Greg Lilly's Blog, page 3
April 21, 2012
Interview for the Malice Domestic conference April 27 - 29, 2012 in Bethesda
Follow the link to Linda Rodriguez Writes blog for an interview with me about writing and mysteries.
I tried not to offend anyone, but might have. ;-)
Linda Rodriguez Writes: Countdown to Malice Domestic 2012--Greg Lilly: This is my final post counting down to Malice Domestic 2012 in Bethesda, MD, April 27-29, and Greg Lilly is the last of my panelists for H...
I tried not to offend anyone, but might have. ;-)
Linda Rodriguez Writes: Countdown to Malice Domestic 2012--Greg Lilly: This is my final post counting down to Malice Domestic 2012 in Bethesda, MD, April 27-29, and Greg Lilly is the last of my panelists for H...
March 9, 2012
Greg Lilly to appear at the 18th Annual Virginia Festival of the Book
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Williamsburg, VA • March 9, 2012) Greg Lilly, author of Scalping the Red Rocks – a Derek Mason Mystery , will
Lilly joins authors James Church, Corban Addison, Thomas Kaufman and Brad Parks for the "Murder, Murder Everywhere" panel on Crime Wave Saturday (March 24). The panel discusses how the combination of character and location create unique settings for mysteries.
Lilly's novels are acclaimed by critics for their sense of place and settings that act as characters in the stories. Drewey Wayne Gunn from Lambda Literary magazine praises Scalping the Red Rocks for its "vivid sense of place." Author Keith Pyeatt says the mystery "showcases Greg Lilly's mastery of characterization, setting, and suspense." AOL Travel listed the new novel as an Editor's Pick in Sedona (Arizona) Culture, alongside John Wayne's movie Angel and the Badman and the Glenn Ford western, the original 3:10 to Yuma, which were both filmed in the desert resort town. "For a good airplane read," AOL lists, "try Greg Lilly's Derek Mason Mystery, Scalping the Red Rocks. Lilly, a former Sedona resident, so thoroughly captures the town's personality and culture that a favorite game among the locals is guessing who the characters are based on."
The "Murder, Murder Everywhere" panel is a collection of mystery writers who will discuss using setting as a character and plotting device. The panel is free and open to the public – Saturday, March 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel, Ballroom A.
The Virginia Festival of the Book runs March 21 - 25 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Authors, illustrators, storytellers, and other publishing professionals from across the United States are participating this year, including
Jeffery Deaver (Carte Blanche),
Lee Smith (Mrs. Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger),
Charles Shields (And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life),
Edward Ayers (America on the Eve of the Civil War),
Kwame Alexander (Acoustic Rooster and his Barnyard Band),
Kathryn Erskine (Mockingbird),
Nikki Giovanni (Bicycles: Love Poems),
Sharyn McCrumb (The Ballad of Tom Dooley),
Nikky Finney (Head Off & Split),
Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes–Stories),
Barton Seaver (For Cod and Country),
Nick Galifianakis (If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute),
and many more.
The mission of the Virginia Festival of the Book is to bring together writers and readers and to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture. Full details on the entire five-day festival are available at vabook.org. More information on Greg Lilly and his novels can be found at www.GregLilly.com.
# # #
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Williamsburg, VA • March 9, 2012) Greg Lilly, author of Scalping the Red Rocks – a Derek Mason Mystery , will
Lilly joins authors James Church, Corban Addison, Thomas Kaufman and Brad Parks for the "Murder, Murder Everywhere" panel on Crime Wave Saturday (March 24). The panel discusses how the combination of character and location create unique settings for mysteries.
