Jennifer Colt | The Con Artist of Catalina Island

Good morning. I am so pleased to be here blogging to you. You will notice that I use no contractions in this blog. This is because, while reading the posts below, I happened to notice that everywhere there should be an apostrophe, there is instead a question mark. I have no desire for my blog to? appear? thus??? It is very distracting and even crazy-making for someone who is a born editor.

Guess I should say why I am here. To promote my new book!

It is called The Con Artist of Catalina Island: A McAfee Twins Christmas Novel, the fourth book in the McAfee Twins novels. The McAfee girls are Terry and Kerry; identical in looks, opposite in personality. Terry is a lesbian biker with a prison record; Kerry is a good-girl type who considers herself to be the keeper of Terry. They drive each other crazy but can’t conceive of being apart. Kerry says that when Terry was in prison it was like living on borrowed air.

The girls are the proprietors of Double Indemnity Investigations, a two-woman PI firm. Normally they zip around Los Angeles solving crimes from the back of their hot pink Harley Softail Deuce, but in this book, they are tearing up an island paradise on a golf cart.

They have accompanied their rich aunt Reba and her recovering lush of a son, Cousin Robert, on a Christmas trip to quaint and lovely Santa Catalina off the California coast. No sooner do they arrive than the whole island erupts in chaos: bison stampede, a French poodle jams up traffic, a honeymooning bride mysteriously disappears and her giant diamond ring shows up in a hotel toilet. (It is fairly typical of one of my plots--very low-key.)

There is a hot sketch artist named David Solomon who has eyes for Kerry, and who may just be an arch criminal in spite of the fact that he’s a dead ringer for Jesus. (Kerry can be forgiven for falling for a "pretty face" because, as she tells the reader, this particular face is usually portrayed wearing a halo.)

That should give you a feel for the type of book I write. Now as to the why:

Why write comedy? Why spend hours and years going for a few laughs from the reading public? Laughs that I cannot even hear but can only learn about second- hand in that blessed of all communications, the fan letter?

I do it because I think we need a lot more laughter, a lot more light in this world. I think comedy and satire can speak to power in ways that are usually prohibited. I believe we are coming out of a very dark period in our history, and some of the people who have lit the way for us are brilliant comedians like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Comedy pokes holes in overblown egos. It refuses to be silenced on the issues that make us stupid: bigotry, greed, ambition, selfishness. It holds them all up to the light and shows them for what they are. In its ability to humble, nothing can top it. (Plus, I just get a kick out of writing about toothless poodles.)

Sorry to pontificate, but I just received an email asking for my blog and thus have no time to censor myself. Hope you will have a great holiday season, and here is to 2008!

Cheers,

Jennifer

http://www.jennifercoltbooks.com/

CJ Lyon | Help a starving writer!

No, I’m not going to ask you to buy my book—you couldn't even if you wanted since it doesn’t come out until March.

I need a different kind of help—the kind of help only readers can give.

First, let me introduce myself. I’m CJ Lyons and I’m a pediatric ER doc turned medical suspense author. My first novel, LIFELINES, will be published by Berkley on March 4, 2008.

I love my new job as a writer—not only can I go to work in my pj’s, I also get the chance to meet lots of interesting people and ask questions that no one else would dare.

I mean, how many 9-5er’s get to visit the FBI academy at Quantico or talk to crime scene experts about the “best” way to kill someone and get away with it?

And no beepers, trauma alerts, or 3am calls to deal with—for the first time in 17 years, I’m finally getting some sleep!

But there is one thing about being a writer that I’m not too happy about. It’s ruined me as a reader!

All my life I’ve been a voracious reader, following my favorite authors blissfully into the worlds they created for me. But now that I’m a writer and know the “tricks of the trade” I no longer travel blindly into these fictional realms.

Instead, I now proceed with eyes wide open, taking note of what works and what doesn’t. I dissect technique, scavenge evocative word choices, flag areas where the pace lags or the characters feel contrived.

I no longer can accept that a character does something “too stupid to live”—like going down into the basement when the lights are out and there’s a serial killer on the loose—unless they have a darn good reason to do so—something more than simply the author needing another action scene. Romances where the only reason the hero and heroine remain apart is because they don’t stop sniping long enough to actually talk about their problems smack of melodrama. And thrillers where the main goal is simply racking up a body count rather than changing or saving the hero’s world seem lackluster.

Yikes!!! Now instead of reading 3-5 books a week, I find myself starting 8-10, quickly casting most aside within a few pages, setting the rest down and never feeling compelled to pick them up again.

I long for the days when I would pick up any book in any genre and devour it like candy. Now I’m left with an often fruitless search for literary sustenance.

But then I’ll find that jewel—that precious gem of a story that draws me in, introduces me to characters I not only understand but care about, makes me feel that saving their world is as important as anything going on in my own.

