Elena Hartwell's Blog, page 77

Novelist and Short Story Author, Simon Maltman, on what it takes to Get Published!

This week I'm thrilled to have ITW Debut Author Simon Maltman on to talk about the experience of shifting from short story author to novelist. Plus one of the funnest author pics I've had on my blog!
Simon Maltman is a writer and musician from Northern Ireland. A Chaser on the Rocks is his debut novel after previously having crime fiction short stories featured in a number of magazines and anthologies. He has also had poetry and articles published in a range of magazines. Simon has self-published a number of crime fiction e-books over the last year. 

More Faces is a collection of twelve of his shorts, released this month. Simon was also featured in the anthology Dark Minds, which has been a bestselling ebook and paperback around the world. 
Simon is an established musician, along with his current band The Hung Jury. He lives in County Down with his wife and two daughters.
You can find and follow Simon:Facebook.com/Simonmaltmancrimefiction Twitter @simonmaltman
THE INTERVIEW
Your previous work has been in short stories, what prompted you to write a novel? How did the process differ or was it the same process, just more pages?
I suppose I had originally started writing the first novel after it being suggested to me by an agent. The idea had always daunted me! I did enjoy the process and it was definitely a challenge. The difference I think was that you have to alter slightly the way you write. I suppose it's bit like the technique between a sprinter and marathon runner. The other thing was that it gave the opportunity to explore a lot more. I was able to reference many more things, look at different themes and hopefully create deeper characters and story. 
I've been told a short story is about a problem and a novel is about the effect of time on a problem. How would you describe the difference between the two?Yeah that's an interesting way of looking at it! I tend to write short stories like short novels, but I also enjoy other writers who create their short stories, more to be a sucker punch or a sting in the tale build up. I personally enjoy writing novels and shorts and writing a novel definitely stretches me a lot more.
Has parenthood changed you as a writer? Or how you see the world?
It changes everything haha! I started writing stories just before my first child came along, and it was to kind of find another hobby that didn't take up masses of time the way music had done.  I think everything to do with having children is great life experience and in general I'm glad I've started properly to get into writing in my thirties. I don't think I could have done it before. 
What advice would you give for a writer who would like to have their short stories published?
The main thing is to have a really good draft to begin with. I also think it's important to realise that you have to cast a wide net in all areas (searching for publishers, agents, reviewers etc.) and that 95% will be rejection.  You just have to keep at it.
How did you find your publisher?
I submitted to a number and had a few offers. Also plenty of rejection! I really liked Solstice and they have been brilliant. They have published my novel and short story collection.  
What are you working on now?
My short story collection was just released on 23rd March, so I'm busy with lots of the promotional side. I've also just finished the first draft of my second novel and I'm redrafting that at the moment too.

Final Words of Wisdom:

All writers get rejected, but only those who keep at it, will become authors!
Thanks for visiting Simon! Great to have you on my blog.

Classes, Conferences & Community: Author Sheila Sobel talks about Writing

I'm pleased to have a guest blog today by ITW Debut author Sheila Sobel. 
As a Senior Auditor for Warner Bros., Sheila oversaw production costs for films including “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the “Matrix” trilogy, “The Dark Knight” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” 
After working on 70+ Independent and Studio movies, Sheila stepped away from the film business to complete her first YA novel. A member of SCBWI since 2010, Sheila is also a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW), Children’s Book Writers-LA (CBW-LA) and Women in Film (WIF). 
She was nominated for the 2016 AllegraJohnson Prize in Novel Writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. When not writing, Sheila volunteers her time walking dogs rescued from local shelters by the Amanda Foundation. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two rescue dogs and two rescue cats. 

The Blog Post
In early 2010, my husband handed me a course description for a class called “Touring Wonderland,” an introduction to writing for the youth market. Intrigued, I registered for my first of many classes offered through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. The last time I had written creatively was college, over thirty-five years earlier. After graduation, like most people, my creative dreams had been left to simmer on the back burner of life while day to day survival took priority. Decades passed as my writing aspirations became more distant.

It was in this class that the first chapter of my debut YA novel Color Blind was written. Admittedly, the writing was not good, but the premise was sound. I enrolled in class after class, joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and worked to improve my writing. It was in those UCLA classes that I found not only like minds that ultimately formed our writers’ group (now entering our fourth year together), but valuable feedback that continued to guide me chapter by chapter, through the many incarnations of Color Blind. 

In September 2011, at my first SCBWI writers’ retreat, I proudly presented my baby to “outsiders,” people I had never met. I was crushed when a faculty member, a literary agent, kept asking me why she should care about my protagonist or anything else in my chapters. When the retreat ended, I returned home discouraged. But, after a little wine and a great deal of honest reflection, I decided that as much as it hurt, the agent was right. The following day, I booted up the computer, sent my work product (ten chapters) to the recycle bin and started over.

The most valuable thing I learned that weekend was to not be married to my manuscript, especially since I was getting consistent, less than positive feedback, both in class and during the retreat. Challenging yourself is a good thing, having your work challenged is a better thing. It makes you a better writer.

For the next three years, I continued with classes and conferences and established our critique group. In July 2014, after submitting a query letter and three chapters to a publisher, the feedback I received was immediate and positive. They were interested. I delivered a 65,000 word draft to them in January 2015. An editor worked with me off and on throughout revisions and in December 2015, they made an offer. Color Blind released in October 2016.

Fast forward to December 2016: the same literary agent from my first retreat was on the faculty at the Big Sur Writers’ Conference, where I was workshopping chapters from my new novel. One evening, I found her in the dining room and gave her an autographed copy of my book. She was happy for me and enjoyed learning that her critique five years earlier had been critical to my process.

For me, there is a great benefit in getting out of my comfort zone, away from my critique group to attend classes and conferences, ones that have nothing to do with my chosen genre, writing for the youth market. Bouchercon 2016 in New Orleans was a good opportunity for getting me out of my zone. The prospect of a Mystery Writers’ conference drew me in like a well-crafted plot, so I booked a flight to NOLA. By myself. No husband. No members of my writers’ group. Just me and my overwhelming desire to learn from the mystery masters, like Heather Graham, Harlan Coban, Michael Connelly, and David Morrell. I wanted to expand my horizons and my community and the conference did that for me. Bouchercon is where I met Elena Hartwell, who generously took time to visit with me before a panel began and recommended that I look into International Thriller Writers and their Debut Author Program. 

Going forward, there will be more classes and conferences and my community will continue to expand. Every writer needs a community, people to share in your joy when great things happen, like becoming a debut author, or to bolster your spirits when the reviews aren’t so kind or the sales figures aren’t so great.

