Tag Archive for: #amreading

So You Want to Write a Book

/in , /by

By Sparkle Abbey

Part 2: Old School Research

Welcome back to So You Want to Write a Book!


There’s a book in everyone, right? If you’ve decided that there’s a book in you and you’re ready to embark on that journey, we’re excited for you!

Last month we talked about where to start when writing a
book for the first time. We asked you a lot of questions, such as:

  • Are you passionate about a particular
    storyline?
  • What type of book are you interested in writing?
  • What idea is constantly on your mind?

You may remember there was also an assignment. We hope you
took our suggestion to write down ALL your ideas. If so, pull out that notebook
where you jotted down them down, and let’s talk about what you wrote. (If you
didn’t take that step, there’s still time. Just take that step today.)

By now you should have decided what you’re passionate about
and what type of book you’re going to write. You should know if you’re writing
fiction or non-fiction. A thriller or a memoir. Romance or a self-help book.  

Okay, are you ready for step two? Step two is what we call Old
School Research. And we’re the first to admit, that not everyone agrees on this.
We believe to write well in any genre or subject, you need to be well-read in
that area. What is currently being written? What type of plot resonates with you?
What characters speak to you? How do the best-selling stories unfold? What can
you LEARN from books you love as well as books you put down after a few pages?



Back when we first started writing we read over 100 books in
our genre. While we aren’t telling you to read 100 books before you start
writing, we are telling you to read extensively in the genre or subject in
which you’re going to write. There are some who disagree with this approach for
various reasons. They may worry about copying another author’s work. Probably
not. After 100 books, one thing you’ll notice is there’s really no new plot. And
how you write your story is all about what you uniquely bring to the table.
However, by reading deeply in your selected subject, you’ll have a better
understanding of how to make your book stand out from the crowd. You’ll also
begin to understand the importance of reader expectations. (More on that down
the road!)

Well, what do you think? Are you onboard to read, read,
read for the next few weeks while you’re thinking about your book? As you read,
keep your notebook handy. Take notes on what you learn, how you’ll be
different, what works, and what doesn’t.

If you’d like, share in the comments what you’ve decided to
write and what you’ve learned from reading extensively in your subject, and how
you’ll use that to write a book that stands out from the crowd. And as always,
if you have questions, feel free to ask us.

Next month we’ll talk about knowing where you’re headed.
Sound intriguing? 


Sparkle Abbey’s latest story (written in first person) is a short but fun one. If you’ve not yet
checked out PROJECT DOGWAY, this is a great time to do that. 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website


Editing, Updating, and Completing a Manuscript

/in /by

 

By Kathryn Lane

Technology innovations are accelerating at warp speed. At
least that’s what it seems like in my writing world.

A year-and-a-half ago, I started research about a child math
prodigy interested in rockets and space travel. The story takes place in the present
day. The plot revolves around a family-secret type mystery and a subplot
involving the girl’s dream of space exploration.

Then my commitment to write another novel in my Nikki Garcia
mystery series shelved the girl-genius project.

Recently I took up the prodigy manuscript again and realized that maybe I should re-do my research since space travel has changed – several
ordinary citizens have flown to or near the Kármán line – an imaginary but practical boundary separating mere air travel from space
travel. Blue Origin flew 62 miles above the earth’s surface and kissed the Kármán line while Virgin Galactic flew a bit
over 50 miles, the altitude where the Federal Aviation Administration awards
astronaut wings to crew members.

The real clencher is SpaceX’s flight to the International Space
Station. The crew were civilians. These three events impact important details
in my young girl’s story.

All of those events were anticipated in the manuscript. Yet now they’ve actually occurred and it’s possibly a game changer for me. I’m wondering if I should make several substantial edits. Not that those space companies will be mentioned specifically, but the accomplishments do impact the story.

I can leave the novel as it was originally conceived and not
re-do my research or I can spend time rethinking and rewriting it. You, as
writers, might tell me it’s irrelevant to update it since I’d never complete it
if I keep revising for the latest space and scientific discoveries. That’s true,
but these events have been groundbreaking. To ignore them would be the easy way
out. Plus the developments of the past year should make a positive difference
in the young girl’s story.

Regardless of whether I update or not, the novel is about
three-fourths done. If I’m going to make changes, now is the time.

Has anyone else faced this issue? If you have any advice, please
share it!

