Play Nice

On this end of the writing game, it’s easy to have your feelings hurt. Writers hold their stories very dear to their hearts. Just see my piece Wetting the Baby’s Head from a couple of weeks ago. A tongue-in-check piece, yes, but no less true. A writer’s body of work is very precious. So like I say, it’s easy to take things personally and go vigilante on someone’s ass.

Someone trashes your book on Amazon. Another author belittles you in public. A bookstore disrespects you. Your mum tells you to clean up your room. You, Johnny Author, what do you do? The temptation to let them have it is overwhelming, but you have to take it on the chin if you want to last in the writing world.

The examples I used above have happened to me. Yes, mum never stops telling me about the mess I left behind at home. She called me up last week to ask when would I be flying home to clear out the attic. Soon, mummy, soon, I told her. Instead of, get off my back, woman. I’m 38 now and you can’t boss me about. I’m a writer with literally a dozen fans out there.

Hmm, I’m showing little too much leg there, aren’t I? My point is that there are two ways of handling criticism—the right way and the wrong way. The wrong way will get you blackballed quicker than you can say, sorry!

The rule of the game is simple—play nice. It doesn’t matter what people say about you, play nice. Say you get into a slanging match with a big name author or toss out insults about an editor, bookseller, etc. The upshot won’t just be pistols at dawn with the person you’re arguing with, but a thousand pistols against your one. The problem with answering back and getting dragged into a flame war is that people will pick sides. Maybe you’ve said some author is a hack and anyone who reads him/her is a moron. You’ve not only incited the author, but all the author’s fans who will be willing to stand by their fav author.

At a signing last week, the bookstore owner told me about an author who came into the store and saw an advance reading copy (ARC) on the bookshelf. The author told the owner to remove it from the shelf or he would sue. It’s a fair enough point, ARCs aren’t supposed to be available for sale. A triumph for the author, but the bookseller admitted, “I took the book down, but do you think I’m ever inviting him in the store for a signing?” There was a bridge burnt in a matter of minutes.

I’m not saying don’t get angry or develop a thick skin, because unless you are the Dalai Lama, you aren’t going to take it lying down. I’m saying get it out of your system. Get angry, kick a ball, bitch about it to your cats, whine to your best friend or wife, but don’t express those feelings in the public domain for all to see. I’m with bestselling horror author Doug Clegg who says if you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say it. Personally, I write a sternly worded email about the offending subject then hit delete. No one is any the wiser and I’m over it.

The problem is that word of mouth works both ways. If you say something nasty and one person didn’t like what you said then it’s likely that person will tell ten people and those ten people will tell another ten. Soon your name is dirt.

This isn’t high school or the gym locker room after work. What you say out loud is liable to hurt you. A writer, no matter how small their readership, lives in a public forum and will be judged by the public. Just consider how many actors or sport stars are disliked because of their antics. Johnny Author is in there with ‘em. You don’t have to be super nice or fake. You just have to be professional. Because as a writer, you are not only an artist— you are also a professional. So act like a professional, as you would in any other line of work. It doesn’t take much to torpedo a career. Don’t make it yours.

Simon Wood

An Amazonian Waste of Time

NAOMI HIRAHARA

As published writers, we stumble in the dark, attempting to measure how our books are selling in the present time. We feel sharp corners and say, "Ouch, I guess things aren’t going that well." Or feel plush fabric and sit in that luxury for a while. Then six months later, the lights come on and we realize that the things that we had been feeling were nothing like the reality before us.

Yet we still play the game and do the drill. Yes, I’m talking about frequenting our local bookstores and counting how much stock has turned over (some bookstores even have dates on their bar code stickers stating when the books were ordered). We use our cell phones to call Ingram’s, one of the larger book distributors, to find out how many our books have been ordered. (For the uninitiated, the number is 615-213-6803. A caveat–this only represents a portion of your sales and does not include books shipped directly by your publisher to stores or other distributors.) And the worst yet, we check our rankings on Amazon.com on a regular basis and depending on your neurosis factor, this could mean weekly, daily, or hourly.

Now I know most of us are lost causes, but I’m writing this for the benefit of our brothers and sisters who will soon be seeing their mystery titles in print. Regarding the biggest offense, Amazon slumming–all I can say is, don’t do it. Yes, your heart will soar as your ranking edges to the low four figures for a hot second, but it will also sink as the numbers for your precious child falls to 150,000 or worse. Still don’t believe me? Here are three quick reasons not to.

1) Amazon sales are most likely only a very small percentage of your total sales. We’ve heard this time and time again, especially from bestselling authors. Last year Lynn Viehl of Paperback Writer kindly e-mailed me her sales data for her USA Today bestselling mass paperback book, IF ANGELS BURN. She was surprised that her Amazon and BN.com sales figures were so low, in spite of ranking in the top 500-1,000 sales of BN.com and 2,000-5,000 on Amazon.com. Between the two of them, during a brief time span, she reported that she had sold less than a hundred copies total. (Actually, it looked to me that she had sold almost 300 copies–but then accounting is not my thing!) For bestsellers, it’s the stats from Walmart, Costco, Target, and the chains that separate the Big Boys/Girls from the rest.

And because each book may be sold a little differently, this percentage cannot be standardized. Some authors may do their best selling though brick-and-mortar independent bookstores. Many presses, both small and big, are also discovering that they need to go where people already congregate–churches, craft shows, etc.–and sell books there. Those sales will not be reflected in an Amazon ranking.

2) The ranking system is the mathematically equivalent of gobbledygook. Now, I say this because I’m not a numbers person as I indicated before. Most authors I know are also similarly mathematically challenged. There are, however, folks and academicians who really groove on numbers. Morris Rosenthal, the publisher of Foner Books, is one of them and has launched a new blog, The Rank Economy. He also is the author of What Amazon Sales Ranks Mean. It’s an amazing document, which includes a graph and, needless to say, a bunch of numbers.

I can only add to the confusion by offering my real world example–GREEN MAKERS, a very specialized nonfiction book that I edited and produced for a professional organization. After the book was officially released in April 2001, I placed the book on Amazon.com through the Amazon Advantage program. I’m the book’s official contact, so when orders come in for the book, I am directly e-mailed. I must then ensure that books are mailed to Amazon’s distribution center in Kentucky; all mailing costs to the distribution center must be absorbed by the publisher. (For a small press like ours, hardly any inventory is kept in the warehouse.)

