Let Me Out of My Box. Please!

Trying to Break Out of the Box
- Sculpture by Peter Kiss

Last week someone left a review of my latest book, Murder In Vein, on Amazon, giving it only one star, and that was because they couldn’t give it zero stars.

OUCH!

Honestly, at first the review bothered me. While authors don’t expect everyone who reads their work to fall in love with it, no author wants to see his or her work disliked that much. Then I read and digested the review. The reviewer, although she called Murder in Vein “[b]loody, nasty, and totally unlikeable,” didn’t dislike the book because of its writing style or character development or even the plot. She hated the book because it wasn’t like my other two series. The reviewer even told Amazon customers: “If vampires aren't your thing, stay away no matter how much you may enjoy the author's other books.”

What it boils down to, Murder In Vein was vilified because it was a vampire book and dark. Because it wasn’t a cozy like my Ghost of Granny Apples books or cozy-ish like the Odelia Grey novels. But then again, the cover and back of the book make that quite clear, so I’m not sure why the reader was surprised by what she found on the page.

Rather than throw stones at the book, I wish the reader had recognized what I was accomplishing with Murder In Vein – I was breaking out of my box.

Breaking out of your comfort zone is difficult in any situation. People love the comfy little boxes they create for themselves. We decorate them with fluffy pillows and cushy rugs and pipe in soothing music. We set up house in our personal emotional places and defy anyone to drag us out. It’s no different in writing.

I’ve never wanted to write just one type of novel. I’ve always dreamed of writing across genres, envisioning my name on mystery novels and general fiction alike, whether they be cozies or hard topics with difficult and unsavory situations. Last month here on Inkspot I wrote about other ideas I have for future books. They run the gamut from fun romantic capers to painful coming of age novels to very dark character studies. I would never tell myself I can’t write those books because they are not like the other books I’ve written.

For example, I love pizza. It’s my favorite food. Calorie and fat content aside, I don’t eat it every night because I would quickly become bored. It’s the same with writing. Creating the same type of book over and over can be boring for a writer. And if the writer is bored with the writing, there could be the danger of that boredom translating onto the page, creating a boring read.

Most publishers build a brand for the author and want everything that writer produces to fall within that nice safe box of reader expectations. After awhile, some writers end up writing the same book year after year after year because that’s what their readers expect and the publisher and author do not want to rock the boat. My publisher, Midnight Ink, didn’t hobble me with such limitations. I wrote the book I wrote and they loved it. Thank you, Midnight Ink. Thank you for letting me break out of my box. And fortunately, most of my readers and the reviewers have loved and accepted Murder In Vein as a “Sue Ann Jaffarian” book.

And talk about timely. This coming Sunday, October 3rd, at 2 pm, I will be on a panel at the Los Angeles Chapter of Sisters In Crime discussing writing across genres. My panel mates will be the distinguished Edgar winner Naomi Hirahara and the always entertaining and gusty Christa Faust. You can be sure I’ll be mentioning my one star review as an example of a reader feeling assaulted by change.

Since I started this post with the worst review Murder In Vein has received to date, I’m going to end it with the best, just so I can remember I’m heading in the right direction – straight out of my box.

Like Stuart Kaminsky, Jaffarian juggles her franchises deftly, giving each a unique voice and appeal. Her latest series kickoff may be her best yet, blending supernatural sexy with down-to-earth sassy. – Kirkus

Sue Ann Jaffarian
www.sueannjaffarian.com
www.sueannjaffarian.blogspot.com
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Deadlines

Did I hear a collective groan?

I made the mistake today of cataloging all my upcoming deadlines:

Daily:
1. Projects at work, moveable at rush jobs appear
2. Get supper on the table
3. Continue writing book 2

2-3 Times per Week:
1. Laundry
2. Work out at the gym

Weekly
1. Grocery shopping

Within the next 4 Weeks:
1. Copyedits for book 1
2. Two birthdays

Within the next 16 Weeks:
1. Christmas
2. Author events (no idea, yet, how many there will be)

This looks way too much like part of my kid’s physics homework: If writer A has X minutes to complete task B, how soon will writer A’s head explode when tasks C, D, F, and G are added at a rate of Y per hour? This is my instinctive reaction to that formula:

Then again, this is where being an anal-retentive type comes in handy. I’m a pretty good hand at multitasking, and I’ve become more efficient at it over the years, when I learned how to take advantage of Found Time. Those are all the little bits of “hold time” while waiting in line, waiting for dinner to finish, waiting at the soccer field.

