Rob Hart's Blog, page 9

Making a better book with the index card trick

A few months ago I wrote about a trick I use to write my novel outlines. You can read more about that here, but in short:

I write the outline three times, over the course of a few days.

The first two outlines, I throw away as soon as they’re done. The third is the one I stick with. This works for a couple of reasons: I forget all the bad stuff and remember all the good stuff. And I have time to reflect on the stuff I’m not sure about.

I’ve done it for three books so far and it’s working pretty well.

But that’s not the only trick I use for outlining. 

After my first draft is done, I stick in a drawer for a bit. Well, not in a drawer, I leave it in its Dropbox folder. You get what I mean.

And it sits there. I keep an active Google doc going to jot down notes when they come to me, but for the most part, I leave it alone.

Before I dive into the first re-write, though, I break out my index cards. I make a new index card for each chapter. On the front of the index card I put the characters in the chapter, the setting, the action, and other notable notes.

Like, is this the chapter where the protagonist is contemplating his future? A relationship? Something else worth pointing out?

Down it goes.

Once I’m done with all the index cards, I carry them with me for a few days. I consider the big picture stuff. Where and how everything fits. Maybe there’s too much action grouped together. Maybe there’s a dead zone that needs to be filled with something exciting. Maybe some of the structure is off.

I jot new notes on the back of the index cards. Stuff I should think about when I get into the revising phase.

Writing and editing a novel is a lot to keep in your head. It’s kind of incredible how many times I think I need to add something to a story, and find out it’s already there. Or something I want to take out that already got excised.

The index cards are a good way to stay centered, because the second edit is pretty damn important. That’s when all the big pieces have to be shifted and moved around.

At least, for me, that’s how it works.

First draft: Crying, screaming mess.

Second edit: Make the story work.

Third edit: Make it pretty.

Fourth edit: Make it really pretty.

And hopefully after that I’m done.

This is one of the things I’ve learned about my process: I need outlining, and I need it in steps. Maybe you don’t and that’s okay! But stuff like this is why it took five years to write New Yorked and only six months to write City of Rose.

Bakery bouncers and guns (or the lack thereof)

Next week marks the release of a collection I am very excited to be a part of: Unloaded: Crime Writers Writing Without Guns, edited by Eric Beetner and published by Down & Out Books.

All of the stories in the collection are required to not involve guns, and proceeds from the collection will benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence.

Some of you might be thinking: “Why are you bringing politics into your writing career? Don’t you know that you’ll alienate part of your audience? You are a crazy person!”

Maybe!

If some people decide they don’t want to buy my books because I contributed a story to this, I’m okay with that. I’d rather have said something that nothing.

Guns are a touchy subject. Here’s my take, for what it’s worth: Putting aside the thorny issue of mass shootings—I’m a lifelong resident of New York City. The gun culture here is very different from, say, Alabama.

In Alabama someone might buy a gun to go hunting or as a hobby. In New York chances are, if someone has a gun, they would like to shoot you with it. Plus, I used to be a reporter covering crime, and I’ve seen first-hand the havoc guns can wreak on bodies and families.

So, I personally am not a great fan of guns. Clearly, there is a problem with our gun culture, which is something I think everyone except the NRA can agree on.

How to address it is where we might beg to differ.

States United to Prevent Gun Violence has a couple of core goals I like a lot. You can read more about them here, if you’re interested. I sincerely hope this book sells a fuckload of copies and contributes to their mission.

Now, on to the collection.

The names in this thing are fantastic, and I feel proud to be counted among them: J.L. Abramo, Patricia Abbott, Trey R. Barker, Eric Beetner, Alec Cizak, Joe Clifford, Reed Farrel Coleman, Angel Luis Colón, Hilary Davidson, Paul J. Garth, Alison Gaylin, Kent Gowran, Jeffery Hess, Grant Jerkins, Joe R. Lansdale, S.W. Lauden, Tim O’Mara, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Pitts, Thomas Pluck, Keith Rawson, Kelli Stanley, Ryan Sayles, and Holly West.

I’m also happy my story “Creampuff” is out in the world.

Last year some friends and I were walking through the East Village and passed Big Gay Ice Cream on East 7th. It can get pretty crowded, and on this particular night, there was a bouncer outside, working a rope to control the flow of customers.

I love writing about New York City, and I especially love writing about the city’s food culture. So for me, a bakery bouncer was very much a thing worth exploring.

The story turned out better than I could have hoped, in that sometimes I write stuff that’s supposed to be silly or over the top—and I wanted to do something a little more thoughtful.

Especially because, as a writer of mostly dark and crime-oriented fiction, I’ve been thinking a lot about things like guns: The use of them, the glorification of them, but more than that, the toll on human life, and what the loss of a life does to the world around us, even if we might not immediately notice.

I’m very happy with how it turned out. And I was especially thrilled when Publishers Weekly reviewed it and said this:

Many of the best selections are character driven, such as Joyce Carol Oates’ strangely hypnotic “Lorelei” and Rob Hart’s “Creampuff,” which offers a warm slice of New York City life. 

Yes, this is me bragging a little. It’s an incredible, incredible honor to be cited like that, especially alongside an author like Joyce Carol Oates.

The book comes out on April 18. You can pre-order it, but I hear print copies are already showing up on doorsteps, and a few copies are currently sitting next to the register in The Mysterious Bookshop.

You can find it on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, as well as other places books are sold.

Thanks kindly to Eric for including the story, and to Down & Out for publishing it.

It’s a small drop in the vast ocean of a big, complicated, heart-rending issue—but to steal a line from Cloud Atlas, what is an ocean but a collection of drops?

