Mayra Calvani's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-craft"

On a cold winter night, wind howling into the desert sky, one ordinary hospital gave witness to a historic event. JJ Sherwood was born at 2:30 a.m. on December 31st, just barely managing to squeeze in to supplant New Year’s Eve. JJ has always had a flair for the dramatics.

Sherwood began writing in the womb after a harrowing incident in which Mother Sherwood swallowed a pen—and thus, destiny was born. JJ’s first work was completed by the age of 5: a riveting tale of a duck attempting to climb into an apartment during the pouring rain. Unfortunately this book is not in print, but it served as the first spark that spurred on a lifetime of creativity.

Much of JJ’s childhood was spent tearing through the woods, playing out fantasy worlds, and tying Barbie to the roof so that the Power Rangers might rescue her. Middle and high school carried on this roleplaying, while college encompassed creating and refining over 250 characters in the world of Aersadore.

After escaping college, finally armed with the tools of the trade and a lifetime of development, JJ set to writing what would become the Steps of Power series: it was then that Eraydon slew his first dragon, Jikun battled the warlord Saebellus, and Taranus rebelled against his brother’s throne.

When not orchestrating the lives and deaths of the people of Aersadore, JJ’s hobbies include drawing, video gaming, wearing a bathrobe, and eating too many baked potatoes. JJ Sherwood lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with one loving and extremely patient spouse, a bearded dragon, a monk parakeet, and four cats who look far too similar.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your book, Kings or Pawns. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: As with any intrigue/suspense, the less you know, the better. The story is about an elven nation riddled with corruption and balanced on the brink of all out war with enemy warlord Saebellus. I have always loved the fantasy genre but have been disappointed by the lacking number of fantasy books geared for adults. Having grown up on Dragonlance, I always hoped to find a series as large and complicated, full of strong characters, set in a rich world, well-written, engaging, and enthralling—but geared for adults. So that’s what I write now.

Q: What do you think makes a good fantasy? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Easy, actually: world-building, realism, and strong characters. I love the fantasy genre, and I believe those three things make or break fantasy.

World building is the scope, history, development, and strength of the world where all of the events and characters take place. Tolkien is a great example of a massive, fully developed history and world that allows readers to delve into a series and find themselves wonderfully lost within the depth of the world—and hungering for more.

Realism is the careful balance between fantasy and believability. In my case, I focus on realism to ensure non-fantasy readers can pick up and fall in love with the book. Even the magic systems—while retaining airs of fantasy— have a foundation of scientific understanding.

Strong characters is the last and possibly most important element—characters who rise above stereotypes and embed themselves into your memory… characters who drive and shape the story by their faults and strengths, heroics and mistakes. Characters whom you can fall in love with.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A:  I plotted my story from bullet-point to bullet-point, but as the characters fully drive and shape the story, elements very often shift away from my original plan as characters argue that they “would not have done something quite that way”—and that single shift causes a ripple effect throughout the entire story ’til the end.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: There are multiple points of view and multiple protagonists, but I’ll address General Jikun—as his visage is most seen in our series artwork. Jikun was always an arrogant, cynical individual—just since the moment I began thinking he shaped himself that way—and I find once I write the first sentence of a character’s existence, the rest just… materializes and carries forward as though he’s always been a complete and full individual. I have little control over how the characters “create themselves.”

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: Antagonists/villians have long since been some of my favorite individuals. I find that the most interesting and REAL characters are those that are not “good” or “evil” per se, but rather those characters who have “both traits.” Thus, my antagonist is simply an individual on one side of the coin, with admirable traits and flaws, making him an understandable, complicated, and interesting individual—and I prefer the same thought process with my “good” characters as well, including the aforementioned General Jikun.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: I wrote from several points of view and I focused on each point of view as being distinct and entertaining. For example, when writing from General Jikun’s point of view, I infuse a lot of dry humor, cynicism, and metaphors into the writing—readers know they are getting a skewed but unique view of events/characters/the world. Then the next point of view might be from the  mute servant girl, Alvena, who is spunky, bubbly, and very optimistic—a stark opposite to General Jikun and a new, fresh look at everything going on. Keeping such strong characters and contrasting points of views allows readers to always feel like they are getting varying perspectives of the world/events/characters. Then they can begin to form their own passions, theories, and opinions: which means the readers can invest in the world and truly feel a part of it.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: I have not read a lot of fantasy in years—and I consider this to be a strong suit. Instead, I focused on interesting studies in linguistics; Japanese; witchcraft, healing, & studies in secluded religions; forensics; astronomy; human anatomy; history; mythology; etc… This allowed me a unique, fresh take on the world not heavily influenced by other writers, but rather thoughts and ideas from cultures and humanity all over our world—and I’ve been developing it for nearly twenty years before the publication of the first novel. It has a history and life entirely its own.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: The themes of the novels often develop organically based on the strengths and flaws of the characters in the series. In The Kings part of the Steps of Power series, each book has several themes within and the four book series will have an over-arching theme based on the growth and change of the characters involved.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: Editing perhaps can, but not in my experience. My editor only helps the series grow stronger—driving points and characters home. There are times we will disagree on what I define as an “artistic” touch (particular wording in a sentence that is done for artistic purposes and not just the “straight forward” information it could be written as), but at the end of the day, the author has the final say.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Determination, hard-work, and natural creativity.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: It is absolutely true. I have to read my book several times just to keep track of the cycles of the moon, consistencies in linguistics, history, dates, etc… I find myself constantly “studying” my own world and having to take notes about it. I even have calendar books filled with events just pertaining to an individual novel!

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: Roleplaying. As strange and laughable it might sound to some people: roleplaying. Through roleplaying over the last (nearly) 20 years, I have developed the world, characters, and history of the world to a degree that many authors do not get to reach for years of writing novels and receiving feedback. By roleplaying online and in person with individuals all over the world, I can test history, characters, stories, etc… before they ever even make it into draft form. I can shape and change events for years before they ever touch the pages of a novel and yet not have to slow down the speed at which I write.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: I edit my novels about thirty times before they ever end up in your hands—most of those edits involve adding and shaping nuances that allow you to really fall in love with the characters and the world. It is my favorite part of the writing process.

A writer for over three decades, Rocco Lo Bosco has published poetry, short stories and two novels. His first novel, Buddha Wept (Greycore Press, 2003), about a spiritually gifted matriarch’s experience of the Cambodian genocide, received good reviews (e.g., Publishers Weekly) and much praise from readers, many of whom called it “life changing.”  His current novel, Ninety Nine, is published by LettersAt3amPress. Lo Bosco also has a nonfiction book in press with Routledge (2016), co-authored with Dr. Danielle Knafo, a practicing psychoanalyst, entitled Love Machines: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Age of Techno-perversion. He is currently working on his third novel, Midnight at the Red Flamingo. Additionally, he has edited papers in the fields of psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science and has also worked as a ghost writer.

Connect with Rocco on the Web:

www.roclobsoco.com / www.twitter.com/roclobosco / www.facebook.com/roclobosco

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Ninety Nine. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?  

