Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 70

October 21, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: Books

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve made a point to more than double the amount of reading this year than the year before. As with my consumption of film, music, and TV, I’ve tried to expand into new genres as a reader, hoping to better-inform my writing.

This has been made easier, once again, by keeping up with a TBR list (to be read) and by tracking what I’m reading.

Finding books to read:

I get a good number of suggestions from friends (both online and in person). But I’ve also found these things useful:

Goodreads. It’s not nearly as scary as a reader as it is for a writer. Here I track what I read, make private notes on the stories, and rate them to remind myself how I enjoyed them. I also follow reviewers whose tastes overlap with my own. Or sometimes I end up in a sort of rabbit hole of recommendations there.

Book challenges. This has been a useful way to branch into other genres. This year I’ve used Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge and I’ve taken some of the suggestions in this post of from Katie McLain.

Newsletters. I have found good recommendations for (mostly) nonfiction from Austin Kleon‘s newsletter and the Farnum Street newsletter.

Website: I’ve discovered lots of good books through Largehearted Boy’s year-end compilation of best books lists.

Tracking Reading

I’m doing my tracking through Goodreads (not my author profile there). This way I can make private notes on various books, remind myself how I liked it, and find out from Goodreads when authors I enjoy have new or upcoming releases.

How do you find what you read? Do you keep track of it?

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Published on October 21, 2018 21:01

October 20, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 48,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately? Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox! Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

The importance of backing up your work: @hmgardner @TheIWSG

How to Get a Good Author Photo — And Why You Need One: @BrynDonovan

How to protect your book’s confidentiality (video) : @pubcoach

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

5 Things to Remember When Running Writing Workshops: by Sophie-Louise Hyde @writingcookbook

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018 Records a Mild Increase in Attendance: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Aleida and Jan Assmann Presented with German Book Trade Peace Prize in Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

FutureBook Awards 2018 Shortlists Announced at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Northern Ireland’s Anna Burns Wins 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction: @ManBookerPrize @Porter_Anderson

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Published on October 20, 2018 21:02

October 18, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: Music

by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethscraig

For years I’ve disputed the fact that music has any sort of influence on my writing at all. I think this is because, when I write, I can only listen to lyric-free songs (New Age, Jazz, Classical) or else it creates a disruption. Plus, I’m not usually directly inspired by music in terms of the music informing a work (with the possible exception of my Rage to Refuge book). For artists who have been and their musical recommendations, see Roz Morris’s excellent blog, The Undercover Soundtrack.

I don’t think I really realized how much music helps me. As with television and film, seeing/hearing other artist’s creativity helps motivate me and fills my creative well. I also think that writing with music in the background (even with all the specifications that I put on the music) helps me write at a faster clip.

I ran into a problem more than a year ago, however, where I felt as if everything I was listening to was stale. I think it was more that I was stale. I needed to broaden the repertoire of what I was listening to. I was in a rut.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options now. Growing up, the only music I listened to was whatever was on a record or (later) a CD we had, or whatever was playing on the radio.

Now there are lots of streaming options.

As an Amazon Prime customer, I use their music option every day. They have playlists, stations, and individual songs and artists to listen to. They have lots of tunes for me to write to, and I’ve discovered new songs and artists by listening to stations and playlists featuring music I’m unfamiliar with. I’m using the service that comes free with Prime.

My kids (21 and 17) recommended Spotify to me. Again, I’ve opted for the free service and just deal with the ads. I was a little lost there at first, but then found a few cool public playlists…one of them the New York Times playlist. It has a variety of different kinds of music and I’ve made lots of interesting discoveries there. The Rolling Stones playlist of the 500 best songs is also excellent.

Pandora is another option. This was the first streaming service that I used, years ago. I don’t listen to it quite as much anymore with the other options available, but it’s still worth a try. Again, I’m a fan of free. :)

Finding Recommendations:

I subscribe (one of apparently 55,000+) to writer and artist Austin Kleon’s free weekly newsletter. His focus is the creative life. As he puts it: “Every week I send out a list of 10 things I think are worth sharing — new art, writing, and interesting links straight to your inbox.” Some of his ’10 things’ are music playlists or spotlights on musicians. I’ve added several of his Spotify recommendations to my music library there.

But most of what I discover I do so through listening to stations and playlists by musicians I’m unfamiliar with. This is the serendipitous approach, but has worked well for me so far. Although in many ways I think music transcends age, some of the stuff I’d have enjoyed in the past totally eludes me now. But I find even more music that suits my tastes by being bold with experimenting.

I’m definitely still fine-tuning this process and I’d love to hear from others how they discover music and keep out of ruts. How do you do it?

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Published on October 18, 2018 21:02

October 14, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: TV and Films

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve written before about being intentional about free time. By doing a little planning ahead, I feel a lot more relaxed and recharged. Instead of looking for something good to read or good to watch (and sometimes failing or running out of the precious free time in the process), I’ve carefully built up a list of things I want to read and watch.

That worked so well that I’ve made another discovery in the process. By being intentional about what I read, watch, and listen to, I’ve been able to broaden what I’m consuming and help inform my writing in the process.

I’ve made a conscious effort to expand what I’m consuming into new genres, international films, translations, and different types of music to write or read to. In return, I’ve had a real rush of creativity and new ideas (or even new ways to approach older series).

