Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 229

Being Anonymous

I love the feeling of being anonymous. I don’t mean that I don’t want people to know about my books. I don’t even mind if people know a lot about me. The feeling I mean is being in a place where I know no one, in a hotel room or a restaurant or just walking around. It allows me to see things through my eyes only. I can people watch and eavesdrop at will.
I’ve always enjoyed traveling alone for the same reason. It leaves me open to experiences I don’t have if I’m talking to someone or worrying about their experience or listening to them interpreting what we’re seeing. I don’t mean to imply that I want it all the time—just some of the time.
My suspicion is that it’s a writer’s attitude. As a writer I sometimes feel as if I get too insular, sitting at my desk with my thoughts and experiences—with only the occasional foray into social media to keep me social. Being alone in a strange city allows me to soak in what’s happening outside my own mind. I can watch two people have an argument—watch how they use their body language and facial expressions. I can watch a mother soothe a distressed child, or observe two young people doing a mating dance, or two elderly people make their way along a sidewalk.. Another lone person catches my eye and I watch how being alone affects him. And I store all this up for when I am back at my computer writing.
But it isn’t entirely about work. Some of the pleasure of anonymity is just allowing myself to be self-indulgent—not answering to a deadline, not having to do something I “should” be doing. I can hole up in my hotel room and write something frivolous, or read or even watch junk TV without having to answer to anyone—even myself.
One of my writing gurus said she has taught herself to write while she is on book tour, and I think it’s a grand idea. I try to do it myself. But I hope I never get so wound up in the need to produce that I can’t step out of my usual roles and indulge free flights of fancy. I always want to keep alive the secret joy of being anonymous.

Crank up the traveling music!

I’m going on book tour! I’ve got a frantic few weeks coming up, which I’m actually looking forward to. When I first became a published author, I always felt a little nervous about bookstore readings. Why? Not because I was afraid to speak in front of people. I can natter on for hours, as those who know me can vouch for.
What terrified me was that no one would show up. Well, folks, I’ve been there and done that. Don’t have to worry about it anymore. I’ve heard from some of the most popular authors around, that it happens to them, too. Simon Wood said he would rather have no one at all show up than have only one or two. If no one shows up at least you can pack up your wounded pride and slink home—or to the nearest bar. But if a couple of people show up, you must act as if the room is full and give them the whole talk.
And then there’s the story Robert Crais tells of sitting in a mall with stacks of books, and getting the stink eye from everyone who passed. The one person who stopped asked if he knew where the restroom was.  Books sales? Zero.
Around home I have a loyal pack of friends and fellow writers who will usually turn up. What amazes me is when a lot of people come to see me in a place where I don’t know anyone. Some bookstore owners have terrific promotional skills. They beat the bushes and get lots of people out. (hello Chris Burke at Clues Unlimited in Tucson). And it also amazes me that writer friends will strong-arm a bunch of people to bookstore readings (I’m looking at you Catriona McPherson), and others who show up even if they’re working like crazy (Matt Coyle, Lisa Brackmann).
No matter how popular the author or the bookstore, attendance at readings is a crapshoot. No one knows what makes people flock in one day and a few months later same day, same time, no one shows up.. There are a few things that can definitely skew the results, though:
1)   Weather—I had a few loyal people show up at a bookstore in Phoenix IN AUGUST. But generally that’s a bad time of year for a reading there. On the other hand, I had a terrific turnout in Austin in the middle of a sleet storm—one book club said they had driven an hour on treacherous roads to come to the reading. Go figure.2)   Competition—the worst showing I ever had I found out I was competing with The Blue Angels, as well as one of the most beautiful days of the year. Who wanted to come out of a glorious Sunday afternoon and into a bookstore—especially since traffic was at a standstill pretty much all over town. Runner up for worst showing was a very cold night in Dallas when no one showed up. At least not for me. They did, however, turn up for Amy Tan down the street.3)   Lack of promo. It’s up to the author and the bookstore to promote, promote, promote. And as the author you need to make sure the bookstore personnel has done its job. I learned that at my hometown bookstore. I thought I had arranged everything—but my assumption that the bookstore would order my books was totally wrong. Turned out they were used to only hosting independent authors who brought their own stock.4)   Overexposure. I’ve had books come out in pretty rapid succession, and I realized that no matter how generous friends are, they may not be thrilled to hear me speak yet again. So this time when my book came out, I’ve only booked a couple of events at bookstores. That doesn’t mean I’m hiding out-I have some multi-author events scheduled—but that I’m being judicious.
What I’m learning is to do the best I can and to treat every person who attends as if he or she intends to buy a carton of books to hand out to family and friends.
On that note, I will close so I can get started packing for Southern California. I will be at Mysterious Galaxy tomorrow night and Book Carnival Thursday night. Wish me well!