A: Thank you. My book is about a poor and mixed––mine, yours and ours–– Italian-American family fighting desperately to survive in Brooklyn in the early 1960s. The story centers on the two (step) brothers living in a family threatened by psychological fragmentation from within, dangerous levels of poverty and two vicious loan sharks who will have no trouble killing the father if he doesn’t find a way to pay their boss. Meanwhile the two boys run with a small gang, The Decatur Street Angels, led by one of the brother’s cousins, a dark-minded genius who invents wild and daring exploits for the group that become progressively more dangerous during the summer of 1963. One of the brothers is involved in his first (and secret) love affair with an older woman while the other is losing his mind over the abandonment of his mother. The event streams of the book culminate at the novel’s end in a stunning and unexpected climax.

Michael Ventura, novelist, essayist and cultural critic said, “In Lo Bosco’s Ninety Nine you experience the vitality, brutality, faith, doom and grace of people whose only choice is to figure out how to take it. They endure situations from which there is no escape, surrounded by beliefs and attitudes from which there is no escape, and their nobility is that, in the midst of such a Brooklyn, they nevertheless know and value beauty and are exalted by wonder.” I think this properly captures the spirit of my book, and what I secretly intended in writing it.

The novel creatively draws on my early years growing up in Brooklyn, but its inspiration emerged from two very specific things: a dream and a book.  When I was five years old I had a dream that has stayed with me my entire life, a dream that in essence predicted the character and quest of my life.  The dream appears in the book, and it will become clear to the reader why that very dream inspired the novel.  The second inspirational element came from finding a book I was never supposed to see. When I was fourteen I found it in the bottom of a box that held my father’s war memorabilia—a large, government-issued volume about the Second World War. It contained far more pictures than text. I returned to this forbidden book repeatedly and viewed images that literally altered the trajectory of my life and shaped my particular interests in human endeavor. I knew I could not remain silent. Though I did not yet know that I would write, I knew that I would not want to pass through this life quietly, hunkered down in some existential bunker until the danger passed.  At fourteen I already knew the danger never passes. That forbidden book appears in Ninety Nine, but it was also part of the inspiration for Buddha Wept.

Q: What do you think makes a good novel? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

Well, it is not truly possible to narrow a good novel down to a formula of some kind. If it was possible to do so, a novel would not be . . . well, novel. In that there are certain areas of overlap that good novels share, I can say with some certainty that a good novel has interesting and complex characters facing interesting and difficult situations, and the whole of what they do and what happens makes for a damned good story. Additionally, the characters and their story may imbue the reader’s experiential perspective with renewed radiance and a degree of insight. It does no matter how bright or dark the novel is; a good novel deeply affects the reader in some way.

Now on the other side of the question, because language and human imagination suggest infinite capacity, any attempt to reduce the novel to some theory will ultimately fail. Literary theory is necessarily incomplete because human experience is infinite, as is the human imagination and the capacity of language. There can be great novels that do not meet conventional criteria. Finnegan’s Wake, for example, is considered by many to be a literary masterpiece. Also future technological developments will create new possibilities for stories. I’m thinking here of Charlie Booker’s television series, Black Mirror. I believe that the stories/scripts of these shows, which freely mix science and science fiction, have great literary merit. They’re like a 21st century version of the Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover the plot as you worked on the book?

I first saw and wrote scenes. Characters and situations based on memory and imagination began popping into my head.  A scene would begin as a kind “of picture poem” –– a snapshot of characters and situations that conveyed an intense emotion or insight. These “picture poems” seemed to constellate around the recollected dream (mentioned above), which provided the gravitas that drew them together.  As I collected more scenes, they began to suggest a linkage and a trajectory. As I sequenced and connected the individual scenes, the story began to form. At this point characters were bouncing around in my mind, telling me what they wanted to do within the story that was forming. I felt I was always a little behind while writing the book, kind of catching up to the story (and its characters) that was telling itself through me.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

Dante is a complicated character. He attempts to manage the chaos and violence of his life by using his intellect. He takes refuge in the laws of nature, trying somehow to reconcile them with his wild family life and his crazy life in the streets of Brooklyn. He wishes he could be brave and fearless like his stepbrother, but he thinks too much. What he doesn’t realize is how much he feels and how what he feels gives him a power of which he is not yet aware.

Dante emerged from the dance between my memory and imagination. It’s not like I developed him. It’s more like he was hidden within me, and I had to find him–– as were the other characters as well. Once I found them, they had a lot to say.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

There’s no one villain in my story. Everyone is a villain in some way, and some may be heroes as well. Memory provided the realism, imagination the radiance, and intellect the insight.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

Okay, keeping in mind that the experience of writing for me is more like a possession than something I plan out carefully from the beginning:

I kept foremost in my mind the art of showing as opposed to the craft of telling. I wanted to create a portal into another world—in this case the world of a family fighting to survive in Brooklyn during the early 1960s. I wanted the reader to experience this world through every sense. I kept my verbs sharp and my descriptions brief but packed with appeal to the five senses.  I read everything I wrote aloud to hear it and see if it transported me, if it felt real and strong, if it made music. I paid close attention to how I paced the story, making sure I always had the reader wondering what would happen next, utilizing scene cuts to gas the story and imbuing scenes with plenty of action and cliffhangers. I wrote the story so the suspense and tension keep building throughout until it all culminated in a denouement with multiple outcomes.

I paid attention to how I stacked long and short sentences. I kept my chapters short. I peppered the narrative with insights and unexpected brief assertions that quickened the pulse. I worked with great care around the dialogue. The dialogue is what brings the characters to life. They have to speak somewhere in between the way people really talk and how they would talk if they always said the brightest, sharpest, wittiest, or most interesting things. They have to speak so that the reader wants them to say even more than they do. They have to say unexpected things at times. Not because it’s cool for them to do that, but because they themselves carry a depth they are not consciously aware of. That depth in which so much is hidden is where they come from and where their story comes from as well.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

I went back to Brooklyn. I took lots of pictures. I walked the streets that I’d known so many years ago. I stopped in a bakery and got a lemon ice. I went home, got drunk and climbed into a hot bath and looked at the pictures until the water got cold. By then, I knew I had the setting.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start, or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

I think certain themes occur throughout my work, my thought and my life: the tragic nature of human existence, the unending desire to be loved and to love, love’s relationship to death, the limits of human knowledge and the search for certainty, the irrepressible urge for transcendence that wars with human limitation, and the incredible beauty to be found in all of this. I never concern myself with a theme when writing fiction. The “theme” will emerge from the story. I am foremost and obsessively concerned with writing a damned good story.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

I don’t think there is a clear divide between the two or even a truly satisfying definition for either. Both make their presence known in different ways. With the important caveat that they cannot be separated or even cleanly defined, I think we admire craft but are amazed by art. Craft is the technique, art the vision, though one cannot exist without the other. Craft is learned through study, discipline and endless repetition. Art comes onto the scene with defiant wings mounted on the body of craft. Art is the result an upsurge of one’s being that must manifest as a concrete demonstration. Its form is always tied to its culture, but its motive transcends culture.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

The three things that come to mind are: (1) the ability to write a distinctively good story with interesting characters that affects the reader in a meaningful way; (2) the ability to rework the story until it sings; (3) a relentless devotion to both.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

Who am I to argue with Lawrence Kasdan, whom I have followed since his debut as the writer and director of Body Heat, a neo-noir which I found perfectly diabolical. What a plot and what characters, especially Matty! (“You aren’t too bright. I like that in a man.”) Yet, I would concede to his statement only with the caveat that homework is also defined as something given to oneself rather than only by a teacher. And what is that homework? Read, read, read and write, write, write.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

I’ve relied almost wholly on books because I’m a cranky and stubborn loner. I shall name only a few that proved critical in my development as a writer and novelist.

