Lori Rader-Day's Blog, page 6

School’s in this summer

I’m teaching at two writing workshops this summer, in case you’re seeking some instruction…

 

In June I’ll be teaching at the Yale Summer Writers’ Workshop. Info here. I’ll be the mystery instructor, and our workshops will focus on mystery and crime fiction.

In July I’ll be teaching at the Antioch (Ohio) Writers’ Workshoip. Info here.  At this one, I’m the morning fiction instructor (which implies that you might get a second opinoin if you stick around for afternoon, too).

Take a look at all the instructors and the programs both offer. At both events you would get the chance to meet other writers, including some of the instructors, even if you weren’t in their workshops. Much mingling and networking, also known as friend-making.

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Guten news to share…

Guten news! THE DAY I DIED will be published in Germany!

Rader is a German name, as it happens, so these are MY PEOPLE calling me home.

I have little to no Germanic knowledge but asked my friends (who do speak the language) to suggest one of those awesome compound words the Germans are known for to swap in for my title. The suggestion I like is:

furchtbarschrecklichnichtgutsehrschlechtentag

“Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.”

Works for me. Thank you, Germany!

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News: I’m an Author-in-Residence!

And I get to live in my own house!

The news is here.

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Three Questions with Susan Van Kirk

Susan Van Kirk is a writer of short stories, mysteries, and a memoir about teaching. Her first mystery, Three May Keep a Secret, came out in December 2014. Susan and I met on a panel at Bouchercon (I think—I remember the room, but those conference rooms start to blend together, don’t they?) when we were both learning to talk about our first novels. And now she’s here to talk about her second novel in the Endurance mystery series, Marry in Haste, in which a present-day character taps into a past generation to learn about an enduring social problem.

Marry in Haste has two timelines—a complex story to tell. Why did you decide to approach the story this way, and how did the two stories feed into each other?

It always starts with “What if?” In this case, it was, “What if I wrote a mystery about the topic of domestic abuse and examined its nature in two different centuries?” Now domestic abuse and a series that is sometimes classified “cozy” and sometimes “traditional” is a tough call. But I was interested in the laws, the support victims had or didn’t have, and why victims stayed. It is more about PTSD than actual physical violence.

Tell us about Marry in Haste?

Jeff Maitlin, boyfriend of my main character, Grace Kimball, buys an old Victorian mansion in the small town of Endurance. It is in terrible shape, but he plans to renovate it and turn it into a B & B. He and Grace find a diary owned by Olivia Lockwood hidden in the house. She was one of two wives of a powerful judge who built the house, and Grace reads the terrifying story of their marriage and their honeymoon to the 1893 Columbian Exhibition of the Chicago World’s Fair.

In the present day, one of Grace’s former students, Emily Folger, is charged with the murder of her philandering, wealthy husband, Conrad. Grace, of course, can’t believe this, and she sets out to save Emily. What she finds is the dark secret both marriages share: the husbands are abusive. How does this work in 1893, and do abuse victims have any more help in the present day? The two plots parallel each other in interesting ways. Their events have a great deal to say about what causes abuse, what techniques are used by abusers, and why victims stay.

Marry in Haste has at its heart a story about women helping one another. Why is that story important to you?

It wasn’t until I divorced and had three children to raise on a teacher’s salary that I understood why women were important in my life. My mother died shortly after I married, so I never saw that social dynamic in her life. It was the 1950s, and she was always home for my father. But when I found myself alone with overwhelming problems to handle, I turned to a group of women who are still so important that words are hard to find. They have sustained me through difficult times, and I’ve tried to return that favor. Each came into my life at different times, and now the six of us are still very close.

When I created Grace Kimball, I wanted to surround her with a similar circle of friends because she became a widow quite young. Deb O’Hara she met when dropping off things for her daughter at the junior high where Deb was a secretary. Jill Cunningham came into her life because she did the accounts for Grace and her husband, Roger. Many years later, they folded TJ Sweeney into their group, and she is the least likely member. TJ is biracial, beautiful, younger than Grace and her friends, and grew up with many obstacles, the most important of which was the departure of her father when TJ was young. Grace began mentoring TJ in high school and through college. But nothing came easy to TJ, and she forced the city fathers to put her in the police department when she got the highest score ever on the exam. She and Grace have each other’s back, and they always will. Some readers wonder if this is an unlikely relationship, but I would say “no.” They respect each other as women and as friends, and that is all that’s needed.