First of all, some fast facts:

Publisher: Southern California Gardeners’ Federation

Pub Date: 2001

Print Run: 4,000

Printing Costs Per Copy: $3

Retail Price: $19.95

Wholesale Discounted Price: $12 (40% Discount)

Amazon Discounted Price: $8.98 (55% Discount)

Out of the 4,000 copies, 2,000 were given away to the membership of the Southern California Gardeners’ Federation. More than 1,000 have been sold so far. A bulk of the sales were made directly by the Federation through direct mail solicitations, press releases, and book events. Other than the Federation itself, the book is still being sold by one brick and mortar outlet, one direct mail/special events outlet, and Amazon.com. Since joining Amazon in 2001, we have sold a total of 78 books.

Just for our readers at Murderati, I followed the Amazon.com rankings for this very humble book for the past week:

Sunday (May 21) 202,709

Monday (May 22) 247,785

Tuesday (May 23) 404,535

Wednesday (May 24) 427,460 (later 71,862)*

Thursday (May 25) 130,022 (later 202,455)*

Friday (May 26) 230,864 (later 257,346)*

Saturday (May 27) 325,134 (later 366,433)

Sunday (May 28) 374,337 (later 414,163)*

Monday (May 29) 470,316 (later 473,093)*

Tuesday (May 30) 487,774

* Apparently the number changes throughout the day.

So what accounts for the spike in the number on Wednesday, you ask? Let’s look at our order report for the past year, organized by most recent date of order received:

April 10, 2006–5 books

February 27, 2006–6 books

November 14, 2005–3 books

October 31, 2005–1 book

October 24, 2005–4 books

August 8, 2005–2 books

August 1, 2005–1 book

So that’s it. No orders since April 10–yet our numbers have yoyo-ed from 71,862 to 487,774 during this past week. (I can only attribute the spike to a used book sale–which I’m not informed of, since the book would come from another party and not the publisher.)

So why are we hooked into Amazon, as if it can foretell our literary futures?

I’m not saying that the Amazon ranking is not some measure of success. Surely if you consistently rank from #1-#100, you are undeniably a bestseller. Yesterday this list included Patricia Cornwell, Dan Brown, Janet Evanovich, Lee Child, James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Jeffrey Deaver, Alexander McCall Smith, John Sandford, Harlan Coben, and Mary Higgins Clark. No surprise.

If you are regularly in the 1,000 or less category, you share company with Jonathan Kellerman, Tami Hoag, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Sue Grafton, and others. In "What Amazon Sales Ranks Mean," Rosenthal says, "Books with steady sales ranks below 1,000 are selling very well, topping several dozen copies a day as you approach 100."

But most of us are on the yo-yo track, where darkness unfortunately prevails.

3) And if your ranking is bad one day, so what? What are you going to do to remedy the situation that day? Walk down your street wearing a sandwich board advertising your book? Flog yourself until you bleed? Buy some books on Amazon yourself?

Ultimately the numbers that really count are those on your royalty statement, which is received only two times a year. Some editors are more open about numbers than others, so you may be able to get more regular reports about print runs, etc. outside of royalty reporting times. This information can be helpful. Even though my tendency is to be in dreamland about money matters, I’ve discovered that I need to do periodic evaluations based on hard numbers and quantifying past results. If we have poor sales, we need to attempt to figure out why. Is it what we’re writing about? Or perhaps our writing itself? Has it been the way our books are been promoted? Is it just the whims of the market? And if we feel impassioned to continue down the same writing path, we must be realistic and seek other financial ways to support our work.

I don’t think our Amazon ranking is going to help us in any real way in getting these answers. But I know that we are so starved for information about sales of our book that we grasp onto any little morsel–even one that may be rotten–and take it in.

In due time, the Mystery Writers of America will be offering a BookScan service for their members (the contract is currently being negotiating). This service will be limited, however, to the top 100 mystery books. Even though most of us won’t fall into the category, odds are that many will join and soon we’ll have new numbers that we can obsess over. Even though Bookscan figures don’t encompass all sales either, at least they will be hard numbers and not elusive ones that will change with the click of a button.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER SPAM: Nellie Estrada of Chino Hills describes how she ate Spam as a kid–"fried and rolled into a hot corn tortilla with a bite of a serrano chili and some salsa." Muy deliciosa! Okay, gang, you have less than 24 hours to submit your entries to the inaugural Mas Arai Spam Contest. Judges will be myself and Mas, with Haruo as our tiebreaker. E-mail them to The winner will be announced this Saturday at my event at Book’em Mysteries in South Pasadena at 2 p.m. and posted next Wednesday here on Murderati and my website.

FREE TRIP TO JAPAN, ANYONE?: From the pages of Poets and Writers–Five five-month residencies, which include a monthly stipend of 400,000 yen (approximately $3,450) for living expenses, plus expenses for housing, transportation, and language study, are available to U.S. artists to live in Japan. Check out the website, www.jusfc.gov/commissn/guide.html.

Update! ADDING TO THE MADNESS: Just opened up an e-mail from Amazon. We received one order of GREEN MAKERS last night about 10 p.m. PST. Apparently that order helped to lower our 487,000 number to 127,910. Now we’re at 231,077 (3:14 p.m. Wednesday). What does this mean? Not a whole heck of a lot.

QUIBBLES & BITS

Deni Dietz

I was going to blog "funny waitress stories" this week, but I’ll save it for next week and, instead, find my old newspaper editor’s hat…ah, here it is, on the top shelf; a black-leather John Lennon cap…and write a "Happy Obituary."

No, that’s not an oxymoron.

After a bravely-fought battle with a rare form of cancer, author Katherine Shepherd succumbed Sunday morning. Most of you have never heard of Katherine Shepherd, and that’s understandable. As the author of two mystery novels — Fraternity of Silence and Betrayed by Silence — co-starring a mini Schnauzer named Bowie Aloysius Dog [B.A.D.], Kathy never made the N.Y. Times or USA Today bestseller lists. She never sold a movie option. She never even wrote a blog <thud>.

But Katherine Shephard epitomized everything that’s good about the book biz, everything that’s positive about small press publishing. And for the record, she never felt she was "second cousin" to the big guys — the authors who win prestigious awards, the authors who get 400 reviews [in a row] on DorothyL.

Au contraire. If you look in the dictionary under "enthusiasm," you’ll probably find Katherine Shephard’s name. I don’t know how Kathy felt on the inside, but on the outside she was a star.