Early inspiration was Beat Poetry along with other beat writing (e.g., Kerouac’s On The Road).
Writing The Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico.
Using Both Sides of Your Brain, by Tony Buzan. Get the latest edition.
1984, by George Orwell.
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov.
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, by Oscar Hijuelos.
Labyrinths, by Jorge Luis Borges.

A recent set of novels, among the best I’ve read, and that I strongly feel every aspiring writer should not only read—but deeply and repeatedly study—are the four Neapolitan Novels written by the brilliant Elena Ferrante and translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein. These books are treasures of story, insight and writing genius.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

Learn to tolerate the terror evoked by the blank page, and learn to love enduring bouts of solitude.

 

 

 

 

Christine is the award-winning author of the Cassie Scot series, the story of the only ungifted scion of a family of powerful sorcerers. Her latest novel, Kaitlin's Tale, follows the trials of Cassie's best friend as she falls in love with Cassie's arch-nemesis. Christine's other titles include The Immortality Virus, Touch of Fate, and Madison's Song.

When she isn't writing, Christine is often editing or coaching other authors. In recent years, freelance editing has become almost as great a passion as writing itself. Plus, it supports her writing habit. Christine is a wife, a mom, and a foster mom. She lives in Olathe, Kansas, just outside Kansas City.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Kaitlin's Tale. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?  

A: Kaitlin's Tale tells the story of an unlikely couple – a telepathic mind mage and a woman immune to mind magic. The inspiration for this tale is far, far from the work of a moment. Kaitlin came to me six years ago as I wrote Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, the first of a four-book urban fantasy series about the only ungifted scion of a family of powerful sorcerers. At the time, she was the sidekick, never meant to have a story of her own, but she soon grew too big to be a footnote in someone else's story. Matthew, meanwhile, came to me in Mind Games, book 3 of the Cassie Scot series, as the villain of the piece. I don't like two-dimensional villains, and the more I learned about why he did what he did to Cassie, the more I realized that he would make someone very happy – just not Cassie.

Q: What do you think makes a good urban fantasy/paranormal romance? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Characters. Characters. Characters.

Look, the world building for most urban fantasy and paranormal romance is stock. I appreciate clever twists on the old tropes, fresh angles, and a few surprises, but a world isn't going to win me over.

My favorite urban fantasies and paranormal romances pop because of character. It's a certain tone and voice, an attitude and outlook on life. It works best when the author puts a little piece of him or herself into the book.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I outline, write, reoutline, rewrite, reoutline, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite … Actually, for this particular book I went through more drafts than usual. It's a complex story, with three main plots that intertwine, and getting the timing right, especially on the romance, was tricky. Luckily, I'm a firm believer in “Great books aren't written, they are rewritten.”

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Kaitlin reads a ton of romance, but she doesn't identify well with the heroine of the stories. She more easily identifies with the woman who “knows the score” and is cast aside in favor of the true heroine. There's a world of hurt in Kaitlin's past, hurt she wouldn't even tell her best friend about. I had trouble getting it out of her! (And yes, I did interviews and first person journals.) Matthew, who can read her mind, is really a great fit for her.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: There are several antagonists in this piece, including Alexander DuPris, the would-be leader of the magical world. It's important to know that he has good intentions. Most of my heroes have good intentions. It's just that the road to hell and all …

Other villains of the piece include Xavier and Jason, the vampires hunting down Kaitlin. They were tougher to get to know because I don't do sparkly vampires. Or even misunderstood humans. Mine are alien, with alien motives. But this wasn't enough to drive a story, so I had to chip away at their motivations until I found something relatable. In the end, I created a conflict between Xavier and Jason to help make their desires more understandable (by contrast to one another).

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: I try to keep my characters on their toes throughout the book! I'm not a formulaic plotter, but when I outline a book, I do split it into quarters and make sure there is a major plot point near the end of each quarter. For example, in Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, there is a major family fight at the first quarter, a vampire attack at the second (also the midpoint), a family blowout at the third quarter, and I'll leave the climax in suspense. Since I always have main plots and important subplots, such as a mystery, a romance, and family tension, it keeps me busy. Even outside the quarter points (which I only use as a general guideline) there is always something to do. Each chapter has to accomplish something. Each scene.

I have been told that my books cause insomnia. I think that means I'm doing okay. :)

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: Relevance. It's my sonic screwdriver; I use it for just about everything. Setting comes to life when it matters to the people interacting with it and at no other time. Which isn't to say that you should stick to the bare bones because the flipside of this is that when it matters, color it in! During one scene in Kaitlin's Tale I had Kaitlin go to a magical nightclub with a friend. The place was crazy when she walked in! I know she couldn't relate all of it to the reader, but I let her eyes drift around the room and I had fun with it … people dancing on air, a drunk man stumbling through another and starting a bar fight, some techno-mages messing with the laser lights for the fun of it … just a bit of this and that.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: There is a recurring theme in my Cassie Scot novels and the spin-offs: Love yourself. I knew this theme going in, because it is as important to Kaitlin as it is to her friends. Maybe more so. There did end up being another theme in the book that I recognized partway through: Don't judge a book by its cover. Matthew, in particular, was misunderstood when he first appeared in the series. There's more to him.

 

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: The answer to this question depends entirely on which stage of the creative process the author is in. There are four:

Unconscious incompetence – in which you aren't very good and don't even know it.
Conscious incompetence – in which you aren't very good, but are coming to realize this fact and begin to work to improve.
Conscious competence – in which you have begun to become a good writer, with a great deal of thought and work involved at every step in the process.
Unconscious competence – in which your ability to write flows as naturally as breathing and you no longer have to think so hard about everything you do.

Let's disregard stages one and two as part of the creative awakening process. You're not really publishable until stage three, at which point over-editing definitely takes a toll on the sparkle of the original work.

But once you reach stage four, I think art and craft are inseparable. At this point, revision is rarely about scrutinizing your word choice anyway, and fresh revisions tend to improve the underlying plot.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Ego, humility, and insanity. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I don't agree. My homework was never this fun.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: Yes. And as the Internet is always changing, so too have the sites. But check out Savvy Authors. And The Elements of Fiction Series (except the one on dialog).

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Only write because you love it. No, you won't love it every second of every day, but you should love the process and take personal pride in the results. If you're in it for fame or fortune, you're in for a serious disappointment.

Title: Kaitlin’s Tale

Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal romance

Author: Christine Amsden

Website: http://www.christineamsden.com

Publisher: Twilight Times Books

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcNgx7SoWy8&feature=youtu.be

Amazon / OmniLit

About the Book:

Kaitlin Mayer is on the run from the father of her baby – a vampire who wants her to join him in deadly eternity. Terrified for her young son, she seeks sanctuary from the hunters guild. But they have their own plans for her son, and her hopes of safety are soon shattered.

When she runs into Matthew Blair, an old nemesis with an agenda of his own, she dares to hope for a new escape. But Matthew is a telepath, and Kaitlin’s past is full of dark secrets she never intended to reveal.

