Crushing

t’s officially spring, and a holiday weekend, so what better topic than spring fever?

I have a new crush. One of those breathless, heart-beats-faster, can’t stop thinking about them, obsessive crushes.

Now that THE WIRE is over (I still can’t say that without bursting into tears, and talk about crushes!, but I’ll get to that), my SO has found us a new show: THE L WORD. THE L WORD is a long-running, highly successful Showtime series about a tight-knit group of lesbian friends in Los Angeles and their love exploits. A total male fantasy, right?

You just keep on thinking that, honey.

I love the show – it’s all about places I know like the back of my hand and a sly send up of most every aspect of LA life and sexual dynamics, also which I know like the back of my… well, okay, never mind that. But there’s one character who has me completely mesmerized:

This is Katherine Moennig as Shane, and the photo doesn’t do her justice, because so much of her appeal is the way she moves and her amazing growly voice and her bowl-you-over talent. She is THE L WORD’s heartbreaker, a love-em-and-leave-em, androgynous prowler. She is the essence of Shakepeare’s girl-playing-a-boy, or boy-playing-a-girl-playing-a-boy, or in modern versions, girl-playing-a-boy-playing-a-girl-playing a boy. She is every pouty,fucked-up, addicted, genius rock star I’ve ever obsessed over.

And here’s where being a writer is the best job on the planet.

I can have her.

And I don’t mean in some fantasy. I mean, this character is now living in my head, or in that warehouse or workshop or backstage or whatever you want to call in our heads it where we writers keep our characters. Only she’s back there turning into my own version, because, really, she’s been there for years… I recognized her instantly when she walked out on that screen. I KNOW her.

I’ve talked about how writers are always collecting and building on these scraps of characters in our heads. If we see something or someone that appeals, we seize it and use it. We get to cast actors we like or lust after in our stories all the time. (We also get to PLAY those roles ourselves, which is even more perversely fun.)

There are actors I’ve been using in my stories for years. Ian McShane, long before DEADWOOD (so it was particularly swoony for me when he showed up in that genius show as the devil… with soul). There’s Sting, of course, Mick Jagger, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs, who can smoke a cigarette in a way that’s a whole character unto itself. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (so much promise that he hasn’t lived up to, but in my head? Oh, baby…) Nicole Kidman. John Hurt, John Cleese, Vanessa Redgrave (hmm…. heavy on the Brits, there…). More recently, Keira Knightly (older in my head), and the mouth-watering Michael K Williams and Idris Elba from THE WIRE – major stars, both of them:

I really do have a whole ensemble of regular players back there in that warehouse. The interesting thing to me is that although I’m always picking up new characters, I’m also writing some types over and over and over again, so when I see someone like Katherine Moennig, it’s instant recognition – that she’s one of MINE.

This might seem like a digression, but since I’m talking about casting, and crushing, something that fascinates me is how certain authors – series authors – can write characters that are so much themselves. Let’s face it – anyone who’s met Lee Child knows where Reacher is coming from, and Madeline Dare is a unique and mesmerizing character because she is so very Cornelia Read. I’m not sure I have enough sense of myself (or enough character stability) to be able to create an iconic character based on myself. But I certainly recognize actors and people who are my characters (or rather, who can PLAY my characters, which isn’t exactly the same thing…) And when I meet one of them face to face, even on screen, is electrifying – better than any high I can describe. No, wait – I can.

It’s like falling in love.

And in these dog days of trying to finish the third book while promoting the second, I need to remember the outstanding perks of this job.

Like the 24/7 casting couch.

So authors, give it up. Who’s in your regular cast of characters? Are there actors you tend to use over and over again? Any new or long-standing crushes you’d like to share?

And readers, who are YOUR crushes? Who would you most like to see as a character? Or do you see certain actors as your favorite fictional characters?

And more seriously… please scroll down and read JT’s inteview with Neil Nyren – mandatory for authors – and here’s the link to the equally illuminating discussion on promotion going on on David Montgomery’s blog (it’s the top three blogs).

Neil Nyren Comes Back to Murderati!

Interviewed
by J.T. Ellison

Last
year, Murderati welcomed a legend in the publishing community. Neil Nyren is
the Senior VP, Publisher and Editor in Chief of Putnam, edits just about every
important bestselling author out there, and is an incredibly talented and
generous editor who has been very kind to this particular newbie.

He’s kind of
like E.F. Hutton – when Neil talks, people listen. His panel at last year’s
Thrillerfest on the Snare of the Hunter was a resounding favorite. Neil Nyren, No Longer a Man of Mystery still
ranks among our highest rated posts. (I encourage you to take a look and
refresh your memories.) If that’s not enough,
last November, when Putnam had
eight books on the hardcover fiction and non-fiction lists in one week, four of
them were edited by Mr. Nyren. Let me repeat that. He had four books on the NYT
bestseller lists at once. A hearty Murderati round of applause, if you will.
That’s an unbelievable record.

There
have been a number of changes, rumors and concerns about the industry of late,
and I thought it would be a good idea to see what Mr. Nyren thought about these
issues. I hope that this can become a yearly gig — our own version of the
State of the Industry.

So sit
back, have a good cup of coffee to hand, and learn from the master.

——————————————–

Which
memoir would you rather buy this week – Eliot Spitzer or Ashley Alexandra Dupré?

Neither. I’m very
cautious when dealing with certain kinds of current events books, because with
today’s 24/7 news cycles, we tend to get inundated with so much detail that our
curiosity is satisfied just by what we get in the media. We think: I’ve heard
as much about this story as I need to. And by the time a book comes out many
months later, our interest has already moved on to the next scandal or topic du
jour. To be potentially successful, a book has to provide something deeper,
broader, more significant than we can get in the daily media. That said, of all
the players in this particular drama — Silda is the one most people would like
to hear from, I think.

What is the next hot genre?

