Author Archives: Murderati

Things I Learned At RWA

Last week I ventured down to Orlando for the RWA conference. For those of you unfamiliar with the acronym, RWA is Romance Writers of America. RWA is to romance writers what ITW eventually could be for thriller writers, and I say eventually because RWA has 10,000 writers on its rolls, 145 chapters, and a conference that quite simply smokes everything I’ve ever been to. That’s not a knock on ITW – I adore the organization, have bled, sweated and cried for them, and thought this year’s Thrillerfest was the best yet. Pretty impressive considering they’re only 5 years old.

But RWA is… different.

After the event was moved to Orlando from Nashville after the Flood™, I had my doubts about attending. A – I was terribly upset that they’d pulled out (*more on that later). I felt like if they’d given us a chance, we could have worked out the conference, and the hotels, etc. But I was doing a workshop with Allison, and didn’t want to shirk my obligations there. B – it was my husband’s birthday. Birthdays are a big deal in the Ellison household. We’d planned around RWA, with so many of our friends coming to town, we were going to have a lovely little party. Suddenly, all that went up in smoke. C – it’s been a BIG travel year. Another plane, another hotel, another five days away from work, just rang my bell (and my wallet. This is a pricey con, the most expensive out there. BUT ALL INCLUSIVE – so it really saves you money.)

If it had been anywhere but Orlando, I would have bailed. But we’ve got family in the central Florida region, so I planned to go ahead. Big mistake. One I won’t make again in the future. Traffic, driving unfamiliar roads, and being walloping sick with some sort of plague we caught in New York that necessitated two rounds of antibiotics (which I’m still on) made it a real pain in the ass. And I couldn’t do any of the big events, because driving 90 minutes at midnight seemed like a bad idea.

So I stuck to the days, and attended the lunches, and some workshops.

And found out that all my preconceived notions about RWA were wrong, wrong, wrong.

I’m honestly not sure where to begin.

Let’s start with the Literacy Signing. 600 authors. Lines of people that numbered in the thousands. $60,000+ raised for literacy. Holy Smokes, right?

I went in planning to watch and learn, and was shocked and surprised to find that several people knew me, came to see me, and were sharing me with their friends. Those are the finest, most uplifting words an author can hear – “I loved it so much I had to tell all my friends to read it.” Sharing is good. It makes us happy.

Or the Harlequin signing, where I signed for 90 minutes without a break (granted, I was next to Heather Graham) and came out just rocked with excitement – that’s a lot of new readers to touch in one sitting.

Revelation number one: Alex and Allison and Toni have been preaching it for a while now, but the literacy and HQN events proved it. Romance readers READ, and not just romance. They read everything. Ignore them at your own peril, I’ll tell you that. I think it sometimes takes seeing something with your own eyes for it to register fully. Well, if you have any trust in me whatsoever, listen to what I’m saying. If you’re a writer, published or not, you should go to RWA at least once. It’s a magnificent display of publishing – still in its glorious hey dey, still reaching millions of people, still the coolest, craziest and most uplifting job in the world. Anyone who thinks books are dead needs to go to this conference.

And the girl power was unmistakable. Alex and I met a sweet girl from Germany who has the soul of a poet (you can read it in people’s eyes, truly) and when she asked how we knew each other, and Alex said we were probably burned together at the stake for being witches in a past life SHE GOT IT. Hoo-rah! Sometimes the boys look at us, well, strangely is the best term. It was fun to swim in the estrogen ocean for once.

Revelation number two: I learned that the umbrella of “romantic suspense” is much, much broader than I’d originally thought. I have an ongoing love story. It’s not predominant, and I’ve always heard that for RS the rule is the romance must predominate and the suspense must come second. Well, I figured out this weekend that that’s all a matter of very subjective taste. I’m a thriller writer, no doubt, but I’m probably just one orgasm away from being solid romantic suspense.

Therein lies the rub – the boy books have sex, and no one’s calling them romances. John Sandford has Lucas Davenport get it on with his wife (and in previous books, an indiscriminant amount of women) and no one would ever think to call him RS. So why does a woman writer have to be labeled that way? Because women won’t pick up a Sandford book knowing they’re going to get some hot sex? What about Barry Eisler? Lee Child? Vince Flynn?

Revelation number three: I guess it’s safe to say that though I read and enjoy romantic suspense and straight romance, I’ve always avoided the label so I could maintain a base of male readers. Which is kind of stupid thinking, but you know, I’m new, and I’m going to make mistakes. Coming out of RWA, I’m not even sure that the genre labels matter. I’m realizing we get ourselves pretty twerped out over exactly where we fit into the pie, and that’s just not as vital to know anymore, because the genres are melding anyway. Write the best damn story you can possibly come up with, and you’ll attract readers. Their gender doesn’t matter.

Revelation number four: What’s important is branding. I think the brand is the key. After a great deal of thinking, here’s what I came up with (with a major nod to Alex Kava for planting this thought…)

People know that if they pick up a novel by JT Ellison, they’ll get a strong female lead, a fast-paced story centering on a crime, and a glimpse into Nashville, Tennessee. Three little things that are very brand specific, and none have anything to do with genre labels.

I’ll tell you something else. I started reading JD Robb’s SEDUCTION IN DEATH on my way home. That book is as dark and nasty – possibly even more so – than any of mine. I’d always thought it was romance heavy, and boy was I wrong. I see how a master makes this work – you can have sex, and violence, and ruminations on love and relationships, all against the backdrop of a futuristic world, without it having to have a label. It’s simply a great story.

Lightbulb. Over. Head.

Revelation number five: RWA is what this is all about. There are so many different kinds of writers there. I walked away inspired, scared, confused and eventually inspired again. I am already making plans to go to #RWA11 in New York next June. And this time, I’m going to take in every little bit this conference has to offer, whether I’m feeling up for it or not.

I realize I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I took away from RWA. But I’ve detained you long enough. So next post, I’m going to talk about one of the workshops I attended, given by Donald Mass, and the bizarre revelation I had about what voice really is.