Kathy paid her dues. She had a degree in Criminal Justice and she was a political speechwriter. She attended political fundraisers. She truly researched first-hand the politicians who peopled her novels. And best of all, she never said, "Someday I’m going to write a book." She wrote one. And then another. And had she not become sick, she would have kept on entertaining her fans.

Her husband Bob said, "Kathy enjoyed the friends she made during her days as an author. The people she met on book tours, at speaking engagements, at conferences and while working on and researching her books, as well as the fans she developed, were all benefits she had not previously considered. She enjoyed all of them."

The last time I saw Kathy, her eyes twinkled and her smile lit up the room. She was so excited because she had a big surprise for me. Seems she’d mentioned my fictitious dog "Hitchcock" in her latest B.A.D. book [Betrayed by Silence].

For those who will miss Katherine’s smile as much as I will, I’ve included a
picture of her ("and her little dog, too").

Rest in peace, Kathy, free from pain. You will live on in your books, and how many people can say that?

Over and Out,
Deni

Making Conventions Work

Pari Noskin Taichert

Yesterday morning when the hotel alarm clock screamed at 5 am, I felt hostile. I’d only gone to bed a few hours before, and had had a few more scotches than advisable, and, um, well . . . had read before I went to sleep. Had the trip to Mayhem in the Midlands (which, btw, is a great con) been worth it?

By the time I got to the airport, I knew the answer was "yes."

During the convoluted airplane journey home from Omaha via Phoenix to Albuquerque (get out your maps, this makes no sense whatsoever), in the middle of a particularly unsettling batch of turbulence, I began to think about why I go to mystery conventions . . . and why I like them so much.

Sure, I could write another article similar to the one about book signings — but most of my reasons would simply echo that earlier piece ("Il Faut Cultiver Votre Jardin"–Murderati, May 22). That’d be a cop out.

Instead, I want to share some of the things I do to make my convention experiences so consistently enjoyable — and worthwhile. I’m framing these ideas into suggestions — tips, if you will — that I hope will enhance your experience, too.

Physical

1. Get out of the host hotel. Give yourself the pleasure of breathing nonrecycled air; you’ll feel healthier for it. Plus you might get to go dancing at a blues club — like I did in Omaha.

2. Find the gym. If you know where it is, you might even decide to use it. Hey, I did . . . once.

3. Get some sleep/take naps. Darn! I knew there was something I forgot to do at Mayhem this weekend.

4. Drink enough water. I’m talking about the stuff with no color or flavoring. Coffee doesn’t count. Neither does scotch — or wine. What was I saying? Oh, yeah, "drink water." You’ll feel better if you do.

5. Travel with food. Oh, I know this sounds as obvious as the water one but, believe me, traveling with a little decent food — and this doesn’t mean chocolate and Smarties (I use a good trail mix and turkey jerky [for protein]) — can keep you from being exhausted before you even arrive at the event.

Professional

1. Find the bar. I’m not saying you have to drink alcohol here — (remember the water? Well, you can get in a couple of gallons while hanging out). Many of my best exeperiences at conventions have happened in the bar when a group of people gather and I get to meet, and get to know, folks that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to speak with in another context.

Etiquette point: schmoozing — while in the audience — during panels and presentations is gauche.

2. Prepare for panels. If you’re an author, think about the subject before you walk into the room, puh leeze. If you’re a reader, have a couple of questions in mind. Everyone will benefit.

3. Curb your desperation. Okay, authors, if you want people to read your books, don’t badger them (either on a panel by only talking about your work or in the bar when it’s socializing time).

Readers? You’ll get to meet the writers you want to meet — and spend pleasant time with them — if you remember they’re just people, too.

(Reality check: I’ve never actually had anyone fawn over me, so I don’t know if this is unpleasant or not . . . um, maybe one of you out there could give me a sort of test fawning experience and I could tell you, really, if it bothered me. I’ll be at Murder in the Grove in . . . oh, waitaminute, I think I’m missing my own warning at the beginning of this section. Sorry.)

4. Don’t worry about attending all the panels. Authors, you can’t (unless you plan to ditch your own panel — and that’s usually ill-advised).

Readers, you’ll be miserable if you obsess too much about getting to all the panels. Some of the best experiences at conventions happen spontaneously and it’d be a shame to feel compelled to stick to the program simply because you think you have to.

5. Be thankful. Yeah, I know it sounds groovy, but it makes so much sense.

Be thankful for the volunteers who put on the convention — people like Sally Fellows, Evelyn Whitehill, Doris Ann Norris (all pictured below), Lori and Tim Hayes and many others who give their time so freely so that we can all enjoy ourselves.

Be thankful for booksellers for carrying your books — and for carrying books you like.

Be thankful for readers (we’d all better be readers) for sharing their enthusiasm, buying books, talking about books . . .

Be thankful for authors for attending conventions, sitting on panels, and NOT hiding in their rooms (or being mean or snobby or whatever . . .) and for offering their perspectives.

Related to this is: Be nice (to hotel staff and others. It’ll just make you feel so good.)

6. Take the time to listen. This relates to the desperation warning in #3 of this section. No one has to be "on" all the time. Plus, you might learn something important.

6A. Remember that other people are listening to you. Gossip can be so damn fun, so, go ahead and do a little of it. Don’t get too carried away with spreading nasties about other people though. If you do, you’ll become known for being mighty nasty yourself (okay, "nasty" can be cool in some contexts — just not this one).

7. Take time to debrief after the convention. I think it helps to tell someone about the time spent at a particular convention soon after the fact. It gives the adventure substance and brings order to the chaos of this overwhelming experience. That, in turn, allows our brains to synthesize and own the moments we cherished and want to remember.

Conversely, if we did something stupid — like gossiping too much, for example — this might be the perfect moment to see if we can repair some of the damage.

La Politesse (Politeness)

1. Talk with people you don’t know. Hey, we’ve all been there — strangers in a strange land. It feels horrid. Once you’ve got a group of friends, why not expand it by one or two?

2. Be inclusive. See #1 in this section. When a group gets too clique-y, it has the effect of hurting others, of making them feel less important. Do we really want to do that to each other (authors? readers?)?

Of course, several of the previously-mentioned points could go in this section as well — it’s always wise to be thankful, to listen rather than badger, to give other people a chance to speak — but I’ll assume that being polite comes naturally to most of you.

That’s it for the tips.