If I knew what the
next hot genre was going to be, I wouldn’t be working for a publishing house,
I’d own a publishing house! It’s pretty rare that we’re that smart. My
colleagues at Berkley spotted early that paranormal suspense/romance was
working for them, and so they jumped in with both feet and that’s why they’re
the leader in that genre now. Usually, what happens is somebody publishes a
novel that is hugely successful, and all the publishers, trailblazers that we
are, look at it and say: Huh, I should do one of those! Turow is a hit,
followed by Grisham, and suddenly we’re inundating the stores with legal thrillers.
Clancy writes The Hunt for Red October, and technothrillers are
everywhere. Eventually, the market gets saturated, sales die off, and only the
very best in their respective genres still stand head and shoulders above the
crowd. And we all sit around and ask each other: So, what’s next?

There is a perception that
if an author doesn’t find instant success, they will/are bypassed for another
contract. Is this true, and how do new and midlist authors combat that? And a
question from the outside – “Do you feel the publishing industry as a whole has
stopped looking at developing long-term careers for authors in favor of already
established authors or the flavor du jour?”

First, I think we
have to define what we mean by “success.” If I spend $30,000 for a book and it
sells 20,000 copies in hardcover, I am very happy. Sure, it’s on nobody’s
bestseller list, but it’s found a market, it’s made a bit of money, it’s
established the author for his next book. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a
success! If I spend $30,000 for a book and it sells 2,000 copies in hardcover,
however – then we have to look at why it sold so few, whether a different
strategy is needed, if there’s a way we can bump that up next time. If it turns
out that there is no bump next time, then we have to figure out where we go
from there.

And sometimes where
we go is to do more books with the author anyway. Maybe the author’s gotten the
kind of reviews or made the kind of friends or just written such damn good
books that we say, “You know, there’s got to be more here, we’ve just got to
find it.” Because, in fiction at least, we’re always buying the author, not a
particular book. We’re trying to establish a career. Which is why it is
absolutely not true that we’ve stopped planning for the long-term. The
long-term is what we plan for most. All you have to do is look at the
bestseller lists and see which authors made it on their fifth, sixth, tenth
book or more. We all know the tales of the authors who made it on their first
or second try, but it’s much, much more common that it’s an incremental
process, one book selling more than the last, until the author has acquired the
kind of critical mass that makes him or her ripe for that final push over the
top. My favorite personal example is Randy Wayne White. He’d already had three
novels that had sold modestly when we bought him, but we kept pushing him book
by book until finally he broke through – on his seventh book for us and his
tenth book overall. This is the norm, not the exception, and all publishers
know it. No “already established” author was born established, and the “flavor du
jour” expires with the next jour. It’s just plain, hard work.

Is it true that the market is
tightening dramatically?

It’s certainly true
that the market is tight. It’s not the first novelists that are in jeopardy or
the stars, but the repeat midlist – but then, it’s been that way for quite a
while, hasn’t it? Every account can call up sales figures instantly now. First
novelists have no black marks against them, no large returns or tiny sales, so
anything is theoretically possible. But if an author has published four books
to static or declining results, there’s no way to hide it, and it’s very hard
to convince an account not to order accordingly.

How has your marketing model
changed in light of the new technologies and delivery methods available?

We spend a lot of
time now with websites – ours, our authors’ and others’ – bloggers, podcasts –
you name it. Some authors are more suitable for all this than others, of
course. For instance, I have a book being published on March 27^th
called FALLING
INTO MANHOLES: The Memoir of a Bad/Good Girl, by Wendy Merrill.
It’s the experiences – sometimes very funny, sometimes very not – of a quirky,
attractive, in-recovery-from-everything woman in search of love, sex, sanity,
and herself, and she’s got just a great voice. Some of our approach is
conventional – radio, TV, signings, reviews, etc. – but we’re also using the
web a lot. An online magazine called Viv has already run an excerpt;
we’ve reached out to a ton of women’s sites and bloggers, including one popular
site on MySpace, where Wendy offered free galleys to the first 50 people who
replied; she’s run a video on YouTube and her own (excellent) website, created
“forward to a friend” e-cards about the book and her signing dates, written a “behind the book” essay that’s posted on the Left
Coast Writers website and linked to a variety of other sites,
including our own website, where the essay is available for download; and a
whole bunch of other stuff like that.

How do you get an author on
the bestsellers lists? And is there anything an author can do to help?

It depends on the
kind of book we’re talking about. Nonfiction tends to be heavily dependent on
media. Fiction tends to be more reliant on reviews and word of mouth, with occasional
big media bursts, such as we saw recently with Charles Bock’s Beautiful
Children. For series books, as I mentioned above, it’s often a slog – book
by book, edition by edition (hardcover followed by paperback followed by
hardcover), until the author is ready to break through. For all these books,
visibility is very important, and if we’re aiming for the bestseller list, we
have to make sure all our coop and bookstore promotion vehicles are in place.
That’s the greatest hidden cost of publishing, the one most people don’t
appreciate – when a book is on the front table at Borders or on the stepladder
at B&N or featured in an email blast from Amazon, it’s not because of some
bookseller whim, it’s because the publisher’s paid for it. Depending on the level
of the promotion, which is usually related to the level of the bookseller buy,
and is always of limited duration, it can be very, very expensive, but there’s
nothing like getting the book squarely in front of people. If you read
something about a book in the paper or hear the author interviewed on the radio
or a friend mentions it to you, and then you go into a bookstore and see it
sitting right in front of you as you walk in, you’re simply more likely to pick
it up. And if you pick it up, maybe you’ll look at the jacket copy, check out
the author photograph, read a few pages….

There are tons of
things an author can do to help, but we don’t really have room for that here.
The essential thing is for the author always to be aware of what a publisher
can use as leverage: media contacts of any kind whatsoever, friendly bookstore
owners, organizations that might buy multiple copies, writers willing to give
endorsements, lists of names you might have gathered on your website – anything
at all that can get the word out in any way. Listen to your publisher, and make
sure he listens to you. And this is true no matter where you’re aiming the book
– bestseller, good seller, any kind of seller! It’s just basic good business.