So let’s talk about labels today. I’d love to hear from some of our industry professionals on just how much they should matter to the writer as he/she are writing, or whether it’s a marketing tool for the publishers more than anything else. And for the readers: is there a genre you won’t pick up and read because you have a preconceived notion of what will lie therein? Any revelations you’ve had about different writers or genres?

Wine of the Week: Villa Pozzi Nero D’Avola – this wine was truly spectacular. Dark, jammy, smoky – one of the finest nero d’avolas I’ve ever had, and ridiculously inexpensive.

*A note about the RWA move from Nashville to Orlando. After seeing the massive scale that this conference covers, from all the attendees to incredible organizers and goodies and workshops and dinners and lunches and parties and awards and even the incredible conference program, I now completely understand WHY they had to move. And had to move they did – to be honest, that the conference ran as smoothly as it did was a feat of Herculean proportions, and my hat is off to RWA for pulling it off. I rescind any previous snark about pulling out of Nashville. But I do hope y’all will think about coming back. We have a lot to offer.

Breaking Rules to Break In or Break Out

by Allison Brennan

On Saturday, I presented a workshop with J.T. and Bantam editor Shauna
Summers called “Breaking Rules to Break in or Break Out.” I’ve given
this workshop many times and it changes each and every presentation.

Three years ago, the Orange County RWA chapter were the guinea pigs for
this workshop. I had been frustrated by the so-called “rules” imposed on
writers that I felt stifled creativity and weakened an author’s voice.
So I polled published authors I knew and asked for their first sales
stories, specifically what “rule” they broke that they felt helped them
sell. Some authors blended genres in a way that others told them
wouldn’t sell, some authors set their story in an “unpopular” time era,
others pushed the envelop with story or characters.

The workshop has evolved, largely because I hate giving the same
presentation twice. I’ve given it at RWA, at the New Jersey RWA
conference, and on-line via email loop. The primary purpose is to teach
writers that we all have rules we adhere to, because they are OUR rules.
For example, because I write romantic suspense, my personal rules is
that 1) the hero and heroine must survive in the end and 2) they must be
closer at the end of the book, so the reader can believe that they have
a HEA in their future. I also ensure that the bad guy gets what’s coming
to him, because justice-for me-must be served.

But other rules I’ve been told by some critique partners or contest
judges or even reading the advice of other published authors, agents,
and editors, doesn’t work for ME. For example, I like writing in
multiple viewpoints–sometimes more than four, six, eight, ten. The most
I’ve used is thirteen. My only rule is that transitions must be clear.
My editor helps keep me on the straight and narrow there. But some
people will tell you never write in more than (insert arbitrary number
here, usually 3 or 4) POVs.

Following rules that don’t fit you or your voice conforms your writing
to match everyone elses. What’s the fun in that? Why will an editor buy
your book if it sounds like the hundred other submissions she just read?
It’s the stories that practically sing with character and voice that
draw an editor, agent, reader in . . . Not whether you followed all the
“rules.”

Rules are important, but breaking rules is fun. But more important than
being fun and creative, is that rules-or the lack thereof-is crucial in
developing voice and style and making you stand out from all the other
writers writing in your genre.

I always learn something at every conference I go to. Otherwise, I would
probably stop going. But seriously, no matter how many times I go, I
pick up something I can apply to my own writing life.

What did I learn, or was reminded about, in my own workshop? Editors
generally buy on voice and character. Don’t break rules just for the
sake of breaking rules, break rules with a purpose. Too many cooks (or
critique partners or contest judges or well-meaning friends!) will
destroy your story. As Stephen King says, write with the door closed and
edit with the window open. Meaning, write for yourself first, but don’t
let everyone in during editing–only those you completely trust.

You will never please everyone. There will always be people who hate
your book. I’d rather have people who love my book or hate my book than
people who are lukewarm about my book. (Of course, I really want more
people to love it than hate it!) So write for yourself, edit smartly,
ignore the rules that don’t work for you or the story, and in the end,
your story will be stronger for it and you’ll be happier.

But the one reminder that I needed now more than ever came from Nora
Roberts in her “chat.” No excuses. Put your ass in the chair and write.
Stop whining, stop complaining, stop blaming. No one said it would be
easy, and you have to want it. You have to be hungry for it, have
passion for it, be willing to make sacrifices for it. What is IT? For
many at RWA it was simply “being published.” But for the published, what
is it? I had to think about that. For me, it’s writing a better book
than my last, to stay focused, to simply be a stronger, better writer.
And sometimes that’s hard to believe possible. We all doubt. But that’s
the excuse. My goal is now to DO. No more excuses. Put my ass in the
chair and write.

I’m traveling home today and hope to check in periodically between
flights. I hope you’ll chat about something you’ve learned at a
conference that you’ve applied to your writing life and to what result?

Fat City

by Rob Gregory Browne

I am so fucking fat.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve put on at least forty pounds in the last four years. That’s ten pounds a year folks. Disgusting.

This really hit home when I was in Hawaii last week. You see, going to Honolulu is kind of a free-for-all in the food department. Even though we rent a house, we usually dine out every meal (although breakfast is often just a cup of coffee).

And when I say dine out—you gotta understand. Hawaiians (meaning people who live in Hawaii, not just the native Hawaiians) REALLY know how to eat.

Here’s the typical plate lunch, which is a staple over there:

Three hamburger steak patties, two scoops of white rice, A scoop of macaroni salad and one honking shitload of gravy.

Substitute chicken, fish, teri beef, tonkatsu for the hamburger on subsequent days of the week.

And that’s just lunch.

Anyway, after eating like that for a week and a half, you tend to walk around feeling like you’ve been vacationing on a cruise liner and hitting the buffet every ten minutes.

Don’t even ask me about undressing in front of a mirror. Burn that image into your brain folks—it’s certainly burnt into mine.

Around about day six, I could barely walk. I was dragging my fat around like a pregnant otter. I took a look at myself and said, “Rob, this is ridiculous. You’re turning into a blimp. Seriously, you’ve gotta do something about it.”

