Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 213

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week.

I'm delighted that now we have an efficient method of locating resources on writing topics when you need them—via the Writer's Knowledge Base search engine and software engineer and writer Mike Fleming's ingenuity. The links I tweet (which are writers' blogs, agents' and editors' blogs) all are added to the engine to make it easier for you to access the information you're looking for.

Hope you'll come back tomorrow when Mike talks a little about how he came up with the idea for the Writer's Knowledge Base and how it works.

Why Write a Novel—Your Reason is the Right One: http://dld.bz/M5wn

What Kind of Writer Are You? Career Themes: http://dld.bz/M5wh

Setting, POV, Backstory & Characterization: http://dld.bz/M5wf

Style Sheets: A Tool for You and Your Critique Partners: http://dld.bz/Mmme

If You Build it, They Will Read: Plotting With Layers: http://dld.bz/M5vU

Top 5 Things Writers Should NOT Do: http://dld.bz/M5vN

Reasons why today's crime novelists should read the classics of the genre: http://dld.bz/MxHY @mkinberg

Honing your dark hero: http://dld.bz/MmkR #amwriting

Youth *can* enjoy verbal storytelling: http://dld.bz/Mj7k and http://dld.bz/Mj7m @kevincordi

Do lit mags have the same chance for survival as popular titles? http://dld.bz/Mjz4

Expose Your Writing Sins: http://dld.bz/KVqM

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: The Food of Love: Spaghetti and Meat(less) Balls http://bit.ly/hBosGb @CleoCoyle

One author's life in writing (Guardian): http://dld.bz/MmhG

10 Tips to Ensure a Productive Writing Day: http://dld.bz/Mjy4 @elspethwrites

The Ancient Editor Goes to Lunch: http://dld.bz/Mjyz

A Feedback Format for Critiques: http://dld.bz/Mmkx

Tips for Avoiding Crime Fiction "Road Hazards": http://dld.bz/MxH4 @mkinberg

Nice wrap-up--Creativity Tweets of the Week: http://dld.bz/Mu7N

An author with a POV Q&A: http://dld.bz/MxCe @authorterryo

Dialogue Tags: How to Kill Off Some Of The Little Buggers: http://dld.bz/MxYz @SharlaWrites

The 10 Essential Grammar Rules—of Life: http://dld.bz/Mu7E

4 tips to prepare for your book launch: http://dld.bz/Mxq2 @hopeclark

An agent's post: How to Get Published (The Definitive Post): http://dld.bz/Mu77

Using Advertising Lessons to Make Your Story: http://dld.bz/MxpW @hopeclark

Need tips for plotting? http://hiveword.com/wkb/search?q=plot #amwriting

10 Ways to Promote Your Book in Your Own Backyard: http://dld.bz/Mmkp

Computers vs. longhand--and an interesting study on the pros and cons of both approaches to writing: http://dld.bz/Mu6n

Coincidences in writing: http://dld.bz/Mmjf #amwriting

Six Steps for Approaching Potential Critique Partners: http://dld.bz/MmgR

Critique Groups as an Unreliable Narrator: http://dld.bz/MjxJ #amwriting

The Most Important Thing A Writer Can Do (Other Than Read And Write): http://dld.bz/MwpS @ajackwriting

When Hiring a Publicist Make a Real Connection: http://dld.bz/MjtG

10 great places freelance writers can find story ideas: http://dld.bz/Mjtk

How to Be a More Effective Author Online: http://dld.bz/MbU9

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 4—Legions of Gladiators: http://dld.bz/MjsH

Handling Your Word Count: http://dld.bz/MjsF

Fantasy Writer's Use of History: http://dld.bz/MjrF

Talking about the novel you're working on: http://dld.bz/Mjqb #amwriting

The hero's journey: http://dld.bz/K8qS and http://dld.bz/K8rb

An editor's thoughts on pacing: http://dld.bz/K8q8

Improving Your Fiction: 246 Rules from 28 Modern Writers: http://dld.bz/KVqF #amwriting

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Chocolate Covered Strawberries! http://bit.ly/gvLirS @CleoCoyle

Platform–Why We Need One: http://dld.bz/MehS

Does your story involve language change? Some tips: http://dld.bz/Mehn

Examples of Sensory Details in Writing: http://dld.bz/Mek6

A trend toward present tense in YA? http://dld.bz/Mekk

3 Things the Novelist Can Learn From the Copywriter: http://dld.bz/MejU

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff Week: Word Counts: http://dld.bz/MehK

Is your book's setting ho-hum? http://dld.bz/KNYg #amwriting

10 Reasons Novel Manuscripts Get Rejected: http://dld.bz/MehD

Query Writing Troubles? It Might Be The Story, NOT The Query: http://dld.bz/MegF #amwriting

Storytelling--tips for crafting a verbal story: http://dld.bz/Mjnt @kevincordi

Character habits and other identifiers: http://dld.bz/Mjmk #amwriting

10 ways to make editors fall in love with your work: http://dld.bz/Megp

Top 10 love poems, in time for Valentine's Day (Guardian) : http://dld.bz/Mjxe #amwriting

On business cards for writers: http://dld.bz/Meg5

What your agent doesn't want to hear you say: http://dld.bz/Megz #amwriting

Writers react to AOL-HuffPost deal: now what? http://dld.bz/Mefj

6 Fiction Writing Techniques to Improve Your Blog: http://dld.bz/Med7

An agent says, "It's not my job to be your BFF.": http://dld.bz/Mjv6 #amwriting @gatekeeperspost

7 Tips for Using Hyphens with Adjectives: http://dld.bz/Med6 #amwriting

Why Adverbs Will Really Probably Always Mostly Suck: http://dld.bz/MjnR @charissaweaks #amwriting

An agent explains remainders: http://dld.bz/Medv

A Storyteller dives into Digital: http://dld.bz/MjmK @KevinCordi

The Subconscious In Writing: http://dld.bz/Medn @joanswan #amwriting

10 ½ Tips for Being a More Effective Author Online: http://dld.bz/MbU9

Behind the Scenes with a Literary Agent: http://dld.bz/MbPA #amwriting

Character-Driven/Plot-Driven: http://dld.bz/K8qq #amwriting

Writer's Tools: Worksheets & More: http://dld.bz/cXmN #amwriting

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Like Cheddar for Chocolate http://bit.ly/eDUj26 @CleoCoyle

