Finding Your Inner Puppy

You guys know the scene. Distraught writer sitting in a pool of light from her laptop in the pre-dawn darkness. Tap, tap. Pause. Tap. Pause. PAAAAAUUUUSE. Sigh. Shift. Sip coffee. Tap, tap. Rinse. Repeat.

I had to drag every single syllable from the basement of my brain with bowling balls attached to them. Time slid by and the word count flatlined. The dog—the relentless, demanding, who-agreed-to-dogsit-a-beast-with-a-morning-walk-routine, dog—stood in front of me wagging her tail, panting and making it plain the walk deadline had arrived.

Timber clearly didn’t understand my dilemma. Nora needed to be in the empty farmhouse in the middle of the night so the villain could pull a gun on her. But how was I going to get her there in a plausible—or at least plausible in the mystery world—way? Time was running out. Not for Nora, but for me, who has a regular life and day job and a word count woefully unfulfilled.

Sentient beings can be so distracting and inspiration so illusive. I slapped the laptop closed, dressed, and in a grumbling fit of impatience, rounded up my snowshoes, poles, and the gators hiding at the very bottom of the winter accouterments box where I’d tossed them last spring.

We had the first big snow dump of the season the night before and I was not looking forward to trudging through a freezing forest in the gray dawn. Not. At. All.

Timber, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She raced ahead, dodged trees, dug and scooted and zoomed, acting way more like a puppy than the her fourteen years on this Earth would belie.

This isn't a great picture of Timber but, hey, it was really cold to have my bare fingers exposed to click the pic.

The crisp air started to blow away the heaviness of my mind. I laughed at Timber’s antics and bypassed the short loop, deciding my plotter’s brain needed fresh air and exertion to problem solve. Natalie Goldberg, among others, recommends walks to jumpstart inspiration. My solution rested just beyond that snow-crusted pine.

The sun burst through the morning clouds sparking snow diamonds and dazzling the forest around us. I spent so much energy I had endorphins dancing through my system all day. And I felt good. No more grumpy-gloomies.

I know you were all expecting that when I found my inner-puppy the answer to my plot tangle would miraculously present itself. It didn’t. But I was a better human being for letting go of the frustration and gaining clearer perspective. The words won’t come by damming myself with a wall of frustration. Even if the floodgates don’t open because of my commune with nature and Timber, I’m sure my coworkers and the Man With Endless Tolerance (MWET) were pleased with my improved attitude.

This isn't Timber but she was having this much fun.

It wasn’t until much later, while sitting in the hot tub listening (or making a face as if I were listening) to MWET discuss the pros and cons of refinancing and the likelihood of renting as opposed to selling, I had my Eureka! moment. Perhaps my slacker imagination enjoyed the mini vacation and coughed up the nugget I needed as reward. Probably not. At any rate the romp in the snow didn’t hurt and it might have helped.

What about you? What do you do when the words won’t come?

Speaking at Libraries

Back in 2007, I wrote an article for the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) for publication in their April, 2008 Signature newsletter about "Authors, Speak at Colorado Libraries!" During my November book tour, one of the stops was at the Highlands Ranch Public Library, where my tour partner, Ann Parker, and I gave a presentation. That presentation reminded me of my article, and I thought I'd pull it out, update it for 2011 and share it with you Inkspot readers. Hopefully it will be useful for authors and aspiring authors planning to speak at libraries and helpful for librarians and readers hoping to arrange for author speakers at your local libraries. Here goes!

Authors Speaking at Libraries

In the early rush before a book release when authors busy themselves setting up signing events at bookstores, conferences and other retail venues, many forget about the resources of local libraries for arranging author appearances.

Libraries bring in authors to speak to their children’s storytimes and adult/teen book clubs and writing groups, they often set up author panels or talks as part of special programs, and some library systems organize annual author showcases to expose their patrons to local authors. At many of these events, authors may be paid a small stipend (to cover travel expenses, for instance), and at most they’ll be allowed to sell their books, either directly or through a Friends of the Library organization or via an arrangement with a local bookstore. For authors, this equates to good promotion opportunities in front of the book-reading public and the likelihood of getting your books on more library shelves. For librarians, it means providing interesting programs for library patrons to attend and encouraging them to visit libraries more often.

