our SinC members went and three were presenters: Claire Applewhite, Judy Moresi, and Elaine Abramson. The convention provided a fabulous opportunity to learn more about a broad range of topics – from the nitty-gritty of police/crime procedures to murderous plants found in your garden to the work of rescue/cadaver dogs to the intricacies of writing and publishing mysteries. What a selection of topics! My biggest problem was deciding which workshops to attend – they were all so good!

If you’re wondering: Is it worth your attending a writer’s convention – especially if you’re an as-yet-unpublished writer (ie., a wanna-be)? My answer is YES. You’ll meet a wide range of published writers, who are more than willing to talk to you and share their experiences and knowledge. You will be able to meet well-known writers. Judy Moresi and I met Jeffery Deaver (note picture), a rock star of the suspense novels genre (http://www.jefferydeaver.com). You will have an opportunity for your work to be critiqued by a top notch editor or agent. I can tell you that this may be a very encouraging and supportive part of your experience. To find out what and where to go, you can start by attending local writer’s meetings and local conventions before you expand to conventions further from your home area.

If you’ve been to writer’s conventions, what would you say about attending? What did you get out of going, if anything?

Pam De Voe

Midwest Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-08-05T17:31:00.000-07:00

Julie Kramer, author of the Riley Spartz mystery series, member of SinC

Julie Kramer has been an investigative reporter in Minneapolis and is now a freelance news producer for NBC’s Today Show, Nightly News, and Dateline. In her role as a NBC reporter Julie has also often come to St. Louis covering stories such as the Baby Abby and Shawn Hornbeck and Ben Ownby cases.

I had an opportunity to meet her this summer when a family wedding brought Julie to Missouri and she was at Main Street Books in St. Charles for a marvelous book signing event.

It is from Julie’s varied experience as an investigative crime reporter/producer that she draws her plots and characters for her award winning Riley Spartz mystery series. Riley Spartz is herself a TV reporter who gets enmeshed in murder. Each of Julie’s wonderfully well-written stories offers the reader both a challenging mystery to unravel and a unique up-close and personal view of the world of television news.

I asked Julie why, with her background in real life criminal cases, she decided to write fiction, rather than documentaries for example. She said, “To write successful true crime you have to have a story that has a fabulous ending. You know, a great middle, beginning and an ending. The real life characters have to be memorable. And, not every crime story fits those criteria. There aren’t too many that you can’t make better by fictionalizing. There are some crime stories that I’ve covered over the years, but they don’t have the kind of closure I need to be able to write a true crime story about them – some of them are still unsolved. We [the reader] don’t want the ending to still be a mystery; we don’t really want the killer to still be free.” Thus, we have her first Riley Spartz novel, Stalking Susan. Stalking Susan was inspired by a couple of cold cases Julie worked on, where the victims were both named Susan. Fictionalization brought the closure that reality denied the victims. And, fortunately for us, this began Julie’s successful new venture as a mystery author.

Julie also said she wanted her readers to understand more about how decisions are made in television news. "When I wrote my second book, Missing Mark, I used many real life experiences to show how newsrooms decide which missing people get publicity and which don't. Because not all missing people are created equal.” It is the more unusual crimes, such as the ones we’ve had in St. Louis, that that gets attention from the national media.

Julie’s Writer’s Tips
Don’t expect writing to be easy: “It hurts to write a book. It’s hard. It’s not easy writing any book.” There will come a point when you think nothing is right, but keep going. “Just hunker down and do it.” And, don’t worry about your reading public, yet. When she wrote Stalking Susan, Julie didn’t know how hard it was to get a book published. But, she says, don’t worry about trying to fit your book to the publishing world at first because it’s changing so fast that what it important today may not be important by the time your work is ready. Bottom line: If you’re writing a story, know that it’s hard work, but it’s your work. Write it and worry about publication later.

On getting an agent: Absolutely get an agent. As an author you spend your time writing, which you should. Also, you may be an expert in your field, but the agent is an expert on publishing. Find someone you like and pay attention to their suggestions for improving your story. They know the market and their insight into what to change in your story will strengthen it and help make it more successful.

Julie’s newest addition to the Riley Spartz mystery series:
Julie Kramer’s fans will be delighted to know that her third book in the Riley Spartz mystery series, Silencing Sam, is now available. Silencing Sam explores the fine line between news and gossip. This latest addition to her series landed a coveted starred review from Library Journal.
Visit her website at www.juliekramerbooks.com and sign up for Julie’s newsletter.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

St. Louis Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-07-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

W.E. Mueller, short story author, member of SinC

Are you a “wanna be” mystery author, but feel a novel isn’t for you? Then try short stories. Short stories have all of the components of a novel – but with a fraction of the word count. (Be warned, many writers find short stories to be even more difficult to write than a novel because of their length!) Through the experience of writing short stories you will become accustomed to working out the creative story telling method, including its structure and discipline. You may even find, as did W.E. Mueller, that short stories are the perfect venue for your creative urges.

W.E. (Bill) Mueller’s Peaches and Cream is an anthology of 16 short stories recently published by High Hill Press. These stories have a wide range of themes from fast-paced entertaining detective stories all the way through to engaging memoire style stories. While there is no over-riding theme for this collection, each story shares an underlying commonality: quirky characters, surprise endings, and vivid settings. W.E. Muller is the consummate story teller. Expect to be thoroughly entertained.

Bill encourages authors and would be authors to enter short story contests because they provide a ready-made deadline for you and your story. Not only does it force you to finish your story. It is important to submit your stories for contests or for publication. As Bill notes, “Sooner or later you’ve got to stick your neck out.” He further counsels: failure to win a contest or receipt of a rejection slip is “not the end of the world.” There are levels of difference in rejection letters, and some can even be encouraging as you develop your craft.

Bill’s Writer’s Tips
Everything is the plot: The plot tells Bill what kind and how many characters he’ll need to invent for his story. He warns: “You can have great characters but you have to have a story.” You need to have your readers ask “What happens next?”

Let your characters describe the place: Bill strongly believes that when setting up ambience and place “give the reader credit and let him imagine.” The author shouldn’t have to describe every detail of a place. In fact, such description often gets in the way of the story – especially a short story where brevity counts. His story “Midnight Bob” is a perfect example of Bill’s effective use of character development as a tool for creating an evocative setting, in this case a hard scrabble town in outstate Missouri.

Beginnings and endings: When describing the best way to write a short story, Bill describes his own methodology: “I have to have the entire story in my head from the beginning to end. … I have to have the opening paragraph before I begin.” According to him, the opening paragraph sets the tone, nothing can be done before this paragraph is established. And, of course, he needs to know the ending, to know the story’s goal, before he can sit down at his computer and write.

What’s next from W.E. Mueller?
You can find his book Peaches and Cream at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. Look in both the mystery and the Missouri sections of the bookstores for your copy. You can also order them on-line at amazon.com or through Barnes & Noble.

You can learn more about W.E. Mueller and where he will be doing future signings at his web site: www.wem-stories.com. His e-mail is wemstories@att.net.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

St. Louis Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-06-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

Claire Applewhite, novelist, member of SinC

Claire Applewhite is a multitalented novelist. She crosses genres, writing in both the mystery and romance genres. She cannot be pigeonholed by simple categories since she moves easily within and between genres. As her mystery fans know, in Claire’s debut novel The Wrong Side of Memphis in her Nam Noir Series, the reader is immediately caught up in the lives of a cast of memorable characters. In this mystery, Vietnam vets, Dimond Redding and Elvin Suggs frantically work against time to solve a complex puzzle of murder and mayhem. This is a fast paced, intrigue filled, and very satisfying novel with a strong sense of place, the City of St. Louis. Then, this year Claire came out with, Crazy for You, a romance novel (set in St. Louis County) that has been likened to a French farce. Fun, fun, fun.