Kathryn’s latest Nikki Garcia Mystery Thriller: Missing in
Miami (available on Amazon)



About Kathryn

Kathryn
Lane started out painting in oils and quickly became a starving artist. To earn
a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked on a career in
international finance with a major multinational corporation. After two
decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery and
suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels in over ninety
countries.

Visit my website at https://www.Kathryn-Lane.com

Photo credits:

All photographs are used
in an editorial and/or educational manner

Earth Math by NASA 

Rocket Launch – Twitter

SpaceX’s Dragon Capsule Docking with the International Space Station by NASA 

Close-up on Gay Yellen

/in /by

By Kathryn Lane

Texas author Gay Yellen came to writing with an extraordinary
background. She began working life as a stage and TV actor, then moved behind
the camera at The American Film Institute (AFI) as Assistant to the Director of
Production. She moved on to become a magazine editor and national journalism
award winner. As contributing book editor for Five Minutes to Midnight
(Delacorte), an international thriller, she was convinced writing was in her
blood. Her award-winning Samantha Newman Series of romantic mystery novels
includes The Body Business and The Body Next Door.
Book 3 in the series arrives this summer.   

1.   KL: Early in your career, Gay, you traded your Screen Actors
Guild membership in Hollywood to work on the other side of the camera at The
American Film Institute (AFI). Part
of the AFI mission is to ‘celebrate
excellence in the art form’. Your simple yet elegant book cover designs reflect
the beauty of simplicity you must have learned at AFI. Is this assumption correct?

GY: I’m
glad you like the covers, Kathryn! As Assistant to the Director of Production at
AFI, I was involved in almost every facet of filmmaking, from casting to
location scouting, to procuring costumes and props from the major studios, acquiring
locations for the shoot, organizing transportation to the set, arranging
catering services, scheduling, and post-production services, too. That said, it
was my magazine career that taught me the importance of a cover. As a managing
editor, one of my most critical responsibilities was to oversee the cover
design, which can make or break the success of newsstand sales. The same could
be said of a book cover, too.

2.   KL: Did AFI influence you as a writer? One of
their stated values is ‘A Belief in the Power of Storytelling to Change the
World’.

GY: Such
a good question, Kathryn! While story can be important in filmmaking, it was my
theater background that helped me understand what a good story is made of. Plot
structure is important, and character motivation is paramount. As an actor, I learned
that our everyday human struggles are universal. Reading stories with
characters who are both very different and very much like us can put us in
touch with that universality and make us more empathetic. I suppose in that
way, storytelling in any form does have the power to change the world.   

3.   KL: In the Samantha Newman Series, set in Houston
and the Texas Hill Country, you cleverly use a few Spanish phrases. What
prompted you to do this?

GY: Wow,
I didn’t realize I had any Spanish words in my books! I may have used a Spanish
word or two because in Texas, where I live, people of Spanish heritage are a
large segment of the population, and their diverse cultures are integral to the
fabric of life here. A Texan saying adios instead of goodbye can
be quite natural, even for an English speaker like me.

 4.   KL: In The Body Next Door, the
widow of a murdered neighbor is hiding in Samantha’s apartment. I love that
plot, but I’d also like to see Sam and Carter stay together. Any chance of that
in book three?

GY: I
love this question, because it speaks to one of my favorite things about being
an author. When Samantha and Carter meet in The Body Business, I wasn’t
planning to write a series, and thus, had no plan for their future. While the publisher
wanted me to extend that book into a series, it was my readers’ interest and
enthusiasm that encouraged me to continue their relationship. Carter is a man
of mystery in more ways than one, so he is definitely in Book 3. And Samantha
is as headstrong as ever.

5.   KL: You’re launching your third Samantha Newman
novel this summer. Can you give us a preview?

GY: As
readers may remember, Samantha has trouble staying employed, due to
circumstances beyond her control.  As
Book 3 opens, she’s starting a new career at a local TV station. But things are
not going well with the man who is supposed to be teaching her the ins and outs
of investigative journalism. And because Sam’s life never runs in a straight
line, complications ensue, with humor and suspense in equal measure. Here are
the working titles: The Body in the News, The News Body, The Body Reports, The
Body Breaks the News… I’m still taking suggestions, so to anyone who offers a
better one, a free copy of the book is yours if I use it.

6.     KL: Besides an historical novel you’ve done
research for, have you thought of doing a memoir of your days as an actress? Or
autofiction based on your Hollywood experiences?

