by Pari

Let’s talk mentoring.

There’s the formal route. International Thriller Writers pairs debut authors with seasoned ones. Mystery Writers of America works to partner writers, whose publishers have abandoned them, with others who’ve weathered this traumatic career challenge.

Sometimes, when I’m in self-pity mode, I wish I’d had the benefit of an established mentorship program. But, the truth is, my informal experiences have been pretty darn good.

Dozens of people have taught me in my career so far. These are the folks — not always writers, btw — who took the time to answer my questions thoroughly. They’re the ones in whom I’ve confided fears and awful emotions such as jealousy and envy. They’ve responded with compassion . . . and a punch to the solar plexus when necessary.

In the past, many of these informal mentors didnt realize I’d thrust them into that role. People like Steve Brewer, Connie Shelton, Susan Slater, Suzanne Proulx, Deborah Donnelly, David Corbett, Barbara Seranella and Maryelizabeth Hart took me under their wings at my first Left Coast Crime convention. Because of them, my introduction to the mystery world was a glorious one.

I didn’t ask these generous souls to guide me. They just stepped up and did it.

Right now, my life is filled with informal mentors again. In my critique group, I’ve got five astounding teachers — all experts at one thing or another. At the First Friday group I attend in Alb. (started by Tony Hillerman and Madge Harrah among others), I sit, listen, and am agog at the wealth of information and perspectives I can get in one little room. The writers on this wonderful blog, all my fellow ‘Ratis, are incredible teachers, too.

On listservs such as the one for the American Crime Writers League, Mystery Writers of America’s breakout, and the one for Novelists, Inc., I’m simply floored with the responses to my — and others’ — serious questions.

I apologize if I seem like I’m gushing. I’m on the verge of a new book release and, boy, I’m feeling mighty grateful.

Think about it . . .

There are authors in our community who serve as examples to us all  — without even trying. Lee Child can wow a roomful of fans and make every single one of them feel valued. He’s also extremely kind to new authors. Charlaine Harris has her incredible following because of her writing — and the risks she’s taken with it — AND is nicer than warm peach pie a la mode. Jan Burke saw a problem with crime lab funding and did something about it. Donna Andrews tirelessly volunteers for Sisters in Crime and Malice Domestic.

These people are my mentors, too, though I rarely contact them privately.

And I haven’t even mentioned booksellers; professional reviewers; or the fans who create and man listservs, write reviews, work at and organize conventions. So many of them have given me pearls and helped me avoid pitfalls.

Isn’t it amazing? Doesn’t this astounding altruism just blow you away?

Most of the time, I still think of myself as a neophyte in the publishing world; I’ve got the same jitters and joys in anticipation of book #3 as I did with #1.

Yet I’m no virgin.

People have begun to ask me questions. They pull me aside at conventions now and trust me enough to keep confidences and respect their vulnerabilities.

I only hope to be as gracious and giving as those who’ve taught, and continue to teach, me.

So, let’s celebrate the givers today. Let’s celebrate our mentors. Are there people who’ve helped you — either formally or informally —  to achieve your dreams?

I can’t wait to read what you’ve got to say.

by Pari

What a wild year it’s been. A day spent looking at posts from Murderati 2007 yields too much: manuscripts completed, books published, awards, nominations, struggles, strikes, births and deaths. At times, we’ve bared our sorrows to you. At others, we’ve twittered with the laughter of success.

We’ve seen ‘Rati come and go due to work loads, family commitments and just the need to do something new. And, in our time-honored tradition, we’re welcoming two new contributors in 2008 . . .

Starting this week, Brett Battles and Zoe Sharp will enrich our world with posts on alternating Thursdays. Brett begins on January 3.

Murderati continues to amaze me. Even with as fluid as our mix can be — with ten scribes and at least that many voices — we somehow manage to have a distinct essence. Even more astounding is that we continue to build such a strong, intelligent and sharing community.

While perusing entries this last week, I’ve enjoyed reading about how we each, differently, approach the coming of a new year. The gratitude that J.T. sung on Friday is flush with newness and joy. Alex broached another facet of the writer’s life in her exploration of passion and effort, of speed and quality, the work of being a writer when life isn’t all starry eyes and rosy cheeks. And, then, Toni asked us what risks we planned to take in the new year.