No matter what the genre, Claire’s desire to spotlight various social issues -- such as domestic violence and social justice -- ties her characters together. As she says, in her work she plays with Aristotle’s notion that things are not what they seem; that the truth lies between black and white; that it is critical to look beyond appearances.

Claire’s Writer’s Tips
Find your own voice: Claire maintains one of the most important things an author needs to do is to find her voice. She says: “Develop your own voice. Don’t try to imitate anyone else. You and you alone, with your unique experience and imagination, have that special something to give the world. Find it. If you write with conviction and voice, some will like your work and some won’t. That’s okay. The major question and the one you have to live with is: Do you like it?”

Keep motivated: Keeping motivated is a problem novice writers often mention and Claire has some helpful solutions and perspectives. First, ask yourself how badly do you want to be published? She says, “You must want this desperately. Yogi Berra once said, ‘Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future.’ As with most things in life, there are no guarantees. You must believe that you have something to say. If you’re getting rejections, keep attending workshops on a regular basis for feedback.” Family and friends may be supportive, but sometimes their concern for you may overcome their support for your writing, especially as your rejection slips come in or as the hours of writing you need to put in to finish your novel seem impossible. In other words, they would rather you stopped and saved yourself any more aggravation. Claire advises that you go to workshops because other writers understand you and your desires in a way no one else can.

Read: Continually hone your style by reading, reading, reading. Look at the flow and pace of the novels. Read within your genre. Also, go to bookstores and read the first sentence of all the top sellers. This sentence must be the best if it is to pull your reader into your story.

What’s next from Claire?
Good news for Claire Applewhite’s fans: 1) She has a new mystery, St. Louis Hustle, in her Nam Noir Series which will debut this fall, 2010. In it, Elvin Suggs, Dimond “Di” Redding and Cobra Glynes, all Vietnam veterans, have joined together as co-owners of Grapevine Investigations. 2) Without skipping a beat, Claire is also coming out with another romantic suspense novel, Unchain My Heart.
Go to claireapplewhite.com to find out more about these up-coming books and other Claire Applewhite events and happenings. For example:
• If you act immediately, you can join Claire in her book signing at Neiman Marcus’s ESCADA Fashion Presentation on Saturday, June 5th; 12:30 (reception), 1:00 pm (fashion presentation). Call 314-994-5053 for reservations.
• She has a reading at Borders-Sunset Hills, on Saturday, June 12th; 5 – 7 pm.
You can find her books at Big Sleep Books, Borders, Main Street Books. You can also order them on-line at amazon.com or through Barnes & Noble, stlwritersguild.org or missouriwritersguild.org.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

St. Louis Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-05-10T14:43:00.000-07:00

Eleanor Sullivan, medical mystery series author, member of SinC

Expect the best when you read Eleanor Sullivan’s mystery novels. Eleanor is the well-known author of the Monika Everhardt medical mystery series. In this series you are taken into the challenging, complex, and stressful world of an intensive care unit, where Monika Everhardt, the head nurse, grapples not only with the natural process of life and death, but with murder. Now, following upon her success in the Monika Everhardt series, Eleanor is coming out with a new series. Yes, you can count on it having the tension-filled excitement of an insider’s view and understanding of the medical world, but with an historical twist.

Cover Her Body, Eleanor’s upcoming novel in the new series, is set in the early 1800s. The mystery centers on a newly established religious community that came to the United States after escaping persecution in Germany. It is written from the point of view of two main characters, one of whom is a midwife and herbalist and the other her cabinet maker husband. Following Eleanor’s signature drive toward perfection, she holds close to historical accuracy – even when, as a contemporary American mother, she dislikes the situation in which she must place her characters. One such example is the community’s rule of permanently giving up one’s child at the age of three – thereby, allowing all of the women to work outside the home for the good of the group. This new series promises everything we have come to expect from Eleanor Sullivan: close attention to accurate detail – which gives her stories an undeniable authenticity – and a solid, eminently satisfying, who-dun-it.

Eleanor’s Writer’s Tips
Learn the craft: Whatever level you are at right now, learn more: take classes and workshops; seek criticism; learn from others. In commenting about her move into writing mysteries, Eleanor noted that she had written “tons of articles in nursing journals and other books. I thought: I know how to write. Oh God. What I didn’t know. If I had had any idea, I’m not sure I would have done it. But, I thought: Oh, I’ve been reading mysteries all my life, how hard could it be? [laughs] I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” As a result, besides attending workshops on writing, she went to a professional editor for guidance. “One thing I would tell any writer… you absolutely have to have a professional critique.” A critique group is an initial step; a professional editor is another step up.

Persistence: You must show real persistence. There are three essential steps:
1) learn your craft. Eleanor says that she is still taking classes, studying books. “What keeps you fresh is to keep trying to get to the next level. Keep trying to get better.”
2) get your work critiqued by people in the know. She admits that hearing the criticism isn’t easy, but she strongly maintains that it’s necessary. She says, “you can’t read your work like someone outside can. You can’t.”
3) get your work out there for publication by getting an agent or publisher.
She cautions that many people want to jump to step three, skipping the first two steps. But, if you find that you’re not getting an agent or publisher, you might want to work on the first two steps some more.

Bottom line: Don’t give up. Don’t make excuses: either do it or don’t.

Eleanor Sullivan’s medical mystery series and more
Good news. Eleanor’s Monika Everhardt series will be coming out in paperback. Stay tuned. To get more information on when and to get information on her new novel, Cover Her Body, go to her web site: www.eleanorsullivan.com. You will also find resources and helpful tips for writers on her web site.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

St. Louis Mystery Authors & Their Writing Tips

2010-04-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

Joanna Campbell Slan, author of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft mystery series, member of SinC

“I want to be superb.” This comment by Joanna Campbell Slan defines her and her approach to writing. Joanna writes an engaging cozy mystery series revolving around scrapbooking. Her readers easily identify with Kiki Lowenstein and her universal struggles as today’s woman: self-doubt and insecurities over her weight, friendships, family relationships, including raising a teenager in urban America and dealing with a quixotic mother-in-law. Mystery lovers have come to expect her novels to be tightly written with a well paced emerging mystery, including all the fun, angst, and love of real life. And, Joanna delivers. Ultimately, this is why her readers so enjoy every new addition to her wonderful Kiki Lowenstein scrapbooking mystery series.

Joanna’s Writer’s Tips
Lagnaippe: This is a concept Joanna lives by: always give your readers a little extra, a bonus. She says she has built her career on this. It is critical to always offer something above and beyond other people’s expectations; to work beyond the limits; to give in your dedication to your novel, to your audience, and to your fellow writers. In her writing, she does this by working long hours at a stretch perfecting her craft; in her concern for her readers, she does this through offering extra value and fun such as through arranging various scrapbooking contests related to her mystery series; and in her working with other authors, she works collaboratively with established authors and provides guidance and support to neophyte writers through her lectures and workshops.