GY: Actually,
the first novel I ever attempted to write was on that subject. Two chapters in,
it felt like I was telling the same tired Hollywood show biz tale that had been
told too many times already. While I did reach the upper membership echelon in
the Screen Actors Guild before I quit, the high points were outstripped by too
many frustrating disappointments. However, a few memories have become hilarious
in retrospect. Perhaps one will inspire a short story someday.

Thanks, Gay, for sharing your fascinating life with us! I can’t wait to read Samantha #3!

***

Places to find Gay Yellen and her Samantha Newman Series:

WEBSITE: https://gayyellen.com/

 AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Q8P1RNP?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/gay-yellen

TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL CHANGE THE WAY STORIES ARE TOLD

/in /by

By Kathryn Lane

Houston hosted Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.
Not to miss an important event, Bob and I attended with friends from Angel
Fire. So many exhibits are hyped up that we did not know what to expect. Then we
left talking about what an amazing show we’d witnessed.

First, you glimpse blowups of Vincent’s paintings that come
together though electronic enhancement as you watch. Another room provides
photo ops were you can sit in Vincent’s
bedroom in Arles and have your picture taken. 

Watch as Starry Night comes together electronically

Then comes the exceptional
“Immersion” room where you witness, feel, and become part of Vincent’s
paintings as 90,000,000 pixels are projected in a 360° space, while you relax in a beach
chair.

Immersion Room with waiting beach chairs.

.

In the Immersion room, don’t sit where the train will roar through.

The show’s real clencher is the interactive historical journey that virtual
reality takes you on as you travel through Vincent’s fields, towns, and cafés.
This visually fabulous trip takes ten minutes. At times I had to remind myself
I was not flying. I was merely sitting on a sturdy chair as we swooped past
cafés and buildings, fields, country roads, and chapels. It’s a combination of
cinematography, art, music, and history where you are the observer.

The author, her husband, and friends with virtual reality headsets.

Now that I’ve exuberantly told you about the Immersive experience,
I must also tell you I’m not getting a commission for tickets sales. But you
should definitely attend if it’s showing anywhere near you.

The real reason that I’m recounting the visit is that this show
gives you an incredible ride, but where it might fail is to engage your brain
actively, where your own imagination, intellect, and creativity work together
to connect the dots.

Maybe by experiencing projections of virtual reality in the future, the
human brain will be liberated to create even more sensational innovations. At
least that is my hope.

At times, it’s easy for negative thoughts to surface. Thoughts that younger
generations are not reading much and that the coming metaverse will create a
world where people will not have to solve issues; instead they might only
passively partake the virtual world placed before them.

Shows like Van Gogh’s Immersive, social media, and virtual
meetings using avatars are the beginnings of the metaverse. These phenomena will
change the world.

AVATAR

We are on the cusp of changing how people learn, communicate, and
interact. These innovations had been on the horizon yet the isolation and
social distancing caused by the pandemic sped up the introduction and use of
these tools. Similar to the (almost instant) popularity of the world wide web
and the massive adaptation of mobile phones a little more than two decades ago,
we will soon grapple with metaverse technologies in everyday life.

Harry Potter Book

As a writer, I think the coming technologies are both exciting and
scary. The creative opportunities promised by the metaverse seem exciting. On the
other hand, the metaverse will deliver powerful tools that will change how
stories are told. Will children in the future want to read Harry
Potter when they can experience it through virtual reality? Will people know
what their co-workers look like when all they see at virtual meetings are avatars?
And what about nature lovers? Will they don a headset to enjoy virtual nature
or will they commune with nature the old-fashioned way?

***

What do you think about the metaverse?

***

Kathryn’s mysteries – The Nikki
Garcia Mystery series:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B08C7V2675/ref=dp_st_1942428944

Kathryn’s short story collection – Backyard
Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart

https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Volcano-Other-Mysteries-Heart/dp/1943306044

 All available on Amazon

About Kathryn

Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation.
After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery
and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.

Visit
my website at https://www.Kathryn-Lane.com

Photo
credits:

All
photographs are used in an editorial or educational manner

Starry Night by Van Gogh – public domain

Two Immersion Room photos – taken by the author

Four people with virtual reality headsets – taken with an iPhone

Avatar and Harry Potter book – public domain

 

To Find a Monarch

/in /by

 By Kathryn Lane

Mexico, my country of origin, is a cultural
paradise. I always experience a nostalgic yearning for the traditions I grew up
with, especially during the last quarter of the year, which is rich with
festivities. Starting in September, we have holidays that spill over into
multiple days, like the 15th and 16th of September,
independence day. Posada time, from December 16th through the 24th,
brings out families from entire neighborhoods where revelers of all ages gather
in candle-lit processions singing Christmas carols along the streets until they
arrive at the host house for that evening. At the designated home, the carolers
sing “Para Pedir Posada” to reenact Mary and Joseph’s journey into Bethlehem
asking for shelter before the birth of Jesus. The hosts, after several stanzas,
invite the revelers in for food, drink, and games for the kiddos.