Like many of us who write and maintain a Day Job and (often) household, if I didn’t monitor my schedule daily, I’d drown. Hooray for phones with a calendar function. And Post-It Notes. Those little sticky pieces of paper have rescued many a plot point from oblivion.

Today’s tasks aren’t done, and there are tomorrow’s to prepare for. And the next chapter. And the laundry… I think I’ll lay down with a cool cloth on my forehead for five minutes. No; wait. That’s not on my schedule. Guess it’s time for this:

Maybe I Should Read More

I sat down to write this great post about the new TV season…and I realized I blogged about the exact same topic last year (on my other blog). But it’s all still applicable. (Now, what does that say about television?)

Anyway…

 

It's September and that means...the new TV season is upon us.

When I was younger (much younger), I looked forward to the start of every new TV season. I'd read the reviews of the new shows and prepare my viewing strategy (no VCRs or TiVo back in the day). On several occasions, I remember circling the shows in the TV Guide to make sure I wouldn't miss any great entertainment.

Of course, back then, there were only three networks.

Now there are more channels--and more shows--than I could ever watch in my lifetime. Not that I want to; most of the shows don't appeal to me. But there are still enough crime dramas to keep me coming back to the boob tube.

Growing up watching crime dramas (as I did) undoubtedly helped foster my desire to write crime fiction.

Who can forget these gems:
Mannix  
Barnaby Jones
The Rockford Files
Banacek
Cool Million
Columbo
Hawaii Five-O
McMillan & Wife
The FBI
Mission Impossible
I-Spy
McCloud
Charlie's Angels (hey, there was crime on that show, wasn't there?)
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Bionic Woman 
Hill Street Blues

I could go on. (Of course, my viewing wasn't limited to crime drama--I watched plenty of lawyer and doctor shows, too. And don't forget The White Shadow!)

Here's the thing: Back then, I loved those shows and thought they were great. Now, if I happen to catch an old rerun or two, I realize many of them were actually pretty cheesy.

So what's the explanation? Am I just more mature/more discerning now (i.e., I don't have time to waste watching mediocre shows)? Or are the shows really better written and better acted now?

What shows this year look especially promising?

 

Alan

Hobbies versus Work

The other day, my husband heard a radio announcer say, “Only people who don’t like their jobs have hobbies, or firemen and policemen who only work four days a week.”

Really? What’s your first reaction to that?

My husband builds and races cars as a hobby. He says it’s a stress-reliever, although his race engines require constant attention and occasionally the bodywork needs a full rebuild, which makes it appear stressful to me. He works four days a week, which is why the announcer’s statement grabbed his attention.

As a retiree (a group completely overlooked by the announcer), my mother-in-law collects dolls and belongs to a doll club where they invite guest speakers to share their expertise about items like 18th century French dolls. She enjoys playing with her “dollies,” dressing them in fancy clothes and arranging them in tableaus on her cabinets. It keeps her out of the casinos, which is her other pastime of late.

Another overlooked retiree, my dad, designs, builds and flies model airplanes. He spends hours creating, then sometimes crashes the whole effort on the first flight, curses a bit, and starts over again. Again, it looks stressful and expensive to me but he loves it.

I have always named reading as my hobby, but I have been known to sew, quilt, knit, needlepoint, embroider, stencil, paint, emboss velvet, bead, build dollhouses, and more. Of course, sometimes I write but once you show a profit, the all-knowing IRS doesn’t see writing as a hobby anymore even if I do. Now it’s a job.

This brings us back to the announcer’s statement. Do hobbies satisfy some need in people that their jobs don’t? Do hobbies fill empty hours and give people some sort of feeling of time well spent and/or achievement? Why do people have hobbies? And what constitutes a hobby?

My 1976 American Heritage dictionary defines a hobby as “an occupation, activity or interest, such as stamp-collecting or gardening, engaged in primarily for pleasure; a pastime.”

An activity engaged in for pleasure. A pastime. Oh dear, does that mean going to the casino qualifies as a hobby? With that definition, going to the mall or the movies could qualify, but I’ve always thought of a hobby as something more significant, more tangible, with a positive result like beautiful landscaping or a lovely handmade scarf or a carefully selected collection. Even sports like golf or tennis didn’t quite qualify as a hobby in my mind because supplies can’t be purchased at a hobby store, but this definition would include them—wouldn’t it?

In fact, this definition, minus the examples, is vague enough to include almost everything one enjoys doing. Is that the key? It’s work if it’s not pleasurable and it’s a hobby if it is? Therefore, if you enjoy your work, you don’t need a hobby because it satisfies on all levels?