What books from 2007 should have made
the list, but didn’t?

You mean aside from
some of mine? I was surprised Martin Cruz Smith’s STALIN’S GHOST didn’t make
the list – it was a brilliant book, as all his Arkady Renko novels are. And I’m
a great fan of Julia Spencer-Fleming – I do expect to see her on that
list some day.

Do awards really matter in terms of
sales?

For mystery awards,
not a huge amount, really. They’re great to have, of course, especially if you
aren’t particularly known, because it’s a good way to get your name out there
to a core readership and build an audience. I know I’ve occasionally bought
Edgar books while browsing for something to read and have found some nice
things that way (last year’s THE JANISSARY TREE, for instance). By and large,
though, I don’t tend to see a substantial bump in sales.

What do you want your authors to do in
terms of promotion? Conferences, websites, blogs and book festivals – or stay
at home and write the best book you can?

The book always comes
first – always. If you don’t have a good book, published at the right time,
then none of the rest of it matters. After that, websites are useful if they’re
well done, give readers a reason to come back, and act as a vehicle for
collecting names – there’s nothing like that email blast to fans shortly before
publication to concentrate your sales early. Conferences and book festivals are
fine as long as you’re having fun, building contacts, getting your name out
there, and not spending so much time at them that you’re neglecting your first
job (see above!). Blogs – I probably shouldn’t be saying this to you, JT, but
sometimes I wonder if all the time and energy spent on writing a blog might not
be better spent on…well, you know what I’m going to say.

Do you still read blogs? Which ones?

I do. I don’t read
all of these every day, but I like Sarah Weinman (of course), The Rap Sheet,
Buzz, Balls & Hype, Murderati, First Offenders, Tess Gerritsen, Joe
Konrath, Crime Fiction Dossier, Naked Authors, Mysterious Matters, and Hey Dead
Guy. Once a day, I’ll usually check in at Crimespot to see if there are any
topics or posts that sound interesting. And I receive the DorothyL digests.

In our last interview, you mentioned
that there is a certain fallacy to the “sky is falling” attitude toward the
publishing industry. You said, “… The vision is being promoted of a handful of
publishers selling a handful of commercial books to a handful of accounts, and
that’s the future of publishing. But I don’t buy it. There’s a bunch of reasons
why – but that’s a whole other rant. Maybe some other time!”

Would you address that rant now?

There isn’t enough
room here. However, I’m scheduled to speak at the Craftfest portion of this
year’s Thrillerfest, and though my main subject is something else…I wouldn’t be
surprised if a bit of rant sneaks in there!

(Note: Neil will be moderating an all publisher panel at Thrillerfest as well… Let’s hope for rants!)

We also talked about what authors could
do to get your attention. Any tips for the agents who want to pitch you?

Oh, geez, just give
me a good book – that’s all I want. Don’t overhype the manuscript, tell me
anything about the author that I might need to know, and then just let me read.

Everyone wants a movie option for their
novel. Is there anything the writer can do to help that process along?

Here is the thing I always tell any of
my writers who are approached by Hollywood:

Don’t get sucked in. They will drive
you crazy if you let them. Just cash the check.

Don’t believe anything until you have a
signed contract.

Then, don’t believe anything until they
have an approved script.

Then, don’t believe anything until they
announce a cast.

Then, don’t believe anything until they
announce a start date.

Then, don’t believe anything until they
announce a release date.

Then, if against all the odds, there is
an actual movie showing in actual theaters, go to see it, buy some popcorn, and
pretend it was based on somebody else’s book entirely. Because if even half of
what you wrote gets up there on the screen, it will be a minor miracle.

Cash-the-check.

Should authors be spending their own
money on promotion outside of the advances paid to them?

If it’s spent wisely.
There are lots of ways to throw it away. It’s a subject you want to talk about
in detail with your editor and the publicity/promotion staff at your publisher,
to see what might be worth doing and what not, and what would dovetail best
with your publisher’s efforts.

And just for fun:

What book do you wish you’d written?

The Yiddish
Policemen’s Union. And that Charlie
Huston can write like a bastard – The Shotgun Rule, phew!

Wine – Italy, France, California,
Australia or Chile? Would you give us a wine tip?

All of them,
depending on what I’m into at the time. Lately, I’ve been drinking a lot of
Malbec, Nero D’Avola and Oregon Pinot Noir. And when I’m in the mood for a
white, almost nothing beats a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for me – Kim
Crawford’s my favorite. That’s my wine tip of the day!

Who was the best Batman: Adam West,
Michael Keaton, Christian Bale or Val Kilmer?

What, no George
Clooney?

What was your favorite movie last year?

Many favorites. For
drama, No Country For Old Men, Eastern Promises (so happy to see Viggo
get an Oscar nomination) and Michael Clayton (just good old-fashioned
moviemaking). For lighter stuff, Juno (of course), Ratatouille
(also of course), and Enchanted (Amy Adams, whom I’ve loved since Junebug).

—————————-
Neil, I can’t begin to thank you for being so generous with your time and
expertise here today. You’re the greatest! I highly suggest everyone say thank
you to Neil by running out and buying books by all of his authors. You won’t be
disappointed!

Neil S.
Nyren is senior vice president, publisher and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam’s
Sons. He came to Putnam in
1984 from Atheneum, where he was Executive Editor. Before that he held
editorial positions at Random House and Arbor House. Some of his authors
include Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, Jack Higgins,
W.E.B. Griffin, John Sandford, Dave Barry, Daniel Silva, Ken Follett, Alex
Berenson, Randy Wayne White, Carol O’Connell, James O. Born, Patricia Cornwell
and Frederick Forsyth; nonfiction by Bob Schieffer, Maureen Dowd, John McEnroe,
Linda Ellerbee, Jeff Greenfield, Charles Kuralt, Secretary of State James Baker
III, Thomas P.M. Barnett, Sara Nelson, and Generals Fred Franks, Chuck Horner,
Carl Stiner, Tony Zinni and Wendy Merrill.