With that being said, I thought I’d run a short series on finding and tracking media. Today I’m covering what I use for film and television. Friday, I’ll cover music. Monday, I’ll cover books.

Sources:

For many years I told people that I didn’t really watch television. This was true–because I wasn’t a fan of sitcoms or reality television or whatever else happened to be running on TV at the time. But curating and watching good shows and films on demand is so much better–you know you’re getting something good (and you can determine later whether it’s to your taste or not). It also amuses me to call it ‘television.’ I don’t think we even have a true TV in our house anymore…only monitors.

I’ve developed something of a system for discovery. Again, the idea is to pick something that’s well-reviewed, but perhaps not something that I’d ordinarily watch (and definitely not something that I have watched).

Worth mentioning is the fact that we’re basically unplugged from cable at our house (we have a very basic program). Instead, we watch on demand: using Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS (we’re donors and can use their ‘passport‘), and Sling (yes, this is still cheaper than satellite and cable here, ha!) You can also find many movies and shows through your local library. I’m a fan of Ann Cleeves as a reader and when browsing my library’s offerings in her series, I found the television series based on her books. I could watch the shows free through the library via Hoopla.

Lists of well-rated content to stream:

Digital Trends updates their list of top Netflix picks monthly.

Collider does the same.

For a wider range, look for highly-rated foreign films and shows (sometimes I’ll pull up older articles on the topic and just add the shows that aren’t currently available for streaming on my watchlist for later).

Helpful articles for foreign films are:

Paste Magazine

Uproxx

Decider

Jane Friedman in her Electric Speed newsletter (I subscribe to this free, semi-monthly email…her archives are here) recently recommended using the New York Times ‘Watching.’ I created an account there. By looking up and marking (by clicking a heart) my favorite shows and films, the site came up with recommendations (and told me where to stream them). By clicking the bookmark icon, I developed a watchlist.

Also, the more good content that you watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu, the more good content that their algorithm pulls up for you as recommendations. I’ve gotten some great, tailored recs from all of the streaming services.

Tracking what we watch:

Maybe this isn’t as important to everyone else, but my memory is terrible. When I can’t remember what I’ve watched (or listened to or read), it keeps me from finding more things that I’d like. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t think the streaming services do a great job of helping me track. And having a bunch of stuff on my watchlist that I’ve already watched (unless it’s a series in progress), isn’t helpful, either.

So far, the most helpful thing I’ve found is the above-mentioned NYT Watching.

Do you watch much television or films? How do you find what you want to watch? Do you track it?

TV and Film as Inspiration: Finding What's Good:
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Published on October 14, 2018 21:02

October 13, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

New Stuff

Free: The online Indie Novelist Summit October 17-21. Experts include Joanna Penn, James Scott Bell, and Janice Hardy.

Business / Miscellaneous

Max Boot’s ‘Corrosion of Conservatism’: A ‘Big Book’ for WW Norton at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @MaxBoot

Tips for Avoiding Awkward Author Photos: @IndieReader

Readers Don’t Care Who Publishes Your Book: @writeabook

Frankfurt: Self-Censorship and Morality in Publishing Today: @rogertagholm @FabricePiault @arpitayodapress

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Wattpad Announces 600 New 2018 Watty Awards in 10 Languages: @Porter_Anderson

Inger-Maria Mahlke Wins the 2018 German Book Prize: @HannahSJohnson @pubperspectives

How to Create an Unforgettable Author Visit: @erikaliodice @WriterUnboxed

US National Book Awards Finalists: This Year Including Translations: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

Top Resources for NaNoWriMo Preparation: @the_writing_pal

To Nano or Not To Nano: @JennyHansenCA

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

Tips for Writing Your First Book: @TCKPublishing

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

5 Reasons to Use Pictures as Writing Prompts: @sarahstypos

Cross-Pollinating Our Work: @cleemckenzie @TheIWSG

The Mysteries of Creativity and Meditation: @barbaraoneal @WriterUnboxed

Writing Prompts: 60 Ideas You Can Use Today: @Carlton_Mukasa

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

7 Books We Wish We Could Read Again for the First Time: @Keith_Rice1 @SignatureReads

Urban Fantasy Noir: 7 Urban Fantasy Crime Novels With Dark Sensibilities: @Richard_Kadrey @CrimeReads

10 Favorite Moments from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: @EmmanuelNataf @ReedsyHQ

Six Literary Visions of the Future: @cloudy_vision @tordotcom

Prepping for NaNo? 15 Books for the Writing Life: @HachetteUS @KateHarveston @jessicaesquire

9 Best Novels About Films: @TobiasCarroll @SignatureReads

10 Little-Known Children’s Books by Famous Writers: @knownemily @lithub

The Real Reason The Sorting Hat Placed Albus Potter in Slytherin House: @use_theforce_em @tordotcom

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Writing Shouldn’t Be Its Own Reward: @RosanneBane

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Too Much To Do? How To Re-Focus Your Writing Priorities: @thecreativepenn

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How To Beat Writer’s Block in 30 Minutes: @NatRusso

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

From Chester Himes to Judy Blume, 10 Writers and Their Cats: @alistasi @lithub

How Can We Write in Today’s Troubling World? @p2p_editor

If You Want to be a Writer, You Need to be Fearless: Here’s Why: @CVDalcher @SignatureReads