Gabriel Valjan is the author of the Roma Series from Winter Goose Publishing. Also the author of numerous essays and short stories that continue to appear online and in print, Gabriel lives in Boston’s historic South End, where he enjoys the local restaurants. His two cats, Squeak and Squawk, tolerate the occasional empty food dish and his traitorous fondness for dogs.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Corporate Citizen: Roma Series Book Five. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Corporate Citizen has Bianca returning to Boston. She was last in Boston in Wasp’s Nest (Book 2). She’s here now to help the cantankerous Clemente, who has enticed her with a cryptic reference to her past employer, the covert agency named Rendition. While in town, Bianca will confront her past through a new member to the team, a former soldier with PTSD. Readers will learn more about her past, what makes her ticks; this installment will present major revelations Book Five turns the corner into new territory.

I wrote Corporate because I had watched the banking crises with interest (no pun intended). After I had written the novel, I watched the movies The Big Short and Spotlight, and felt a weird sense of discomfort. In books three and four, Threading The Needle and Turning To Stone, I had visited the ideas of financial and institutional terrorism, but after viewing those two films, I felt I had captured and conveyed the magnitude of cynicism (The Big Short) and corruption (Spotlight) in Corporate Citizen, although my characters fight the good fight. A day doesn’t pass without news about the deeds or misdeeds of a corporate conglomerate. This disquieting news plays as background noise in our lives.

I introduce a new character, a veteran who is both dangerous and compassionate. Nick was modeled (loosely) on a deceased family member. When I was a kid, he wouldn’t talk explicitly about combat but he did mention that he and other selected infantry soldiers had been given large doses of Dexedrine, an amphetamine, and, on one occasion, LSD. He would die at the age of forty as a result of exposure to Agent Orange.

Q: What do you think makes a good mystery-suspense? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Ambiguity. Pace. Tension. A good mystery-suspense is like a kettle on the flame; you know that the water is heated and at some point you will hear the water roil and then see whispers of steam before the kettle screams. A writer is responsible for how much water is in the pot and the degree to which the flame is pitched. The water will boil, the whistle will blow -- suspense and tension. Is there a potholder nearby? An enjoyable mystery-suspense book is one that gives you an unexpected ending such that when you think about it, you see all the pieces had been there and had come together.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: With Corporate, I knew where I was going with the story. I knew what I wanted to achieve and how I was going to go about it. Corporate Citizen is a game-changer in many ways. Writing it, the intention was a calculated risk, but I don’t believe in a formulaic approach. Life has its changes. New challenges are necessary for my characters to grow. With change, there is discomfort, catharsis, and renewal.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A:  Bianca is an amalgam of people I’ve known. I once knew a notorious hacker. Another friend of mine, now deceased, was beyond brilliant, with a 200 IQ, but unable to interact with people. You could tell when you dealt with him that he was thinking about things on another plane and that he struggled to put it all into words. Bianca is a combination of these two individuals, and there is an element of my younger self. I was cold and very Spock-like when I was younger. It was a defense mechanism. I’ve mellowed some. I don’t do character sketches, but it isn’t difficult for me to access the people I’ve known and anticipate what they would say and do in certain situations.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: I think pure Evil is rare. Human beings have a primitive instinct, a survival impulse to avoid such people. It’s more realistic that a person is flawed, that they have a genuine impulse to do good, but the end-results are problematic. History is littered with individuals who are one nation’s hero and another’s nightmare. I aim for ambiguity. Here, the title matters. Is a soldier, who has killed for his country, a bad person? Objectively, he has taken lives. Is the politician, who has ordered an assassination to maintain hegemony and political stability, evil? Readers of the Series know that Rendition had started with the best of intentions. In Corporate Citizen, there are two new characters: I let the readers decide whether they are villains.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: Writing a novel is like the race between the tortoise and the hare. First, I think you have to a clear and fast glimpse of the finish line. What does each character want? What is the price (assumed and real) of what they want? What will they have by the last page? If you have rough answers to these questions and you know your characters well enough that they speak to you inside your head then write it all down. That is the slow part of the process. You could vary the pace, like a director with a camera, with a cutaway to another scene, to another character, but end your chapter with a question or a revelation that is picked up later. The more you write, the more you read, the better you will get at knowing what to do, when to do it, and the more likely you’ll have a sense of how to do it. I know that sounds vague, but the more you read other authors, the more you become aware of the tricks of the trade. This is why reading widely across genres helps. There is also some excellent writing for serial television, such as Breaking Bad. Enjoy it first and then make a case study of it so you teach yourself how the writer(s) did it. Jane Austen almost never describes what her characters look like and yet she writes dialogue, often in close combat, that has withstood the test of time. What you teach yourself, the knowledge you acquire, is on your terms, in your own language, and what you know, you’ll never forget.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: It helps that I’ve lived or traveled to the places that I use in the Roma Series. However, special precautions are necessary when a writer uses a foreign locale. I wrote an article for Writer Unboxed about avoiding stereotypes. When I think the story is as good it’ll be, I’ll send it to my Italian friend in Milan, Claudio Ferrara, who is also a talented writer and translator. He does what I call ‘cultural editing.’ Simply put, there is a point where, despite all of my research and empathy, a native speaker helps with authenticity – whether it’s an Italian word, or a detail about a place. A foreigner often sees touristy things but a native will point those things that are the heart of the city and culture. Let me give you an example. I live in Boston, the city that sparked the American Revolution. There are so many touchstones to the historical past: the Freedom Trail, the Old Meeting House, and the Boston Tea Party, but I’ll point to one curious memorial. On School Street, where there used to be a Borders bookstore, there is a plaque commemorating the site of the first Catholic Church building in Boston and the city’s first public Mass in 1788. The Puritans settled New England in 1620.  Think about that gap in time and its implications for religious tolerance. It’s all a matter of perspective and insider knowledge.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme recurrent in your other work?

A: The recurring themes throughout all of the Roma Series books are friendship and loyalty among friends while they negotiate dangerous situations. I know from the start where the story will take place, and which aspect of organized crime I will present to the reader. Where I strive to be distinctive in crime fiction is in how I show that organized crime is more than just some thug like Tony Soprano, though they do exist. Organized crime in Italy is the vampire that feeds off superstition and fears, but yet has morphed, paradoxically, into a very modern, sophisticated and multinational corporation.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: A writer’s skill is craft, but the art of it all is a collaboration of invisible hands. Editing and revision is where there is Art. My friend Dean Hunt copy-edits my writing and has proofread my novels. Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist and a doctoral student in American literature, remarked that “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s spelling [was] so awful sometimes I think if he had auto-spell Gatsby would not have died.” Not comparing myself to the wonderful Fitzgerald or Rindell, but writers need guard rails. Line editing requires an attentive ear and knowing the writer. Dave King has helped me in this regard. He also has helped me with structural editing for the plot’s arc. I have readers who spot-check for continuity. I’ve already discussed Claudio’s work with me as my cultural editor. When my novel visits James’s desk at Winter Goose, I hope that it is as clean as possible, and yet he’ll find nits and wrinkles. The point to all this is that a book in hand – what we call Art -- is the product of many different talents and minds at work.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Item #1 is a quote from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

Stupid people surround themselves with smart people. Smart people surround themselves with smart people who disagree with them.

