Holiday Season Writing

--by Linda O. Johnston

Happy December, everyone!  This is the first day of the last month of the year.  We're now ensconced in the year-end holiday season.  It starts somewhat with Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving, then followed by other holidays which include Hanukkah and Christmas--and pretty much ends by New Year's. 

Those of us who are full-time writers may not be as affected by the holiday season as those who also have day jobs.  That's not entirely the case, though.  I kind of have a regimen of getting other stuff out of the way in the morning, then writing in the afternoon.  It's not engraved in stone, which is a good thing since, when I need to factor in cooking and family and additional plans, that schedule can be modified--as long as I convince my mind that's the case.

Plus, I belong to a number of organizations, most related to writing, that throw holiday parties, and I attend as many as I can, including my local Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America chapters, as well as chapters of Romance Writers of America.  I'm additionally a member of the alumni association for the company where I used to be an in-house attorney, Union Oil Company of California, and I wouldn't want to miss its holiday party.

Oh, and I can't forget my ongoing promotion of my published works such as my first Superstition Mystery LOST UNDER A LADDER.  That remains time-consuming, but it has slowed down somewhat since its October release.

Despite the holidays and shopping and other events, deadlines remain the same.  That's fine with me.  I just have to do some strategizing, as I do other times of the year as well when faced with additional kinds of plans including travels.  I also need to keep in mind that my dogs will continue to break my train of thought by giving me orders, but that happens all year round.

So... enjoy your holiday season and everything it brings to you, even interruptions to your creativity if you happen to be a writer.

Happy holidays, and happy writing and reading, to all of you!

Are You a Joiner?

Cricket McRae

I am an only child. According to Dorothy Rowe’s definition, I am also an introvert. That doesn’t mean I’m shy or always socially awkward, but instead that I trust my inner world more than what’s “out there,” my internal take on things more than what others say.

The other day someone asked if I wanted to join her yoga group. “I’m really not much of a joiner,” I responded.

It’s me, not you. Honest.

Seriously, I liked the person who invited me. Would have felt comfortable enough sweating and contorting and falling over in front of her. I’m not only not shy, I’m not particularly proud. But I’m not a joiner. I’ve always thought that about myself, so it must be true.

Except …

I belong to not one, but two active writing groups.

As a mystery writer I’ve naturally joined Sisters in Crime, and when the local chapter closed I continued as a member of the Puget Sound Chapter near where my Home Crafting Mysteries take place. I belong to Mystery Writers of America, Pacific Northwest Writers, Northern Colorado Writers, and will soon be a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers.

I belong to three alumni organizations – one professional and two related to education. I’m on Facebook and Twitter. I’m a member of seven yahoo groups. A lurker, generally, but still – I watch and see what’s going on with everyone and pipe up on occasion. I joined the Inkspot blog years ago, and have also joined the gazillion bloggers out there with my own blog. In two weeks I’m launching another one.

So no, I’m not a joiner – at least when it comes to yoga. But perhaps there is something about being involved in the writing community that keeps me sane. Yes, the Facebook and Twitter are for promotional purposes, but they are also fun. I like the connection. I like communicating directly with readers. And I enjoy the blogging far more than I’d anticipated.

Writing is a solitary business for the most part. As much as I sometimes wish I was writing instead of promoting or connecting or networking, in truth those things balance out the long hours perched behind my desk, and I genuinely enjoy the human contact. Even working in a library or coffee shop are solitary, though sometimes it’s nice just to have other people around.

As long as I have my white noise app and ear buds, mind you.

Are you a joiner? A loner? A bit of both? As a reader, do you share your (usually solitary) reading experience with others in book groups or by posting reviews or participating in Goodreads discussions?

New York, New York, It's A Helluva Town

Keith here.

What I read about BookExpo America prior to going lowered my expectations. Maybe that was a good thing. I wasn't disappointed at the show at all. In fact, it seemed crowded and vibrant to me.

The only other BEA I attended was in D.C. just before Dot Dead came out. There’s no time like the first time. I was just incredulous that people would queue up to get me to sign their books. Margery Flax, the monarch of Mystery Writers of America, orchestrated an experience I’ll never forget.










