CANDY CALVERT is interviewed by bestselling romance author, Lori Wilde. Visit loriwilde.com/news.html to learn more.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
InkSpot News - 1 September 2007
CANDY CALVERT is interviewed by bestselling romance author, Lori Wilde. Visit loriwilde.com/news.html to learn more.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Shtick . . . or Shtuck?
MAI TAI to MURDER has barely hit the bookshelves, and I'm already penciling in dates on my calendar--well into 2008--for promotional events. Since this is my third book, I'm no longer surprised that the majority of these functions (ladies club luncheons, sorority meetings, book clubs, library events, churches and book fairs) will include invitations to SPEAK. This is based on the assumption, of course, that if one can write, then one can speak; that microphones, podiums, Power Point presentations, and stapled-together-handouts are natural extensions of the computer and keyboard. It's almost as if the publishing contract becomes a magic wand, tapping our heads (or goading our butts out of our office chairs), and then wham--like Pinocchio becoming a real boy--we are changed. We're no longer solitary creatures in baggy sweats, sucking down coffee and mumbling to our muses; we're donning a blazer over our very best sweats, popping Altoids, fumbling with index cards, and "test, test-ing" microphones . . . .
In my former life, as an ER nurse, I was required to do some public speaking--whenever I lost at the nurses' frantic game of paper-scissors-rock, and had to grit my teeth and wade out into the crowded waiting room. To explain to (extremely hostile) would-be patients (for the umpteenth time in 12 hours), that "due to unforseen circumstances, there will be a delay in getting you to the the treatment area . . . " I also got pretty good at dodging the resultant flurry of wadded up and hurled MacDonalds' bags, greasy airborne french fries, colorful curses, and . . . spit.
So for me, while I'm no polished pro, speaking at book events isn't so bad. Or too stressful, since I write comic mystery and people expect me to be more of a goofball rather than some intellectual literary type. Plus--so far--no one's pelted me with french fries. All good.
I know that a few of us "Inkers" have backgrounds that must make these book events a cinch, like Joanna Campbell Slan, who is actually a professional public speaker and wrote a book on the subject; Nina Wright who has a theatre background as do Chuck Zito and Susan Goodwill. Hey, maybe I'm the only one who's a rookie here.
So, how about it folks? Speaking events as book promotion: love them, dread them? Do you have a shtick or do you just feel shtuck?
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Gut-Twisting Trauma, or How I Learned to Love Having My Car Looted
So back in March our car got broken into, right there in the driveway about ten feet from our bedroom window! The audacious thief got away with about $9,000 worth of seat belts, air bags, and miscellaneous electronics. The only reason he didn't get the wheels is the dog woofed me out of somnolence and I saw him through the window. (I document the sordid misadventure here.)
Monday night the guy—or his doppelganger—returned, but this time I heard him in action before he could do much more than get started on gaining entry. I handled the situation slightly less hysterically this time and the evildoer fled with nary a lugnut. Woot fer moi!
Now, I'm not sure how most people deal with such things. Property crimes, particularly crimes against automobiles, are only too common, so I know I am far from unique in my experience. Heck, I have a friend whose car got stripped six times in two years. And getting your car ripped off is hardly a gut-twisting trauma, annoying though it may be. I'm probably doing some of the usual stuff: checking into more sophisticated car security, such as this bad boy; adding lighting outside the house; trimming bushes and hedges to improve sight lines and reduce hiding places.
I also wake up during the night at any sound. Cat meow? I'm checking the doors and gazing through the window up the cul-de-sac. Neighbor returning home from a night out? Duly noted. Leaf drops off the dogwood out front? Locked-and-loaded! (Okay, maybe not that last one.)
And after these melodramatic vigilance attacks what do I do? Well, I get back into bed, heart-thudding, and think about how I can use the experience. I mean, hot damn, this is good material. I got your basic paranoia, and anxiety, and mistrust, and sometimes even a little fear. Who'd a thunk it? From a car break-in? I mean, sure, on the one hand I've become a fretful old lady (Hi, Mom!), but on the other, I've struck a rich, emotional vein that I can exploit in my beloved avocation!
Net result? My current novel-in-progress features a character with the ability to strip all the security components from a luxury car in less than five minutes. And I've recently written a short story in which a character's reaction to a crime is a (slightly) exaggerated version of my own. And beyond that, there are all these details that could show up in my writing down the line, such the as the fact that right now in the Portland area, Acuras and BMWs are the favored targets of thieves looking for air bags and seat belt assemblies.
