M.E. Sutton's Blog, page 4
June 10, 2016
Book Review: Land of Shadows
May 4, 2016
Draft Zero
Like many writers (most, probably), I have a shelf of books on writing. How to edit, how to structure, how to…you get the idea. But one of my most loved, most read is a tiny volume by Anne Lamott called Bird by Bird. (And I just checked, it’s not on the shelf. I remember reading it last summer AND NOW I CAN’T FIND IT!!!)
Excuse me. Moving on.
Bird is less of a “how to” book and more of a philosophy book. Lamott talks about 1-inch picture frames and the concept of “bird by bird” to make the daunting task of writing a novel a little more manageable. How do you write 90,000 words? One scene at a time.
Another concept Lamott talks about is “the shitty first draft.” She’s a big proponent of this. Writing every day with no idea to whether the words are “good” or “bad.” You can fix it later. Just write. Me, I found this exceptionally freeing. I didn’t need to worry about quality–yet. I need to put the words on the page. Quality doesn’t matter–yet.
But for some writers, the phrase “shitty first draft” was unpalatable. They felt the words reflected poorly on the writer and the work. That nothing you write is “shit.” And neither are you. I get it. And while I get how they feel, I’m not sure I agree with it.
But that’s not what this post is about.
Over time, I’ve come up with a different phrase. One that is slightly more “family friendly” as well. I can’t claim total ownership of it, because I’m pretty sure I heard it from someone else, but I used it recently and a few friends of mine, including editor Ramona DeFelice Long, liked it. I call it Draft Zero.
The phrase is not only more G-rated, it carries a lot of subtext. A lot of meaning. Many things are zero. Ground Zero is where an event starts. Patient Zero is where a plague stars. And, as Ramona pointed out. Draft Zero is where the story starts.
Draft Zero is messy. Maybe a little disjointed. Full of all those things you are supposed to avoid as a writer – adverbs, repeated phrases, cliches. But that’s okay. All things “zero” are messy. Think of Ground Zero in New York for 9/11. It’s a big hole in the ground where two shining towers once stood. I’ve never seen a Patient Zero, but I can’t imagine it’s all that pretty.
But Draft Zero is mine. No one else will ever see it. Buried in there somewhere is a story. I add words. I cut them off, I file the rough corners, polish the surface. Eventually, the shape of the story emerges. At least enough that I can let other people see it. That might be Draft One. Or Two, or Three or…well, you get the picture. And eventually, the story has fully emerged. Like a bird from the shell. Eventually ready to fledge.
Draft Zero. Messy. Chaotic. Ugly.
But essential.
Image by Peter Miller, used under Creative Commons license
March 29, 2016
Book Review: With a Vengeance
With a Vengeance by Annette Dashofy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was able to read an early version of this book.
It’s kind of trite to say that the latest book in a series is “the best one yet.” But in this case, it’s true. Dashofy has clearly hit her stride with these characters and her skill as a writer is unquestionable.
The fear in these characters – and not just Zoe and Pete – is clear and palpable, yet it isn’t overdone. And none of them act the victim. Despite the danger to first responders, everybody acts true to their natures and calling. Which just makes you root for them more.
The climax of the book deftly recalls details given earlier. And if your heart isn’t pounding by the end, you are truly missing something.
Annette Dashofy deserves all of the honors she’s gotten thus far in her career and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s on award slates next year with this latest book.
March 28, 2016
Lessons from rose bushes
Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
Along the side of my house, the western side, are five rose bushes. There used to be six, but one got smashed years ago when the siding guys dropped some materials on it. They paid for it, but I never got around to replacing it.
These are hardy antique roses, suited for the sometimes harsh western Pennsylvania winters. They also require little care because I have what might be generously referred to as a brown thumb. I’m really good with plants that require little maintenance. Hostas, evergreens, tulips (as long as the deer stay away from them), and daffodils. “Set it and forget it” plants. Not really all that good with plants that require special fertilizers, or pruning or what-not. Thus, when I bought roses, I looked for buses that would thrive with very little involvement from me.