I think I can safely say that my wife agrees. And I don’t blame her.

So now I AM doing something about it. Ever since we got back, I’ve begun watching my calories again—which is how I lost 50 lbs back in 2005. (Can anyone say YoYo?)

I find that if there’s actually low cal food around—meaning fruit and veggies and other goodies—I don’t have a problem eating right. But if there’s nothing in the house… ugh. I’m tempted to grab a tortilla and a pound of cheese and make a half dozen quesadillas.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to resist such temptation so far. And every day, I enter my consumed calorie count into my little iPhone Lose It! app (thank you, Brett) and watch my progress. In fact, in just a few days of not eating heavy island-style food, I’m already feeling lighter on my feet.

Go figure.

The great thing about Lose It! is that you can enter you current weight, your target weight and a few other factors, along with the date you’d like to achieve that target, and it’ll tell you how many calories you can consume a day.

Currently, I’m at 1,869. Which isn’t bad, considering the average is 2,500 for males.

As of this writing, after breakfast lunch and dinner, I’ve only consumed 1,416 calories.

ICE CREAM!!!

But I think I’ll go for a walk, first. That’ll subtract a couple hundred calories from my count.

Nothing like food for incentive, eh?

So the question today is, do you ever diet? And what diet plan do you use or recommend?

there is joy

by Toni McGee Causey

I can tell you up front, I know no secrets about writing. I had sort of hoped that, by this point, I would have found the mysterious code, the secret handshake, the door in the back that opens with just the right combination of knocks and pauses. There may be such things; I don’t know them.

I’ve thought about that a lot this last year. When I knew that I was going to write something else besides a Bobbie Faye novel, I felt a sense of exhilaration, followed almost immediately by a sense of terror. I’d been hostess to that set of characters for almost seven years, at that point. It was a bit like growing up with the same friends, going to the same school, living in the same house in the same small town; at some point, you yearn to see what the rest of the world is like.

That series started off as a script, and then after deciding to adapt it to a novel, I had to work long and hard to break myself of a bunch of script-writing habits and re-learn how to write fiction. The whole ability to show internal thoughts? wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Seriously. That was a trip and a high after years of having to keep everything external and yet somehow physically convey the internal, or use dialog, without getting to dip even a toe into the interiority of a character. (The exception, of course, is voice-over, and I’m not a fan. I think it shows a weak script, most of the time.)

It was time for a change, though, and the problem with suddenly having that freedom is that there were too many options.

For the first couple of months, I thought I’d develop something funny, since that seemed to be my “niche.” The oddity about that as my niche is that it’s really not what I first loved to write. Everything I’d written in the early script years had been very dark, psychologically. The humor was something I didn’t think I could write. Oh, I was a natural smartass, and I learned early on to curb that online (bit me in the ass a few times, it did)… but conveying humor on paper? I hadn’t really planned on it, and yet, my screenwriting agent at the time felt like I should give it a try. [And that script still gets calls, almost 14 years later. It’s been optioned and re-optioned. I refer it as the script that refuses to die.]

Funny became my bailiwick. I loved it, it was a joy to get letters from people who were going through really crappy days or months, and learn that I’d helped them through it. There’s just nothing quite like that feeling, when you read those letters. So I thought I’d do that again, just set in a different world.

I brainstormed the world, had the characters, and tried to write. And a frustrating thing happened: it went dark. Not just a little dark. Not like mildly slate gray when you were aiming for the whitewash of dawn. It went very dark. Bleak in places.

The story and I had a talking to–a come to Jesus meeting if you will. It seemed to agree to shape up, to do what it was told, so I would throw out the pages and start over, and try to go back to the lighter side. It curved on me, swerving back. Nothing I did worked.

I got a lot of well meaning advice at the time about sticking with what I was known for, keeping my fans happy, and so on, and every single bit of that is valid. People who have built amazing long-term careers said these things to me, so there was no doubt they were speaking from experience.

And the more I tried to pretzel that story, the more miserable I was. I sort of hated writing there for a while. In fact, we kinda broke up. I didn’t mention it here, but I had started to wonder if I was a writer, you know? I couldn’t get that damned story to work, and I couldn’t leave the idea behind. It had grabbed me by a chokehold and I was squirming away.

It was back in October and early November when several friends said a few things to me. I would like to think it was provenance, fate. I hope it wasn’t because I was whining incessantly. [I was whining, people.]

That’s when I had the realization that I hadn’t gotten into writing to do just one thing. I get bored easily. I hadn’t become a writer because I thought I’d be famous. (The Naked Cowboy is famous. These days, you can do the stupidest thing on the planet, and be famous. Thinking you’re going to write a book, one among hundreds of thousands and suddenly be famous? Not likely.) And nobody sane gets into writing for the money. Just look at the flux publishing is in today–nobody really knows what the hell is going to happen two years from now. Two years ago, e-readers were the clunky dim future and nothing worth worrying about. Now? The percentage of ebook sales is rising, fast, and there are all sorts of quakes ripping through the industry. It’s going to change by next month, and definitely by next year, so writing for the money is fairly laughable. The majority of writers either have a job to support them, or are lucky enough that a spouse can handle the bills while they toil away, hoping to create something that will sell.

So, then, why the hell write?

Because I can’t not write.

I quit fighting the story.

If it was going to go dark, then fine, we’d go dark. If it wanted to be told in first person, then dammit, we’d do first person. (Scared the living hell out of me, that one did. I had never written a first person story. Ever. Thought I never would.) If it was going to break my heart a dozen times over how hard the main character’s life was, well, then, fine.

I would simply tell the story.

And it started working.

I’m here at a point in the story where today felt like I was carving each word out of my own skin, syllable by bloody syllable, because the scene was painful. People lose things, in this scene, that cannot be recovered. It changes everything for them in this story. And as painful as it was, as scared as I had been to go here, I have to tell you, I sat back at the end of this day, and there was joy.