The Book is Dead …

by Zoë Sharp

On Tuesday afternoon, at 5:37pm, I finally finished the book I’ve been working on for what seems like an age. Not so long, I suppose, when you look at it in terms of continental drift, say, or the evolution of a species, but I’ve broken off to write other books in the meantime, so the time scale seems unduly stretched.

And it’s been an utter pig to write.

There have been times when I’ve hated this book, I don’t mind admitting it. I mean proper ‘take it down a dark alley on an equally dark night and beat its brains out with a baseball bat’ kind of hated it. Times when I would have watched it die bleeding in the gutter with a song in my heart.

Let me tell you, that’s been pretty scary.

I’ve always wanted to write. Andy and I have spent the last twenty years earning a living by the written word in one form or another. In the past there have always been times when I’ve disliked what I’ve been working on. If not during the actual writing, or copy editing, then certainly by the proof stage, when I’ve been back and forth over the wretched thing so many times that every word and phrase seems stale as the end crusts of a week-old loaf. But this one’s made me doubt my ability to do the job at all, and it’s only now that I think I understand why.

My agent’s former editor almost put her finger on it just before Christmas, when I was probably at my lowest point ebb. "It’s just because you’re writing outside your comfort zone," she said. Which was probably true.

Almost …

But the truth was worse than that. The truth was, in my heart of hearts, I knew it was dreadful.

Not necessarily the actual writing, which I hope is a craft I’m managing to hone as I go on. Not necessarily the characters, either, which became more real, more textured, more independent with every word that came out of their mouths. Not even the basic idea of the plot, which I knew was strong, grabby at a basic level, but also layered with themes I wanted very much to explore.

But still I couldn’t escape this horrible feeling that there was something terminally wrong with the book. And I had no idea what it was.

I’ve now written seven Charlie Fox novels in fairly quick succession. And, while there are no doubt people who would disagree, I thought I’d got a reasonable handle on how to construct and write a novel in the crime thriller genre. I’ve taken a fairly unconventional main character and taken her forwards through seven different stories, pushing the corner of her envelope a little more each time.

So, what was proving so difficult about stepping away from my series character to write a standalone? And don’t anyone dare come out with the phrase "one-trick pony" – I brought that one up more than enough by myself, thank you very much.

Viewpoint.

Ahh …

All the Charlie Fox books are written in first person throughout, looking out at the world through Charlie’s eyes, with her suspicions, hopes, and fears. Every little clue and piece of information has to arrive at the outer edge of her circle of knowledge in one form or another and progress towards the centre, where its importance can finally be revealed or realised. Limiting in some ways, but I prefer to think of it as a challenge. It’s a way of thinking I’ve got into.

So, when I approached the new book I realised it was time to spread my wings into third person, multiple viewpoints.

And, oh boy do I mean MULTIPLE viewpoints.

Filled with this new sense of liberation, I just went crazy. Every scene was from the POV of somebody different. My main characters never had to discover anything new, because the reader had already watched it happen in real time, to somebody else. With gritted teeth, I kept pushing the whole thing forwards, the way a particularly stupid marathon runner might try to limp on even though they know full well they’ve just blown out both their Achilles’ tendons and they’re still fifteen uphill miles from the finish.

The deeper into the book I got, the more of a muddled morass it became, and the more thoroughly depressed I became with it. But still I pigheadedly kept on running, although nearing the end of December I was down to more of a stumbling jog, feeling ever worse, not least because I’d promised my agent she’d have the first draft by the New Year. "Don’t worry about it," she said. "Take all the time you need to get it right."

Get it right …

Oh Gawd …

It was making me so miserable that in an effort not to ruin Christmas totally for my poor long-suffering Better Half, I decided despite this looming self-imposed deadline to put the whole thing aside for a while. The relief was enormous. Not having this ominous black cloud hanging over me every morning. Apart from looking at the occasional e-mail, I didn’t switch my computer on for two whole weeks.

Then, as soon as the last of the turkey was finally seen off, I rolled up my sleeves, picked up that metaphorical baseball bat, and took the whole damn thing apart.

Very therapeutic.

I must have scrapped more than half of what I’d written so far. I pulled it apart, stripped it of the good stuff with the ruthlessness of a Cornish wrecker, and let the rest go under, waving maniacally to it as it sank into the depths. Perhaps I should point out at this stage that this is not the normal way I write. Sorry, not the normal way I have written in the past. I usually plan, I mess with the opening chapters, then I just get on with it, self-editing as I go, so by the time the first draft’s done, it’s … well, done. No drastic rewrites. No whole-scale culling.

My agent was understandably somewhat alarmed by this unexpected turn of events. "Are you quite sure you haven’t thrown the baby out with the bath water?" she asked. No, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure at all. But by that time it was too late to turn back.

I replotted into the pared-down viewpoints of my four main characters. Two on the side of the angels and two who … well, let’s just say they have their own agenda, but all the while they firmly believe they are the heroes of their own story. And suddenly – finally – things began to fall into place, to line up, to actually work. I realised that elements I’d added for almost subliminal reasons actually carried weight and meaning. If I listened carefully, I could hear it humming. The damn thing had actually come alive.

And, at 5:37pm on Tuesday, I typed the final word.

Now, I know this one will need work. It’s gone to a massive 140,000 words, for a start. The front half still feels too heavy, the back half probably too light. Next week I spend a day with Ian Pepper, who is Senior Lecturer in Crime Scene and Forensic Science at the University of Teesside, filling in a few important blanks on the technical side.

But, all bar the shouting, it’s done.

Although now, of course, I have to hand it over to my agent, and her new editor, and wait in a state of nail-biting anxiety for their verdict. I’ll admit to being cautiously optimistic that it could well turn out to be the best thing I’ve ever written.