So, you know, pretty cool. Which leads to my two questions. First, how about you? How has an unpleasant life experience unexpectedly born fruit in your writing? And second, anyone have any suggestions about how to protect my damn car?
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
A Creative Break
September 5, 2007
I recently completed my fourth Derek Stillwater novel for Midnight Ink. The first two, for those of you keeping track, are THE DEVIL’S PITCHFORK and THE SERPENT’S KISS. I’m done with my contracts, the fourth book isn’t likely to be published until the end of 2008 or later, so I’m taking the time before receiving editor notes and whatever else may come my way to play with some other novel ideas.
I posted a little taste on my blog yesterday of two of the novels I’m playing with right now. Yes, two at a time. Actually there’s a third I’m playing with, too, but less seriously than those two. Those two will get written, most likely. The third, welllll…. We’ll see. One is very much along the lines of the Derek Stillwater novels—lots of action, faster pace, etc.—and the other is a political thriller written from a first-person point of view.
I have no idea if they will be published. I have no plans at all, really (okay, almost really) for marketing them to my current publisher or anyone else. I don’t even know (well, I sort of do) whether I’ll show them to my agent. I sort of know these things, but I’m shoving them to the back of my brain and kicking a bunch of clutter (quite a bit of it back there in my brain) over them so I won’t pay much attention to them.
[A footnote. I write for a living. I’m always on deadline with something. I work all the time. Edit journals, contribute to newsletters, write business reports or magazine articles. So I’m ALWAYS WORKING!]
I’ve got some ideas for more Derek Stillwater novels. Several really good ones, but I’m not working to develop them. Derek’s on vacation momentarily. I need that particular well to fill back up again.
I think this is good. I think creativity just for creativity’s sake is good. I think creativity without any particular consideration for market, readership, or money is good.
Having said that, let me repeat myself. I WRITE FOR A LIVING. That is to say, I’m busy churning my words into dollars. I turn those dollars into things like food and clothing and mortgage payments and vacations and, yeah, retirement accounts. (Not to mention all the money I donate to my government, Hasta la vista, baby!)
I think writing on deadline, writing on contract, paying attention to your market, thinking about your readership and knowing you’re going to get paid for what you write is good. Very good… Really, really, very damn good.
But…
Sometimes you’ve just got to kick your brain into a different lane, one that isn’t overly concerned about “is this sucker gonna please my agent/editor/readership.” Sometimes you’ve just gotta tell yourself, “This one’s for me, dammit. If it sells, great, but I’ve got to write this one just… because … I … WANT … TO.”
I also think, when you’re writing your novel or whatever on contract, that there’s money on the table, etc., that you need to really work hard to get your creative brain into the same lane that’s just writing for fun. Because if you have fun, your readers should, too.
Cheers,
Mark Terry
I recently completed my fourth Derek Stillwater novel for Midnight Ink. The first two, for those of you keeping track, are THE DEVIL’S PITCHFORK and THE SERPENT’S KISS. I’m done with my contracts, the fourth book isn’t likely to be published until the end of 2008 or later, so I’m taking the time before receiving editor notes and whatever else may come my way to play with some other novel ideas.
I posted a little taste on my blog yesterday of two of the novels I’m playing with right now. Yes, two at a time. Actually there’s a third I’m playing with, too, but less seriously than those two. Those two will get written, most likely. The third, welllll…. We’ll see. One is very much along the lines of the Derek Stillwater novels—lots of action, faster pace, etc.—and the other is a political thriller written from a first-person point of view.
I have no idea if they will be published. I have no plans at all, really (okay, almost really) for marketing them to my current publisher or anyone else. I don’t even know (well, I sort of do) whether I’ll show them to my agent. I sort of know these things, but I’m shoving them to the back of my brain and kicking a bunch of clutter (quite a bit of it back there in my brain) over them so I won’t pay much attention to them.
[A footnote. I write for a living. I’m always on deadline with something. I work all the time. Edit journals, contribute to newsletters, write business reports or magazine articles. So I’m ALWAYS WORKING!]
I’ve got some ideas for more Derek Stillwater novels. Several really good ones, but I’m not working to develop them. Derek’s on vacation momentarily. I need that particular well to fill back up again.
I think this is good. I think creativity just for creativity’s sake is good. I think creativity without any particular consideration for market, readership, or money is good.
Having said that, let me repeat myself. I WRITE FOR A LIVING. That is to say, I’m busy churning my words into dollars. I turn those dollars into things like food and clothing and mortgage payments and vacations and, yeah, retirement accounts. (Not to mention all the money I donate to my government, Hasta la vista, baby!)