I am so grateful I didn’t listen to the peer pressure of doing the same sort of thing I’d done before. I will go back to lighter stories–I have another one I already know I want to do, eventually. But I am so grateful that my friends–several ‘Rati members included–encouraged me to go with my instincts. I can’t write that to you as someone who sold this thing–I’ve held it back, with the blessings of my agent–because I didn’t want it out there until it could be a whole book. If I do it right, if I pull it off, it will be heartbreaking, but the end will be worth it. So when I tell you that there is joy, it’s a joy of the writing. There is no other reward, here, than that, because everything else is fleeting.

The first couple of years of being a writer, there is so much pressure to promote. No one really knows what works; it’s all a guess. I’ve tried a lot of stuff, because people said I needed to, and some of it might’ve helped, and a lot of it was completely useless, as far as I could tell. The first couple of years, you spend a lot of time suddenly caught up in the spin cycle of publishing–writing as fast as you can, sending things off, getting the next book started or the next proposal done, proofing copy edits, writing a bit more on the current one, starting up promotional stuff, proofing the galleys, frantically writing more of the next one, trying to squeeze living and family in there, having very little time to breathe, much less enjoy.

None of it matters more than the work.

At the RWA conference last year, I went to an early morning no-holds-barred chat giving by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. (She’s got a gazillion NYT bestsellers under her belt and is gorgeous and nice. You kinda want to smack her for being perfect, except she’s funny and disarming and you end up liking her a lot before you know what happened.) She said a lot of useful things, but at one point late in the hour, she said, “Whatever you do, protect the work. The work is all you have.”

There is a joy in that. I honestly know that I am writing far far better than I did before. Everything about how I write has changed with this book. That part is neither better or worse–just different, I suppose. What’s important is that I didn’t keep thinking, “Well, I should do it this way or I should do that other thing, because that’s what’s expected.” Instead, I said, “What does this story want to say?”

I love what I do. I am so incredibly grateful I get to do it. I may never sell again, and I will be bummed, if that happens, but I’m here to tell you that this part? This writing what is gut-wrenching and honest and letting the story stay true to itself?

Pure joy.

Sometimes, it’s going in the complete unexpected direction that will break you free of the chains, and bring you joy.

And speaking of joy, I could not end this post without giving you the Jane Austen Fight Club.

What brings you joy, my friends?

(By the way, I’m woefully behind on updating my website, through no fault of my excellent webmistress, Maddee, so if you want to follow me, it’s easier to find me on Twitter or Facebook.)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

By JT

I started writing my seventh Taylor Jackson novel this week. This is cause for great rejoicing on many levels, obviously, but the process of beginning a novel is only part of the fun. It’s not as simple as opening a Word file and starting to type. Oh, no. There are steps that must be taken, superstitions adhered to. Some would call this throat clearing, will admonish me to just get to work already. There’s something magical about this time, and I like to keep it sacred.

While the actual book writing started this week, the story has been brewing for quite a while. Since I heard this song on my radio September 14, 2009, to be exact.

I went home and downloaded it, wrote myself a note: “Welcome to London” Memphis Book. That was it. The page was turned and the idea went … not all the way away, but out of sight, into the wilds of my mind. It had a cozy home, obviously well nourished, because everything that happened in THE IMMORTALS and SO CLOSE THE HAND OF DEATH lead to this story. My mind did all the work, subconsciously driving the gossamer threads of my Muse into a cohesive form. In other words, the idea stewed.

Books are strange beasts, and the concept of ideas even more fantastical. Whatever process exists in the creative mind that allows an author to hear a song and almost a year later realize that song forced itself into the very psyche of the stories that were being created and developed into a story in its own right… well, I’ve never been one to sneeze at our minds’ capabilities, that’s for sure.

So back to the process. I revisited the idea several months ago as I was finishing SO CLOSE, knowing I’d have to do a bunch of research to make it work. That research involved going to England and Scotland if I had any hope of the book playing out the way I envisioned. Plus, the book is a Gothic, so it needed all the correct elements to come fully alive, elements that can’t be readily found in my leather chair in my living room in Nashville. I broached the idea to my better half, who is always up for an adventure, bless him. And then serendipity appeared in the form of my debut novel, ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS, which was slated for an August 20 release date in the UK. At BEA, I mentioned to my publisher that I needed to go to the UK to do research for book 7, and they thought it would be a super idea to combine that trip with media for the debut.

Which is how Randy and I found ourselves standing at the top of Edinburgh Castle last week.

We had a brilliant trip. Following Thrillerfest in New York, which was amazing (Stephen’s post captured the spirit quite well – I’m just glad there wasn’t a full moon over Manhattan, the energy in that crowd would have turned erotic – and this was without our Alex!) we headed to London, hopped the train to Scotland, spent two days touring the countryside – all of it, from Edinburgh to St. Andrews to Inverness to Loch Ness and back, taking page after page of notes, over 600 pictures and three hours of video – then headed to London for the launch party, signings and radio interviews. The trip was only marred by the bronchitis that felled Randy when we arrived in London and followed us home (yes, I’ve caught it and am on antibiotics too. Major bummer.)

The London media machine is a little different than what I’ve experienced thus far in the US. Mira UK threw a Launch Lunch for Paul Johnston (MAPS OF HELL, a fabulous book!) and I that would be more aptly named a party. Wine and champagne flowed freely. We talked about books and life and constitutional Britain and Viscounts and more books. Old friends Ali Karim and Mike Stotter were there, which added to the celebratory atmosphere. There was no expectation of performance that I so often feel here – we were there to celebrate, and celebrate we did. It was very, very cool. Top it all off, we were lunching at The Luxe, which was literally catty-corner from Ten Bells, a Jack the Ripper haunt. Slick! Then we headed to Cambridge, to sign at the legendary Heffers. That’s where Zoë and I found each other.

That’s Henry Sutton in the background, of The Mirror, and a novelist in his own right – GET ME OUT OF HERE releases in the US in February, plus he’s got several other titles in the UK. How fun is that?