Or not, as the case may be.

There’s no time for loafing, though. I have to start work almost immediately on the next Charlie Fox book, which really ought to be in by September. But maybe I can have a quiet moment or two, to reflect …

The book is dead! Long live the book!

And, just in case you thought I’d forgotten, Happy Equinox everyone! It comes late here in the wilds of Cumbria, as you can see:

This week’s Word of the Week, incidentally, is exsanguination, which means to bleed out. From the Latin ex "out of" and sanguis "blood", so literally, "out of blood". Exsanguination, as every vegetarian will tell you, is the means most commonly used to slaughter animals for the meat industry. The captive bolt to the head first merely renders them incapacitated and unable to struggle while their throats are cut, except in countries where the mercy of the captive bolt is forbidden. In humans, exsanguination is a mode rather than a cause of death, and can be dramatically external, or entirely internal, depending on what brought about the bleeding in the first place. So, educational and icky!

Up the Down Elevator

by Robert Gregory Browne

Whenever somebody asks me what one of my books is about, I find myself having a pretty tough time coming up with a concise answer to the question. Usually, I mumble and stammer as I try to plow my way through a short synopsis of the story and the reaction is often glazed eyes.

There’s something that just seems WRONG about having to boil your story down to a few sentences.

A couple years back, when I was gearing up to do a panel at Bouchercon, I knew I’d have to come up with a quick pitch for my book, KISS HER GOODBYE, so I struggled for awhile and finally went with this:

"It’s about an ATF agent whose daughter is kidnapped and buried alive, and the very unusual lengths he has to go to in order to save her."

Like I said. Glazed eyes.

I had an even tougher time with my next book, WHISPER IN THE DARK (coming out on May 2 in the UK!): "A young psychiatrist agrees to examine a patient believed to be a witness to a savage killing, only to discover that she’s a dead ringer for his recently murdered wife."

Crickets.

The thing is, both of these stories are too complex to be summed up in a couple lines. Especially WHISPER. But I try.

When I was at Left Coast Crime a couple weeks ago — yes, Pari, I was there, but unofficially, so I mostly hung out in the bar — I took along my video camera to get a few elevator pitches from my fellow authors.

Here are a few. And my apologies to those of you who are missing from this video. I had some technical difficulties (screwed up sound) that forced me to exclude you.

The Art of the Elevator Pitch from Robert Gregory Browne on Vimeo.

Now it’s everyone else’s turn. Published or unpublished, give me your best elevator pitch for your latest book.

Keeping Mum

By Louise Ure

Two weeks ago, at a signing at Denver’s Murder By the Book, I was blabbing about this new idea for my fourth novel. Verbal diarrhea, you know. The kind of totally obsessive rant that can only be brought on by a new book idea or a new love.

I felt that way about Kevin back in high school. No one else could have been as perfect. I thought about him all the time and saw signs and omens about “us” everywhere, from the name of his dog to the song playing on the radio. I drove by his house twenty times a day. I wondered what he’d had for dinner. He must have thought I was a stalker.

That’s the state I’m in now with this new idea, ready to shove away all other distractions and wallow — doe-eyed – in this new attraction. Snuggle up against its legs and practice writing our names together in a heart.

“We’re a greedy lot, here,” my signing partner Peter May said that night. “I’d keep that idea to myself unless you want it pinched.”

I shut up.

Ideas, like infatuations, don’t come to me easily.

I don’t have a shoebox full of index cards with pithy short story ideas on them. No file folder of convoluted plot twists guaranteed to get an editor’s pulse racing.

For me, ideas are a once-a-year phenomenon. But when I fall for one, I fall hard.

It was all I could do this morning to remember the protagonist’s name in my current work in progress, Liars Anonymous. Good Lord, I’ve got to turn in the book in two weeks; you’d think I’d know her name by now. (Dancing. Jessie Dancing.) I like her, I really do. But just like that perfectly good wool coat you’ve worn all winter, I can’t wait to shuck her off and stick my arms through the sleeves of that tough looking black leather jacket over there.

Is this part of the old adage about the grass being greener somewhere I’m not standing? Or is it, like love, the flush of first infatuation? That idyllic moment before you realize he has love handles and a two-digit credit rating.

I went to a debut author’s signing once, and at the end asked her about what she was working on now. “I don’t want to jinx it,” she said, then took another question. I might have been a little more gracious in my reply – saying something about the next one being a stand alone, or “I have an idea but it’s not fleshed out yet” – but I sure understand her rationale.

My mother has always said “It’s not real unless you say it out loud.” But if I listen to Peter May, if I keep talking it’s likely to become real for somebody else and not me. I may have to keep quiet for the better part of a year.

I’ll give you this: the title is Doing Hadley Time.

And now that I have a title, I’m anchored. I can open that New Blank Document and have at least three words ready to type. Doing Hadley Time. So it begins.

Lagniappe of the day: The Vernal Equinox is this Thursday, March 20, at 5:48 a.m. Among other festivities, it has been named World Storytelling Day, celebrated every year on the spring equinox all over the northern hemisphere. (The southern hemisphere celebrates it during the autumnal equinox.) Here’s to great storytelling, not just on Thursday, but all year long.

And Happy Easter to you all! Are there any special vernal equinox or Easter rituals you’ll be doing this year?

Louise

Through a Petrie Dish, Darkly

by Pari

Cough.

Last week’s Left Coast Crime was ab-fab, save for the fact that I generated enough contagions to personally infect most of the Mile High City myself.

Achoo! Cough, hack.

My tale of woe began in glorious San Francisco at the end of February. There, my chest and throat tightened with an enthusiasm only known to teenyboppers at their first boy-toy concert. Things got worse each day, but I refused to consider the fact that the discomfort could be because of sickness. No. It was cigarette smoke, humidity, the moon in Cancer . . .