And I found them. For years after I put them in the ground, my roses thrived. In fact, the one at the corner of the house, which gets the most afternoon sun, grew like mad. It covered almost the entire corner and climbed up to the window. (I looked for a picture of it in its heyday, but I can’t find one.) The rest weren’t quite as big, but they did okay.
Then came the winter of 2014/2015. There was a fair amount of snow. Almost a complete month of bone-chilling single-digit temperatures. We forgot to wrap the roses (and the boxwoods, but that’s a different story). Come spring my magnificent roses were nothing except a collection of burnt, dried twigs.
Undaunted, I took out my clippers and cut back all the deadwood. Cut right to the bone, in fact. That once magnificent rose bush was, um, not so magnificent. I didn’t get any roses off it last year, although its fellows did give a couple. And after another winter, I’d pretty much written the bush – down to two tiny green shoots – off. Oh well.
This past weekend, a glorious Easter spring with sun and everything, I went to check the bushes. Assess the damage, as it were. And I saw this:
A new rose bush
Wouldn’t you know. A tiny bush, struggling to push its way up, heedless of the winter cold. Determined to hang on and give the elements the ol’ middle finger. Tenacious, that’s what this bush is.
I’ve been feeling kind of discouraged about the whole querying/publishing process lately. Lots of no-response rejections, a few short “sorry, just not for me” answers that give absolutely nothing in terms of feedback, one full request, and a few kindly rejections. Not the stuff that inspires confidence.
I see a lot of parallels with this baby bush. It’s gotten a lot of rejections (snow, cold temperatures). Not a lot of positive feedback (no fertilizer or special care from me). Yet there it is. Clinging to the earth and stubbornly pushing itself up saying, “Oh no. You can’t ignore me. You can’t keep me down. I’m growing in this spot whether you like it or not.”
The bush kind of shames me. Here’s this living, yet non-sentient thing, determined not to give up, no matter what. So how can I, a living thing possessed of a brain and cogent thought, do otherwise? It wouldn’t exactly be a great thing to admit I was shown up by a bush, now would it?
So like my bush, I’ll cling to the earth. I will stubbornly scratch and claw my way to to the sun. I won’t let the snow and cold of rejections and non-responses slow me down.
And maybe, like my bush, I’ll someday have some roses to show for my efforts.
March 21, 2016
Book Launch: Dead & Breakfast
SMary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
I am tickled to be able to help Kimberly Giarrantano with her book launch today. Kimberly is a Mysteristas sistah. Her book, Dead and Breakfast,first in the Cayo Hueso Mysteries, is a Kindle Scout winner and is being released today from Kindle Press. Here’s the blurb:
Despite living in Key West his whole life, 18-year-old Liam Breyer is a skeptic of the supernatural until a vengeful spirit, murdered fifty years ago, nearly drowns him in a swimming pool. Luckily help arrives in the form of pretty — albeit homesick — ghost whisperer Autumn Abernathy, whose newly-divorced mom has dragged her to the island to live and work at the Cayo Hueso, a haunted bed and breakfast.
Although they initially mistrust each other, Autumn and Liam team up to solve the decades-old mystery. But on an island where every third resident is a ghost, dealing with an unstable spirit has deadly consequences. If Liam and Autumn don’t unmask the killer soon, they’re likely to become Key West’s latest haunted attraction.
Sound interesting? Click here to buy from Amazon now.
I’ve got my copy on the Kindle app for my iPad. Watch this space for my official review. But I’ve started reading and this is an engaging story so far. And completely readable beyond the stated YA audience (that translates to “good for adults” in case you were wondering).
So congratulations and Happy Book Birthday, Kimberly! Thanks for letting me be part of your special day.
March 16, 2016
Welcome to 2016!
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
It’s almost the end of the first quarter of 2016 and I realized I haven’t blogged about anything since Cyber Monday of 2015. Except for book reviews. So maybe I should change that.
You’ll also notice I haven’t done goals for 2016. Why not? Well, I’m not sure what they should be. Yes, even this late into the year (relatively speaking). Usually I’ve got my act together by now. This year, I’m still herding all the players around backstage trying to figure things out.