In a word, you rise to the occasion because smarter people, those who’ll call you on it, make you a better writer and person.

Item #2: The ability to create characters who want something, and an obstacle in the way of fulfilling that desire. The character should start somewhere and arrive somewhere else.

Item #3: The writer should be invisible to the story. The story should reveal itself without any authorial intrusion, which means no verbal pyrotechnics, no showing off what they know, or forced jokes or gratuitous violence. Whatever happens in the story should be organic and logical to the initial premise and appropriate to the personalities.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I agree. Writers are sensitive to language and the ‘homework’ is studying other writers. For example, I have little interest in rap music, but I admire and appreciated what Lin-Manuel Miranda did in his musical Hamilton. He used contemporary music to teach history, tell a story, a tragic one. I had read and enjoyed Chenow’s Hamilton, but the musical Hamilton brought the historical person of Alexander Hamilton, a brilliant and at times monumentally insecure man to life in my imagination.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I consult Dave King and Rennie Browne’s Self-Editing for Fiction Writers and visit Writer Unboxed online, along with Kristen Lamb’s blog. While I respect advice, exercises, and strategies, I think you’re best left to figure it out on your own, using your imagination and learning lessons from reading for decades.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Do it. Write. Put your butt in the chair and hands on the keyboard and see what comes through the fingertips. Readers want a story that entertains them, moves them, and changes their way of looking at the world. Trust your imagination, draft and revise it. Have fun and write that story.

George A. Bernstein is the retired President of a Chicago appliance manufacturing company, now living in south Florida. Able to retire early and looking for something to do besides play golf, he leaned on a life-time flair for storytelling and turned to writing novels. He spent years attending writing seminars and conferences, learning to polish his work and developing a strong “voice.” Bernstein is acclaimed by his peers as a superb wordsmith.

His first novel, Trapped, was a winner in a small Indie publisher’s “Next Great American Novel” contest, and received high praise, gaining many mostly 5-star reviews at Amazon (reaching their “Top 100”) and Goodreads. His 2nd novel, A 3rd Time to Die (A paranormal Romantic Suspense) has also garnered mostly 5-Star & 4-Star reviews, with one reader likening him to the best, less “spooky” works of Dean Koontz & Stephen King.

The Prom Dress Killer is the third of his Detective Al Warner Suspense series, with the first, DEATH’S ANGEL, and the second, BORN TO DIE, already garnering rave reviews. Bernstein has the next Warner novel already in the works, to be published in 2017. Readers have likened Bernstein’s Detective Al Warner to Patterson’s Alex Cross.

Bernstein works with professional editors to ensure his novels meets his own rigorous standards, and all of his books are currently published by small indie press, GnD Publishing LLC, in which he has an interest.

Bernstein is also a “World-class” fly-fisherman, setting a baker’s dozen IGFA World Records, mostly on fly-rods, and has published Toothy Critters Love Flies, the complete book on fly-fishing for pike & musky.

Connect with Berstein on the web:

http://suspenseguy.com

http://amazon.com/author/georgeabernstein

http://facebook.com/georgeabernstein

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, The Prom Dress Killer. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: The Prom Dress Killer begins with a psychotic serial-killer abducting young auburn-haired woman, and eventually killing them, leaving their bodies in peaceful repose, donned in fancy prom dresses.

Miami’s crack homicide detective, Al Warner, is on the case, but has no inkling as to why these girls were taken and then executed? What was their connection besides their red hair, and why the prom dresses?

Warner’s hunt for this clever psycho is stymied by a lack of clues, as bodies begin to pile up. As he desperately searches for the latest victim, the murderer finally makes one tiny error, possibly exposing his location.

As Warner and the FBI doggedly zero in on their fleeing prey and his newest captive, the action escalates. Unlikely players are drawn into a tense, deadly game. As the stunning climax plays out, Warner is trapped in a classic Catch-22. In order to snare this lethal psycho, he must make a decision that may haunt him forever.

I wrote this novel as a natural progression for my Detective Al Warner series. This is the 3rd, and I’m well into the 4th, with at least 2 others outlined.

Q: What do you think makes a good suspense novel? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Suspense, thriller and mystery often get lumped together. For me, it’s first about who the characters are; secondly, a deadly terror threatens them, putting them in fear for their lives; and third, an action-packed climax, with a surprise the readers doesn’t expect. A mystery is more about solving a crime, while a suspense is about extreme jeopardy.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: When I begin a novel, after conceiving the overall plot, I imaging my main characters, and use 4 x 6 cards to detail their physical and psychological make-up. I list their cars, their homes, their pets – anything I may need later. It’s important to keep all their data straight.

Next I outline the novel, chapter by chapter, with only a few sentences for each as a guideline. This is very flexible, as once I begin writing, the characters inevitably take over the action, often leading me to places I never expected. And they evolve into more complicated, more deadly (in the case of the antagonist), more loveable people.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: I wanted Detective Al Warner to be human, not a super hero, despite being labeled “The Hero of Miami” because of his killing a previous serial-killer, while almost dying himself from a gunshot wound. He’s a tough, street-wise homicide cop with great instincts, but has a softer side. He takes the death of ever victim very personally, and has an unshakeable morality. He’s the kind of guy who rescues a wounded golden retriever and brings the newspaper to the door of his elderly neighbor to save her the steps. He never expects to find love, but when he does, with surprising partners, he’s a tender and expert lover. On the other hand, he has no qualms over killing a vicious psycho. He would rather see him dead than in custody, but he fights that urge, trying to apprehend rather than kill. Readers tell me the love his character.

I’ve done some character interviews for Warner, but they’ve all been after the novels have been published.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: He just comes to me. His physical characters just “pop out” of my mind. As I mentioned earlier, he really creates who he is, psychologically, as the story develops. A lot of that comes to me at night, while awaiting sleep. Suddenly, I see him doing things I hadn’t imagined earlier … always worse things, at that. My critique group love how “creepy” (their words) he’s become.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: At a writers’ seminar, they asked, “What’s the worst thing that can happen to your protagonist?” When we came up with an answer, they asked, “What can be worse than that?” And then later, “Even worse than that?” In a suspense or thriller, you have to make bad things happen to your characters … even sometimes, the villain … and things have to go downhill from there. A scene of trauma or danger can’t be over in a half page. It should be even chapters long, and while your readers know everything will end up well, you’ll have them on the edge of their seat … and sometimes you’ll make them wrong. That’s what readers say about my novels: they never know what’s going to go wrong next.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: I find that many writers err on both sides of what’s right here. Some are so into the story they forget to tell the reader what the characters look line, where they are, and don’t describe the setting. Others bury the reader in mountains of description that takes them right out of the story.