I don’t remember the plane ride home. That was on a Monday. Two nights later, hours before hopping on the plane to go to Denver, I had the shivers. At the same time, my face felt so hot and swollen I thought it might crack and bleed in a dozen different places. But, in the wee hours, the fever broke ( I thought) and I felt substantially better. So, on the plane I went.

In the airport in Denver, waiting for the shuttle, I realized I’d been overly optimistic. Whatever crud had invaded my chest had set up permanent residence. The shivers started again, the hots, the queasy feeling in my tum.

Believe me, I fought. I took Airborne, swabbed Zicam, sucked on Cold-Eeze lozenges and felt like a walking pharmaceutical catalog. I drank only small amounts of scotch medicinally (damnit) to murder the germs holding their own convention in my throat. Bed rest. Bed rest. No fun.

With a deft hand at makeup and sheer determination, I functioned — almost coherently — for most of the con. It was great to spend time visiting bookstores with Alex — and infecting booksellers. I loved seeing friends and making new ones — and infecting them all.

But I missed far more people than I would have liked. Rob, did you really attend? Toni, were you there?

Cough . . . Where’s that tissue?

Was it worth it? Was it wise to push so hard, to force an unwilling body and muddy mind in the name of marketing?

Bottom line: I don’t recommend it.

Which brings me to today’s questions:
What would make you cancel an appearance?
When would you know that it was better to stay home than go?

Gack . . . hack.

Here are just a few of the people I coughed on . . .

(l to r) Tim Maleeny, Steven Torres, Steve Hockensmith and Steve Brewer

(l to r) Donna Andrews, Bill Fitzhugh, Christine Goff

Our own Simon Wood (sorry ’bout that, Simon)

(l to r) John Billheimer, Sam Reaves, Kate Derie, Michael Allen Dymmoch

100 Things To Do Before I Go…

by Toni

Just a week or so ago, I read a blog by Maggie, where she was starting a list of 100 things to do before she dies, and I was fascinated with the variety on her list. Okay, I have to confess that the first thing I thought was who has time to make a list of 100 things? and then the second thing I thought was that, if I had to make a list of what I wanted to do before I died, I’d be hard pressed to keep it at just a hundred. Or keep it serious.

23. Get roaring drunk in an Irish pub
68. Meet royalty

(preferably not at the same time)
(unless the royalty’s paying)

And then a bunch of other people started their own lists and sometimes they made me smile (ride a giraffe) and sometimes they made me question their sanity (spend the night in the room where Janis Joplin died).

32. Learn to be an expert at firearms

(probably best not mixed with #23)

Sometimes, sandwiched in between simple desires, like learning to bake a puff pastry and making great marinara sauce, they would slip in the one that’s a quiet knife to the soul: quit being mad at my parents or learn my biological dad’s real name.

How often do we admit to these things? It’s brave, I think, to face the hurt, the pain, and want to find a way to write it on a list and check it off as done.

79. Live in a big city for a year

And I wondered, then, what kind of lists would my characters write, if they had to make a list? I know the character’s backstory, but since I’m writing a series, I’m still discovering little things about each of them along the way, which makes the process interesting. While I know them well, they’re growing and changing from book to book, and if I ever thought I knew them absolutely, that there was nothing left about them that could surprise me, I’d instantly be bored and wouldn’t be able to write another word of that series. But even though I’ve thought in terms of goals and desires and internal conflicts… I haven’t ever thought of a list like this, of all of the little things they’d randomly want to do before they died.

If they each got everything they wanted in the current story, what sort of things would they want to do next? What are the small things, I wonder, that aren’t life threatening, that would bring them joy? Or peace?

2. follow dad’s advice, and keep it fun

It’s different, too, to think of the list I would have made for myself ten years ago vs. the list I’d make now. I’ve accomplished some of the things I’d have originally felt were necessary, and just as important, I’ve realized that others weren’t things I really wanted, or needed, to do. I haven’t regretted those choices (but then, I tend to not worry about regret, because life’s too damned short and I’ve lived a good one). But this led me to think in terms of what my characters would have thought was important to accomplish a few years prior to the story starting vs. what they would put on their list right now. In using this simple tool, I can see their growth (or lack thereof) and the continuity of their lives.

What are some things that would be on your list? or your characters’?

Left Coast Crime report

by Alex

Since no one else here has reported on Left Coast Crime, I guess I’ll step up and start in, in the hope that others will chime in and we’ll all get some kind of vicarious conference thrills and tips.

I’ll set the stage: Denver is a fairly good-sized city in a great bowl of plains, surrounded by a ring of very high snowy mountains. Gorgeous. The airport is quite a ways away from downtown, where the Adams Mark is – a 45-minute car ride through a lot of open plain.

Downtown is very funky – there’s a Gold Rush feel to it and an instant sense of eccentricity – in the layout of the streets (narrow and veering wildly all over the place, coming to strange triangles everywhere), in the buildings (many of which are built in strange triangles to fit the strange triangular intersections), and the overall dress is Wild West: lots of cowboy hats and boots and fur vests. The people – well, the people were a trip. As in San Francisco (another Gold Rush town – think about it), Denverites cultivate their eccentricities. One of the first things I saw when we got off the freeway downtown was a homeless guy perched on a bridge with a sign that read: SPACESHIP BROKE DOWN – NEED MONEY FOR PARTS. And from the look of him, he wasn’t kidding.

One thing I really liked about the people, though, is that they were extremely friendly. Well, let me be more specific. It’s definitely a cruising town. But not aggressively so – people are just REALLY friendly. I loved it. I have been locked like a troll in my study, trying to finish this book, and it was very nice to go out on the Denver streets and be looked over so appreciatively. I have a feeling Denver is a great place to be if you’re single. In fact, I’m making a note of it in case I’m ever single again.