Below are a few photos taken at Mayhem. Pardon the quality — I’m just learning how to use the digital camera . . . and am even more challenged when it comes to inserting pix in this blog. But, someday, I’ll be as competent as Ms. Hirahara and Mr. Wood. I promise.

At Mayhem, I had two panels. The first one — Hooks & Gimmicks was sparsely attended in the beginning, but that didn’t stop us from having fun — or me from demonstrating one of Sasha’s odd flaws.

Yeah, I know it’s dark, but you can see from l. to r. — Doris Ann Norris (moderator and librarian extradordinaire), Lee Killough, me with whipped cream, and Maureen Robb. Not in this picture is the wonderful Radine Trees Nehring. (I think her hubby, John, took this picture. Thanks, John.)

From l. to r. — Donna Andrews, Sally Fellows (reviewer and Mayhem volunteer) and Susan McBride.

You can just feel the merriment in the air, can’t you? This is taken in the bar. See what I mean?

L. to r. Maria Y. Lima and Evelyn Whitehill (Evelyn is an active volunteer at Mayhem and one great lady).

I was terrified of blowing the interview with Toastmaster Denise Hamilton. My worries faded the minute she opened her mouth and started telling all of her fascinating stories.

Bigger! Louder! Wake Me When It’s Over!

Jeffrey Cohen

It’s the summer movie season. I used to get so excited about this.

There was a time when I really cared about the movies that came out during the summer, thumbing my nose at the pretentious claptrap Hollywood released at Christmas to lure shiny gold statues and show how important it all was. I’d get there first, stand on line, sit in the center of the center row, hunker down with a box of Milk Duds and let it all wash all over me. Even the slide show before the movie (which wasn’t anywhere near as elaborate as the “pre-show” they do today) got me right where I lived. It was my time of year, and I was going to spend it all in a dark room with strangers.

Not anymore.

Maybe I’m indifferent to the summer movie fare offered these days because I’m older now, but I don’t think so. I still have a fine appreciation for things that are well-made nonsense. I still love stupid movies, when they’re intelligent stupid movies. I think the last honest-to-goodness comedy I saw in a theatre of my own volition (when my son, in particular, wasn’t making the programming choice for the day) was Galaxy Quest, a Tim Allen movie about a bunch of actors who save the, well, galaxy. I thought it was well written, well directed and well acted, and I wish I’d relished the experience, because it hasn’t been duplicated since. That was in 1999.

I think the problem is that while technology has undeniably improved in the moviemaking business, storytelling has fallen by the wayside. Most “action” scenes are edited to the attention span of a hummingbird on Ritalin, and half the time, you can’t tell what’s going on, but you’ve got to figure it’s really exciting. The writing (you wondered when I’d talk about writing, didn’t you?)? Well, that editing really is impressive, isn’t it?

So far this summer, I have attended, semi-willingly, three stupid popcorn movies, the kind that used to get my heart pumping weeks in advance. The first, Mission: Impossible 3 (and I’m not the first to tell you to beware movies whose last name is “3”) was a nifty little entertainment that shouted and sweated as if it were the opening bell in a new Renaissance of action. It wasn’t. It was Tom Cruise, frothing at the mouth (which is what we’re used to with Tom these days, alas) about how much in love with some woman or another he was, and how he’d do anything to save her. It’s been a number of years, I know, but wasn’t that what Mission: Impossible 2 was about? What happened to THAT woman?

Then, of course, came The Da Vinci Code, less a movie than an obligation. As the last person on the planet who hasn’t read the novel on which the movie was based, I can’t compare the two, but Tom Hanks is certainly a good actor, and Ian McKellen (sorry: Sir Ian McKellen), with his two canes, has such a good time there are pieces of scenery caught between his teeth by the end of the film, but didn’t it all sort of add up to not much? Couldn’t most of the big “surprises” be seen a mile away, wearing irridescent paint and waving their arms?

There is a certain hazard to being a mystery writer who attends action movies or reads mystery novels. We think like mystery writers while we’re watching the movie, and we often figure out the plot ahead of “civilians.” I nudged my wife 20 minutes into The Sixth Sense to ask if she’d caught on yet. She started talking to me again a couple of weeks later.

We have a story sense, because if we didn’t, we’d be in the plumbing and heating business, and actually making a living. So, when a story isn’t executed so well that we’re distracted from the mechanics of the writing, well, our story muscles are exercised. Don’t hate us because we can see the plot twists coming.

Yesterday, both the kids were determined to see X-Men: The Final Stand (whose last name was “3” before Ellis Island, I’m guessing), which despite the critical lambasting it has taken wasn’t all that bad. It actually includes a villain whose point of view is defensible, even if his tactics are not, and he’s played by Ian McKellen (pardon me: Sir Ian McKellen) in a very silly hat. Again, not an awful movie, but like each of the first two in the series, the details of this one will have entirely left my memory within a week of having seen it.

A large number of movies will open this summer. I’m sort of interested in seeing Superman Returns, as an old fan of the flying guy. But do I have to go the first weekend it’s open? Nah. I can wait. Others that I would have stood on line for in years past will have to wait until they’re available on Netflix. I’m not spending that $12.95 a month for nothing, you know.

I don’t even eat Milk Duds anymore. They helped make me the man I am today, particularly around the middle.

My daughter, however, is counting the days until the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. She can barely wait. And her enthusiasm, finally, is something that I look forward to seeing.

ON THE BUBBLE WITH GAYLE LYNDS

How does one write an intro for this extraordinary lady? What can I say about this world wide best seller, the co-founder of International Thriller Writers, whose new book – THE LAST SPYMASTER – is already breaking sound barriers around bookstores – that hasn’t already been said – time and again – and more eloquently?

Try this on for size – and this is just about THE LAST SPYMASTER!

"Lynds is a kick-ass thriller writer!" – The Observer

"Today’s finest espionage writer unleashes an instant classic." – Lee Child

"Fascinating characters, nerve tingling pace..cements Lynds reputation as one of the premier espionage authors of our time." – Vince Flynn

I mean, who the hell can beat that? Not moi.

But all that is about Gayle Lynds-the writer. What about Gayle Lynds – the woman? Okay, here is where it gets tough. I could be effusive as hell. I could offer up a ton of superlatives. And they’d all be true. Because I know them to be. Many of you who know what Gayle’s been through these past months, will understand when I use one word to describe her. It’s a word that instantly comes to mind when I think of Gayle. Indomitable.

The Observer calls her writing ‘kick-ass’. Wait until you see her sense of humor!