I think writing on deadline, writing on contract, paying attention to your market, thinking about your readership and knowing you’re going to get paid for what you write is good. Very good… Really, really, very damn good.
But…
Sometimes you’ve just got to kick your brain into a different lane, one that isn’t overly concerned about “is this sucker gonna please my agent/editor/readership.” Sometimes you’ve just gotta tell yourself, “This one’s for me, dammit. If it sells, great, but I’ve got to write this one just… because … I … WANT … TO.”
I also think, when you’re writing your novel or whatever on contract, that there’s money on the table, etc., that you need to really work hard to get your creative brain into the same lane that’s just writing for fun. Because if you have fun, your readers should, too.
Cheers,
Mark Terry
Monday, September 3, 2007
My Bad (Seed)
by Nina WrightRecently a friend sent me a letter of complaint that he'd drafted after local authorities mishandled a neighborhood incident. He wanted my critique of the letter before he mailed it. Now, my friend is a darned good writer; his missive was a model of lucidity and concision. And yet I advised him not to send it as written. Why? The last paragraph contained cynical jabs at the town’s apparent attitude toward minorities. I wasn't sure whether those remarks, framed as they were, would yield the response he was seeking. Call me cautious, but I’ve learned the down side of sarcasm.
Some years ago I wrote a darkly comic play called Mimi’s Famous Company, which reviewers compared to The Bad Seed. If you know that film, you can guess that my play was about a truly evil child. Except my play was intended to be over-the-top funny…in a wincing sort of way. Mimi’s a teen-ager who has been raised by her extremely bitter single mother to believe that she deserves whatever she wants and shouldn’t let anyone stand in her way. Unfortunately, Mimi takes that advice literally and incapacitates or eliminates rivals and foes, including—eventually—her own mom. When my play ran in venues across the country, reviews ranged from “Black humor shines brilliantly” to “Utterly unfunny. The playwright demonstrates a disturbing lack of morality.”
Trust me, I know right from wrong. I didn’t write the play to advocate either ruthless child-rearing or matricide. I simply believe that certain imbalances can be best illuminated by dark comic exaggeration. Witness Dr. Strangelove.
Likewise, I’m a fan of Mark Twain’s Pudd’n’head
I haven't flexed my own sarcasm much lately. Although Whiskey Mattimoe and friends trade barbs, most of the humor in that series comes from the dogs. No satire required when describing a species that licks its privates in public and dry-humps human limbs. Nonetheless, because I love dark guffaws, I can't resist sharing this 25-words-or-less summary of an American classic:
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.”
That’s journalist Rick Polito’s wry take on The Wizard of Oz. I challenge you to have fun with cynicism. Come up with a skewed 25-words-or-less summary of something you've written. Here's one view of the Whiskey Mattimoe mysteries:
"An oversexed Afghan hound commits numerous felonies as bodies pile up and her reluctant owner tries not to get sued."
Better yet, share with us how sarcasm has gotten you into trouble. Mimi’s Famous Company produced the most uneven collection of reviews I’ve had to date. Ah yes. My “disturbing lack of morality” still makes me smile.
Nina Wright's latest releases:
Whiskey and Tonic, the third Whiskey Mattimoe mystery, and
Homefree, published by Midnight Ink's sister imprint, Flux/Llewellyn
Writing as Labor
Susan Goodwill is the author of the Kate London Mysteries. BrigaDOOM is available at bookstores and online. Little Shop of Murders is scheduled for release in March of 2008.
If talking about writing or spending dollars on how-to-write books resulted in words on a page, I would have filled a United Van Lines truck with manuscripts by now. Alas, hot air does not a novel make--neither does cold cash.
What does a novel make is giving oneself permission to write utter and complete schlock, diligently applying oneself to the craft, and mercilessly editing that manuscript until it is the best you feel it can be at that given time. And then letting go of it, risking rejection, and repeating the process.
When I give a talk about writing, in my pocket I'll carry what I call my secret weapon. It's a bottle of Elmer's Glue. Because the difference between the three decades I spent dreaming about writing and the last decade in which that dream has come true boil down to this:
When I finally applied my hind-end to my desk chair and found a way to make it stick, voila!
I WROTE! And then, when I had to meet my first deadline, I found out something else: even when you feel far from inspired, okay, when you feel like crap and like everything you write is crap—if you WRITE ANYWAY—if you SHOW UP—a little hummingbird of an idea can flit into your writing and surprise you with some of your most wonderful words.