I like to feed descriptive information in a bit at a time rather than do it all in a “dump.” A quick mention of a silk Armani suit. That he smoothes his sparse moustache; she ran her fingers through her wavy auburn locks. The shriek of circling sea gulls; Smells of oregano and garlic; The sense of feel – the moist, salt-laden breeze wafting with a gentle caress. Small, quick things that set a scene without overburdening the reader. Smell is one of the senses many author forget to use, and it can be an important memory trigger in the novel.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: I had an idea I liked: Scheherazade. I know that sounds strange, but I love the stories and concept of A Thousand and One Nights. I thought of writing a current day novel where a desperate woman uses her story-telling ability to delay and entertain a killer until she can be rescued. Rochelle Weitz becomes that woman in Prom Dress Killer.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: I’m not sure. I was always an “artful storyteller,” But after attending a plethora of writing classes at conferences, I blended that with skillful craft. Some of the simpler things were to keep it short: sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. How to build tension is craft. How WELL you build that tension is art. How beautifully you write scenes may be art, but how you blend it together for a seamless story is craft.

Where many new authors fail is that they may have the art, but lack the craft to make it compelling. Those are things I learned at the many conferences and seminars I attended.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: First, the love of writing. We do it because we’re impelled to tell a story. Secondly, the imagination to conceive of people, places, and things to make a great story. And last, but far from least, the willingness to accept expert constructive criticism from editors and agents, and be willing to make changes to improve your work.

After Trapped was selected as “The Next Great American Novel,” my editor there made many great suggestions on how to improve it, including turning the whole novel into First Person POV of the protagonist, Jackee. That required a lot of rewriting, but made for a much more powerful narrative.

On the other hand, she also asked me to change the ending, but I refused – and argued my case successfully with the editor. One of the most common comments I get on that novel is, “I loved the ending.” So you have to be open to change, but also be willing to stand up for what you feel is right.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: Nope. Homework was a drag. I rarely needed it to excel, even for the toughest math classes. But writing is a joy, so I find them nothing alike.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: The library, of course, but mainly Google. Surgeons asked if I were a doctor because I got the medical details of Locked-in Syndrome so perfectly for Trapped, but it was all there on Google. And I was able to download a 30 page symposium from the BAU division of the FBI, regarding serial killers, and I’ve used that in two of my Warner novels.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: For many new novelists, writing is an avocation, hoping to become a vocation, but for all but a very slim few, there’s not a lot of money in it. Do it because you love it and because there’s a story there fighting to get out. Don’t chase trends, because by the time you finish your work, that fad will have burned out. In other words, write what you feel you MUST, not what you SHOULD. Your outcome will be better for it.

 

 

 

 

Marty Ambrose has been a writer most of her life, consumed with the world of literature whether teaching English at Florida Southwestern State College or creating her own fiction.  Her writing career has spanned almost fifteen years, with eight published novels for Avalon Books, Kensington Books, Thomas & Mercer—and, now, Severn House.

Two years ago, Marty had the opportunity to apply for a grant that took her to Geneva and Florence to research a new creative direction that builds on her interest in the Romantic poets:  historical fiction.  Her new book, Claire’s Last Secret, combines memoir and mystery in a genre-bending narrative of the Byron/Shelley “haunted summer,” with Claire Clairmont, as the protagonist/sleuth—the “almost famous” member of the group.  The novel spans two eras played out against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Italy and is the first of a trilogy.

Marty lives on an island in Southwest Florida with her husband, former news-anchor, Jim McLaughlin.  They are planning a three-week trip to Italy this fall to attend a book festival and research the second book, A Shadowed Fate.  Luckily, Jim is fluent in Italian and shares her love of history and literature.  Their German shepherd, Mango, has to stay home.

INTERVIEW:

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Claire’s Last Secret. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A:  This historical fiction is a new twist on a famous event (the “haunted summer” of 1816 when the Bryon/Shelley circle lived in Geneva and Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, was conceived).  I have always been interested in the “unknown voice” of women in historical fiction.  We see so many great literary figures through the lens of history and fame, but their contemporaries often saw them very differently.  When I wrote Claire’s Last Secret, I chose to narrate it from the perspective of Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont.  She outlived the other members of the group by many decades and had the perspective of age and experience when she later recalled the events of her youth.  I found her an incredibly intriguing person in her own right and was inspired to write the book because I felt like her “voice” hadn’t been heard yet.



Q: What do you think makes a good historical fiction? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A:  First of all, I think my book is a little difficult to narrow because it’s a bit of a genre-bending novel—partly memoir, partly historical fiction, partly women’s fiction.  I wanted to bring in all of these elements.  But if I had to narrow it, I would say it’s historical fiction.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I had most of the plot in my head before I started, but I always write the first hundred pages, then go back, revise, and re-work the plot.  This process gives me both structure and creative freedom when I write.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A:  My protagonist is Claire Clairmont, Mary Shelley’s step-sister.  What I find interesting about her is that we see her at two stages in her life: when she’s seventeen during the summer of 1816 and when she’s 75, living in Florence, Italy, during 1873 as a somewhat impoverished ex-patriot.  This was quite a challenge for me as a writer because her “young” voice is very different from her “mature” voice; she’s an older and wiser woman in much of the book, but still so influenced by what happened to her in her younger days.  I’ve always been keenly interested in the Byron/Shelley circle, but I had to complete a lot more research on Claire.  She was a remarkable but rather elusive person to develop as a character.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A:  I have an antagonist and a villain; the former was part of the Byron/Shelley circle—John Polidori who wrote The Vampire.  Without giving away too much, he appears to be the villain for much of the novel but, in fact, the villain is a fictional character whom I added to Claire’s life.  Again, I did quite a bit of research on Polidori, including a study of his journal and novel.  It was quite a challenge to “tweak” these real-life characters in a work of fiction!

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A:  I decided to use a dual narrative structure in this novel (Claire at two stages in her life), but the narrative threads connect to each other.  The mystery of one time can be solved only in another time, which I hope keeps the reader moving along.  One practical tip:  I always end each chapter with some unresolved tension that keeps the reader flipping the pages; it could be an appearance of a new character, a sudden realization, or some sense of danger.  Don’t “tidy-up” chapters or finish the narrative thread until the actual end of the story!

Q: Setting is also quite important and, in many cases, it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A:  I adore setting, but I struggle with descriptive language, so I know I always have to work on this aspect.  In Claire’s Last Secret, the settings are Geneva in 1816 and Florence in 1873.  I had to visit (such a trial!) both of these magnificent cities, and scout out specific places that would serve as backdrop for my novel.  For example, Byron and Shelley sailed around Lake Geneva in 1816 and stopped at Castle Chillon, which is woven into a scene in my book, with an added fictional element.  I visited the site and was able to (hopefully) make it come alive in terms of sensory descriptions.  I think the little details make it come to life, such as the sound of waves lapping against the walls at Chillon, the dampness of the dungeon, and the expansiveness of the courtyard.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: I knew the theme would be about the interconnectedness of life and how one person can risk everything for the truth.  I’ve never really covered these themes before, but they have been on my mind for some time as I’ve reflected on how our world seems to be unfolding and how we have to cultivate our own personal bravery.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A:  I think craft and art are intermingled in writing.  As I write, I need to be in the creative flow, but I must also be ruthless in editing my own work.  As T.S. Eliot said, “There is no good writing, only good revision.”  I truly believe that.  I just wait to be ruthless on my own writing until I have a hundred pages on paper.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A:  First of all, a writer has to simply write.  I often hear people say that they would love to write a book, but they never seem to get started.  You just have to sit down and work at the keyboard!  Secondly, a writer has to understand that publishing is a business.  You must use every tool that you would use as an employee in a contemporary workplace:  Be professional, disciplined, and digitally-savvy.  Those qualities will always reflect positively on you as a writer.  Lastly, you must learn to accept criticism from editors, critics, and readers.  You work in a creative field and it has a strong subjective element.  More specifically, some people will like your work, others not so much.  It’s okay if you’re writing what you love!