Travel Writing Tips for Writers Who Can't Write Description: http://dld.bz/MbP2 #amwriting

Using (Or, Preferably, Not Using) the Subjunctive Mode: http://dld.bz/MbPx

Urban Fantasy and the Elusive Male Protagonist: http://dld.bz/MbNY #amwriting

What Your Query Says About Your Book: http://dld.bz/KVet

Tips for switching POV characters: http://dld.bz/Menb @authorterryo

There are no original fairy tales: http://dld.bz/MbNd

SF Editors & Authors Discuss Future of Publishing: http://dld.bz/Mema

How to Start On Twitter (Or Open a 2nd Twitter Account) Without Looking Like a Newbie: http://dld.bz/MaAU

Can Book Critics and Authors be Friends? http://dld.bz/MaA3

Want to create vibrant characters that pop off the page? http://dld.bz/KNXX #amwriting

Lighten Up! Cutting Down Your Word Count: http://dld.bz/MaAx

Bulking Up: Fleshing Out a Too-Short Novel : http://dld.bz/Ma9B #amwriting

Thoughts on when to follow your beta readers' advice and when to follow your gut: http://dld.bz/MaNq

The Scene Conflict Worksheet - Developing Tension in Your Novel: http://dld.bz/KVpB

How To Avoid Becoming Another Boring Writer's Blog: http://dld.bz/Ma8P #amwriting

7 Ways to Attract Attention to Your Book Sales Page: http://dld.bz/MbM2 @victoriamixon @thecreativepenn #amwriting

Three Places Where You Should Tell Instead of Show: http://dld.bz/Ma8r #amwriting

Cutting Overwhelm Down To Size: http://dld.bz/Ma7T #amwriting

The Future of Agents: http://dld.bz/Ma7A #amwriting

Learning to write from fruit: http://dld.bz/KVpa

How to copy and paste your Kindle highlights and notes into a Word file or email: http://dld.bz/KZE5 @galleycat

To Produce & Protect: 5 Things That Creators Can Learn From IT Geeks: http://dld.bz/KVf4

Want More Copywriting Clients? Here's a Surprising Way to Find Them: http://dld.bz/KVeM

Deciding When to Show and When to Tell: http://dld.bz/KUWM @4kidlit

One editor lists the marks of an amateur: http://dld.bz/K8qd

Shades of Gray: A Somewhat Liberating Spin on Story Structure: http://dld.bz/K8pk

The value of pausing for a critique: http://dld.bz/KNRj #amwriting

The Three Dimensions of Character Development: http://dld.bz/K8pa

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A Valentine's Day Cocktail http://bit.ly/eBOdOh @CleoCoyle

Working Together to Renovate Publishing–The WANA Plan: http://dld.bz/KNQV

10 Radical Ideas for Getting Kids to Read: http://dld.bz/KNPM

Listen to Full Audio of AWP Social Media Panel (Writer's Digest): http://dld.bz/KNQD #amwriting

Neuroscience for writers: http://dld.bz/KVkG

The Misleading "Research" By McSweeney's: http://dld.bz/KNQ2

A weekly roundup of informative agent tweets: http://dld.bz/KVhR @HeatherMcCorkle

10 dialogue musts for scriptwriters: http://dld.bz/KPf8

Are You Totally Missing Out The Heater Syndrome In Your Writing? http://dld.bz/KNPm #amwriting

Is Your Low Social IQ Dooming Your Blog? http://dld.bz/KNPc

What's popular on the WKB search engine today? http://dld.bz/KNNc #amwriting

Self-publishing--a checklist to see if it's right for you: http://dld.bz/KNMz #amwriting

How social media sells books: http://dld.bz/KNSV

How Much Editing Does a Contracted Book Need? http://dld.bz/KNMf #amwriting

7 Steps to Writing Success: http://dld.bz/KNKD #amwriting

Story-specific Words—Fitting Word to Story: http://dld.bz/KNKp #amwriting

Writing monsters--Part I http://dld.bz/KNJw and II http://dld.bz/KNJx #amwriting @ajackwriting

Descriptive Passages: Character: http://dld.bz/KNHF #amwriting

Tools for writers--to help brainstorm, write and, promote: http://dld.bz/KPgS #amwriting

Building writer karma: http://dld.bz/KNHm #amwriting

Pre-Submission Checklist: http://dld.bz/KPcS @4kidlit #amwriting

Plotting Made Easy - The Complications Worksheet: http://dld.bz/KPbX #amwriting

It's Time To Finish Your Book: 9 Productivity Tips for Writers: http://dld.bz/KNGk #amwriting

For those just getting started with online promoting--social media 101: http://dld.bz/KNSJ #amwriting

7 Surprising Things About Blogging: http://dld.bz/KNDh

Top Ten Reasons the editor doesn't love what your critique group loves: http://dld.bz/K8pZ

Tips for creating distinctive characters: http://dld.bz/KMEV

The Second Plot Point: http://dld.bz/K8nF

Advice for playwrights starting out: http://dld.bz/K7gr

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: My Guilt-Free Chocolate Bliss for Valentine's Day from Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/hlsXGo @CleoCoyle

Writing Screenplays vs Books: http://dld.bz/K6RM

Batman Noir: http://dld.bz/K24K

Writing sex--thoughts on the "how": http://dld.bz/K24R

6 Types of Twitter Tools That Come in Handy: http://dld.bz/K247

Too Fast, Too Furious, and Way Too Much: http://dld.bz/K246

Why Agents Get Snarky: http://dld.bz/K24s

How to Learn Story Structure in Two Minutes or Less: http://dld.bz/K8pm

Is It Your Manuscript or YOUR Manuscript? http://dld.bz/K24g

How to write a spec for TV: http://dld.bz/K6SP, http://dld.bz/K6SQ, http://dld.bz/K6SR

10 Laws for Author Self-Promotion: http://dld.bz/K23N

Author Janice Hardy on the importance of first lines: http://dld.bz/Kqf8

The Unreal, and Why We Love It, Part 4: Laughter: http://dld.bz/KqeW

Publishing Options Series: The "Traditional" Route: http://dld.bz/KqeH

YA Fiction-Style & Content-Part II: http://dld.bz/Kqe7

Harper's Magazine: The Exit Plan Cometh: http://dld.bz/Kqe5

10 Marketing Strategies You Can Implement Today: http://dld.bz/Kqee

Challenges and hurdles women writers face when submitting work: http://dld.bz/KCwZ