Always put writing on the front-burner: Joanna strongly suggests that writers set goals and timelines for their writing. Don’t let other parts of your life take over. Your schedule may vary, because of outside pressures, but never put writing aside. It MUST be on your front-burner. Work it into your schedule by putting it first in your day or setting another time that must be honored by you and others in your family. She uses Steven Covey’s system to categorize her activities and demands into urgent, unimportant, etc. Thus, allowing her to prioritize the demands on her time in a realistic way. Writing is placed in the “highest priority” category. Such a simple maneuver allows her to justify, rationalize, how she uses time and to meet her writing goals.

Invest in yourself: As a writer, you should attend conferences, workshops, and trainings to improve your writing and to network with others in your craft. Don’t be afraid to learn from others. Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself and your dreams of becoming a writer.

Joanna’s newest addition to the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft mystery series:
Joanna Campbell Slan’s newest book, Photo, Snap, Die is debuting May first. She will be doing a whirlwind tour introducing her upcoming book, so check out these websites for more information:
www.joannacampbellslan.com; joannaslan.blogspot.com; www.midnightinkbooks.com; www.booktour.com.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

A Chat with St. Louis Mystery Authors

2010-03-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

Jo Hiestand, mystery series author, member of SinC

A familiar mantra we hear in writing workshops and classes is: write what you know. What if you want to step out of your box, to write about a different place or culture, different from your own? Take heart. Jo Hiestand, a home-grown St Louisan, is the author of two intensely personal, engaging, and vivid English-based mystery series and she will let you in on some secrets to help you step out.

Jo Hiestand’s Taylor & Graham series is set in Derbyshire, England. Every novel in this series gives the reader a challenging, classic mystery along with an intimate view of village England. Jo has an exceptional lyrical descriptive style, allowing you, the reader, to fully experience the cultural, social, and physical milieu of her mystery’s characters. In order to create this sense of reality, Jo went to Derbyshire, researching its customs and absorbing the area’s physicality, from its streets, churches, and homes to its weather, trees, and valleys. She developed close, trusting relationships with many of the locals. Interestingly, her research concerning general police activities lead her to a fellow St. Louisan, Paul Hornung, who eventually became her co-author in the Taylor & Graham series, beginning with Horns of a Dilemma published in 2007. Jo maintains that he provides a unique point of view - one only an experienced street cop can bring to his character.

Jo’s Writer’s Tips
Develop the Particular: If you want to set your story in another place or within another culture, she suggests that you immerse yourself in it. Jo lived in Derbyshire for a year and then went back several times for one to two months at a time. Another important strategy is to talk to people, learn about them, their work, lives, perspectives. Jo met, interviewed, and eventually became friends with local English police officers, detectives, and a superintendent. She had the courage to give them her material and ask them to read it for factual errors. In the process, she found that some of her predetermined ideas, which came from movies and novels, were completely wrong, meaning she sometimes had to radically change her plot line or rewrite several chapters to fit the new information – all of which made her own stories more realistic.

Learn about the Universal: Perhaps you can’t go to the island country you want to write about, but you should at least go to a beach to get a sense of the sounds of waves, birds, wind; the feel of the air, sun, chill of the night, sand under your shoes and under your bare feet. Jo wants you to become familiar with these universal feelings – if you have never experienced a beach your description will lack the ring of truth. As Jo says, “You can’t fake the feeling of a place.” If you have a character whose experience is significantly different from yours, talk to others who have had a similar experience. Find out how they feel about it. Or, perhaps as Jo did with her co-author, create a partnership with someone who has this unique perspective.

Jo Hiestand’s Taylor & Graham Series and The McLaren Cases
Jo’s Taylor & Graham mystery series continues. She and Paul Hornung are working on the eighth novel right now, so you can look forward to enjoying the challenges Brenna Taylor has with proving herself in a male dominated profession - always struggling to be appropriate, smart, insightful while at the same time suffering strong emotional reactions.

Jo’s fans will be delighted to know that she is starting a new mystery series, The McLaren Cases, also set in Derbyshire, England, and debuting April first. The protagonist, an embittered, angry ex-police detective, carved out a life as a loner but soon finds himself investigating cold cases. As an investigator he isn’t held by the rules and regulations restraining normal police officers; he feels freer - that he can take matters into his own hands - and he does.

For more information on Jo, her mysteries, and her appearances go to her web sites: www.johiestand.com and www.mclarencases.com.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

A Chat with St. Louis Mystery Authors

2010-02-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

Judy Moresi, first time novelist, member of SinC

Have you been wanting to write a novel, but you know that it’s too late – you’re too busy, have too little formal education, too old (past the age of 25), too … what? You fill in the blanks. If this is you, take heart. Judy Moresi wants you to know that it’s not too late; it’s never too late.

This first time novelist’s path to publication could be your model to follow as you travel your own path to success.

Judy has had many roles in her life: model, Country band singer, accountant, business owner, wife, and mother. In spite of, or perhaps because of, all of these roles, Judy managed to build and hone her skills as a writer. Even so, it wasn’t until she was in her 40s that she was able to begin to bring her life and work experiences together in creating her long-time goal: to write a novel, to be a published author. To increase her writing skill level and her knowledge of the field, Judy took every writing course she could, joined writers’ organizations, writers’ critic groups, and went to writers’ conferences. These activities not only helped her develop writers’ networks and build her skills, but also gave her encouragement when she – as all writers do – became discouraged or lost motivation. On March 1st her Missouri based, suspense-filled mystery novel, Widow’s Walk, will make its debut, and we can all celebrate by enjoying this exciting new book.

Judy’s Writer’s Tips
Follow Your Dream: Judy feels strongly about you following your dream to be a writer. She says:
The thing I would like to get across to writers is that it doesn’t matter what education you have, what background you have, how old you are, or any of those things. Only you can tell your story, even if it’s a fictitious story. Only you have that voice and when editors and agents say “Give me something different,” they don’t really want something different, because there are only so many plots out there. They want your interpretation of that plot, that situation, and they want you to tell it in your voice. They want your distinct voice. So cut loose. Just tell that story, get it all down on paper.

Character Sheets: Here is a practical technique Judy uses which can help you in your writing. Judy makes up information sheets on each of her characters. She cuts out a picture of someone who looks like the character she has in mind – not a well-known person, however, because she may already have ideas about what that person is like and she doesn’t want to confuse that with her own character. On each sheet she has categories: name, physical description (eyes, body type…), motive, education, etc. Since she writes organically to maintain the energy and passion of her story, Judy doesn’t initially fill in the details of her characters. This allows her to meld her characters with her story line for maximum impact. When she does use a detail, say eye color, she also puts the page number onto her character sheet, so if she changes her mind later, she knows exactly where to go to alter the detail. She keeps all of her character sheets on the wall next to her computer for easy reference.

Judy’s new novel: Widow’s Walk
Judy Moresi’s first mystery novel, Widow’s Walk, pulls you in as you share the struggles of Laura Chandler, a young widow whose husband died in a suspicious accident. We move through this fast paced novel as Laura is faced with a stalker, acerbic adult stepchildren, an unwanted suitor, a mother with Alzheimer’s, and – as if this were not enough – with the possibility that her crumbling Victorian house is haunted.
Her life goes from a bad dream to a living nightmare.

While Widow’s Walk by Judy Moresi has an official bookstore launching date of March 1, 2010, you can buy a copy of it right now through Amazon.com. For you Kindle users, it is immediately available to you, as well. For more information on event dates, etc. go to her website www.JudyMoresi.com. If you’d like to contact Judy directly go to tjmore232@charter.net.