There is nothing more exciting than this journey, at least for me, at this time in my life, when writing is now a career path instead of a hobby. Is it scary putting yourself out there not knowing if you’ll be ridiculed or rewarded, or worse, ignored? Of course it is, but you can handle it. You have a large community on your side, #amwriting.




You can follow Sheila on social media - visit the links below

www.sheilasobel.com

https://www.facebook.com/SheilaSobelAuthor/

https://twitter.com/SLSobel 
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Isabella Maldonado: Crime Fighter-Crime Writer, an author talks Police work & Police Procedurals.

This week, I'm pleased to host ITW Debut Author Isabella Maldonado. Her first novel, Blood's Echo, launched March 8, from Midnight Ink.

Isabella Maldonado retired from law enforcement as a Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During her long career, she was recognized with a Meritorious Service Award and a Lifesaving Award, and she was selected to attend executive management training at the FBI’s National Academy. Isabella is a past president of the Phoenix chapter of Sisters in Crime. You can visit her at www.IsabellaMaldonado.com.  
The Interview
You spent two decades in police enforcement before becoming a crime writer. What brought you to that career? What was the best and worst parts of being in police work?
While still in school, I thought I wanted to be an attorney. After doing an internship in a now defunct law firm, I lost my taste for that profession. Since I still had a passion for the law, the idea of practicing in a more direct way appealed to me.
Turned out I was very fortunate in my career choice. Law enforcement was a great fit. Some of the best things about it involved the feeling that, while I couldn’t change the world, something I did might make a small difference in someone’s life.Face it, people don’t call the police because they’re having a great day. As a cop, you encounter people at their worst. You see the worst humanity can offer in the violence we perpetrate against each other. On the other hand, a police officer also sees people at their best. You become aware of the sacrifices we make for each other and the underlying dignity in each person despite their circumstances. 


Most of us have to do a lot of research to try to get our police procedure and other details correct in our mysteries. What areas of writing do you find the most challenging in terms of accuracy/believability? Where have you had to turn to an expert? Have you ever found yourself thinking you can't write something the way it really happens because it won't work dramatically?
Writing a police procedural presents unique challenges. The inner workings of an organization, especially a major city police department, are filled with bureaucracy. A fast-paced story can’t be bogged down with the red tape involved in a police shooting. Sometimes knowing too much causes trouble. I have to be selective about what to include. I want readers to get an authentic sense of what’s happening without drowning in minutia. (You do this really well. The book moves fast, but also feels "real.")
Despite my LEO background, sometimes I still need to do research. The first book in my Veranda Cruz series involves fires. To get my facts straight, I interviewed a Phoenix Fire Department Arson Investigator. His input was invaluable to the accuracy of the story. Even a seasoned law enforcement veteran must stay up-to-date with current technology and investigative techniques. The longer I’m out of the game, the more work I put into research.
You are very involved with Sisters InCrime, especially the Desert Sleuths chapter located in Phoenix. How did connecting with that group change your writing career? 
Since I was a child, I’ve wanted to write. With that goal in mind, I looked up crime writer groups soon after I retired and moved to Arizona. Sisters in Crime seemed like a great fit, and they had an active chapter in Phoenix. Upon attending the first meeting, I knew I had found my tribe. 
The group is amazing, supportive of each other’s efforts, and willing to help. There are so few writers who make it to publication, and the members of Desert Sleuths cheer each accomplishment and help one another with an array of talented published authors willing to share their wisdom. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am today if not for support from Sisters in Crime. After being a member for five years, I was elected president of the Phoenix chapter in 2015. I had a fantastic time working to serve our membership and help other aspiring writers attain their goals. I recommend groups like Sisters in Crime to new and established authors. The networking and support are priceless.
Blood's Echo revolves around a drug cartel. Did you base the story on any real event? Or is it a combination of experiences? How much is pure fiction? 
The cartel I created is pure fiction. Most narcotrafficking operations are not as sophisticated as the one I developed for my story, but a few are quite formidable. Law enforcement officers and agents face a serious threat when they go after cartels. With millions of dollars at stake, these criminals have a powerful incentive to protect their business.
In addition to the cartels, however, Blood’s Echo is foremost a story of one individual’s fight against a ruthless and powerful organization. It’s also about her struggle to discover who she is and how she fits into a police department where her past makes her a liability.
Who are some of your favorite authors to read? Do you find yourself being more critical now than you were before you learned craft? Or are you more appreciative of other authors, knowing how much work goes into it?
I have a much greater appreciation for the work authors put into their stories now that I’m published. I used to be more critical about any deviation from standard police procedure, but now I understand the need to create a cohesive plot and the resulting challenges thrown in the path of a writer.
Some authors, however, manage to consistently nail it. Michael Connelly puts tons of authentic detail about the LAPD into his Harry Bosch series without dragging the plot down. He also skillfully ages his protagonist in a way that keeps the timeline intact while allowing a reader to pick up any book in the series and enjoy the tale. I also enjoy the humor and supporting cast developed by Janet Evanovich in her Stephanie Plum series. Her family begins to feel like your own as you continue to learn more about each member in subsequent books. (And who doesn't love Titus Welliver as Bosch?)
What are you working on now?
I was fortunate enough to get a three-book contract with my publisher. So right now, I’m launching book one, editing book two (I submitted the manuscript to my publisher in January), and writing book three…all at the same time! It’s super busy, but I’m living the dream, so no complaints from me. (Congratulations!)
Final words of wisdom:
People ask me how to give themselves the proverbial kick in the pants to get their draft finished and out into the world. My best advice is to make a declaration. Say it out loud. Set a date for completion, and commit. No one will ever know how brilliant your manuscript is while it’s still in your hard drive. 

Kaite Welsh discusses Feminism, Victorian Edinburgh, and The Wages of Sin

This week I'm thrilled to host ITW Debut Author Kaite Welsh. Kaite Welsh is an author, critic and journalist living in Scotland.
Her novel The Wages of Sin, a feminist historical crime novel set in Victorian Edinburgh launched March 7. It is the first novel featuring medical student, fallen woman and amateur sleuth Sarah Gilchrist, with two further books due in 2018 and 2019.
Her fiction has featured in several anthologies and she writes a regular column on LGBT issues for the  Daily Telegraph  as well as making frequent appearances on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. In 2014 she was shortlisted for both the Scottish New Writers Award and the Moniack Mhor Bridge Award. She has also been shortlisted for the 2010 Cheshire Prize for Fiction and the 2010 Spectrum Award for short fiction.
The Wages of Sin , a gripping new historical crime series set in the underworld of Victorian Edinburgh featuring fallen woman-turned-medical student-turned-detective Sarah Gilchrist, is out from Pegasus Books in the US in March 2017 and from Tinder Press in the UK in June 2017. 