I wondered what I could add to this end-of-the-year conversation . . .

Unlike some of the ‘Rati, I love making resolutions — even if they aren’t met. I don’t feel a failure for only writing 1 and 1/3 manuscripts instead of three. It’s all right that my new series isn’t the one I thought I was going to write last December 31. Sure, I missed goals, but this has been a good year, one of professional and personal (yeah, weight loss is on my list again) growth.

For some reason, I’m NOT beating myself up. As a matter of fact, I’m feeling incredibly optimistic. Who knows where this new road will take me? Maybe it’s the advent of my new book hitting the world in January, that goofy sense of anything-can-happen that we feel before the reviews start coming in. Perhaps it’s that we’ve passed the Winter Solstice and the days are getting longer again. I don’t know.

And guess what? I don’t care. I’m not interested in analyzing it today.

What I want to read in the comments on this last day of 2007 is simple: tell us about some of your victories, your accomplishments in the last year. Share a happy something you’ve planned for 2008.

Let’s bid 2007 farewell with joy.

To all of you, every single person who makes Murderati the pleasure that it is . . .

To everyone who
writes
reads
buys books
talks writing
struggles with the Muse
tells friends about books and short stories
supports creativity in any way . . .

Thank you.

May your 2008 be blessed with love, happiness, good health and abundant success.

by Pari

Oh, I know there won’t be many of you hitting the Internet this bright Monday; there’s just too much going on.

Last week, when I was contemplating my blog for today, I thought about coming up with a clever re-write of the Night Before Christmas:

‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the mystery community
felonious characters were seeking immunity . . .

You can see why I stopped. I’m just not quite familiar enough with the poem to pull off a parody.

Then, I thought about a post for the rest of us — those who don’t celebrate Christmas. And, well, that seemed mighty ungracious. Ya know?

Then, just when I wondered if I ought to post one of those cutesy cards — with the little kids with the huge eyes, two dots for their noses and tiny puckered lips — a friend emailed me this video.

(On the very real chance that I messed up this whole embedding thing, here’s the link)

So . . .

If you want to play along, post your favorite holiday music links. I don’t care what holiday you want to celebrate, just share your goodies with the rest of us.

That’s it for today.

Enjoy the holiday, if you celebrate it, OR if you’re simply off work.

For those of you who have to work today or tomorrow . . . thank you for keeping the world going while the rest of us lounge around eating that second helping of fudge.

by Pari

In a way, every human being is in the fiction business. We all nurture myths about our lives — the victories and defeats, the entitlements and generosities.

Writers mine these myths in their work, often unaware that they’re doing this mental archeology. But, I believe all of us create characters that, in some way, mirror the attributes we admire or abhor in ourselves. At least, that’s where we start.

If we do it well, no one can tell what we’re up to. If we fail, people think our fiction is autobiographical. (This is a common pitfall for newer writers.)

Over time, myths become ossified. Our personal legends sit so still that we don’t even realize they’re there. They’re cemented into our psyches.

IF they budge, it’s usually at a glacial pace . . .

So, imagine my surprise when I realized my self image as a "frumpy soccer mom" had been sidekicked into oblivion.

I never thought that Tae Kwon Do would affect my art.

When I first started, about four years ago, I did it because it looked like fun. For a long time, it wasn’t. At least once a week, I thought more about quitting than sticking with it.

It was too hard.
I didn’t want to punch a bag. I didn’t want to punch a person OR BE punched.
I didn’t want to try to throw a person down. I sure as hell didn’t WANT to be thrown down.

But, I stayed.

Somewhere along the line, I became fierce and focused. I have no idea when it happened.

The other night, when we were in class, Master Kim had us compete against each other. The class had about 30 people that evening ranging in ages from 15 – 59.

For the uninitiated, "forms" are a series of specific moves that reflect attacks and defenses.  Sometimes they make sense. Often they don’t. But you learn all of them in a particular order and each one brings its own challenges and insights. Right now, I’m working on the one I’ll need to earn my black belt.

