Killer Nashville Interview with Hank Phillippi Ryan

2022 Guest of Honor

KN: First, we loved Her Perfect Life. What sparked the idea? 

HPR: Oh, thank you! That is the best thing an author can ever hear.

Here’s the beginning of the idea: When I worked in Atlanta, in the 80s, I was anchoring the weekend news. I came home after the late news one night, midnight or even later, and my street was clogged with police cars. As I got closer, I saw that they were focused on my house! And turned out, someone had broken in! The police had already caught the burglar, and told me he confessed to them that he had chosen my house to break into because he knew I was live on television. Isn’t that chilling?

Because he knew where I was, he knew where I wasn’t. That understanding of the deep vulnerability of being a television reporter began to haunt me. What if I had something hidden in my house that I didn’t want anyone to see? What if he had found it? What if he threatened to make it public? And that was the beginning of the story.

And led to the irony in the title.

But, as you can see when you read the book, that’s the theme, but that break-in is not part of the plot.

Her Perfect Life turned out to be about sisters, betrayal, guilt, fame, and revenge. Everyone knows television reporter Lily Atwood, and that may be her biggest problem. She has fame, fortune, and beloved daughter; and her devoted fans have even given her a hashtag: #PerfectLily. But Lily also has one life-changing dark secret—and if anyone finds out, she fears her career and happiness are over. Problem is: how do you keep a secret when you’re always in the spotlight? And when an anonymous source begins to tell Lily secrets about Lily’s own life—she learns the spotlight may be the most dangerous place of all. 

And so incredibly thrilled that it got a starred review from Kirkus, and also a star from Publishers Weekly, which called it “A superlative thriller.” Whew.

KN: Lily sounds a bit like you in some ways, at least. She’s an Emmy winning TV reporter in Boston. Is anything based on real-life experience?

HPR: So funny! Well, yes and no. They say write what you know—and also to write what you fear. I’ve been an investigative television reporter for more than 40 years now, yikes. And I’m still on the air in Boston, of course. But many years ago, when I was just starting as a television reporter, I went to the laundromat. (Very exciting, right? Glamorous.) And a woman came up to me and said ‘Oh, you’re Hank from television!” And she proceeded to tell me about a story she wanted me to do. I listened politely, but I went home and called my mother and whined. “Can you believe it?” I asked. “Someone came up to me in the laundromat! “ And my mother paused, and then she said: “You chose the life in the spotlight. Welcome to the spotlight. And I never want to hear you complain again.” She was completely right, of course, and that has truly stuck with me.

But my family did not choose that spotlight. What if that makes them vulnerable too? So much for the perfect life.

And although in Her Perfect Life Lily has many fans, she also has a lot of enemies. Think about it: every one of those Emmy’s she’s won—just like the ones I’ve won—means there is someone whose secret she’s told. Someone who’d rather she’d have stayed quiet. Every one of those Emmys represents a new enemy, right? Scary.

It’s also a huge responsibility. You can never be wrong! Never make a mistake, never use the wrong word, or call someone the wrong name, or miscalculate, and never be one second late. And you have to do the whole thing with perfect hair and make-up and a hundred thousand people watching. All part of the job.

Personally? I’ve been stalked, followed, yelled at, threatened, had people come to my house, and harass me on the phone. As Lily learns, being in the spotlight can bring antipathy, too.

KN: You’ve just finished your 14th manuscript. How do you tend to come up with story ideas? Do you worry you’ll run out?

HPR: Ha! That’s the toughest of all questions. How do I come up with ideas? I have no idea. I truly don’t. Sometimes it’s one tiny nugget from an investigation I’m working on—my novels are not my news stories made into fiction—but maybe a tiny fact, or a possibility, or a personality, or something that didn’t turn out to be true in real life but would be fascinating in fiction. Maybe it’s simply a passing random moment of “what if?”  I think reporters and storytellers have a sort of ‘blink’ reflex, where we hear something, and in an instant, can say—oh, that’s a great story! So, I have to admit, much of my life is spent remembering to be open to those moments of inspiration.

Am I worried that I will run out of ideas? Daily. And never. I am terrified, I’ll confess, before the beginning of every book that I’ll never have another good idea. I hear about authors who have stashes of them. But I tell myself—I don’t need a stash. I just need one at a time.

KN: The pacing and plot twists are fantastic—how do you write/plan the plot?

HPR: It’s a writerly answer, but my favorite part of writing Her Perfect Life was when I finally figured out how it would all end. And that came very late in the book! I don’t use an outline, so I’m writing along, happily, and the story is emerging --if I am lucky--but there is some point in the book where you have to find the answer! It’s like—setting up a mystery that then I have to solve.

And it was very difficult this time. I walked around and walked around and got to the point where I thought – I can’t do this. I have no idea. And then, at some point, it just appeared to me. And when I figured out the end, I stood up and applauded. You have to picture this, because I was by myself. But I stood up and applauded.

KN: Tell us about yourself. Did you always love mysteries growing up?

HPR: I grew up in really rural Indiana, so rural that you couldn’t see another house from my house. My sister and I used to ride our ponies to the library to get books, and we read up in the hayloft of the barn behind our house. That’s where I fell in love with Nancy Drew, and Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie. (So funny that later in life I won awards named after the fabulous Agatha!)

I think my career as an investigative reporter is a result of my curiosity, and my love of storytelling, and my—if I can say so—desire to stand up for the little guy and change the world. So I was a reporter for more than thirty years before I started writing fiction.

Still, though I always thought about being a writer, even as a little girl, I decided, back then, it might be more fun to be Sherlock Holmes than to write about Sherlock. So being an investigative reporter and a crime fiction author—I got a little of each.

But both those careers are about storytelling, right? And suspense, and secrets. And I do think being a reporter taught me even more about storytelling—so it all works.

I live just outside of Boston now, with my darling husband, in a big Victorian with gardens and huge trees and lots of green.

KN: What are you currently reading? Some best mysteries you've read lately?

HPR: Oh, what a wonderful question! A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz—he is the cleverest person ever. All Her Little Secrets—a terrific psychological legal thriller by debut author Wanda Morris. Hannah Morrissey’s debut, Hello Transcriber. And oh, Vera Kurian’s We Were Never Here. Another terrific (and diabolical) debut. One more? Another debut: Amanda Jayatissa’s My Sweet Girl. (Read with the lights on.) And if you ask me two weeks from now, there’ll be more.

KN: Can you tell us about your next book? 

HPR: Ah, well, sure. The fabulous news is that I just sent my first draft to my editor in New York. And it’s always a huge relief to get that crazy first draft on paper and make my deadline. So soon it will be time to edit, and that’s very exciting.

It’s a thriller—and I would say: “Two smart women face off in a high stakes psychological cat-and-mouse game to prove their truth about who is behind a devastating financial scam—but which woman is the cat, and which is the mouse? Money changes everything—that’s what friends are for.”

What’s the title, you ask? It was originally called Her New Best Friend. But that may change. And I’ll let you know! But crossing fingers this will be my best yet.

Writing the High-Concept Novel by DiAnn Mills

CHARACTERS, CRIMES,
AND CRIMINAL TACTICS

Launching our books doesn’t have to be a formidable task. Instead, consider the it a challenge we can meet head-on with a plan that works.

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” — Orson Scott

Every writer wants to hear their story premise is a high concept novel. Agents and editors battle to secure that coveted, marketable, reader-captivating story; although stats say roughly only 5 percent of submissions fall into that category. A high concept novel has mass appeal and is easy to pitch. Think the WOW factor.

The following helps the writer move toward a high-concept novel.

Story Idea

A story idea is like trekking into an unexplored wilderness. The hike is rough, dangerous, and filled with obstacles. Sometimes we question our sanity and the value of spending hours venturing toward an exciting destination.

A writer’s idea is valuable, but what does a writer do with something that exists only in the mind? The mental image attracts us, lures us to consider an incredible story, and we long to move forward.

Ideas are everywhere. All we need to do is look around us. Every breath is someone’s story, a gem to develop from a writer’s unique perspective. Oh, the possibilities to generate our next novel:

• Dreams

• Fears

• Scripts

• Blog posts

• Movies

• Nightmares

• Devotions

• Memories

• Poetry

• TV shows

• Conversations

• Nonfiction books

• Documentaries

• Genealogy

• Media headlines

• Family history

• Magazine articles

• And the list goes on

Observe people and situations in different settings for additional ideas. Seeing others in action stirs our artistic expression. My favorite people-watching places include malls, zoos, airports, restaurants, and recreational spots.

A writer takes an idea and moves forward with a concept, much like peeling back the layers of an onion.

Concept

“A concept is a central idea or notion that creates context for a story.” Larry Brooks

A concept is the foundation of our story. Alone, the statement means nothing, but the writer uses concept to build a premise.

Premise

How does a writer take a raw concept and shape it into a polished premise?

