Unquenchable Thirst

Zestful Blog Post #125

Everybody says, ‘Now’s the hardest time to break in.’ They always say that. Because it’s true; it’s always hard. But here’s the thing, also true: There is unquenchable thirst for great story out there. Humans will never stop wanting, needing, craving, story. That’s the beauty of being a storyteller—whether a camp counselor who wants to send them to bed trembling after the bonfire, or a  novelist dreaming of greatness.

I write these words on the eve of meeting with nine aspiring authors in St. Augustine at the Florida Heritage Writers Conference. We’ll meet in the cool kids’ room at the exquisite Markham House on the Flagler College campus. Everybody’s read everybody else’s first ten pages and written critiques. We’ll all discuss the work one at a time, together. I’ll give it everything I’ve got. And we will all learn.

When I was a young girl, I sat next to my mother watching Olympics gymnastics on TV. Stirred, I said, “I’d like to do that!” She said, without even thinking much, “Oh, the chances of making it are so low.”

I meant I’d like to tumble and fly like those girls did. She thought I meant I wanted to be on the Olympics team, stand on the platform and get a medal. She wanted to quash that ambition right away, because so few who try, make it onto the world stage. Why set the kid up for heartbreak? She thought she was doing me a favor. But that’s a terrible way to react to a child’s impulse, or dream. (All loving respect to her memory.)

It’s a fine, but clear, distinction. I never did pursue gymnastics. Just as well, because my body was wrong for it—too spindly, too tall.

But she couldn’t dissuade me from writing, and later from quitting a lucrative corporate job to try to earn a much more meager living from writing. No matter what negativity I got from her, I kept on in some fashion or other, too compelled to give up. Which is really all there is to it. If you’re destined to do it, you’ll keep at it, whatever the externals, whatever the outcome. You have

no choice.

And that’s beautiful. Let it flower. Open. Audiences await.

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New Anthology and a Freebie

Zestful Blog Post #116

Given that not all my blog followers are also signed up for my newschats, I’m putting up today’s newschat here. Apologies if this is a repetition in your inbox, but at least I’m enclosing a shot of the cover of the new antho, which I forgot to do in the newschat.

A few pieces of news from World Headquarters:

1)

I am Calico Jones is a new short e-book from my imprint Spruce Park Press. A collection of four of my short stories, it leads off with my all-time fave, “I am Calico Jones.” If you’re a fan of that fictitious detective whom Lillian Byrd follows so avidly, you’re going to enjoy this. The story originally was anthologized years ago and has been out of print for a long time. Now it’s back!

It’s partnered with a couple more stories that were also out of print forever: “For Faye,” a tale of love, grief, and joyful healing; and “Untold Riches,” the story of a romantic loser who becomes a bank teller and befriends—a thief? Also there’s a new story original to this collection, “Kerchief and Pearl,” which evolved from a short ghost story I made up for a friend and became something completely different. And if you read the collection and like it, I’d be obliged if you’d consider posting a review. If you hate it, just email me privately. That’s the best way, don’t you agree?

The book is available on Amazon, and I might add that you don’t need to own a Kindle to read it; their free app is easy and fabulous.

I might also note that the story “Untold Riches” is available in another new anthology, along with many other quality stories: Lesbians on the Loose: Crime Writers on the Lam, from my good friends at Launchpoint Press.

2)

In honor of Left Field, Lillian Byrd #5, being a finalist for a ‘Goldie’ at this weekend’s Golden Crown Literary Society conference (New Orleans), it’s free on Amazon Kindle now through Sunday. If you haven’t gotten it yet, now’s the time. Rave reviews much appreciated, needless to say. As I write this message, it’s #1 on Amazon’s free list in the Women Sleuths category.

Yes, I’m at the conference. Come up and say hi! Gonna do several panels, a reading, signing, and more. One of the panels I’ll be on will be open to the public: It’s called “Liar, Liar,” and I’ll be trading  autobiographical tall tales with Dorothy Allison, Georgia Beers, Melissa Brayden, and Andi Marquette. Carsen Taite is the moderator, and I guarantee a good time. That’s on Friday afternoon. So local friends, come on down! Dorothy will be giving the keynote on Saturday.

(And in answer to your next question, our housesitter and his twin pitbulls are holding down the fort back in Fla.)

3)

Speaking of Fla., I’ll again be on the faculty of the Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writers Conference September 24-26. I’ll lead a special critique session on Thursday, then on Friday will deliver my electrifying presentation, “Fearless Writing.” The web site has all the info on signing up. It’s a very nicely run conference in the totally cool town of St. Augustine. If you get into my critique group you’ll get a written consult from me on your first 10 pages, plus the opportunity to learn and ask questions all day long.

And I’m sorry about missing the Florida Writers Association’s conference this year, but hope to make it next year.

I love you I love you. XXOO

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Wild Kingdom

Zestful Blog Post #114

I’m currently working on a new article for Writer’s Digest, this one on using just two tools to fix any problem in a fiction manuscript. Curious? So am I…

But so hey, one of my correspondents had a few questions via email, and after answering, I thought yall might like to hear it too. (Thank you, C./M.)

The questions concerned a manuscript nearing completion, and what should be done about getting it into the world.