Master Kim (he’s the Korean guy in the background of pictures 2 & 3) lined up three chairs and had the other black belts teaching the class sit as judges. The only thing they were looking for in our execution of these forms was sheer power.

I won every time.

Given that my kicks aren’t high or pretty, given that there are men in the class who are much stronger than I am, given a thousand other factors . . . this was astonishing and truly humbling.

My TKD master often jokes that I should have one of my protags study this martial art. I tell him that neither one has the discipline or personality for it.

But, as my writing continues, I’ve noticed that these ladies I’ve created have more and more backbone. They’re less willing to be frightened or intimidated.

Somewhere, deep inside, they know they could ram an attacker’s nose cartilage into his brain . . . if they had to.

That didn’t come from writing the character. That came from my own study and ownership of Tae Kwon Do. My personal mythology has evolved and it’s affecting my writing in a very real way.

My questions today are:
1. Have you noticed these kinds of transformations in yourself?
2. If you write, have you seen them transfer to your characters?
3. Is there anything lately that has caused a shift in your personal myths?

I can’t wait to read what you’ve got to say.
 

by Pari Noskin Taichert

I don’t know about you, but I happen to like oxygen. Breathing has been pretty good to me.

I also adore books — reading and writing ’em. But there’s a problem. For each book printed, somewhere a tree was felled.

Raz Godelnik and his crew of inspired ecopreneurs have come up with a plan that, in a way, addresses this fundamental dilemma.

Can you give us a brief history of Eco-Libris?
   It all started when I was thinking about paper and the environmental impacts of its production. I realized that it might take a while to get to the point where eco-friendly alternatives (from the use of recycled paper to e-books) will replace virgin paper. Then, I talked with some friends about the idea of giving people the opportunity to balance out their paper consumption by planting trees and received good feedback about it.
   It took me a couple of months to gather a team of talented people with a great devotion to the idea. Later on, we put a lot of work into a screening process of our planting partners and eventually we started operating last July.

Why books and trees? Are you a reader?
    Let’s start with the fact that about 20 million trees are being cut down every year to produce the books sold in the U.S. alone. Now, our decision to focus on books was made after learning that only 5 percent of the paper used for printing books is made of recycled paper and because most books don’t yet have an online eco-friendly alternative (e-book), like magazines and newspapers. So, if you want a book, you usually can’t avoid purchasing the paper-made version, unless you go to the library or get it from websites like BookCrossing or BookMooch, which are all excellent choices. [Readers & authors: What do you think of these kinds of sites? — Pari wants to know] You also can’t tell people to stop reading books, so it seemed to me only natural to give book lovers a new alternative to make their reading habit greener — planting trees for the books they read. I’m an avid reader. My mother is a librarian and since I was a little kid, I was always surrounded by books. I read almost everything, from thrillers to biographies. Right now, I’m reading THE SHOCK DOCTRINE by Naomi Klein.

What do you think of the Kindle and other e-book readers?
    I think that the Kindle is good news for eco-conscious readers as it will save a lot of trees. If it is, as a device, so advanced technologically, it will also become advanced environmentally. That would be good news. It still has an environmental impact and it’s definitely far from being accessible to many people, but all in all it is a first step in the right direction. My wish is that the Kindle won’t only become cheaper, but also that it will be manufactured in an eco-friendly manner (right now I only know that it’s been manufactured by an undisclosed Chinese original equipment manufacturer), hopefully adopting cradle-to-cradle concepts.
    I believe that the Kindle, and other e-books options that will be available, are one part of a greener future we’ll face in the book industry. We will also see books that are made of recycled paper and other non-tree materials, from hemp to plastic (like the book CRADLE TO CRADLE itself).

You call yourself an eco-entrepreneur. What does that mean?
    I see myself as an entrepreneur dedicated to developing green business. My first venture was Hemper Jeans, as an eco-fashion company focusing on producing fashionable jeans made out of hemp. Eco-Libris is my second venture and I love every minute of it.