(Left to right) Ken Isaacson, Hank Phillippi Ryan, moi, Margery Flax, Lee Child, Chris Grabenstein, Alex Sokoloff



Still I signed again in the MWA booth, this time the book was Smasher and I was seated between pal Alex Sokoloff and the elegant Hank Phillippi Ryan whom I’d never met. With Margery and husband Steve running the show, things were bound to go well. We had fun, the books didn’t last long, and I managed to pick up a tube of the lip balm that Hank was passing out.

The next afternoon I was down in the general signing area and scrawled my name in 150 books in an hour. People were there because they liked the cover, because the Steve Berry blurb enticed them, because they’d read Dot Dead and wanted more (!), because they ran bookstores, and because my line was shorter than some others.

I caught up with lots of friends. The effervescent Kathie Antrim and I ended up on the same plane. She was meeting up with two of my favorite people, Steve and Liz Berry, for a drink. I joined them and then headed out to dinner with my friends Ian and Lexa who tolerate me staying with them when in the City. Other friends I bumped into included the impressive M.J. Rose, the dynamite Houstonians David Thompson and McKenna Jordan, Bobby McCue of the Mystery Bookstore in LA, the italophile David Hewson, New Yorker Jason Starr, and the intense Jon Land. Around the MWA booth got a chance to say hi to Karen Olson, Lee Child, Chris Grabenstein, Ken Isaacson, Frankie Bailey, and Reed Farrel Coleman. (Whom am I forgetting?) Met Meredith Cole whose Posed for Murder came out in February. Lunched with the wonderful J.T. Ellison and her husband Randy who'd been admiring Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon at MOMA. On the way to lunch with them ran into Carol Fitzgerald who runs Bookreporter.com. “You have a book coming out?” she asked accusingly. Yeah, should have let her know. Mea culpa. Promised to email her when I got home. Great spending time with Midnight Ink folks, too. Even said hi to James Patterson who said he’d be at ThrillerFest and we’d talk more then.

On the trip I was even taken out for lunch by my New York agent. Isn’t that how’s this biz is supposed to work?

Once home discovered #2 is mad at me because I met her favorite writer ever, Meg Cabot, and had her sign an ARC for #3. “But it says the book is for middle schoolers and you are in high school,” say I. “Have you ever looked at my bookshelf, Daddy?” retorts she. “I have every book she has ever written.” Wonder when I will get out of the doghouse.

I didn’t wait in line for ARCs all that much. However, I did stop by and say hi to long-time idol and singing legend Judy Collins. I heard Judy sing at the Troubadour in LA when I was, what, 15 or 16. An elegant woman with that wonderful voice which lets you know she has lived a full life.










Reunited! Judy and me.








Saturday night, chum Tim Maleeny and I went out to dinner around the corner from the Javits Center. (See previous post.) It was great catching up. Too bad, the wondrous Cara Black didn’t show. According to a posting on Facebook, she dropped her pink cellphone in the toilet and had no way of getting in touch.

Packing up my stuff to leave on Sunday I broke a glass of my hosts’, slicing open a finger. It took twenty minutes to stanch the blood flow. Of course, that later seemed appropriate as I read Megan Abbot’s Bury Me Deep while winging home. (Megan and I are almost related through marriage: her husband and I have the same agent.) Here’s my comment from Visual Bookshelf: “One of the best stories on the loss of innocence to temptation since Eve and the snake.” Then I started pal Maleeny’s latest, Jump. 50 pages to go. A crazy, mixed-up hybrid of a Donald Westlake comic caper, an Agatha Christie whodunit, and a Michael Connelly Harry Bosch. With ancestors like that, the book was bound to be terrific and has not disappointed.

Home now with a mountain of mail to go through and bills to pay. My must-do immediately list has 14 items. Gotta get to it all! Later.

Happy Holidays from Jess Lourey

GM Malliet, mystery writer and author of one of the best books of 2008, recommends creating trailers to promote your books. If she recommended wearing blue mascara and tube socks over your pants, probably we should do that, too. Fortunately, she's only gently nudging us toward the digital era, and out of respect to her bona fides, I have created a trailer for August Moon:



I love how writers share marketing tips. It reminds me of the first time my son Xander sparred at a Tae Kwon Do tournament. He's tall for a six-year-old and as kind as the day is long. His dad died before he was born, and I try to fill the role of both parents. In that spirit, I was coaching him on how to best kick ass (you can decide whether that is normally mom's or dad's job).

