Wrapping up the Press Push

 

By Tracy Weber

 

I'm finally wrapping up the big press push for my third Downward Dog Mystery, Karma's a Killer.  Check out some of my favorite articles and interviews.  From insider tips on writing and the path to publication, to photographic tours of pivotal settings in the book, to a character interview with Kate, the yoga teacher/sleuth in the series.  I've had a blast connecting with all of these bloggers and editors!  Check them out and  conduct your own interview by asking questions in the comments!  I love chatting with readers!

• Book Publishing Secrets: A fun interview about my path to publication and my advice to other writers. "Once you sell your work to a publisher, you give up both creative and marketing control. In return, you get marketing and editorial expertise, a little prestige, and a potential path onto the shelves of major booksellers. If you decide to self publish, you need to be more than a writer. Successful self publishers are small business owners who spend as much time editing, formatting, and marketing their books as they do writing them. It’s all about trade-offs."
• Beyond the Books: An interview with Kate Davidson, the yoga teacher/sleuth of my series: "Who could have predicted that three hundred pages after being attacked by a Chihuahua, I’d have come to peace with a repressed memory from my childhood and reconnected with a long-lost family member? And I even ended up with a new way to torture Tiffany! Nothing is more fun than that."
• It's Not Always a Murder: An article about Green Lake Park--a pivotal location in Karma's a Killer.  The photos alone are worth a look! "In the summer, the area near the lake’s shore is smothered with lily pads; its surface, dotted by boats. The path around its circumference is crowded with thousands of locals who flock to it each day. What better place to plot murder!"
• Read Your Writes: An article about my dog, Tasha, and the unique friendship she has with several local crows.  "I still don’t know what magical connection that first crow has with my dog, but I think it’s lifelong, in both animals. I’ll never look at crows the same way again."
• Straight from the Author's Mouth: An interview about publishing, priorities, and the business aspects of writing. "I write for three blogs, I’m on social media, I book blog tours, I do signings, and I attend conferences. I’m out wherever I can be, however I can be. I’ve yet to see a correlation of any single activity with sales, so instead I focus on having fun with whatever I’m doing."
• The Serious Reader: What kind of yoga teacher writes about murder? Most of my readers don’t practice yoga, which isn’t surprising. Reading immerses us in worlds we might otherwise never experience. I write murder mysteries, but I don’t expect my readers to be killers, either. ;-)
• Island Confidential:  An interview about writing, character development, and yoga classes from hell.  Even experienced yoga teachers sometimes teach the class from hell. The class in which everything goes wrong. You say right when you mean left; you say big toe when you mean bicep. You step on students’ hands and cell phones go off during Savasana. Then you look down to realize—or in my case, a student tells you—that your pants are not only unzipped, they are also on inside out.
• Blogger News Network:  An interview about writing and creativity:  "I get my most creative ideas outdoors while I’m walking or playing with my German shepherd, Tasha. I suspect the combination of fresh air, exercise, and being with the love of my life all conspire to get my creative juices flowing. Besides, you meet a lot of crazy people when you’re attached to the leash of an unruly, hundred-pound German shepherd. Sometimes, you just want to kill them."
• Kings River Life Magazine:  Detailed interview about the themes in Karma's a Killer and the life of a writer.  And a fantastic review!   "Despite the complex issues facing animal shelters and rescues, the novel never becomes too dark due to the wit and humor of the dialogue. The strongest attribute of this very engaging and smartly-plotted mystery series, though, is how the author successfully balances animal rights with dynamic human relationships."

I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them!

 

Tracy Weber

PS--all three books in my Downward Dog mystery series are now available!  Learn more at http://tracyweberauthor.com.  Thanks for reading!

Interviewing Characters to Get to Know Them

by Beth Groundwater

We're only about two and a half weeks away from the November 8th release of the third book in my Claire Hanover gift basket designer series, A Basket of Trouble. In anticipation of this critically acclaimed book, which was well-reviewed in 3 out of the 4 big review publications (Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly), I thought I'd give readers an insight into one of the tools I used to create the characters in the book.

To portray my gift basket designer sleuth, Claire Hanover, and my other characters realistically, I need to get into their heads and hearts and discover what they’re thinking and feeling. Only then can they become three-dimensional people that readers can love or hate. Sometimes this is easy, such as in Claire’s case, because she is much like me, a middle-aged woman with a husband and two grown children who lives in Colorado Springs and vacations in Breckenridge (I used to live in Colorado Springs and now live in Breckenridge). Other times it’s tough because the character has a very different personality from me. This was true for Claire's husband, Roger, and for Claire's brother, Charley, partly because they are men and partly because of their life experiences.