EE: There are some frightening rumors going around that you and David Morrell co-founded International Thriller Writers as a ruse to recruit some of the best minds in crime fiction as covers N.S.A. agents. Say it isn’t so, Gayle. I mean, when would all these phenoms have time to write?

GL: Well, I must admit your intel is somewhat accurate. As the last spymaster says in the book that was named for him, use the BAR code. No! Not that kind of bar. The clandestine kind –Befriend, Assess, Recruit! Well, a little fine scotch never hurt either.

But…but…I LIKE that kind of bar. If you change your M.O., I’d be glad to play barmaid.

EE: Gayle Lynds watchers have notified me you’ve been spotted on three occasions sipping lattes at Starbucks in Santa Barbara with two men wearing trench coats and dark glasses. Friends, Gayle? Maybe Hollywood studio heads in disguise? But then, do movie folk talk into their Rolex watches these days?

GL: Honey, those Rolexes came off a street corner in southeast L.A. Do not look too closely, or the watchbands will disintegrate, the glass faces will drop like corpses, and the spooks – er – studio heads – will have to turn in their government credit cards. I hate to see grown men cry. It’s just pitiful!

I do too, but then – wouldn’t that be a Kodak moment?

EE: Isn’t it true that Julia Robets threw a hissy fit when she found out that Angelica Houston got the role she wanted in THE HADES FACTOR – the mini-series that aired on CBS recently – the one adapted from the book you wrote with Robert Ludlum? I mean, come on, Gayle – you can share here. It’s okay. Sort of. I mean, Julia and I haven’t spoken in weeks. Actually, she hung up on me when I told her…well, nevermind.

GL: It’s that darn pimple she has on the end of her nose that has made her a tad cranky these days. Oops. Didn’t you know? The poor woman is really human. Well, when you ring her up, please do NOT tell her that I revealed the Secret of the Giant Zit. Pul-lease!

Hey, if it was anyone but you – I’d just run and tell the little princess. But my lips are sealed. Zip. Can I get top clearance now?

EE: Rumor aound Mysteryville – er – Thrillerville – is thatthe names of the winners of the first "Thriller" Award being presented at Thrillerfest (June 29th-July 2nd in Scottsdale, Arizona-hows that for a plug?) are under close guard at Price Waterhouse. Were these extreme measures taken after Otto Penzler threatened to boycott the convention because no cozy writers were nominated?

GL: I know what you mean. Otto really adores cozies. Until recently, he was in bed a lot with cozy…books. And they just adore him back. But I do wish he’d quit going on and on about how much he loves them. You’d think he’d be a little more sensitive to the rest of us, especially the guy writers. Otto doesn’t mean to be sexist. He just can’t help preferring to knock back shots with female authors, praising more of their novels, point out that they generally write better than men, and saying sensitively that of course men shouldn’t take it personally because they can’t help it that they’re not as good. As in all things, genitals are destiny. Otto is not only passionae but logical. When I grow up, I want to be Otto!

Hells, bells! I laughed so damn hard while I typed that – I can’t think of anything to say!

EE: I’ve been told you had a secret lunch meeting with John Le Carre when you were in Bristol for Left Coast Crime recently – and Le Carre had decided your new book – THE LAST SPYMASTER – is just too delicious for him to compete with and he’s planning on retiring. So, Gayle – how was the fish & chips?

GL: Yummy. Mmmmmm.

Is that standard issue spook talk?

EE: Okay, enough of the nitty gritty. Tell us which writers you would love to moderate on a panel?

GL: Fiction writers, of course! Bankers, lawyers, and most especially…politicians!

They do have a way with words! And so damn creative!

EE: Your legion of fans have asked me to pose this very important question: and be truthfull here, okay? You’re having a dinner party with your ideal guests – who would they be – and what will you serve?

GL: Oh, goodie. Just my cup of cyanide. I want Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, George W. Bush, Tony Blair…every head of state. And I’m gonna serve Truth Serum!

Ah, my kind of party! If you’re short on dishes, let me know. I’ve got tons and tons. I’ll even deliver them. And I can help serve too. Hell, I can drop food on people better than most.

EE: All my victims, er, guests, are asked what their Walter Mitty dream is. Tell us yours – 50,000 words or less.

GL: To have my next book written. Ah, sweet dream!

Aw, hell, Gayle. That’s a no-brainer. I’ll bet you’ve got three going as we speak.

EE: When you want to spoil yourself, what do you do, or what do you buy?

GL: I swear by aerobic shopping. The thing is, you’ve got tomove so fast that you don’t buy anything. Besides, 100 pair of shoes is enough, don’t you think?

Imelda didn’t think so. But hey – can I tell Julia? Ohhh, I’ll be that will really frost her! And wait until she hears she ain’t invited to your dinner party! I’ll call her when I’m done here,okay?

EE: Is it true you’re a closet opera singer? And that your life long dream is to play Carmen at La Scala?

GL: Heck, no. Where do these rumors start??? My life-long dream is to WRITE Carmen! Well, there’s a teensy-tiny problem with that – I’ve forgotten how to read music. Did I mention that I really was probably destined to write fiction? I love being paid to lie for a living.

Lie for a living? Yeah, right. It’s okay-Hayden hasn’t been totally confirmed yet. Besides, he’s not monitoring me. Well, not yet, anyway.

EE: Is Oliver Stone still bugging you to ghost that children’s book he can’t find an agent for?

GL: Sigh. Ollie is such a drag. So much whining! He’s never been the same snce he did Richard Nixon.

No! Him too? And all this time I thought…well, never mind.

EE: What about the buzz that Dan Brown feels a sudden urge for legitimacy and wants to do a book tour with you so readers will take him seriously?

GL: That buzz is bad. The man’s legitimate. I’ve seen his birth certificate. It lists both his mommy and daddy.

Hmmmm. Okay. If you say so. I know your sources are impeccable.

EE: Which book do you wish you’d written?

GL: The Bible. Man, talk about buzz.

No kidding! I’d love to know what the print run on that is every year!

EE: Let’s clear the air on this one: Did you really teach Tom Clancy how to write thrillers?

GL: What? What? Tom writes THRILLERS??!!

That’s what his book jackets say. You mean they’re not? Damn! I want my money back.

EE: And finally,Gayle – would you stop being such a soft-hearted, generous, warm and wonderful gal whose esy smile welcomes all that she meets? It’s just not the right image for a take-no-prisoner thriller writer!