Confessions from a Weary Writer: @jmunroemartin @WriterUnboxed

3 Ways to Tell if a Manuscript Is Worth Going Back to: @Janice_Hardy

When Abandoning Your Novel Makes Sense: @bclaypolewhite @WomenWriters

Genres / Memoir

Making the Case for the Surreal Memoir: @TobiasCarroll @lithub

Why should you write a Memoir? Memoir writers weigh in: @CalebPirtle

Why You Should Write Your Memoir — Even If You Don’t Plan to Publish It: @writingthrulife

Genres / Mystery

Crime Writing: The One-Plus Rule: Fight Fair, Or Fight To Win? @LeeLofland

A hundred years on from Agatha Christie’s first novel, crime fiction is going cozy again: by Sarah Hughes @GuardianBooks

Writing the Cozy Mystery: Series Tropes and Rituals:

Tense Home v. School Relationships as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Gap Years as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Crime Fiction: Using Domestic Scenes to Contrast With Tension: @mkinberg

Genres / Poetry

10 Reasons Storytellers Should Dabble in Poetry: @WritingForward

Marketing Poetry and How to Find More Readers: @Bookgal

Genres / Science Fiction

Drug Development for Writers: @DanKoboldt

Genres / Screenwriting

9 Ways To Write Strong Screenplay Hooks: by Dan Hoffmann @CreativeScreen

Genres / Short Stories

How to format your short story manuscript for the best chance of publication: @NathanielTower

Promo / Blogging

How and Why to Cite Stock Photos When Blogging: @writingsolo

Promo / Book Reviews

Tips for Quoting From Reviews: by Big Al @IndiesUnlimited

Promo / Connecting with Readers

3 Steps to Finding Target Readers (Video): @SmartAuthors @IndieAuthorALLI

Promo / Metadata

How to Submit Your Author News to Newsletters: by Ann Meier

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Keep Your Book Promotion Going Strong for Years: @AnjaliMDuva @sharonbially

Promo / Platforms

3 Proven Ways To Boost Your Author Profile: @DaveChesson

Promo / Social Media Tips

Is Building a Social Media Platform Worth the Effort? @EdieMelson

How 1 Writer Uses Social Media As An Author: @jules_writes

6 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid: @davidjohn_wyatt @kikolani

How to effectively use Facebook Groups as an Author (Video): @LPOBryan @IndieAuthorALLI

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Why Does the US Change British Titles? @TerenaBell @GuardianBooks

Interview with Kobo’s Pieter Swinkels: ““We fail as an industry to create readers for our content.”: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The 12 Best and Worst Things That Can Happen After Your Freelance Article Is Accepted: @Susanshapironet @WritersDigest

How (Not) To Start a Publishing Company: by Richard Charkin @pubperspectives

“Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (on) the strength of literature and women”: by Roger Tagholm @pubperspectives

“Publishing Experts (on) Revenue Models…and the Need to Better Understand Consumers”: @Porter_Anderson @MarkPiesing

Writing for Magazines: The How-To Article and Querying it: by Deborah Lyn Stanley

Hugo Setzer, Bodour Al Qasimi, Confirmed at Frankfurt for IPA Leadership: @Porter_Anderson @HugoSetzer @Bodour

How to Make an Audiobook: A Guide to Self Publishing Audiobooks: @TCKPublishing

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Penguin Random House Opening Southeast Asia Operation Based in Singapore: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

At Frankfurt’s ‘The Markets’ Conference: Pablo Laurino of Argentina’s https://t.co/1xgCklUkaP: @Porter_Anderson @laurinop @pubperspectives

Tuesday Rights Buzz from the Frankfurt’s Literary Agents Center: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives

Women Should Be Seen AND Heard: Women Writers from Asia Pacific: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives

Macmillan CEO John Sargent answers questions from journalists on ‘Fire and Fury,’ Rowohlt, More: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Tips for the Query Process: @atrueblood5

Publishing / Process / Book Design

How to Sell Books by Optimizing Your Book Cover Design: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Ins and Outs: Opening and Closing Images: @SPressfield

5 Ways to Give Your Character a Memorable Entrance: @dougeboch

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

How to Write an Antagonist That Everyone Loves — And Why You Should: @melissafreyauth

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Writing Extraordinary Characters: @Lindasclare

Characters and Craft: Learning To Leave Yourself Behind: @AnneLParrish @WomenWriters

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Locksmith: @beccapuglisi

5 Ways to Use the Enneagram to Write Better Characters: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

Why Comic Relief Characters Often Don’t Make Good Main Characters: @VictoriaGHowell

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Why a Well-Written Novel Can Still Stink: @Janice_Hardy

Does Your Story Have a Solid Foundation? @SueColetta1

Writing Craft / Dialogue

The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue: @LoriAnnFreeland

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Three Ways of Revising (or Avoiding) Preachy Themes in Your Story: @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

10 Exercises to Become a Better Writer: @ReedsyHQ

A Warm-Up Exercise for Writers: @jamesagard

Put Some Snap in Your Style: @jamesscottbell

Writing Exercises for Stretching Your Style: by T.L. Bodine

Writing Craft / POV

Plot, PoV and Agenda. Or: Is This Your Story to Tell? @sona_c

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Naming

Tips for Choosing Names: @PhilAthans

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Manchester by the Sea: Using Story Grid: by Leslie Watts @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Writer @kaath09 on the Research Rabbit Hole:

