PAPER OR PLASTIC?

Last week I attended Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD, then the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, PA. Both events were fabulous. I met many readers, some of whom were very enthusiastic about my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries and couldn’t wait for the next one in the series to come out. Others hadn’t read either but decided after hearing me speak at Malice or meeting me at the Festival, to give my books a try.

One of the most frequently asked questions I received at both events was, “Are your books available as e-books?” (Yes, they are.)

I’ve noticed in the short space of a year between the release of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, and Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series, that ebook sales of my titles are far outpacing the trade paperbacks. More and more people are moving from physical books to e-readers.

There’s much to love about e-readers. You can carry around a lot of books with you at one time. If you finish a book while you’re traveling, you can easily read another, even if you’re in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles from a bookstore. I like that I can increase the font size of the words on the page, especially when I’m tired. The larger the print, the longer I can read without eye strain.

However, for those of us who love books, there’s something about holding a new book in our hands that an e-reader can’t satisfy. I wonder, what our homes will be like five, ten, or twenty years from now. Will we no longer have bookcases filled with volumes of our favorite titles? Will the Kindle and the Nook put bookcase manufacturers out of business? I love my bookcases filled with books. They take up space in just about every room of my house.

I stopped writing this for a few minutes and walked around my house, imagining each room without its bookcases. I’d certainly gain a lot of space if all those books resided in an e-reader instead of on physical shelves. I guess I’d have plenty of room to expand my teapot collection or start collecting something else. I just can’t imagine living without being surrounded by books.

What about the rest of you? Paper or plastic?

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist and has been nominated for a Book of the Year Award by ForeWords Reviews. Death by Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series, was released in January. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

INKSPOT NEWS, MARCH 3, 2012

Lois Winston will be giving a talk and signing copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll today from 1pm - 2:30pm at
Foxtale Book Shoppe

105 East Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA
FMI: 770-516-9989

Deborah Sharp, author of the Mace Bauer Mysteries featuring Mace's wacky ''Mama,'' will be among a host of nationally prominent authors at Sleuthfest in Orlando this weekend. Join her bright and early today, at 9 am, for the panel: Laugh if You Must (Dying is Easy; Comedy is Hard). Panelmates include Elaine Viets, Donna Andrews, and Joelle Charbonneau. Vincent O'Neil moderates.

Robin Allen, author of the clean, humorous Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop mystery series, will be one of six featured authors at the Bulverde/Spring Branch Library Book & Author Luncheon. Other authors include Stephen Harrigan and Jenny Wingfield.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

11:00 AM - 2:30 PM

Spring Hill Event Center

2455 Celebration Drive

San Antonio, TX  78261

INKSPOT NEWS, FEBRUARY 25, 2012

Lois Winston will be giving a talk and signing copies of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun and Death By Killer Mop Doll next Saturday, March 3rd, from 1pm - 2:30pm at
Foxtale Book Shoppe

105 East Main St., #138, Woodstock, GA
FMI: 770-516-9989

PLOTTING THE NEXT BOOK IN A SERIES

by Lois Winston

I recently began working on the fourth book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. When I first began to write, I never thought about writing a series. I wrote stand-alone novels. Once I typed “the end,” that was it for those characters. 

I sold The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries based on a completed novel, Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, and a partial (three chapters and a synopsis) for the second book in the series. The end of Death By Killer Mop Doll, the second book in the series, leads into the premise for the third book, which I turned in the end of the summer and which will be called Revenge of the Crafty Corpse. 

Although a mystery has to be solved at the end of each book in a mystery series, because the books are part of an ongoing series, there needs to be a story arc that encompasses all the books in the series. All personal issues can’t be resolved within the confines of one book. With each book the characters in the world I’ve created continue their journeys, pursuing their goals and dealing with the conflicts that get in the way of achieving those goals.

Goals. Motivation. Conflict. What do the characters want? Why do they want what they want? What’s keeping them from getting what they want? Every major character in a book needs both internal and external goals, motivations, and conflict. In a stand-alone book, these questions are all answered by the end of the book. In an ongoing series, they continue from book to book to book. Give the characters everything they want, and the series ends.