Back home, marginally recovered, I set about putting all that I had in order – marking up the pictures, uploading the video, pulling togther the remainder of the research, and building my box.

Yes, the book officially exists, because it has a box. It’s labeled with the title (one I really hope stands, WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE) I’m doing the Art Fact Sheet so we can have the perfect cover. Thanks to the fine folks at Exaclair, I have my purple Clairefontaine notebook, already full of notes, just waiting for more ideas. I pulled the stack of books that I need to read to get in the right frame of mind, I’ve started laying out the characters. I’m using Scrivener, and while I’m not outlining per se, I am doing a bit more planning, simply because I think I have 4 POV characters and I’m moving between countries again, and I find it easier to at least give myself a map if I’m going to do that.

I got so caught up in the excitement that I went so far as to take a quick try at an opening line – that’s when everything came to a screeching halt. It came out in first person. All stop. I don’t think I’m ready to conquer a Taylor novel from her POV in first. We’ll see what happens.

I’m keeping a book journal on this one, so I can see how I feel, what’s working and what isn’t. I’m curious to chart my course more fully than I have in the past – I look back on the previous six books in sheer wonderment. Did I really write them? Or was it some gremlin with blond hair who sits in my chair at night while I’m asleep and slings words onto the page? Sometimes that feels like a real possibility.

A few months ago, I also bought myself a Five Year journal so I can start keeping better track of what’s happening at any given time. I’m not good at journaling, but I think I owe it to myself. This blog has always been a journal of sorts for me, but I want to start keeping better track of what’s happening in my crazy life.

Do any of you journal? Book journal or regular daily journal? Do you have any tips to share that will help those of us lately come to the process?

Wine of the Week: Shared at a fine pub called The Queen’s Arms in Edinburgh – goes well with fish and chips – Perrin Cotes du Ventoux 2005

A Little R & R

by Rob Gregory Browne

You’ll have to forgive me for failing to show up at my appointed time last week. Thank you to Dusty for so graciously stepping in to cover for me. That’s one of the many great things about Murderati. You know you can count on your fellow bloggers to cover your ass.

Right now I’m lying in a little bedroom in Aina Haina, a suburb of Honolulu. We just arrived today and I’ve eaten an amazing sushi meal and I’m feeling a little zoned out, partly from the food, partly from the time change (it’s much later for me than the clock says) and partly because I’m coming down from one of the most intense experiences I’ve ever had as a writer.

They always say that your second published book is the hardest book to write. The reason, of course, is that when you writing your second book, life has suddenly changed for you and you have this little thing called a deadline to deal with. That puts a whole new twist on the situation. You’re no longer an apiring writer (although I’m not sure I like that term. If you’re writing regularly, you’re a writer, published or not), they’ve just paid you a hunk of money and it’s time to get professional. Meaning, get the book in on time.

Well, I’m here to tell you that your second book is nothing. It’s your seventh book that nearly kills you.

(No, those of you keeping track haven’t miscounted. I also write under a top secret pen name.)

After writing a draft of this current book very quickly, I was not satisfied with it. I turned it in, got some much needed guidance from my editor, and just spent the last several months restructuring the book and adding some 30,000 words. What I turned in on Monday is what I think is a much, much better book. Hopefully my editor will agree.

I have to tell you that the task of fixing this book is probably the hardest I’ve ever worked. I not only restructured, but the underlying mystery was changed, an entire subplot was scrapped and replaced with a new one, a new character added and a character who made a cameo in the original is now a major force in the story.

In other words, a LOT was done. Not only were those 30,000 words added, but probably 50,000 were completely revamped on top of that. In fact, there wasn’t a scene in the book that wasn’t changed.

Who ever said writing was easy?

So, now, here I sit, kicking back and taking it easy–or at least trying to. Despite taking off to Hawaii for some much needed R & R, I’m having a little trouble winding down. Although I have a feeling by tomorrow I’ll be doing just fine….

Anyway, no, not a lot to talk about — I’m all “talked” out right now. But I am interested to know:

1. What do you do to wind down after an intense period of work?

2. Where is your favorite place to go to get away?

Until next time….

in which I make up a point just to get to post this twitter feed

(a Twitter / Facebook / social media how-to)

by Toni McGee Causey

Okay, look, there are lots of discussions going on (one at Thrillerfest this weekend, moderated by our own Allison Brennan), wherein Social Networking is dissected and analyzed and pondered and ground to a pulp. Since I sadly was not at Thrillerfest (whimper) and missed their terrific panel, I have no clue what was discussed there… but I’m willing to bet that there was at least some reference to using social networking sites for “branding” and “getting your name out there” for the public and “keeping a presence” on the interwebs and promoting your book.

But, mostly, social networking is really just supposed to be social. You know. Fun.

[I will tell you one thing–I have had people follow me in order to be able to DM me about their latest release. It’s not a personal DM (direct message)… it’s a canned message. Spam. I hate it. I will not buy a book if I’m spammed like that. If you have a review that you’re proud of, that’s great. Or a blurb? Terrific. If someone is excited about someone else’s book and mentions it–wonderful–in fact, I’ll tend to pay more attention if someone is mentioning you than if you’re doing it yourself. I will follow links to reviews and I have bought books like this. But a direct spam in my private in-box? No. No no no no no. And really? No. Don’t do it. You don’t want to look smarmy and socially inept. You wouldn’t show up at my door in a shiny leisure suit when I was having a casual party for friends and barge in and announce that your book was out today and you had this great offer and by the way, what was my name again? Well, maybe some people would, and those people get deleted and ignored.][I don’t care *how* famous you are.]

So, back to social networking. I think it’s okay to mention what you’re working on, talking about the process of what you’re going through. It’s okay to mention when your book is coming out, because that’s an event in your life. But if all of your posts to Facebook and Twitter (etc.) are promotional, people are going to tune you out. You will become the equivalent of the DVR’d commercial: zip, on to the next interesting thing, instead of hanging around and getting to know you.