Conflict, Tension, and Stakes on Every Page: http://dld.bz/KqdZ

Running on Autopilot: Working With Unconscious Goals: http://dld.bz/Kqd2

A Left-Brained Approach to Revision: http://dld.bz/K6mW

Writing for the Emotions: http://dld.bz/KmNS

The Writer's Knowledge Base--now with 6000 links (and constantly adding more): http://hiveword.com/wkb/search @hiveword

The Critique Partner from Hell, or One Hell of a Critique Partner: http://dld.bz/KmN8

Lessons from the screenwriters: http://dld.bz/K6m5

Links of associations, guilds, and professional organizations for screenwriters: http://dld.bz/K6MG

Setting up tension: http://dld.bz/K6kx

Advice on Selling Screenplays: http://dld.bz/K7aV

The Difference Between Lit Agents & Script Agents and between a script manager and script agent: http://dld.bz/K7ar and http://dld.bz/K7a4

Talking Script/Screenplay Managers: http://dld.bz/K6ZX

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: 10-10-10 Pork Tenderloin http://bit.ly/elCYU9 @CleoCoyle

Misused Words—Common Writing Mistakes: http://dld.bz/KmMZ

Tips for Fighting Writer's Block: http://dld.bz/KmMU

Defining story arcs: http://dld.bz/K6jY

What happens if an agent says yes? (After the celebration dies down, that is.): http://dld.bz/KmM6

The Writer's Knowledge Base--now with 6000 links (and constantly adding more): http://dld.bz/Hnnn @hiveword

TV scriptwriters--links for conferences and festivals: http://dld.bz/K6Mm

Feel the Rhythm of the Words: http://dld.bz/KmMs

Writing: The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion: http://dld.bz/KmMq @4kidlit

List of the most commonly used YA cliches: http://dld.bz/KmMM

Using foreshadowing: http://dld.bz/K6jC

Why realism does not equate to adult (or even good) fantasy: http://dld.bz/KmKZ

How writing software changed one writer's life for the better: http://dld.bz/KmJH @JustusRStone

Writing a TV series (5 parts): http://dld.bz/K6T3 , http://dld.bz/K6T4 , http://dld.bz/K6T5 , http://dld.bz/K6T6 , http://dld.bz/K6T7

Screenwriting Software & Filmmaking Tools: http://dld.bz/K6Ku

9 Techniques to Delivering a Speech with Confidence: http://dld.bz/KmJS

Twitterific...the week in tweets and the WKB: http://dld.bz/K6gy

Writing, Publishing And Book Marketing Tools For The Mac Lover: http://dld.bz/KmJ2 @thecreativepenn

Tips for writing description: http://dld.bz/K5Y4

Seven Tips To Beat Eyestrain: http://dld.bz/KmHb

Once upon a yawn...what makes a story boring: http://dld.bz/KmGW

5 Steps to Captivating Readers with Your Secret Message: http://dld.bz/KmF9

Clichés–Are They Really That Bad? http://dld.bz/KmFu

Taxes and the freelance writer: http://dld.bz/KmFe

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: It's Super Sunday! http://bit.ly/eJ9KuS @CleoCoyle

Running Our Races & Becoming Winners: http://dld.bz/KmEd

Finding Commas in All the Wrong Places: http://dld.bz/KmET

How To Create a Writer's Resume: http://dld.bz/KmEH

Format Your Novel for Submission: http://dld.bz/KmE8

How to Choose a Search Friendly Domain Name: http://dld.bz/KmEn

How Similar Are You To Your Protagonist?

A popular question on panels is "Are you anything at all like your protagonist?"

It's an interesting question, I think, because each writer feels differently about incorporating themselves into a story.

Reasons I've heard why writers write parts of themselves into books:

Some writers view writing as a therapeutic process, working through problems or tragic events through their characters.

It can be easier to get into a character's head or make the character pop on the page if the character is based on the writer.

The writer's own background, skill-set, or professional knowledge can be used in the book for a realistic touch. (The protagonist may share the writer's occupation or hobby.)

It can give the writer an opportunity to change the outcome of a situation they were in, through fiction.

Reasons I've heard why writers don't write themselves into books:

They're private people.

Their lives don't seem interesting enough to write about.

Also interesting to me is the way that many writers I've listened to will use an absolute on the subject. "No, I'm not like my protagonists," or "Yes, I'm similar to my protagonist."

I've done the same thing—I usually say, "No, I'm nothing like my protagonists." Because, honestly, if I wrote myself into a book—no one would read it. This is why I make things up. Besides, I'm not the kind of person who is protagonist material. I don't make things happen…I like to observe them happening.

But it's not true that I'm nothing like my protagonists. There are bits of me in them. One protagonist is an insomniac. Two protagonists are impatient. One protagonist is distracted and forgetful. Most of the things that get a small mention are actually my shortcomings.

I'd not thought about it, but when I write my shortcomings into books, I'm poking fun at myself. It's a good way to blow off tension because my shortcomings tend to stress me out.

So I think, that most writers will use a combination approach. If they are consciously writing themselves, then they leave some materia out (at least, I'd imagine they would. I sure wouldn't be able to let it all hang out there.) If someone thinks they never write themselves into a book…maybe, like me, they don't even realize they're doing it.

How much of yourself goes into a book? How much is complete fiction?

Thoughts on Writing Longhand vs. on Computer

I grew up writing reports for school in longhand. When I really wanted to make a report fancy, I used a typewriter.

Computers in high school and college were rare. The odd Apple IIE was in the county library or the school's lab. The computers bombed a lot and the printers were unreliable. I stuck with my Brother typewriter that had the capability of remembering a line of text. I could look at the line and correct it on the tiny screen before it printed out.

When I was an intern at a London magazine in college, I was given the assignment to report on spring fashion. The editor wanted it later that afternoon. There was no internet then (no internet that was accessible to regular people, at least), so I looked out the window at what people were wearing and wrote it into the story. I jotted it down in longhand on paper, then typed it up.

In fact, that's how I wrote everything—on paper before copying it over on the typewriter.