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

Five Reasons Not to Write a Persecution Flip Story: by Dave Lerner @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Don’t Forget the Basics: Punctuation: @AndreaMerrell

Writing Craft / Revision

How to Identify and Cut Your Story’s Filler: @kristen_kieffer

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

Writing Groups Might Be Terrible, But You Probably Need One: @AnneHawley @rsmonterusso

How to Handle a Difficult Critique: by Linda Wilson

Writing Craft / Series

8 Things Learned Writing a Sequel: by A. E. Lowan @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How to Choose Setting with a Purpose: @LiveWriteThrive

Writing Craft / Synopses

3 Story Uses for a Synopsis: @KerryGans

How to Write a Novel Synopsis: @Kid_Lit

Writing Craft / Tension

Creating Tension Between the Lines: @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

500+ Ways to Describe Body Build and Physique: @KathySteinemann

Writing Craft / World-Building

Build a World, Hook a Reader: @msheatherwebb @WriterUnboxed

Writing Tools / Apps

3 Ways to Search in Scrivener 3: @Gwen_Hernandez

Getting Your Word Counts to Match in Scrivener: @aprildavila

Organizing Scrivener to Plot Your Novel (Video): @AllanLMann @IndieAuthorALLI

Writing Tools / Thesauri

How to use the Thesaurus Properly: @SeptCFawkes

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Published on October 13, 2018 21:02

October 11, 2018

Research and (Plot) Development

by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, @kaath09

Hello, my name is Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and I’m a recovering research-aholic.

I know that research addiction is common among writers of speculative fiction (genres that begin with ”what if…?”). This doesn’t mean there aren’t writers who hate research with a passion, but whether you loathe research or love it, it is necessary to writing fiction. It stands to reason that the ideal is to strike a healthy balance between diving so deeply into the ocean of knowledge that you drown, or barely dipping a toe into the pool.

Perhaps the first thing I learned about research (besides that it tastes like chocolate) is that it’s not restricted to finding facts about reality that you need to know before or during the writing of your book.

I write a number of genres: science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, alternate history, steampunk and, most recently, mystery-detective fiction. This is not to say that my journey toward publishing my first detective novel (THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER) began recently. Preparing to write this article, I dug up my earliest notes on my Japanese-American P.I., Gina Miyoko. They date from the late 90s. Long enough ago that while I know Gina was conceived in a dream—as is a lot of my fiction—I don’t remember the dream itself.

What my old handwritten notes tell me is that the first point of research was not about how police departments are structured or what resources a P.I. might have at her disposal, but about my detective herself. I had many pages of notes that included such big ticket items as what things and people she loved, what trauma she had endured, what her educational background was, and how she got her nickname “Tinkerbell.” It also included a lot of minutiae: What was her favorite candy, color, rock band? What gun did she own and why?

Did I go a bit overboard? Maybe. I hadn’t yet learned that too much upfront research can lead to prose paralysis, and that many of the things that make a character who they are must be discovered in the course of writing about them. I wrote a lot about Gina before I began to write Gina.

This raises a frequently asked question: ”When should I stop doing research and start writing?”

The question supposes that the two are separate activities and that one ends where the other begins. I have not found this to be so, for the simple reason that when I sit down to start a book, I don’t know what I don’t know. For me, the transition from research to writing happens organically. At some point in my feasting on information, I literally get an almost electric rush that makes me want to start writing scenes. It may be the opening paragraph of a story or a dialogue from somewhere further in. Or it may be observations about a character only some of which will end up in the book. I write until I feel as if I need more information, then stop and do research until that feeling happens again.

As I hinted at above, I’ve found that my research falls into two broad categories:

Exterior research, in which I collect facts from the real world in a variety of forms.
Interior research, in which I dig around in my own experience and imagination.

I love archaeology and have subscribed to Smithsonian, Archaeology, and even KMT (an Egyptology zine). The plot spine of THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER is about the trade in blackmarket artifacts stolen from under-protected historical sites in the U.S. and Mexico. The generating spark of that was exterior research. Specifically, an article from Smithsonian magazine on a female undercover National Park Service agent. It not only gave me the framework for what would become Gina’s first major case, but also contributed heavily to the character of her best friend, Rose, who is—you guessed it—an NPS agent.

Because I wanted Rose to be personally invested in her work, she became Hopi. That sent me off down another research road. I needed to know about Hopi culture as Rose would have experienced it growing up, and as Gina would experience it as an intimately connected outsider.

I also had to know about the sort of artifacts Rose might be called upon to protect, which led to another avenue of research related to First Nations artifacts and actual cases involving their theft.

When the story extended into the Mexican state of Chiapas and an semi-invented ruin, more research followed—both regarding modern-day Mexico and ancient history.

In doing this research I used a host of resources, including:

The internet (no, do not stop at Wikipedia) – I especially seek out images, so I can see what I’m writing about from every available angle. Being able to describe a place vividly helps your reader immerse herself in your world.
Archeology magazines with stories of real finds and legal cases involving antiquities.
Videos about archaeological digs.
Books on archaeological methods and tools.
Visits to museums and locales.

Obviously, these areas of research necessary were specialized to my plot. In general, I found a detective or mystery novel required me to research such things as:

Locations, topography and weather
Weapons and ballistics – If you can, handle and fire the weapons you choose. My oldest daughter was about the same size as my diminutive detective, so we took target practice so I could see if the gun I wanted Gina to use would work for a woman her size.