Wonderful as Christmas and Independence
celebrations are, it’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1st
and 2nd, that makes my soul yearn for a trip to the state of
Michoacan.

When I was twelve, my mother took me to Lake Pátzcuaro
to experience a vigil in a cemetery where townsfolk would commune with their departed
loved ones by sharing music, dance, food, and drinks.

I’ve never forgotten the scene when we arrived.
Lake Pátzcuaro’s famed butterfly net fishermen, their canoes filled with bright
orange cempasúchil, or marigolds, floated on the lake like a colorful flower
market. The marigolds, like rays of sun dropped along the way, to lead the ancestors’
spirits into town where ofrendas, or altars, awaited them in the private homes
of their earthly relatives.

We climbed into a vividly decorated canoe to
navigate to Janitzio, the largest
island. On the way, Mother told me Día de los Muertos is a truly Mexican tradition, a legacy of indigenous Aztec practices. The
Aztecs recognized that death was part of the continuity of life. Yet Pátzcuaro
is P’urhépecha¹
territory, the other powerful Mesoamerican empire, the one the
Aztecs never conquered.
The two empires fought many battles. Yet, the Purépecha integrated the Day of
the Dead as their own.

We were mid-lake when a
butterfly brushed its brilliant orange-red wings with black veins on the golden
marigolds. The fisherman smiled, saying, “Está perdido este ancestro. Debe tener familia en
Rosario o Angangueo.”

Mother agreed the
butterfly was lost and had overflown its winter home near mountain villages. She
explained that monarchs migrate yearly from Canada and the US to the high elevations
of Michoacán where they cluster on oyamel
trees to spend the winter. They start arriving at the end of October,
coinciding with the Day of the Dead celebrations. The local people believe the
butterflies are the spirits of their ancestors returning home.

I remember asking if we would
visit the monarchs.

“Another year,” she said.

Yet, we never trekked to
the monarch’s overwintering sites. When I see a butterfly, it reminds me of that
trip we never took.

My brother, Jorge Lane, is
a nature photographer and monarchs are one of his favorite subjects. He’s
visited several sanctuaries to photograph them.

Carlos Gottfried, a butterfly
conservationist in Mexico, said: “When you stand in a Monarch butterfly
sanctuary, your soul is shaken and your life is changed.”

Gottfried’s quote
beckons me to find monarchs overwintering on Oyamel firs to fulfill that trip
never taken.

¹ Also
known as the Tarascan.

For fun articles on Mexican holidays, you can purchase: The Insider’s Guide to the Best Mexican Holidays. It will be available in Kindle format on Amazon on December 17, 2021. Nineteen authors, including yours truly, contributed articles. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYONE AT STILETTO GANG!!!

Photo
credits:

Monarca
Encantadora© by
Jorge J. Lane

Rosario
Monarca© by Jorge J. Lane

 

 

Do You Have What It Takes to be a Cheese Whiz? Archaic Words

/in /by

By Kathleen Kaska 
When I worked at Cave Art Press, a small publishing company in Anacortes, one of my tasks was to write the weekly blog posts. It had to address writing styles, grammar and punctuation rules, and the down and dirty of publishing and marketing—and it had to be funny. These blog posts eventually became a tongue-in-cheek book entitled, “Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? Five Minute-Writer Tips.” Here’s one about archaic words and my own take on them.

Thanks to Google, I stumble upon many of my Writing
Tips topics by accident. Here are some archaic (did they
ever really exist?) but entertaining words and phrases
that I discovered while I was researching other topics,
along with some neologisms of my own:

With Squirrel: If you were a woman who lived in the
Ozarks many moons ago and you found yourself “with
squirrel,” then you were expecting a child. (Vance
Randolph’s Down in the Holler: A Gallery of Ozark Folk
Speech, 1953). I would call such a woman Squirrely.

Lunting: I suspect that Sherlock Holmes was into
lunting—i.e., walking while smoking a pipe. (John
Mactaggart’s Scottish Gallovidian Encyclopedia, 1824). I would call people who do this lunters.