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. Thoughts?

A: This is so true.  As a write, you are always researching, writing, or editing.  It never stops—just like when you were in school.  You have to love it.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A:  My advice that I give to new writers is to attend conferences that cover the type of writing that you want to do.  I always learn something new, and I have met some amazing people who later became friends and/or part of my publishing journey.  I attend Sleuthfest every year, and I’m a member of several organizations, such as The Historical Novel Society and Novelists’ Inc., that provide such helpful resources.  Attend every workshop that you can!

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Enjoy the magic!  You need to learn about the craft to structure a chapter or develop a character, but then you must write the book that comes from deep inside.  It’s your story and your dream.  Let that part of you as a writer shine through.  And keep writing!

ROSEMARY AND LARRY MILD, cheerful partners in crime, coauthor mystery, suspense, and fantasy fiction. Their popular Hawaii novels, Cry Ohana and its sequel Honolulu Heat, vibrate with island color, local customs, and exquisite scenery. Also by the Milds: The Paco and Molly Murder Mysteries: Locks and Cream Cheese, Hot Grudge Sunday, and Boston Scream Pie. And the Dan and Rivka Sherman Mysteries: Death Goes Postal, Death Takes A Mistress, and Death Steals A Holy Book. Plus Unto the Third Generation, A Novella of the Future, and three collections of wickedly entertaining mystery stories—Murder, Fantasy, and Weird Tales; The Misadventures of Slim O. Wittz, Soft-Boiled Detective; and Copper and Goldie, 13 Tails of Mystery and Suspense in Hawai‘i. 

ROSEMARY, a graduate of Smith College and former assistant editor of Harper’s, also delves into her own nonfiction life. She published two memoirs: Love! Laugh! Panic! Life With My Mother and the acclaimed Miriam’s World—and Mine, for the beloved daughter they lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. On her lighter side, Rosemary also writes award-winning humorous essays, such as failing the test to get on Jeopardy; and working for a giant free-spending corporation on a sudden budget: “No new pencil unless you turn in the old stub.”

LARRY, who was only called Lawrence when he’d done something wrong, graduated from American University in Information Systems Management. In 2019 he published his autobiography, No Place To Be But Here: My Life and Times, which traces his thirty-eight-year professional engineering career from its beginning as an electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, to a field engineer riding Navy ships, to a digital systems/instrument designer for major Government contractors in the signal analysis field, to where he rose to the most senior level of principal engineer when he retired in 1993.

Making use of his past creativity and problem-solving abilities, Larry naturally drifted into the realm of mystery writing, where he also claims to be more devious than his partner in crime and best love, Rosemary. So he conjures up their plots and writes the first drafts, leaving Rosemary to breathe life into their characters and sizzle into their scenes. A perfect marriage of their talents.

THE MILDS are active members of Sisters in Crime where Larry is a Mister in Crime; Mystery Writers of America; and Hawaii Fiction Writers. In 2013 they waved goodbye to Severna Park, Maryland and moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they cherish quality time with their daughters and grandchildren. When Honolulu hosted Left Coast Crime in 2017, Rosemary and Larry were the program co-chairs for “Honolulu Havoc.”

Over a dozen worldwide trips to Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Great Britain, France, Italy, Israel, Egypt, and more have wormed their way into their amazing stories. In their limited spare time, they are active members of the Honolulu Jewish Film Festival committee, where Larry is the statistician and recordkeeper for their film ratings.

Website: http://www.magicile.com

INTERVIEW:

Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Copper and Goldie, 13 Tails of Mystery and Suspense in Hawaii. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the stories are about and what compelled you to write them?  

ROSEMARY and LARRY: Copper and Goldie is a collection of 13 fun-filled stories, each one a complete little mystery. Homicide detective Sam Nahoe takes a bullet in his spine in the line of duty. Disabled, his career with the Honolulu Police Department shattered, what now? Jobless, divorced, and lonely, he becomes a Checker Cab driver and adopts a golden retriever with a touch of Doberman as his partner. Somehow trouble always finds them. Sam and Goldie take on the criminal side of Honolulu: bank robbers, kidnappers, vengeful wives, even killers. Hobbling on two canes, Cane and Able, he orders Goldie to chase the baddies. Snitch/card-sharp Sophie asks him: "You still walkin' wit' dem giant chopsticks?"



What triggered the stories? Larry invents all our plots and dreamed up Copper and Goldie several years ago. We published nine of the stories individually in Mysterical-E, an online quarterly mystery magazine. He also found a perfect outlet for our love of golden retrievers. In Locks and Cream Cheese, the golden retriever Shana helps foil a thug. But dogs, cats, and birds find their way into many of our books. In Cry Ohana, a stray Black Lab becomes homeless Kekoa’s only friend. Lord Byron in Death Goes Postal is a brave kitty who sleeps in the poetry stacks and helps nail a killer. In Boston Scream Pie, Detective Paco teaches his macaws to talk.

What do you think makes a good (traditional “cozy” mystery)? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

ROSEMARY: One, an inventive, well-paced, plot full of conflict. A crime has been committed; or the threat of a crime hangs over the characters. Or, there is no hint of a threat, and then a happy scene suddenly erupts into mayhem. Two, characters who are three-dimensional—way beyond their façade, deep into their minds and hearts. Even the villains must be flesh and blood. Three, An amateur sleuth like a Miss Marple or Jessica Fletcher; or a private investigator; or a detective/policeman/inspector solves the crime(s). But solves it by way of a convoluted path that keeps the reader guessing. And always with the author keeping his/her promise to the reader. No unsubstantiated off-the-wall conclusions. So we’ve narrowed the three elements down for you. In truth, we could go on and on in rapturous detail. So fasten your seatbelts, we’ve got mysteries for you.

How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

ROSEMARY: Larry insists he’s more devious than I am, so he makes up all our plots and writes the first draft. Often I find a tantalizing scene told low-key or second-hand. I really love turning it into real-time drama and dialogue.

LARRY: I work from a ten- to fifteen-page statement of work, so I know where I’m going in general. The central plot develops from the characters, their situations and reactions. Subplots may pop up at any time. Rosemary has her say in pushing and pulling the growing plot too.

Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

ROSEMARY: Larry has an image in his mind of who the protagonist is; he might make notes on it. In Copper and Goldie, Larry gave Sam his own chronic back trouble; he also walks with two canes and calls them Cane and Able. Often I’ll pick out photographs  in magazines or newspapers that match my concept of some of our characters.

LARRY: Sam and I are simpatico. It goes along with the idea that there is something of the author in every character.    

In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

ROSEMARY: Larry and I work hard to give all our characters realism and credibility. For Hot Grudge Sunday, I found a photo of a former Congressman looking down from a balcony in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. He had the perfect commanding demeanor for our antagonist, a mercurial corporation president. It was a start.

LARRY: Antagonists and villains are created from their motives. What is it that they want most and how far are they willing to go to get it? The psychology, subterfuge, skills, preparations, opportunities, and execution take you to the next layer. Our goal: getting the reader into the characters’ minds.    