When I started novel writing, I naturally gravitated to paper. I found it very disorganized, though—I wrote out of order sometimes and there were scenes that needed to be in other parts of the story. And frequently I knew I was writing stuff that was helping me know a character better, but it was material that was going to get axed before the last draft. I used lots of highlighters and actual scissors to help me organize my scenes.

It didn't take me long to realize that to write faster and reach the deadlines that were starting to mount up, I needed to switch over to a computer. Besides, I'd frequently lose the different pieces of paper that my story was on.

I learned how to be creative on the computer. But I kept revising on paper. I'd print out my manuscript (which is a lot of paper, if you think about 270 or so pages, single-sided) and then I'd take the manuscript with me everywhere. I'd pull it out of my huge pocketbook and edit it while waiting for school to let out, etc.

I do think that sometimes reading on paper can help find errors that reading on a screen can't. But still—it was a really slow process. I'd have to turn pages on the manuscript, find the change on the page, find the spot on the computer, make the change…and then make sure I'd marked that I'd made the change or else I'd forget where I left off. It was also expensive and a waste of resources to print out that much paper…and I'd keep printing new versions of the manuscript to reflect changes. I switched to revising on the computer.

My struggle and eventual switch to mainly-electronic writing made me especially interested in a post on A Brain Scientist's Take on Writing. It involved a study (VANWAES, L., & SCHELLENS, P. (2003). Writing profiles: the effect of the writing mode on pausing and revision patterns of experienced writers Journal of Pragmatics,) on typing vs. longhand. You can read the study yourself, but I'll quote a few of the findings (directly from Livia Blackburne's blog:

1. The computer writers took half as much time to write the first draft than pen and paper writers.
2. The computer writers wrote texts that were approximately 20% longer.
3. The computer writers had a more fragmented writing process than the pen and paper writers.
4. Computer writers made 80% of the revisions in their first draft, as compared to pen and paper writers, who made only 50% of revisions in the first draft.

The authors observed that pen and paper writing seemed a more systematic and planned out process. This makes sense because it's harder to make a change on pencil and paper. With computer writing, you can just start writing and make changes as you go along.

This was similar to what I'd found with my own writing. It might have been nicer to write on paper (in many ways, I find it more enjoyable), but it sure is a whole lot quicker to write on the computer.

My writing friend, Hart Johnson, ran an informal survey on her blog a while back. She was curious about the ages and backgrounds of writers who wrote longhand, vs. those who wrote on the computer. She found that the writer's age was a factor (anyone who grew up on a computer was obviously going to find writing on a computer more natural) but also what else the writer did on a computer—if their day job was really uncreative, they might associate the computer with the non-creative day job and write longhand instead.

Do you write longhand? On computer? Or both?

Character Habits and Identifiers

I've noticed in the last few weeks that I'm getting a lot fewer

so far. And I don't think that everyone I know is mad at me. :)

But to them, part of who I am when I'm out driving around, is a Honda minivan. I'm not a Honda Pilot to them. Their gaze just skips right over the car.

As I was out driving the other day and being ignored by my friends, I started thinking about habits and identifiers that can help establish characters in our readers' minds.

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I'm reading a book, I have a hard time immediately placing a character. The author, obviously, thinks that this character is someone that they've already established and they haven't provided anything additional to jog my memory.

Because I find it frustrating as a reader, I try to make sure to somehow tag my supporting characters if they haven't been onstage for a while.

One way to do this is obviously to say something like: Jane's hairdresser, Sheri, opened the door.

Or: Sheri walked in. "Long day at the beauty parlor, y'all. Three customers didn't show up!"

The first way is a total 'tell,' but fairly unobtrusive for the reader. The second way is a little more 'show' but still gets the job done and establishes the character for the reader.

Another way is to give the character a trait of some sort to identify them. This would need to obviously be a detail memorable enough so that a casual reader could tie the trait and the character together to remember them. This could either be a physical trait (an engaging dimple; cold, hollowed-out eyes, messy hair) or a habit or action (shifting from foot to foot, avoiding eye contact, looking at their reflection in every mirror, etc.)

The purpose of this identifier is really just so the reader isn't wondering who the heck they are. But you could make it serve double-duty and have the identifier point to something that gives a little insight to the character: Jane thought again how odd it was that a manicurist would have nails bitten down to the quick. Actually, I think some of the actions I used in the example above can give some insight into characters, too.

Obviously, these identifiers can be overdone. If the secondary character is on stage fairly frequently, it would get annoying to have them reintroduced each time. The trait could get annoying, too, if done too frequently.

We also need to be mindful of clichés when making these identifiers for periphery characters. It's easy to tag a supporting character with quick and easy tags that are stereotypical (awkward nerd, lady of the manor, dumb jock, etc.) I think that sometimes that a stereotype is a quick way to have our reader "get" a character…if the character isn't very important to the story. If the secondary character is more important, then it's probably worth it to flesh him out more and give him more dimension.

How do you help your readers keep supporting characters straight?

On Following Advice

I think I drive my kids a little crazy sometimes.

Frequently I'll be driving somewhere in town and wonder how my GPS would tell me how to reach our destination. I know how to get there. But I wonder if my route is really the most efficient way.

So I punch in the destination and the GPS lady drones on, telling me which turn to take. "Take a right on Sar-deez Road North," she orders.

I very rarely follow the GPS lady's advice.

"Mom," my son will say through teeth that sound gritted, "why didn't you make the turn that she mentioned?"

"Oh, there's way too much traffic on that road. It'll be bumper to bumper. And there are stoplights practically every ten feet. The GPS lady doesn't know that. I'll just go straight and we'll get there faster."

"Why then," asks my son, very reasonably, "don't you just turn off the GPS? Her voice is annoying. And you never follow her directions anyway."

But I don't turn it off. Because sometimes she gives me an interesting alternate route that I hadn't thought of. Some days there's an accident or a delay of some kind on my preferred route…some sort of roadblock…and I need a different direction to follow.

You can see where this is going. But this is how I look at first reader advice—whether it's advice from a critique group or a friend or family member.

Your first readers may give advice that's very useful. Or they may give you advice that you just listen to, thank them for, and completely disregard as you continue on your own course.

Sometimes you may get conflicting suggestions from different critique readers. I've heard several writers talk about how confusing that can be and how they aren't sure whose advice they should listen to.

But then there are those helpful nuggets of advice that can put your story on a new and different course when you've hit a roadblock.