Communication technology – Smartphones can make writing mystery fiction harder if your plot revolves around characters being cut off from civilization.
Law enforcement practices and hierarchies in your target locale – not all police departments are created equal.
Martial arts – because every form has its own moves.
Poisons and medical knowledge – Arsenic may be old-hat, but drug interactions are sometimes fatal.

When do you do this research? When you need it to fill in your story or feed your imagination.

Which leads me to internal research. I knew I didn’t want Gina to be just one more tragically broken and lonely female detective. I wanted her to have experienced hardship, yes, but also to have a functional, if quirky, support system. In writing her parents, Edmund and Nadia, I did a lot of ”research” in my own childhood, hence Ed views his wife as ”the smart one” because of her academic background; she believes he has the real smarts because he’s intuitive and balanced.

Nadia’s character, alone, led to researching magic in the Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodox churches in the North Bay, and oberegi (the good luck charms Nadia is forever sticking into her daughter’s pockets).

That research, in turn, led to me pulling ”books” from the shelves in my imagination to make Nadia, Ed and Gina richer, deeper characters, which led to new plot developments, which led to….

Well, you get the picture. One act of research inevitably leads to another as each piece you add to your story puzzle from the real world causes your plot to thicken and your characters to grow lives of their own.

Writer of speculative fiction as the result of a horrible childhood incident involving Klaatu and a robot named Gort, Maya is the New York Times bestselling author of science fiction, fantasy and now mystery.

Her latest novel is THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER – a Gina Miyoko Mystery from Pegasus Crime. When she’s not writing, she’s performing and recording original and parody music with her husband, Jeff. Her short fiction appearances include Analog, Amazing Stories, Interzone, and Baen’s Universe; she’s a Nebula, Crawford, Sidewise, and British Science Fiction award finalist. She blogs about writing and other things at www.mayabohnhoff.com and www.bookviewcafe.com.

Writer @kaath09 on the Research Rabbit Hole:
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Published on October 11, 2018 21:02

October 7, 2018

Writing the Cozy Mystery: Series Tropes and Rituals

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve touched on this topic before, although before I was sort of working it through in my mind. What I’m calling ‘series tropes,’ which is what writer Camille LaGuire termed ‘rituals,’ are those little recurring bits that turn up book after book in a series (this post is specific to cozies, but I know other genres use these elements, too).

Examples:

In M.C. Beaton’s Hamish MacBeth series, it’s Hamish’s hapless love affairs, laziness, and crazy pets. For Hercule Poirot, it’s his vanity and OCD behavior. With Miss Marple, we expect her to compare everything and everyone to situations and people in St. Mary Mead, her village.

In my books, the tropes include Myrtle’s insomnia and post-midnight treks, Miles’s hypochondria, Puddin’s ‘thrown’ back, silly book club books, the way Myrtle’s soap opera helps her figure out the killer, and Myrtle’s horrible cooking.

How to Use Them:

Humor: You can use them straight out for humorous effect that resonates with regular readers. You can also twist the tropes and provide variations on the themes to make them even funnier (while putting the characters in situations that make them uncomfortable).

Sense of continuity: I think it provides a certain full-circle feeling for regular series readers. They expect certain things are going to happen. It fulfills reader expectations. It’s almost like seeing a familiar landmark.

As a method to check in with recurring characters: This is important for those of us who have regulars in our series. Readers like to ‘catch up’ with characters who are like old friends and our tropes can provide opportunities for them to do so.

Tracking them:

This is the easy part. List all of your recurring storylines into a master list by series. I have a staggering 18 in the Myrtle series alone. I keep them in a Word doc that I review before each book.

Why should we include these rituals? Mostly because readers enjoy them. I struggled with it as a writer, thinking that maybe I was relying on these tropes as crutches. But when I left them out, readers wrote me. Now I go off my list, think of fun, new ways to use or twist them, and don’t worry about including them. They’re clearly beneficial to my books.

For my other articles on writing cozy mysteries, see this link.

Do you have any recurring tropes in your series? Do you keep track of them?

Series Tropes and Rituals in the Cozy Mystery:
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Published on October 07, 2018 21:01

October 6, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

New Stuff

Free Guide for Pre-Nano: Are you thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Are you getting ready for your next novel? If so, then you might want to visit Fiction University. Janice Hardy is giving away her Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure ebook for free until October 15 just for subscribing to the site (and if you want to learn more about writing, you’ll want to anyway). Check out the details here.

Free Webinar: If you missed How to Survive and Succeed as a Writer (without Breaking Your Heart or Losing Your Mind), there’s a live encore class on Tuesday October 9, 12pm ET. (Part of the DIY MFA program from Gabriela Pereira).

Master Class Opportunity: The DIY MFA Master Class (a 10-week program) is now enrolling students. Each weekly module includes video lessons, audio recordings, slides, and worksheets, so you can absorb the material in the way that’s best for you. More about the program here (note that I’m an affiliate for the class) or consider the free class first (here) to see if this would be something up your alley.