“Premise is NOT concept. But it can be fueled by whatever is conceptual about the story (stated separately within a pitch as the story’s concept). Premise is the summarized description of a story. And when that story is considered fresh and powerful, premise emerges from a conceptual landscape.” — Larry Brooks

Idea example: A female FBI Special Agent resigns because of a tragedy.

Concept example: A female FBI Special Agent blames her career for the cause of a tragic death and resigns.

What can a writer do with that? 

Premise example: A female FBI Special Agent blames her career for the cause of a tragic, family death and resigns. She returns to teaching college freshman creative writing. An assignment for her students to write the first fifty pages of a novel reveals the source of her nightmare sits in her class.

Should a writer settle for the first premise that enters their mind? Not if they want a story that exceeds an agent, editor, or reader’s expectations.

With a strong premise, a writer examines the many possibilities that can arise from one sentence. An idea, concept, and premise add to the development of the story. But in a high concept novel, the premise becomes the pitch and drives the story forward. The premise relays a simple idea, genre, originality, and distinctive qualities. The spin or twist must be unprecedented.

Writer, if the plotline of your story is complicated or the pitch takes longer than three sentences, it’s not high concept. Look at the following guidelines:

• The short premise steps beyond unique, distinct, and amazing to unparalleled. Each word packs a punch, increasing the desire for more of the adventure.

• The protagonist hits the top of the likability chart.

• The story appeals to a wide audience. Readers create a buzz that translates into book sales. No matter the genre, readers flock to read the story.

• The external and internal conflict applies to many readers. They identify with the struggles and more easily envision the adventure.

• The characters’ emotions play a critical role and easily engage the reader.

• The plot often takes something ordinary and adds an ingenious/clever slant or twist that isn’t easily answered.

• The goal for the protagonist looks unattainable.

• The novel is well written. Period.

Not all the above have to be in place for a high concept novel, but more of these traits increase the likelihood.

I’ve listed some high-concept novels that cover many genres, but it’s not an exhaustive list. I encourage you to study these books and movies to dissect how and why these flew to the top of the bestseller and movie lists.

• Lord of the Rings – J. R. R. Tolkien

• Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton

• Star Wars – George Lucas

• Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

• The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown

• Life of Pi – Yann Martel

• Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling

• The Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis

For many high concept novels, the setting is key. When an antagonistic setting is pitted against the character, the resulting conflict forces the character to change and grow.

While all the plots have been written, a story idea takes its originality from the writer’s personality, values, imagination, and life experiences. Much like a well-developed character looks at the world from a distinct point of view, a story takes life from the one who fashions it.

Where does a writer find the idea and concept that meets the specifications for a high concept novel? Are you willing to explore the following?

1. Expand your mind by getting alone. Turn off the noise and leave technology behind. Where do your thoughts take you?

2. Research Greek, Roman, and Celtic mythology. Can you take one of those story worlds and create a contemporary novel?

3. Visualize your novel as a film. Will it easily translate to the screen?

4. Explore scientific phenomena. Is there an incident or discovery that piques your interest?

5. How can you make the seemingly impossible credible?

6. Read a chapter in Proverbs. Now flip the life lesson.

7. Spend time with children. Free your imagination to mirror their minds and creativity.

8. What if everything you believe as truth is a lie? How could you expose it in a believable manner?

9. What personality types irritate you? How could you learn to like a person with those traits?

10. Create a new race of people. What are their values, appearance, culture, homes, jobs, etc., that is radically different from yours?

11. Rewrite the ending of a fairy tale. How would you change the plot?

12. What disturbs you? What would it take for that incident/happening to affect you positively?

13. This is perhaps the hardest … What is an original idea?

Not every novel will be termed high concept, but a wise writer seeks to create a powerful story that resonates with a wide audience.

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DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She is a storyteller and creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Retreats: Marketing, Speakers, Nonfiction and Novelist with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion for helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

Connect with DiAnn here: www.diannmills.com

The Consistent Grace of Barry Sanders by Steven C. Harms

THE WRITER’S PLAYBOOK

Barry Sanders. The greatest running back in NFL history (calm down Browns and Cowboys fans). The forever pride of the Detroit Lions. Electric. An athlete absolutely worth the price of admission. Slashing, spinning, juking, power-running, twisting, lunging, and whatever other contortions he needed to make to succeed on a football field. Over a 10-year career, he scrambled his way to over 15,000 rushing yards, 109 touchdowns, 8 All-Pro selections, 10 1000-yard seasons, 10 Pro Bowls, NFL Rookie of the Year, 4 consecutive 1500-yard seasons (only player ever to do that), MVP in 1997, and Hall-of-Fame Inductee. The accolades could go on…and on.

John Teerlinck, the Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach in 1994, said that the only way they could figure out how to simulate his abilities during their practices was to have the defensive linemen chase chickens around the field.

He was poetry in motion, and I had a perfect seat as a front office executive of the Lions from 1994 until Barry’s sudden retirement following the 1998 season. I got to know him during my time there and I never met a professional athlete humbler and kinder than this man. For all his celebrity and stardom, he’s lived an unassuming life with a consistent character of grace. He was the same man on and off the field during his career, and if you ever watched him, his character never wavered. Look up any number of his touchdowns and you’ll see him calmly give the football to the referee after every single one. Never spiked the ball, never called attention to himself. Grace.

I bring up Barry not to call out that I was fortunate to know him and work with him, but to shine a light on consistency of character. He never did anything out of character and interacted with anyone around him with the same demeanor, whether you were a fellow player or the woman at the supermarket checkout.

As writers, we should take note of Barry’s character consistency. As we all know, when we introduce and develop the people who populate our stories, it’s vitally important to keep consistency with each’s character. Readers can easily sniff out a faux moment when one of our characters says or does something that’s, well, out-of-character. It’s a major distraction if there was no particular reason why he/she would do that other than you, the writer, needed something to occur and used the wrong character to facilitate that plot moment.

I’m not suggesting fictional characters can’t change throughout a story, but substantial character shifts without a change agent (as examples an accident or being victimized) should cause you to be circumspect. Pay attention to a character’s reaction, action, verbalizations and thought process. A character can’t be a science flunky in Chapter 2 yet figure out the forensics in Chapter 34. And I’d argue that it’s not necessarily as glaring as the previous sentence, but rather it’s the subtleties around consistent character detail that make a story believable.

The character of each character, so to speak, is a crucial element. An effective means for consistency’s sake is to develop a back story for each one by taking a deep dive into what made them who they are. Once you have that, writing their moments within your story makes it flow so much easier. Actors do this so that by the time they appear on stage or film, the actor knows everything about their character’s past, so they perform in the present at a believable and consistent level. Writing is the same exercise. So, if one of your pivotal plot moments doesn’t fit with any character, then either ditch that plot line or reconstitute one of your characters.  You’ll find the plot moment you want goes amazingly well using the right character doing/saying/reacting at the right time with the right reason.

One final note, because it’s a story of the consistent grace of Barry Sanders that only myself and one other person experienced. During my third or fourth year, I used to hold a private event with a sizeable number of Lions sponsors and fans on a weekly basis to “talk football” with our radio color analyst – dinner, discussion, and then Q&A. That event occurred with regularity during the season specifically on a Tuesday night because that was the player’s off-day during the week, and we always wanted one of them to make an appearance.

I had bugged Barry about participating and giving me just one night. Understand it was usually the second or third tier guys that would do this. Once in awhile we’d get a solid starter, but mostly it was the guys that didn’t have the spotlight. My cajoling finally worked with Barry, and he agreed to appear at one of them sometime around mid-November. Once he agreed I suggested we can arrange to have him picked up at home and then brought back afterward but he told me ‘No,’ that he’ll just drive over to the stadium and meet me at my office, which he did, showing up on time and dressed in a nice suit and tie (I didn’t ask him to wear that). I had one other employee assist – a young guy from our public relations department named James.

The evening went spectacular as you can imagine. Barry toughed out about an hour talking and taking questions. At the end of the program, James and I walked him back to my office. It was a cold night and James said he’d run out to the parking lot and grab Barry’s car to warm it up and bring it to the curb near my office. As James exited with the car keys, Barry and I had some nice time together just asking questions about family and the like. Eventually we both noticed that James hadn’t returned. Awkward minutes went by and finally James reappeared, sweating, head down, and clearly shaken. Long story short – he had accidentally broken the car key off in the door (yes, this was before remote starts were around).

In classic Barry Sanders fashion, the Pro-Bowl, MVP, multi-million-dollar superstar NFL running back simply told him that it was okay, and he’ll have it attended to the next day with his car dealer, then asked if James would be kind enough to take him home using his own car.

Humble grace. He didn’t spike the ball. He stayed consistent. Never broke character.

Steve

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Steven C. Harms is a professional sports, broadcast and digital media business executive with a career spanning over thirty years across the NBA, NFL, and MLB.  He’s dealt with Fortune 500 companies, major consumer brands, professional athletes, and multi-platform integrated sports partnerships and media advertising campaigns.

He’s an accomplished playwright having written and produced a wildly successful theatrical production which led him to tackling his debut novel, Give Place to Wrath, the first in the Roger Viceroy detective series. The second book, The Counsel of the Cunning, is due out in fall of 2021.