One tool I successfully used to understand Roger’s and Charley's psyches was the first-person character interview. In a first-person interview, the author pretends to be a trusted person in the character’s life (I was their psychologist), and asks probing, thoughtful questions. The critical element is to record the answers in first-person. The first person voice helps you really get inside a character’s head.

Some of the questions should address the book’s central theme or conflict and some should address the reason(s) why this character is so hard to define. Examples include:

What's the worst thing that ever happened to you or could happen to you?
What is your biggest accomplishment?
What do you wish you could do or stop doing?
How would you describe yourself and how would others describe you?
What's your biggest secret?
Why do you want what you want and how would you feel if you never got it?

The result of the interview should be that the character feels as real to the author as a member of her family. When she's writing a scene including the character, he should actually speak the dialogue in her head and she should be able to picture his gestures and facial expressions. How does an author know when she has succeeded? One clue is if her character balks when she tries to force him to do something for the plot that is out of his character.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview with Roger that I did for the first book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, A Real Basket Case.

How did you meet your wife?

"My wife. Love of my life." Roger’s expression grows soft. "I can still remember the first day I saw her on the campus of UC Boulder. I was a junior and she was a freshman. She was laughing with a girlfriend, tossing her long blond hair over her shoulder, and her eyes—so blue they could break your heart. Still can, you know." He stares out the window, his fist balled against his mouth as if fighting for control. "She's breaking mine right now."

It was through this interview that I realized the anger Roger was showing over his wife’s perceived infidelity and over being falsely accused of murder was really masking a deep fear that he would lose the love of his life. This helped me write a very emotional scene late in the book where Claire and Roger discuss whether their marriage can survive.

Claire's brother Charley is a new character in the series that is introduced in A Basket of Trouble. In addition to his trail riding business being threatened by the discovery of a murdered wrangler in his stable, Charley has quite a few emotional issues to deal with in the book. These include vestiges of sibling rivalry with Claire, their mother sinking further into dementia, a wife who props up her own self-esteem by cutting down his, and a trusted friend with immigration problems. To help me understand the churning emotions all these issues brought up in Charley, I interviewed him. Here's the answer to one question.

Which would be a harder blow, losing your mother or your business?

Charley let out a long, slow whistle. "Man, that's a toughie. I know Mom's illness is going to kill her eventually, and I've been trying to steel myself for the inevitable. But, it's still going to be damn hard when it happens. I'll definitely miss her, even though she hardly knows who I am now. Losing the business, though, I have to say would have a much bigger impact. That's Julia's and my livelihood. We'd lose everything--our income, our house, our friends. The people who work for me could lose everything, too, if they couldn't find other work." He sighed. "And I'd lose my sense of identity, my purpose in life. I'm a stable manager. I've never done anything else. I'm not sure I could do anything else."

The answer to this question showed me that even with all his other issues, the threat to Charley's business was still the largest one, in his mind, that he had to deal with. For a reader to understand and sympathize with a character, the author must first understand and sympathize with the character. And I use whatever tricks and tools I can to do that, including the first person interview.

Please visit my website to learn more about me and my books, including A Basket of Trouble, which will be released this month.

The Witch of the South: Spotlight on Mona McGregor

by Jennifer Harlow

Under the guise of writing a story about how to run a successful small business, I was granted an interview with Mona McGregor, propritress of Midnight Magic in Goodnight, Virginia. In truth I had gotten her name from Dr. George Black, head of the F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad, months before as part of a series of articles for Government Secrets Gazette, which is now defunct thanks to budget cuts. Hoping to blackmail or at least get a viable story, I decided to meet with as many supernaturals as possible before I, you know, got caught. Ms. McGregor was the last to accept the invitation. I met her at her two-story Victorian home in her modest yet comfortable living room. Here is a transcription of the conversation:

Jennifer Harlow (JH): Thanks so much for meeting with me. And the tea.

Mona McGregor (MM): You’re in the south now, hon. You step in this house, I’m duty bound to feed and water you, whether you like it or not.