GL: Honey, you’re looking into the muzzle of my AK-47. SMILE when you say that!

For you, dear Gayle – there will always be a smile.

The Two Minute Rule

JT Ellison

Watching the Preakness Stakes last
weekend, I was nauseated and on the verge of tears when the phenomenal colt,
Barbaro, pulled up lame at the start of the race, his right rear ankle swinging in
grotesque circles. I know I wasn’t alone; the country has been
following the story of this magnificent animal – broken, battered, with an
injury that would be the end of a lesser horse. After many hours of surgery,
and many dollars, Barbaro, the horse they should rename Braveheart, seems to be on the mend. A wonderful ending to a
bitter story.

Later that day, Hubby and I were in the car, listening to a
sports talk radio program. Barbaro, and horse racing in general, was the topic of
conversation. The hosts were deriding the age old claim that the Kentucky Derby
is “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports.” They questioned how a horse
race could be more exciting that a two-minute drill in the Superbowl, or the last two
minutes of a hockey game, when goalies are pulled to improve the team’s
chance of scoring, and the already frenetic pace becomes almost chaotic.

I think they missed the point. Horse racing is billed that
way appropriately, simply because the entire event takes place in two minutes.
You wait around all day, partying, betting, letting the anticipation build and
build and build, then suddenly they’re off, and the entire day comes to a
climax in two short minutes.

What does this have to do with writing, you ask? Simple. I
was thinking about how men approach their sports, that the final two minutes
are the most important and exciting because it completely captures their interest.
I realized that I approach reading the same way. If you don’t capture my
attention within the first two minutes, you’re sunk.

Now, I’m a fast reader, and I can get 10-15 pages into a
book in two minutes. And if you haven’t shown me something by then, I’m going
to be a little cranky.

Last week, one of the lists I participate in had a
discussion about where to have the first murder. Does it have to be on the
first page, the first chapter, within the first fifty pages? Would it be okay
to build the characters, or romance, or whatever, before your murder appears?

In
my humble opinion, no. That’s not okay. You have two minutes to get the attention
of your reader. Only a very few exceptionally talented writers can write a
mystery in which the murder doesn’t take place until later in the book. And
even if you’ve got the talent of, say, Laura Lippman, it’s hard to do. You’re stretching your reader’s
faith when you don’t give them a reason to continue reading.

I think this rule applies to all genres, but especially
to mystery. How many books have you picked up, read the first couple of pages and
gone, hmmm, I forgot to put the clothes in the dryer. You do a few chores, come
back to it, read a couple of pages and realize you really would like a
Starbuck’s. I have read so many books like this, and it drives me crazy.
Without realizing it, I’m finding other, mundane things to do instead of
buckling down and reading. For shame. I want to be so engaged I have to drag
myself away to feed Hubby, not decide that cleaning the bathroom is a better
option than finishing out a chapter.

How do you capture the interest of your readers in two short
minutes? With a sharp, strong voice, an
engaging style, and starting the action and story immediately,
rather than spending a chapter describing your character’s morning or looks.

I try to do this with my own books. I either start with a body being found, or a murder being committed. It’s a great way to kick start your story, set the tone, and assure your readers that you aren’t going to waste their time making them wonder what this book is going to be about.

I decided to go back and see which writers I think really do
this well. John Connolly begins his debut novel – EVERY DEAD THING, with a
flashback to the protagonist’s literal nightmare, the horrific murder of his
wife and daughter. Compelling and gripping, he uses the crime scene reports to
fill in the details. This spare style resonates, drawing the reader into the
story almost against their will. It’s brilliant. And shoot, I just lost fifteen
minutes because he sucks me in, time and again.

John Sandford often starts his novels with
the killer’s point of view. Duane Swierczynski opens THE WHEELMAN with a bank robbery going
awry. The first line of the prologue in Tami Hoag’s NIGHT SINS is “They found the
body today.” P.J. Parrish begins A KILLING RAIN with an anonymous man driving
Alligator Alley to deliver a package. The tone of the story is unmistakable;
you know right away that he’s up to no good. And don’t even get me started on how well Cornelia Read opens her debut, A FIELD OF DARKNESS. Just go out and get it. I’ve learned that sometimes, it’s better to learn by example from the masters.

Wham, Bam, Thank you, Ma’am. All of these great books have
one thing in common. They grab your attention immediately. Don’t worry so much
about where you drop the body. Worry about engaging your reader with an
appropriately dramatic opening. If you can capture your reader’s attention
within the first two minutes, you’ll always be better off in the long run.

Wine of the Week – From Chile – Casa Lapostolle Cabernet
Sauvignon (the Merlot is fantastic too!)

P.S. Don’t forget to root for Danica Patrick at the Indianapolis 500 this weekend! You go, girl!

…And Many More

By nature, a writer works in isolation. Not literally, but when it comes to connecting with the public, bookstores, publishers and editors, the writer is isolated from people’s reactions. And as such, it’s difficult to know where you stand. Is my standing in the community growing? Am I on the way up or the way down? If the publisher tells you that they’re dropping you, then that’s a very good indicator that your personal stock is on the slide, but there are some subtle indicators to take note of.

One such indicator is what I call the “And Many More” syndrome. This occurs in the magazine and anthology markets. The magazine or anthology cover screams, “featuring stories by …” and it lists half a dozen names then tails off with the dreaded “…and many more.” “And many more,” a breed of people who fill up the pages while the big name people take all the glory. As you’ve probably guessed, I’ve been in the “and many more” or “and others” bucket for quite a while, but things are changing. I’m slowing rising above the parapet to be a name in my own right. As much as it sucks to be relegated to the “and many more” side of the tracks, it’s quite a lift to see my name appear on the magazine cover.

It first happened a couple of years ago. I’d sold a story to a mystery magazine and it was quite a shock when I received my contributor copy to find my name third on the cover. Recently my name received second billing in a horror magazine and they had some pretty well known writers in that particular issue. My last article for Writer’s Digest was mentioned on the cover. The editor quoted from it in her editorial and the piece got a very nice spread with lots of glossy stills to illustrate. Yay, me!

One spot still eludes me. I’ve never been the headliner. My stories haven’t been the inspiration for that particular issue’s cover. I hope to get there soon. I can handle it.

On the downside, I’ve not totally risen above the minutia. Depending on whom else I’m sharing page space with; I get the bump back down to minors. I returned to my “and many more” status for the promotion of the anthology, Eulogies. I haven’t achieved the rip-roaring status of sitting pretty on the cover of every magazine or book I appear in, I’ve got to work on that.