Launch Day Thoughts

Today was launch day, and I find myself feeling impatient to write more, publish more…more….more. So I paused today to remind myself of a few things:
1)   Three years ago at this time I didn’t have a publishing contract. I was beginning to gather information in case I decided to go the independent route. The latter didn’t particularly appeal to me for a variety of reasons peculiar to me, but I was willing to do it.2)   Two years ago at this time I was terrified and excited because I was three months away from my first, ever book launch. I had gotten a couple of early reviews that seemed pretty good, but still felt like I was dangling over a cliff.3)   A year ago at this time I was in the middle of changing agents. My prior agent was personable, but for some time I had thought we were not a good fit. It was a scary step to step off the wagon in mid-stream, but it worked out really well. I wouldn’t have been able to have the courage to do it without good advice from those who had taken the same risk.4)   Which leads me to this year, when I’m awed by the support of my amazing author friends in this journey, who are always there with advice, support, and a good laugh. 5)   I’m so grateful for the support and love from family and friends. Sure, they have to be nice to me, but they’ve gone above and beyond.
6)   Next year?  Who knows? For right now, I’m just going to be glad that today was book launch day for # 4 and let the future stretch out ahead of me—enticing me rather than driving me.
And here's what the launch is for: 

And Then the Dog Showed Up

I rarely read crime fiction that focus on animals as part of the investigative milieu. With a few notable exceptions, I find them too far-fetched. So imagine my surprise when I was working on Craddock #5 and a dog pushed its way into the scene. Okay, so somebody has a dog. That’s nice. But then after a while, the dog showed up again, and this time it wanted more attention. There was a new character and it was nice to have a dog to give her something to do.
But then, the dog stayed. It’s not Craddock’s dog, but I thought it might as well get to have some fun. It rode around with Craddock and went to his house and generally hung out. I didn’t mind. Seemed like a nice dog.



And then….the dog suddenly had an important scene.
Which brings to mind a question of how the writerly brain works. I didn’t set out to give this dog anything to do in the book. He was in the last book, too, as a little side note. Something to add a little jazz to a scene. So how come he showed up in the latest book and made a place for himself? I guess you could ask that about any character, too, but usually you know in advance that a character is needed to carry out certain elements of the plot. I rarely find myself completely surprised by a character.
It almost feels eerie to me that this dog appeared so naturally and continued to be a part of the book—almost as if he was in charge and I should get out of the way.
I would think of this as an anomaly, but it has happened too many times in my writing: something that pops up early later becomes important. In fact, in a couple of books, I realize later that the first few pages foreshadow everything that happens in the book—even though I had no conscious intention of that happening.
More than once I’ve told people that my first two books seemed to write themselves. Some writers say they have never had that experience and others say it has happened to him. I’d love to know what that process is—the thing that makes the story come full-blown into a writer’s mind, as well as the thing that makes a writer include a new character (even a dog) not knowing consciously what he’s doing there, and only realizing later that he or she is vital to the story.
Readers: Any thoughts about this?