"Welsh makes clever use of the conventions of the genre while throwing in a twist informed by modern sensibilities. Damp, sooty, moralistic, and sinning Edinburgh is convincingly evoked. A gritty detective story as unflinching as its heroine, rich in well-researched period detail." - Kirkus Reviews

You can also follow her on twitter @kaitewelshThe Interview You write a historical mystery series in Victorian Edinburgh. What drew you to the time period? The first novel I ever completed was set in the present day, and it just didn’t work. I’m far more comfortable filtering my ideas through a historical perspective and I’ve always been obsessed with the 19th century, ever since I was little. When I was about four, my mother took her copy of Jane Eyre off the shelf and said “This is why you’ve got to learn to read.” I grew up reading the Brontes – my aunt actually works at Haworth Parsonage Museum, where they lived – and that was a gateway  drug to authors like Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and the ‘New Women’ writers at the end of the 1800s. I still read a lot of 19th century fiction and neo-Victorian fiction – it’s just naturally where my brain gravitates to. I came very close to doing a PhD on medicine, sexuality and the body in sensation literature (the 19th century’s answer to the thriller), but I think I’m exploring the same concepts a different way.There are a few other time periods I’d like to explore – I’ve got a sketched out idea for a mystery series set in Renaissance France and I’ve had the opening chapter of a post-WWI vampire novel about the ‘lost generation’ floating around for about a decade and I’d love to get back to it at some point. Protagonist Sarah Gilchrist is described as a medical student, amateur sleuth, and fallen woman. (I love that combination!) How did you arrive at her character?In neo-Victorian fiction, the lady doctor is often this shorthand for progressive feminism. I wanted to needle away at that and explore the dissonance between being brave and brilliant and pioneering and actually existing day to day in a hostile environment that wants to see you shut up on the home, producing babies. In a way, I’m writing the origin story of the kind of character I love reading or watching. Sarah has very few role models for the kind of woman she wants to be, so she’s figuring it out as she goes along, but realising that everything has a cost and everyone has secrets.Sarah didn’t fall as much as she was pushed, really. We learn early on that the scandal that forced her to leave London was actually a result of sexual assault, but her lack of consent is irrelevant in terms of how she’s treated. So at the start of the novel she’s angry, she’s traumatised and she’s in this weird position of having gotten the one thing she’s always wanted – a medical education – at the expense of being assaulted and then estranged from her family. She sees herself as having more in common with the disenfranchised women who come to the clinic she volunteers at – usually prostitutes – than the other women in her class, so she’s already primed to fight for the underdog. There’s been a lot of justifiable criticism about the use of rape as a plot device, particularly in crime fiction, and I wanted to explore the fallout in detail. I deliberately made very few references to the actual event and focused on how Sarah deals – and doesn’t deal – with trauma. It’s like she’s got this knowledge of how awful the world is and she can’t unknow it so she turns it into a weapon.  Plus, at that time women were encouraged to be so divorced from their own bodies that the idea of taking control and understanding how the body actually works fascinates me. It’s Eve after the apple – once you know what’s beneath the surface, whether it’s clothing or skin and muscle, you’re never quite the same again. As a feminist author, what would you like readers to understand from your series? Are the messages different for men and women? When we first meet Lucy, whose murder and unhappy life Sarah avenges, she’s trying to get an illegal abortion at a clinic that would be closed down if they did. At that point, I had no idea that we’d see attacks on reproductive rights to the extant we have. Nearly everything that happens in The Wages of Sin could happen now. Slut-shaming and rape culture is still a massive problem. The divide between rich and poor is widening and we rely on charities and activists to protect the rights and services the Government should be safeguarding. The message I’d want male readers to take away is “Pay attention. Pay attention to all the small stumbling blocks that get in Sarah’s way, like not being allowed out of the house without a chaperone or the limited number of washrooms for female students. Then apply it to what’s happening now – the way women can’t be outspoken online without being tweeted death threats, the way trans people are being criminalised for wanting to use the right bathroom. The problems haven’t gone away, they’re just dressed differently.” For women, it’s slightly different. I’m a committed feminist, but some of the things done in the name of feminism are heartbreaking, like ignoring the needs of women of colour or outright transphobia. You can be fighting for the right things and still mess up horribly and hurt the very people you should be trying to help. In many ways, a lot of the feminist discussion on sex work hasn’t moved on from the Victorian period – we’re still obsessed with criminalising it or pushing the victim narrative when that isn’t necessarily the case, and it can make the women involved a lot less safe. The ostracising of Sarah by her peers, who are all groundbreaking women fighting for equality, was really important to me. The other female medical students aren’t bad people, they’re just scared that they’ll lose the opportunities they fought for because of one woman’s tarnished reputation. A theme that runs through the book is the way oppression encourages oppressed people to turn against each other – over the series, we’ll see them grow and adapt, but right now it’s very black or white for them. It always reminds me of the line in Mean Girls, where Tina Fey’s character tells teenage girls “stop calling each other sluts and whores! It just makes it easier for men to call you sluts and whores!” Basically, I expanded that premise, set it in Victorian Edinburgh and threw some murder and medicine in there. A lot of people have said that Wagesmakes them angry on behalf of the characters. Good. Use that anger – we’re still fighting the same fight. With a background as a critic and journalist, how has your experience in those arenas impacted you as a novelist?The goal was always to write novels, everything else got picked up along the way. It’s certainly helped, in the sense that I have a small amount of name recognition – I’m no Lindy West or Rebecca Traistor, but in the UK enough people have heard of me that it makes the book stick in their minds maybe a bit more than it would have done. As a critic, it’s made me far more pragmatic about coverage. I was clearing out my bookshelves the other day, and the stack of things I’ve been sent that I just never had time to read or review really struck me. I’m enormously grateful for the people who have done both for me! I’ve recently been mentoring writers through the Scottish Review ofBooks’ Emerging Critics programme and the cuts to arts coverage in print media really scare me. We need well-equipped, diverse critics to work with the amazing amount of diverse literature that’s being published, and we need column inches and fair pay to get their work across. Tell us about your writing process? Do you do a lot of research? 
Theoretically, I can write anywhere – my proudest moment was 1,000 words written in the Notes app on my phone during a bus journey across town – but I do better without any distractions, preferably with caffeine and snacks close to hand, and with Chopin’s Nocturnes played on a loop. I live in Edinburgh and went to university here, so going to any of the coffee shops I used to study in is a shortcut to getting in work mode. There’s one particular place I won’t let myself go in unless I’m writing, so I go in, order the same thing I’ve been getting since Fresher’s Week 2001, and the words just come.
I’m in a constant state of research, because this stuff is really awesome. Honestly, I think the novels are just an excuse to spend hours pouring through old medical textbooks and biographies of incredible women.   Novels two and three for your series are coming out over the next two years. How different has it been working on that kind of deadline?Absolutely wonderful! I’m naturally a pretty speedy writer when I don’t let myself procrastinate, so deadlines keep me very focused. Again, working as a journalist has been excellent preparation because if I can come up with a pithy, informed take on a controversial or topical issue in two hours then I can damn well write a few thousand words a day about a time period I know a lot about, with characters I made up. I have a two book deal with Pegasus, my US publisher, and a three book deal with Headline, my UK publisher – with Book 2 in the editing stages, I’m already feeling panicky about coming to the end of the contracted books, even though I have a clear idea about where I want to take Sarah after that. I just want to stay in this universe I’ve created forever, but the only way that can happen is for people to buy the books! Please, enable my vacation from the 21stcentury (and help feed my cats).Final words of wisdom
Write about what you’re obsessed with, even if it’s something completely random. Make other people care about it too, and you’ll always have someone to rabbit on at.