The following are from The Word Museum: The Most
Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten, by Jeffrey
Kacirk:

Spermologer: It doesn’t mean what you think. A
spermologer is a columnist! Three of my favorites are
Father Ron Rolheiser; Austin native, John Kelso; and
funny-lady, Lisa Scottoline. In my world I’d refer to them as wittyosophers.

Queerplungers: An English term for a scam in which an
individual jumped into water, was “rescued” by
accomplices, and was subsequently taken in by rehab
houses that cared for people who tried to commit suicide.
In the benevolent society of the time, the rescuers were
rewarded with a guinea each, while the person who
“attempted suicide” was sent away with a monetary
donation to make his life less depressing. Maybe a better word for these folks would be Scam Dunkers. 

Finally, my favorite:

Tyromancy: If you can’t find a crystal ball, use cheese!
One of my Cave Art Press colleagues thought tyromancy
sounds like “a Jurassic love story.” In fact, it is the act of
predicting birth, love, and death by reading the
appearance of a piece of cheese. It is also the act of using
cheese to answer questions: the most obvious answers to
a question are written on pieces of cheese (one answer
per piece). The pieces of cheese are fed to a rat.
Whichever piece is eaten first is the answer to the
question.

I suspect a person who engaged in this method of
prediction and became notable would have been called a
tyromaniac. I would call him a cheez-whiz. 

This is my last post as a member of the Stiletto Gang, but I will stay in touch and follow you wonderfully, creative authors. 

Best always,

Kathleen









Kathleen is a Texas gal. Except for an eighteen-month hiatus
living in New York City after college, she continuously lived in the Lone Star
State for fifty years. Since then, Texas has been hit and miss—a little hit,
but a hell of a lot of miss. There was a time when she thought she would
happily die in Austin, Texas. But circumstances
and weather—especially weather—changed that. Now she spends most of the year on
Fidalgo Island in Washington State with a view of the bay and the mountains.
When she gets homesick, she and her husband plug in the iPhone to Willie—as in
Nelson. Soon they are dancing the two-step, imagining they are at our favorite
honky-tonk in Tokio, Texas, where the mayor is believed to be a dog. Who
wouldn’t miss that?

Kathleen writes mysteries. She blogs about writing,
publishing, marketing, animal rights, birding, and quirky things that come to
mind. Go to her website: Kathleen Kaska and check out her latest blog series, “Growing Up Catholic in a Small Texas Town.”

Clicking Our Heels: What We Read

/in /by

Clicking Our Heels: Writers
are often asked if they write in a particular genre, if that is the one they
read. Here are some of what the Stiletto Gang members read and some of their
favorite authors.

Robin Hillyer-Miles – I read many different genres.
My favorite authors currently are Jess Loury, Susan Addison Allen, Susan Boyer,
and Karen White.

Saralyn Richard – I read everything – mysteries,
historical fiction, women’s fiction, biography, blended genres, literary fiction.

Kathleen Kaska – I read mysteries, but I also read
anything that catches my eye, especially inspirational nonfiction. When I find
an author I really like, I read every book they’ve written.

Dru Ann Love – I prefer reading cozy mysteries. I
will read other genres, but cozies are my go-to-read.

Kathryn Lane
– I write mystery thrillers, so I tend to read quite a few
throughout the year from a whole variety of novelists, such as Harlan Coben,
Alice Feeney, Jeffery Deaver, but I also like the books of Donna Tartt,
Frederick Forsyth, and Megan Abbott. I read books written by fellow writers
who, like me, are not New York Times bestsellers (yet!), whose novels are often
as good as or even better than anything else on the market. And Sofía Segovia’s
The Murmur of Bees in Magical Realism is a book I love.

Debra Sennefelder – I have a long list of favorite authors that I read in my
genre of cozy mysteries. Some of them are a part of The Stiletto Gang. Others
include Jenny Kales, VM Burns, Jenn McKinlay, Katherine Hall Page.

T.K.
Thorne – I read
anything that is well written. Crime fiction is new for me because as a former
police officer, it feels more like work than escape.  My favorite author is Sue Monk Kidd. Her
writing is beautiful and so powerful. 
But I don’t consciously try to mimic it. 
It’s important to find your own voice.

Anita Carter – I read mostly mysteries, suspense, and some women’s
fiction. I enjoy Lisa Gardner (just bought her latest release!), Laura Levine,
Karen White, and Susan Boyer, to name a few.

Barbara Kyle – I write fiction but many of my favorite
reads are narrative non-fiction. Anything by Simon Winchester or Erik Larson.
Both are incapable of writing a dull book.