Instead, social media should be used for fun. Networking and promotional stuff is just a side benefit, a little lagniappe, if you will. Take, for example, this exchange Friday night, wherein we pick up this story with Colleen crouched on her sofa, wielding a spatula:

colleenlindsay

I’m not afraid to eat fried worms but I am afraid of this monster flying roach thingie that’s aiming for my head. #whyineedashotgun

ToniMcGeeCausey

@colleenlindsay A fast remedy for the flying roach and you’ll think I’m crazy, but it works–hair spray. If you don’t have bug spray.

colleenlindsay

@ToniMcGeeCausey Er, um, I have a buzz cut. Thus, I do not own hair spray.

ToniMcGeeCausey

@colleenlindsay oven cleaner? windex? really anything spray-able. Also, I now know what to tell your clients to get you for Christmas. 😉

Jinxie_G

@colleenlindsay Got any Raid? And a lighter? Instant flame thrower!

colleenlindsay

@Jinxie_G The way my luck has been going the past three weeks, I’m just as likely to set the whole house ablaze. Good suggestion, though!

Jinxie_G

@colleenlindsay Yeah, I thought of that after the fact. LOL Seriously thought, what Toni suggests should work with the sticky wings.

colleenlindsay

Damn it, SIGOURNEY WEAVER would know how to kill this giant roach!

ToniMcGeeCausey

@colleenlindsay uh, Sigourney didn’t fare so well by the third movie. She was having alien baby, killed self. Do not go down that path.

colleenlindsay

I swear to God Stinkyboy just offered that roach a martini.

[note to reader: Stinkyboy is Colleen’s cat.]

colleenlindsay

This roach needs to die. #whatwouldBrianBoitanodo? #hedmakeaplanandseeitthrough #withaflamethrowerprobably

literaticat

@colleenlindsay Honestly, Colleen, put on your big girl panties & deal with it. I know actual babies who’re tougher than you. #sissylindsay

colleenlindsay

@literaticat I am not denying my inherent sissy nature. I AM NOT ASHAMED TO BE A WUSS.

JM_Kelley

@colleenlindsay Scrubbing Bubbles Foam will kill any multi-legged beastie & make your surfaces gleam while it’s choking the life out of ’em.

colleenlindsay

@JM_Kelley I HAVE SCRUBBING BUBBLES! I will BUBBLE it to death!

colleenlindsay

ACK! Just dive-bombed my head again.

colleenlindsay

Sneak attack! Have disabled Mothra with Scrubbling Bubbles. It fell behind stove. Not waiting around to see if it crawls back out, dammit!

Meanwhile, in a related conversation, after HC mentioned she had firebombed a spider once…

HC_Palmquist

@ToniMcGeeCausey He pissed me off, trapping me in the house like that. I finally got so mad, I made SURE my revenge was not served cold.

ToniMcGeeCausey

@HC_Palmquist LOL… damn, girl, you’re hard core. I’ve Raided ’em and WD 40’d em and Lysol’d em, but I have never firebombed one.

ToniMcGeeCausey

@HC_Palmquist of course, given that it’s *me*… me+firebomb would be a very sad thing. I once tried to shoot a rat with a gun, tho.

ToniMcGeeCausey

@HC_Palmquist missed it.

ToniMcGeeCausey

@HC_Palmquist managed to kill a really nice piece of molding and a desk leg.

Then a few minutes later… after we hadn’t heard from Colleen in a while…

Stinkyboy

Waiting for Fat Biped to fall asleep. We will then offer her up as a prearranged sacrifice to the Great Flying Roach God. Shhhh! Don’t tell!

There were signs the next night that Colleen lived. Stinkyboy will lounge to doublecross another day.

We had fun, goofing off, all of us. I don’t know Colleen, other than she’s a literary agent at FinePrint Literary Management. I did not start following her because she’s an agent — I am extremely happy with my agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan of Levine/Greenberg. (Exceptionally happy.) I started following Colleen because someone retweeted a funny comment she’d written.

Here’s the thing… Colleen accomplished something pretty smart with her playfulness — she demonstrated that she’s got a great sense of humor, she’s self-deprecating, she’s easy to interact with, and she’s human–not at all stuffy and scary, the way so many agents are perceived. She does a Q&A every so often (I haven’t kept track of when–perhaps she’ll mention it in the comments), and if I were ever asked by anyone if I knew anything about her, I’d say that I thought she was a lot of fun, and clever and approachable and yet, I’ve also seen her answer questions very professionally. Now really, she wouldn’t have accomplished that if she were telling me she was fun and clever and yet, professional. She simply showed it.

Show, don’t tell.

Treat your social media as fun; be a friend, interact as friends. Ask people about their day, see how they’re doing. Respond to what’s going on in their lives. Don’t try so hard to be anything important and for heaven’s sake, don’t just interact to promote yourself. Do pass along links of interest and contests you’re sponsoring–those are often appreciated, but don’t get so aggressive that you pass along every freaking contest you’ve ever seen on the internet. Most of all, relax. Twitter and Facebook are the equivalent of gathering for a break at the water cooler. If you were standing there, you wouldn’t want to hear someone evangelize or detail their latest colonoscopy or try to sell you some Amway. You’d just want to hang out, have some fun, maybe talk about something interesting in the news and then go back to work. You’ll remember the people who made you laugh and you’ll avoid the ones who were hounding you for something. Social media works pretty much the same way.

Plus, you learn that Raid + lighter = flamethrower, and you just never know when that might come in handy.

So tell me, ‘Rati, what odd / fun / interesting thing have you learned lately from a social media site?

The Twilight of my Years

I have a confession to make. I love the Twilight books. I am a hopeless Stephenie Meyers junkie. I’ve read them multiple times, and I reread them when I want an escape. I wouldn’t mind a book tour stop in Forks. I have previously voiced my dilemma – Team Edward or Team Jacob?

All right now, if you’re shaking your head or rolling your eyes, go ahead and step away. Because honestly, making fun of the Twilight saga is as de rigueur as blaming the previous administration for, well, everything. I get it. It doesn’t appeal to everyone. But the nastiness some employ in making fun of those of us who are fans borders on rabid dog territory.