So what can I take from my on and off status as a name on magazine covers? I’m a bubbler on a low heat. I’ve yet to reach the status where I’m so damn hot that I boil over onto every cover I grace. That’s good. I’ve got work to do—I’ve always got work to do—but I can live with that. My purpose is to keep on keeping on and doing my best to break through.

And I’ll know when I’ve done that when my name isn’t, And Many More.

Simon Wood (who appears in issue #10 of Book of Dark Wisdom—but not on the cover L)

PS: I’ve joined the MySpace revolution recently. If you want to buddy up, come see me.

Notes from the Underground

NAOMI HIRAHARA

When I was in high school, I took a career assessment exam, and discovered that I was wired to become either a traveling salesman, a playwright, or an undertaker (well, perhaps a prettier word is bereavement counselor). Imagine my disappointment. Singularly each job didn’t seem that impressive to a teenager, and together they formed a bizarre Frankensteinian figure. What kind of monster would I become?

Well, more than two decades later, I use some aspects of those occupations in my work as a writer and editor. It has become even more evident during these past couple weeks of whirlwind promotional and educational activities.

TRAVELING SALESMAN

What’s more Willie Loman than traveling solo to far-flung areas with only a single suitcase filled with books and postcards in hand? I certainly felt that way when I arrived in Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport last Thursday. One thing I soon discovered, getting a fun rental car can ease the bite of loneliness on the road. PT Cruisers are the best and they have a lot of drink holders for all the liquids necessary for a self-financed book tour.

Northern California can be divided, generally speaking for mystery writers, in three easy pieces:

1) Peninsula (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Mountain View–Books Inc., Menlo Park–Kepler’s, Palo Alto–Books Inc., Redwood City, and San Mateo) anchored by "M" Is for Mystery in San Mateo.

2) San Francisco, or "The City," anchored by the San Francisco Mystery Bookstore. (I’d also include Corte Madera’s Book Passage–a quick and wonderful drive over the bridge. Have that five-dollar bill ready for the toll on the way back.)

3) East Bay (Berkeley, Oakland, Danville–Rakestraw Books) anchored by Dark Carnival in Berkeley.

I’ve done drive-by or stop-in signings in the past at all these regions, but this time I concentrated my efforts in the first, the Peninsula.

The nice thing about the Peninsula is that it’s usually ten degrees warmer than San Francisco and on Thursday, it was sunny and about 80 degrees. Nirvana. Another strong point is parking is usually easily available in neighboring lots. Double or maybe triple nirvana. Before you go on out-of-town drop-by signings, try to call stores two weeks ahead of time to make sure they have your books on hand. Of course, I didn’t do that (see my last Murderati blog entry for my recent state of mind) and I learned the code phrase "shortlist." I thought "shortlist" was a term reserved solely for awards and honors, but apparently in the Barnes and Noble world, it also means to stock stores with small orders of a certain title. "You don’t have it? Can you shortlist it? Five books–sounds good."

My yellow-brick road in San Jose turned out to be Saratoga Boulevard. As you cultivate your readership, you get a sense of who your prime demographic is. As I passed a mini-mall called Strawberry Plaza and spied a Mitsuwa Market and Kinokuniya bookstore, I knew that I was nearing the heart of my readers. Upon seeing a RingerHut Nagasaki Champon restaurant (what the heck?), I knew that I had entered the Emerald City. The Barnes and Noble there on Saratoga had two copies of SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN, which were promptly sold. On my way back to 880, I stopped by Kinokuniya to meet the manager and had a great discussion about the popularity of mysteries in Japan. He told me that the Japanese translation of Nina Revoyr’s book, Southland, was on Japan’s list of best mysteries. Congrats to Nina and good news for everyone writing about ethnic Americans.

To reward myself for making some great contacts, I went into Mitsuwa Market and bought myself a tall bottle of Calpico, manufactured by Calpis, which for obvious reasons changed the name of its product for the American market. It’s a yogurt flavored beverage that I grew up with in L.A.–so, in a sense, my comfort drink.

I did the same after my gig at the Clark County Library in Las Vegas on Sunday. I drove into downtown Las Vegas and headed straight for the California Hotel and Casino, where I ordered a bowl of saimin (Hawaiian noodles) with haupia (coconut pudding) to go along with the Ross MacDonald book I was reading. If this isn’t the life of a mystery author, I don’t know what is.

PLAYWRIGHT

I’ve never written a play, but I’ve been in my share of plays in college. (BTW, I would recommend all aspiring writers to take an acting or speech class–so helpful for those speaking engagements.) So the thing about playwriting vs. book writing, playwrights have a lot more interaction with other people, including not only the director but the actors.

Although I’m in my soul of souls introverted, I do like people in reasonable doses. So it’s been nice not only to meet booksellers on the road, but also other literary folks at conferences and seminars. Before I left for my out-of-town book tour, I had a great time with people at our planning sessions for the inaugural Asian Pacific American Book Festival, scheduled for Los Angeles on May 12, 2007 (so put that on your calendars). It was great to hang out with old friends–David Mas Masumoto and others–as well as hear dynamic speakers such as Shawn Wong. I moderated a publishing panel, which included Patricia Wakida of Heyday Books, Dana Goldberg of Children’s Book Press, agent Sandra Zane of Global Literary Management, agent Taryn Fagerness of Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, and Philip Lee, cofounder and former publisher of Lee and Low Books.

Some topics of interest: Taryn advises newbie writers seeking agents to place a positive blurb from a bookseller in their query letters–what a great idea. And for those who underestimate the power of reviews, Philip explained how the first children’s book Lee and Low published–BASEBALL SAVED US by Ken Mochizuki–sold half a million copies after a full-page review in the New York Times by a sports writer! Amazing.

UNDERTAKER

There’s a lot of grief and loss involved in getting a book published. Loss of privacy. Grief over what you didn’t include but should have. Final surrender of the manuscript to the world. I won’t even go into the tragedy involved in selling the book.

One of my goals in creating my character of Mas Arai was giving a name to the unnamed gardener in movies like "Chinatown." And not only a name, but a voice. If you think about it, that’s what an undertaker or bereavement counselor should do. Not only help with the grief but also celebrate a single life.