Ultimately, you should listen to your gut when you write your story. You usually know the best route to take with your book. Take the alternate course when it makes sense or when it's more efficient. (Editors, of course, are a different story. I make a point of always following their suggestions.)

After all—ultimately, you're the one behind the wheel.

How Does Social Media Sell Books?

A question I frequently get, and which I heard a lot this weekend at the Cape Fear Crime Festival, is "Does social media sell books?"

Many writers worry about spending time away from writing. Between the demands of job and family, it can be hard to even find time for writing. They want a good reason to invest time in social media.

What does social media give a writer? A platform.

Platform: When a writer has a healthy platform, it indicates to an agent or publisher the size of the potential audience that the writer can reach, promotion-wise, on their personal network. Or, as former literary agent Nathan Bransford put it:

Platform is the number of eyeballs you can summon as you promote your book.

The important thing, of course, is not to over-promote to this network you've established. That's the fastest way to lose followers. A subtle approach is always better.

Your platform leads to a certain amount of name recognition: Let's say there's a writer named Bob. Bob worked for years writing a book, edited for ages, crafted a query, honed a synopsis and his publishing dream finally became a reality. Now his book is on the shelf and online with thousands of other books. What makes Bob's book stand out from the others?

He did write a great book. Is it his reviews? Not too many readers follow reviews, though. Is it his back cover copy? His cover art? Those things do help…but what can help more than anything is name recognition for the book title or author or some recognition of the cover art. I've had readers email me that my book almost jumped off the shelf at them because the cover and my name were familiar—their eyes went right to it.

I've done the same thing myself. I took my daughter to the book store into the children's and YA area in early December. She asked me to help her find a book—and we were in a rush, needing to get to another event. "Could you pick one out, Mama? I can't decide," she said. I scanned the shelves and one of Janice Hardy's books seemed to leap at me. "Here you go," I said. "Let's give this one a go. Ms. Hardy is a great writer." And off we went to the register.

Have I ever met Janice in person? No. I know Janice from the blogging and Twitter world. She writes amazing posts on the writing craft. Would I have gone right to her book—bypassing hundreds of other attractively-packaged children's books that were nearby-- without knowing Janet online? I think eventually we 'd have discovered her wonderful books…but it would have taken us a lot longer.

I've heard writers worry over the fact that their social media is only reaching other writers—who are also promoting their own books. The only way I can answer that is to say that I've had very healthy sales and nearly sold-through my advance on pre-orders alone for last summer's release. Who knew about my book before it came out? Writers did. They might have bought the book to support me or because of curiosity or because they thought a family member or friend might like it. But I believe that my strong numbers were nearly completely due to writers.

With social media, unless you're tracking clicks over to a buy link, you may not have data to directly tie in your social media efforts to your sales. My data is limited to reports of sales that I've gotten from my network (messages from followers that they'd purchased a book), and sales in general.

But I believe that building a platform through social media results in sales. What's more, my agent and editors believe it, too. These days, in fact, agents and editors will likely consider a writer's platform as part of the overall package that includes their writing talent.

I know several of my regular readers have had great success with social media promoting. I know that even aside from promotion, that we all get a lot from our online network of writers. What is your impression of social media promo, either from what you've observed or what you've tried?

On the Social Media Shift for Promo

Like everything in publishing, book promotion is changing.

Because I spend so much time online, and am surrounded by blogging, Facebooking, and tweeting writing friends, I don't even think about social media being revolutionary in any way.

But there are still lots of writers who haven't made the leap to social media promoting. I met some of them this weekend.

When I blog about social media—its ability to reach a large number of people for (basically) free—I'm just preaching to the choir…because y'all are all online.

So I don't really know about these other writers unless I meet them face to face—they're not networking online.

They're still talking about creative ways to approach book signings. They're talking about tours and postcard mailings and posters.

Which, of course, is all still part of promotion…but doesn't have nearly the scope that social media has.

When was speaking on the Cape Fear Crime Festival promo panel on Saturday, I mentioned that I found book signings ineffective. I recommended spending that time developing a blog or opening a Facebook or Twitter account. There were a few writers in the audience who looked at me as if I'd grown horns on my head.

A couple of people told me later they didn't really even know where to begin with the social media world.

So I promised to blog on it. :)

Here's my take on getting started:

Blogging: I think this is probably the best way to get introduced to social media. The blogging habit comes fairly easily to writers and it's not too hard to learn a blogging application. Blogspot is Google's free blog program, and WordPress is another popular blog host. It doesn't really matter which you choose.

The important thing is to regularly update your blog (you can choose daily or weekly but I wouldn't space it any farther apart than that) and to interact with other bloggers. You can find great blogs in the blogrolls (sidebars) of active blogs. What do you blog on, if you're a writer? You can choose to blog on the writing life, writing in general, books you've read, movies you've enjoyed—basically it's your choice. It takes a while to really find a niche and get into the writing groove, but it will come.

Facebook: I think this is the second best way to make connections and start building a platform. The learning curve is fairly low and, once you're on, it makes pretty good sense. The way that conversations work on Facebook looks like a real conversation (unlike Twitter, which is a bit more scattered.) Facebook is where writers interact and network. Where can you find writers? Look up any writer who is active online (I'm Elizabeth Spann Craig Author) and go to their friend list. Click on their friends and just start asking people to friend you. I promise that 99% of these writers aren't expecting you to really know them for them to accept a Facebook friendship.

Twitter: Twitter is sort of the icing on the cake to me. If you're already blogging and Facebooking and picked up on it well and are looking for another social media outlet, I'd pick Twitter. The learning curve is just a little steeper for the application…its method for interaction is a little unnatural, I think. What I love about Twitter is the resource sharing and the fact that the messages are always short and punchy. When you read as much as we all do in a day, short can be sweet. Twitter is also a favorite application for agents and editors, and there is lots of industry information being tweeted.

I'm interested in what y'all have to say about this…do you think this order makes sense to someone just starting out, who is wanting to get their feet wet? I could be persuaded that Facebook could go first instead of blogging. What do you think?

********

Tomorrow I'm going to address the next question I got from folks about social media—how do I know this sells books? :)

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week.