Lilly's novels are acclaimed by critics for their sense of place and settings that act as characters in the stories. Drewey Wayne Gunn from Lambda Literary magazine praises Scalping the Red Rocks for its "vivid sense of place." Author Keith Pyeatt says the mystery "showcases Greg Lilly's mastery of characterization, setting, and suspense." AOL Travel listed the new novel as an Editor's Pick in Sedona (Arizona) Culture, alongside John Wayne's movie Angel and the Badman and the Glenn Ford western, the original 3:10 to Yuma, which were both filmed in the desert resort town. "For a good airplane read," AOL lists, "try Greg Lilly's Derek Mason Mystery, Scalping the Red Rocks. Lilly, a former Sedona resident, so thoroughly captures the town's personality and culture that a favorite game among the locals is guessing who the characters are based on."
The "Murder, Murder Everywhere" panel is a collection of mystery writers who will discuss using setting as a character and plotting device. The panel is free and open to the public – Saturday, March 24 at 10:00 a.m. at the Charlottesville Omni Hotel, Ballroom A.
The Virginia Festival of the Book runs March 21 - 25 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Authors, illustrators, storytellers, and other publishing professionals from across the United States are participating this year, including
Jeffery Deaver (Carte Blanche),
Lee Smith (Mrs. Darcy and the Blue Eyed Stranger),
Charles Shields (And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life),
Edward Ayers (America on the Eve of the Civil War),
Kwame Alexander (Acoustic Rooster and his Barnyard Band),
Kathryn Erskine (Mockingbird),
Nikki Giovanni (Bicycles: Love Poems),
Sharyn McCrumb (The Ballad of Tom Dooley),
Nikky Finney (Head Off & Split),
Jill McCorkle (Going Away Shoes–Stories),
Barton Seaver (For Cod and Country),
Nick Galifianakis (If You Loved Me, You'd Think This Was Cute),
and many more.
The mission of the Virginia Festival of the Book is to bring together writers and readers and to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture. Full details on the entire five-day festival are available at vabook.org. More information on Greg Lilly and his novels can be found at www.GregLilly.com.
# # #
November 9, 2011
A brilliant flash of the obvious…
I've been struggling on the new book because it incorporates several different characters' points of view – different stories that converge, one storyline that comes from 400 years ago.
Last night as I read some research on the witch trials in Virginia from Colonial Williamsburg, I realized in a "brilliant flash of the obvious" [as my former boss, the VP of technology, used to say] that I didn't have to write the draft in the order that I want to eventually structure the story. Duh.
Working on the Anna storyline set in 1690s was difficult when I would then jump to present day and write scenes on her descendents. I've always been structured, logical, and synchronous. My other four books, I started with chapter one and wrote through until the end. The structure was linear. The process was linear. Once finished, this book will be linear, but with parallel storylines across time. I have increased respect for science fiction and fantasy writers who move around in time and place.
Scenes, chapters, POV segments are my components, my strategy. Once I have the building blocks, I can construct the story for next draft. Gee, it's freeing to allow yourself to do things in a different way.
August 8, 2011
A Novel Approach
I attended and presented at the Virginia Writers Club's "Navigating Your Writing Life" – A Symposium for Writers of All Ages & All Stage this past weekend. What an inspiring and informative day! All writers discussing the craft and art of writing…and the business.
Thriller writer and author of the new James Bond novel Jeffery Deaver presented the keynote. He talked about how he writes a novel a year, used to write two a year when he "was younger."
I've had some distractions and paid work that have kept me from the new novel. Jeff Deaver has convinced me incorporate his processes.
First, he said that writing is a BUSINESS. A writer needs to keep a product in front of his customers. This means I need to get my ass in the chair and write this novel.
His second rule was that since writing is a business, a writer needs a business plan. He used the example of mint toothpaste versus liver toothpaste. Know your readers and what they want to read and what you like to write. Pâté may be popular, but no one wants it as a toothpaste flavor.
Next comes the idea – an idea that "grabs the reader and drags him through the book to the last page." That's a page-turner.
Jeff Deaver spends eight months of his 12 month schedule working out a detailed outline of the structure and plots of the story. This is the time he tests and confirms that he has a great idea (not a liver-flavored toothpaste idea) and that the structure and plan are sound.