Linda Rodriguez – I read everything. I have
long lists of authors I recommend on my website. https://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com

Meri Allen/Shari Randall – I write and read mysteries,
and I love to go back to the Golden Age authors like Agatha Christie and Ngaio
Marsh when I have some reading time.

Mary Lee Ashford – I write cozy mysteries and also read cozy mysteries but I’m
not sure we have space here for all of the favorites. There are currently so
many wonderful cozy authors! Instead, I’ll share a few of the ones I started
reading and that got me interested in the sub-genre of cozies. I avidly read –
M.C Beaton, Jill Churchill, Sharon Kahn, and Anne George and once I’d
started down that cozy path, thanks to them I was hooked. 

Bethany Maines – I have been reading a fair
bit of romance lately, but I’ve read across several genres.  My favorite
recent author is Bethany Bennett (because Bethany’s are awesome) who is
working on a fun romp of Regency Romance trilogy.

Gay Yellen – I’m omnivorous when it comes
to reading. If I weren’t writing mysteries, I’d probably tend toward literary
fiction. But I love good writing in any genre, including non-fiction.

Lynn McPherson – I read and write cozy
mysteries. They are still my favorite. A few of my favorite authors are Vicki
Delany and Jenn McKinlay. I’ve also read some delicious domestic suspense
novels lately by Hannah Mary McKinnon and J.T. Ellison.

Donnell Bell – In the fiction realm, I read across the board. From Sci-fi
to historical fiction. Right now, I’m reading a western by D.V. Berkom.  I enjoy cozies, but prefer a substantive
plot, such as Cathy Perkins’s Body in the Beaver Pond and Lois Winston’s
Anastasia Pollack series. For romantic suspense, there are too many authors to
count. My favorite thriller writer is Tess Gerritsen—she’s an autobuy for
me.  Mystery writers, again, too many to
count. If I want to read mystery and learn something about art forgery, I read
Donald Beckwith. I ADORE discovering new authors.

Lois Winston – I write humorous mysteries,
but I’m an extremely eclectic reader. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of
historical mysteries and women’s fiction.

Debra H. Goldstein – Although I most enjoy cozy mysteries
and biographies, I read everything in the crime genre as well as literary
fiction.

Cathy Perkins: I read a lot of mysteries, from thriller to cozy, but I
also read extensively outside my writing genre. 
From a craft perspective, it helps to see, for example, the creative
world building of fantasy or the deep character focus of women’s fiction. I
also think reading books other than mysteries gives me a much needed break,
reminding me readers read for story, for escape, for enjoyment – elements
authors always keep in the back of their minds as they write.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

–

 

A Fun Interview with Bethany Maines

/in /by

Interview by Kathryn Lane

(Bethany
Maines is such a dynamic interviewee that I’ve kept the interview pretty much
as it happened. To edit would lose the spontaneity of her responses.)

Bethany, I’m amazed by your dexterity as
an author. You write in various genres, from crime fiction to mystery, to action adventure
to sci-fi. Do you move from one to the other to keep your stories flowing?

Growing up I
read mostly sci-fi/fantasy and mystery. I always assumed that if I wrote it
would be sci-fi/fantasy based, but as with most half-baked childhood notions, it
hasn’t turned out that way. Mystery/Adventure/Romance seems to be where I sit
most easily, and my occasional visits into sci-fi are usually with co-writers.

By the
time this interview is published on November 2, you will have launched your
mystery, Hardest Hit, the third book from your Deveraux Legacy series. Congratulations!

Share
with us what worked for the launch and what you’d do differently next time.

I can tell
you what doesn’t work. Accidentally scheduling the launch for nearly the same
time as a work conference is… not the best thing I’ve done lately. I work with
a marketing company; they give me lots of support, and I don’t think I could do
it another way considering my scheduling conflict. But other than that, my
number one tip, is plan ahead.

Moving to
your mystery/action adventure books, you have taken an innovative approach to
undercover work. Your protagonist, Nikki Lanier in the Carrie Mae series, is a
no-nonsense investigator who takes on drug smugglers and arms dealers.

How did
you get the idea for the Carrie Mae series?  