Also, never give up caffeine in the middle of editing one book and promoting another. *shudders* 
Thank you Kaite for this awesome interview! Don't miss next week's visit with ITW Debut Author Isabella MaldonadoSaveSave
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Small Towns Can Be Murder

I live in a small town. Elk on the road is the most common traffic problem. We describe how to get to our house with information like, “across the bridge over the middle fork” and “turn right at the row of mailboxes.” 
I write about small towns. The Eddie Shoes Mystery Series is set in Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham has a population of 80,000 people, which isn’t tiny. My town of North Bend—ninety-minutes south and slightly east of Bellingham—boasts a population of 6,000. But still, in the scheme of things, a population of 80,000 is small.
I like small. There’s a lot to be said for a slower pace. It also makes for an interesting contrast when a murder occurs.
One of my reasons for choosing Bellingham, is that statistically, the town has one murder a year. Many of you may know about the “Cabot Cove” problem. In the television show Murder, She Wrote, about three hundred murders occurred in Cabot Cove, Maine, over a short period of time. Which would have put it up there as one of the most violent communities in America. It adds a layer of creativity for me to figure out when, where, and how Eddie comes across a murder victim.
There’s fiction and then there’s … fiction.
While I don’t pretend to have everything accurate in my novels, I do know you can’t kill a person a week in a town the size of Bellingham without causing a stir. Granted, I’d love to have Angela Lansbury play my character Chava on the televised version of One Dead, Two to Go —she’d be perfect—but still, I didn’t want to create another Cabot Cove. That could only be done successfully once.
People sometimes ask me why I didn’t set my series in North Bend.
It has, after all, already been made famous as the location for filming Twin Peaks . People might even believe in the potential for several murders a year in the small town where Laura Palmer died. 

But it didn’t feel right to kill off my neighbors, even in fiction.I love reading mysteries in big cities. I’m a huge fan of Dennis Lehane, who locates his Kenzie-Gennaro series in Boston and Michael Connelly, with Bosch kicking ass in Los Angeles. I still binge-watch Castle’s love affair with the 12th precinct in New York and who doesn’t love death in New Orleans, James Lee Burke style, but sometimes it’s fun to explore other parts of our American Landscape. One of the first writers I fell in love with was Tony Hillerman. I am fascinated by the wide open spaces of the Four Corners area and the inclusion of the Navajo. William Kent Krueger gave us the Iron Range and the wilds of northern Minnesota. Kinsey Millhone inhabits a small fictional town in California.
I once lived in a trailer in a canyon halfway between Gaviota and Goleta, the real neighbors to Santa Barbara, which Sue Grafton thinly disguises as Santa Teresa. I love to visit that area again and again, riding in the passenger seat of Kinsey’s Volkswagen bug. 
Fiction allows us to travel. It lets us sink our teeth into gritty cities and violent times from the safety of our armchairs. It also lets us spy on the residents of the small towns, where everyone knows your name, no one locks their door, and no one sees it coming, when one of the neighbors just … snaps … and murder finds its way into even the sleepiest of places.
I think small towns are to die for.

Check back next week for my Interview with 
ITW Debut Author Kaite Welsh
This post was originally a guest post for Queen of All She Reads through my Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book Blog Tour.

Edgar Award Nominated Debut Author Lili Wright talks about writing, teaching, and travel

This weekend I'm excited to spend time with ITW Debut Author, Lili Wright. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, Down East, The Cincinnati Review, The Normal School, Cream City Review, and many other publications. 
She has lived a year in Paris, a year in Italy, and two years in Mexico—and now mixes all three languages together. When not traveling, she teaches English at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she lives with her family in a yellow Victorian house that always needs repair. 


THE INTERVIEW
Your debut novel is gaining tremendous critical acclaim, including an Edgar Award nomination and an acquisition by Hollywood for a potential film. How long did you work on this book? Was it your first novel? or the first novel you had published?

Dancing with the Tiger took me six years to write. It’s my first novel, my second book. My first book was a travel memoir called Learning to Float. The novel took a long time because I’d never written fiction before and had no idea what I was doing. I just sat down and started writing. 