You know what books I’m talking about—those keep me up all night books. Suddenly they seem harder to find than ever, but once I find one I savor the experience, reading much slower than my usual headlong rush, trying to prolong my enjoyment as much as possible.

So help a poor starving reader/writer out here! What books have you read lately that gave you more than entertainment, that were fresh and different, able to transport you to another world that you were reluctant to leave? Which characters have you fallen in love with lately and why?

I’d love to hear about the books that moved you—and what made them stand out from all the other ones out there.

Thanks for helping this hungry reader!
CJ

Blythe Gifford | Truth? Any consequences?

Whenever I say I write medieval romance, the first comment I get is "But you have to do so much research!"

Let's leave aside for the moment that for me, research is a "get to," not a "have to."

The truth is, contemporary authors have to do research, too. I had breakfast with Mary Alice Monroe the other day and she is about to go out in the Atlantic Ocean on a shrimp boat in total darkness for the sake of her next book. This seems to me an entirely different level of commitment than Googling "forms of address Richard II."

The point of all the research, of course, isn't to educate the reader. That sort of "information dump" kills the story. We do it because we want to plunge you into a world you can see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. We want to draw you in so deeply that you forget about the "real" world and live in the fictional one, at least for awhile. We try to create an experience so authentic that you believe not only the world, but the truth of the characters who live there.

For me, it's not a only a question of accuracy. Research gives me my best story ideas. Whenever I get stuck, going back to history always seems to uncover the nugget that seems perfect for the story.

My latest medieval, THE HARLOT'S DAUGHTER, was actually inspired by a real person, the illegitimate daughter of a much loved king of England and his much hated mistress. (Edward III and Alice Perrers, for students of the period.)

When the king died, his mistress and her children were kicked out of court. Her property was seized and she was nearly banished.

There were only a few tantalizing facts about the children, who subsequently disappeared from history.

In my imagination, one of her daughters returns to court ten years later, determined to reclaim her rightful place. It was a reverse Cinderella story: she begins as near a princess then is hurled out of paradise and into the ashes.

In telling her story, I had to do something I had not done before: portray real historical characters in my fiction. It added a layer of complexity (okay, fear) to my work. In writing a real person, it's not just a matter of having dates correct. It's whether your portrayal of a real king and court meshes with the historical perspective on the monarch.

I'll admit, I tend to be a little fanatic about this. I think it comes from my training as a journalist. I write with a map and a calendar at my elbow and I've gone so far as to check tide tables and moon phases for my historical settings. (Otherwise, it would be far too easy to have a full moon every night so the hero and heroine could look into each other's eyes at midnight.)

Not every author shares my obsession.

I've heard some authors say the only thing that matters is the story. If you've constructed a compelling page turner, who cares whether the gun the cop is carrying is the wrong caliber? Ultimately, there's truth to that. We're telling a story, not writing a textbook. And most readers won't even know whether your world is authentic.

What do you think?

What books have you read that really took you into the world the author created?

Are you rabid about details of one particular period or profession but not so much about others?

Ultimately, do you care how "accurate" a book is? If so, how can you tell?

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Best,

Blythe

www.blythegifford.com

Jeaniene Frost | OH YES YOU CAN

Since it's shortly after the release of my first book, I've been thinking of
the start of this journey. I'd known since I was twelve that I wanted to be a
writer, but it took me almost twenty years to start writing. Why did I wait so
long? Here were the biggest things that held me back.

Excuse #1: I need to take classes/go to a conference before I can write a novel.

Wow, that kept me from trying for over ten years! The truth is while classes
and conferences are helpful, they aren't necessary. Now, I'm not recommending
skipping college or thumbing your nose at literary courses, but don't let that
be a stumbling block in your path to writing a novel. Do you read a lot? Are
you a (reasonably) good speller? Are you willing to take constructive criticism
and revise when necessary? Then you can do this.

Excuse #2: But I don't know HOW to write a novel.

I used this one far longer than I want to admit. When I repeated it a several
years ago to a writer friend of mine, she just smiled and said, "Then read a
book on writing, dear." Guess what? That worked! There are many great, useful
books aimed at helping new authors get started. While there is, sadly,
no "'magic formula" for writing, there are lots of steps you can learn just
from browsing one of these books. I read WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL by
Donald Maass, and WORLDS OF WONDER by David Gerrold, but
go to your local book store and see which ones are best suited to you.

Excuse #3: I don't have time to write.

Many famous authors have discussed how they squeezed writing into their lives
before they were able to quit their day jobs. Sharon Sala wrote her first novel
while working full time, raising three children, and tending to a farm. Mary Higgins Clark was widowed with five children and worked a full-time job when she
wrote her first novel. Bottom line: if you don't make writing a priority, no
one else in your life will, either. Sure, the more responsibilities you have,
the longer it may take you to finish that first book, but you CAN get it done.