Have you tried to partner with paper producing companies, with publishers?
   We are aiming to work not only with book readers, but also with publishers, writers, bookstores, book clubs and others involved in the book publishing industry. We’re now negotiating with a few publishers from the U.S., Canada and Europe on partnerships with regards to new titles they want to balance out. I hope that in the next month or so, we’ll be able to publish details on some of these collaborations. All in all, I can say that the general response to Eco-Libris is very enthusiastic. Publishers understand the need to go green and see us as a great option to take a step in that direction.
    At this stage, we don’t work with printers. We might consider it in the future.

Will you branch out to magazines or catalog producers?
    Right now, we’re focused on books for the reasons I detailed above. Nevertheless, we’re aware of the environmental impact of other publishing areas and might consider involvement there in the future.

What’s next for Eco-Libris?
    We are having a busy holiday season with new offers for those who are looking for unique green gifts. Other than that, we intend to keep putting a lot of effort into establishing collaborations with publishers, bookstores and anyone in the book publishing industry who wants to go green. We also look forward to continuing to be a strong voice for all the eco-conscious readers out there and we are working now on plans on how to bring their environmental concerns to the knowledge of publishers and writers. Finally, we intend to keep spreading the word on sustainable reading, by working with libraries, participating in literary events and collaborating with other green organizations and companies.

What’s the one recent idea in environmental activism/entrepreneurism that you wish you’d thought of?
    Two innovative green companies that I’m a big admirer of are:
    1.  RecycleBank — An innovative incentives system that managed to crack the one million dollar question: How to make people recycle more? Their answer: A combination of technology, partnerships and coupons.
    2. TerraCycle — The ideal green product: Better and cheaper than its competitors, sold in recycled bottles and it’s made of worm’s poop!

Let’s give a big Murderati thanks to Raz and other eco-entrepreneurs who are looking for ways to make this a better world.  For more information on Eco-Libris, check out the website.

I’m curious:
What do you think of this idea of a tree for a book?
What do you think of trying to make the publishing industry more green?
Have you heard of other eco-friendly businesses that we need to know of?

I’m looking forward to this conversation.

Pari

A note about the photos: The second one is courtesy of Eco-Libris planting partner RIPPLE Africa and the third is courtesy of partner Sustainable Harvest International (SHI). Contributors to Eco-Libris receive stickers for each tree planted. The organization hopes that they’ll put these stickers on their books to spread the word.

by Pari Noskin Taichert

A long time ago, when I moved in to live with a boyfriend, my father said to me, "Why pay the cow, when you can get the milk for free?"

Okay, there was too much wrong with his offensive question, but . . .

I’ve been wondering about writers, money and the whole PR thing lately.

For years, I’ve been the poster girl for the "Everything-You-Do-Is-PR — Everything-You-Do-Is-Worth-It" school. I’ve gone to any event to which I was invited, simply because it was "good publicity." I’ve prepared talks, bought nice clothes and makeup, ordered promotional materials — just to put on a good show.

Yet, I’ve gotten the sense during the last few months that a lot of this effort has merely been a distraction (kind of like what J.T. wrote about internet social networking on Friday). It’s taking me away from writing and returning little of value professionally, socially or emotionally.

Worse, it may be damaging. If I’m willing to do all of this for free, how much are my time, words and work really worth?

These questions really hit me last Wednesday when I was a panelist at a professional women’s luncheon. The organizers were delighted with a much larger than normal turnout. We authors were a draw. We were given a paltry lunch (not even chocolate in the dessert) and had to sit through at least 30 minutes of oral ads and testimonials about the organization. And then, poof, we were the entertainment.

No pay.
Few books sold.
Three hours down the drain.

What good came of it, other than making some nice women laugh?

Compound this with the compelling arguments I’ve heard from people I respect — people who are making money writing fiction — about how we writers should spend our time writing, producing product. Their view is that the business end of pr/marketing should still be the purview of publishers.

I’m flummoxed, bamboozled, confused.

When did we novelists begin to buy into the idea that we needed to spend our own cash to market our works? Has this model always been so? It’s incredibly counterintuitive when you consider how much most of us actually make. Go here to see romance author Brenda Hiatt’s impressive brass tacks info about advances and royalties at many publishings houses.