Why? Because the literary elite thinks the writing isn’t up to par? What, are you expecting to get Tolstoy when you pick up a book about teenage vampires? Really? Or is it the fact that it’s another vampire story? Or is it just plain jealousy because Meyers created a world that people want to escape into, and has gotten very, very rich in the process? James Cameron did that with AVATAR and the snickers were at least kept to a minimum. And his people were massive mystical smurfs.

Now that three of the Twilight movies are out, the franchise’s mythology grows even bigger. The young actors are thrust into a limelight that’s nearing epic proportions. The soundtracks are amazing, and have helped bolster the careers of a bunch of great new bands. The movies themselves have improved with each installment – ECLIPSE is by far the best of the three. It has a bit of everything you want in a good film: love, romance, sexual tension, humor and a battle scene. The special effects were cool, and the acting wasn’t half bad. The tent scene, with Jacob and Edward talking, was probably the best moment in the movie for sheer anguish.

That’s what this series is about, truly. Anguish. Some call it teenage angst with a roll of the eyes, but the truth of the matter is, we’ve all been in Bella’s position – in love with someone and wildly attracted to another, feeling unbelievable guilt and confusion. It’s human nature. As we grow older, we learn to recognize the differences between lust ad love, between a true affair of the heart and a passing crush, and most of us act accordingly. You can’t tell me it isn’t fun to revisit those old feelings.

Guys may not have the same reaction to the film as women, for a wide variety of reasons. Randy was so obviously bored and uncomfortable at times that it made me uncomfortable. But that’s par for the course for most men with heavy duty romantic chick flicks. Rom Coms, the bane of every male’s existence. You need to keep your woman happy, so that means sitting through some torturous moments, I know. But we love you when you do it! And aren’t the rewards worth it?

I don’t know what everyone’s problem is with these books and movies. They’re fun. It’s escapism. There are even a couple of good messages for young women if you stop to look at it. Chastity until marriage? Perish the thought! I actually read something today that called that a Mormon ideal – I nearly spit out my tea laughing. Has our society been so seduced by the perceived ideals of Sex and the City that the concept of a teenage girl waiting to have sex is seen as backwards and wrong?

Oh, Lord, don’t get me started… well, now that I’ve opened that can of worms, I’m going to say something. Yes, there’s a vein of morality that runs through these books. They are read by millions of young girls, girls who are finding themselves in love for the first time, or dreaming about what that might be like. And there’s no sex. In a reversal that’s nearly Herculean in its methods, sex isn’t a possibility between the characters. Bella is a virgin, and Edward is bound and determined to keep her that way. A boy who isn’t crazed for sex? More importantly, a boy who isn’t pressuring his girlfriend to put out?

Now think about the message the young girls who are reading this book are getting. Not only is it okay to forgo sex in a teen relationship, the man you respect, love and cherish wants you to remain pure. Maybe, just maybe, these books can have a real cultural impact on our younger generation. Maybe pregnancy rates will drop, STDs will become a thing of the past, and children, because I’m sorry, even if they are burgeoning into adulthood, they’re still children, could focus on their studies instead of their pants.

Can you imagine? I’m probably dreaming, but wow, if these movies had been around when I was growing up? I know I would have appreciated being in a relationship that wasn’t a constant test, how far can I go, how far will she let my hand stray, when is it right to go to first base, second base, third, fourth?

I can’t imagine a better time for girls to be getting the message that it’s cool not to have sex. Meyers has done that, with a female character who’s hopped up on her own hormones and wants things she can’t quite comprehend. Edward keeps telling her how dangerous it is, but she’s willing to throw caution to the wind anyway, just like we all did. But he’s strong, respectful, and understands the consequences, even if she doesn’t. He exercises great restraint, to her benefit. Now that’s romantic.

And poor Jacob, fighting for the girl he loves. His emotional growth, being hurt and overcoming it, is another huge message – you can survive a heartbreak. It will make you stronger, and will help you understand when the real love of your life comes along.

There’s really more to the Twilight books than meets the eye. It’s more than some crazy romantic fantasy of girl meets boy, falls in love, marries him, becomes a vampire and then gets all the benefits therein. But you’ll have to find that for yourself, in the pages of Meyers’s world.

Another quick thought. The actors themselves have been I the news cycle constantly over the past few years. Rob Pattinson and Taylor Lautner are being held to a ridiculous standard, and I really feel for Kristin Stewart. I remember when I was starting out in publishing, and getting interviewed for the first time. I said some pretty stupid things, because I didn’t know any better. I told the truth about what I was thinking and feeling, just like she has. Her misstep about equating fandom to rape (but every single person out there understood exactly what she meant, even if it wasn’t a perfect analogy) really hurt her reputation, and I wish she had a great publicist like I had to tell her what not to say. But it’s overwhelming, going from simply creating your art to being the artist in the limelight. Her latest comment about her fear of the massive crowds is something I can totally relate to. I hope they start listening to her concerns and let all three of them step back from the craziness for a bit.

Whether you like it or not, Twilight is enmeshed in the fabric of our culture just like Harry Potter. And heck, even the Vatican came around on Rowling…

So what say you ‘Rati? Are you a Twilight fan, or a hater? (I’ll check in when I can today, so pleasant self-policing is encouraged.)

Wine of the Week: 2005 Poliziano Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

little truths

by Toni McGee Causey

There are things I’ve been thinking about lately. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that debut novelist, or even further back, to that almost-sold writer, and say, “Here. You’ll need to know these. They will keep you from lying fetal in the corner in a year or two.” But then, it’s most often the bad times that teach the best lessons, and maybe–just maybe–knowing them ahead of time wouldn’t have really worked. Still. If I could, maybe I’d go back and tell myself a few of these little truths:

1) You cannot drive forward by solely focusing on the rearview mirror. You can only see where you’ve been, and what you did, and if you don’t look forward, you’ll run off the road, sooner rather than later. Likewise, you cannot grow in your career or as a person when you’re always focused on what you did before that worked and assume that if you just did it all exactly the same again, everything will be fine. Eventually, the terrain in front of you is going to change. You have to let go of who you were yesterday and look out there to see where you’re going right now to make sure you’re aiming for who you want to be.