So, how does an author go about arranging library appearances? To obtain a list of all the public library systems in your state, go to the Public Libraries website, then click on the link for your state. Those libraries with websites will have their websites listed, and you can click on the links to explore the library programs. Start with your local library, and if the setting of your book is not in your home town, check out the website for the library there. Focus on library events in those two locations first before spreading out to the rest of the state.

Storytimes, Senior Socials, Book Clubs, and Writing Groups

Search for cyclical events on the library website suited to your book, find the contact librarian’s name and phone number in the event listings, and call. Introduce yourself as a local author or someone who has a book relevant to their area. Then briefly describe your book and why you think it’s suitable for the Thursday morning children’s storytime, the monthly adult mystery book club, the biweekly senior discussion group, or whatever. Give the librarian your website address so she can research you and your title.

Do not press for a commitment at that time. Instead, give the librarian your phone number and email address, and ask him or her to contact you after he or she has had a chance to decide whether or not to accept your proposal. Then call back in a couple of weeks if you don’t hear from the librarian. Be aware that adult book clubs, in particular, will often schedule a whole year of selected readings at once. If they pick their titles for the next year in November and you call in January, you may have to wait 13-15 months for an opportunity to discuss your book with the group.

Special Events

Many of the larger urban library systems have author showcase events or conferences where local authors are invited to speak on panels, present workshops, and/or participate in a group signing event. I’ve listed some example events in my home state of Colorado below. To find out about such events, contact the library system’s Special Events Coordinator, Public Relations Manager, or someone with a similar title to ask if they have an annual author event. Obtain contact information for the committee chair, call or email that chair, and get your name on a list of interested authors. Since these events are planned months in advance, you usually need to contact the appropriate committee chair well ahead of time to have a chance to participate.

Englewood Public Library: Meet the Faces Behind the Books
Pikes Peak Library District: Mountain of Authors
Manitou Springs Library: Author Fest of the Rockies
Parker Library: Bookapalooza

Also, if your local library system is planning a Literacy Month, an All-City-Read program, or some other month-long or multi-week program to bring patrons into the libraries, you have the opportunity to design and propose a weekend or evening presentation as part of that overall event. For instance, I was one of five mystery authors who presented a panel at the Louisville, Colorado, library as part of their “Get a Clue” adult summer mystery reading program and at the Aurora, Colorado, library as part of their “Power of One Book” adult mystery reading program. A multiple author presentation is often more attractive to libraries than a single-author talk, so you may want to band together with other authors who have complimentary titles.

Helping Librarians Find You

To help a librarian looking for authors find you, you need to network in the local literary community to gain name recognition. I recommend attending a conference of your state's Association of Libraries to learn what libraries are doing in program development and to forge contacts with librarians in your state. A list of state library associations is HERE, and the Colorado association is HERE.

If your state has an author's speaker bureau (the Colorado one is HERE), make sure you create a detailed entry, listing what topics you can speak about. Lastly, network with other authors in your area to find out from them about library speaking opportunities. In Colorado, I have obtained librarian contacts from fellow members of Pikes Peak Writers and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Many of these organizations maintain their own speaker bureaus, or you can gain experience and obtain a reference to give librarians by speaking to these writing groups.

I’ve had many rewarding experiences when speaking at libraries, and I hope other authors will reach out to libraries and gain just as much from this mutually beneficial activity.

My Scary Day Job

 

Last week I was telling a woman about my murder mystery series, and she shivered and asked me how I slept at night after imagining such spooky scenarios. The truth of it is, penning fiction isn’t frightening – not like my “day” job, the profession I entered eight years ago as a way to counter the isolation imposed by writing.

I’m an agent. Not a secret agent, special agent, double agent, or FBI agent… I’m a real estate agent, and danger lurks outside my door.

Take the obvious first: safety. There don't appear to be any real solid statistics on the number of agents who fall victim to murder, rape, assault, or robbery, but practicing real estate almost by definition puts us in potentially hazardous situations. Agents often meet customers for the first time in front of a vacant house, or drive or ride with them to an appointment. It is not uncommon for an agent to be alone in the office late at night, finalizing an offer or catching up on paperwork, and some agents still go door to door looking for listings.