Business / Miscellaneous

Affiliate Programs for Books: @KathySteinemann

Alternative Ways to Make Money as a Writer: @LynseyMay @scottishbktrust

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Industry Notes: Man Booker’s Shortlisted Authors, London Book Fair’s Literacy Charity: @Porter_Anderson

At Frankfurt’s ‘The Markets’ Conference: Brazil’s Gustavo Lembert: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Accessibility: ‘Frankfurt For All’ and France’s ‘Literary Season For All’: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

IWSG Anthology Contest 2018 (free to enter): @TheIWSG

At Frankfurt’s ‘The Markets’ Conference: China’s Jiang Yanping: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

5 Important Parts of a Story: @WritersCoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

9 Books on the Complexities of Mother-Daughter Relationships: @vanessa_hua @ElectricLit

What do you read when you’re writing? It’s complicated: @Roz_Morris

7 Novels That Capture the Pain and Chaos of Alcoholism: @laura_june @lithub

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Overcome Distractions and Write: @WriteNowCoach

When Writing Habits Fall Apart: @katekrake

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

When You Can’t Think What to Write About: @ClaireFayers

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

3 Ways to Make Your Book Memorable: by Jeffrey Eaton @murderbecomes

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

How to Start a Local Writing Group: @shaylaleeraquel

Why Writers Need Confidence—5 Ways to Boost Yours: @colleen_m_story

4 Ways Travel Can Enrich Your Writing: @thecreativepenn

On Taking a Writing Retreat for Solitude When Your Biological Clock is Ticking: @emjsmith

How to Finish Writing Your Book By Abandoning It Well: @JeffGoins

10 Animals Who Have Broken Into the Library: @erinkbart @ElectricLit

How Wilkie Collins found sensation in ordinary life: @samjordison @GuardianBooks

Beating Burnout – A Writers Guide: @TheMerryWriter

5 Writers, 7 Questions, No Wrong Answers: @TeddyWayne1999 @lithub

A Librarian’s Life: “Buddy, the Library Isn’t a 7-Eleven”: @Kristen_Arnett @lithub

3 Steps to Bring Clarity to Help You Finish Your Book: @lornafaith

100 Reasons Libraries are Better than Amazon and Starbucks: @DrunkestLibrary @5minlib

“Why I Have to Write, Even While Working Full-Time”: @KarisRogerson @LitReactor

The Weirdest Libraries Around the World: by Brianne Alphonso @ElectricLit

Writing and the Creative Life: The Mundane and the Marvelous: @GoIntoTheStory

Why You Should Pull Out the Manuscript Under Your Bed: @KelseyBrowning @RomanceUniv

The Hack’s Guide to Buying a Writing Desk: @BillFerris @WriterUnboxed

What to Do When Journaling Makes You Feel Worse: @writingthrulife

5 Ways to Restart a Bad Day: @BrynDonovan

Genres / Fantasy

Keeping the Magical World Secret from the Mundane World in a Fantasy: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Genres / Horror

H.P. Lovecraft And The Shadow Over Horror: @R_Emrys @NPR

Modern horror films are finding their scares in dead phone batteries: @TashaRobinson @verge

Genres / Miscellaneous

Why Genre Mashups Are Not Just for Music: @Magic_Violinist

Genres / Mystery

Should You Age the Characters in Your Mystery Series? @mkinberg

Murder Motives for the Crime Writer: @DPLyleMD

5 Must-Use Tips on Writing a Thriller: @KarenCV

Genres / Non-Fiction

What Authors Need To Know About True Crime: @FredBobJohn @standoutbooks

Five Things You Must Do if You’re Writing Non-Fiction: @Bookgal

How and Why to Use Subheads in Your Nonfiction Writing: @theladyck @NinaAmir

Genres / Romance

Keeping the Bedroom Door Closed: @RayneHall @RomanceUniv

Genres / Screenwriting

Writing a spec episode: Act Four Scenes: @BittrScrptReadr

Writing a spec episode: Act Five Scenes: @BittrScrptReadr

Genres / Short Stories

A Basic Guide to Flash Fiction: @daciaauthor @RMFWriters

Promo / Blogging

Tips for Allowing Guest Posts on Your Blog: @ZoeMMcCarthy

7 Ways To Get More Readers To Your Blog: @HughRoberts05

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Promo Copy for Books: @MJRose @BookBub

Promo / Book Reviews

How to Change a Book Title Without Losing Reviews: @helenahalme @IndieAuthorALLI

Promo / Miscellaneous

1 Writer’s Quiet Rebellion Against 3 Pieces of Conventional Marketing Wisdom: @Roz_Morris

An Agent on Non-Fiction Platforms: @RachelleGardner

Create a List to Sell All Your Books: @SueBEdwards @womenonwriting

Promo / Platforms

Branding For Authors: @KristineRusch @thecreativepenn

Promo / Social Media Tips

5 Simple Ways to Crush Your Networking on Goodreads: @Bookgal

5 Common Twitter Mistakes of Indie Authors: @DebbieYoungBN

Publishing / Miscellaneous

The DIY Guide To Turn Your Book Into An Audiobook: @DaveChesson

Industry Notes: Charkin Opens Mensch Publishing; LBF Opens Award Submissions: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Gvantsa Jobava on Guest of Honor Georgia at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @GvantsaJobava

Publishing Issues for the IPA’s Meetings: Diversity, Emerging Markets, Literacy: @Porter_Anderson@Bodour

European Publishing Welcomes ECOFIN’s Decision on Taxation for Ebooks: @Porter_Anderson @StephenLotinga @pubperspectives