The hotel was right in the middle of downtown, where they have a glassed-in pedestrian mall (which I never got to) and a trolley, which a bunch of us used to good advantage on Thursday night to get to a spectacularly good restaurant whose name escapes me, but was possibly the most Feng Shui-ed commercial space I have ever been in in my life (and remember, I’m from California). There was even a crystal hanging above every table. (It did not, however, prevent a heated political argument that in old days would no doubt have turned into a bar brawl.)

The hotel was potentially perfect for a book conference, as it had five bars, one of which was a huge expanse of low tables and comfortable green plush lounge chairs that should have been a perfect congregating center. But in fact it was difficult to find other LCCers in the hotel; there were two towers with two separate bar areas, which divided an already small conference, and there was another conference of high school volleyball players (female) who for some reason were all camped out in the lobby and lounge for an entire evening, which I think put a damper on more adult socializing. It was an interesting complication for a scene, though, and went into the file.

Now that I’ve been doing this conference thing for going on two years (yeah, I can hear the pros out there laughing) here are a few general and LCC- specific conference tips that I’ve picked up, and I hope others will jump in and add to the list.

First, ANY conference in the winter is going to be dicey. Apparently outside of California they have this thing called “weather” which plays all kinds of havoc with travel plans. Also it makes certain conference locations cold, even snowy. Though the weather in Denver was mild for the season (try telling that to the homeless, of whom there were many more than just the stranded alien downtown), I was as usual woefully underpacked for the freezing nights. I actually own no real sweaters of my own and will either have to shop or raid Michael’s closet next time I go to anything in the winter, which is thankfully almost over, which means of course I will totally forget about the potential usefulness of sweaters and, oh, scarves, until I am on the plane for my next winter conference.

The other thing about winter conferences is that you (well, I…) don’t play as hard because there are so many sick people around you that you tend to go to bed earlier and eat more leafy green vegetables, which is not a bad thing, actually.

Second, if you’re an author, ALWAYS hit the local bookstores. On Friday Pari and I rented a car and drove around to 8 Denver bookstores to meet managers and sign stock. It took about four and a half hours (Friday traffic and Denver is much more spread out than you would think). We got to visit both Denver Tattered Covers, which are absolute cathedrals of books, each in their own way, one in a great old downtown building and another in a grand old theater – and the completely charming Murder By the Book, in a house in a funky little walking area – as well as make the rounds of the B&Ns and Borders. You get much more of a sense of the town driving around (renting a Garmin GPS helps!) and you are establishing a relationship with another book market. Plus we had a flat-out great time together.

Third, specifically for LCC – I’ve been to two LCCs now and for some reason the hospitality suite is the place to be. It wasn’t as packed as it was last year in Seattle, but I still had some of my best con experiences just sitting around drinking coffee, stealing coconuts from the catering decorations, and getting to know a whole raft of new people. I really think you might have the most fun and useful conference experience just planting yourself in the hospitality suite and never leaving.

Fourth – always try to hit the forensics panels. You will always get your money’s worth in the forensics panels. Jan Burke did a stellar job assembling experts, and it’s always gold to hear her and Doug Lyle talk about their work – you can get a year’s worth of research in in an afternoon. And I love hearing forensics and law enforcement experts from the specific region – you get a much better sense of the whole region in general.

Oh, and fifth – never assume that your fellow authors share your political views merely because they’re authors, even if there is a crystal hanging above your copper – coated table. On the other hand, I now feel Cornelia Read is my soul sister for life.

There were so many other Rati at LCC – I expect at least SOME report on the con from everyone. We were there and it’s our job to report here for those who couldn’t make it, and I had to leave halfway through the banquet to catch a plane.

And for those who didn’t make it to Denver – any conference tips you’d like to share?

Identity

by J.T. Ellison

I’m feeling a bit schizophrenic this week — so much is happening, so many things to do, that I find it hard to give each item my full attention. It’s been a week of good news, of catching up, of diligent research and not nearly enough writing. But that’s okay, it’s coming. I have a title for the 4th book in the Taylor Jackson series as of Wednesday.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m worthless if I don’t have a title, and I’ve proven that to myself yet again. The new book is going along, but I haven’t been feeling those EUREKA moments. Which scared me to death. Am I done after three? Can I not do this anymore? Why can’t I come up with a title for this book that pleases everyone?????

Then, Tuesday night, in the middle of torture America(n) Idol, I realized that something was humming in my brain. I’ve been looking at titles that are symbolically telling, that encapsulate the story of the book into one or two words. What I was neglecting to do was step away from what I think the story is about and look deeper. Past the plot. Past the characters. Past the twists. Look deep into the series. Into what I, as a writer, am trying to do.

Hummmmmmm…..

The title appeared within five minutes. I was telling Randy I was almost there… I felt like I was on the edge… the edge? And then it came to me. I said it aloud and got goosebumps. I knew. This was it. I sent off the email to New York, fingers crossed. I got the big YES emails back. We have liftoff.

Which magically settled everything into place. I renamed all the file folders, the manuscript, the research files on the laptop. Suddenly, the research makes sense. The story is coming together, all the backstory floating around in my head is piecing its molecules into a semblance of coherence…. I’m writing a book again instead of talking about writing a book. The relief, as I’m sure you understand, is palpable.

It shouldn’t be like this. Any professional writer will laugh at you if you say you can’t write without a title. And I’m blessed, because the original 4th title was the first that got rejected by the house. So, now that I have all that behind me…

Oh, the title? EDGE OF BLACK

I’m in love.

Which leads me to cover art. I can not wait to see what they do with that.

Art is the most exciting part of the publication process for me. I fill out the art sheets, give my synopsis and themes, the hidden metaphors for the titles, and sit back, anticipating what the artists will dream up.

I’ve been blown away both times now. It’s so much fun getting that email from my editor, knowing that something spectacular lies within. I’m having what I assume to be a rare experience — twice now, my editor has sent me a cover and I’ve said yes immediately, no changes, no worries. Granted, Mira’s done a very nice job of branding me. The scratchy, insane asylum font, the graphic scenes, the bold colors… what’s not to love?