After this, he writers and re-writes the book.
And finally after the book is out, like all good business people, writers need to gather feedback. He doesn't rely too much on critics, but more on sales, reader e-mails, and fan comments at events.
Some of this I have done over the years, but the outlining is a tale of two camps in the writing world. Creatives usually rally against outlines because we recall the high school English teachers making us use Roman numerals and hierarchies of indention. Other writers, usually non-fiction writers, outline heavily and see it as the only way to finish a book that is worth reading.
I always tell my writing classes that I know where I want to start and where I want to end and then let the characters take me there.
Well, it ain't a-working this time.
I think I'm going to try outlining the structure of the new novel, not as extensively as Jeffery Deaver, but enough to know that I have a firm architecture in which my characters can live and interact.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Thriller writer and author of the new James Bond novel Jeffery Deaver presented the keynote. He talked about how he writes a novel a year, used to write two a year when he "was younger."
I've had some distractions and paid work that have kept me from the new novel. Jeff Deaver has convinced me incorporate his processes.
First, he said that writing is a BUSINESS. A writer needs to keep a product in front of his customers. This means I need to get my ass in the chair and write this novel.
His second rule was that since writing is a business, a writer needs a business plan. He used the example of mint toothpaste versus liver toothpaste. Know your readers and what they want to read and what you like to write. Pâté may be popular, but no one wants it as a toothpaste flavor.
Next comes the idea – an idea that "grabs the reader and drags him through the book to the last page." That's a page-turner.
Jeff Deaver spends eight months of his 12 month schedule working out a detailed outline of the structure and plots of the story. This is the time he tests and confirms that he has a great idea (not a liver-flavored toothpaste idea) and that the structure and plan are sound.
After this, he writers and re-writes the book.
And finally after the book is out, like all good business people, writers need to gather feedback. He doesn't rely too much on critics, but more on sales, reader e-mails, and fan comments at events.
Some of this I have done over the years, but the outlining is a tale of two camps in the writing world. Creatives usually rally against outlines because we recall the high school English teachers making us use Roman numerals and hierarchies of indention. Other writers, usually non-fiction writers, outline heavily and see it as the only way to finish a book that is worth reading.
I always tell my writing classes that I know where I want to start and where I want to end and then let the characters take me there.
Well, it ain't a-working this time.
I think I'm going to try outlining the structure of the new novel, not as extensively as Jeffery Deaver, but enough to know that I have a firm architecture in which my characters can live and interact.
I'll let you know how it goes.
May 16, 2011
Comma, comma, chameleon
On Twitter, I saw this post from APStylebook:
I had to learn these rules when I first started writing and editing for a magazine. You see, non-fiction writing tends to follow AP Style. Fiction writing follows The Chicago Manual of Style. I do both, so I'm always confused.
Chicago says the sentence structured would be: The flag is red, white, and blue.
As an editor, I just want consistency.
For some reason, I'm partial to using the comma in front of the and in a series – maybe as Lady GaGa says, I was born that way. Although, I think my elementary school English teachers must have taught that.
My suggestion is that fiction writers buy a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style for reference when in doubt about how to punctuate something. For magazine and newspaper writers, refer to the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook. Either way, watch those commas. Wars have been started with less passion.
We do not put a comma before the "and" in a simple series: The flag is red, white and blue.A follower had asked about the use of a comma in a series. There were plenty of comments, recommendations, and accusations (see I just broke the AP Style rule by putting that comma before the word and). Some posters were almost mean about the proclamation that the extra comma is not used. I think I read a thinly-veiled threat to the Associated Press Stylebook team – guys check your cars' brake cables before driving home today.
I had to learn these rules when I first started writing and editing for a magazine. You see, non-fiction writing tends to follow AP Style. Fiction writing follows The Chicago Manual of Style. I do both, so I'm always confused.