And Then the Wheels Fell Off

This is a post about writing, but one can apply it to all kinds of life activities. It’s about that moment when I’m cooking along, writing, thinking “Oh yeah! Just gonna let the story take me where it will.” I’ve got the pedal to the metal, the radio blasting, letting the scenery flow past. After a while I slow down a little and wonder exactly where this thing is going, but I’m determined to not get in the way of this wonderful, organic process. After a while I reach a signpost. Which direction should I take? A few possibilities spring to mind and I pick one, telling myself that any direction is better than sitting still. I keep on going. Hey, this is great! Rocking down the road.
Wait! What’s that noise? Is it the transmission? Did I run over a branch and I’m dragging it? Uh oh. My heart sinks. I know what’s happening: The wheels are coming off. I screech to a halt and climb out to take a look.
Groan. It’s happened again. I’ve taken a wrong turn in my writing and the wheels have wobbled and wobbled….until they’ve fallen off. How do I know this is what’s happened?
1)   The action has ground to a halt and I don’t a clue what can possibly happen next.2)   I’m bored. If I’m not excited about the story and where it’s headed, I can be sure my readers won’t be either.3)   The characters seem to have wandered away and are doing things that have nothing to do with the story. 4)   I’m suddenly enthralled with the idea for my next book and think it would be a fine idea to start working on it right now. 5)   I self-righteously remember that I’ve been neglecting my promotion activities—especially social media. Time to go to Facebook and take a few quizzes that enlighten me about what color my aura is, or where I should be living. Hmmm. New York City? Maybe I should start packing.
Okay, now what?
I kick the tires. I whine. I wander around the house thinking of all the chores I should be doing. But oddly, none of these appeal to me. I do more social media. I clean the refrigerator.
But at some point (like I remember that I have a contract deadline looming), I turn around and trudge back down the road to find out where I went wrong. Invariably I’m shocked at the rookie mistakes that I’ve stumbled into that have taken me out of my story and led to the breakdown. Here are a few signals I look for to get the wheels back where they need to be. I list them from the mundane to the most serious:
1)   Remember when I said I was flying along “letting the scenery flow by?” Bad idea. When I stop grounding my characters firmly in their setting, that’s when they get the notion that they can go where they please. It’s all well and good saying, “the characters seemed to take over the story,” but in the end I’m responsible for them. It’s my job to keep them on task.2)   Odd dialogue. I start looking at dialogue and sometimes I realize that one of the characters has said something that another one should have said or is completely out of character. They are trying to find their way back into their proper roles, and I’ve let them wander away.3)   I’ve included some activity that doesn’t move the story forward. Action doesn’t always have to feed the main story line, but if it doesn’t it still has to have a real purpose. In a series, it may mean that a relationship or a back story is developing over time and the scene plays to that.  What it doesn’t mean is that a character can kick around doing something unrelated to the main or sub-story. Any development has to feed the story. If it doesn’t it’s going to stop me down the line.4)   The premise needs tweaking. This can be a serious problem. It means I didn’t fully appreciate all the ramifications of the story idea and I may have to go back and do some serious rethinking. I’ve had to do it, and it’s a bear. But if I don’t do it, I’ll be on foot limping to the end—and then I’ll have to go back anyway and start over.
I said at the beginning that this doesn’t just have to be about writing. We all hit moments on any life project where everything stalls out. That’s when it’s time to go back and figure out where you ignored the signs that told you to go one way, and instead you went another. And to figure out what you have to do to get back on track.



         

Uncomfortable Conference Encounters

This week I’m writing about something that came as a result of my blog post about shyness. I have a friend who is outgoing, well spoken, interesting and always worth talking to. She read the post and said that what she doesn’t know how to handle is when she’s at a conference or party in conversation with someone, and that person is obviously scouting the room for “someone better” to see or be seen with.
It happens to all of use. You approach someone to be friendly, only to find that aren’t interested in conversing if you aren’t obviously someone who 1) can help their career, 2) is famous, or at least recognizable, or 3) is worth being seen with.
Even worse is when you get up the courage to talk to someone you admire, only to find that it pains them to have to be seen with someone not as important as they are. I’ve rarely encountered Mr. or Ms. Too Cool for the Masses Ninety percent of the well-known writers I’ve encountered are more than generous. With those few “stars” who can’t be bothered, there’s not much to be done except slink away and vow never to buy any of their books again.
I’m just as sensitive to this kind of bad manners as most people. Usually when it happens, I’m so humiliated that I pretend I see someone I know and say, “Excuse me, I see someone I need to talk to.” And I slink away and go talk to the wall. But if you really want to do something more, I’d say the way you handle it depends on how much you care—if you want to teach them a lesson or if you just want to extricate yourself and move on.
I’m not much for trying to teach a lesson because I think it’s a waste of time. But if I were feeling particularly snarky and annoyed, I probably would say something like, “I can see I’ve disturbed your search for someone. I’ll leave you to it.” At least it lets them know that their wandering eye isn’t lost on you.
But there’s another possibility. The person who is searching for “someone better” may actually be looking for someone. Or he may be tired, hungry, or grumpy about something that has nothing to do with you. Although there are polite ways to convey this, she may have reached the end of her ability to navigate the chaotic world of the conference.
The exceptionally entertaining, smart woman who talked to me about this said it makes her not like to go to conferences. That floored me. To think that someone as savvy as she is would allow herself to be turned away from what could be a valuable experience by someone who has no manners!
Bottom line the rude person is not worth one second of your attention, regardless of the reason for it. He or she may live in her own little hell of not being recognized enough. She may need something you can’t give her. Or, he may just be overwhelmed.
Bottom line: It’s not about you. Don’t let yourself be defined by people who don’t have good manners. Don’t let them waste your time for one moment. Have a stock phrase ready, like, “Nice chatting. Catch you later.” And walk away.