Three specific people who attended my reading at Kinokuniya Bookstore in San Francisco’s Japantown made a profound impact on my husband and I. One was a man named Isao, a retired photographer who used to work at the College of San Mateo. He had followed the whole Mas Arai series and was now in the middle of SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN. I could tell that he experienced great joy in reading references about Japanese American history and culture, pieces of his own life. The other was a woman about my age with long, flowing strawberry blond hair and hazel eyes. She was originally from Pasadena, but had relocated to San Francisco. As we talked, I discovered that her grandmother was from Okinawa, the subject of SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN. She was with her nephew, a medium-framed young man with short-cropped blond hair. They, along with other relatives, would be traveling to Okinawa later this year.

We authors want as many people as possible to read our books, but we may have an ideal reader in mind. I think I met three of them in San Francisco on a rainy Friday evening.

Cliff Notes! Three Top Reasons to Do Out-of-Town Book Signings

1) Meet fans/readers/booksellers and be reunited with old friends. (A shout-out to my Stanford buddies Russell and Mark–great to see you guys. And it’s always good to spend time with the kind folks at "M" is for Mystery and the San Francisco Mystery Bookstore. Thanks also to Kinokuniya’s Richard Matsuno and the Clark County Library’s Suzanne Scott.)

2) Be introduced to new geographic areas (Mas investigating a murder in San Francisco Japantown or Silicon Valley? Possibilities, possibilities.)

3) Have an excuse to buy new clothes. (Obviously the best reason. After so many years being content to work in T-shirts and sweat pants, I can now break out on occasion to buy real clothes! Now mind you–my favorite TV show these days is WHAT NOT TO WEAR on TLC, so be aware of how shallow and cruel I really am.)

FINAL TWO WEEKS OF SPAM: Who says we aren’t doing some great things at Murderati? Remember last week’s SPAM dilemma–a reader had lost a recipe for her beloved Touchdowners. Well, another reader, Janet Cearley, has come to the rescue with this e-mail:

The recipe which I have (also a childhood favorite) is made with bologna, but I think otherwise it is the same.

1 lb. bologna
3/4 lb. sharp cheddar grated
1/4 c. prepared mustard
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1 T minced or grated onion
2 T sweet pickle relish

Grind bologna. Add other ingredients and mix well. Spread on hamburger buns and wrap in foil. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes.

Thank you, Janet! If I’m aiding people to recreate their childhood comfort food, what’s next? Evil E (also known as Elaine Flinn) giving advice to the lovelorn? Anything is possible.

And for those of you who’ve had enough of the Spam, rest assured, it’ll be over in two weeks with the winner being announced on June 7!!! So send your entries in to nhirahara@juno.com. And like always, see the website for more info.

QUIBBLES & BITS

Deni Dietz

Beatrice is busy writing what she calls "chick-lit erotica," so she begged me to tell you that the link she gave you last week for her book JAMES DEAN AND THE MOONLIGHT MADNESS SALE is wrong, wrong, wrong! (Actually, she said "wrong" 6 times!) Bea says the best way to find James Dean is to visit Deni’s website and hit the link for Beatrice Brooks.

I [Deni] was planning to blog about gender preferences–do readers prefer books written by men or women, or does it matter?–but Jeff Cohen did a much better [and much funnier] job with that subject. All I’ll add is that, at one point in my career, I wrote horror stories under the pseudonym "King Stephens." Those stories are Out Of Print [also known as OOP, an acronym I love], but maybe some day I’ll resurrect them.

And so my subject this week will be. . .

[MORE] MISSED-CONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE PUB BIZ

1) My son and his partner, a chef at the 5-star Broadmoor Hotel, wanted to open a restaurant. The woman who owned the building didn’t want to lease to a kid with hair down to his butt [my son]. But when she heard that I would co-sign the lease, she was ecstatic. She had read my first two published mysteries and figured I was . . . what’s the expression? Oh yeah, rolling in dough. Hahhahahahaha.

2) I was a lecturer for Weight Watchers when I had the idea for THROW DARTS AT A CHEESECAKE—killing off dieters when they reached their goal weights. At which point, I quit my "real job" and started waiting tables so I’d have more time to write. This is just temporary, I thought. I’ll sell my book to a major publisher (I liked kangaroos, so that meant Pocket) and soon I’ll be rolling in dough. Seven years later, I sold "Cheesecake" on a two-book contract and wrote BEAT UP A COOKIE.

3) In the beginning of a waitress career that spanned 17 years [I kid you not], I looked for PR opportunities–a way to slip my author’s status into the conversation. But early on I figured what the…heck.

"How’s your lasagna?" I’d ask. "And by the way, I’m a published author."

Across the street from The Olive Garden—the restaurant where I worked when my first book came out—a B Daltons carried Throw Darts at a Cheesecake. The manager, Richard, ordered 100 hardcovers from my publisher, Walker. The first month he sold 98 and I made my first bestseller list. So now I could quit waiting tables, right? Surely you jest!

My "guests" [the people I served] would almost always say, "If you’re a published author, why are you working as a waitress?" I’d respond, "Shhhh, I’m undercover, planning to write the quintessential restaurant exposé."

When I began writing EYE OF NEWT, I worked at a restaurant in Manitou Springs, Colorado, where you can find Covens in the phone directory under ‘C’. People would oft ask what book I was working on. When I said a mystery starring a witch, they’d reach for their wallets and hand me a business card. "Call me if you need any advice," they’d say. Eye of Newt takes place in the fictitious town of Manitou Falls, Colorado, nestled between Manitou Springs and Green Mountain Falls.

I can sell you a map, if you like. It’ll supplement my writer’s income.

Since I run an editing service – Stray Cat Productions – next week I’ll tell you some funny editing stories.

Or would you rather hear funny waitress stories?

Over and Out,
Deni

PS- Here are my answers to some of the blogtag questions Pari asked last
week:

4 Movies You Would Watch Over and Over:

Diggstown
The Lion King / Beauty and the Beast [tie]
The Shawshank Redemption
Johnny Depp [in anything]

4 Places You Have Lived:

Colorado
Wisconsin
New York City
Houston

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch:

House
Medium
Cold Case
NFL Football (Go Broncos!)

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation:

Australia
L.A.
Indiana
Florida

4 Of Your Favorite Foods:

Cheesecake
Custard-filled doughnuts
Shrimp with lobster sauce
Pizza

[And I’ll add] 4 Authors Who Made Me Want To Become a Writer:

William Goldman
Anya Seton
Susan Isaacs
John Steinbeck