JH: Well, I have always appreciated the kindness of stra—

Two little girls, one about ten and the other a few years younger, come barreling in from the kitchen. [I later learned their names are Sophie and Cora.]

Cora: Aunt Mona! Aunt Mona! Sophie won’t let me have some soda. Tell her I can.

MM: You’ve had enough sugar today. You’re about a sugar cube away from running to California Water only. And don’t disturb us again, okay?

Sophie: Yes, Aunt Mona.

The elder escorted the younger from the room.

MM: Sorry about that. Everything’s a drama. So, we better make this quick before they find more trouble. Ask your questions.

JH: Fair enough. You run a magic shop, Midnight Magic. How did that come about?

MM: I inherited it from my grandmother about ten years ago. It was opened over a hundred years ago by my Great-Great Grandmother Ramona.

JH: So, when you inherit the coven, you also inherit the shop?

MM: Excuse me? What coven?

JH: The one you’re High Priestess of. According to George Black, you have over a hundred witches under your tutelage. You’re the most powerful witch in America, if not the planet. I’ve even heard you could rule the world with one hand and bake a cake with the other all with a gorgeous smile on your face. Kudos.

The witch stared me down for a few seconds.

MM: You’re not here to talk about my store, are you?

JH: Actually I’m compiling a tome on supernaturals such as yourself. I just left Kansas after talking to a telekinetic F.R.E.A.K. I lied on the off-chance you wouldn’t talk to me. Sorry. But George can vouch for me. I’ve known him for years. I’m practically an honorary F.R.E.A.K. Call him. Or Jason and Vivian Dahl, or Anna West. I’ve met them all. Got their stories, now I want yours. Bet it’s a good one. So…from what George tells me, you can control the elements: earth, air, fire, water.

MM: [a long pause] Yeah, I’m a walking natural disaster.

JH: And you’ve been in charge of the coven since you were, what? Mid-twenties if I recall correctly. Quite a responsibility for someone so young.

MM: I’d been groomed to do it almost since birth.

JH: And you’ve lived in Goodnight all your life? Ever want to leave? Give the job to someone else?

MM: Never. Like I said, I was prepared from birth to do it. It’s why I was put on this earth. To help people, to guide them. It’s hard, yes, and sometimes I want to throttle these people, but I keep calm and carry on.

JH: You’re also one of the people in charge of the annual supernatural summit. I would think werewolves, vampires and witches wouldn’t get along.

MM: That’s why the summit is so important. It provides community. Allies. Support. When your existence is supposedly surrounded in secrecy, it’s hard to find people in the same situation as you. It can be quite lonely.

JH: I can imagine.

MM: I doubt it. [a pause] Anyway, we help each other when needed. Co-oporation. I even attend the pack Christmas party. When I’m brave enough.

JH: Yeah, they are an intense bunch.

MM: To put it mildly.

JH: Seems like you have lot on your plate. Shop, over a hundred witches, kids, taking on other supernaturals problems in the spirit of cooperation. When do you find time to sleep? Or date? [She just stared at me. Obviously a sore subject. I cleared my throat.]  So, can all witches manipulate the elements?

MM: Only a High Priestess. All witches can perform spells, create potions and charms though.

JH: What does it feel like when you perform a spell?

MM: Your body goes warm and it’s like your battery is being filled. Then when you release it, it’s like releasing static electricity. That’s all magic is really. Energy.

JH: Ever have any problems with people doing black magic? Raising demons and such?

MM: Not really. Most witches are pacifists. We’re about nature and balance. Violence upsets that natural balance. Goodnight hasn’t had a death by supernatural means in decades. [scoff] We’re not werewolves.

Cora: [in other room] Aunt Mona! I need help with my homework, and Sophie’s being mean!

MM: [rolling eyes] I’m sorry, I’m going to have to cut this short. We have homework, and dinner, and I have a ton of potions still to make not to mention my sister just got engaged so…

JH: No rest for the wicked, right?

MM: [standing] Something like that. I hope you got everything you need.

I stood and was escorted to the door.

JH: Thanks for your time. And the sweet tea.

MM: Just…out of curiosity. Who said that about me? The gorgeous smile and ruling the world thing?

JH: A good reporter never reveals a source, Miss McGregor. But I will say you may not think highly of werewolves, but one sure does think highly of you.

With a wink, I walked off her painted porch. 

To find out more about Ms. McGregor and the town of Goodnight, check out What's A Witch To Do available now.