A New ‘Barometer’ Checks Sales Conditions in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain: @Porter_Anderson @wischenbart

Wattpad To Beta-Test a Payment Plan for Its Writers: Canada, UK, Philippines, Mexico: @Porter_Anderson @wattpad

Publishing in Southeast Asia: ASEAN Forum Highlights: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Writing Story Openings: @Lindasclare

Do You Really Need To Start At The Beginning? by Robert Wood @standoutbooks

20 Things Learned After Reading 150,000 Words in Opening Pages: @katiemccoach

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Character Motivation: How to Write Believable Characters: @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Think Small: 32-quick-fixes-for-writing-microblocks-and-mini-glitches: @RuthHarrisBooks @annerallen

Writing Craft / Conflict

Writing an Action Sequence: @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Dialogue

3 Ways to Make Your Dialogue More Interesting: by Bucket Siler

Dialogue Issues? Read It Out Loud: @BE_Sanderson

8 Rules for Better Dialogue: @CherylProWriter

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

Is Your Backstory A Threat To Your Book? @Writers_Write

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Five Stories That Don’t Understand Power & Privilege: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

“Choosing to Read or Watch According to the … Adjacency it Might Have to Your Own Work”: @Porter_Anderson @WriterUnboxed

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

When you should stop reading, start writing: @pubcoach

Crafting a “Body Language Voice”: @SeptCFawkes

Create Power Paragraphs For Stronger Storytelling: @Writers_Write

Do You Have a Story with a Twist, or a Twist That Thinks it’s a Story? @Janice_Hardy

3 Ingredients You Need To Make Readers Feel: @LisaHallWilson

Weaving A Narrative: by Aaron Miles @FantasyFaction

How To Focus on Your Story’s DNA: @JennyHansenCA

Why Writers Should Let Go and Enjoy the Story: @mike54martin

Getting the Big Picture Across in Your Scenes: @LiveWriteThrive

Writing Craft / Plot Holes

How to Find and Fix Your Story’s Plot Holes: @kristen_kieffer

What to Do When You Write Yourself Into a Corner: @SeptCFawkes

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

Crafting Outlines That Work for You: @Janice_Hardy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Stories Are About Change: @SPressfield

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

How Much Research Is Really Enough? @writeabook

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Verb Tenses — 2 Tips for Errors: @JJ_Burry

How to punctuate dialogue in a novel: @LouiseHarnby

Writing Craft / Revision

An Example of Editing a Scene: @DavidCorbett_CA

The Every-Novel-Is-Wildly-Different Guide to Revision: @jcbaggott @WriterUnboxed

Writing Craft / Series

Planning For the Next Book In Your Series: @chemistken

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Writing a Setting Your Reader Can Call Home: from Let’s Write Some Novels

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

22 Common Nouns & What You Can Use Instead: @Writers_Write

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on October 06, 2018 21:02

October 4, 2018

Let Go and Enjoy the Story

by Mike Martin, @mike54martin

All fiction requires the reader to suspend belief in order to follow the story. You have to pretend that you are in a different location with people that you don’t know in order to experience the full effect. Those who can’t do that often claim that they don’t like fiction books or stories, but I think it may be that they just don’t know how to let themselves go and be captured by the story or the characters. I also think they are missing out on a great deal of fun!!

What most people don’t realize is that writers have to do the same thing. Suspend our belief in the ordinary and escape to another reality, inside our heads. In my Sgt. Windflower Mystery series I use the very real town of Grand Bank, Newfoundland, as a backdrop for my stories. It settles the stories in a solid foundation of place that many people who have read the series now think they know. I hope so. But the setting is truly just the beginning. Because, with the exception of a few historical facts and bread crumbs, the rest is all imagination.

The main character, Sgt. Windflower, came out of the fog one night in Grand Bank and started telling me his story. All I did was write it down. Once I did that, all these other characters came along and I started writing their stories too. My main job today is to try and keep them all happy and allow each of them the appropriate time to tell their part.

If that’s not enough to stretch your imagination, there’s more. Two of Windflower’s family, his aunt and uncle, turn out to be dream weavers. They can interpret dreams, their own and others. Windflower learns how to do that too, and soon he is awake while he is dreaming and understanding the messages that come to him. I know it sounds crazy, but it really happens, at least to Windflower. He uses it to access the spirit world, the other side.

At first, Windflower appears skeptical about this whole spirit and dreaming thing. Until he starts to realize that there might actually be messages and information about himself that he can learn. That’s when he decides to ask his relatives to teach him how to do it. After a while he comes to see that reality might be more than just what we can see in front of him. Once he accesses this power, his life becomes richer, and of course, the story gets better.

The other thing that is happening in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series is that the spirit world starts to become more visible. In the latest book, Darkest Before the Dawn, there’s a ghost. Or maybe there’s a ghost? That’s up to Windflower to discover, or for readers to decide. You don’t get to see the ghost. That would be too easy. But if you look carefully you just might see the signs.

This all gets me back to the first point. You have to suspend your belief in order to enjoy the story. That is true in all fiction, and more particularly in mystery fiction. So, don’t rule out Windflower’s dream weaving abilities or the possibility that an old ghost is wandering around the old B & B that he and Sheila have bought. If you do, you might miss half the fun.