What do you think? Wait—would reading blogs and responding to the questions asked qualify as a hobby if you enjoy it? Yikes!

The Place Was Lousy With Authors (but not a lousy author in the place)

Darrell James

For me, one of the best parts of being an author is that you get to associate with so many other great authors and all the wonderful book loving people of the universe.

Trendy Westwood Village, a block off the UCLA campus, centers itself around The Mystery Bookstore, and, on any given L.A. afternoon, the area becomes something more akin to West World. A fantasyland for writers and readers. Mystery authors descend on the store for launch parties or book signings. Fans of the genre share the restaurants and shops with students and sometimes Hollywood’s celebrities.

This past weekend, Diana James and I headed down for the launch party for Sue Ann Jaffarian’s latest book, Murder In Vein. Diana is the very talented owner of PRme! a firm that provides promotion and publicity to numerous authors, to include Sue Ann (and me). We carried buckets of champagne on ice, and jammed through the street melee to reach the store.

Before we could get there we stumbled across authors Brett Battles and Graham Brown. They were on the patio of Barney’s Beanery having drinks and food following Graham’s earlier signing of his first novel Black Rain. Sue Ann arrived just then. And the chance meeting became something of a mini-reunion, filled with handshakes and hugs, and talk of the latest triumphs and challenges of the book world. It was good to see them. A nice surprise. And gave me a genuinely warm feeling to be (now as a published author) an accepted member of the community of writers.

As we entered the store, friend Jeff Sherratt was there to greet us. Jeff is the author of the Jimmy O’Brien mystery series. His next book, Detour To Murder, will be released next month and coincidentally (or possibly not) Sue Ann and I both appear on the cover with blurbs. It’s always good to see Jeff. He and I have signed in bookstores and have appeared on a number of author library panels together. Lori Wolf, another writer, was also present for the event.

Soon, the bookstore was filled, and the launch party was underway. Bobbie McCue, the ever revered and trusted manager of the store, introduced Sue Ann, and Sue Ann shared a very touching and inspiring history of her work as a writer leading to her latest release. There were vampire rubber-duckies, blood red, “red-velvet” cupcakes, champagne toasts and some really great and interesting questions from the audience.

Afterwards, all of us writers headed up the block to BJs for dinner. The place was alive with students from the campus, young women in their club attire, young guys (just trying to keep up). One of the attendees to Sue Ann’s signing was there with her son and facing a long wait for a table. We asked them to join us. Her name was Janet. She was there on vacation from North Carolina to visit her son, Ron, and had come to the advertised launch as a fan of mystery. Ron, as it turns out, is also a writer living in L.A. He writes for the G4 Cable Network and is currently working on a number of projects. It seems you can’t throw a rock in Westwood without hitting a writer. (But, please, don’t throw rocks at the writers.)

The evening was filled with drinks and laughter and camaraderie, and talk of books and film and storytelling.

My short stories have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines, and my first novel will debut in September of next year from Midnight. It’s a thrill beyond imagination. But the most fulfilling part of it all is the friendship and good times to be had with so many great people, writers and readers alike. This past weekend will stand-out among my many memories of becoming a writer.

What about you? As a writer or as a fan of the written word, what’s one of your favorite memories of the book world?

Naming Characters

What would you name these two characters? Tom and Harry? No, that's too common, not colorful and memorable enough. How about Darren and Dave? No, those names are too similar and readers might get confused if they were both in the same story. How about Leonardo and Alfred? What does that say about their ethnic background, their personalities?

When an author is creating new characters for a novel or story, picking names for those characters can be a difficult and delicate task.

For one thing, you don't want your readers getting confused about who is who. I use a simple tool to make sure that not too many of my characters have first names that start with "T" or last names that start with "P." For each book I write, I create and maintain a three column chart. The first column contains the 26 letters of the alphabet, the second contains the first names of my characters next to the letter of alphabet they start with, and the third contains the last names of my characters in the same row as their initial letter. I put ALL of the character names in this chart, even the walk-ons. I try to make sure that no more than two first names and two last names are in each letter row, and if possible, that one is a minor character name and one is a major character name or one is female and one is male. Also, I try to make sure they don't start with the same two letters, like Darren and Dave above. Or the last names of Smith and Smothers.

For my significant characters that will have major roles in the story, I work to pick names that match their ethnicity and location, age (Miriam for an older woman and Brittany for a younger one, for example), and personality. For ethnicity and location, I often use a phone book. My Claire Hanover gift basket designer mysteries have been set in Colorado Springs and Breckenridge, Colorado, and I have used phone books from those cities to pick names for my characters who live in them. I won't take a full name verbatim from the phone book, but will mix first and last names from different listings until I get a name that "feels right" for that character. For my Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventures series, which is set in Salida, Colorado, I use a Salida phone book.