Enjoy!
Pam De Voe

Eileen Dreyer on Inspiration

2010-01-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

The world is beyond your control, except the world you create. There, at least, you can tell your people what to do; and they do it, most of the time.

Personally, I have "Deadline Psychosis." My husband packs me and my sound system up with a supply of iced tea and sends me off for four days to a motel. You'd be surprised at how inspirational four bland walls and a picture of the Grand Canyon can be.

Eileen is an award-winning, best-selling author of more than 30 books. Her most recent is Sinners and Saints, a medical thriller.

Highlights of Eleanor Sullivan's Talk

2010-01-20T08:33:00.000-08:00

Eleanor's talk titled "Building Tension: The Secret to Great Story-Telling" had many helpful suggestions for writers. A sampling follows:

Characters should be larger than life but vulnerable with strong motivations and inner conflicts.
The setting or environment of the story can complicate life for the characters.
Back story can deepen problems but should not slow the plot.
Adding character thoughts of what is happening as it happens can increase plot tension.

Watch for books from Eleanor's nurse Monika Everhardt series to appear in Harlequin paperbacks and as e-books. She is currently working on a series about a 19th century midwife.

Razz-Berries for Writers

2010-01-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

If you're a writer who needs a little shove now and then, maybe I can help with a word or two of inspiration--perhaps a few verbal lashes from time to time. Here's the first prod.

It's mid month. Still plenty of time to achieve those goals for the first month of a BRAND NEW DECADE.

Writers love to write. If you don't; consider the words of Raymond Chandler, author of bestseller The Big Sleep and lots of other Phillip Marlowe PI mysteries.

"How can you hate the actual writing? How can you hate the magic which makes a paragraph or a sentence or a line of dialogue or a description something in the nature of a new creation?"

So make some magic by the end of the month.

FA

Eleanor Sullivan – The Nurse Monika Everhardt Series

2010-01-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

Our Sisters in Crime Program for January will be presented on Wednesday, January 13 at 6:45 at Creve Coeur Government Center, 300 N. New Ballas Road. Eleanor will tell us all about "Building Tension: The Secret to Super Story-Telling." Visitors are welcome.

Eleanor Sullivan, RN, PhD, is a former nursing professor and dean who uses her experiences in nursing to build fascinating behind-the-scenes medical mysteries featuring nurse sleuth Monika Everhardt. About the third book in the series, Assumed Dead, Anthony award winner Kate Grilley writes, “Turn off the phone and get ready to stay up all night . . . a medical thriller that pulls you in from the first page and doesn't let go! I loved this book!”
T

City of Mystery--St. Louis by St. Louis Authors

2010-01-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime will present a panel for the American Association of University Women's Dollars for Scholars program on January 6, 2010. Moderated by Fedora AMIS, author of "Jack the Ripper in St. Louis," the panel will feature Claire Applewhite, author of the hot mystery "Wrong Side of Memphis"; Eleanor Sullivan who wrote the Monika Everhardt series of medical thrillers; and Judy Moresi whose "Widow's Walk" is set for spring release.

Dollars for Scholars is a program dedicated to providing scholarships for deserving women and girls across the country.

Make Writer Conferences Pay--Advice to the Pre-Published

2009-10-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Advice from Joanna Campbell Slan, author of Kiki Lowenstein Scrapbooking Mysteriesl and past President of Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime

Attending a conference is fun, but it's also expensive. There are travel costs, registration fees, food, lodging and time away from writing. So...the question is, "How do I maximize my presence?"

For me that means, "How do I promote myself and my book, Paper, Scissors, Death?" My mystery won't debut until September. Still, it seems silly to "waste" this opportunity even though I don't have a book in hand. After all, I know that I make a note of books I want to read and I might not buy them for months! Surely other people have the same habits. And, I remember from my days in advertising that it takes many exposures for people to form an impression. But those exposures can't be spaced too far apart. Waiting until my book hits the shelves means all those exposures would come AFTER the book is out. And those 6 weeks afterwards are critical because that's when sell-through happens. It makes sense to start now...if I can do it economically.

Here are all the promotional activities I've undertaken for my visit to Love Is Murder on Dark and Stormy Nights. I won't be able to tell right away which of these have been valuable. Maybe when my book comes out, I'll be more sure of what worked and what didn't.

1. Interviews--I offered to interview the headliners for LIM. This has given me the chance to ask questions of the best and brightest: Tess Gerritsen, Lee Child, Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath. Plus, the interviews were shared in the LIM newsletter, and I can now post them in the resource section of my website. My aim: To be on the radar screen of some of the nation's best authors. You never know whom you'll click with. Or who will bring you the next big opportunity.

2. Business cards--I was told to wait, but that's silly. How do you follow up a meeting without information? I had the cards printed with my book cover on the front. (A tip from Elaine Viets.) The ISBN is on everything. As my pal Angie Fox said, "It's like the Social Security number for your book." Should I get a tattoo? Nah.

3. Proposal for a presentation--My unique ability is my background as a professional speaker. So I offered to do a presentation on speaking before groups. The LIM people thought this was a worthwhile idea, and now it's scheduled.

4. Appearances--I was fortunate enough to be assigned as moderator on one panel and participant on another.

5. Panel descriptions--How do people choose which panel to attend? I tried to write my descriptions in such a way that they were full of promise...promise that I knew I could deliver. I want to brand myself as offering tremendous value while having fun. When Romance Leads to…A romantic encounter can make a character more real, more vulnerable and more deadly. They can move a plot along or stop it in its tracks. We’ll share our favorite racy scenes and discuss what makes a romantic climax, uh, climactic! The useful takeaway? Our list of helpful ideas for writing romantic encounters. Plus, lots of chocolate hugs and kisses to get you in the mood. How to be a Better Panelist Or presenter. Or guest speaker. Do your knees knock when you speak in public? Are you scared you will make a fool of yourself? Would you rather die than appear before a group? We can help. (With the speaking part. The dying on the platform stuff is up to you.) Public appearances are an important promotional tool for authors. We’ll share proven ideas used by the top professional speakers. These ideas will make your presence memorable, enjoyable and profitable. Don’t miss the handout: Top Tips for Presenters.

6. Handouts--This is a key. But the handouts can NOT be self-serving. So the handout for the "Writers Dish on Writers" compiles a list of debut authors including me. I figure those in the audience are looking to expand their TBR list. For "How to Be a Better Panelist. Or Presenter. Or Guest Speaker." I created a list of tips. Some are on the handout, but the list was so extensive, the majorityare going on my website under "Resources." They should be up by Monday. For "When Romance Leads to..." I compiled some of the best thoughts from those who do a cracker-jack job of writing romantic scenes, and I added Internet and traditional book resources. Of course, on all the handouts, I share my details.

7. Recipe Cards and Homemade Cookies--Hokey, I know. But every time I've seen them offered, people snatch them up. On the front is a recipe, on the back is info about my book and a contest (see next), and my book cover is in color on the cards.

8. Pre-Order Contest--Vicki Erwin of Main Street Books was kind enough to agree to take pre-sales. ( mstbstchas@sbcglobal.net 636-949-0105 ) She'll keep a list of all the pre-ordered books. From those, I'll draw one purchaser's name to be included as a character in book #2.

9. Bookmarks--Pretty standard stuff, except that I'm customizing each one with a scrapbooking embellishment. I did a trial run of these and discovered people oooohhhhed and aaaaahhhed over them.