My current book, KILLER LISTING, begins with the murder of a real estate agent at her own open house. Sadly, this scenario isn’t wholly fictitious. The real-life murder in 2006 of Sarah Ann Walker in McKinney, Texas, was definitely in my mind while I was writing. Ms. Walker was presiding over an open house at a new housing development when she was stabbed 27 times. More recently, real estate agent Ashley Okland (pictured below)was shot to death in April while holding an open house in West Des Moines, Iowa. No arrests have been made in the case.

I usually take precautions when I meet a stranger at a property, either bringing along another agent or my husband. (I used to take my chocolate lab, but now that my canine companion is a toy spaniel, that option’s out.) I lock the office door if I’m alone at night and try not to share too much personal information on-line. My series protagonist, agent Darby Farr, is even better prepared: she carries pepper spray and knows Aikido. Like me, Darby has had some frightening experiences while on the job.

I once worked with a white-haired, elderly man who turned out to be a very capable con artist; emailed back and forth with an eager Japanese doctor revealed as a fake; and showed the sprawling oceanfront home of a man who once threw his wife in a dumpster. I’ve encountered sellers who hoard garbage and others who hoard cats. I’ve looked at a customer’s dazzling waterfront estate and then spotted his photo in the paper a month later as he’s taken to prison for scamming millions of dollars from investors in a phony insurance company.

I’ve known desperate sellers, greedy buyers, and agents who are both.

Houses themselves can be creepy. Some are soul-less shells; others so scarily organized they scream Stepford. One of my listings contained a hidden “Armageddon Room” stocked with provisions for the end of the world; another, a basement brimming with porn. Some places are stigmatized properties, where murders, suicides, or other tragedies have occurred. A few contain strange odors, dead vermin, or unidentifiable suspicious stains. I once stepped on something in a garage drain that looked like a miniature “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Somehow I managed to continue flawlessly with my spiel describing the house.

There are frightening house-eating creatures that lurk out of sight, such as poria incrassata, a mold that lives in dank cavities and makes mummified skin out of studs. There are blatant examples of greed, not only in the present but also in old deeds, a scenario I wrote about in A HOUSE TO DIE FOR. There are so-called “spite” wells that are placed near property lines to prevent someone else from building. The list goes on and on.

One of the oddest things to cross my path happened only a few months ago at a new listing our office viewed. The owner, a kindly man in his 70’s, showed us the snapping turtle he’s tended for 37 years in a plastic kiddie pool in his basement. He’s periodically provided his “pet” with other turtle playmates, but, he told us with a wink, they always end up eaten.

Despite the inherent dangers, stress, and the ever-shifting housing market, I enjoy real estate. The money I earn allows me to splurge on writing conferences; the hours give me flexibility to write; and the camaraderie keeps me sane and connected. I’ve found that I use my time more efficiently when I’m busy, and I enjoy transitioning from my public persona as Realtor to private role as author, and vice versa. Even with the oddballs, I have many, many delightful clients.

I think of it this way: real estate is my profession, while writing is my career. I feel very fortunate that the two overlap in my mystery series, and that I’m able to put the wackiest of situations (watch for that turtle…) to good use.

 

Top producing Realtor Vicki Doudera uses high-stakes, luxury real estate as the setting for a suspenseful mystery series starring crime-solving, deal-making agent Darby Farr. A broker with a busy coastal firm since 2003 and former Realtor of the Year, Vicki’s next mystery, DEADLY OFFER, takes Darby to a winery where murder, mayhem, and Merlot all mingle. As in the popular KILLER LISTING and A HOUSE TO DIE FOR, Darby discovers a dangerous truth: real estate means real trouble. Read more about the Darby Farr Mystery Series and Vicki at her website, www.vickidoudera.com.

There’s Dog Hair in My Inkjet, or Truth in Fiction

Sheila Boneham

My first novel will be out next year, and when I tell people who know me they usually ask about animals in my books. Before I get to the questions themselves, let me tell you why they come up.

There’s the dog hair, for one thing. On my clothes, on the couch. A few minutes ago I blew some off the scanner bed of my ink jet. If I were a better housekeeper I might complain, but I believe animal fur adds texture to life and is a natural benefit of living with dogs, cats, horses, hamsters. My animals have always been my companions – pets, if you will – above all else, but many of them have also been my partners, my teammates. I’ve shown dogs and horses in a variety of sports and volunteered with therapy dogs in schools, hospitals, libraries, and nursing homes. I’ve been a rescuer, a serious breeder, a dog-show judge, and award-winning author of seventeen nonfiction books about dogs and cats. I write with dogs under my desk. If I didn’t have fur on my clothes I’d feel naked. So back to the questions....

