Peg Herring's Blog, page 42
June 25, 2010
Did You Have a Nice Stay?
Hotels always leave those little comment cards, asking what you liked and didn't like about your stay. Some send a follow-up email as well, apparently anxious to suck up so you'll return.
Like the conscientious soul I am, I try to help them out. "The remote needs batteries." "The toilet seat is wobbly." I figure these are things the maids would not typically notice, unless they are using the facilities or watching TV when they should be cleaning.
I have my own questions. "Why build a 100-unit motel and maintain it badly when you might have built a 50-unit place that you had a handle on?" "Why choose property between a strip club and a metal shop?" and for some of the more expensive ones, "Why does your desk staff seem to think that because they work in a pricey hotel, they, too, are of the upper crust?" My favorite for that type of hotel would be "Why can you rent me a room for $150.00 all weekend when I attend a conference and then jack the price up to $300.00 if I want to stay one more night? I mean, who are we kidding?"
Like the conscientious soul I am, I try to help them out. "The remote needs batteries." "The toilet seat is wobbly." I figure these are things the maids would not typically notice, unless they are using the facilities or watching TV when they should be cleaning.
I have my own questions. "Why build a 100-unit motel and maintain it badly when you might have built a 50-unit place that you had a handle on?" "Why choose property between a strip club and a metal shop?" and for some of the more expensive ones, "Why does your desk staff seem to think that because they work in a pricey hotel, they, too, are of the upper crust?" My favorite for that type of hotel would be "Why can you rent me a room for $150.00 all weekend when I attend a conference and then jack the price up to $300.00 if I want to stay one more night? I mean, who are we kidding?"
June 24, 2010
On the Road Again
Are you Willie Nelson or Bob Dylan? Happy to hit the road or wishing you were Simon and Garfunkel, "Homeward Bound"?
I guess it depends on your reason for travel, and of course, your personality. I know people who never leave the town they were born in except for dire necessity, and I know people who keep a suitcase three-quarters packed in case someone suggests a trip. I tend more toward the latter, loving to see new places, but lately it's become a bit much. While I love meeting fans and talking about reading and writing, the travel tends to be repetitive. Motels are all the same, and a person can wake up disoriented, wondering if it's Boston or Buffalo. Restaurant meals have a sameness, too, and of course American cities have become in many ways carbon copies: so many cloverleafs, so many strip malls, so many access roads.
I guess what I need is a real trip, the kind where I see natural sights, visit unique city centers and picturesque countrysides. I think we used to call that a vacation.
I guess it depends on your reason for travel, and of course, your personality. I know people who never leave the town they were born in except for dire necessity, and I know people who keep a suitcase three-quarters packed in case someone suggests a trip. I tend more toward the latter, loving to see new places, but lately it's become a bit much. While I love meeting fans and talking about reading and writing, the travel tends to be repetitive. Motels are all the same, and a person can wake up disoriented, wondering if it's Boston or Buffalo. Restaurant meals have a sameness, too, and of course American cities have become in many ways carbon copies: so many cloverleafs, so many strip malls, so many access roads.
I guess what I need is a real trip, the kind where I see natural sights, visit unique city centers and picturesque countrysides. I think we used to call that a vacation.
June 23, 2010
An Old Friend You've Never Met
Surprisingly, sometimes you open a book and find a friend. It's not anyone you've met before, but right away you recognize the connection. You like the guy. You want to know more about him. You wouldn't mind having a cup of coffee and just listening to him talk.
I just met Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr, (yeah, I know. I'm decades behind the rest of the world) and that is what happened. He's a crook, but I like him. I'm on page 16, so I've got lots of pages left to learn what makes him tick. The cup of coffee might be a stretch, though. I mean, I really can distinguish reality from fiction.
It's just that with characters like Bernie, you really wish that option was available.
I just met Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr, (yeah, I know. I'm decades behind the rest of the world) and that is what happened. He's a crook, but I like him. I'm on page 16, so I've got lots of pages left to learn what makes him tick. The cup of coffee might be a stretch, though. I mean, I really can distinguish reality from fiction.
It's just that with characters like Bernie, you really wish that option was available.
June 21, 2010
The Plot Chicken or the Crime Egg?
Someone at my last talk asked if the crime comes first to my mind when a book idea is born or whether some other thing comes first and the crime follows. The answer? I don't know.