Chicago says the sentence structured would be: The flag is red, white, and blue.
As an editor, I just want consistency.
For some reason, I'm partial to using the comma in front of the and in a series – maybe as Lady GaGa says, I was born that way. Although, I think my elementary school English teachers must have taught that.
My suggestion is that fiction writers buy a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style for reference when in doubt about how to punctuate something. For magazine and newspaper writers, refer to the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook. Either way, watch those commas. Wars have been started with less passion.
March 2, 2011
e-Book Pricing
I've heard a lot of chatter on e-book pricing. I understand how some of it comes about. For example: I have a hard time spending money for a reader then shelling out trade paperback prices for a NYT bestseller from a NY mammoth publishing house. Lisa Unger for $11.99 Kindle edition? That just seems greedy.
A publisher can't drop the price of e-books too low because the cost of editing, graphic design, royalties, management and promotion are all still there. The only cost-savings is paper printing and distribution – but then the e-book seller/distributor replaces those with their own costs.
Because I can (I still control the electronic rights to all my books), I lowered the price of my four novels on the Kindle format, from $6.99 to $2.99 (the lowest price Amazon will allow me to use). This is an experiment to see if price really enters into the buying decision.
At that price, I would make a few cents per book. This scenario would be difficult for a publisher to get everyone who has a finger in the per book margin to agree to take pennies, so it can't happen in a for-profit company, but with me, sure – for a limited time experiment.
March is my birthday month. So, for a few days, I want to extend a price break to readers, and also, test the pricing model. Does a 58% reduction in price increase demand as our economics professors claimed? I'll let you know.
A publisher can't drop the price of e-books too low because the cost of editing, graphic design, royalties, management and promotion are all still there. The only cost-savings is paper printing and distribution – but then the e-book seller/distributor replaces those with their own costs.
Because I can (I still control the electronic rights to all my books), I lowered the price of my four novels on the Kindle format, from $6.99 to $2.99 (the lowest price Amazon will allow me to use). This is an experiment to see if price really enters into the buying decision.
At that price, I would make a few cents per book. This scenario would be difficult for a publisher to get everyone who has a finger in the per book margin to agree to take pennies, so it can't happen in a for-profit company, but with me, sure – for a limited time experiment.
March is my birthday month. So, for a few days, I want to extend a price break to readers, and also, test the pricing model. Does a 58% reduction in price increase demand as our economics professors claimed? I'll let you know.
December 6, 2010
Nurturing the Creative
I have several promotions lined up for
Scalping the Red Rocks
and the other books. On Monday, December 13, I'll be on a regional radio show during morning drive-time to discuss the new mystery. This is the same show I was on in November 2009 and discussed
Under a Copper Moon
. It's a fun thing to do. I'm always a bit nervous, but I try not to think of the people listening, but instead focus on the announcer in the booth.
With the radio interview, it's beneficial to schedule a book signing the following Saturday, mainly to give the listeners a call-to-action, a place they can go to buy the book. I have a book signing set at Twice Told Tales in Gloucester, Virginia on Saturday, December 18. That's the Saturday before Christmas. Throw in a trip to see my family in Bristol and getting back home for Christmas and a magazine deadline when I have four articles due and a fight with Intuit Customer Service in India and I'm getting overwhelmed.
What falls out in all these commitments? The new writing project.
In the radio interview, I was going to mention the new project because part of it is set in this part of Virginia, along with the Bristol area, and the Shenandoah area. Now that I consider it, this may be too early in the development to make a comment on radio, especially where answering questions is broadcast to a few people, maybe more than a few – no time to edit before it goes. I'm usually pretty good about editing things before they leave my mind, but being nervous, I say things that I wouldn't ordinarily say. Not that I have any great secret about the new book. Not that it's a subject I fear will be "stolen."