(By the way. I could have used a lot of different images for “progress.” But this one spoke to me. Because sometimes, it’s how I feel. I’m way at the bottom of a huge spiral staircase. I can see the top – but I just can’t. Get. There. From. Here.)
So here’s where I am with my various writing-related efforts.
The Laurel Highlands Mysteries
I am continuing to query And Corruption for All. It’s been…slow. I got a request for the full manuscript back in November, but no word back yet. I got a very encouraging rejection from an agent with the invitation to revise and resubmit the query. I did, but I haven’t heard on that yet, either.
Do you get the feeling that publishing moves at a glacial pace? Good.
I’ve got about two and a half months left on my self-imposed “give it a year” deadline. I’ll re-evaluate where I am at the end of May. Meanwhile, I’ve written the second book in the series (and I’m not going to share the title because it sucks) and I’m running that through my critique group. I’ve plotted the third book. So I consider myself in a good place no matter what happens – an offer of representation or I decide to self-publish. Because I do believe in these books and I want to share them with the world.
So, we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, you dear reader are in a perfect position to get caught up with all the backstory by reading Murder Most Scenic, the collection of short stories (sorry for the hard sell, but it has to be done sometimes).
The Jackson Davis/Niagara Falls Mysteries
I have no idea if this would be the name of the series, but I’ll go with it for now.
I’ve submitted the first book, now call Shattered Sight, for a contest. I should get the results at the end of the month. Meanwhile, I’m working on the pitch and synopsis for the Pennwriters conference in May. I have requested an agent pitch session, and it’s my intention to start the wonderful query process over again, except for this book.
In the meantime, ideas are percolating for the next book in this series. An idea that might require me to visit my alma mater, St. Bonaventure. Oh, the horror. What us writers won’t do for our stories (and if you haven’t picked up on the irony, I’d love a reason to visit Bona’s – and my girl is starting to research colleges to it’ll be killing two birds with one stone).
Hero’s Sword
In the fall of 2015, I moved all of these books over to Smashwords. At the beginning of the year, I set Power Play to free on all platforms (except Kindle because — Amazon). Since the beginning of the year, I’ve given away 85 books, the vast majority through iBooks (huh?). Just today, I checked my Smashwords dashboard and I sold all five books in the rest of the series. Also through iBooks (again, huh?). Yay! Presumably this means someone downloaded and loved the first book, so they went out and bought the others. I also sold two print books this month through Amazon.
One can only hope it’s the beginning of a trend.
So good news: Power Play is getting out there and (hopefully) I’m spreading the word. Bad news: the series is still on hold pending my ability to justify the associated expense of publication. Good news: my cover artist has returned to freelancing and would be available for the cover design of book 7 (which is written and only needs to be edited). So no need to rebrand the series (Which is good, because a lot of people love those covers. As do I.).
Other stuff
I have two short story mysteries (both using completely different characters) out for consideration for two anthologies, one from the Sister in Crime Guppies chapter, and one from (gulp) Bouchercon 2016. Fingers crossed.
And there you have it. I’m still writing, and submitting and…waiting at the bottom of that staircase. In the meantime, I’ll try to blog more regularly. And not just book reviews.
I hope.
Image by Ricardo Cuppini; used under Creative Commons license
March 10, 2016
Review: Chalk’s Outline
Chalk’s Outline by J.J. Hensley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I finished this book last night, and I had to mull it overnight before I could write the review.
Ultimately, because of the inability to do half-stars, I’m going to round up and give this one four. Despite using characters from his first two books, Hensley has crafted a compelling story that pulls from that history, but doesn’t require the reader to have read the previous stories (I read MEASURE TWICE, but have not yet read RESOLVE). He’s also put together a cast of primary characters who are deeply flawed, but yet compelling and – dare I say it – likable.
The story will make you question the concepts of “right” and “justice,” and making you think is always one of my hallmarks of a good book.
I was able to figure out the name of the “mentor” and the motive, but hey – this is a thriller, not a mystery, so that’s okay. I still wanted to see how it all played out.