2) Life has a funny way of taking that nice, gently climbing terrain you’re ambling on and dropping off into a canyon, without any roadside warnings. Remember, there is almost always a bridge over or a road around or, short of that, a plane. In other words, canyons aren’t the end of the trip… they’re just an opportunity to see something different, learn something new, find a new path, and become a better you. Quit griping, put your foot on the pedal, and head in the new direction. You’ll get nowhere staring at the canyon.

3) There will occasionally be bad reviews. Think of the coconut factor, and let it go. (The coconut factor: coconut, is, and will always be, disgusting, ptui, nasty, awful, horrid, and useless as a food item. Even the smell is unpleasant. But there are entire swaths of people out there who love it, for reasons beyond understanding, and think you’re crazy for not giving it a five star review. Sometimes your book is just going to be their coconut. You can’t fix that, nor change it, nor should you even care. The world needs people with all sorts of tastes… especially the coconut farmers. C’est la vie.)

4) People will astound you. Really, this is the best part about this business — you will have fan letters which will choke you up, friends who stand by you when you’re down, who reach a hand out and pick you up, others who will encourage you and still others who will give you much needed advice. You will realize that this is what makes you wealthy, not contracts, not lists, not print runs.

5) You will come to realize that everything that led up to the first book contract was the equivalent to internship/training, and signing the contract is the equivalent of signing an employment contract. Meaning, that sale is not the end of the road, the “arrival” of success, but simply the end of one phase and the beginning of another: the job. Just like any other employment, there will be good days and bad, things that go beautifully, and things that don’t. No job is perfect. It simply can’t be. Every single job has obstacles and learning curves and opportunities–and writing is no different. Expect those curves and you’ll be fine.

6) Though you’ll still hate coconut.

7) You’ll be faced with obstacles and you will choose to grow.

8) It will hurt.

9) Like hell.

10) But it will be worth it. It’s hard to see, sometimes, when you’re deep in the woods, lost, in pain, but you’ll take that dark and those woods and learn from them, and what you end up with will be so much better, that if given the choice to go back and live life without having had the pain, you’d choose the same path.

11) You will one day be very very sleepy after writing a blog really late into the middle of the night, and you will accidentally splatter toothpaste into your eye. It will really wake up that eye. I do not recommend this.

12) When dealing with staircases, don’t assume the last two steps are merely suggestions and skip them altogether. Trust me, gravity works, concrete is not soft, and purple toes are not next year’s must-have accessory.

So tell me, ‘Rati, what little truth have you learned lately?

And He’s Got Quotes

by Rob Gregory Browne

PLAYTIME

We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.
—George Bernard Shaw

Sometimes I forget this. I get so wrapped up in my career and my work that I forget to take a break and have a little play time. I don’t know about you, but even though my body gets older and my bones creak and my feet ache, I still feel eighteen inside, and playing should come naturally to me.

When I’m really feeling the strain, sometimes I just pick up my guitar and start strumming. Just like I did when I was a kid after I’d had my heart ripped out.

There’s nothing more soothing to the soul than music. Or to my soul, at least.

What do you do when just need to let go?

THIMNK

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason so few engage in it.
—Henry Ford

I don’t know what it is, but it seems to me that a whole of of people spend whole a lot of time reacting these days, and very little time thinking. Of course, Henry Ford said this several dozen years ago, so maybe things haven’t really changed all that much.

I guess I could often be accused of thinking too much. I’ve always got something on my mind, a book I’m writing, a personal problem, a family issue, a money issue…

So maybe it isn’t that people aren’t thinking, but that they have so much to think about that they just get overloaded and finally explode.

Cue the clowns.

THE FEAR INSIDE

Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.
—Samuel Johnson

If this is true, then I certainly don’t ever have to worry about doing anything great. I find that creative people, by and large, are the most insecure people on the planet. And that’s saying a lot, considering pretty much everyone alive is insecure.

I don’t know what it is—maybe it’s that whole “putting yourself out there” thing—but when I finish a book and send it off, I’m almost certain that anyone who reads it is going to have to hold his or her nose as they’re turning the pages. And when somebody tells me they liked one of my books, there’s a little guy inside my head that says, “really?” with genuine surprise.

Don’t get me wrong. I have my moments of great confidence when I’m writing. I feel that, even though I’m still learning, I have a fairly good handle on my craft. And even if I don’t have that confidence, I think the writing itself sounds pretty confident, so that’s half the battle right there.

I’m always a little suspicious of people who seem to have no fear. I think most of them are just very good at hiding it.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.
—Robert Frost

I think a lot of us at Murderati have learned this the hard way over the last year. Despite our trials and tribulations, life keeps rolling along and we can either give up on it or try to keep up with it.

As John Lennon said, life is what happens while we’re busy making other plans. Ain’t that the truth?

When I was twenty years old, I had big, big dreams. I had no clue how I was actually going to achieve those dreams, but I had ’em, and I kept telling everyone I knew about them in hopes they’d get as enthusiastic as I was.

But of course they had dreams of their own. Some of them realized those dreams, but most of them, like me, just kept planning and planning as life went by in a rush around us.

A wife, two kids, several cats, a few dogs, a lot of rentals, a new house—now an old one. A strange city—now a familiar one.

Birthdays, graduations, vacations, illnesses, deaths, births, fights, kisses, hugs, smiles, laughter, and big doses of wine, cheese and chocolate. Oh, and sushi. Couldn’t have gone without the sushi.

And you know what? Fuck the plans. I wouldn’t trade one moment of my life—even the shitty stuff—to make any of those plans come to fruition.

I love the life I’ve led. Every moment of it. It has given me depth and character and a crapload of material for my books.

The one plan that finally worked out.