A native of Wisconsin, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. He now resides in Oxford, Michigan, a small, rural suburb of Detroit. 

Case Status by W.C. Gordon

FORENSIC FILES

The following is an except from the novel The Detective Next Door.

“On Tuesday, November 8th , 2016 at approximately 0720 hours, officers reported to 16 Hibiscus Dr. in reference to a report of a stolen vehicle. Contact was made with the victim who advised that his blue 2016 BMW 330i was stolen by an unknown suspect(s) sometime overnight. No forced entry was noted and the victim stated that the vehicle was unlocked and the keys were inside.”

Every follow up investigative narrative starts the same: A brief synopsis of the incident. This particular synopsis, like many, makes me want to punch the victim.

“During the afternoon hours of 11/8/16, I was assigned this case to further investigate.” That means that this idiot, I mean victim, and his lack of wherewithal to lock his car and not leave the keys inside is now my problem. It’s referred to as a “victim assisted crime” in law enforcement and it’s annoying.

It’s the usual script with these people.

Victim: “Detective, why was I targeted?”

Me: “You weren’t targeted. The suspects were only looking for unlocked vehicles that may have had the keys left inside.” Translation: If you locked your vehicle, it would still be parked in your driveway.

Victim: “What is the police department doing about this?”

Me: “We have increased patrols in areas that are repeatedly targeted in an effort to deter future crimes.” Translation: Apart from holding your hand while you lock your car and remind you on a daily basis to not leave valuable stuff in plain sight, we’re kind of out of ideas on how to prevent this from happening. You’re the reason why my insurance premiums are high.

Victim: “How many agencies have you resourced to recover my car? I love that car. My golf clubs were in the back. I love those clubs.”

Me: “Sir, we work very closely with other agencies and utilize a multitude of investigative resources in efforts to locate and recover your vehicle. We have automated license plate readers located throughout the region which will notify me if there is a sighting of your vehicle, and the South Florida Task Force, which specializes in stolen vehicles, has been made aware of this particular incident.” Translation: Your car is probably in a chop shop in Hialeah or in a shipping container on its way to Dubai. Again, if you locked your car we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Victim: “I worry that whoever stole my car will come back and target my house. Maybe even me, my wife, or my kids.”

Me: “Sir, I can assure you that this was not personal. The suspects were only looking for unsecured vehicles and happened upon yours. They will not be back to target your home.” Translation: These mutts don’t even know what neighborhood they were in, sometimes not even the town, let alone be able to find your house in particular. Some kid was pulling on door handles hoping to find one that some idiot was careless enough to leave unlocked with the keys in it. You’re that idiot, sir.

Me: “Sir, if I may ask: Why were your keys inside of your vehicle?” I already know the answer.

Victim: “Oh, I always leave the keys in the cupholder so I know where they’re at and can find them.”

Bingo. That’s not the first time and sure as hell won’t be the last time that I have been told that. It never ceases to amaze me though.

Me: “Sir, have you considered a hook in the garage to hang the keys? Maybe a dish on the stand by the front door?” Translation: Anywhere but inside the car you big dumb dummy!

Victim: “Well Detective, hindsight is 20/20 isn’t it?”

Me: “Of course, sir.” I say as I raise an eyebrow that to any reasonable person would be interpreted as a subtle screw you.

As I leave the victim, I let him know that I will be making all efforts to recover his vehicle in a timely fashion and list all the resources that will be utilized. I assure him that I will not rest until I personally find and return his vehicle, letting him know this case is my top priority.

When I get around to returning to the office after grabbing lunch, getting a coffee, picking up a shirt and slacks from TJ Maxx, getting the wife some flowers from Publix and myself a W.C. Gordon 18 bottle of Knob Creek from the liquor store next to it, I sit down at my desk and type the following: “Based on my investigation, I have exhausted all possible investigative leads at this time. Due to there being no known suspect(s), witnesses or investigative leads, I will be reclassifying this case from active to inactive until new investigative leads become known. Case status – Inactive.” Done and on to the next waste of time.

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W.C. Gordon is a cop, veteran, and author of the novel The Detective Next Door. His writing is influenced by his personal experiences in the military and in law enforcement, which he then mixes with bourbon and dark humor. He lives at his home in South Florida with his wife and dog.

Novel Malpractice: Coma by Ronda Wells

In all honesty, at times the use of coma (disorders of consciousness) in television and movies can be laughable. A character on a soap opera awakens dramatically after years in a deep coma and talks perfectly with no confusion.

Right.

You may know this, but Robin Cook’s second novel Coma is considered the genesis of a new suspense genre called medical thrillers. I might argue that the first medical thriller was Andromeda Strain by another physician-writer, Michael Crichton, which involved a group of doctors trying to discover anything to destroy an alien germ species fast killing off humans. Interestingly, Crichton later directed the movie Coma.

The designations of light, medium and deep coma are outdated even if still descriptive. Coma is defined as a full loss of consciousness and/or a Glasgow Coma Scale of 8 or less. Coma is not the same as sleep. If someone drops a bucket of ice on you while you’re asleep (unaided by medications, illegal drugs, or alcohol), you’ll respond. A person in a coma won’t react to that stimulus and they won’t wake up and curse you, either.

Think of coma as the brain deciding to hit PAUSE. Like the dreaded whirling icon that says your computer no longer responds to input. The computer (your brain) is on and sort of working but doesn’t respond to the cursor (your body).

Someone in a deep coma for weeks, months or years does not awaken to full alertness, although there are rare Rip Van Winkle exceptions. In 1996, Gary Dockery, a Tennessee policeman had been in a seven-year coma—not a persistent vegetative state. At times he moved his eyes in response to questions, so he was in a minimally conscious state. After a high fever, Gary abruptly came out his come to full awareness. He recognized and talked with his wife and two sons, even though both were now teenagers. Dockery remained awake for eighteen hours, gradually sank back into a coma and unfortunately died a year later.

The more common outcome for persistent vegetative state is like that of French soccer star John-Pierre Adams, who spent thirty-nine years in a coma after an anesthetic error during knee surgery. He finally passed away on September 6, 2021. Patients who receive good nursing care can survive decades in a PVS.

Coma in adults is tracked using the Glasgow Coma Scale, developed in 1974 by two British neurosurgeons at the University of Glasgow. One of the two, Dr. Bryan Jennett, helped coin the term vegetative state—which led to the unfortunate term “vegetables.” Drs. Jennett and Teasdale took three objective components of consciousness—eyes, verbal, and motor (muscle movement, not your car). The scale was intended to provide doctors with a standardized assessment of coma and predict how a patient might do.

A fabulous resource including videos, charts and explanations can be found at www.glasgowcomascale.org. The site is user-friendly even for non-clinical writers. The prognostic charts can be used with the age of your adult patient and coma level to predict the risk of death and favorable outcome. Adjust your story as needed to get a more probable result.

Remember: After four months in a coma, eighty-five percent of patients do not recover.

Glasgow Coma Scale testing is the same for all over age fourteen. A score of fifteen is normal. A score less than three indicates severe, deep cessation of brain function and likely predicted brain death. Problems with the GCS are in patients who can’t speak, either due to young age or another condition such as a stroke, that impairs speech and/or movement. In general, the score is pretty accurate at determining how severe the brain injury or insult has been and the outcome.

Problems crop up though for example in children. Babies and toddlers can’t yet talk for the verbal assessment. Another difficulty would be in people with strokes or other inability to move. In general, though, the score is pretty accurate at determining the severity of a brain injury and the eventual prognosis.

The GCS isn’t used for children under age fourteen. A more recent modified scale is used, the pediatric GCS (pGCS). For more specifics, www.rainbowrehab.com has a great article, “Understanding the Pediatric Glasgow Coma Scale.” UpToDate has a nice side-by-side comparison chart of the GCS and pGCS—google “pediatric coma scale.”

During my internship, a three-year-old girl drowned and was resuscitated by a cop who dove into a dirty, leaf-filled, half-empty swimming pool and rescued her. When she arrived at the ER and I intubated her, her GCS was quite low. (The pGCS hadn’t been developed yet). The PICU staff doctors feared she had suffered severe hypoxic brain damage due to the length of time she was in the pool. It was a cold-weather drowning, which changed the prognosis.

That same night I was on call, and while suctioning the child’s breathing tube one of the PICU nurses shouted for me. “Her eyes are open!”

I ran over, and the little girl stared right at me. She correctly shook her head to simple questions. She came off the ventilator within a couple of days and after a few days, went home. Years later, I spotted her wedding announcement in the newspaper.

That’s the best part of medicine.

Now for the confusing part. Two states of consciousness are often called coma but aren’t. True coma means you are unresponsive. Frequently, patients recover to a low level of consciousness called Minimally Conscious State.

• MCS is diagnosed only after a minimum of one month.

• These patients respond to verbal commands or obnoxious things like my ice example above.

• They may say simple words.