For a Good Cause

Years ago my sister, mother of three children, started donating her time to CASA, working with a young girl whose parents were unable to care for her properly. Here’s what the CASA website says about its mission: “Every day in this country, 1,900 children become victims of abuse or neglect, and four of them will die. Every day. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children is a network of 951 community-based programs that recruit, train and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities. Volunteer advocates—empowered directly by the courts—offer judges the critical information they need to ensure that each child’s rights and needs are being attended to while in foster care.”
Fast forward to last spring when I went on safari in Africa with a lively group of people. Four of them had retired to the panhandle section of West Virginia and were all on the board of their district’s CASA. As board members they work hard to raise money for CASA because West Virginia is the only state of the union that does not have a line item to fun this children’s advocacy system.
All of them had read my first two books and asked if I would consider being a part of their fundraising effort. I was delighted to do so. In May I will be attending several fundraising events that not only raise money for CASA but for their country library. One of the fun things they are doing is auctioning off the chance to be a character in my next book. The winner gets to choose whether or he or she wants to be a villain, a hero, or just folks.
To buy a chance costs only $10, and the money will go for a wonderful cause. I’d appreciate it if some of my readers would help these hard-working board members raise money for a good cause. Here’s the link:
http://www.mycasaep.org

Don't be shy

Are you the kind of person who at the beach enters the water slowly, letting your body acclimate to the temperature, or do you plunge in for an exhilarating jolt?
Believe it or not, a few years ago I went to a high school reunion, and several people remarked to me, “You used to be so quiet and shy in high school.” Those of you who know me as a social chatterbox probably will have trouble with this image of me as a shy person. The kind of person who dips her toes in, then her ankles, until she finally can swim.
By contrast, I now fling myself into the water, and into social situations. I won’t say I don’t have moments of shyness. I’m as tongue-tied as the next person when I’m in the presence of a writer I really admire. (What to say that won’t make me fell like an idiot?)
With Left Coast Crime coming up and a whole year of wonderful conferences and workshops to contemplate, I hear worried comments about people feeling shy. “I’m an introvert. I don’t know what to say. What if no one talks to me? Everyone will know everyone else and I’ll be invisible.”
I used to have those same jitters. I hated small talk and thought it was a waste of time. But after a while I realized that small talk is the equivalent of sticking your toes in the water to get used to the temperature. It’s a way for a person who isn’t naturally chatty to warm up. Think of social interaction as an athletic event and that you are limbering up for the event.
To help me limber up, I realized that I needed to “think outward” rather than inward. That meant focusing on the person I was talking to, rather than focusing on myself. The idea was to short-circuit the “panic” questions—will she think I’m a fool? Will he roll his eyes to his companions the minute I walk away? Will the group ignore me? Will they pity me?—and plunge into the event.
So I learned to think of a few open-ended questions that I could use to break the ice. Here are a few:
For writers the questions are easy:
1)   What are you working on? You can ask ANY writer this, including the most celebrated. Be prepared to have your ear talked off. People love to talk about what they are working on.  But just in case you ask a writer who doesn’t want to talk about it, you could ask,2)   What’s the best book you read last month? Or3)   What have you read that you wish you had written? Or4)   When will your next book be out? Did you have any problems with it that you usually don’t have? 5)   Any process question (where, when, and how do you work)
You may be talking to an agent. If you are looking for an agent, this is a situation guaranteed to make you tongue-tied. Remember: even agents are people. If you are at a conference, the agent knows fully well that some people are looking for agents and guess what? They are looking for clients! So approach them the way you would anyone, as if you are interested in who they are, not what they are. Here are some questions you could ask:
1)   What’s your favorite book that you acquired last year? 2)   Do you like being an agent? Why? Why not?3)   What book did you read this year that you wish you had gotten your hands on as an agent?
Same with publishers:1)   What’s your favorite book you ever published?2)   Did you always know you wanted to be in publishing?3)   Do you wish you could turn back the clock to when publishing was a less chaotic business?4)   Do you think working on the computer has hurt or helped writers?
And of course you may run into a reader! Don’t ask what authors they like. People often feel put on the spot because like everyone else they get brain freeze when they are asked that. Instead ask:
1)   Were you a reader from a young age? 2)   Have your tastes changed over the years?3)   How many books do you have in your TBR pile?
Or make up your own questions. But the trick is to have a few handy. The even greater trick is when you ask the question, listen to the answer. Somewhere in the answer is the next step.
Having some pre-planned questions up your sleeve will make your conference time sizzle.