10. Prizes--As a motivational speaker, I was always pleasantly surprised by how excited audiences got when they won something. So I had customized bags of M & Ms made up. The colors are the same as my book cover. They say "Get Kiki" on one side, and "PSD 2008" on the other. 11. A Small TBR Album--I've also noticed that folks seem really astonished that I actually do scrapbook. So I've made the most adorable TBR album to show off. It reinforces my niche and brands me.Okay, that's it so far. Now I'm staring out the window at the snow storm and crossing my fingers that after all this work, I can actually fly into Chicago! Posted by Joanna Campbell Slan at 9:15 AM

Joanna Slan

2008-10-03T02:23:00.000-07:00

Our last panel member is our St. Louis SinC President, Joanna Slan ' All six will be chilling and thrilling at the McClay Library in St. Charles on October 8. Not only is the event free and open to the public, we're also giving out chocolates and prizes. Don't miss it.

Paper, Scissors, Death is Joanna Campbell Slan's first mystery. It's set in St. Louis and features Kiki Lowenstein. The book begins when her husband, George, is found naked and dead with a silk scarf in his mouth. Then his business partner claims George embezzled company money before he died. Kiki vows to bring his killer to justice.With the help of dashing Detective Chad Detweiler, Kiki discovers her husband had a tawdry secret life. When George’s mistress is murdered, Kiki becomes the prime suspect. Can she solve the murder—and save her own life? www.joannacampbellslan.com

New York Times Best Seller

2008-10-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Accidental Demon Slayer

by Angie Fox

Here's a quick taste of this wild read.

Lizzie Brown had planned her future carefully, but becoming the Exalted Demon Slayer of Dalea was not on her list of things to do. However, it turns out Lizzie really doesn't have a choice when her long-lost biker witch grandmother shows up on a hot pink Harley and informs Lizzie she is the only one who can save the world from Vald the demon lord. Lizzie suddenly finds herself ready to take on the world.

With its sharp, witty writing and unique characters, Angie Fox's contemporary paranormal debut is fabulously fun.

Will Bereswill - a St. Louis "Mister"

2008-09-26T12:24:00.000-07:00

For a man's point of view and just to prove that Sisters in Crime is not sexist (despite our name), Will Berewsill will add his low-key charm and a big shot of global intrigue.

Wilfred Bereswill – A Reason for Dying
· Is the natural gas you use to heat your home and cook your food really safe?
· Is it possible that viruses ravaged prehistoric life millions of years ago and lie dormant in oil and gas reserves, waiting to be released once again to lay waste to yet another species?
· It has happened before.
· Is it about to happen again.

· wbereswill.com

Jo Hiestand – Taylor and Graham Mystery Series

2008-09-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Giving a British flavor to the panel on October 8 is first president of Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime, Jo Hiestand.

Jo is the author of the Taylor & Graham mysteries, set in Derbyshire, England. A specific English custom -- such as Guy Fawkes Night, St Nicholas Day, Turning the Devil's Stone -- provides the backbone of each book's plot. The current book, The Coffin Watchers, was released in September 2008 and is the sixth title in the series. In the book, villagers gather for the custom of Watching the Church Porch, an odd ritual of watching for villagers' souls to parade past the church, a sighting forecasting that person's death within the year. A spirit is seen, but someone else dies, and by a human hand -- leaving no question of murder. Jo co-authors several of the books with local police detective Paul Hornung. http://Johiestand.com

A Thrilling Coronation

2008-09-12T06:02:00.001-07:00

Greater St. Louis Sisters in Crime cordially invites you to attend the crowning of best-selling author Eileen Dreyer as our Queen of Clues for 2008.

Award-winning, best-selling author Eileen Dreyer, known as Kathleen Korbel to her Silhouette readers, has published 22 Silhouette books 8 medico-forensic suspense for Harper and St. Martin's and 7 short stories.

September 2008 sees the release of her eighth medico-\forensic thriller SINNERS AND SAINTS, starring forensic nurse Chastity Byrnes. Not only does Dreyer have twenty years experience in the field of medicine, sixteen in trauma nursing, she trained in forensic nursing and death investigation, which makes her particularly qualified to create the character of Chasity.

Dreyer won her first publishing award in 1987 and just keeps on winning. Her last paperback, Bad Medicine won a coveted Anthony Award nomination. She has over three million books in print world wide, and has made regular appearances on the Waldenbook and B.Dalton bestsellers list, and now the USA Today list. eileendreyer.com

Kirkus Review For One Of Our Own

2008-07-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

Kirkus Review:

PAPER SCISSORS DEATH
SECTION: FICTION;
MYSTERYLENGTH: 242 words

When her husband is murdered, the only things that keep Kiki Lowenstein sane are scrapbooking, her daughter Anya and, of course, her unauthorized investigation. The Lowenstein marriage was far from ideal. Kiki had suspected her husband was unfaithful. But still her world crumbles when he is found naked and dead in a hotel room and handsome St. Louis County Police Detective Chad Detweiler suspects Kiki of murder. Her wealthy mother-in-law, who's never liked her, refuses to pay anything but Anya's private-school fees when Kiki is forced to sell everything to cover her husband's debts to his business partner. So Kiki, the queen of scrapbooking, takes a full-time job to support Anya and their Great Dane at Time in a Bottle, the store where she buys her supplies. Things go further downhill when Kiki's little rental home is robbed and her mother-in-law uses the alleged danger as an excuse to try to take custody of Anya. Her only comfort is that Detweiler has come to believe in her innocence, even though she is briefly suspected of killing her husband's longtime mistress. Kiki must overcome years of low self-esteem if she's to survive her traumatic experience and unmask the murderer. Kiki's debut, a well-turned cozy with loads of scrapbooking tips, will drive many a like-minded reader to indignation on her behalf.

Publication Date: 9/1/2008 0:00:00Publisher: Midnight Ink/LlewellynStage: AdultISBN: 978-0-7387-1250-5
Author: Slan, Joanna Campbell

Way to go, Joanna!

posted by Judy Moresi

Free Shooters' Info

2008-05-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

There is an instructional book written by Duaine Zeitz, Top Gun Safety Instructor, which can be viewed free of charge at WWW.pack-n-heat.com. Mr. Zeitz highly recommends his book for shooters who would like to become certified in basic pistol and personal protection--Claire Applewhite.

posted by Judy Moresi

Book Clubs and Literary Agents

2008-05-21T06:10:00.000-07:00

Jeff Rivera, author of Forever My Lady and one of the most generous authors in publishing, has sent a list of 191 book clubs that discuss African-American books. He has kindly allowed us to share the list. You can download the Excel file for free at the following address: http://www.bookmarket.com/BlackBookClubs.xls.
Also, check out the new article Jeff wrote on how to attract a first class literary agent: http://www.bookmarket.com/literaryagents.htm.
He also offers a wonderful service connecting authors with agents.It's called Query Match: Agents. Just this past week, he has helped three authors get agents. For more information about this service, email Jeff at Jeff@jeffrivera.com.

Posted by Judy Moresi

101 Ways to Market Your Books

2008-04-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

By the way, Paper, Scissors, Death is now available September 13, from Midnight Ink. ISBN: 0738712507 Pre-orders now accepted.

This article was prompted by a challenge by John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book.