• Their eyes may move if someone speaks to them. After a year in MCS, recovery is slim.

• Outcomes are better for MCS after a traumatic brain injury.

Persistent Vegetative State is the one talked about most in the media and the courts. These patients are not conscious but can move (without purpose), respond to pain, open their eyes, and even have a sleep/wake cycle.

• PVS is defined as such after it has lasted for at least one month.

• Chronic PVS is defined as PVS lasting more than a year after a traumatic brain injury OR three months after a non-traumatic brain injury.

• PVS patients are capable of spontaneous breathing.

• No reports exist of anyone in PVS recovering after three years, and most expire from infection.

• Children in PVS for three or more months may recover but do not regain functional skills.

PVS and MCS can overlap, and patients may fluctuate from one state to the other.

• Caveat: Locked-in syndrome is NOT a form of coma. Locked-in syndrome is paralysis due to a neurological disorder. The brain is fully functional and awake, however only the patient’s eyes can move vertically and blink or in the worst case, not at all.

Right now, there is no treatment for coma, PVS, and MCS other than supportive care. Brain death occurs in a comatose person whose brain activity has ceased. Standard testing protocols exist for that but vary from country to country and even state to state.

What do fiction writers need to know about coma?

• Don’t use coma from weeks to years as a cliché device to keep your character out of touch then have a sudden awakening to full consciousness and/or function. As a rule of thumb, the longer the coma, the longer it takes to recover. Recovery follows a gradient from less aware and less function to more fully aware and able to move.

• Most patients in a full coma lasting over one month will not return to fully normal functioning.

• Brief loss of consciousness, 1-3 days up to a week after a significant blow to the head, can work. The briefer the faster, usually. They may still have other symptoms depending on what caused the coma.

• As always, kids recover quicker than adults. Elderly adults recover the slowest.

• The lower the GCS or pGCS, the worse your character’s likely outcome, although exceptions apply, as in my case above.

• Drowning in cold water changes prognosis.

• Coma length is highly unpredictable.

• Patients with traumatic injuries have better outcomes than those with non-traumatic reasons.

• Patients don’t recover as often with overdose, poisoning, prolonged hypoxia due to drowning or cardiac arrest, e.g., brain infection (encephalitis), or metabolic problems such as diabetic coma and other issues.

• Chronic PVS has the worst outcomes. These patients generally don’t recover although as always, rare exceptions exist.

• Walking and talking are highly complex neurological tasks and are the final step in a full recovery that can take months to years. Not all coma survivors get these skills back.

• We writers love synonyms, but when using the following words to write about a character with coma, remember they also have a clinical

• Lethargy: hard to stay awake (medical term is aroused but in fiction that could be confusing depending on your genre)

• Obtunded: Responds to stimuli other than pain

• Stupor: Responds only to pain

• Coma: unresponsive to pain

• Avoid stilted dialogue! Doctors and nurses would not say, “His Glasgow Coma Scale is eight.” They would just say, in the right context, “His Glasgow is eight.”

Deeper Dive: Check out the free bookshelf at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Search for “Level of Consciousness” by Suzie C. Tindall (chapter 57 of a book.)

If you have any questions or need further help, please feel free to contact me via my website.

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An award-winning writer, Ronda Wells hails from the Midwest and is married to a physician. Board-certified in Family Practice, she switched to Occupational Medicine after a stint in private practice. For the last thirty years, she has been a medical director in the health reinsurance industry and case-manages transplants. She has written and published medical policy and guidelines for multiple companies under their name, but her real love has always been fiction. She has just received an offer on her first novel, Harvest of Hope, and is developing a medical suspense series.

Exercise an Attitude of Gratitude by Bryan Robinson, Ph.D

Writing Resilience

The day-to-day annoyances we complain about are suddenly trivial when we face a major catastrophe. How many of us gripe and complain about minor inconveniences when our lives are already rich and full?

After a writing project wraps, authors sometimes move on to the next one without taking time to savor the successful completion of the one they left behind. Taking time to underscore our completions and successes creates a deeper sense of fulfillment.

The gratitude exercise helps us see the flip side of the narrow scope that our minds build without our knowledge. Make a list of the many things you’re grateful for—the people, places and things that make life worth living and bring you comfort and joy. After you’ve made your list, meditate on your appreciation for each item and visualize anything you’ve taken for granted—things that if you didn’t have would leave your life empty. As you practice this exercise, notice that you are more aware of how full your life already is.

Today’s Takeaway

Count your blessings for all that you have on this day, seize it and live it fully, and don’t let pettiness distract you from the bigger, more important things in life.

From Daily Writing Resilience by Bryan Robinson. © 2018 by Bryan Robinson. Used by permission from Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., www.Llewellyn.com.

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Bryan E. Robinson is a licensed psychotherapist and author of two novels and 40 nonfiction books. He applies his experiences to crafting insightful nonfiction self-help books and psychological thrillers. His multi-award winning southern noir murder mystery, Limestone Gumption, won the New Apple Book Medal for best psychological suspense, the Silver IPPY Award for outstanding mystery of the year, the Bronze Foreword Review INDIEFAB Book Award for best mystery, and the 2015 USA Regional Excellence Book Award for best fiction in the Southeast.

His most recent release is Daily Writing Resilience: 365 Meditations and Inspirations for Writers (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2018). He has written for Psychology Today, First for Women, and Natural Health, and his blogs and columns for writers appear in Southern Writer’s Magazine. He is a consulting editor for The Big Thrill, the online magazine for International Thriller Writers. His long-selling book, Chained to the Desk, is now in its 3rd Edition (New York University Press, 1998, 2007, 2014). His books have been translated into thirteen languages, and he has appeared on every major television network: 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, NBC Universal, The CBS Early Show, CNBC’s The Big Idea. He hosted the PBS documentary, Overdoing It: How to Slow Down and Take Care of Yourself.

Part 3: Slave to rules: Write first. Worry later. by Angela K. Durden

PUNCTUATION IS POWER

A panda walks into a bar. He eats, shoots, and leaves. Or does he eat shoots and leaves?

Yes, punctuation is powerful, changing meanings even in punchlines, suggesting titles for fun books on punctuation, and starting bar fights.

For the newspaper business, technical papers, scientific journals, legal writs, etcetera, style manuals keep everybody understanding what those marks mean and the weight they carry within that discipline. Working with large teams producing massive content, style manuals take a lot of guesswork out of writing thus allowing the employee to do more in less time, and lessens the work load of editors. Nothing wrong with style manuals in these cases.

In novel writing, though, it matters not which manual of style one may quote as the authority on punctuation because — and this is important — though some masquerade as hard and fast rules, to the novelist these should be mere suggestions.

When it comes to writing novels, the rules can and sometimes must change. Please do not write with obeying any particular style manual you have in mind. You’re wasting time. Whether your writing style is as a pantser or an outliner, the story will change frequently. Sentences, whole paragraphs, and chapters will be rewritten, inverted, moved, or scrapped.

Your careful punctuation that meant something in the original writing, may not work with the rewritten version. In fact, as things change, you probably won’t change the punctuation to the current use of the sentence. Thus your meaning could be changed to the opposite of what was intended or lost entirely.

But you won’t see it. Why not? Because there is not one writer on this planet who can remember where all their edits are. Case in point:

I recently finished the editing of a novel by a professional writer with over thirty years of servicing large corporate clients. He is very good at what he does. The version of his first novel I received was number 23. I was assured there wouldn’t be much that needed doing to it. Alrighty, then. Let’s get to it.

Now, while I loved his literary writing style, I was lost in the story. What year was it now? When did this character come in the room? Wait, didn’t the main character already say that? Then why is he repeating it here? Wait, didn’t the main character say just the opposite of that earlier? How old was he and when? Whoopsie, which girlfriend’s name is he calling? Is he in the room with the former girlfriend and the current one?

And his punctuation was pretty good…until it wasn’t. He’d changed so much (23rd version, remember?) that what he’d previously punctuated now needed to be refined.

Whoa. Whew.

Remember, punctuation exists to serve words. Words do not exist to serve punctuation. Every story has its own pacing. Your punctuation should serve your pacing, and should help define how each character speaks, thinks, and moves.

And that is why novelists need an editor who is not rigid with the rules and understands — and can even help shape — your style. A good editor doing the job properly can help you find that style. Let them.

Sounds weird, I know, but Part 4 will discuss how to train a reader to your style once you find it.

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Author, editor, publisher, and more: learn about Angela K. Durden here and here and here.

The Secret Formula by Dale T. Phillips

THE SUCCESSFUL INDIE WRITER

A few short stories and a novel or two (even if sold to a major publisher) is seldom enough for a career. Making the equivalent salary of a full-time job year after year is really hitting the lottery, and quite an achievement. Sales and writing income fluctuate wildly, and one must plan carefully if this is the main source of income. One research data point said that most Indie fiction writers making an average of 5000 dollars a month have a number of things in common:

• Average of 13.5 books published, mostly with series, and popular genres.

• Good content, formatting, editing, covers, pricing, availability.