The first is usually whether there are animals in my mysteries. Of course there are! In fact, my "Animals in Focus" series is (pardon the expression) peopled with animals. Janet MacPhail, the accidental amateur sleuth of the series, is a professional pet and wildlife photographer and amateur dog-sport enthusiast. When we meet her in the first book, Drop Dead on Recall, she's at an obedience trial with Jay, her Australian Shepherd. Besides Jay, she lives with Leo, an orange tabby. Tom Saunders, the "hunk" who steps into Janet’s life when the obedience trial turns deadly, has a Labrador Retriever named Drake. And there are several Border Collies, a Maltese, a Poodle....you get the idea.

The next thing people often want to know is whether the animals are real. Of course they are. Sort of. At the micro level, the animal protagonists, Jay and Leo, are loosely based on three of my own companions and technical advisors. The real Jay turned 13 in October and continues to inspire me. That's Jay (above) competing in obedience a few years ago. You can read more of his story at http://www.perennialaussies.com/jay.html. Janet's Leo is based on my own two lovely orange tabbies, Malcolm and Leo, who are now rolling in catnip at the Rainbow Bridge. Drake is a composite of my own three Labrador Retrievers – Raja, Annie, and Lily – and the many Labs I’ve worked with in rescue and as an obedience instructor. Other dogs and cats in the stories are similarly based on dogs and cats I’ve known or heard about. Here are Raja and Malcolm,

and Leo with a five-week-old Aussie puppy.

The animals I write about are "real" in a broader sense, too. They act like animals with canine and feline motivations (as far as we can determine, anyway). Since I expect human characters in books to act like people, this seems fair.


Don’t get me wrong – I’ve spend many happy hours with a cat on my lap and a dog curled around my feet as I read about crime-solving critters pointing out clues or commenting on the feeble abilities of their human sidekicks. It’s just that I have spent a lot of time with animals and have seen the problems caused when pet owners regard their pets as deficient people rather than excellent critters. My experience informs my fiction. How can it not? So the animals in this series are as realistic as I can make them.

And here’s the thing.... Real animals are fascinating just as they are. Their motivations are complex and individual. They can be by turns altruistic and self-serving and sad and playful and indifferent and loving. Like any strong character in fiction (and life), they are multidimensional. I could go on and on about this, but I there's a furry chin on my knee so I’ll leave this line of thought for Janet MacPhail to pursue. She's a woman of strong opinions when it comes to animals. For now, it's time for a walk.


Sheila W. Boneham, Ph.D., is the author of the forthcoming "Animals in Focus" mystery Drop Dead on Recall as well as award-winning books about pets including Rescue Matters! How to Find, Foster, and Rehome Companion Animals  (Alpine, 2009),  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting and Owning a Cat (Alpha, 2005), and fifteen others. Sheila's books are available from your local bookseller and on line. Learn more at www.sheilaboneham.com.

MOVING AHEAD SO LIFE WON'T PASS ME BY

Darrell James

My decision to become a writer, sixteen years ago, wasn’t exactly an off-the-wall idea, conceived of inebriation and flight of fancy. In fact, in part, it was a premeditated choice based on some long-held attitudes. Yes, I had a passion for writing, a yearning for creativity. But I was also looking for something to do, that I could imagine myself doing the rest of my life.

So, many of my friends claimed that they couldn’t wait for retirement so they could play golf four or five days a week. And while I love a good round on the links as much as anybody, I couldn’t imagine my days with nothing better to do than play.

Maybe it was the Jim Croce lyric that echoes: "...moving ahead so life won't pass me by..." that was stuck in my head. But, see, I’ve always loved to work. And, I’ve known for many years that I wouldn’t be happy with the traditional idea of retirement. (Which for me is synonymous with having no particular purpose for life.)

Now, that may sound judgemental, maybe cynical, but I’ve seen far too many of my peers drop out of the workplace only to find their days spent in the recliner, consumed with CNN and Sports Central. It just isn’t for me.