1. As I write it, I think of the discreet audiences within and build in opportunities.
2. Get the best cover possible.
3. Ask for help refining my back cover matter.
4. Request over-runs of the cover.
5. Print marketing information on the inside of that over-run cover and use it like postcards, especially to market to booksellers who want to see the cover before placing an order.
6. Make interesting bookmarks. (I customized them and added flowers.)
7. Get blurbs from people with recognizable names.
8. Get reviews and permission to use those reviews in anyway I dream up.
9. Run a contest associated with the book. (Mine is The Best of British Scrapbooking administered now by ScrapBook inspirations Magazine in the UK.)
10. Send information about that contest through a variety of channels—online, websites, magazine, the magazine’s blog.
11. Offer a prize for the contest.
12. Put out birth announcements through an online invitation site when my book launches.
13. Have stickers made of the book’s cover.
14. Use cover stickers on name badges when I attend conferences.
15. Attend conferences.
16. Ask to be on panels.
17. Ask to host tables at banquets.
18. Create super handouts that are “keepers” for any panel or appearance. Include marketing information.
19. At table (that I host) give away “goody bags” with items related to the book.
20. Invite booksellers or reviews or well-known fans to join me at that table.
21. Carry around a faux subpoena, fill it in to invite people to share my table on the spot.
22. Contact people through the business cards I collected last year and ask them to sit at my table.
23. Contact people from last year and tell them I’m looking forward to seeing them at the conference.
24. Offer my book as a prize for charity auctions. (Go to the social section of the daily paper and find these events.)
25. Give a portion of sales to a charity.
26. Ask to be a part of the charity’s annual event.
27. Ask to have my book publicized in the charity’s program.
28. If the charity has an auction, and if my item fetches a nice price, immediately tell the auctioneer that I will also offer a duplicate item for the runner-up. (This gives the charity twice the money, and me twice the exposure.)
29. Make a “jacket” for my three-legged dog and feature a photo of my book on it.
30. Have a tote bag made with the cover of my book on it. (Use the tote bag.)
31. Distribute bookmarks to the local library.
32. Go to the bookstore at the local airport and offer to help them put together a display of books by local authors.
33. Create shelf-talkers.
34. Send shelf-talkers with media kits to local libraries.
35. Ask friends to call their local library and ask them to order my book.
36. Offer to do a program at my child’s school.
37. Create handouts for the program with links to booksellers and my ISBN.
38. Staple a copy of my book to a cheap package of seeds. Add a card saying, “It’s spring and good books are blooming.” Leave in gardening centers.
39. Offer to do a program for retirement homes.
40. Create a handout for attendees from retirement homes—make it large enough to add the attendee’s photo and suggest they post it in their rooms so that they family can see my book when they visit.
41. Carry my book with me and read it while I’m waiting in public transportation.
42. Leave bookmarks on seats in public transportation.
43. Offer to do a lunchtime program for local companies.
44. Work with other authors to create a speakers’ bureau.
45. Come up with an idea for Chase’s Calendar of Events and CelebrateToday.com and have a holiday that relates to my book.
46. Offer free support materials online for my holiday.
47. Have a website.
48. Have a MySpace page.
49. Have a FaceBook page.
50. Enter myself on as many social authors’ groups as possible.
51. Come up with a list of blogs where it would be ideal for me to blog.
52. Ask them if I can guest blog.
53. Give them a copy of my book to give away.
54. Ask the blogs that allow me to guest blog if they’d suggest a friend who blogs.
55. Get my book into company libraries.
56. Get my book into hospital bookstores—don’t forget the shelf talkers.
57. Contribute to social marketing sites and add my book in my signature line.
58. Add my book in my signature line of all email.
59. Drop a business card into all our outgoing mail.
60. Have an open house in my neighborhood to launch my book.
61. Ask a local real estate agent if she’d like to host a book launch party for me and invite her clients.
62. Make my book available to my son’s school, and ask the librarian to send out a notice in the parent correspondence about my book.
63. Tell my doctor and dentist that I’d be happy to personalize a copy of my book for each of their employees.
64. Hold a book signing in a local grocery store near the holidays.
65. Package several of my books together with a ribbon around them and sell them as a package.
66. Offer to email people a free report or goody to anyone who shares an Amazon order number with me after purchasing my book.
67. Run contests through my blog that reward people for bringing in new readers. (They must identify the name of the new sign up so I know this happened.) Give away an excerpt booklet or a bookmark.
68. Create my own fan club—and have someone else run it.
69. Swap with an author friend: I put up her info on Wikipedia and she does the same for me. We both mention our books.
70. Work with other authors, create a program and offer it to libraries.
71. Offer to speak to book clubs at libraries and in schools.
72. Ask my spouse to keep my business cards with his and to hand out as appropriate.
73. Wear a pin made of my book cover to social events.
74. Made a donation to public radio and have four announcements about my book made in one day.
75. Contact all my local media with a story idea.
76. Apply to write a column for my local media.
77. Write articles for my trade publication.
78. Create a group of interested bloggers who will receive review copies of my book to start the buzz.
79. Attend local Chamber of Commerce activities and offer a program about my book.
80. Post information about my book on bulletin boards where I shop and exercise.
81. Promote my upcoming book signings with a flier for booksellers to drop in their outgoing purchase bags.
82. Put a contest in the back of my book—use it to collect more names/details about readers.
83. Offer character naming rights in a contest.
84. Offer character naming rights to a charity to be auctioned off.
85. Offer character naming rights to anyone who pre-orders my book through a local bookstore.
86. Have book club questions on my blog, and offer to be available by phone or online to clubs.
87. Take classes that are relevant to the topic of my book. Often bookmarks and business cards to other students.
88. Have a large poster made representing something of interest in my book. (In my case, a harlequin Great Dane) Take it along to book signings to spark conversation.
89. Offer to take other authors (from out of town) around to do signings. This helps me build professional relationships with both the author and booksellers.
90. Find a society or association that would be interested in some aspect of my book (Great Dane Rescue Society), and ask them to run an article about me.
91. Designate a day when a portion of all sales are donated to that society or association.
92. Teach Adult Ed classes that relate to my books.
93. Teach something online that relates to my books (I teach online scrapbook journaling.)
94. Send a mailing to your high school alumni list.
95. Send a mailing to your college alumni list.
96. Send postcards (over-run of your covers) to stores that should stock your books. (In my case that’s scrapbookers.)
97. Offer to sign books in local coffee shops or Starbucks.
98. Check out your state’s arts programs, especially the visiting author programs.
99. Offer to be the “author in residence” at a local high school.
100. If your family lives in another area of the country, ask them to help you set up a book signing there.
101. Ask people who read your blog to come up with 101 ideas for promoting their books. Tell them you’ll post them online.

Check out John's site for 101 More Ways . . .
Posted by Joanna Campbell Slan at 6:33 AM 0 comments
Labels: audiences, books, Kremer, marketing, media, promotion, public relations, ways

How to Pitch a Reporter on Covering YOU

2008-04-14T07:49:00.001-07:00

I contacted a newspaper I once worked for...and even though my book isn't out yet (but it can be pre-ordered through Amazon), I wrangled a nice interview:

http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/04/14/life/features/1031691.txt

Because book pages are slowly going the way of the dinosaur, it behooves us to "pitch" reporters who may not be book reviewers. I went to the newspaper site, trawled around for articles, and decided Arlene looked like a good match for what I had to offer. Then I called her and made my pitch. We noodled around, and she suggested the slant for the interview.

You know, the media are "herd" animals. They don't want to be left out of a good story. I remember when I worked for newspapers and freelanced for radio--the news director would go through all the day's stories and grill the reporters with, "Why didn't we get this story? Check it out. Do a follow up."

What makes a story newsworthy?