Darkest Before the Dawn is available in print and e-book versions worldwide through Amazon and in Canada through Chapters/Indigo and other fine bookstores. And from Ottawa Press and Publishing.

Giveaway

Enter a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Darkest Before the Dawn, sent to you anywhere in the world!!

Find Mike:

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Mike Martin was born in Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

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Published on October 04, 2018 21:01

September 30, 2018

Making Your Book Memorable

By Jeffrey Eaton, author of the “Murder Becomes” series, @murderbecomes

Each year, more than one million books get released by publishing houses and self-published authors. You read that right – more than one million books. Every year.

How do we make our books stand out in a crowd that immense? Well, it’s not easy, and even the most relentless marketers get no guarantee their efforts will result in their titles rising above the ever-increasing din.

There are, however, a few techniques we can employ that will at least increase the odds people will notice our novels and then remember them when they’re looking for something to cozy up with on a cold winter’s night.

Here are three things we’ve done with the “Murder Becomes” series to build renown for the books over the past four years:

Develop a theme that’s memorable

I have a slightly embarrassing confession. I stole my idea for the “Murder Becomes” series from the dear and recently departed Sue Grafton. When I stumbled upon her Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Murder Series in a bookstore several years ago, I thought, “What a clever idea. How can I make such a simple concept my own?”

I have been a free-lance journalist most of my life, conducting interviews in cities all over the world. So, for me, the natural answer was to set my mysteries in international locales that start with the letter ‘M’ (to alliterate, of course, with ‘murder). Fortunately, the number of intriguing options is endless, and soon “Murder Becomes Manhattan” was born, shortly followed by “Murder Becomes Miami” and (as of October 1, 2018) “Murder Becomes Mayfair.”

Now, I have readers pleading with me to set a future book in one of their favorite ‘M’ locations – Milan, Moscow, Montreal, Marrakech and Maui, to name just a few. The theme has stuck in their minds and gotten them eager to learn at the end of one book where the next murder will take place. And, believe it or not, the woman who volunteered to host my first book launch at her spacious home in Dallas has the initials, “MM” (a complete coincidence).

WHAT SORT OF MEMORABLE THEME CAN YOU CREATE FOR YOUR BOOKS?

Create memorable characters

The protagonist in the “Murder Becomes” series is Dalton Lee, a world-renowned architect who was born in Hong Kong but raised in San Diego. Dalton’s bicultural background helps him stand out, right from the get-go.

But he has other characteristics that make him hard to forget. He is a purist when it comes to how a grilled cheese sandwich is cooked. He rides an Italian scooter from the 1950s called a Maicoletta. And, he is frequently engaged in conversation by inanimate objects – sculptures, paintings, and even mannequins in a department store window.

The result? Readers are constantly sending me grilled cheese recipes to ‘pass along’ to Dalton. Or, they send photos of themselves posed alongside an Italian scooter. I even had a reader send me a photo of a car they were passing that had the phrase “Where is Dalton?” written in soap on the back window. Dalton’s peculiarities have bred a bit of fandom among my readers, who associate with his quirkiness in ways that drive them to purchase the next book in the series.

WHAT MEMORABLE TRAITS CAN YOU INFUSE IN YOUR CHARACTERS?

Consider taking the digital versions of your books to a whole new level

I love a hardcover book as much or more than anyone. But I also understand the world is changing. The more we adapt to and profit from the change, the better.

That philosophy has led us to do something innovative with the digital versions of the “Murder Becomes” series. We’ve embedded hyperlinks throughout the story to give readers some visual and aural elements to make the reading experience more memorable.

When a street musician plays a tune that causes one of Dalton’s teammates to have a meltdown on a Manhattan street, you click on ‘song’ and HEAR the tune in a YouTube video. When Dalton has a clandestine meeting in a creepy cemetery in Miami, you click on ‘cemetery’ and SEE a photograph of that cemetery.

And with architecture playing a critical role in each book, we give readers links to visuals of the skyscrapers in Manhattan, the Art Deco hotels on Miami Beach and the Georgian townhouses that populate the London neighborhood of Mayfair.

HOW CAN LINKS MAKE THE READING EXPERIENCE OF YOUR BOOKS MORE MEMORABLE?

It’s not easy these days to capture the attention of readers inundated with one new title after another.

Find a way to employ the techniques described above, however, and you will be well on your way to helping more readers than ever before to find your books, savor them, and recommend them to their friends.

Learn more about “Murder Becomes Manhattan,” “Murder Becomes Miami,” and “Murder Becomes Mayfair,” at murderbecomes.com.

Eaton was graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a degree in journalism. He instantly put it to use, becoming editor of the university’s alumni magazine at age 23 and editor of the employee publications produced by an international oil company at age 25.

He formed his own freelance writing business at age 27 and by the age of 30, had been to 45 countries on five continents. Among his most memorable assignments were interviews with a prime minister, a world-renowned heart surgeon, and the CEO of one of South America’s state-owned oil companies.

Now Eaton has returned to his first passion – writing novels. The “Murder Becomes” series unites his love for intrigue with his passion for travel with his excitement for crafting word puzzles, several of which have been published in some of the world’s premier newspapers and magazines. He hopes you enjoy reading these tales as much as he delights in creating them! More about Jeffrey here.

3 Ways to Make Your Book Memorable (by Jeffrey Eaton @murderbecomes ):
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Published on September 30, 2018 21:01

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