• Good connection with followers on social media and via email lists.

It’s the combination of things, not just one single thing. Achieve all this, and you’ll likely be quite successful:

• Do your research

• Set reasonable expectations

• Make plans with achievable goals

• Work with decent levels of diligence, skill and persistence

• Continue to walk the success path.

Each opportunity, done well, creates more and better opportunities. Each thing you do well puts you further ahead, and there are no limits to what you can achieve.

Critics abound, regretfully. There will be people who tell you that it’s not possible to be successful at Indie writing, that you’ll never make a fortune, you’ll never yadda, yadda, yadda. They may be sincere, but they also may be misinformed, or simply not acting in your best interests. Eliminate negative voices from your circle— you don’t want them taking up space in your head. Writers are their own self-negating voices, and need no additional negativity from anyone else. Many people who accomplished great things had others telling them that they wouldn’t or couldn’t. Ignore the critics, and make it happen. Just don’t feel you have to learn and do it all at once. It’s a process, and a long road. Take your time and enjoy the journey. Laugh at your mistakes, they’re part of your story. Build a strong foundation for continued success.

Success is a house you build yourself, so it’s up to you what it looks like and how comfortable you are with it. Others aren’t going to build it for you, but you can find the tools you’ll need. Use the right materials, and take your time to build well.

The Big Secret

The main thing I discovered, after all this time, is that because success takes a lot of hard work, most people just don’t want to do it. They’ll make some effort, and hope for lightning to strike, but won’t do the sustained effort it takes. Yet all the successful Indie writers do the work necessary to make it.

That’s really the big secret.

Steps to success:

• Always be learning. Learn what marketing steps other people have taken to improve their income and craft, then copy or improve on those steps and repeat

• Set realistic goals, plans, and schedules

• Try a lot of approaches and ideas new and old

• Keep at different methods until something works

• Study to see if the methods can be made more effective

• Absorb feedback and cycle through until success is the result

• Celebrate each success, then move on to the next thing

Write well, learn the craft, publish, follow the plans for success, and things could work out very well indeed for you. If sales are always poor over time, it might be something other than luck. Get the advice of people who’ve been doing this for a while and know about the new world of Indie publishing. Consider what you have for offerings.

• Are you doing what you should?

• Are your books in a popular genre and well-written?

• Are the covers good?

• Are the books priced properly?

• Are they available in different formats with different distributors?

• Does your platform support enough promotion about it?

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Dale T. Phillips has published novels, story collections, non-fiction, and over 70 short stories. Stephen King was Dale’s college writing teacher, and since then, Dale has found time to appear on stage, television, radio, in an independent feature film, and compete on Jeopardy. He’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Visit Dale at www.daletphillips.com.

We Don't Need Editors, Do We? by Philip Demetry

If you do a quick Google search on the benefits and costs of self-publishing versus a traditional route, you will most likely find one blog post after the other, one website after the other, claiming that self-publishing is the way to go. How many of those are in some form inserted into your feed by Amazon, no one can truly tell, but it would be foolish not to suspect the multi-billion-dollar corporation of consciously making their presence felt in the publishing industry. In fact, quite a lot of statistics are backing that claim up.

Some claim that the sea of digital self-publishing, having made publishing accessible regardless of quality, is causing traditional publishing houses to crumble. Indeed, this has been the case for some. Small publishers have drowned while larger ones have merged to form even greater giants to withstand the pressure. But will it work? Compared to Amazon even the merger between Penguin and Random House seems small.
So, what are authors to do? What are publishers to do? And more importantly, with traditional filters in the publishing industry overridden, are good stories to drown in seas of mediocrity?

Many authors have sought out the aid of freelance editors. Over all of social media there seems to be an abundance of editors willing to giver your story a once-over for a fee. This leaves writers with the question of credibility. Without a publishing house, what credentials can a freelance editor boast to ensure their clients of their editorial prowess?

It seems then, that whether you go the traditional route, get an agent, a publisher and a book deal, which only the very few will get, or you decide to self-publish, there can be no doubt that writing books for a living is a goal at the end of a long and arduous road.

It becomes then a philosophical question. The author must ask of themselves: “Why do I write? For whom am I writing?”

It might be possible, at the end of your questioning, to arrive at the conclusion that you write primarily for your own benefit, that writing is an exercise in introspection at the end of which a story will emerge expressing that introspection in a way others might relate to. Yet, upon completing this goal a need will arise to share what you have created. It is within this spectrum between one’s personal joy of writing for the sake of writing, and a need to share stories with others, that a writer must find their peace.

Wherever you land on that spectrum beware of the work your ambition requires and measure it against what happiness you hope to gain from it.
A writer is nothing more or less than a storyteller. We do not concern ourselves with marketing, finance, or strategy in conceiving of our stories.

Motivations then, concerning fame, influence and wealth will never enhance our chances of getting published successfully. The only thing that lies within our power is the ability to improve our writing. Train your writing skills.

You can read tips on querying till your face turns blue, but it will never amount to anything if the story isn’t there. Simultaneously self-publishing, with all it’s demands for a writer to be both author, marketer, and your own editor, may seem appealing. Yet it might be good to consider what influences has made you take this route. Has the Amazon giant gotten under your skin, luring you with their “up to” 70% in royalties on sales, with their alluring tag-lines “easy, clear, free?”

Consider things you’ve gotten for free. Has any of it ever come without a price?

How much value is in the editorial process, which for a traditional publishing house usually takes a year or more? Can your story compete without it?

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Philip Demetry is an author born in Denmark. He finished a BA in Theology at Aarhus University. After finishing the BA degree, Philip committed to writing fiction. The first novel Eron, Marked One remains unfinished. After the degree, Philip finished his first short story ‘The Ships in the Skies’ in danish. Before Covid, Philip applied for internships at various publicists while finishing Oblivion. The next book, a tale of two lovers, a petrified stick determining time and space, and a ring of corporate executives that needs to be stopped from molesting children, The Act of The Stick, is also finished pending a thorough editing. 

Co-Writing a Book by Michael J. Tucker and Tom Wood

Michael J. Tucker

Tom Wood

There is plenty of good, practical advice out there for two authors interested in co-writing a book or short story — everything from constant communication to a shared vision for the project, from outlining the novel to who writes what, from being open to criticism to trusting each other.

All excellent points, but from our experience, a “dynamic duo” approach to our 2020 crime drama A Night on the Town was easy compared to writing a chain story with seven other authors.

A little background:

We are members of the Harpeth River Writers critique group that in 2019 published the water-themed anthology WORDS ON WATER. The final story in the collection of short fiction and poetry, The Many Names of Jillyn, was a collaborative effort that turned out better than any of us imagined. All we knew at the beginning was the set-up, a high school reunion by the Harpeth River where a body was found. We established a writing order, where each of us would add a character at the reunion based on what was previously written. And like the meandering flow of the Harpeth River, we had no idea where the story would take us or how it might end.

Fast-forward to September 2019 and the genesis of A Night on the Town, a 2020 e-book which turned out so well that we eventually turned it into a feature-length screenplay. That effort was rewarded as a finalist in several screenwriting competitions.

The e-book story pitted Deacon/Deke, a well-liked insurance executive with a dark secret, against homeless addict Arnold in a fateful rideshare showdown with a detective pursuing both men. For the screenplay, characters were added and the story expanded— even a new ending was written.

Our writing process was pretty simple — each of us came up with a different character and we passed the story back and forth to see where it would take us. Will that approach work for you? Maybe, maybe not. Will it encourage you to consider a collaborative project? Hopefully.

Tom: I got the initial idea from a Metro Nashville police report on a gang robbing one rideshare driver, then using that driver’s cellphone to call another rideshare driver and rob him. They were quickly caught, but it sparked a story idea.

How would the robber avoid being caught and what if the driver had the same idea — of robbing his passenger. I knew it was a good idea but my rideshare knowledge is zero while Mike has experience as a rideshare driver. Because of our critique group experience of writing and editing together, it seemed like an easy choice to approach Mike with the idea. We gave each other a lot of leeway and took a ‘pantser’ approach rather than ‘plotter’ to see where the story would go.

Mike: We agreed on the basic plot, a rideshare passenger was going to rob the driver … while the driver was planning to rob the passenger. From there we developed our own characters and the details followed. I wrote the voice of Arnold, but Tom started the process with writing the voice of Deke. He wrote the opening scenes, about 1,500 words. I then took a copy of his manuscript and inserted Arnold into appropriate scene splits. Tom and I have been in the same critique group for a decade, so we are used to giving each other feedback and open to each other’s suggestions for changes.

Tom: Yeah, Mike deserves the credit for the story’s alternating, first-person format. He took my idea for the story and embraced as his own. After I sent Mike the opening section, I assumed he would write a Chapter 2 of similar length and send it back to me to write Chapter 3. That’s the standard approach, right? But Mike’s finger-snapping insertion of Arnold’s sad story into Deke’s narrative was nothing short of brilliant — and just what the story needed. It was a format we stuck with, and it made the story click.