Excuse #4: I know any book I write will be terrible, so why bother?

This may have been the hardest thing for me to get over. Eventually I decided I
was going to write regardless. When I started my novel, I did it with the
intention that it would never see the light of day. This was very freeing,
because I wrote for me, and when I finished that first book, I was - gasp -
proud of myself. Was the book terrible? Um, yeah! But the very process of
writing was a learning experience, and I started the next book right after.
When I was almost done with that, I went back to my first book and began the
first of many revisions. By then, of course, I was hooked on writing and knew
I'd keep doing it even if I never sold a single word. I still have that
opinion. If I never sell another book, you'll still find me smacking away at my
keyboard, because this is what I love.

Excuse #5: I'll start my novel - later.

Later can turn into never a lot faster than you realize. Speaking from my own
experience, once I started writing, I regretted letting my excuses hold me
hostage for as long as they did.

So for anyone out there with the desire to write, but with fear and
procrastination standing in your way...haven't you waited long enough? Get to a
keyboard! Don't let the stories just sit in your head. It is a tough road, but
it's well worth it.

I'm extremely thrilled to say my first novel, HALFWAY TO THE
GRAVE, debuted on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as the
USA Today list. Dreams still can come true in publishing for new
authors. I'm proof of that :)

http://www.jeanienefrost.com/

Lynda Hilburn | Ramblings From The Paranormal Edge

Every few years, a dance/theater production, “Theatre of the Vampires,” is staged in Boulder, Colorado (where I live), in a spooky, old theater. Happily, the show was performed this past Halloween and, since THE VAMPIRE SHRINK -- my first book in a series about a Denver psychologist who becomes involved in the vampire underworld -- had just been released, the producers asked me to appear.

Hundreds of people passed my table -- many stopping to claim a postcard, examine a copy of my book or ask a question. A wonderful time was had by all, and I sold every copy of the book I brought. (Many thanks to my publisher for the gorgeous, full-page ad they ran on the back page of the playbill!)

Boulder is a strange place. Unlike the questions I’ve answered at my other book signing events, the one people asked most frequently here in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains was: “Is this nonfiction?” They were uniformly disappointed when I said the book was fiction. There’s definitely a different mindset here! These folks wanted to believe in the existence of vampires!

But, in general, people ask three questions:

How do you identify yourself as a writer?

What kind of book is this?

Do you follow the “traditional” vampire mythology?

I call myself a “paranormal fiction” author, because that label gives me permission to blend as many genres as I wish.

When I first began writing fiction (I’d written nonfiction for many years), I tried to squish myself into one of the existing category boxes: romance, mystery, horror, fantasy, humor, mainstream, etc. During the submission process for THE VAMPIRE SHRINK, I heard repeatedly that I needed to “pick one category and rewrite the book” if I wanted to sell it. “They” said if I didn’t come up with a clear placement for booksellers to stock my book in a store, it wouldn’t be stocked.

I decided not to follow that advice (sold anyway!), and was gratified to see hundreds of books (print and epub) appear featuring blended genres. Not to mention the new category of Urban Fantasy.

So, the answer to the second question is complicated.

My book definitely crosses genres. I’ve found it shelved in various bookstore sections: fantasy, horror, occult, literary fiction and romance. The cover gives credibility to the “dark” designation. How do I classify my book? It’s a first-person, dark urban fantasy with strong romance elements, sex, mystery and humor. The paranormal kitchen sink!

As a rabid vampire fiction fan myself, I’ve met lots of readers over the years who have strong opinions about vampire mythology. For some, veering from the path carved out by Bram Stoker is blasphemy. Romantic vampires? What lunacy is this?

I was on a “Vampire Psychology 101” panel at a recent conference with many successful vampire book authors and, as the topic of “mythological accuracy” came up for discussion, successful author Chelsea Quinn Yarbro reminded us, “it’s fiction!”

That’s my philosophy, too. My vampires drink blood (without angst or needing to be redeemed), they enjoy being vampires, they’re articulate and intelligent (they’ve used their long lives to acquire knowledge), religious symbols have no influence on them, and they’re physically appealing. The archetype of the “extraordinary” male is the most intriguing for me, although I enjoy all the vampire archetypes (including the primal monster variety). I also tend to include metaphysical and psychic elements in all my stories, because – in addition to my experience as a therapist/hypnotherapist – I’m also a professional psychic/tarot reader.

My advice to writers? Find your voice. Learn your craft. Follow the rules that work for you. Don’t limit yourself by trying to write for a particular market or niche. As many have said before me, “write the book of your heart.” Only you know what that book is.

Have a wonderful holiday season!
Lynda

http://www.lyndahilburnauthor.com/
http://paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/lyndahilburn