How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

ROSEMARY: If you’re dozing off writing a scene, delete it! Your readers will do the same. Using The Da Vinci Code as an example, end each chapter with a cliff-hanger—meaning a sense of danger or a seemingly hopeless dilemma.

LARRY: Conflict and resolution! Action! Conflict and resolution! Action! And more of the same. Well, almost.

Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

ROSEMARY: We love drawing on our own experiences for our settings. In Copper and Goldie you’ll hang out at Sam’s favorite eating places and parks, which are ours too. In Murder, Fantasy, and Weird Tales, we placed a story in a Cambodian jungle, where an American helicopter pilot and local boatman struggle for possession of a stolen sapphire. In that very setting, we witnessed the massive fig tree roots wrapped around decaying temples.

LARRY: Our short stories are set in at least a dozen countries. There’s nothing like first-hand experience. Our photographs are great tools in recalling those experiences.

Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

ROSEMARY:  Larry knows the general theme when he conjures up each plot. Together we hammer out the details. The theme (or more than one) and outcome evolves in each book. Sometimes the characters lead the way to a surprising conclusion.

Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

ROSEMARY: First step: Disgorge (yes, disgorge!) your story. Write the first draft without obsessing over each word and paragraph. Get the whole story out. Then edit. Think about it, mull over it.  When you’re rewriting true craft begins. Did I use an adverb like “he said angrily” when I should have said, “He slammed his fist on the table.” Show, don’t tell. The Maryland Writers Association newsletter once had a cartoon showing a speaker before an audience of writers. On the wall behind him was a large sign: “Adverbs and Adjectives Anonymous.”

LARRY: The art lies in your creativity—the realism, the settings, the conflicts, and the characters who must endure them. The craft comes in how you manage that art—allowing and drawing the reader to see that art. Sure, editing can both destroy and make a story. If the writer(s) and editor(s) work toward the same goals as Rosemary and I do, then a carefully crafted editing job will do wonders for any writing. 

What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

ROSEMARY: If “successful” means making lots of money, that “success” doesn’t include us. If we had to live on our earnings from our writing we’d be on welfare! But secretly, we’re proud to admit we don’t need ATMs. Our true success comes from this:  One, a fan of our books coming up to us in our booth at a fair or festival and wanting our newest one. Two, a daughter saying her mother has read all our books and needs to buy her the new one for her birthday. Three, seeing our books in print on shelves. They’re our legacy. On the most practical side, the digital revolution—Print on Demand—means our books will never go out of print.

A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. Thoughts?

ROSEMARY: You better believe it. It’s “Work work work work work” as Mel Brooks manically said in one of his crazy films. But we love it. The work keeps us going.

LARRY: So is it a labor of love or is it just lovely work and we do it?

Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

ROSEMARY: Umpteen resources are available. The wittiest, sharpest advice comes from Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty) in Writers on Writing. He lists ten rules in his essay “Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points, and Especially Hooptedoodle.” Join a writers’ critique group. Take writing classes at a community college or university. Join writers’ organizations such as Sisters in Crime. Subscribe to The Writer, Writer’s Digest, etc. (they’re also online). Keep a notebook with you so you can jot down ideas, observations, dialogue you hear at the grocery store or during an argument between your parents. First and foremost, just start writing. Try not to get bogged down by advice; there’s no end to it out there. 

Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

ROSEMARY AND LARRY: The golden rule of writing is get something down on paper. So what are you waiting for? Start writing. Read in your genre of interest and learn from it. And for happy escapes, read our books!

Paul Martin Midden is the author of five previous novels, each of which explores different writing styles. He practiced clinical psychology for over thirty years. Paul’s interests include historic restoration, travel, fitness, and wine tasting. He and his wife Patricia renovated an 1895 Romanesque home in 1995 and continue to enjoy urban living.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Riley. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Thank you. Riley is about the eponymous protagonist who is about thirty, a writer by trade, who lives in Washington, D.C. At the beginning of the book, she has left her husband and has undertaken a novel about separation and divorce. She lives in a small apartment in a D.C. high-rise.

The characters in Riley’s novel are also in a marriage that is teetering on the edge. It opens with Adam, her protagonist, trying to decide if he should talk to Suzanne, his wife about their relationship. He works from home, and he has decided this was the day they would talk. In the end, he loses his nerve and doesn’t say anything. But to his surprise Suzanne is the one who takes the initiative.

Riley’s life and the novel she is writing share many similarities, but there are also major differences. Suzanne turns out to be having an affair with her female boss. Riley’s best friend is a slightly older lesbian who is attracted to Riley but who values the platonic friendship they have.

As the story unfolds, unexpected things happen that challenge all of the characters. Without giving away the plot, the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur, and each of the characters has to deal with the emotional impact of events as they unfold.

That is what the story is about.

Q: What do you think makes a good Adult Fiction book? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: A good contemporary fiction work requires a realistic portrayal of the characters, both externally in terms of their behavior and internally in terms of the mental process they undergo. The other two elements are important for all novels: an interesting narrative that keeps the reader reading and sufficient suspense to encourage them to read until the end.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A:  I am definitely one of those writers who discovers the work as I go along. It is one of the joys of writing. It’s almost like reading in reverse.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Not formally. But as a psychologist with lots of time spent with patients up close, I have a pretty well-developed understanding of how people function. That has important in all my books, but it was invaluable in writing this book, as much of the action takes place inside the characters’ heads.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: What made the antagonist realistic was relating his internal story as well as his behavior. He wasn’t so much just a bad guy as a confused, conflicted, angry, and neurotic guy. Of course, there is considerable overlap among those things. Again, the internal, mental landscape gives life to otherwise confusing or bad behavior.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: For this novel, the dynamic tensions existed both among the principal characters and in the lives of the novel-within-a-novel characters. And there was a lot of interplay among them all. I think this helps the excitement and engagement level of the readers. Hope so!

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: The setting of the novel is Washington D.C., which I visit often. It is a city rich with opportunities for description and emits a certain gravitas that is distinct from most other cities. Being a large city, it also provides a lot of background material.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: Along with the plot, I discovered themes as the writing unfolded. The specific themes of this book are distinct from my other works, although there are some secondary themes that reverberate in several of them. I am given writing about neurotic, conflicted people. Occupational hazard, perhaps.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: I think I’m not a good judge of the line between craft and art in my own work; that is probably something for others to determine. Re: editing: It depends on the editor. I interviewed a woman who apparently thought the central structure of the book was flawed. I did not hire her, as the changes she proposed would have destroyed the narrative structure of the book. The ones I did hire were respectful of the work and its characters. I tend to be protective of my characters.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Dedication to the craft; a more or less continues output; and a love of writing. A willingness to self-promote is also important for commercial success.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. Thoughts?

A: I think there’s something to that, but with a caveat. I seldom enjoyed homework in school, but I love writing. That is such an important difference. It is a mature kind of love, however, rather than a one-night stand: it takes patience and perseverance.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: The book that triggered my actual decision to write was Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird. Anyone familiar with that work knows immediately how potent her advice was. Beyond that, I think reading widely is one of the best preparations for writing.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: For those who love to write, the craft often comes naturally. I think it is important for individual writers to respect their own love of the process and write accordingly.