Mike: Writing the detective into the story was a little different. We both wrote those scenes. It was really a cooperative process.

Tom: The initial story focused on the Arnold and Deke characters only. But it seemed like a police presence was needed to round out the short story and give it that needed framework. For the screenplay, the detective’s story was elevated to the same level as Deke and Arnold.

Mike: The editing and rewriting process also went smooth. As members of the Harpeth River Writers, we have a long history of accepting each other’s feedback. I can’t think of a time during the writing of A Night on the Town where we didn’t arrive at a mutual agreement.

Tom: I have spent a career in the newspaper business, having stories edited and rewritten and doing the same with other writers’ stories. Any constructive criticism that can make my story better and prevent an error getting into print is great. Mike’s the same way and while we had differing views on certain aspects, we were easily able to solve any issues.

The co-writing experience isn’t for everyone, but it worked for us. Maybe it will for you also.

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Michael J. Tucker Bio: Michael J. Tucker grew up in the cold northern climate of Pittsburgh, PA, and an only child, he was often trapped indoors and left to his own devices, where he would create space ships out of cardboard boxes, convert his mother’s ironing board into a horse and put on his Sunday suit and tie and his father’s fedora and become a newspaper reporter or police detective. This experience left him with an unlimited imagination and the ability to write electrifying short stories and novels.

Mike is the author of two critically acclaimed novels, Aquarius Falling and Capricorn’s Collapse.

His Published Short Stories Available on Amazon are: Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon, The New Neighbor, The Hemingway Notes, The King’s Man, and the Amazon best selling short story series, Katie Savage, and The Gardner Painting: A Katie Savage Story.

In addition to his poetry collection, Your Voice Spoke To My Ear, his work also appears in the Civil War Anthology, Filtered Through Time, and By Blood or By Marriage, a Harpeth River Writers Anthology.

Reviewers of Mike’s novels have compared his writing to: Thomas Wolfe’s I Am Charlotte Simmons, and J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye.

Albert Beckus, Professor Emeritus of Literature at Austin Peay University recently wrote of his novels: “They move naturalistically in the American literary tradition of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, but with a twist…as found in The Great Gatsby.”

Tom Wood Bio: A Nashville-based journalist, author and screenwriter, Tom’s goals are to inform, inspire and entertain. His first book, VENDETTA STONE, is a fictional true-crime thriller and he is a member of the Harpeth River Writers which published the WORDS ON WATER anthology in 2019, a Silver Falchion finalist. Two film adaptations, VENDETTA STONE and DEATH TAKES A HOLLIDAY, were Nashville Film Festival screenplay contest semifinalists in 2015 and 2016, respectively. His co-authored e-book A NIGHT ON THE TOWN, also adapted into a feature-length screenplay, was a finalist in the 2020 Peachtree Village International Film Festival and a semifinalist in the Southeastern International Film Festival. DEATH TAKES A HOLLIDAY was s a 2020 finalist in the WeScreenplay Shorts contest.

What Good are Conferences? by Kaye George

I admit, I love to attend writing conferences and conventions for selfish reasons. They are THE places to connect with other authors, ones I communicate with, but rarely see—authors that live all across this country, and sometimes in other countries, too. There’s nothing better than hanging out at the bar with a bunch of murderous colleagues. We “get” each other and speak the same lingo. There’s another selfish reason, and that is the connection with readers and fans, especially at the big conferences.

But there are far better reasons to attend cons like Killer Nashville. It’s a good size, for starters. Not bewilderingly large, but with a good healthy attendance of dedicated mystery buffs. Also, the possibility of being recognized with an award or even a nomination is always dangling out there. The ones I’ve been lucky enough to receive take a place of honor on my webpage and on the covers of the books, when possible. When the first novel in my Cressa Carraway series was nominated for a Silver Falchion in 2013, it was such a thrill! Even without bringing home the actual Falchion, the honor of the nomination lives on forever. Well, that publisher failed and the book is out of print, but as soon as I get a new home for it, you’d better believe that the nom will be featured on the cover. (Have I mentioned how rocky the road of an author is?)

There once was a publisher of mine who refused to admit that awards, or even conferences, were worth anything. She never mentioned them on the website of her now-defunct small press (a different one than the one mentioned above—small presses have it tough). One wonders if her attitude had anything to do with the failure of her business. It had a lot to do with me leaving and self-publishing the book I had entrusted to her.

I’ll always believe that this Silver Falchion nomination for the Cressa Carraway book, EINE KLEINE MURDER, and Agatha nominations in 2011 and 2013, are what succeeded in getting me the best contract I’ll probably ever have, for the cozy Fat Cat series. It was torpedoed when Random House bought Penguin and decimated the cozy imprint, but was definitely a shining top-of-the-hill moment. Hey, what can I say, as mentioned, the life of an author is a roller coaster ride, long, dull, lulling moments, with lightning thrills thrown in to make everything worthwhile.  

The other hilltop experience was actually WINNING the Silver Falchion in 2016 for the anthology MURDER ON WHEELS, by the Austin Mystery Writers. I wasn’t able to attend that year because of family circumstances, but one of our writers, Laura Oles, was there to accept the award from none other than Anne Perry. I swooned at that, and I wasn’t even there!

I’m sorry I can’t attend again this year, but I’ll make every effort to get there in 2022.

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One of Kaye George's quirky claims to fame is having lived in nine states, many of which begin with the letter 'M.' Though a native Californian, Kaye moved to Moline, Illinois, at the tender age of 3 months. After college at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and marriage to Cliff during finals week their senior year, she and Cliff touched upon Sumter, SC, Lompoc, CA (very briefly), and Great Falls, Montana, during his Air Force career.

Their first son was born on a very cold winter night at Malmstrom AFB in Montana (minus 80 degrees with the wind chill, minus 40 without). They stayed in Dayton, Ohio for a whopping six and a half years, and had another son and a daughter there.

Then on to Minnetonka, MN (Kaye's favorite of them all), Plano TX, Troy MI, and back south to Dallas, Texas. They stayed there for about 17 years, then lit out for Holliday, Taylor, and Hubbard, all in Texas. Their most recent trek was to Knoxville, TN where they were empty nesters while accumulating grandchildren. The three children are all exceptionally good-looking, intelligent, and socially well-adjusted, as are their offspring. She lost her husband to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases in 2017 and took a brief hiatus, but she's back to writing now.

Kaye has been a janitor in a tractor factory, a mental health center secretary, a waitress many times, a bookkeeper, and a short order cook. She's also been a mainframe computer programmer and a nurse's aide along the way.

Kaye is also a violinist, arranger and composer, an award-winning short story writer, and the author of five different mystery series with three different publishers, one self-published, and one currently orphaned. She has accrued four Agatha Award nominations, one finalist position for the Silver Falchion, a Derringer short story nomination, as well as national best-seller status with her Fat Cat series written as Janet Cantrell. She has had over 50 short stories published. The first Austin Mystery Writers anthology, MURDER ON WHEELS, which she helped organize, won a Silver Falchion at Killer Nashville. She is also proud of DAY OF THE DARK, an anthology of eclipse short stories she put together for that event in 2017. She reviews for Suspense Magazine and writes a column for Mysterical-E. 

Kaye is a member of Sisters in Crime, the online Guppies chapter, as well as the Smoking Guns Knoxville TN chapter, which she helped organize. She served the Guppies as treasurer, then president for a two-year term. If you're not familiar, it is an online chapter of Sisters in Crime devoted to assisting and supporting unpublished and newly published mystery writers.

Female Investigators of the 1950s by Delphine Boswell

A common misconception is to consider the profession of private investigator as a man’s job rather than that of a woman. Minds automatically conjure images of fictional characters seen on TV or the movies such as Sherlock Holmes, Lieutenant Columbo, or Perry Mason. Statistics from a 2020 report state that among United States licensed private investigators, 33.6% are women, while 60.8% are men.

There are some examples, however, of early female investigators. Kate Warne was hired as the first female detective of the Pinkerton Detective Agency (1856) and, eventually, earned her own office; Maude West was London’s only female investigator (1905); and Isabella Goodwin was New York’s first woman detective (1910). Fictional characters who share the limelight for historic investigators are Miss Marble (1930), Trixie Belden (1948), and Nancy Drew (1986) to name only a few.

Many women during this time period were homemakers. Men went out to work and many had a misogynist view of women. Males were seen as breadwinners and rule-makers. To be a professional, working woman in a patriarchal society meant being courageous enough to stand apart from the norm.

Even stay-at-home women thought lowly of those who chose careers, believing women should be home raising a family, baking chocolate-chip cookies, and attending to their husband’s every need. Television episodes such as Leave It toBeaver or the Donna Reed Show present images of women in frilly aprons choosing to look like Betty Furness, or women greeting their husbands at the door in spiked heels and fancy dresses. These types of shows spoke to the role of women as less than significant compared to the jobs held by men in gray flannel suits.

It was common during this time for men to devalue the worth of the female gender and to see the male role as superior. Whistling at a woman or shouting “cat calls” are examples of men who overtly addressed women more as objects than equals.