It's a process a bit like childbirth (sorry, guys). Once I've finished the book, the conception and gestation part gets kind of blurry. I forget the pain, and all I see is that beautiful baby.
I know I wanted Elizabeth Tudor in a series, so I guess character was the seed in that one. And my newest, just finished and NOW AVAILABLE, centers on a character who is quite unique, but the first thing I recall about it is that after living in Richmond for a short time I wanted to set a book there. So I think it's bits and pieces: a character I like, a plot that's intriguing, a setting of interest.
I do know that once I start on any book, I make a detailed outline of the crime itself, even if it does not enter into the book as such. No matter whether you're revealing a character, a setting, or a theme, a mystery writer has to understand the crime in order to lead the reader to it, giving fair clues so the reader may, if she wants, guess at the solution along with the protagonist.
It's a process a bit like childbirth (sorry, guys). Once I've finished the book, the conception and gestation part gets kind of blurry. I forget the pain, and all I see is that beautiful baby.
I know I wanted Elizabeth Tudor in a series, so I guess character was the seed in that one. And my newest, just finished and NOW AVAILABLE, centers on a character who is quite unique, but the first thing I recall about it is that after living in Richmond for a short time I wanted to set a book there. So I think it's bits and pieces: a character I like, a plot that's intriguing, a setting of interest.
I do know that once I start on any book, I make a detailed outline of the crime itself, even if it does not enter into the book as such. No matter whether you're revealing a character, a setting, or a theme, a mystery writer has to understand the crime in order to lead the reader to it, giving fair clues so the reader may, if she wants, guess at the solution along with the protagonist.
Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming
Writing is a solitary occupation. We write what pleases us and then, sometimes timidly, sometimes not, we show it to the world. Often the world returns it with a brief comment, "Not for us" or "Not interested" or simply "No."
What keeps a writer going is someone, somewhere, who likes her work. For some, it's friends and family, although that isn't enough to get published. Still, some spend thousands of dollars to show their work to the world because Mom says it's really good.
For those of us who get beyond that, there is the business of publishing. Here the rewards come from sales, from reviews, and from fans. Fans should not be shy about telling writers that they like their work.
In a week that was downright awful, my sanity (whatever of it I still hold) was aided by two fans. At an artists' show on Saturday, a man told the director of the show how much he loved my books. She, bless her, brought him to me and had him repeat the praise. That same day I received a long letter from a fan, detailling everything she liked about two of my books. Honestly, it was like water to a drowing woman.
So when you read a book you like, find the author online and tell him or her so. Be brief but specific. Do it no matter how big the author is. Unsolicited praise is the best, and we love it when you say exactly what we've done that tickles your fancy.
What keeps a writer going is someone, somewhere, who likes her work. For some, it's friends and family, although that isn't enough to get published. Still, some spend thousands of dollars to show their work to the world because Mom says it's really good.
For those of us who get beyond that, there is the business of publishing. Here the rewards come from sales, from reviews, and from fans. Fans should not be shy about telling writers that they like their work.
In a week that was downright awful, my sanity (whatever of it I still hold) was aided by two fans. At an artists' show on Saturday, a man told the director of the show how much he loved my books. She, bless her, brought him to me and had him repeat the praise. That same day I received a long letter from a fan, detailling everything she liked about two of my books. Honestly, it was like water to a drowing woman.
So when you read a book you like, find the author online and tell him or her so. Be brief but specific. Do it no matter how big the author is. Unsolicited praise is the best, and we love it when you say exactly what we've done that tickles your fancy.
June 18, 2010
Art and Craft
I'm getting ready for the Cheboygan Area Library's Artists of the Straits exhibit, starting tomorrow. It's fun to join with other artists, even if my art is different from macrame and acrylics. We share the need/drive/compulsion to express ourselves and the joy/fear/anticipation of presenting our work to the world. Stop in and take a look. We're all in place on Saturday from 11 to 2, and the show is up for the next week, with exhibitors taking turns manning the cashbox.
June 17, 2010
As Frank Would Say, "That's Life"
The week has been bad on the front lines of Personal Life. But last night I spoke at a small library to a small crowd of the nicest, most involved readers I've met in a while. It was a mixed audience: some aspiring writers, some mystery lovers, a writing teacher, and a couple of ladies who spoke mostly Polish but smiled a lot and loved the fact that they each won a book to take home with them. The group was lively and the questions were intelligent. Suddenly I'm pretty sure I can make it through June.