My need to think was occasioned by the ending. I will admit it. Like any good American, I tend to prefer happy endings. But I also don’t like trite endings, where everybody goes home completely unscathed by their brush with evil and they go merrily about their lives. After pondering overnight, I think the ending of this book was perfect for the characters – hopeful, but not completely tied off.
The book does suffer from a few flaws in editing, but I lay those flaws at the feet of the publisher and its editor, not the author.
Whether you’ve read the previous books or not, you’ll be able to understand and enjoy this one.
March 1, 2016
Review: The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband
The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband by E.J. Copperman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I struggled with this rating. I wanted to love this book. I first read about in on the Jungle Red Writers blog, and when I received a copy I was thrilled because I was really looking forward to it.
I didn’t love it. Not as much as I hoped. But I’m rounding up to four stars because the good outweighed the not-so-good (for me).
I enjoyed the character of Samuel. Yes, he brought to mind Monk, but with a twist. I think casting a person with Asperger’s and making that syndrome an asset instead of a liability is brilliant. And while he’s occasionally a little left of center, he’s a lovable guy and aware that his “personality characteristics” might put others off and tries not to do that. And I love how he insists he doesn’t “solve cases” he “answers questions.” Really, aren’t they kind of the same thing? =)
I think the character of Janet Washburn could have been a little more fleshed out, but that may be a series character arc goal. She certainly has a lot of potential.
The thing that rubbed me wrong was Detective Dickinson. I won’t give away the action that irritated me (with regards to Samuel), but no detective would do that. Even given suspension of believe for the sake of the story, I thought Dickinson was arrogant, condescending and bordered on the “incompetent cop” trope. I think the reason he goes to Samuel could have been handled differently, even if Dickinson had to be a bit irritating. The story wouldn’t have suffered for it.
All in all, an interesting main character and a story worth a read.
Book Review: The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband
The Question of the Unfamiliar Husband by E.J. Copperman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I struggled with this rating. I wanted to love this book. I first read about in on the Jungle Red Writers blog, and when I received a copy I was thrilled because I was really looking forward to it.
I didn’t love it. Not as much as I hoped. But I’m rounding up to four stars because the good outweighed the not-so-good (for me).
I enjoyed the character of Samuel. Yes, he brought to mind Monk, but with a twist. I think casting a person with Asperger’s and making that syndrome an asset instead of a liability is brilliant. And while he’s occasionally a little left of center, he’s a lovable guy and aware that his “personality characteristics” might put others off and tries not to do that. And I love how he insists he doesn’t “solve cases” he “answers questions.” Really, aren’t they kind of the same thing? =)
I think the character of Janet Washburn could have been a little more fleshed out, but that may be a series character arc goal. She certainly has a lot of potential.
The thing that rubbed me wrong was Detective Dickinson. I won’t give away the action that irritated me (with regards to Samuel), but no detective would do that. Even given suspension of believe for the sake of the story, I thought Dickinson was arrogant, condescending and bordered on the “incompetent cop” trope. I think the reason he goes to Samuel could have been handled differently, even if Dickinson had to be a bit irritating. The story wouldn’t have suffered for it.
All in all, an interesting main character and a story worth a read.
February 18, 2016
Review: Spider Woman’s Daughter
Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I met Ms. Hillerman at Bouchercon in 2015. Although I’d never read one of her father’s books, she was a delightful person and the description of this book intrigued me so I gave it a read.
A big plus is that I was never confused. As I said, I’d never read a Tony Hillerman novel, so all these characters were new to me. Perhaps the fact that Ms. Hillerman was using a secondary character (Bernadette Manuelito) as the primary protagonist helped. But I didn’t feel my lack of knowledge about the Hillerman universe hindered me in any way.
I also thought the descriptions of setting were fantastic and, while I am certainly no Navajo expert, the Navajo experience felt very authentic. It spoke of a very high degree of dedication and research, which I appreciated.
I did find the pace lagged a bit in the middle. There seemed to be a lot of going places and wonderful description, but not a lot of motion on the mystery-solving. However, when the mystery was the focus, the story stepped right along.
I think anyone who is already a Tony Hillerman fan will appreciate this new book – and anyone who hasn’t read Tony will not feel lost if they start with his daughter.