OK, true
story, I once received a cease-and-desist letter from Mary Kay corporate to not
mention Carrie Mae in the same breath as Mary Kay. Meanwhile, Mary Kay Ladies
love every book in that series. And they should because they gave me the idea. I
once had to pick up lipstick from my MK lady. She was at a meeting and invited
me to stop by. When I stepped into the Red Lion Inn… it was a packed ballroom!  They were recruiting new Mary Kay Ladies. On
stage, an imposing woman was laying down the MK rules like she was Patton in
pumps. And I thought… these ladies could take over the world and they’re
kind of scary. It’s probably a good thing there isn’t a militant wing of Mary
Kay. (Lightbulb!) Later I went out for drinks and told my girlfriends I had
a great idea for a book. They laughed, saying they loved the idea of Nikki and
her team.

Nikki and
her team set out to save the world from gangs, smugglers, and arms dealers, all
the while looking fabulous. You do mention, though, they try to remember clean
underwear! Is humor in your genes or do you work at it?

Surprise! It’s
nature AND nurture. My Dad is an excellent and humorous storyteller. In
childhood I watched him hone a story from one telling to the next. That method
of refining the funny until it’s the funniest is something that takes years to
perfect, but I feel that I got a leg up through proper parenting.

You write
several novels and novellas every year. Do you program your writing for the year
ahead and decide which series will get the bulk of your time? Or are you a
complete pantser that gets up in the morning and decides what you’ll work on
that day?

I used to
pants it. I loved the discovery and joy of finding out what happened. But
sadly, I don’t have the time anymore. Pantsing is joyful but inefficient, and
if I want to tell ALL THE STORIES… well, I need to plot. However, I do employ a
strategy of “cheat stories”. If one isn’t cooperating I go cheat on it with a
different story. That will teach it! 

I’m
intrigued by your sci-fi novellas, The Beast of Arsu being the latest. For the Galactic Dreams series, you write with two
other authors, Karen Harris Tully and J.M. Phillippe. Do the three of you get
together to discuss and plan the next collection of Galactic Dreams? 

Karen and
J.M. and I came up with a simple proposition (such innocent, foolish, past
selves): we would create a shared universe and spread the hard parts of world-building
around. Then we would each write stories within that universe. And, just to keep
it interesting, we would base our stories on fairy tales. Clearly none of us
had read fairy tales recently – they’re insane. None of us counted on the fact
that each of us would want to break the rules of the universe at some point, or
that we would have to keep track of all the weird words and technology we
invented. At this point, we have a massive spreadsheet and a five-page single-space
word doc on our universe. Fortunately, our friendship has survived the great
battle over whether or not to include the word OK in space. Surprisingly,
we were all 100% fine with bringing in Octopus aliens. We touch base multiple
times while writing our individual stories and use each other for research, as
sounding boards, and as spare memories. Then, at the end, we all read
everything for universe cohesion.

Bethany, let me tell you, I’d
be lost in space if I could not use the word OK. One last question. If
you were not writing, what would you be doing?

I actually love
my day job of graphic design. If I weren’t writing I’d be getting to all of the
art projects that are languishing in my office that I swear I’m TOTALLY getting
to. Stop judging my art supply purchases!!

That was a fantastic interview, Bethany. Thank you!

Biography

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of
mystery, crime and romantic suspense novels, as well as many short stories.
When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her
black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the
computer working on her next novel. bethanymaines.com

“Solitude in the Outback…”

/in /by

 By Kathryn Lane

Years ago, when I lived in the Outback of Australia, I often found myself alone for weeks at a time at the homestead while the men were in the field catching
feral cattle. That solitude gave me time to read the Russian novels by Tolstoy,
Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and Pasternak to name a few. Dr. Zhivago and The Brothers
Karamazov remain favorites to this day.

In my Australian days, I’d visualize the great books I read as a
lighthouse that would light up the path of my life. A silly image, perhaps, but
when one is completely alone, the mind creates interesting imagery.

Even after the Outback became only a memory, I rarely read novels
hitting the New York Times bestseller list until the original hoopla
surrounding their launch had quieted down. The hectic schedule of my international
corporate career left little time to indulge in big books. I’d discovered less
lofty but more enjoyable reading – the mystery genre – my pleasure reading for
long flights from New York to South America, Asia, or Europe.

Fast forward to 2021 when I’ve become a writer myself. My love of
mystery intrigues me so much, that it’s what I write. Revisiting the idea of
best sellers, I still wait until the hoopla quiets to a whisper. Recently, I must
have heard crawdads heralding Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing
as being a mystery wrapped in a coming of age story woven with romance.

So I purchased it.

What a delicious dip into the wondrous world of nature in the
swamps of North Carolina as seen, felt, and described through Kya’s life.