People who love to read are fun to be around. They won't agree on who is the best writer or what is the best series, but they're always willing to talk about it. As one man said after my talk, "It was just an hour, but we could have gone on a lot longer."
It's gratifying to be praised as a speaker. It's important to create interest in the books I write. But honestly, the most fun for me is talking with readers (and writers) about mysteries, books, and authors.
If only I could make a living doing that!
People who love to read are fun to be around. They won't agree on who is the best writer or what is the best series, but they're always willing to talk about it. As one man said after my talk, "It was just an hour, but we could have gone on a lot longer."
It's gratifying to be praised as a speaker. It's important to create interest in the books I write. But honestly, the most fun for me is talking with readers (and writers) about mysteries, books, and authors.
If only I could make a living doing that!
June 16, 2010
I Vote for Crazy
Just a thought. Crazy people have all the advantages. They say what they want, do as they want, and think only in scattered moments. The rest of us run around trying to please them, help them, placate them. So tell me, which group is having more fun?
June 15, 2010
Help Is Just 41 Phone Calls Away
I am thinking today of John Hersey's book, MY PETITION FOR MORE SPACE. It is from the 1970s, but I see it more and more in daily life. The endless phone calls, paperwork, and facing down petty officials that has become part of life is so de-humanizing that it is hard to accept, and yet there is no other way to do what must be done. Like the character in the book, I plan what I will say, how I will appeal to their sense of fairness, even pity, but they have heard it all and have developed a tough hide that protects them from caring too much. "You'll have to call Angela (or Raymond or Carlos or Melissa)." I can give you that number."
June 14, 2010
Expert-ism
This morning at breakfast, my husband and I were discussing experts. The news is full of stories about what one expert or another says should be done about taxes, education, crime, oil spills, you-name-it. While I am willing to listen, not considering myself to be an expert on any of those topics, I respect most of all the person who thinks for himself. I strive to be one of those people.
History is a great teacher, neglected by many. The advice of experts of other times now seems downright awful. The idea of putting powdered dog feces in the eyes of a person with vision problems is an example that springs to mind. We might think, "But we're more scientific now." I'm sure every generation has thought of itself as more enlightened than earlier ones, but consider how many mistakes medical experts have made just in our lifetimes. (Don't bother trying to count the mistakes of policitians!)
Experts are often people steeped in the dogma of the time, perhaps so much so that they cannot think outside conventional thought. As an expert spends years getting educated to the point of being recognized as an expert, he is immersed in accepted practice for so long that it must be hard to think independently, not to mention to step away from what one's colleagues believe and practice. Experts are also people, meaning that they have innate prejudices and collected experiences that make them see things in a particular way. My years as a teacher, for example, make it hard for me to accept concepts like No Child Left Behind, a nice idea created by experts who do not deal with day-to-day classroom situations.
The world of books and publishing is by no means lacking experts. Experts advise us on how to write, how to query, how to promote, and how to brand. But the experts are often no better than the rest of us at predicting who will succeed and who will fail.
I'm no expert, but I do as my grandmother used to advise me, "Listen to what they say, and then think whatever you like."
History is a great teacher, neglected by many. The advice of experts of other times now seems downright awful. The idea of putting powdered dog feces in the eyes of a person with vision problems is an example that springs to mind. We might think, "But we're more scientific now." I'm sure every generation has thought of itself as more enlightened than earlier ones, but consider how many mistakes medical experts have made just in our lifetimes. (Don't bother trying to count the mistakes of policitians!)
Experts are often people steeped in the dogma of the time, perhaps so much so that they cannot think outside conventional thought. As an expert spends years getting educated to the point of being recognized as an expert, he is immersed in accepted practice for so long that it must be hard to think independently, not to mention to step away from what one's colleagues believe and practice. Experts are also people, meaning that they have innate prejudices and collected experiences that make them see things in a particular way. My years as a teacher, for example, make it hard for me to accept concepts like No Child Left Behind, a nice idea created by experts who do not deal with day-to-day classroom situations.
The world of books and publishing is by no means lacking experts. Experts advise us on how to write, how to query, how to promote, and how to brand. But the experts are often no better than the rest of us at predicting who will succeed and who will fail.
I'm no expert, but I do as my grandmother used to advise me, "Listen to what they say, and then think whatever you like."