My addition this week is an efficient method of locating resources on writing topics when you need them—via the Writer's Knowledge Base search engine and software engineer and writer Mike Fleming's ingenuity. The links I tweet (which are writers' blogs, agents' and editors' blogs) all are added to the engine to make it easier for you to access the information you're looking for.

Running Our Races & Becoming Winners: http://dld.bz/KmEd

Finding Commas in All the Wrong Places: http://dld.bz/KmET

How To Create a Writer's Resume: http://dld.bz/KmEH

Format Your Novel for Submission: http://dld.bz/KmE8

How to Choose a Search Friendly Domain Name: http://dld.bz/KmEn

How to Write a Synopsis When You Have Lots of Characters in Your Story: http://dld.bz/Ga9J

On The Importance of Failure: http://dld.bz/KmC6

Self-Publishing–The "American Idol" of the Publishing World: http://dld.bz/KmCw

Backstory: Relevant Information or an Inconsequential Event? http://dld.bz/KmB7

Creating Emotion in the Reader: http://dld.bz/KmBq

What question does your book pose? http://dld.bz/KmAK ./

Neuroscientists try to unlock the origins of creativity: http://dld.bz/KmAh

Creating Futuristic Vocabulary: http://dld.bz/Km9B

Why one writer chooses to write: http://dld.bz/KmAa

Shakespeare, SpongeBob, and the law: http://dld.bz/Kmxk @helengunnar

The New World of Publishing: Cash Flow: http://dld.bz/KmvC

Writer's guilt: http://dld.bz/Kqc3 @JulieeJohnsonn

7 Signs Your Blog is Bound to Fail: http://dld.bz/JZ7p

The Elements of Fiction—The Basics & Beyond: http://dld.bz/KmeT

Give your supporting characters more dimension: http://dld.bz/KkZ6

Best Articles This Week for Writers 2/4/11: http://dld.bz/KkJp

Roundup of links on self-editing: http://dld.bz/K

Victims aren't sexy: http://dld.bz/KnJN @tawnafenske

Why Support Other Writers? http://dld.bz/KmKp @ajackwriting

Tips for crafting dialogue: http://dld.bz/KmaN

Why editors may ask you to combine 2 characters: http://dld.bz/Gkud

Changing priorities and character growth: http://dld.bz/KmNy

Revising: How To Avoid Staring Into The Great Black Abyss: http://dld.bz/KkVp

How to Mingle at Publishing Events: http://dld.bz/KkUC

Are Book Editors Paid Too Much? http://dld.bz/KkKq

How to Avoid Head-Hopping: http://dld.bz/Kmj4 @JamiGold

Duties of an Editor & How Editors Help Writers: http://dld.bz/KmgK

Thanks so much @JoanSwan for featuring the WKB search engine on your site: http://dld.bz/Kmw6 @hiveword

Thoughts on proofing ARCs: http://dld.bz/KkHx

Why Writers Can't Have Too Many Sacred Cows: http://dld.bz/KkWE

The 4 Most Common Mistakes Fiction Editors See: http://dld.bz/KkJa

A freelancer question answered: "What should I charge for writing blog posts?" http://dld.bz/JZ7e

Eschewing Formal Language: http://dld.bz/JZ6T

An agent on how explicit sex scenes should be: http://dld.bz/JZ6G

Do You Blog Just Enough To Hate It? http://dld.bz/JZ6C

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Quick Change Chicken http://bit.ly/hD0kjH @CleoCoyle

Fiction and non-fiction--not so different after all: http://dld.bz/JZ66

The Race for the Future: http://dld.bz/JGSN

The pet peeves that add dimension well-known crime fiction sleuths: http://dld.bz/JTnZ @mkinberg

The importance of fact-checking: http://www.andrewjackwriting.com/2011/02/check-your-facts/ @ajackwriting

Tips for effectively opening your story: http://dld.bz/KeT7 @bluemaven

When the Inner Critic rears its ugly head…: http://dld.bz/JTpx @messydesklife

Literary elements to get familiar with: http://dld.bz/JZ4Y

Depth of Character: http://dld.bz/JZ4V

Is speculative fiction poised to break into the literary canon? (Guardian): http://dld.bz/JZ4N

5 considerations when using adjectives: http://dld.bz/JZ4M

26 Ways to Enhance Your Blog Content: http://dld.bz/JZ4z

How to Achieve Balance Between Your (God I Hate This Word) Platform and Your Writing: http://dld.bz/JZ4j

Creating an Attention-Getting Proposal: http://dld.bz/JZ37

Building a Story: Grids, Mapping and Outlines: http://dld.bz/JZ2X

How to submit writing craft links you think should be in the writers' search engine: http://dld.bz/Kb9x @hiveword

Pitching Genres: What the Heck do I Write? http://dld.bz/JZ2R

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 3—Heroic Romans: http://dld.bz/JZ2P

Are you a post pirate? You'll want to read this: http://dld.bz/JZ2J

When the Book Is Finished…Tips for Surviving the Post-Novel Mourning Period: http://dld.bz/JZxN

5 Writing Rules You Should Break: http://dld.bz/JZw5

Writing And The Mixed Blessing Of A Day Job: http://dld.bz/JTmT @thecreativepenn

You're The Artist—It's Your Job To Write What You Love: http://dld.bz/JGSh

Writing Blogs, Search Terms, and Our Corporate Overlords: http://dld.bz/JGRA

Doing A Whedon: When To Kill Off Major Characters: http://dld.bz/JGS6

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Bacon Cheddar Guacamole Grilled Cheese http://bit.ly/gqyvfq @CleoCoyle

Google Updates Google Reader, But Did Anyone Care? http://dld.bz/JGRm

Books vs. Music: http://dld.bz/JGPM

The Good News? Writing Never Gets Any Easier: http://dld.bz/JGQ6

Superpowers of the grammatical subject: http://dld.bz/JGQ2

Being Fictional: http://dld.bz/JGQb

Writing the Ending--2 tips to help you get to 'The End' - http://dld.bz/JSHg @jhansenwrites

Digital Book World: E-Books and Libraries? No Problem, Panel Says (Publishers Weekly): http://dld.bz/JGMn