The To-Be-Read Pile

I recently joked to someone that if my to-be-read pile were to topple over on me, I’d be killed. That was truly a joke because I don’t dare stack all my books-to-be-read in one pile. For one thing the ceiling isn’t tall enough. For another, if I piled them all in one tall pile, the one I would want to read next would for sure be at the bottom of the pile.
Sometimes I look around my house in despair: How in the world did I get this huge collection of books? Even if I had time only for reading, I wouldn’t be able to read all the books waiting in my stacks. Sometimes I talk sternly to myself, saying I can’t buy any more books until I’ve whittled down the pile. But then I’m doing errands and I pass a bookstore. Ooo, I’ll just pop in for a minute and see what kind of bookstore it is (you see? I can think of any excuse to go into a bookstore). And once I’m in….oh, there’s a book I’ve been meaning to read. I’ll just buy that. Oh, wait. What a nice cover on this one. And what do you know? It’s by someone I had intended to read and hadn’t gotten around to. Oh, here’s another one….the cover isn’t very appealing and the name sounds silly. But I’ll just take a peek inside. Nice paper, and what a lovely readable font. Look at that sentence. Smooth and lyrical and with a sense of dread. Whoa! This woman can write! I’ll add this to the stack. That’s only three. I can read those in no time at all…
And then a well-meaning friend comes for dinner, thrusts a book at me and says, “I just finished reading this and you have to read it right now!” And I want to read it because she loved it.
Then you get the books that come winging your way to be reviewed or blurbed “if you have time in your busy schedule.”
And then there are conferences with their delicious book bags. I open the bag. Oh, what a relief! Two of these books I wouldn’t read on a bet. They aren’t my style at all. I mean look at this first sentence! It’s ridiculous. Although, I guess it does kind of have a thrilling start. I’ll just read a little more. Hmm, maybe I’ll keep this one. But the other one? Forget it! I mean….
It doesn’t help that I read both fiction and non-fiction in many areas. Okay, I have to confess I’m not very interested in the lives of monks….except for The Name of the Rose, of course, and oh yes, the writing of Priscilla Royal—exquisite. But I really am not interested in the history of mid-century modern furniture. Oh, wait. Look at that picture of the chair. I wonder what it says about it…
A book junky is a book junky. And I have no interest in kicking the habit. Here are some books I have read in the last year that I highly recommend:
Time Hallinan’s The Queen of Patpong, and Crashed, three novels by Catriona McPherson, Rhys Bowen’s latest in her Lady Georgiana series, M.P. Cooley’s Ice Shear(makes me shiver to think about it), Rob Brunet’s hilarious Stinking Rich, Anonymous-9’s even more hilarious Bite Harder, Jim Ziskin’s No Stone Unturned (Can’t wait for Stone Cold Dead), Allen Eskin’s The Life We Bury, Roger Hobbs’ Ghostman, William Kent Krueger’s Ordinary Grace(there’s a reason he swept the awards this year), Taylor Steven’s The Doll, the first two in Patrick Lee’s dazzling trilogy, The Breach and Ghost Country, and I reread a classic sci-fi book, Earth Abides.
I’ve actually been keeping a reading diary this year for the first time ever, so stay tuned! And in the comments post what you’ve been reading that you think people shouldn’t pass up.

SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Welcome to the first appearance of Subject to Change. I called the blog that because there isn’t going to be any set subject. Sometimes the subject will be  writing, sometimes I’ll do a review, and there might even be a rant or two. Occasionally I’ll have a guest author. But most important is that I want the blog to be authentic and entertaining. It will come out once a week, on Wednesday, and I hope you will think of subscribing so we can keep up with each other.
I was a member of the The Ladykillers blog for a few years and found that I really enjoyed blogging. I like it because it’s a one-subject blast of information or opinion. I like to read select blogs on a daily basis. I subscribe to Rocky Mountain Fiction writers because they have a great mix of posts about various subjects. Same goes for Debutante Ball. I also subscribe to Sports Without Injury, a blog that has nothing to do with writing and everything to do with keeping my body in shape so I can keep writing happily for years to come. I frequently read other blogs as well, especially review blogs like Buried Under Books. The reason I mention all these blogs is that I’ve long admired people who keep a blog going over time and I will strive to keep up the same kind of crisp, new content that they come up with.

Readers, if you have a particular subject you’d like me to cover in some future blog, be sure to let me know. I’d like this to be interactive, with people reading and commenting. A new adventure!


Terry Shames’ best-selling Samuel Craddock series is set in small town Texas. A Killing at Cotton Hill was a finalist for Left Coast Crime’s Best Mystery of 2013 and the Strand Magazine Critics Award for Best First Mystery, and won the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery. The Last Death of Jack Harbin, January, 2014, was named one of the top five mysteries of 2014 by Library Journal, and one of the top ten of 2014 by MysteryPeople. Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek came out October, 2014 and the fourth, A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge, debuts April 7, 2015. Terry lives in Berkeley. More at www.terryshames.com.