Interestingly, my first sentences are still in the book, though many pages, characters, and scenes wound up in the trash. I had bank robbers. Gone. I had different villains. Gone. I learned about plotting the hard way: trial and error. That said, once I met my amazing agent, Molly Friedrich, things moved quickly. Two months after my initial query letter, she sold the book. 
This novel transcends genre, crossing between literary and thriller, plus it uses multiple points of view. What made you tackle such a complex novel? How did you arrive at your style?
My greatest fear is that I will be boring. Any sin, but that, so I like to have a lot of balls in the air. Also, I’ve always loved stories where you meet an odd set of characters whose storylines converge. Dancing with the Tiger is told from three principle POVS, although other characters make cameos—from a drug lord to the Angel of Death to a pack of wild dogs.
 At first, I thought I would never be able to write from the perspective of a Mexican gardener or a meth addict, for example. But, gradually, I gained confidence. I attended a Robert McKee screenwriting seminar, where he said fictional characters are comprised of one third you, one third people you know, and one third pure imagination. This helped a lot. Once I understood I had to be all the characters, I could imagine—if I were a meth addict, what would I think or say or feel? As for my writing style, I’ve been writing for 30 years so I guess I have a style, but it’s like breathing now. Or walking. (Great advice from Robert McKee!)
You have traveled extensively and lived in France, Italy, and Mexico. How has your worldwide adventuring impacted your writing?
I consider myself first and foremost a travel writer. Setting is always enormously important, a character, in my stories and essays. My protagonists are usually running away from their troubles and themselves. I like playing with foreign languages, finding humor in cultural differences, and highlighting the loneliness and joy of being away from home. When you’re in a new place, you pay attention. Your senses run on overdrive. When traveling, I take notes. I watch and listen and think. My daily routine rarely affords such luxuries. 
When you're not traveling and writing, you teach English at DePauw University in Indiana, how does your teaching inform your writing and your writing inform your teaching?
It’s a symbiotic relationship. I use lessons I’ve learned as a writer in the classroom. War stories, if you will. Or insights. Teaching also keeps me reading great works of literature. We close read and study why certain passages are effective. Students often notice things in texts that help me see them in a new light. You don’t really know something until either you write about it or teach it. Both force you to achieve absolute clarity.
You are an experienced writer, but a debut novelist, what has been the biggest surprise about having your first novel out?
I feel as though I have joined a national conversation or have walked onto a larger stage—The Edgar nomination, the movie option, a full-page review in The New York Times, joining groups such as MysteryWriters of America and International Thriller Writers. This vast network of writers inspires me to press on. Where’s the next book? everyone asks. Writing a novel makes you a novelist. Duh. But this new title feels like an honor I have to live up to by writing a better book next time.
What are you working on now?
See? There you go. That question! I am beginning a novel set in Italy about a woman who goes on a double quest—to solve a crime and find God. I don’t like talking about it much. I don’t want to jinx myself or have it get stale. (But you knew I had to ask, right?!)
Final Words of Wisdom:
God is in the details.My former newspaper editor used to say this and I love the idea. My own version: Everything is interesting if you get close enough. Another version: Get the dog’s name. I learned that as a tabloid reporter. Lord help you if you forgot to ask. Luckily, with fiction, you can always make it up! 
Thank you for joining us Lili! We'll leave you to writing that second book ... and working on that yellow house!

LS Hawker talks about Writing, Publishing, and the beauty of Kansas

To shake things up a bit this week, I'm including an added bonus interview. LS Hawker debuted her first novel, The Drowning Game on September 22, 2015. Her second, Body and Bone came out May 6, 2016, and her new novel, End of The Road launched January 31, 2017, all with HarperCollins Witness. Not only is LS a fantastic writer, but she's also part of the ITW Debut Author Program team. Thank you for joining me to today LS! 

Let's start out with a little bit about LS: LS Hawker grew up in suburban Denver, indulging her worrisome obsession with true-crime books, and writing stories about anthropomorphic fruit and juvenile delinquents. She wrote her first novel at 14.
Armed with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, she had a radio show called “People Are So Stupid,” edited a trade magazine, and worked as a traveling Kmart portrait photographer, but never lost her passion for fiction writing.
She’s got a hilarious, supportive husband, two brilliant daughters, and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland.
The Interview
Tell us about the road to writing your first novel.
​THE DROWNING GAME was the first novel I published, but not the first one I wrote. The first one I wrote when I was 14, and it was crap! But I digress. It took me about three months to write the first draft of THE DROWNING GAME, and then I rewrote and polished for another eight months before I pitched it to Michelle Johnson of Inklings LiteraryAgency at Pikes Peak Writers Conference. She asked for the full manuscript, which I sent her. Then I didn't hear anything, so after three months, I figured that was a "no." So I sent it out a few other places and had some solid interest from a small press. 
Then on Super Bowl Sunday, 2015, I got an email from Michelle requesting a phone call. We talked and she offered me representation. I told her about the small press and she asked me to make a few minor changes so she could send it out to the big 5 that coming week, which I did, and she did. Most of them requested the manuscript, and Michelle sold it to HarperCollins Witness Impulse within 50 days. Six months later, it was published. Seven months after that, it was on the USA Today bestseller list.​ (Super Bowl Sunday, 2015 will forever go down in my memory as the day the Seahawks lost to the Patriots ... I'm going to try to replace that image with LS's excellent phone call!)
You've written three wildly different novels, how did you prepare for such different characters and plots? What is your research process like? 
​I typically take situations from my own life and friends' lives, or stories I've heard. Often I will do a mashup of several different stories to come up with unique plots. I love radio programs and podcasts where people tell true-life stories, and I've used those for inspiration more than once.
I always consult with a Jefferson County Colorado deputy sheriff for police procedure and an Arapahoe County Colorado prosecutor for legal issues. They're very helpful.​
You've lived in Colorado and Kansas. How has that environment impacted you as a writer? 
People think I'm nuts when I say this, but Kansas is a magical place for me, stretching back to when I was a kid. My grandparents lived in a tiny town that was picturesque, and very different from suburban Denver. And now that small towns all over America are dying and agriculture has transitioned to factory-based instead of family farms, Kansas is a great setting for thrillers and suspense, because there's a sense of loss there, a lot of abandoned buildings and even whole towns, a bleakness that adds to the feelings of terror, desperation, and sadness that I like my thrillers to evoke. (I'm going to do a book club meeting in Hays, KS in April ... I'm so excited to visit!)
Now that you have three published novels under your belt, what do you wish you'd known when you started?
That's a tough one, Elena, because my journey with HarperCollins has been so wonderful. It has exceeded my dreams, to be honest, which is not something you usually hear, right? I guess I'd have to say that I wish I'd learned how to write even when I don't feel like it—I had to learn to do that after I got my contract and had to produce! (Wonderful about your journey! And a good lesson to learn)
The publishing industry is going through big changes with ebooks, audio books, and multiple paths to publication. Where do you see the industry going? How would you like to see your career go?


The thing I'm excited about in publishing is the multi-media aspect of it—the integration of video, audio, and graphics into what used to be a very two-dimensional form. One way that I've leaned into that is by creating websites for my novels—for the current release, END OF THE ROAD, I've created a website for the company my protagonist works for, which adds another dimension to the book (sipratech.com). For my second book, BODY AND BONE, I put up a blog for my main character (unknown-legends.com). I also make music playlists for each release.

How would I like my career to go? I want to write novels until I croak, plain and simple. (Love this answer!)
Final Words of Wisdom:
This isn't that short, but I've had this hanging above my desk since I first got out of college, way last century. It perfectly illustrates why I've succeeded in this crazy business:
“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent.”
—Calvin Coolidge

Writer Shaun Coen joins me to talk about The Bronx and Publishing his first novel!