3 Layers of 'Layering' in Fiction: http://dld.bz/JGMf

People Process Information Best In Story Form: http://dld.bz/JGMc

Grammar Police! That vs Which: http://dld.bz/J8ha

15 Minutes To Sanity: How One Writer Balances Housework And Writing: http://dld.bz/J8gJ

How Writing Careers Are Like Snowflakes: http://dld.bz/J7Vm

What is it really like to be published? http://dld.bz/J7Vd

Blood, Sweat and Words: How Badly Do You Want This? http://dld.bz/J7U3

Tips for writing action: http://dld.bz/J7Uu

"Wowed" by the Yanks, UK Indie Booksellers Motivated to Start Selling E-books: http://dld.bz/J7Ua

Ten Things to Help Writers Save $: http://dld.bz/J7TQ

Description Passages, Part I: Setting: http://dld.bz/J7Ax

Ten Twitter Blunders Writers Make: http://dld.bz/J7Aj

15 Scalable SEO Strategies for Newly Launched Websites: http://dld.bz/J7zW

Your First Draft is Allowed to Suck: http://dld.bz/J7z6

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Shrimp Pasta http://bit.ly/ePcsFo @CleoCoyle

From the Basement to The Attic: Remembering the Past and Creating the Future: http://dld.bz/J7zz

What's Your Excuse For Not Writing? http://dld.bz/J7sZ

The "Common Sense" Mistake That Makes Your Writing Lifeless: http://dld.bz/J7zq

7 inspiring writing quotes from 12 books: http://7quotes.webs.com/ @quotes4writers

5 Billboard Taglines That Advertise Errors (And A Quick Punctuation and Spelling Brush-Up): http://dld.bz/J7yZ

How to Choose a Writing Critique Partner (and Some Links for Finding Them): http://dld.bz/J7wC

8 New LinkedIn Features Worth Exploration: http://dld.bz/J7wp

10 Ways Authors and Publishers Fail on Twitter: http://dld.bz/JGFC @JanetBoyer

Launching a virtual book tour: http://dld.bz/J7vD

The Protocol For Following Up With Agents and Editors: http://dld.bz/J7tg

Have you tried it? The better-than-Google search engine for writers: http://dld.bz/Hnnn @hiveword

Anatomy of an Effective Blog Post: http://dld.bz/J7sK

Thoughts on different types of promo: http://dld.bz/JGGs

Learning to Say "No" to New Writing Commitments: http://dld.bz/J7sG

Dos and don'ts of public readings (National Post): http://dld.bz/J7sw

Why You Should Avoid Bright, Shiny Ideas: http://dld.bz/J7rY

Designing Books for a Digital Age (NY Times): http://dld.bz/J7rR

Is Doing a Blog Tour Really Worth It? http://dld.bz/J7r3

Querying The Cliché: http://dld.bz/JvQ6

What eBook Reading Apps Should I Use on the Laptop? http://dld.bz/JvQ4

Ten of the best walled gardens in literature (Guardian): http://dld.bz/JvQt

Freelancers--Why Your Article Ideas Aren't Working: http://dld.bz/JvNR

10 Places to Find Blog Inspiration: http://dld.bz/JvQp

How a Blogger Without a Blog Became a Blogger to Watch: http://dld.bz/JvQg

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Groundhog Day Giveaway: Six More Weeks or Not? Comment to Win from Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/erdksP @CleoCoyle

Writers Obsessed with Writers; Fancy Magazines (Paris Review): http://dld.bz/JvPv

Rethinking Rights in a Transmedia World: http://dld.bz/JvNs

Building writing routines: http://dld.bz/JvMG

5 areas to help authors consider their personal State of the Union: http://dld.bz/JvMk

How to Turn Your Photos Into a Graphic Novel: http://dld.bz/J73Q @GalleyCat

For Agents, Timing is Everything: http://dld.bz/JuB7

Do You Need To Write Short Stories? http://wp.me/pyMqx-c3 @ajackwriting

The Perils of Literary Profiling (NY Times): http://dld.bz/JuBx

Ten tips for taming a beastly to-do list: http://dld.bz/J7AF @tawnafenske

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 1/28/11): http://dld.bz/J79T

How to Download Word Files to Your Kindle: http://dld.bz/JuBj

Researching the historical novel: http://dld.bz/J7tG

3 Author Marketing Secrets From The Grateful Dead: http://dld.bz/JuBc

5 tips for establishing your characters: http://bit.ly/gehQX3 @p2p_editor

Borders Won't Make January Payments, Either, And They Aren't Paying Rent: http://dld.bz/J7xk and http://dld.bz/J7x7

Is the age of the critic over? (Guardian): http://dld.bz/JuAZ

A useful resource for describing settings, emotions, shapes, textures, and more: http://dld.bz/J6JG

5 Solid Ways to Get Traffic to Your Blog: http://dld.bz/JuAU

When you're introducing a character, make a good first impression for the reader: http://dld.bz/J6FA @elspethwrites

Freelancers: Jack of All Trades, Master of None? Seven Reasons to Specialize: http://dld.bz/JuAS

When and how often you should communicate with your publisher: http://dld.bz/JuAQ

Bookshops reply to the ebook threat: http://dld.bz/JuAJ

Poetry: a beautiful renaissance (Guardian): http://dld.bz/JuAA

"Am I a Writer Yet?" – Paid, Professional, Published, and Other Benchmarks Defined: http://dld.bz/JuAt

5 things one writer wishes she'd known before querying: http://dld.bz/JuAm

Some observations on erotica and gender: http://dld.bz/JuAg

Librarians--don't give up: http://dld.bz/J32R @LesaHolstine @Brad_Parks

The Purpose of Science Fiction: http://dld.bz/Ju9z

Being a Brand: http://dld.bz/Ju8u

10 ways to grow your Facebook following as an Author: http://dld.bz/Ju7U

Mythpunk: http://dld.bz/JvQJ

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Skillet Caramelized Pear Cake http://bit.ly/e7mOTf @CleoCoyle

What it means to be 'pre-published': http://dld.bz/Ju76

Eliminate Distractions to Increase Writing Income: http://dld.bz/Ju7a

How to Write a Query Letter: http://dld.bz/Ju6n

Tips from Alan Rinzler on how to untangle a plot: http://dld.bz/JxDv RT @inkyelbows

How to revise your novel if you can't get into it – take time to dress the set again: http://dld.bz/JrdY

Tips for having a blog tour: http://dld.bz/JrdR

How to work with the 4 levels of transition in a book: http://dld.bz/JrdK

Twitterific--the week in tweets: http://dld.bz/JvFR

What Literary Agents are Reading (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/JrdE