I'm not sure, but I believe it was Woody Allen who said that genius is ninety percent showing up. Writing is labor just like making doughnuts or selling cars. But writing is also an invitation to something magical, and if you don't show up for work and open up the shop, nothing can get in. The beautiful thing is sometimes when you least expect it, what comes through that door into your writing can be truly magical.
What does a novel make is giving oneself permission to write utter and complete schlock, diligently applying oneself to the craft, and mercilessly editing that manuscript until it is the best you feel it can be at that given time. And then letting go of it, risking rejection, and repeating the process.
When I give a talk about writing, in my pocket I'll carry what I call my secret weapon. It's a bottle of Elmer's Glue. Because the difference between the three decades I spent dreaming about writing and the last decade in which that dream has come true boil down to this:
When I finally applied my hind-end to my desk chair and found a way to make it stick, voila!
I WROTE! And then, when I had to meet my first deadline, I found out something else: even when you feel far from inspired, okay, when you feel like crap and like everything you write is crap—if you WRITE ANYWAY—if you SHOW UP—a little hummingbird of an idea can flit into your writing and surprise you with some of your most wonderful words.
I'm not sure, but I believe it was Woody Allen who said that genius is ninety percent showing up. Writing is labor just like making doughnuts or selling cars. But writing is also an invitation to something magical, and if you don't show up for work and open up the shop, nothing can get in. The beautiful thing is sometimes when you least expect it, what comes through that door into your writing can be truly magical.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
InkSpot News - 1 September 2007
CANDY CALVERT's third cruise mystery, MAI TAI TO MURDER, will be officially launched at a Caribbean-theme party hosted by Read All About It Bookstore, 305 S. Main Street, Boerne, TX. The event takes place Saturday September 8th, 1-3PM and includes cake, tropical champagne punch, reggae music and door prizes. Calvert will sign copies of DRESSED TO KEEL, AYE DO OR DIE, and MAI TAI TO MURDER.Candy Calvert will be keynote speaker for the Washington State Emergency Nurses' Assn. "Learning From Murder" Symposium Friday, October 19th 8:00-5:00 (Book signing included)
St. Joseph Hospital (St. Luke Education Center)
3333 Squalicum Parkway
Bellingham, WA
information: http://www.wa-ena.org
Candy Calvert will present "A Nurses Guide to Murder" followed by a
booksigning at Village Books, Friday October 19, 7PM
1200 11th Street, Bellingham, WA 98225
Free and open to the public.
Midnight Ink author MARK TERRY announces that both THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK and THE SERPENT'S KISS will be published in the following languages by the following publishers:
FRENCH: Ada Editors, Inc., Quebec, Canada
GERMAN: Verlagsgruppe Lubbe GMBH & Co., Germany
SLOVAK: IKAR/Euromedia Group, Slovakia
Mark Terry will also be at the following events:
Saturday, September 8, 2007, 11:00 AM
Mystery Author Brunch
Orion Township Library
825 Joslyn Road
Lake Orion, MI 48362
Saturday, September 8, 2007, 1:30 PM
Mystery Author Event
Romeo District Library
65821 Van Dyke
Washington, MI 48095
Sunday, September 9, 2007, 3:00 PM
Kerrytown BookFest
Ann Arbor, MI
Mark will be moderating a panel called "Original Voices in Mystery Fiction."
To find out more, visit their website at: www.kerrytownbookfest.org
Sunday, September 16, 2007, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Local Authors Community Book Fair
Sponsored by: The Ridgewriters Group of Farmington Hills
Spicer House in Heritage Park
Farmington Road just north of Ten Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI
THE HADES PROJECT, the third installment in the award-winning Cotten Stone series hits the bookstore shelves and online today. Pick up a copy of this non-stop, action packed thriller written by the international bestselling team of LYNN SHOLES & JOE MOORE.
SUE ANN JAFFARIAN has launched a new Odelia Grey contest. For details go to the Contests page on her website (www.sueannjaffarian.com). Three winners will each receive a signed copy of the upcoming Thugs and Kisses, along with other goodies.
Sue Ann is on the road right now. On Monday, September 3rd, she'll be researching her 5th Odelia Grey novel at Mike's Maze in Sunderland, MA. (http://mikesmaze.com/) If you're in the area come on down and say hello and have some fun.
She also added a new book signing event to the schedule posted here last weekend. On Tuesday, September 4th, 2:30 - 3:30, Sue Ann will be signing books at the Borders in West Lebanon, NH. (285 Plaintfield Rd., #2).
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