1. A unique angle (see the link above)
2. A local or seasonal tie
3. Number of people affected and how close to home it happened
4. Sex,blood, money, scandal and celebrity
5. Human interest--which includes humor and a look at other people's lives
6. Something new....

The more of those qualities you can pitch, the more likely you are to get coverage. Visualize a slot machine: How many cherries can you get in a row? In fact, if you go through the interview, you'll see she and I touched on all of the above. (The "blood" being I wrote a mystery.)

Joanna

Three things I had to do in order to sell

2008-03-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

It's so hard being "almost there" with a story. You love your work, you're getting positive rejections, so what does it take to sell? For me, it was all about making the story bigger. And, I know, you're saying you've heard it before. So did I. But I didn't know what it meant. I had to push my writing to a level I had never gone to before, but I found three things were the key.

The "no way" factor
My characters had to take bigger chances, have more to risk and lose. It's easy to say, but a hard thing for a writer to do. It's a vulnerable, risky place to be. I knew my story was big enough to sell when instead of ending my writing sessions thinking, "I hope that's good enough to impress an editor." I ended them thinking, "No. I didn't not just write that. I did not just make my character defend herself with a toilet brush and a can of Purple Prairie Clover air freshener."

The "brainstorm" factor
The first thing you think of might be good, but chances are the 20th thing will be even better. When I was trying to think of a hidden hideout for my biker witch characters, the first idea that popped into my head was an abandoned biker bar. Kind of neat, right? Instead of going with it, I sat down and brainstormed twenty ideas. The first five or so come easy. The rest really make you stretch and think. One of those twenty ideas became a fun, quirky hideout for my witches - an abandoned riverboat that they'd enchanted years earlier (while drunk on dandelion wine). Now they not only need a safe place, but they need to catch the Choking spells, Lose Your Keys spells, not to mention the Frozen Underwear spells ready to attack from around corners and behind the old jukebox.

The "surprise" factor
Follow your story in new directions, because if you're enjoying the surprise, chances are your readers will too. When I sat down to write my book, I had no notes about a sidekick for my heroine. But in the second chapter, when she'd learned she was a demon slayer and all hell was after her, she took comfort in her dog. As I was writing, I thought, 'This is a sweet moment. Now how do I throw her off?' Simple. I made the dog say something to her. Nothing big. After all, he's only after the fettuccine from last week. And he knows exactly where my heroine can find it (back of the fridge, to the left of the lettuce crisper, behind the mustard). It amused me, so I did it. Thanks to her unholy powers, my heroine can now understand her smart-mouthed Jack Russell Terrier. I had fun with it. In fact, I suspect Pirate the dog is my editor's favorite character. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Pirate helped talk my editor into buying The Accidental Demon Slayer.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is - make your writing an adventure. Don't be afraid to step out, take risks and push your story to the next level.

Angie Fox is the author of The Accidental Demon Slayer, coming from Dorchester this summer. Visit her at www.AngieFox.com.

How I sold my first book

2008-03-04T10:38:00.000-08:00

Or: Everything I needed to know, I learned from George Costanza

I've always loved to read, so it was no surprise to anyone when I eventually decided to write a book of my own. When I did, I attacked it head on. I planned, I worked, I outlined more than any woman should. The end result? I wrote three mysteries that didn't sell.

I don't know how many of you watch Seinfeld, but there is a time in George's life where he decides what he's been doing hasn't been working, so he decides to do the opposite. That's what I did with my books. I'd been writing serious mysteries, with lots of science and research involved. They'd generated some interest, enough to almost, almost sell. But nothing quite happened.

To take my mind off the latest manuscript making the rounds with agents, I decided to write something completely different, a funny paranormal mystery where I could build my own world and make up my own rules. I fell in love with the idea of a preschool teacher who is forced to run off with a gang of geriatric biker witches and THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER was born.

Instead of a 20-page plot outline, I had a 5-page list of ideas, one of which included "but little did they know, all the Shoney's are run by werewolves." Instead of following the rules, I broke a few. Instead of painstakingly writing over the course of a year, I giggled my way through the book and had a complete manuscript in five months.

The opening chapters did well in contests and caught the eye of an editor, who asked to see the whole thing. That same editor bought the book less than a week after I finished it.

I still can't believe THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER will be an August 2008 release. And just this morning, I was working on the sequel, laughing with the characters and having more fun than I should.

While I'm not sure Seinfeld is the best place to go for life lessons, I really do think there's something to be said for following your instincts - in writing and in everything else. Can you think of a time you've taken a different path? Broken out of a pattern and started something new?

Angie Fox is the award-winning author of THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER series. Visit her at www.AngieFox.com

The Hero's Journey Begins

2008-02-14T03:49:00.000-08:00

Last night Jason Heisserer, Phd., presented Part I of The Hero's Journey. The near-devine hero is a basic archetype which embodies and exemplifies character traits valued by humans. While some traits may vary from culture to culture as well as become reshaped through the course of time, some few are enduring and universal. It is those timeless traits that writers must harness in order to engage readers at the very core of what it means to be human. Part II on March 12 will help us discover these crucial traits.

Fedora AMIS

February is NATIONAL LIBRARY LOVERS MONTH

2008-02-13T12:31:00.000-08:00

Library Lovers' Month is a month-long celebration of school, public, and private libraries of all types. This is a time for everyone, especially library support groups, to recognize the value of libraries and to work to assure that the Nation's libraries will continue to serve.

How can you help?

Try a few of the great ideas on the Library Lovers Page--"How to Love Your Library"

http://www.librarysupport.net/librarylovers/how.html

Fedora AMIS--library lover

A Dozen Tips from Leighton Gage

2008-02-09T13:13:00.000-08:00

Leighton Gage passed on great ideas for all of us who write. Here are a few of his words of wisdom:

1. Throw away your first book. Gage feels his first effort was a learning tool, not worthy of publication.

2. Outline. Yes, he's one of the "outline" camp. It gives a writer direction and keeps you from writing yourself into a corner. He suggested this to his daughter, so you know he believes it.

3. Learn by writing. He suggests that the activity of writing is an education. You learn by sitting down, working on a book, seeing what does and doesn't pan out, and tearing your work apart.

4. Join International Thriller Writers and their debut author group. Gage belongs to all the writers' organizations but he says ITW's debut author group is the best value he's had for his buck because all the authors are in the same spot in their careers--and helping each other. After your book debuts, you can remain a member for 18 months.

5. Use blurbs that match the style and tone of your book. Gage's editor or publisher turned down offers of blurbs by famous names. Why? Their writing style wasn't a good match with his.

6. Ask for blurbs. He sent emails to prominent authors whose work he felt meshed well with his and had a few favorable responses.

7. Build your own author tour. Although his publishing house wouldn't spring for a "regular" author tour, he started with an offer from one bookstore to do a signing and added on other bookstore visits as he and his wife planned their trip.

8. Read JA Konrath's blog and Newbie's Guide to Publishing. (Konrath will make a special presentation to our group on April 16.)

9. Carry a prepared presentation but be flexible. Although he had a "canned" speech, when he discovered his audience was mainly authors, Gage adjusted. He was a genial and generous guest, sharing what he'd learned and asking questions about our experiences.

10. Consider why you are doing what you're doing before committing marketing funds. Gage doesn't think book trailers are necessarily of value. He thinks that book trailers are probably most viewed by other authors. So although his background is that of being a documentary film maker, he's not keen to do his own book trailer. Yet.