Me and JP

For a few months now, in the wilds of Facebook and Twitter, I’ve been teasing a Secret Project. The time has finally come to share it.

I’m co-writing a novella with James Patterson.

He’s got a new venture called BookShots. Shorter works, propulsive narratives. It’s a long story, but I got an audition, and then got the gig, and we’re finalizing edits on it right now.

It’s pretty damn exciting. Also exciting: Fellow Polis author Derek Nikitas in on board for one as well.

I don’t know what else about the project I can share, so that’s all I’ll say for now… so keep your eyes peeled, and more soon!

Book tour and other cool stuff

So I recently got back from book tour—Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. It was a lot of fun. Chuck Palahniuk showed up to my Powell’s event, and bought my book and stood in line and asked me to sign it, which was kinda nuts. I also ate burritos and got some great books and did a bunch of other things. I would tell you more about it, but I don’t need to—I wrote a series about it for LitReactor.

Click here!

Booked. reviews CITY OF ROSE

Always a pleasure to get the Booked. treatment. Robb and Livius take a deep dive into City of Rose. Lots of great insight here. Dig it.

NEW YORKED marked down to $1.99

With the second Ash McKenna novel landing in less than a week, my publisher has marked down the eBook of the first, New Yorked, to $1.99 for a limited time!

Now, think about that. This is something I poured my heart and soul into for five years, and you can have it for less than what you paid for a cup of coffee this morning!

Not bad, right?

This is your chance to get in on the ground floor. I’m signed for four installments, and hope to finish it out with a fifth. It’s something that’s very personal to me, but also sometimes there are drag queen crime lords and men in chicken masks with guns. So it’s fun, too.

If you click here, you can see all the nice things people have said about it, and even read the first chapter.

And you can get it here:

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * iTunes * Kobo

Already have it? Spread the word, or leave a review (reviews are a great way to help any author), or pre-order the next one, City of Rose!

Guest post at Birth.Movies.Death

Pretty thrilled to say that I’ve written a scholarly essay about Road House for my favorite movie website on the internet. Yup. Pretty thrilled indeed. Check it out.

Tour dates for CITY OF ROSE

The Feb. 9 release date for City of Rose approaches fast. Time to start spreading the word about places I will be, for signing books and reading stuff and drinking and other acts of general merriment.

I’ve included links to the Facebook event pages, where you can RSVP (which is not a requirement for any of this stuff—just show up!).

Feb. 9 – The Mysterious Bookshop, NYC

58 Warren Street, 6:30 p.m. This is a joint event with fellow Polis author, Dave White, whose new novel An Empty Hell comes out the same day. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 11 – Staten Island Barnes & Noble, NYC

2245 Richmond Avenue, 6:30 p.m. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 15 – Powell’s, Portland, OR

3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 7:30 p.m. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 16 – Noir at the Bar Seattle

Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 7 p.m. Reading with Johnny Shaw, Linda L. Richards, Dietrich Kalteis, Will Viharo, Sam Wiebe, Kat Richardson, Michael Pool and Owen Laukkanen. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 17 – Seattle Mystery Bookshop

117 Cherry St, noon. Reading/signing. RSVP on Facebook.

Feb. 18 – San Francisco event

Pending…

Feb. 21 – Noir at the Bar LA

Mandrake Bar, 2692 S La Cienega Blvd, 8 p.m. Reading with Owen Laukkanen, Johnny Shaw, SG Redling, Patricia Abbott, Tom Pitts, SW Lauden, and Eric Beetner. RSVP on Facebook.

CITY OF ROSE Goodreads giveaway

The release of City of Rose, the follow-up to New Yorked, is fast approaching, so it’s time to ramp up the gears of war (which is a much cooler way of saying it’s time to do book promo).

Let’s start with Goodreads. I need more people to add it to their ‘to-read’ list. It’s a big help for discoverability. So, here’s what I propose:

Go to this link and click that button under the cover that says “Want to Read.”

That’s it. Just click it.

Come November 13—a week and a half from today—I’m going to go through the list of people who’ve added it to their to-read list, and I’m going to pull some names at random, and those people are going to win PRIZES.

What kind of prizes? Here’s what I’m giving away:

A galley copy of City of Rose.

A limited-edition New Yorked umbrella.

And a copy of The Last Safe Place: A Zombie Novella.

So, to recap: Add City of Rose on Goodreads, maybe win a prize.

Get clicking!

Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee THIS WEEKEND

Do you live in or around or even close to Milwaukee? Then you ought to come to Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee this weekend. I will be there!

This is my first time at the conference—and I’m thrilled to be one of the featured authors. Look at this lineup! As a debut author, I feel very lucky. Like I snuck into a party I’m technically not cool enough for.

You can visit the Mayhem website to get all the details, including times and locations. My panel is at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, and all the panels are packed with awesome, fun people.

The event includes an auction to raise money for Erin Mitchell, who has a heart condition and is facing some some very expensive procedures to correct it. Given my daughter’s heart issues, this is a cause that’s close to me.

You can see all the items being auctioned off here. I’m donating a character name in the third Ash McKenna novel, South Village, as well as a book from my own collection—Assassin of Secrets by QR Markham. This book was discovered to be plagiarized, and recalled by the publisher. I have a copy that’s signed by the author.

There’ll be some bidding by proxy, but if that doesn’t work out or you can’t make the event, you can also donate to Erin right here, and I would encourage you to do so.

She’s a swell lady and this is a twisted country, that someone could be sick and then be told they can’t be helped unless they come forward with an unreasonable amount of money.

Sometimes it’s up to us.