I know we’ve talked about covers a hundred times. I think we return to it, again and again, because there’s a certain element of communication intrinsic in cover art. A good one gets you noticed. A bad one, just like a bad title, and the readers will pass you by.

But what is it really that draws us? Isn’t there a certain reality that the writer doesn’t have anything to do with their covers? Yes, we have input, but just like titles, the publisher makes the final decision based on their publication model.

Getting your first cover is a bit overwhelming. Especially for authors who are less than enthralled by their art. How do you tell your house that you aren’t thrilled? It’s hard. But open lines of communication make life easier for everyone.

Anyway… all that’s just a precursor for the main event today. Like I said, lots happened this week. I’ve been given the go ahead to release my next cover. I’ve been sitting on it for what feels like months (only two) and can’t wait for everyone to see it. I sent out my newsletter early this month so I’d have a chance to debut it to the fans first. (Okay, that was a heady little statement.)

So, without further ado… the second installment of Taylor Jackson and John Baldwin is going to look like this…

Another completely visceral reaction on my part when I got this in my inbox. I was so taken with the look… but the copy was great too:

Ten victims, each with pale skin and long dark hair.

All have been slashed across the throat, the same red lipstick smeared across their lips.

In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of
Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from
the killer to the police stated that his work was done.

Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature. The
residents of Nashville fear a madman has returned, decades later, to
finish his sick fairy tale. Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson believes
the killings are the work of a copycat killer who’s even more
terrifying. For this monster is meticulously honing his craft as he
mimics famous serial murders…proving that the past is not to be
forgotten.

Creepy, huh? I think they did a great job. I was chilled to the bone.

So tell me, have you ever seen a cover that’s stayed with you? Something that really rocked your world?

And the update question: Do you have a title in the closet that you’re desperate to use but no one will let you? Or something you’ve fallen in love with and are saving for your Magnum Opus?

Wine of the Week: Penfolds Thomas Hyland Shiraz 2003 I agree with the sentiment that now is too soon to get the full body of this wine, but it’s pretty good regardless.

It Only Happens Once

Brett Battles

The stench of rotting food and diesel fuel hung over the dock like it had been there forever. Even inside the small warehouse, the foulness overpowered everything. That was until the man in the light gray coveralls opened the door of the shipping container.

Suddenly death was all Jonathan Quinn could smell.

Unflinching, he scanned the interior of the container. With the exception of a bloated body crumpled against the wall to the right, it was empty.

“Shut the door,” Quinn said.

“But Mr. Albina wanted you to see what was–”

“I’ve seen it. Shut the door.”

That’s the first 100 words – actually 96 – of my next novel THE DECEIVED. I’ve posted it here because Rob Browne and I have been involved with a fun project over at Backspace concerning the first 100 words of a manuscript.

Many of you are probably familiar with Backspace, but for those who aren’t it’s a great resource for both the aspiring author and the published. Headed up by the wonderful Karen Dionne, it has articles and columns and workshops and a fantastic discussion board where members can share their experiences and their writing. From the website:

Backspace is predicated on the idea of writers helping writers, which we accomplish by means of discussion forums, an online guest speaker program in which agents, acquisitions editors, and best-selling authors regularly conduct question and answer sessions with the group, advice and how-to articles from publishing experts on this website, as well as our real-world conferences and events.

Wish I’d known about the site earlier, though I’m not sure it was around when I was still hunting for that first sale. Still, what a great resource.

Anyway, I was talking about the project Rob and I are doing over there. We’ve had a section in the discussion area where we answer questions the other members have about writing and publishing. Recently we’ve added a sub discussion group called the FIRST 100. There, like I did above, members post the first 100 words of their novels for feedback. Rob or I will chime in on each one, as do some others members, which is great.

I love seeing the diversity of talent out there.

Some of the entries are great the way they are, some just need a little tweak to reach that goal of grabbing the reader right away.

Because that’s what the first 100 words of a novel are all about. Grabbing the reader. I think this is true no matter which genre you write. Readers pick up books off the shelves (after, no doubt, being wow’d by a cover the author has no control over), then they most often flip to the first page and begin reading. If the author doesn’t grab them in that first paragraph, 99% of the time the book goes back on the shelf. The other 1% of the time the reader is related to the author.

One of the biggest issues Rob and I are seeing is people trying to cram too much information into those first 100 words. Explaining who’s who, what’s what. But the reader doesn’t need to know all that right up front. There’s a certain amount of time they will grant the author to just carry them along without giving away the farm. Again, I think that’s a genre neutral rule. The cool thing is, once we point this out, almost universally the response is positive.

Another interesting issue that’s created a bit of a debate is the use of present tense. Out of the 50+ submissions we’ve reviewed so far, somewhere between 5 to 10 of them were writing in present tense. I’m not a big fan of using present tense, though am not completely opposed to it. Some of the best books I’ve read in the past couple of years have been present tense (the Bangkok books by John Burdett, and The Archivist Story by Travis Holland). Rob can chime in with his opinion, but to suffice it to say his is a little stronger than mine.

I think what surprised me the most about the use of the present tense is that so many were using it. I think if a story needs to be told that way then fine, but I find it curious that people who are still unpublished would still choose to use it, and here’s why…Unless I’m missing something, so few books are published this way. And because publishers aren’t as interested in these kind of books, my sense is agents won’t be either. So the question I’ve posed to many of theses writers is why hinder your chances of making your first sale by writing in a method many publishing professionals will dismiss after the first sentence? Again, if they felt strongly that this is the only way their story could be written, so be it. But they need to know going in that that uphill climb just turned into Mt. Everest with limited supplies.

So I’m curious…what do you think about using present tense by someone trying to sell their first novel? Maybe I’m wrong. Also feel free to pass along any other hints on the first 100 words you might have. I’ll post them over at our discussion group and credit you. Trust me, it will be appreciated!