Delia Owens said in an interview that Kya represents what we can
be when we have to be. I concur with the author that all of us have the ability
to do more than we can imagine when life requires it.

Delia Owens described how her life of studying lions and elephants
in Africa brought extreme or partial isolation for twenty-three years of her
life.

My own isolation in the Outback, for a mere three-and-a-half years,
changed me in many ways. I became, like Kya, more self-reliant, more
introspective, and a problem solver. When I re-emerged into life in Mexico
after the Australian experience, I was socially insecure. I thought it’d take
several years for me to feel like the extroverted girl who’d left the comfort
and love of her family to form a family of her own on the other side of the
world. Then I realized the young girl had been transformed into a woman capable
of following her own lighthouse to accomplish her dreams.

Has
solitude changed your life in any way?

***

Kathryn’s mysteries – The Nikki
Garcia Mystery series:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B08C7V2675/ref=dp_st_1942428944



Kathryn’s short story collection – Backyard
Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart

https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Volcano-Other-Mysteries-Heart/dp/1943306044

 All available on Amazon

 About Kathryn

Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation.
After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery
and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.

Visit my website at https://www.Kathryn-Lane.com

I love hearing from readers. Ask a question,
suggest an idea, or comment about the blog. kathrynlaneauthor@gmail.com

Photo
credits:

All
photographs are used in an editorial or educational manner.

“Follow the Road” by ASTRORDINARY is licensed
under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

“Where the Crawdads Sing” Public Domain

“Perthling” by ASTRORDINARY is licensed under
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

 

 

Deadlines

/in /by

By Kathryn Lane

I love
deadlines! They revitalize me. Twists and turns in my mystery novels become
more exciting once I’m approaching the deadline with my editor.

Not all
deadlines are equal. Some are important; others can be juggled. Then there are
deadlines I gleefully ignore.

At times, I
fantasize what would happen if I missed such and such important deadline. That activity
takes the form of various possible outcomes, as if I lived in a quantum world
where there’s an infinite number of possibilities.

Meeting a deadline!

And it
reminds me of a wonderful European film from 1998 titled, Run, Lola, Run.
An experimental film at the time, the lead character, Lola, needs to acquire
$100,000 deutschmarks in TWENTY minutes or her boyfriend will die. The film
gives three versions of what happens. Each version is predicated on the lapse
of a few seconds where random, unexpected events happen that impact Lola’s
ability to obtain the money. These random events change each one of the three
endings.

In the past
month, I’ve had the opportunity to think about random, unexpected things that
happen. Some are good, some not so good.

On the
return trip from the Killer Nashville International Mystery Writers’ Conference (which was wonderful) in late August, we experienced an unexpected event.

Driving through
Georgia, a speeding motorist hit us a few miles south of Atlanta. Fortunately,
everyone, including the motorist who hit us, walked away with only minor
bruises. A different story for the vehicles – both were totaled.

Random events,
good or bad, set off unexpected consequences, which ripple through already
planned events, like getting a manuscript finished for your editor.

Meeting manuscript deadlines!

As in the
three outcomes in Run, Lola, Run, my mind considered various
scenarios: If only we had not stopped for gas when we did, if only we had
started our journey a few minutes earlier (or later) that day, if only we had
been in a different lane. But we don’t live in a quantum world. Nor do we live
in a world where we can restart the day and get a different outcome.

Small, unplanned events can add spice to life.
Large ones, like car accidents, can create havoc on deadlines. C’est la vie.

Deadlines
are important to my characters too. It’s like they’re telling me “If you write it
this way, it will be better”. Or they will kick my butt, saying “Go this other
direction and get our story told”.

Maybe that’s
a little like the different outcomes in Run, Lola, Run. In novels, only the
author knows the various endings that could have taken place.

How do you
handle deadlines?  

***

Kathryn’s mysteries – The Nikki
Garcia Mystery series:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B08C7V2675/ref=dp_st_1942428944

 

Kathryn’s short story collection – Backyard
Volcano and Other Mysteries of the Heart

https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Volcano-Other-Mysteries-Heart/dp/1943306044

 All available on Amazon

 Kathryn Lane started out as a starving
artist. To earn a living, she became a certified public accountant and embarked
on a career in international finance with a major multinational corporation.
After two decades, she left the corporate world to plunge into writing mystery
and suspense thrillers. In her stories, Kathryn draws deeply from her Mexican background as well as her travels
in over ninety countries.

https://www.kathryn-lane.com