So, when I set out to become a writer, it was with the idea that writing was something I could do well into my twilight years.

Elmore Leonard quickly became my model of success. Elmore is 86 years old, to date, and he still turns out a book (or more) a year. In his time, he’s published more than forty novels and numerous short stories. His stories have been made into moves, adapted for television. And he is revered and respected, at his age, by virtually every writer and reader of contemporary crime fiction.






I just turned sixty-five and my first novel was released in September. It is part of the longterm (and longtime) plan that I have constructed for my life. To write well into my seventies, eighties, perhaps beyond. Whatever success I may achieve along the way is mostly secondary. See, for me, it’s the work that counts. It’s the sustainment of purpose. It’s the living of life in a meaningful way that’s important.

I know I’m not the only one to harbor such beliefs. ABC World News, in fact, just ran a story of senior adults working well into their nineties and beyond. The sentiments that many of the seniors had for continuing their work efforts mostly echoed my own. But there also seemed to be a plausabilty to it that suggested that their lifetime of experience contributed strongly to their life satisfaction. Quite simply, they “felt good” about the work they do.



I feel good about the work I do. And, health and other influences aside, I hope I will be able to write for many years to come. The reward comes along the way, not at the end of the journey, I believe.

It comes with living ones life with purpose.

Darrell James is the author of NAZARETH CHILD, a debut Del Shannon novel, released in September by Llewellyn Worldwide Publishing. It is available in bookstores and from online retailers, in trade paperback and all popular electronic formats. SONORA CROSSING, book two in the Del Shannon series, is scheduled for release in September next year.

Transitions

Cricket McRae

I do love the transitions between seasons. Nothing like a Christmas cactus in bloom right next to the last green tomatoes ripening on the window seat. I count myself lucky to live in a place with distinct seasons. Just when you get tired of heat or cold or wind or Indian summer, it’s on to the next thing.

Wait. No one gets tired of Indian summer. What was I thinking?

And I love the transitions between projects. One of my favorite things about my years at The Mother Ship was the cyclical nature of software development. The writing of a book has a life cycle, as well, made up of all kinds of different pieces. The inception of an idea, the sketchy plans, the implementation of those plans, replanning, writing and rewriting and playing with language and fine-tuning effect and arcs and, in the case of books that are part of a series, planting the seeds that will germinate in the next one, or even the next one after that.

Then there are editor revisions, acknowledgements, asking other authors you love to blurb your book, covers and back copy and dedications. There is the marketing in anticipation of release, marketing around the release, and constantly being on the lookout for signing and interview opportunities, blogs to guest post on, and all the rest.

The cycles overlap, just like the cactus and the tomatoes above. That can be tricky, but being at the end of one project and at the beginning of another is a great feeling. I’m there right now, and it’s heady stuff indeed. It combines the satisfaction of completing one project and the anticipation of moving forward with another.

Where are you in your projects, be they writerly or otherwise? Do you like beginnings and endings best, or do you enjoy all the bits and pieces of the whole process?

Romance, Romance

by Kathleen Ernst

I had lunch this week with two friends who (good pals that they are) told me they loved The Heirloom Murders, my second Chloe Ellefson mystery. They also agreed that they’re ready to see some action between Chloe and and cop Roelke McKenna.

In the first book, Old World Murder, Chloe was recovering from a bad breakup and definitely not ready for a new romance. In book 2, she tries to figure out what kind of man she might want to be with. Book 3, which I’m still revising, offers some new ideas about her life, her wishes, and the possibility of a relationship. (Roelke is definitely still in the picture.)

Here’s the challenge: I hope to write many books about Chloe, which presents a common dilemma. Stringing the possibility of romance along for too long can become annoying. Getting two people together too quickly can kill the tension, the energy.

Some of my favorite authors have handled things between two main characters differently. One kept them apart a little longer than I liked—five or six books, maybe. Another killed the guy off, leaving the heroine to start fresh (and upsetting many fans, based on online reviews.) Another chose to get her couple married quite quickly, and then let the inevitable frictions between spouses provide tension in the books that followed.

I’ve tried to build some complexity into both of the main characters, Chloe and Roelke. Falling in love isn’t a simple thing for either of them. Still, I don’t want to frustrate readers, either.

There’s no single right answer, of course…but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

http://kathleenernst.com

Images from 123RF.