Then, I ran across this YouTube video with screenwriter Harlan Ellison. There’s strong language in it, but his point is well taken. Why do we writers give our words away for free?

Ah, the old refrain: "It’s good publicity."

These questions come at a lousy time in my career. Right now, the University of New Mexico Press and I are lining up out-of-state booksignings for THE SOCORRO BLAST. I’ve signed up for three conventions in ’08 and may go to more. I’ve ordered 5,000 postcards and have come up with at least as many new PR ideas.

Am I being stupid?

Should authors hop on planes, pay for hotel rooms, rent cars and sell the heck out of their books when these actitivies keep them from doing their real work — writing?

Have we backed ourselves into this corner? Is it a corner? Do we even want to get out?

Again, I don’t know.

The ego and social parts of me love doing public events and going to conventions. I adore making people laugh and think.

And then there are the friendships cultivated and nurtured through these on-site trips. They’re worth so much to the quality of my life.

But . . .

The business side of me — and my husband, the accountant — wonder what the hell I’m doing.

Should we authors spend so much time giving our milk away for free?

by Pari Noskin Taichert

For the past few weeks, I’ve been watching the WGA strike and thinking about its implications for all writers and other creatives. (Here’s a cool video for fans to take action and here’s even more info.)

More fodder for consideration came in the form of the Devil’s guest blog right here on Murderati last Thursday AND the release of the Kindle, Amazon’s new electronic reader. Newsweek posited that this little machine — and other technologies — will change the face of reading. Among the suppositions is that writing will become public, a community endeavor.

Does that idea send a shudder down your back? It sure makes me pause. Frankly, I don’t think creativity should be democratic. Though screenwriters and playwrights have dealt with massive input in their works for decades, I wince at how this would play out for novelists — especially if the people doing the input had no more vested interest than $9.99.

When the Devil gave his choices on Murderati, the one that was by far the most popular was: #2. Here, writers would earn massive amounts of money but would get no recognition; fame wouldn’t even get close enough to kiss their knickers.

I picked number two. My answer probably came as a surprise to some people who know how much I go out into the world and market my works. I do love the recognition and the ego-boost from fans. I like the give-and-take of personal interaction. From my video on MySpace, you might get the impression that this is what’s most important to me. But it’s not. Though I may wax romantic about my chosen profession, the bottom line IS my bottom line.

I want to make money.

Which brings me to the mish-mosh of all of those influences above — and more. Something’s in the air. Consider the National Endowment for the Arts’ study about the demise of reading, or all the WGA writers’ blogs including this poignant one from tightropegirl, and you’ll get the feeling that there’s a tilt to the world, that there’s a shift among those who write; those who review and buy our works; and those who steal or profit unjustly from our literary efforts.

I wonder . . . Has creative writing ever been accorded much respect? If the answer is "yes," it seems to me, nowadays, it’s afforded even less.

There’s a strange assumption that anyone can do it.

I think, at least in fiction, part of the reason for this shift is that ANYONE can. It used to be that vanity presses just cost too much for the average Joe. Now they don’t. There are also scads of e-publishers and small houses that will publish anything.

I’m not arguing good or bad, pro or con. I’m just saying that this has devalued people’s perception of the craft.

In addition to this change, publishing houses themselves are throwing more and more books into the market. You’d think this would be a good thing. I don’t. I think more and more books are left flailing because of the lack of attention. Consumers are too overwhelmed.

When I watched Jeff Bezos from Amazon on Charlie Rose last week, I felt a nagging discomfort.

In a few years, or a decade, how will writers be paid? If books all become $9.99, what’s the formula for reimbursement?

We’ve seen how the major studios are dealing with screenwriters. They don’t want to relinquish even pennies on the dollar. Can we expect that publishers will be more generous in the coming years? Even with the decrease in production costs, will they pass those savings onto consumers while upping the pay to the people who generate their products — the writers?

All of this makes me uneasy. On the one hand, technology will help one of my children, the one with the visual impairment. Increased font size for any book will be a glorious boon. I also like the electronic revolution for its environmental benefits — less felled trees equal more oxygen; that’s a good equation.