For personality matching, I will often look up the meaning of first names, especially, on the various baby naming websites to see if the name fits that character's personality. And people do attach emotional meanings to names. I remember playing the Barbie Queen of the Prom game when I was a girl. Everyone wanted to win a date with dreamy Ken and no one wanted one with creepy Poindexter! So a strong action-oriented male figure may have a short, clipped first name like Dirk, Brad, or Curt, while your computer nerd might be Peter, Ronald, or Chester.

Then there's the added complexity when someone wins a character name in one of my books from a mystery conference charity auction. I may find that after I assign their name to a minor character in one of my books that their first name or last name is too close to another character's name. So, I have to change that other character's name, too. Or, maybe the physical look or personality I've given that minor character doesn't match the auction winner's name. So, I'll change the character's hair color, or add glasses, or even change the ethnicity.

Names are important!

If you're a reader, please tell me your favorite fictional character names and why you like them. And if you're a writer, I'd love to know how you go about picking your character names!

STRANGE COINCIDENCE?

September marks the 120^th anniversary of the birth of Dame Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime fiction and creator of both Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, as well as other memorable characters. Dame Agatha penned a total of 80 novels. According to the Guardian, an estimated billion copies of her books have been sold in English and another billion in 103 other languages. She published her first book, THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES, introducing Hercule Poirot, in 1920 at the age of 30 and her last book, POSTEM OF FATE, in 1973, three years prior to her death. An additional Poirot and Miss Marple, both written 40 years earlier, were published in 1975 and 1976 respectively. Dame Agatha’s play THE MOUSETRAP has been running continuously since it opened at the West End Theatre in London in 1952. Quite a career!

However, as much as I admire Christie as an author, I’m fascinated by an aspect of her life that has kept both professional and amateur sleuths guessing for years. At approximately 9:45pm Friday, December 3, 1926, Agatha Christie kissed her sleeping daughter, then drove off alone in her car. The car was later found abandoned with no sign of Christie. Some believed she’d drowned in a natural spring near the site where her car was found. Others thought the disappearance was a publicity stunt. Some clues pointed in the direction of murder, accusing her unfaithful husband.

Christie was eventually found eleven days after she disappeared, staying at a spa hotel and using an assumed name. Speculation ran the gamut of a head injury from a car accident or that she orchestrated the entire episode to thwart her husband’s plans to spend the weekend with his mistress. In 2006 Andrew Norman, a doctor and Christie biographer, suggested that she was in a fugue state brought about by trauma or depression.

Now here’s the amazing coincidence:

Nearly seven months earlier on May 18, 1926, another celebrity, Aimee Semple McPherson, went for a swim on a California beach and disappeared. McPherson was a Pentecostal evangelist, famous for using modern technology to spread her religious message. The Foursquare Gospel Church she founded is a movement with over two million members worldwide.

McPherson was first assumed drowned. Her mother preached the sermon she was supposed to deliver the evening of her disappearance and told congregants, “Sister is with Jesus.” Upton Sinclair wrote a poem to commemorate the tragedy. Parishioners held round-the-clock seaside vigils. Her disappearance sparked a media frenzy.

A month after she disappeared, her mother received a ransom note demanding a half million dollars and was told if she didn’t pay, Aimee would be sold into white slavery. Her mother thought the note was a hoax and threw it out. Shortly thereafter, Aimee stumbled out of the desert into a Mexican town. She claimed she’d been kidnapped, drugged, and tortured. Somehow she managed to escape her captors and walked for half a day through the desert.

However, Aimee’s story was full of holes. Speculation runs high that Aimee ran off with Kenneth Ormiston, her married lover. Witnesses came forth, claiming to have seen Aimee and Ormiston in Carmel, California during the time she was supposedly being held by kidnappers in Mexico. Other theories suggest she’d gone off to have an abortion or plastic surgery, or like Christie months later, had orchestrated the disappearance as a publicity stunt.

Christie and McPherson were born weeks apart in 1890. Their disappearances occurred months apart. Whether one influenced the other is something we’ll never know. Aimee Semple McPherson died in 1944. Agatha Christie died in 1976, their true life mysteries never solved.

If you’d like to read more about Agatha Christie, the Barnes & Noble Mystery Bookclub is celebrating her birthday all this month with posts by various mystery authors. Today I’m discussing how Murder on the Orient Express played a part in my decision to writer mysteries.