Here’s what I say:

Regarding Spruce Park Press, I’m not publishing anybody except myself at the moment; not sure if I ever will; gotta see how that goes. It’s a wild kingdom out there in our business right now. I was thinking I’d stay self-published from now on, but am considering writing a novel expressly for my agent to shop around, and give the Big 5 another go.

 [My friend Jan Kimmel took this photo in Kenya. Wild, you know, kingdom.]

  

The so-called Big 5 are the largest 5 publishers in New York, at the moment Penguin Random House (yes, all one name; they merged a while back), Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette, and Simon & Schuster. My Rita Farmer series was initially published by Macmillan.

Most newbies want to try to break into the Big 5; if that’s you, you should start submitting to agents when your ms is as ready as it can be. Have you had a professional edit yet? I strongly recommend one, whether you try for representation or self-publish. There are lots of good editors out there; I’m one of them. I’ve just freshened up my  service page  with some client raves.

Regarding Big 5 vs. small press. You’d get the same royalty rates from either, pretty much. Big 5 will give you more exposure in stores, but you’re a minnow in a big pond, unless you get a mega deal right away. Smaller presses can do a very good job in other ways, and some writers are happy with their smaller press. I do, however, remember being at the Lambda awards the night I won, sitting next to my (small-press) publisher, who, in answer to my question about, like, any plans to expand?, leaned back in his chair, laced his fingers behind his head, and said, “I like being small.” My next title was in production, and I was under contract for the next, but was outta there after that.

The option to self-pub will always be there. If you shake the bushes and nothing falls out, you can always DIY.

News on appearances:

1) Golden Crown

I’ll be attending the Golden Crown Literary Society conference in New Orleans in a couple of weeks. Left Field is a finalist for a ‘Goldie’ award, therefore I will suffer through the awards ceremony, prepared for both best and worst. It’s all worst, actually.

Have never done three panels in one conference before:

My own (I’ll moderate) called “Breaking Bad: Writing about Lesbians Drinking, Smoking, Drugging, Swearing, Stealing, and Fighting” with Cheyne Curry, Isabella, Riley Adair Garret, JM Redmann, and Ann Aptaker.

Then I’ll join “Liar, Liar”, moderated by Carsen Taite, with Dorothy Allison, Georgia Beers, Melissa Brayden, and Andi Marquette. We’re all to come prepared with a few true outrageous stories about ourselves, as well as one false one. Audience gets to guess. I hope there will be huge prizes for the winners. This one will be open to the public. (Dorothy is doing the keynote address this year, as well. Stay away if four-letter words combined with the names of deities bother you…)

Also I’ll be on “We’ve Come to Murder”, moderated by Baxter Clare Trautman, with Mavis Applewater, Erica Lawson, and Martha Miller.

Plus I’ll do an author reading & chat with Jessie Chandler, Justine Saracen, Wynn Malone, Lacey Schmidt, and Kenna White.

So that’s actually like four times I have to show up somewhere…

2) Florida Heritage

For the second year in a row I’ve gotten roped into presenting at the Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writers Conference in September. I’ll lead a special critique session on Thursday, then will deliver a presentation on Friday, “Fearless Writing.” The web site has info on signing up for everything, including critique day. It’s a very nicely run conference in beautiful St. Augustine. If you join my critique group you’ll get an individual written consult from me on your first 10 pages, and the opportunity to learn and ask questions all day long.

And no, I can't make it to the Florida Writers Association conference this year, but hope to be there next year.

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Bones of Mysteries and Thrillers

One of the most popular presentations I give is "How to Write a Dynamite Mystery or Thriller that SELLS." I initially wrote it as a webinar for Writer's Digest, then I adapted it for in-person presentations and workshops, and then I included some of the material in You've Got a Book in You. I'll be giving the presentation in two places this summer, the Golden Crown Literary Society conference in Portland in July and the Florida Heritage Book Festival Writers Conference in St. Augustine in September.

Today's blog is to give you one of the nuggets of that presentation.

When I started out writing fiction seriously, I made a point to read stuff on how to write great fiction or at least fiction that doesn't suck, like writing magazines and interviews of famous authors. And I remember having anxiety about whether my stories were mysteries or thrillers. Why? Because so many writing authorities, including editors and agents, were shouting that you have to write one or the other, and the forms are very different, and you must follow the correct form, or your manuscript will be shoved into the feed box of the monsters that live in the tunnels below Manhattan, because editors and agents require precise categorization of the novels they traffic in, and they have like zero patience.

[Risking my own neck, I captured this image of one of the Manhattan tunnel monsters on a trip to New York recently, so I could prove to you they exist. As you can see, one hand is a catcher's mitt and the other is a Garden Weasel. Terrifying.]

The thing was, every authority's definition of mystery and thriller was different! The formulas seemed complicated, dogmatic, and hopelessly impossible to follow exactly. Anyway, what kind of writer would want to?

It took me a long time to figure out the single basic difference between the two forms:

A mystery is a puzzle.

A thriller is a pursuit.

You just went, "Yeah!", right? Because somehow you knew that already, and it totally fits.

To be sure, most mysteries and thrillers contain some puzzling stuff, plus some getting-chased-by-the-bad-guys stuff. But it's usually more of one than the other, and so there's your category.

Currently, it seems agents and editors (not to mention readers) aren't as hung up on dueling definitions, but they still like to categorize books for the sake of promo and marketing, which is important.

But most important of all is a good story.

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