In addition to working against these stereotypes, women investigators of the 50s had their own share of discrimination. In competitive positions such as this, women who worked alongside male colleagues were presented with their own challenges. Back then, there were no such things as sexual harassment cases resulting in legal battles or “Me Too” movements. Men in the office were allowed to make sexual innuendos. “His eyes peered down at her, his gaze landing on her double-breasted jacket”; or “He eyed her from head-to-toe and back again”; and lest we forget, the acceptable little pat on the butt.

Methods of solving crimes in the 50s were much different than today due to the lack of technology that we now have. Murderers, today and then, were often identified through fingerprints using a tape lift method. Of course, today there is an automated fingerprint identification system with computerized scans of prints developed in the 1970s by the FBI.

Investigators in the 50s primarily relied upon interviewing, usually more than once, of such groups as school personnel, community leaders, and family. Much of their clue gathering was through close observation of body language and facial expressions. Sometimes, the only way to learn more about the mystery was in eavesdropping.  Coroners, newspaper accounts, and microfiche articles often provided additional information. There were times where these women subjected themselves to danger when they had personal interactions with possible suspects. Grave sites and burial techniques were studied to determine possible missing links in their cases.

The personal traits a private investigator had to have are not that much different than today. They needed to be clear-headed in order to place their emphasis on details others might not see; to be inquisitive, asking personal and often touchy subject matters; and fearless so as not to be afraid of confronting suspects face-to-face.

As far as female investigators are concerned, they have been found to be more comforting and able to put people at ease. They are more easily accepted into one’s home than a man. In the end, female investigators, although often treated differently by men, are less assuming. Women can easily go undercover in terms of surveillance and appear less confrontational than their male counterparts.

In general, women of the 50s lived in a challenging time, but to those who chose to follow a career path other than homemaking, such as an investigator, they were faced with many more obstacles to overcome. Historical characters such as Kate Warne, Maude West, and Isabella Goodwin prove that, ultimately, women can successfully compete in a predominately male profession.

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Delphine Boswell expresses her fondness for writing with the words of John Steinbeck, “I nearly always write just as I nearly always breathe.”  For her, writing is not a job, not a career, but a passion that excites her more than anything else she has ever done.

In the past thirteen years, she has written several novels in a multitude of genres, consisting of suspense, mystery, psychological horror, and dystopian fiction.  All of her writing has a dark tone to it, and it is not any wonder that one of Delphine’s favorite authors is Joyce Carol Oates.  In addition to novels, Delphine has had a multitude of short stories published. From 80,000 word novels to a Hemingway six-word contest in which she won first place, and to everything in between, Delphine cannot stay away from her love of writing.

Once an idea comes to her, she sees it as bookends: a beginning and an end.  Her next step is to find her cast of characters who, she claims, become so familiar that she believes she could identify them if they were to walk down the street.  Delphine has an easy-going writing style in that she allows her characters total free will.  At this point, she likes to think of herself as a scribe who records the dialogues, the inner monologues, and actions of her characters as quickly as they respond to the circumstances they create.  Often, this means they will find themselves up against a wall, but somehow, they always find a way out and, sometimes, they even take it upon themselves to change the ending for her.

Delphine also taught college students about the art and believed that she had accomplished her goal if her students left the classroom with a joy of writing.

How to Visualize Your Marketing Hub to Attract Readers in Four Easy Steps by Mary H. McFarland

Finding Readers and Thinking “Soft Sell”

In Killer Nashville Magazine (Sept. 2021), I gave you a list of free digital tools to  audit your platform to do the following:

• Control and adjust your brand as readers’ desires change

• Build in a “soft sell” to target

Let’s expand on that work by visualizing a marketing hub that lets you influence or “soft sell” readers to buy your books, plus some digital tools to help. As we advance, future articles will help you drill down on tactics for audience targeting. For now, let’s focus on putting the pieces you need in place.

So: you’ve got books up on Amazon. You’ve also got a website and a blog, and you’re all over social media, maybe posting on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. The more sites the better, right? (Well, no. You can market and sell effectively from one site). You feel like you’re doing everything right, but the readers—and sales—just aren’t happening. What more can you do?

A Starting Point to Engage Readers: Clear Sales and Conversion Pathways

Does engaging readers, i.e., influencing them to buy, seem like a mystery buried in layers of techno-myth? It is, and the most damaging myth is that marketing begins with a book launch or, worse, that your book launch is marketing. The launch is one phase in the digital marketing cycle; however, the key starting point is to define clear pathways among the various channels of your author platform and all other sales and marketing channels. Combined, these make up your marketing hub. Why create a marketing hub?  Simple: traffic x conversion = sales. Once your hub is in place, you can influence prospective readers at touchpoints anywhere along channel pathways, using any advertising and promotion mix to generate traffic and sell your books. You can also use digital tools for measuring reader engagement and, ultimately, for increasing sales.

How a Marketing Hub Influences Readers to Buy

The marketing hub lets you observe prospective readers as they interact with your author platform and its sales and marketing channels. Observing reader traffic in real-time, using analytics and metrics to measure behavior, you can plan advertising and content campaigns that  lead to conversion and sales.

A Product-Based Marketing Hub Is Your Starting Point

You’ve audited your author platform, so you know that organic reach, i.e., your social media interaction with readers, including “likes” and “shares,” etc. is limited. You also know what creates passion among your readers and you’ve got a solid value proposition, but you’re still a little hazy on finding readers.  Where do you go from here?

Begin with these guidelines.

• One, define your marketing hub using a product-based approach. This might feel uncomfortable, but you’re a business and books are products, so all that you generate to sell books, whether it’s promotional content or blog posts or podcasts, for example, is also product.

• Two, classify your They’re going to be either a hard sell or a soft sell. If they’re free, “soft sell.” If you’re charging or using an opt-in, “hard sell.”

A Product-Based List: Creating Your Marketing Hub

Offering “free” everything (from blogs to swag to books) to get readers to buy books means we’re not used to thinking of the content we create to sell books as “products.” They are, and we can use them to sell.  Note: “Free” and “soft sell” are not synonymous. Used correctly, free content can become your best “soft sell,” and it can also be repurposed as gated content (hard sell) to influence readers to buy. Yup!  Think “soft” to “hard sell.” It’s the “om” of digital marketing.

Figure 1 shows a list of products in fictional thriller author Jan Smith’s product catalog. Jan blogs from her GoDaddy website, writes for an online magazine, and sells her books on Amazon. She is also an Amazon affiliate seller.  Notice that Jan must only create three digital products,her blog posts, infographics, and articles, which she repurposes for use in her hard sell, i.e., the gated content, her ebook, and Jan’s workshops.

Figure 1: Example of a Product List for Jan Smith

A Sample Marketing Hub Using a Product List

A marketing hub is your author platform plus your core sales channel. For most, the core sales channel is Amazon, but you can sell from anywhere on the Web. Again, choose what feels comfortable. For example, maybe you want to prioritize reader engagement and organic reach on Facebook and selling from your Amazon Product Page.           Perfectly okay. Or perhaps you prefer an advertising campaign on GoDaddy with a mix of free blogged content, plus some gated content with opt-ins. Again, okay. Whatever your choice, your marketing hub is built around a variety of digital content; that is, products used to influence prospective readers to buy.

Using Jan’s Product List (See Figure 1), her marketing hub will look like Figure 2.   Examine it, noting the “pathways” (indicated by arrows). Note, too, that Jan has few products, yet she has multiple pathways for marketing and sales and multiple touchpoints for engaging readers. Don’t worry, once you have a basic marketing hub set up, you can tweak it, adding and revising as needed.

Figure 2: Example of a Marketing Hub for Jan Smith

Step-by-Step Procedure: How to Visualize Your Marketing Hub

The following steps show you how to visualize your  marketing hub.

I’ve Visualized My Marketing Hub? What’s My Next Step?

You’ve visualized a marketing hub that works well and feels comfortable for you. At this point in the process of using digital tools to build in a digitally sweet “soft sell,” you’ve completed the following procedures:

1. How to Audit Your Author Platform

2. How to Visualize Your Marketing Hub

Your next step is to build your digital platform without feeling the   dreaded social burnout.  Meantime, visit Killer Nashville Magazine’s archive and enjoy more killer articles: https://killernashville.com/killer-nashville-magazine/.

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Mary H. McFarland is a Golden Pen award-winning American thriller novelist.  She is author of Jump the Line and several short stories.  Mary is also CEO of Red Girl Digital, a technology company focusing on digital marketing for authors. Her next novel, Phantom Fire, first in the Zuri Slade Cyber Detective Series, will be released July 4, 2022

What is a Christian Novel by DiAnn Mills

I’m often asked how a Christian novel is different from general market novel, and my response is always the same.

Novels are about strong characters who have a problem to solve. It’s all about character.