Continuing my series on the Debut Authors Program from the International Thriller Writers, I had the opportunity to visit with Shaun Coen. I love that Shaun is a fellow playwright!

Shaun Coen is an award-winning playwright, columnist and feature writer. The Pot O'Gold Murder is his first novel.

The Interview
You have worked as a playwright, columnist, and feature writer. How was writing a novel different from working in those other forms? 
As a novelist and a playwright you are completely in charge of your creations, whereas columns are typically opinions supported by facts (or “alternative facts”) and in writing features you allow for your subject matters and other sources to reveal the story. But it's all storytelling, and there are similarities—you always want to make the characters, whether real or imagined, seem as believable, relatable and as “human” as possible even if they're inhumane. 
(I love that you include "human" as possible even if they're inhumane. It's always interesting when a writer sees people or characters as real, regardless of their behavior. Most people aren't all good or all bad, I think it's important to remember that.)
The Bronx comes to life in your work. How has your writing been shaped by your community? Community always affects your writing because those are the surroundings you're familiar with and the people you interact with on a daily basis. My community was populated with a lot of quick witted, hard working, often hard living but good hearted people. The Bronx has a special vibe, particularly the Irish enclave of Woodlawn, and I wanted to capture its essence. To the best of my knowledge, The Pot O'Gold Murder is the only book that takes place in Woodlawn and I wanted to introduce readers to the colorful characters who inhabit this unique neighborhood. 
(I think I have the only mystery series set in Bellingham, WA, I totally understand wanting to capture a place most readers aren't familiar with)
The Pot O'Gold Murder incorporates humor alongside the gritty reality of crime. Are you naturally funny or was that an aspect you had to work at? 
I'm the youngest of six so I learned at a very young age that if you wanted to get noticed it helped to be funny. Growing up in The Bronx, sometimes you had to be quick with a joke or your fists in order to avoid trouble. I enjoy reading humorous, fast-paced stories with well developed characters and I try to incorporate those elements into my writing especially if it serves the characters and the plot. With this novel the humor made sense and it softens the blow of the some of the horrible acts and behavior.
Tell us about your writing process...
Some days I attack the blank page in a flurry with the funniest, fiercest, most honest dialogue and storyline that my antennae receive. Unfortunately, days go by where the reception is hazy, so I cherish the days when my fingers catch up to the thoughts running amuck in my head and hopefully at some point I look over the pages amassed and think, “Well, that doesn't suck.” Then I rewrite, edit, rewrite, edit and hope it still doesn't suck. (We all love that "that doesn't suck," don't we!)
What has been the biggest surprise so far in your first year as a debut novelist?
There's been several: the number of people who think characters in the book are based on them; the number of people you know who truly couldn't care less that you wrote a book and have no intention of buying it; and the nicest surprise has been hearing from complete strangers or people who you never expected to hear from again who champion the book and tell you how much they enjoyed it. There is so much content out there competing for an audience so I really appreciate those who made the effort to let me know that they were really engaged in the novel and try to spread the word.
What are you working on now?
Trying to hit the curveball. Struggling with promoting this book while working on others and working full time and raising a family and dealing with all the challenges life throws at you. But, if you want to play in the big leagues, you gotta learn to hit the curveball. (Great analogy!)
Final Words of Wisdom: Be fearless. Don't fear rejection, it's inevitable. Don't let what you think other people will think enter into the writing process, be brutally honest with yourself and to your characters and let it all out. Life is messy so don't be afraid of writing about it. People have lived through horrible things and bleaker times; they want to escape by wading through other people's shit for awhile. Keep at it and you'll find people who support and connect with your writing.
(Thank you, Shaun, for hanging out with me and my readers this week! Congratulations on your debut novel. Hope to meet you in person this summer at ThrillerFest!)
Don't miss my added special interview this week -  LS Hawker LS was a previous ITW Debut Author who has just come out with her third novel! 

KJ Howe talks about ThrillerFest, Lee Child, Steve Berry, and David Morrell ... plus she hangs out with Elephants!

Welcome back to my blog series introducing authors from the International Thriller Writers' Debut Authors Program. This week I'm thrilled to introduce an author who also plays an important role with ITW. KJ is not just a fabulous author, she's also the Executive Director of ThrillerFest - one of the most important writers cons in the country for mystery and thriller authors and readers. Thank you, KJ, so glad you could join me! 
First let's introduce people to you and your debut novel:
KJ Howe was born in Toronto, Canada, KJ enjoyed a nomadic lifestyle during her early years, living in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Caribbean, which gave her an insider’s view into many different cultures. While abroad, she read every book she could find, which triggered in her a desire to create her own stories. 
KJ's first novel is THE FREEDOM BROKER, book one in a series about a kick-ass, kidnap negotiator named Thea Paris. 
Thea suffers from Type 1 Diabetes.  Since insulin isn’t readily available in some of the hotspots she works in, she must prepare carefully for her travels.  Life with T1 diabetes isn’t easy, but she refuses to let the condition get in the way of her calling.


“Razor sharp and full of you-are-there authenticity—a superb thriller.”   #1 NYT Bestseller Lee Child
“Non-stop suspense, commanding attention from the start and never letting go…a must for thriller fans.” Booklist, Starred Review
“She’s tough. She’s smart. She’s diabetic. The best scene involves bungee jumping over the Zambezi River. It’s worth the price of the book. A spectacular start to what promises to be a great Thea Paris series.” Kirkus, Starred Review