MASTER Recap of 2011 Writer's Digest Conference: http://dld.bz/Juvj

What happens after your query is sent: http://dld.bz/JnmR

Celebrity Death Match–Author Edition: http://dld.bz/JnmD

Is Science Fiction Getting More Conservative? http://dld.bz/Ju7m @PajamasMedia

How Creativity Wins Friends And Influences People: http://dld.bz/Jnmy

How to Avoid Being Fooled by Bad Writing Advice: http://dld.bz/Juva

A Good Metaphor is... : http://dld.bz/Jnmx

40+ Creative Manipulations to Feast your Eyes: http://dld.bz/Jnk8

Parents--nice list of books to hook a reluctant reader: http://dld.bz/JtGj @pragmaticmom

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Happy Cake http://bit.ly/hMjTHW @CleoCoyle

Graphic Noir: A Random Sample: http://dld.bz/JnjY

19 Posts on Creativity: http://dld.bz/JnjG

Writing scared--how writing can create anxiety...and might cure it (New Yorker): http://dld.bz/Jrc5 @bookbench

Successful Writers Produce: http://dld.bz/Jnjx

The overlooking and discounting of clues by sleuths in crime fiction: http://dld.bz/JqZW @mkinberg

Organizing for a Conference

Today, I'm attending the Cape Fear Crime Festival in Wilmington, NC.

This will be my second visit to this conference. I really enjoyed it the last time I attended—there was a nice camaraderie between the authors, I enjoyed the library location, Wilmington is pretty and walkable…and I'm not too far away to drive.

As soon as I find out the time for my panel, I make the hotel reservations. If I have, for instance, an 8 a.m. panel and I've got a drive that takes hours, then I'll stay the night before the panel instead of the night following it. Or vice versa. Helps to save a little money.

If the hotel I'm staying at doesn't have a free continental breakfast, I'll usually take something that doesn't have to be refrigerated that I can eat for breakfast. I'm a big believer in breakfast. :)

I do always try to have either lunch or supper or both with other authors…it's really where I have the most fun and have more of an opportunity to visit.

I keep all my receipts in an envelope so I'll be prepared at tax time.

If I'm traveling on the same day I'm attending the conference (like I am today), I wear something that won't wrinkle too badly. I like jersey knits for that. I wore linen once…ha! :) I don't know what possessed me.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it's a good idea to come prepared with giveaways—bookmarks, business cards, small giveaways. I've seen authors bring personalized note pads, luggage tags, lip gloss, computer monitor cleaners….just all kinds of swag. I usually don't go really over the top with stuff because it's hard to tote around—and because it's expensive. But at Malice Domestic, I did bring potholders with a BBQ theme that had my business card tied on to them.

I make sure to bring water (just in case the organizers don't provide it.) I'll bring a nice pen to sign books with, and I find out what the set-up is for book sales. Sometimes an independent bookstore will be in charge of book sales---and sometimes I'll need to bring my own books and small denominations of cash to make change with.

I'll prepare in advance if I know my panel questions ahead of time. I try to stay on track with the question and have succinct answers. I have a tendency, actually, to be too succinct, so I try to plan for elaboration of my answer, if I need to (if the moderator is glaring at me, for instance, because of my brevity. :) )

If it's a conference where I'm staying for a couple of days, then I will need to plan some down time in my hotel room. Otherwise, I tend to get a teensy bit on edge if I spend a whole lot of room with other people—even very nice people. And, although I'm very introverted in nature…I try to be outgoing at these events. In fact, most people who have met me think I'm outgoing. :) I'm apparently a great actress. There are several folks that are going to Cape Fear that I'm really interested in meeting…so I really will be outgoing today.

Are you planning on hitting any conferences this year? Have any tips?

Changing Priorities and Character Growth

I was talking to another parent the other day and thinking about how even small goals and priorities change with time.

When my daughter was a brand-new baby, my number one goal was just to keep her in clean bibs (spitty baby.) I'd go buy bibs in bulk and find the right size—big enough to keep her from ruining her smoked dresses, but not so big that you couldn't see the smocking (this was also around the time that I started writing my first book. I think the bibs started boring me. :) )

Shortly afterwards, my number one goal was to keep my toddling daughter from losing her lovey, Dirty Baby. Losing Dirty Baby was a complete and utter nightmare. I would do anything to keep from losing that dolly. The child couldn't sleep, eat, or do anything but wail unless Dirty Baby was in her arms. I ended up buying another baby doll just like that one and dirtying it up myself just in case we had a catastrophe and needed a substitute. I tell you, I was obsessed with Dirty Baby's well-being.

Then there was my ongoing attempt to get rid of my daughter's pacifier. She and I ended up sending the pacifiers up to the Guh-guh fairy up in the sky. (Yes. I tied several pacifiers onto a huge bunch of balloons and sent them up into space so that the Guh-guh fairy could redistribute them to babies who still needed binkies.

As my daughter grew older and went to elementary school, obviously, my goals and priorities changed and became broader and less focused on the day-to-day. And I became a bit more focused on me and what I wanted to do since I had a little extra time. That's when I started pouring more focused energy into both my writing.

As I look at the last nine years, I can see tremendous change in as far as what my personal priorities are.

What about our characters? It's important to know what our characters want…we hear a lot about that. But what about character growth that causes changes in characters' goals? As we get older, we experience change (jobs, finances, marriage, divorce, children, empty nests, etc.), and our wants, needs, priorities, and goals change.

Sometimes our goals and priorities can change rapidly in response to an abrupt change of circumstances; a catastrophic financial burden like a family member's expensive medical problem, a grown child who moves back home, an aging parent, etc.

Obviously, this can also bring conflict or even changes in a character's outlook on life. Think about the main character in the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life. His priority was always to go off and see the world—until reality in the form of various family and community responsibilities forced him on a different track. So you could even have the character's dream and the character's reality be in conflict with each other.

Do you know what your character wants? Has what your character wants changed at all, or could it?

************************

Also—I have an announcement to make. :) I just signed a contract for a new, three-book mystery series with Penguin's NAL imprint under my own name. The series is set in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina and the first book (which I'm currently writing) involves a murder that affects members of a quilting guild in the small town of Dappled Hills. Thanks to Penguin and to my agent, Ellen Pepus, for the opportunity!