So I’m going to throw obstacles in Anastasia’s way for as long as readers want to follow her journey. She’ll continue to solve a murder by the end of each book, but the financial problems that set the series in motion will continue to dog her. And her family problems? Those of you dealing with your own dysfunctional relatives know that those problems never end.

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll was a January release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

WHEN IS IT ABOUT SELLING BOOKS?

One of the writing organizations I belong to had a recent online discussion about “When is it about selling books?”

As authors, we’re often boxed into a damned if we do, damned if we don’t situation. Too much promo turns readers off; not enough promo doesn’t get the word out about our books and thus adversely impacts sales. And when books don’t sell well, authors don’t get offered new contracts.

Many people outside of publishing have the mistaken impression that by virtue of being published, we authors are rolling in Franklins. If only that were the case! The outside world only reads about the publishing deals scored by celebrities and the occasional really, really big name authors. They think a book contract means an automatic bloated bank account, no matter who you are or what you write. That’s why friends and family are always asking for free books. They believe we wealthy authors can well afford to give away truckloads of our books.

Some writers claim they write for the pure enjoyment of writing. If they didn’t get paid for their writing, they’d still write. This may be true, but if they weren’t getting paid for their writing, they wouldn’t be killing themselves to meet deadlines. They’d write at their own pace.

Others admit that their writing is a business, and they expect to make a decent living at it. Unfortunately, most don’t. I’m juggling three full-time jobs. I have friends who consistently make the NY Times lists and still can’t afford to quit their day jobs. And yet we all continue to write. To meet our deadlines. To angst over our reviews, our print runs, and our sell-thru numbers. To hope and pray for that next contract.

Are we crazy? No. We’re writers.

So here it is the end of November, and in five weeks DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL, the second book of my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, will be released. As part of my promotional efforts for the release of the book, I’ve scheduled a series of guest blogs throughout January. I hope readers find them entertaining rather than hard sell, but I also hope they’ll buy the book. Is that really too much to ask? I hope not.

Lois Winston writes the critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. The first book, Assault With A Deadly Glue Gun, was a January 2011 release and received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Death by Killer Mop Doll will be a January 2012 release. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.

I’M GOING TO KILL ALL THE INSURANCE GUYS

I’m going to kill me some insurance agents, and maybe a whole mess of state insurance regulators if what I’m being told is true. I’m going to make their deaths as slow and painful as possible. And I’ll get away with it. That’s the great thing about being a writer. You can get even without worrying about getting caught because you can have one of the characters in your books do your dirty work for you.

So, you might ask what has caused me to go all lethal on the good hands men. Several weeks ago we lost power for 7 hrs. overnight. When we went to bed, there was plenty of room in the sump well. When we woke up the next morning, our finished basement had flooded. In the 13 years we’ve lived in this house, we’ve never had a problem, even the time the power was out for 3 days after Hurricane Floyd back in ‘99.

After arranging with a clean-up service to dry out and clean everything, we filed a claim with our insurance company. They opened a claim, gave us a claim number, and sent out an adjuster. You’d think that if an insurance company goes to all that trouble, that you’re covered, right? Guess again. The adjuster spent nearly an hour taking pictures and documenting the damage. Then he went back to his car and brought up our insurance policy on his computer. He came back into the house with the sobering news that our policy doesn’t cover us for damage that occurs due to sump pump failure.

I argued with him that the sump pump didn’t fail. It’s working perfectly. The problem was caused by a power failure. He said it didn’t matter; we had to have specific sump pump coverage.

Only as it turns out, you can’t buy this sort of coverage, not in New Jersey. About a year ago my husband met with our insurance agent to make sure we were covered for EVERY possible contingency that could strike our home. The agent never once mentioned that we needed specific sump pump coverage. So my husband called the agent to complain and learned that in New Jersey no insurance company can offer such coverage to homeowners.