Congrats on the new book, Susan!

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Big news: I’m a keynote speaker at RMFW Colorado Gold 2017!

I’ve been dying to share this news and now I can! Next September, watch out, Denver!

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Book cover reveal at Chicago Review of Books!

My new cover? I love it. May I introduce you to The Day I Died? Thank you to Chicago Review of Books for hosting the book and cover designer Owen Corrigan today!

The book is out April 11, 2017. But pre-orders are already open at Amazon, if you’re a patient person. Well, I guess you’ll have to be patient either way, sorry.

If you’re hoping to catch one of my launch events at bookstores, save your sale for then, OK? Support your independent bookstores, too! Also…I have some really fun plans for those launch parties. You’ll want to be there. Details within a couple of months.

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Three Questions with…Susan Spann

Susan Spann, photo by Wing Ng

Susan Spann and I met through The Debutante Ball. No, neither of us are party dress or tiara types, but we know a good thing when we see it. We got in on that action, learned a lot, and met a slew of great women authors, including—ta da!—each other. (We also met Lisa Alber, the other mystery author my year at the Deb Ball. And now we all meet up at mystery conferences. So fun.)

But then, plot twist! Susan’s ninja mystery series (yes, that’s what I said, I said ninja), set in 16th century Japan (yep) moved over to Seventh Street Books, the publisher of my first two novels. Well, Seventh Street knew a good thing when they saw it, too. Her new book, The Ninja’s Daughter, is out tomorrow, August 2, with a stellar new look for the series (see below).

The other thing to know about Susan is that she’s a giver. If you’re on the Twitter (as the kids call it) (no they don’t), check out Susan’s weekly #PubLaw series to learn about the intricacies of contracts, working with agents, writing under a pseudonym, all of it. You will be a publishing ninja in no time.

Welcome, Susan!

Your Shinobi—that’s a ninja—series is now up to its fourth book, The Ninja’s Daughter. Keeping a series going seems like a ninja move to me. Can you talk about how you keep the series fresh and new with each book?

Part of the secret is treating each book as a stand-alone novel as well as a series book—so readers don’t feel lost or “left out” no matter where they come into the series, and so the current book doesn’t spoil the mysteries that came before it. When each installment has to tell a completely self-contained story, it’s easier to keep them fresh.

The other side of that coin, however, is making sure that each installment moves the larger series arc forward, by bringing the readers closer to (and telling them more about) my detectives, master ninja Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Although each novel stands alone, the series as a whole tells the ongoing story of their friendship and their search to learn the identity of the unknown benefactor who hired Hiro to protect the priest.

Add in the ability to take readers into a new and intriguing corner of medieval Japanese culture in every volume, and that’s my recipe for series fiction!

You have also recently completed another ninja move for an author—moving a series to a new and enthusiastic publisher.

Yes! I’m thrilled that, starting with The Ninja’s Daughter, the Hiro Hattori Novels are being published by Seventh Street Books. The first three Hiro Hattori novels were published by Minotaur (as the Shinobi Mysteries), and I truly appreciate Minotaur’s interest and support for those first stories. However, Seventh Street shares my vision for the series in a unique and special way—from the titles to the cover art, as well as the characters’ future adventures—and I’m absolutely delighted that the series is moving forward at Seventh Street books.

The cover for The Ninja’s Daughter truly captures the novel, as well as the theater culture of medieval Japan—beautiful, but with a creepy edge that hints at menace beneath the surface. That’s a perfect example of something every author hopes for, and I’ve been lucky enough to find it at Seventh Street.

Your books are set in the 1500s. In Japan. Another ninja move. How do you research for your books, and how much do you worry about getting the historical detail right?