"All I know about sparring," I said, "is that as soon as the ref drops her hands to start the match, you get in there with a chinning kick. Catch your opponent off guard and they'll be running for the rest of the match."

So I get him all pumped up. "You can do it!" I tell him. I put in his mouth guard and yank on his shin and forearm pads. I walk him over to the waiting pen, where he nods to the three boys he'll soon be fighting. He indicates for them to lean their heads in close, and when they do, he pulls out his mouth guard and says, "OK guys, all I know about sparring is that as soon as the ref drops her hands..."

That's my boy. He likes winning, but not nearly as much as he likes treating people well. And so generous writers like GM and Joanna Campbell Slan and countless others share their marketing secrets, knowing full well that if we're all doing the same thing, their efforts will have less impact. I guess they just like treating people well. Thank you to all the generous writers out there for your gifts of blurbing, a pat on the back, sharing marketing tips, and all the nice stuff you do to make this a writing community! In the spirit of the season, care to share the best writing or marketing advice you've ever received?

p.s. As a gift to myself, I have just completed and sent September Grace to my agent. Here's the first chapter. I'm pretty dang proud of this one. Now, my kids and I are off to be with friends and family. Happy holidays, and stay warm, full, and generous!

What Have You Done for Me Lately? by Jess Lourey

I have just been elected to the national board of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). Thank you to all of you who voted for me, even if you just checked the box next to my name because there were only as many candidates as there were spots.

Harlan Coben is the current president, and other board members include mystery-writing greats like Lee Child and Reed Farrel Coleman. They're flying us all out to New York in January to rub elbows (lay money on me making an ass of myself) and get oriented.

I don't know what crazy series of events led to my nomination for this position, but now that I'm in, I feel obligated to represent what I know: the small press mystery writers, independent bookstores, and cozy/soft-boiled readers out there. To those of you in those categories, I ask you:

What do you want MWA to do for you? It's a huge organization with some big guns in it, originally founded by amazing mystery writers in 1945 who believed that "Murder doesn't pay--enough" (here's a slightly more detailed history). MWA has brought recognition and respect to the field over the years, but now when I hear mystery writers mention the organization, it's only as a line in their bio. It doesn't have to be that way. Here are some points I'd like to see addressed:

• Could MWA have more visibility in schools and/or bring mystery reading program to at-risk/low reading score schools? MWA Reads is a wonderful program that's grown dusty; would it be worth it to revive to help promote all the great YA mystery authors out there?
• Genre diversity. Edgar-nominated novels, while all amazing, are almost without exception dark, urban, and gritty works that feature heterosexual male protagonists. Is it time to broaden what the MWA/standard-bearer considers a great mystery? Can it be soft-boiled or a cozy, take place in a small town, or feature a gay and/or female and/or supernatural protagonist? Or maybe, how are the judges chosen (besides based on their heroic commitment to the field) and what are their guidelines? I don't know the answer, but this is a conversation that I'd like to enter at the national level.
• How can we link MWA up more actively with book clubs? Create a list of books, organized by sub-genre, that have discussion questions included and whose authors are available for teleconferences, free of charge? Get the list to box stores, independents, libraries, and book club sites?
• I found this on the MWA website: "MWA also works to educate writers and those who aspire to write regarding their rights and interests, and to make writers and readers aware of matters which may affect crime writing through legislation, publishing industry practices, judicial decisions, or in other ways. " How do we help published writers get better contracts, represent a united front to publishers, get more film and TV options? Is this something we need to pursue more actively?
• What about health care for members? This came up in the past. Should it be revisited?
• Recently, the guidelines as to who can be considered an active member (or a published author) were updated, eliminating a wave of small press authors. Should that decision be revisited, and if so, why?

Are any of the above issues important to you? Do you have others that aren't listed up there that I should bring to the board? What would your ideal mystery-writing organization do for you and for the community? If you aren't a member of MWA, why is that? Please start a lively discussion that I can take to NYC, or, if you'd rather your comments remain anonymous, email me at jesslourey@yahoo.com, and I'll forget where I heard them.

p.s. One thing everyone who knows anything about MWA agrees on--Margery Flax does a fantastic job as coordinator/supporter of the organization.