The Interview
Your first novel, "The Freedom Broker" is a fast-paced Thriller about hostage rescue. How did you learn to write such tense, tight, dynamic prose?
Thanks for your kind compliment.  Still loads to learn when it comes to writing, that’s for sure.  I’ve always tended towards lean prose, perhaps because I’m a former medical writer, and I’ve had to write articles with precise word counts.  I’m an advocate of powerful verbs and short sentences, keeping words to an essential minimum.  I’ve also been fortunate to study with some phenomenal authors, including David Morrell, Steve Berry, and Lee Child, who have taught me the value of making every word earn its place. The succinct but invaluable advice I got from Steve, “write tight” is always at the forefront of my mind when I am working on a book.  And I hope to keep improving my prose as I write future novels in THE FREEDOM BROKER series. (Steve Berry is a wonderful supporter of up and coming writers and debut authors. Thank you Steve!)
Both you and your protagonist, Thea Paris, are adventurous, travel the world, and enjoy challenging experiences. In what other ways are you similar and where do your personalities diverge?
Great question.  As a writer, it’s impossible not to inject yourself into your character, but it’s also wonderful that you can diverge and make things up as well.  Both Thea and I have had international upbringings.  I lived in many places growing up, including Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and Europe.  I wanted to share that experience via Thea, as I really enjoyed the international experience.  
Thea loves sports, and so do I.  We both adore adrenaline as well.  In kidnap negotiations, it’s important to understand human behavior, so that’s another area Thea and I are both fascinated by.  As far as differences, she is vigilant and finds it hard to trust whereas I tend to be more open.  But to be fair, she has good reason to be suspicious of others.  And Thea speaks seven languages, whereas I’m comfortable in English, passable in French, and know a smattering of phrases in other languages that get me by.  And, let’s face it, she is way more badass than I could ever hope to be!
In addition to being a writer, you are the executive director of Thrillerfest, the International Thriller Writers' annual conference. How has that experience impacted you as a writer? What draws you to not only being a writer, but supporting others in their writing careers?
I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of ITW.  It’s a special organization, as our members are supportive, positive and always there to advise and assist.  I have been the recipient of this special magic, and I’m eternally grateful for it.  If you’re an aspiring writer, please join ITW.  You won’t regret it.  We are proud to be celebrating our 500thdebut author this coming July at ThrillerFest, and we hope to keep building on that number. 
I’m passionate about helping others realize their dreams as others have helped me realize mine.  Being the executive director means I get to meet a lot of wonderful people, and I truly love to help any way I can.  Let’s get your name on the front of a book.
You chose to give your protagonist a serious medical condition, Type 1 diabetes, as something she has to juggle along with her often life-threatening career choice. What led you to that decision for her? And how does it impact Thea as a character?
I’m a former medical writer, and I’ve written about diabetes for years.  My grandfather had diabetes and watching him inject himself and having him explain to me what he was doing left indelible memories.  Over 29 million people in the US, and 371 million worldwide, have this illness, and I hope to bring awareness about it so we can help keep people healthy and hopefully find a cure. 
Without insulin, Thea would die.  This creates inherent conflict for her and the story.  She travels to the globe’s hotspots where medicine and supplies aren’t always easily available.  Being prepared is key.  She also keeps her illness a secret, as she worries about her team’s reaction because they go through intense physical demands while on a mission.  But as you’ll see in THE FREEDOM BROKER, Thea’s secret will be revealed.
I also wanted to show that Thea may have diabetes, but she is not defined by her illness.  She is an independent, intelligent, and active woman who loves adrenaline and action.  Diabetes is not going to get in the way of her passion to bring hostages back home.  I’m deeply grateful to two lovely ladies, Bethanne Strasser and Laura Rogers who helped me understand what it is like to live with type 1 diabetes as a dynamic woman.
How does a background in business impact you as a writer?
It’s critical to find ways to get the word out about your books, and my business background has been helpful, as books are wonderful products that definitely need marketing in today’s crowded milieu.  Writing is an art and a science, but when your book is completed, it’s key to switch hats and distance yourself from your novel, asking yourself what makes it fresh or different than what’s out there, and try to find a non-fiction hook that you can use to interest the media.  
For example, kidnapping is an international crisis with over 40,000 reported cases every year—and it has been at the leading edge of the news, especially with ISIS kidnapping journalists.  I hope this will interest people.  In THE FREEDOM BROKER, I wanted to delve deeply into kidnapping and explore this unique and fascinating world.  I hope people will enjoy learning while they read and I also would like to create awareness about all the hostages that still need help to come back home. 
Being a writer today, you have to be the master of your career, in that you need to politely reach out to others for help, work very hard at both writing the best book you can while also consistently working on the marketing aspects.  It’s tough.  Gone are the days where writers can closet themselves off and be hermits.  We need to be able to speak on the radio, appear on TV and other media, and reach out to readers face-to-face.  Perhaps the most important thing is to have fun doing it, as people will feel your joy and want to learn more about you and your book. 
What are you working on now?
I’m almost finished my second book in THE FREEDOM BROKER series, and it’s called SKYJACK.  Thea Paris is shepherding two former child soldiers from Africa to their new adoptive home in London when the plane they are on is hijacked.  From the CIA, the Vatican, and the secret stay-behind armies in Italy and Austria, Thea is up against more than she first realizes…and the adventures begin. ( I just wanted to say, that's a fantastic title. Can't wait to read SKYJACK.) 
Final Words of Wisdom:
I would recommend aspiring authors find a subject matter and character they are incredibly passionate about, as publishers particularly like series.  Choose a character you can see yourself writing for years to come.  Once you find the right milieu, embrace criticism from credible sources to become a better craftsperson and storyteller.  Never stop learning, and when you are faced with rejection, let it embolden you to work harder.

Thank you for having me on your blog, Elena.  Such a pleasure knowing you, and I really appreciate your hard work with ITW.  Thea will come help you, anytime, anywhere.

(I love having Thea on my side! Check back soon for my interview with debut author Shaun Coen )

What Does a Venezuelan Jail, Gang Members, and a Brand New Novel Have in Common? Christina Hoag!

Today is the last day of my amazing blog tour. What a fantastic experience, thank you Escape With Dollycas! You can read all about my final stop- Cassidy's Bookshelves - by clicking on the link here.

But now it's time to look forward to new things. I'm very excited to be launching a new blog series. I have the pleasure of being the chair for the International Thriller Writers' Debut Author Program. In that position, I get to meet and interact with a host of debut mystery and thriller writers as they navigate their first year as published authors. Having just gone through that same experience myself, I decided it would be a lot of fun to host as many of them as I can on my blog. Check back regularly to find out what new author graces the cover of my page.Christina Hoag - debut author of Skin of Tattoos      First up, I have the pleasure of introducing an amazing writer and journalist. Christina is the author of not only her first novel, Skin of Tattoos , but also the non-fiction book Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence , and the YA novel Girl On The Brink . For more information, visit Christina at www.christinahoag.com

The Interview You have an amazing bio - threatened by a death row inmate, interviewing gang members and thieves, not to mention speaking fluent Spanish and French and traveling the world. I'd love to hear more about any of those amazing events - tell us one story about your colorful past.
I don’t normally talk about the things I’ve done because I don’t want to be seen as bragging, nor can people really relate to them. But since you asked! Here’s one.