On the other hand, I can see a day when the creative act of writing and the execution and polishing of true craft, will be treated as if they’re popcorn — plentiful and pure fluff — with no value at all.

That’s a bleak thought.

What say you?

by Pari Noskin Taichert

Are you ready for fluff?

I’m not even going to try to think about something other than food this week . . .

While everyone is putting turkeys or "Harvest Roasts" in the oven, while they’re making chestnut stuffing and topping sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows, our family will be buying cans of whipped cream.

You see, nearly four years ago when my first Sasha Solomon book was published, an odd thing happened. I’d given my main character a goofy little quirk. Whenever she’s stressed out — or wants a bit of comfort — Sasha fills her mouth with canned whipped cream. I decided to use the white stuff because no matter where a person goes in the U.S., if there’s a convenience store, there’s a can o’ whipped cream.

Well, Sasha’s propensity for the nitrous-ized light cream struck a fanciful chord with readers. At radio interviews, book signings, my own Tae Kwon Do studio and other public places, someone always gave me a can or two of whipped cream. Who was I to refuse these sweets? And, of course, I didn’t want to waste them.

That’s when the trouble began. At one point, our fridge had ten cans. We had to do something with their contents . . .

The following two recipes just, well, sort of came full-blown into our lives. The testing and development phases took little time before they became codified. My younger child developed #1 for Mother’s Day in 2004. It’s been a summer staple ever since. My husband, who shunned sweets before we had children, has been totally corrupted. He came up with #2.

Before I continue, here are two essential requirements:
1.  Use canned whipped cream only. Forget about the tub stuff; it doesn’t give that blissful lightness necessary for the experience. And, though I adore real whipping cream, there’s a time and a place for that extravagance. This isn’t it.
2.  Don’t mess around with fancy varieties of whipped cream. The cheapest brands are the best.

And, just in case you’re wondering, chocolate canned whipped cream is of the Devil.

Recipe #1
Freeze Whipped
Spray a massive quantity of whipped cream* into a bowl and freeze it. Wait. Wait! Wait until it’s solid — or almost.

Believe me, it tastes absolutely wonderful and has far fewer calories than ice cream.

Recipe #2
Embers in the Snow
Squirt a massive quantity of whipped cream into a bowl and top with bittersweet chocolate shavings.** You can grate the chocolate if you don’t trust yourself with a knife.

* The whipped cream compresses in the cold, so you’ll end up with what looks like a much smaller quantity. If I were you, I’d just use the whole can.

** You can substitute the bittersweet chocolate with milk chocolate, chocolate sauce or even honey. Heck, you could put small amounts of chopped, dried fruit or other healthful alternatives on it. But why mess with perfection?

Anybody else have simple whipped cream — or other comfort — recipes to share with the ‘Rati? I’ll be cooking up a storm this weekend and would welcome some new ideas.

LAST WEEK’S WINNERS:
Patricia H.
You have today to contact me at my website email to claim your ARC. I’ve heard from Catherine already.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to the next name I drew out of the hat.

HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY!

by Pari Noskin Taichert

Among the most influential books in my adolescence was BE HERE NOW, a groovy meditation on detachment, openness to the universe and love, by Baba Ram Dass. In it, another phrase, Go with the Flow, pushed its aimlessness onto my heart.

With my inexperience in life at age 15, I misunderstood the power of these concepts. I thought their point was to send out good energy into the world — by thinking positive thoughts — and to sit quietly contemplating my belly button lint.

Fast forward 30+ years to this past weekend. On Friday, I spent the day with aspiring writers (and wonderful readers) at the Tony Hillerman Mystery Writers Conference. It’s one of the premier mystery-writing events in the nation.

Then, on Saturday, I watched my youngest child earn a junior black belt in Tae Kwon Do. That afternoon, I also earned my black tip. This means I’ll be eligible to test for my black belt sometime late next year.

So, in two days, I had many examples of determination and its role in creating success.

Every week, I meet people somewhere on the continuum of the writer’s journey to publication. Some folks dream and don’t go any further than that. There are those who start project after project but never, ever finish. Others complete manuscripts and tell me, "Oh, I wouldn’t dare let anyone else look at my work." Still others send out queries, get rejections and give up right there — or, wrong-headedly refuse to take useful input — and stop growing as artists.