Accuracy is critically important for historical novels, and I’ve actually rewritten scenes and re-plotted settings when the research didn’t support the original outline. Strong details convey a sense of time and setting that’s particularly important to historical mystery. In fact, I consider the setting another character in my novels, and change it slightly with every installment to keep the series fresh. That does require more research—since The Ninja’s Daughter involves the murder of an actor’s daughter, I needed to research the life and practices of Kyoto’s medieval theater guilds, for example—but those unique details bring novels, settings, and characters to life.

In terms of research, I use every piece of information I can get my hands on. I have an undergraduate degree in Asian Studies from Tufts University, where I studied medieval Japanese history, culture, and architecture. Since I don’t have a functional time machine (my Tardis is currently in the shop) most of my current research takes place in books and online, and I also consult with a Japanese historian who lives in Kyoto. Best of all, I get to take research trips to Japan to visit the sites of my upcoming novels—the most fun part of the writing process!

Thank you for letting me share a little about The Ninja’s Daughter and my writing process, and for having me on the blog today!

Thanks for being with us, Susan! Congrats on the new book!

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Baby gets a new name…

My third novel is getting a new title. Before I announce that officially, a little story about that book and its title. A saga, actually.

My third novel is actually my *first* novel, which was actually in its infancy a short story. In 2007, I started a short story that got long and one of my teachers at Roosevelt University, Lisa Stolley, informed me it was a novel. So I wrote it. (Those four words stand in for a lot of work, rework, failure.) Along the way, it was suggested that this thing needed a name, so I called it the same thing I had been calling it as a short story, “An Elegant Hand.”

I worked on this thing off and on for years, and at one point decided that this title was too…something. So I tried to rename it. I spent a lot of time on ideas. I renamed it. That title didn’t stick. It would simply not adhere to the project. I went back to calling it what I had been calling it.

In the mean time, I had put the thing away and gone on to other projects, writing and publishing two novels. But last year I took the old draft out of “the drawer” (I have a file on my computer called that; that title works). And I rewrote it. (Those four words also hide all manner of doubt and adversity.) I sold it with the old title attached. And then I said, “I’m open to a new title.”

Here’s why. An Elegant Hand was hard to say. It was really hard to hear. I found myself having to say it twice every time someone asked about it. Selfishly, I wanted it changed to something people would hear and be intrigued by, not confused by.

So ten years after I started that short story, it’s a novel with a new title and… a release date from Harper Collins William Morrow.

And if you’ve hung in there this long, why hold out any longer?

THE DAY I DIED by Lori Rader-Day, out April 11, 2017…

Cover art, visits to bookstores near you, launch fun-times and prizes, all of that will be posted here as it’s finalized.

To say I’m excited about this intriguing title and that official date (ten years in the making) is definitely an understatement. Weeeeee here we go!

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Little Pretty Things is an Anthony Award nominee!

I’ve had more than my fair share of good news lately, an embarrassment of riches. So all I will say is: I am happy and happy for so many great writers on the Anthony Award nominations list, which came out this morning.

Little Pretty Things is a nominee for the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original. The full list is here.

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Little Pretty Things WINS the Mary Higgins Clark Award!

OH, boy, do I need to get better at updating here. You win one huge mystery writing award, and things on your website go sadly out of date.

That’s right. WIN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Invisible Trophy, as I have nicknamed it, is that square of glass I’m holding (I swear it’s there). It’s lovely and I couldn’t be more excited to have it in my house, especially given how wonderful the other nominee books were. The ladies who wrote them? Also lovely.

From left: Hallie Ephron, me, Catriona McPherson, Susie Calkins. Not pictured: Frances Brody, she of Living in Far Away Places. Read their books!

Here’s my acceptance speech if you are so inclined (I can’t watch it. I lived it, Dottie.)

If you want the gist, I thanked the other four nominees, Mystery Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America Midwest, my agent Sharon Bowers, my editor Dan Mayer and everyone at Seventh Street Books, Mary Higgins  Clark, who has been such a part of my reading and writing life, and of course my wonderful husband, who was there to see me win.

And then my agent, Greg, and I drank illicit wine in the hotel lobby, cackling like school kids. A good night.

I probably forgot to thank you, so accept my gratitude here and now.

 

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