I heard a writer once say that inspiration and ideas need to be protected like a growing child until they can stand on their own and speak for themselves. Other people ("blocked creatives" as creativity guru Julia Cameron calls them) try to squelch the growth of new ideas and developing muses, to stop creativity from allowing a different world view, to inhibit forward momentum. So, this writer, he said not to discuss the new project too much at the beginning, give it time to mature.
Like an infant, this idea needs my attention, care, nurturing. Why is it always the one thing that gets pushed aside? Yes, I know. I'm the one setting the priorities and I think I've just worked out what to do: I'm going to go write.
With the radio interview, it's beneficial to schedule a book signing the following Saturday, mainly to give the listeners a call-to-action, a place they can go to buy the book. I have a book signing set at Twice Told Tales in Gloucester, Virginia on Saturday, December 18. That's the Saturday before Christmas. Throw in a trip to see my family in Bristol and getting back home for Christmas and a magazine deadline when I have four articles due and a fight with Intuit Customer Service in India and I'm getting overwhelmed.
What falls out in all these commitments? The new writing project.
In the radio interview, I was going to mention the new project because part of it is set in this part of Virginia, along with the Bristol area, and the Shenandoah area. Now that I consider it, this may be too early in the development to make a comment on radio, especially where answering questions is broadcast to a few people, maybe more than a few – no time to edit before it goes. I'm usually pretty good about editing things before they leave my mind, but being nervous, I say things that I wouldn't ordinarily say. Not that I have any great secret about the new book. Not that it's a subject I fear will be "stolen."
I heard a writer once say that inspiration and ideas need to be protected like a growing child until they can stand on their own and speak for themselves. Other people ("blocked creatives" as creativity guru Julia Cameron calls them) try to squelch the growth of new ideas and developing muses, to stop creativity from allowing a different world view, to inhibit forward momentum. So, this writer, he said not to discuss the new project too much at the beginning, give it time to mature.
Like an infant, this idea needs my attention, care, nurturing. Why is it always the one thing that gets pushed aside? Yes, I know. I'm the one setting the priorities and I think I've just worked out what to do: I'm going to go write.
July 12, 2010
eBooks on the “Down Low”
I’m finishing Elena Santangelo’s
Poison to Purge Melancholy
, which I bought at Malice Domestic this year. I’m enjoying the way she works poisons into the historical subplot and how readily available those poisons were in the 1700s. Even before I started reading it, I had heard a NPR radio interview with Deborah Blum on her new book about poisons and forensic science in New York City in the 1920s.
I’m not a CSI TV show watcher; in fact I don’t think I’ve watched a cop show since “Hill Street Blues.” Forensic science is fascinating. I’ve heard multiple opinions from the real technicians: Either they say the TV labs have more funds and equipment than real life could ever hope for, or they say they never get involved and only write up reports – not much drama there. So I think I avoid those CSI-type programs because I don’t want to write a mystery where the research comes from watching TV. That’s second-hand knowledge.
Back to the poisons. Now the public is gaga over forensics. I don’t know if Blum’s book would have been on NPR if it weren’t for the success of television shows like CSI. I listened to the interview as I drove and found her anecdotes fascinating. I went into the William & Mary Bookstore yesterday and bought The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum. It has bumped up on my reading list to follow Santangelo’s mystery, which is just a few chapters from the end.
The “Down Low” part of this tangential blog is how self-conscience I felt walking around town with a book titled The Poisoner’s Handbook (trying to be green, I declined the shopping bag for the one item). Sunday afternoon is a time for beer in Colonial Williamsburg. People tended to guard their drinks when I sat down near them and they saw the book’s title.
[I will clarify: Blum does not give poison recipes.]
I thought, maybe I should have bought the Kindle copy. That way, no one would know what I was reading.
That covert reading is a plus for eBooks. I will admit I have bought Kindle books that I probably wouldn’t have bought in paper form – mainly because of the cover or title. Some books look too much like romances (not that there is anything wrong with that), when they aren’t. Some aren’t as literary as you want your reading image to convey. Some covers are just too sexy to have complete strangers see you carry on the train or bus.