At the Hillerman conference, you could’ve summed up almost every session, every presentation — about craft, marketing or the writer’s life — with these words: perseverance, determination, hard work and luck. David Morrell spoke about them. Tony Hillerman and Steve Brewer did too. The agents and editors at the con went down that road as well.

I moderated a panel with Margaret Coel, Steven Havill and Joseph Badal. "Sinkholes on the road to publication," was my title. I told the SRO audience that I hoped our session would inoculate them as they pursued their own dreams. Yep. You guessed it. Behind every horror story, at the edge of every success, those same words — perseverance, determination, hard work and luck — popped up.

You’d think every member of the conference faculty had met beforehand and had decided to push the same agenda. But that didn’t happen. We’d all come to our conclusions through living our lives, through attaining the successes we’d attained so far and working toward more.

I used to think that the ideas of Being here now and Going with the flow were the polar opposites of taking action, setting goals and striving higher. Now I think they walk hand-in-hand.

Being here now means watching and paying attention to the present. If we practice that in our life, we’ll be able to identify opportunities right here that we may have missed if our sights are only set on the future. By working hard now, we’ll keep on track and create many of those opportunities (or attract them) AND those magnificent unforeseen boons that we call "luck."

To me, this picture of a ladder at Acoma pueblo in New Mexico from the cedarmesa website symbolizes this path of mindfulness in the present and aiming for that gorgeous blue-sky future.

Today, in our discussion, I hope you’ll share some of your examples of successes  — or of luck — flowing from determination and perseverance.

Mondays are great days to be inspired. 

by Pari Noskin Taichert

Andres Cantor probably isn’t known by name to whole segments of the mystery community, but every time I finish a rough draft, I think of him.

Years ago, his exhuberant yell finally made the jump from the Spanish-speaking soccer world to its English-speaking counterpart. Goals in the game became even more exciting with his gleeful, full-throated upping the ante. People who’d never watched the game began to tune in, to listen to the radio and watch television, just to hear him scream that gorgeous version of "Gol."

Well, I wish Cantor had been in my office last Wednesday morning when I finished the first draft of BEE GONE, my initial attempt at a new series.

I WANTED a celebration, a howling whoop-de-doo . . . but got a fizzle.

I patted myself on the back.
I called my husband (whose company is about to announce large layoffs) and his response would’ve put a gnu to sleep.
I reached out to friends, but mainly ended up with general congrats that didn’t satisfy — misfires and blahs. Wahhhhh!

I even resorted to posting a single line on a smaller listserv, something most people totally ignored. Mary Saums, lovely Mary, didn’t. She sent me a card; she got it. But man, oh man, I wanted more.

Wednesday night, after the kids and hubby went to sleep, I poured myself a nice shot of O’ban and toasted myself. Frankly, even that was a little anticlimatic.

It’s what, Monday? And I’m still looking for that darn celebration, for the world to stop for a second to applaud ME! Yeah, I know . . . it’s pathethic. Silly and sentimental and childish. But there it is.

And, what the heck?

What’s wrong with marking successes big and small? It sure makes life a lot more fun.

In the next few weeks, my Advanced Readers Copies (ARCS) for SOCORRO will arrive at UNM Press. I’ll be dancing again, toasting again, bursting with happiness.

When the book appears in stores and gets reviews, I’ll be bubbling. Even though this is #3 for me, it’ll feel just as wonderful, just as giddy, as what J.T. is going through right now.

Perhaps I’m manufacturing all this joy. So what? It’s nicer than being nonchalant about it.

I wonder if other writers — my more experienced friends with 15-30 books under their belts — feel the same glee and sense of accomplishment each time?

I sure hope so.

What about you?

Writers: Do you celebrate the birth of your rough drafts? Do you mark other moments in the lives of your works? How?

Readers: What personal accomplishments do you celebrate? How do you mark those wonderful occasions?

Please tell me I’m not alone in finding hundreds of reasons to feel happy in my writing life . . .