I was doing a story on Venezuela’s prison conditions for a human rights magazine, particularly focusing on an infamous jail in Caracas called El Reten de Catia. I needed to get inside to talk to inmates and see the conditions for myself. I was denied entry by the Ministry of the Interior because they could not guarantee my safety inside the jail. (That gives you an idea of how out-of-control it was.) I don’t recall how, but I found a Filipina nun who went in every week to minister to inmates.  She said she would take me in, but I would have to adopt the cover that I was a nun. Fortunately, she did not wear a habit, just jeans and T-shirt. I signed on.
You could smell the jail from a block away. The air stunk of raw sewage. We queued up with several hundred other women, including a fair number of prostitutes, to go through a security check, which involved lying on a table and unzipping your pants so female guard could pat down your pelvic area. I was extremely lucky. Just the past week, they had stopped doing vaginal searches!
Once we were inside the jail, we were in territory ruled by inmates. No guards were in sight.  The place was horrific. The cafeteria/dining area was coated in a thick layer of black grease. There was no running water in cellblocks. Inmates had to fill buckets from communal faucets to take them to their cells, which were jampacked. Inmates slept in hallways on mattresses on the floor. They were also heavily armed with shanks (homemade weapons). One showed me a sharpened bed leg that he kept in the back of his pants. Since metal bed frames were the source of many weapons, the beds were supported on upturned buckets or on the floor. There was no visiting area. Visitors roamed free in the cellblocks. Many inmates were desperate to talk to the “hermanas” (sisters) to have some outside contact. Some were not so friendly. I asked a lot of questions, storing answers in my head since I couldn’t take notes. One prisoner got nasty and asked if I was a journalist. “We don’t like journalists,” he said. (I’m not sure why, maybe he didn’t want his drug trade exposed or something.) I had to rapidly head off his suspicions and say I was simply interested in prison conditions. We visited the so-called infirmary, a cement courtyard with sick inmates lying on the ground, and asked a prisoner with HIV what kind of care he was getting—a glass of milk every day, that was his medical care. I was certainly glad to get out of the place. It was truly a hellhole that degraded human beings. But I got my story.

Fortunately, a few years later, the jail got demolished as a symbol that the government was going to improve conditions throughout the prison system.  They may have improved somewhat, but I doubt they’re adequate.



In addition to being a journalist, you've written a non-fiction book, Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence. How did that come about?As a reporter! I wrote a feature for the AP about a former Black Panther in South Los Angeles, Aquil Basheer, who ran a program to train former gang members as community peacekeepers, gang interventionists is the formal term. He has become a sought after expert in countering community violence. (He’s spoken at the World Health Organization in Geneva, had two documentaries produced on his work, conducts trainings around the country and abroad.)  I thought it was a fascinating concept, as well as a story of redemption of people who had wrought great harm in their communities and wanted to make amends. Shortly thereafter, we started collaborating on a book, which ultimately took four years to write and sell, about Aquil’s model for accomplishing this conversion. I made it as narrative as possible, drawing on Aquil’s wealth of anecdotes from his four decades on the streets doing this work plus many of his team members’ stories, as well as a sort of how-to manual, which can serve anyone who works in inner-cities, where communities function with dynamics very different to other settings.  The book is being used as a text in various courses at UCLA, USC and The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. It’s a project that I found super interesting and, hopefully, contributes to the world being a better place.You have a very exciting life, what drew you to the time consuming, working all alone in a room to write a novel, and then go through the agony of finding a publisher? What made you want to be a novelist?The short answer: a vivid imagination combined with some sort of masochistic tendency! I won a prize for “writing interesting stories” when I was six years old so I guess writing was always there. It came out as soon as I literally learned how to put pen to paper. I was a voracious reader as a kid so that also made me want to write books when I grew up. When I discovered journalism in high school, I knew that’s what I wanted to do as a career because I could write. I wanted to be a foreign correspondent. Although I had written short fiction on and off my whole life, I never seriously pursued it as I was very involved in journalism, which I loved. Then one day, I suddenly decided I had to get serious about my childhood dream of writing a novel. I don’t really know how that came about. It was just something I had to do. That was about 2004-2005. I was a reporter at the Miami Herald at the time. I’ve been steadily working on my fiction ever since. Writing a novel is damn hard work. I just “love” these people who read a book and say “I could write that!” Well, go ahead and try! I’ve written my whole life and novels are the hardest thing to pull off, although I probably hold myself to higher standards than some writers.  However, the greater challenge also means the greater payoff in satisfaction. Ultimately, writing fiction is the only thing that completely absorbs me. I guess that’s why I am driven to do it.
You are a member of the International Thriller Writers Debut Author Program, what other events and PR do you have planned for your first year as a novelist?This year and next I’m planning to get to as many writers’ conferences as I can with the aim of networking with other authors, readers and publishing industry types and simply getting more name exposure. I’m going to Thrillerfest in July (very excited to be heading to New York after an absence of eight years!), Malice Domestic in April, California Crime Writers in June in Los Angeles, and probably a couple more as funds allow! I’ve actually found that fellow authors are very supportive of each other and are an incredible resource. A writer’s best friend is other writers. (Elena here - so excited to spend time with you at ThrillerFest and Malice Domestic!)
What do you like to do when you aren't writing or researching a story? 
 I don’t do much straight journalism any more as I’ve moved into corporate communication writing. I write a lot of speeches for executives at household-name companies, press releases, blog posts etc. I also edit dissertations and do big research reports for Congressional Quarterly Researcher.  It’s a schedule that allows me the time for my passion writing —my novels. I make an effort to get off my rump and exercise every day. I read a lot, of course, love theatre and movies, going to art galleries. Second to writing, however, my other passion is travel so I’m usually planning a trip somewhere.  I find travel super stimulating and nourishing  to the brain and the soul.
What are you working on now?I’ve actually been in a bit of a creative funk of late, waffling about which of various unfinished manuscripts to pursue. However, with the climate of growing political awareness in this country, my gut is telling me that it’s the right time to resurrect an old manuscript tentatively called “The Revolutionary.” It’s sort of a political thriller set in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2002 around the coup attempt of then-President Hugo Chavez, which I covered as a reporter. The protagonist is an expat who gets involved in the political scene with disastrous consequences.  Final Words of Wisdom:

Believe. Believe you can do it, that you have something to say. Believe in yourself, not in agents, editors, your next door neighbor. Yourself. Believe in your gut instinct, your intuition, and run with it.
Dare. Dare to be different, to stand out, to be unique, to be yourself, to write whatever the hell you want to.
(Elena here again. Thank you, Christina, for spending time with me on my blog - I'm so excited to introduce you to readers!)

Coming soon: Interview with debut thriller writer, KJ Howe.