11. Use your Crime Space site as a way to post information you want to get up quickly--so you don't have to always go through your webmaster. He posts video there, as you can see from the earlier post that Donna put up.

12. Sign your book on the page where the title, your name, and the publisher's name all appear.

Happy Homes for Writers

2008-02-04T00:58:00.000-08:00

I thought you might like to know St. Louis is among
America's Most Literate Cities, 2007

The Top Ten

1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Seattle, WA
3. St. Paul, MN
4. Denver, CO
5. Washington, DC
6. St. Louis, MO (Up from 12th)
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Atlanta, GA
9. Pittsburgh, PA
10.Boston, MA

Drawing from a variety of available data resources, the America's Most Literate Cities study ranks the 69 largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. The original study was published online in 2003 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Dr. John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University, is the author of this study. Research for this edition of AMLC was conducted in collaboration with the Center for Public Policy and Social Research at CCSU

Eleven Promotional Ideas for a Newbie Author

2008-01-31T11:36:00.000-08:00

Attending a conference is fun, but it's also expensive. There are travel costs, registration fees, food, lodging and time away from writing. So...the question is, "How do I maximize my presence?" For me that means, "How do I promote myself and my book, Paper, Scissors, Death?"

My mystery won't debut until September. Still, it seems silly to "waste" this opportunity even though I don't have a book in hand. After all, I know that I make a note of books I want to read and I might not buy them for months! Surely other people have the same habits. And, I remember from my days in advertising that it takes many exposures for people to form an impression. But those exposures can't be spaced too far apart. Waiting until my book hits the shelves means all those exposures would come AFTER the book is out. And those 6 weeks afterwards are critical because that's when sell-through happens. It makes sense to start now...if I can do it economically.

Here are all the promotional activities I've undertaken for my visit to Love Is Murder on Dark and Stormy Nights. I won't be able to tell right away which of these have been valuable. Maybe when my book comes out, I'll be more sure of what worked and what didn't.

1. Interviews--I offered to interview the headliners for LIM. This has given me the chance to ask questions of the best and brightest: Tess Gerritsen, Lee Child, Barry Eisler and Joe Konrath. Plus, the interviews were shared in the LIM newsletter, and I can now post them in the resource section of my website. My aim: To be on the radar screen of some of the nation's best authors. You never know whom you'll click with. Or who will bring you the next big opportunity.

2. Business cards--I was told to wait, but that's silly. How do you follow up a meeting without information? I had the cards printed with my book cover on the front. (A tip from Elaine Viets.) The ISBN is on everything. As my pal Angie Fox said, "It's like the Social Security number for your book." Should I get a tattoo? Nah.

3. Proposal for a presentation--My unique ability is my background as a professional speaker. So I offered to do a presentation on speaking before groups. The LIM people thought this was a worthwhile idea, and now it's scheduled.

4. Appearances--I was fortunate enough to be assigned as moderator on one panel and participant on another.

5. Panel descriptions--How do people choose which panel to attend? I tried to write my descriptions in such a way that they were full of promise...promise that I knew I could deliver. I want to brand myself as offering tremendous value while having fun.

When Romance Leads to…A romantic encounter can make a character more real, more vulnerable and more deadly. They can move a plot along or stop it in its tracks. We’ll share our favorite racy scenes and discuss what makes a romantic climax, uh, climactic! The useful takeaway? Our list of helpful ideas for writing romantic encounters. Plus, lots of chocolate hugs and kisses to get you in the mood.

How to be a Better Panelist Or presenter. Or guest speaker. Do your knees knock when you speak in public? Are you scared you will make a fool of yourself? Would you rather die than appear before a group? We can help. (With the speaking part. The dying on the platform stuff is up to you.) Public appearances are an important promotional tool for authors. We’ll share proven ideas used by the top professional speakers. These ideas will make your presence memorable, enjoyable and profitable. Don’t miss the handout: Top Tips for Presenters.

6. Handouts--This is a key. But the handouts can NOT be self-serving. So the handout for the "Writers Dish on Writers" compiles a list of debut authors including me. I figure those in the audience are looking to expand their TBR list. For "How to Be a Better Panelist. Or Presenter. Or Guest Speaker." I created a list of tips. Some are on the handout, but the list was so extensive, the majorityare going on my website under "Resources." They should be up by Monday. For "When Romance Leads to..." I compiled some of the best thoughts from those who do a cracker-jack job of writing romantic scenes, and I added Internet and traditional book resources. Of course, on all the handouts, I share my details.

7. Recipe Cards and Homemade Cookies--Hokey, I know. But every time I've seen them offered, people snatch them up. On the front is a recipe, on the back is info about my book and a contest (see next), and my book cover is in color on the cards.

8. Pre-Order Contest--Vicki Erwin of Main Street Books was kind enough to agree to take pre-sales. ( mstbstchas@sbcglobal.net 636-949-0105 ) She'll keep a list of all the pre-ordered books. From those, I'll draw one purchaser's name to be included as a character in book #2.

9. Bookmarks--Pretty standard stuff, except that I'm customizing each one with a scrapbooking embellishment. I did a trial run of these and discovered people oooohhhhed and aaaaahhhed over them.

10. Prizes--As a motivational speaker, I was always pleasantly surprised by how excited audiences got when they won something. So I had customized bags of M & Ms made up. The colors are the same as my book cover. They say "Get Kiki" on one side, and "PSD 2008" on the other.

11. A Small TBR Album--I've also noticed that folks seem really astonished that I actually do scrapbook. So I've made the most adorable TBR album to show off. It reinforces my niche and brands me.Okay, that's it so far. Now I'm staring out the window at the snow storm and crossing my fingers that after all this work, I can actually fly into Chicago!

Posted by Joanna Campbell Slan at 9:15 AM

Tribute to a Missouri-born Mystery Writer

2008-01-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

I thought you might take a moment to read this. Not many mystery writers are likely to half-staff the flags at the ship which saw the end of WWII like Harry's little girl who sang (offkey) in the White House while Harry played the piano.
Fedora AMIS

The following contains excerpts from the tribute by CAPT Donald R. Hess, USN (Ret.) of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, Pearl Harbor.

January 29, 2008

Today, the flags of the Battleship Missouri Memorial are flying at half-staff in memory of Margaret Truman Daniel. We, the board of directors, staff and volunteers of the Battleship Missouri, the 'President's Ship,' are saddened by the loss of a beloved figure in our ship's history. Our hearts and prayers are with the Truman family. Our veterans fondly remember that day when, exactly 64 years ago, Ms. Truman, 19, christened the USS Missouri in a traditional champagne launching ceremony in Brooklyn Navy Yard on Jan. 29, 1944, while her father, still the senator from Missouri, offered his remarks. "We have lost another link to our history, but she will live on in our hearts and memories, and in our efforts to preserve the continuing legacy of the Mighty Mo for future generations.

Lee Lofland's Blog

2008-01-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

Our friend Lee Lofland shared this news:

Hi there. I'm starting a new blog and thought you might want to take a peek at the test page. Actually, the blog is more of a fact/Q&A site for writers regarding police procedure/CSI/forensics. Let me know what you think. http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/
Lee Lofland
Police Procedure and Investigation, A Guide For Writers
www.leelofland.com

Check out his site. You'll find it's full of information that we mystery writers can really use.

A retired detective, Lee was one of our headliners at the first Forensic U. He's a treasury of interesting stories. I've found him to be very responsive when I ask a question. In fact, I'm thanking him in my first book!