My first Derek Mason Mystery Fingering the Family Jewels is doing great Kindle sales. Yes, I know the title is a bit risqué for some people, and I wonder if that’s who is buying it in eBook format. Read the book, but don’t let mama know.
Where the Internet opened up a way to buy any book without awkwardness, now eBooks let you read any book, anywhere with complete subject/storyline anonymity.
Be it books on poison, romances, erotica, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, or books with risqué titles, now you can read on the down low. And that (as VP Biden likes to say) is a big f-ing deal.
Read what you want!
I’m not a CSI TV show watcher; in fact I don’t think I’ve watched a cop show since “Hill Street Blues.” Forensic science is fascinating. I’ve heard multiple opinions from the real technicians: Either they say the TV labs have more funds and equipment than real life could ever hope for, or they say they never get involved and only write up reports – not much drama there. So I think I avoid those CSI-type programs because I don’t want to write a mystery where the research comes from watching TV. That’s second-hand knowledge.
Back to the poisons. Now the public is gaga over forensics. I don’t know if Blum’s book would have been on NPR if it weren’t for the success of television shows like CSI. I listened to the interview as I drove and found her anecdotes fascinating. I went into the William & Mary Bookstore yesterday and bought The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum. It has bumped up on my reading list to follow Santangelo’s mystery, which is just a few chapters from the end.
The “Down Low” part of this tangential blog is how self-conscience I felt walking around town with a book titled The Poisoner’s Handbook (trying to be green, I declined the shopping bag for the one item). Sunday afternoon is a time for beer in Colonial Williamsburg. People tended to guard their drinks when I sat down near them and they saw the book’s title.
[I will clarify: Blum does not give poison recipes.]
I thought, maybe I should have bought the Kindle copy. That way, no one would know what I was reading.
That covert reading is a plus for eBooks. I will admit I have bought Kindle books that I probably wouldn’t have bought in paper form – mainly because of the cover or title. Some books look too much like romances (not that there is anything wrong with that), when they aren’t. Some aren’t as literary as you want your reading image to convey. Some covers are just too sexy to have complete strangers see you carry on the train or bus.
My first Derek Mason Mystery Fingering the Family Jewels is doing great Kindle sales. Yes, I know the title is a bit risqué for some people, and I wonder if that’s who is buying it in eBook format. Read the book, but don’t let mama know.
Where the Internet opened up a way to buy any book without awkwardness, now eBooks let you read any book, anywhere with complete subject/storyline anonymity.
Be it books on poison, romances, erotica, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, or books with risqué titles, now you can read on the down low. And that (as VP Biden likes to say) is a big f-ing deal.
Read what you want!
eBooks on the "Down Low"
I'm finishing Elena Santangelo's
Poison to Purge Melancholy
, which I bought at Malice Domestic this year. I'm enjoying the way she works poisons into the historical subplot and how readily available those poisons were in the 1700s. Even before I started reading it, I had heard a NPR radio interview with Deborah Blum on her new book about poisons and forensic science in New York City in the 1920s.
I'm not a CSI TV show watcher; in fact I don't think I've watched a cop show since "Hill Street Bl...
I'm not a CSI TV show watcher; in fact I don't think I've watched a cop show since "Hill Street Bl...
July 1, 2010
New Mystery Releases Today
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Mystery Skewers Tourist Town Personalities
(Williamsburg, VA • July 1, 2010) Cherokee McGhee Publishing announces the release of Greg Lilly's newest Derek Mason Mystery – Scalping the Red Rocks.
The novel is set in Sedona, Arizona, one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. Sedona is known for the breathtaking natural beauty of the red rocks; its vibrant arts community; the rich Native American, pioneer, and western movie culture; a variety of hiking...