Except that Hurricane Irene hit the following weekend, and I’m hearing endless commercials on the radio from insurance companies, telling people to file their claims as soon as possible. What’s the point if none of us is covered? Are those commercials only directed to residents of New York and Connecticut? Did New Jersey’s legislators and its insurance commission give their residents the shaft, or was our insurance agent handing us a crock of caca to cover his derrière? I still haven’t uncovered the truth.

Meanwhile, we have a $3,000 clean-up bill. I think that’s grounds for justifiable homicide. My only problem is that I’ve already turned in Book 3 of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. I’m halfway through my next book and don’t see a way to kill any insurance agents or state regulators in that one. So killing them is going to have to wait awhile. But that gives me lots of time to plan appropriate deaths for all of them. Drowning in a sump hole is high on the list at the moment.

And meanwhile, my tale should go a long way in explaining why insurance premiums are so high. Why on earth would the insurance company expend the resources to open a claim and send out an adjuster if our policy didn’t cover the damage? How much did all of that cost those good hands guys?

In Henry VI, Part 2 Henry said, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare obviously never came out on the losing end of a fight with his insurance company. 

Lois Winston is off to Bouchercon at the end of the week. If you’re going to be there, stop by the Midnight Ink booth from 11am - noon on Saturday for a signed ARC of DEATH BY KILLER MOP DOLL, the second book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. Lois will also be on a panel at 4pm with fellow Midnight Ink author Sebastian Stuart, with an autographing of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN to follow. On Sunday, she’ll be back at the Midnight Ink booth at 10am for a Meet the Author session. And if you can’t make it to Bouchercon, visit Lois at her website and Anastasia at her blog.

GIVING THANKS

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Have you thought about what you have to be thankful for over the past year? I certainly have. It was just a year ago that editor Terri Bischoff offered to buy what has become my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. In only seven weeks ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in the series, will be on bookstore shelves.

Prior to last November, I’d been wallowing in a huge vat of self-pity and wasn’t feeling the least bit grateful to anyone. I’d made a professional decision several years ago that I still don’t regret making, but I never expected the impact of that decision to mean that it would be nearly two and a half years between the release of my last novel and the sale of my next novel.

In those two and a half years I had several near sales, each of which fell through due to circumstances beyond my control. An editor can’t buy a book, no matter how much she loves it, if her publisher folds the line where the book would have gone. I was beginning to think I’d seriously offended the Karma gods in some way.

So when Terri made her offer, I refused to let myself get excited. I held my breath. For a long time. Not until I had those signed contracts in my hands did I allow myself to get excited. Or even tell anyone about the sales.

So I’m extremely grateful to Terri for buying my books. I’m also extremely grateful to the rest of the Midnight Ink staff who had a hand in ushering my manuscript to printed book.

Two months ago I received my edits for ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. It was now time to decide to whom to dedicate the book. I’d dedicated my first book to my husband and children. My second book was in memory of my grandparents. For my third book I knew immediately to whom I’d write the dedication.

In 2000 I began a critiquing relationship with a group of women. Over the next seven years I developed a very strong friendship with one woman in particular from that group. In all that time we never met in person; an ocean separated us. She lived in Germany where her husband ran one of the American schools. But thanks to the Internet we’d become as close as sisters. Until Karen entered my life, I never had a friend who was so much like me in so many ways. We shared many of the same life experiences, the same talents, the same likes and dislikes. We thought so much alike that it seemed we had to have been twins separated at birth.

In September of 2007 Karen and her husband were moving back to the states, and we were making plans to meet in person for the first time. However, right before Labor Day, Karen died quite suddenly. I not only lost a fabulous critique partner, I lost an amazing friend. I felt cheated. My grief overwhelmed me. Eventually, I realized that I’d been blessed to have nearly eight years of this extraordinary woman’s intellect, humor, and compassion. Many people will live their entire lives without being touched by someone like Karen.

So as I look ahead to Thanksgiving this year, I know I’m thankful for many things, the least of which is the friendship I had with Karen Davenport.

The dedication in ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN reads: In memory of Karen Davenport, amazing critique partner, friend, and Anastasia’s biggest fan.