But there’s more. A Christian novel is a story in which one or more of the characters solve their problems or strive to achieve a goal from a Christian Worldview. God is a priority: His plan and His purpose for the character. Flaws and weaknesses are important elements of the character’s journey. The faith aspect is not an engine additive. It rises from the writer’s deep-rooted convictions. Good overcomes evil. Period.

Sometimes Christian fiction is called inspirational, but the category is misleading because any religion can refer to a story that embraces core beliefs as inspirational.

A Christian novel can be any genre.

A Christian writer can create novels for the general market or the Christian market.

A Christian Publishing House understands the business is also a ministry. Many contribute to charitable organizations and pray for their writers and employees.

Writers create their stories with the idea of building anxiety and uncertainty of what’s to happen. But a reader values watching a favorite character transform into a stronger person. Especially the character who has shown heroic traits while overcoming a psychological problem. And those mental afflictions can be anything from guilt, shame, anger, regret, loneliness, lack of confidence, and a host of other issues.

The key word here is “heart” because that’s where reconstruction of the soul takes place. When a protagonist slams against a wall, either literally or mentally, the rebuilding of the inner person takes place through actions and reactions. The physical goal is impossible to reach without the character first overcoming the monster within.

Here are 12 of my writing objectives for every novel:

1. Realistic, unexpected, and unpredictable.

2. Values and beliefs are shown not told.

3. Writing goals are to 1) entertain, 2) inspire, and 3) encourage readers.

4. Internal beliefs are fed by life experiences and often the lies a character believes about life, the world, and themselves.

5. Well-developed characters who have a rich backstory.

6. Plots woven with twists and turns, ups and downs.

7. Each scene filled with stress, tension, and conflict.

8. Emotion and symbolism for the reader’s evocative experience in every sentence.

9. The character arc includes a spiritual thread. In the general market, this is often referred to as the moral thread.

10. Dialogue that’s fresh, exciting, loaded with conflict, and in character.

11. Narrative rooted in point of view.

12. Antagonistic setting—everything works against the character.

In a Christian novel, readers may be uncomfortable with what is stated regarding faith. But if written appropriately, the writer shows the Christian character is reacting and responding to life according to their beliefs.

A few distinguishing attributes are:

1. Avoids cursing

2. Avoids sex scenes

3. Avoids violence for violence’s sake

What Christian fiction is not:

1. A platform intended to evangelize all those who are not Christian.

2. Preachy, with characters who are unrealistic, unsympathetic, and their actions are predictable.

3. Filled with words only other Christians might understand.

4. A narrative of sermons, characters quoting Scripture, or lengthy prayers.

A common theme for all novels:

1. Show strong characters who are not victims but survivors.

2. Show strong characters who are tossed into the forbidden, frightening, and unknown. Adversity is the classroom for spiritual/moral growth and positive change.

3. Show strong characters who reveal the real person through internal and external reflections and behavior.

The next time someone asks why you read a Christian novel, feel assured to say, “It’s all about character.”

How do you describe a Christian novel?

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She is a storyteller and creates action-packed, suspense-filled novels to thrill readers. Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne Du Maurier, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol award contests.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is the director of the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Retreats: Marketing, Speakers, Nonfiction and Novelist with social media specialist Edie Melson where she continues her passion for helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.

Connect with DiAnn here: www.diannmills.com

30,000 Feet by Steven C. Harms

When I was in my twenties, I once found myself at 30,000 feet sitting in a luxurious seat of a 4-person Learjet bound from New York to Milwaukee. Across, and facing me, sat a person in a suit and tie who was in charge of security. To his left was a gentleman named Rod Thorn, an executive with the National Basketball Association and former GM of the Chicago Bulls. And across from him, seated next to me, was none other than the long-time commissioner of the NBA, David Stern.

David Stern will always be remembered as a giant in the sports industry. His tenure lasted thirty years, from 1984-2014. He’s been regarded as one of the very best ever to serve as commissioner of a pro sports league. His visionary mind and leadership skills lifted the NBA from “that fourth league” to the powerhouse it has become today. In writing terms…on a par with the mystery thriller greats.

Needless to say, for a young Midwesterner who had never been to New York City before accepting a job at the league office in mid-town Manhattan, and then striving to learn how to adapt and get my feet under me, that moment was surreal. The trip started with a phone call from Commissioner Stern’s assistant simply telling me that “David would like you to attend a game in Milwaukee with him next Wednesday night.” Private airport, chartered jet, and four of us in total making the trip. There and back just for the game. Gulp!

David asked me for a few reasons. One, he was cognizant of my background being a native Milwaukeean and the previous four years working for the Milwaukee Bucks. He wanted to acknowledge that and welcome me to the league office with this gracious trip offer. It was his way of saying “welcome aboard” and allowing me to on-board in a very unique and opportunistic way. Second, I know now he did it not only to see what sort of person I was, but to allow me an unbelievable few hours of access to him and to parlay that into career advancement.

In retrospect, I failed, or at least got a D- grade. I was so nervous about making a misstep, that I was blind to the moment in front of me. I spent most of the evening answering his questions when he engaged, but I never asked him even one. Those four hours were more pensive than anything I’d ever experienced, and I wasn’t smart enough to figure out in real time the opportunity that lay in front of me. Had I positioned myself correctly, my career in sports would’ve been super-charged. I eventually made it to a VP position years later, but it took a lot longer than if I had simply let go my fear, and leveraged that moment. David never said anything negative to me, being the professional that he was, but he opened a door and all I had to do was walk through it. I guess the best way to say it is that I blinked. The simple glare of an internationally known sports executive giving me unfettered access on a small, private trip was a light so bright that I blinked instead of embraced. I came to this understanding years later, but too late to fix my error.

One significant learning from this life experience of mine is that it can be applied to young/new writers. You’re going to have a 30,000 foot moment, even if it’s one minute long in an elevator at a writing conference on your way down to breakfast when that well-known author you never thought you’d meet, jumps on two floors later. Or maybe just a random meeting that came your way.

I’ve found that one of the most treasured aspects of being an author is that the writing community, generally as a whole, is a network of individuals who support each other and are willing to lend advice or guidance when asked. Learn to leverage the already organic helpful nature of your fellow authors (seek them out through any number of means – social, events, clubs, workshops), and be prepared to meet and genuinely connect with the many authors that are over-the-top successful. And when you cross paths with a David Stern, and you will, equip yourself with the inner confidence to engage. A few other thoughts:

• Have your proverbial “elevator pitch” down to a tee, customized to a publisher, agent, and to a well-known author. The successful author you meet is an influencer, either for a blurb on your next book, or a connection that can open doors. Grab the moment and try to establish a relationship.

• If you’re going to an event (book signing, conference, workshop, etc.), and you know so-and-so successful author is going to be in attendance and perhaps even a featured guest, dive into their background. Learn as much about them as you can so when you do have the 30,000 foot moment, you can comment or ask a question about them that is connected to who they are as a person. It can be as simple as where they’re from and something about that city or state that you can use to begin relevant communication. That alone will increase the odds of their engagement with you. As an author, I find it refreshing to have a conversation with someone I don’t know who wants to talk about something other than one of my books or characters.

• Check yourself when the moment hits. Recognize it. Drop your fears, be confident, and don’t hesitate to ask a question to begin the conversation.

In the words of David Stern, “Follow your dreams and make the most of every experience.” And another of his quotes on a related note – “You will ultimately be defined by the sum total of your responses to circumstances, situations and events that you probably couldn’t anticipate and indeed probably couldn’t even imagine. So just keep your eyes on the course and be ready to move in different directions depending upon the crises and opportunities with which you are faced.”

Writing a great story is hard; marketing it is perhaps harder. You’re going to meet a David Stern, if you haven’t already. Are you primed? Are you ready to professionally and politely capitalize on that moment?

Steve

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Steven C. Harms is a professional sports, broadcast and digital media business executive with a career spanning over thirty years across the NBA, NFL, and MLB.  He’s dealt with Fortune 500 companies, major consumer brands, professional athletes, and multi-platform integrated sports partnerships and media advertising campaigns.

He’s an accomplished playwright having written and produced a wildly successful theatrical production which led him to tackling his debut novel, Give Place to Wrath, the first in the Roger Viceroy detective series. The second book, The Counsel of the Cunning, is due out in fall of 2021.

A native of Wisconsin, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. He now resides in Oxford, Michigan, a small, rural suburb of Detroit. 

Cherry Gin & Tonic by W.C. Gordon

FORENSIC FILES

“Huh, no kidding.” I think back in my mind’s Rolodex of cases worked and can’t remember having one of these before. I click ‘add to cart.’ “The hose draggers already come in with their little machines and meters and make sure the air is good to go?” As I say it, I figure the officer on scene wouldn’t be alive to have this conversation with me if they hadn’t. I click ‘add to cart’ again. “Alrighty, I’m on my way.” I hang up the phone, select the free shipping option, and hit ‘place order.’

“Whatcha got?” Perry says as he walks into my office with a fresh cup of coffee.

 “Suicide by the sounds of it. Did you bring me a cup?”

 “You know, I was going to.” He takes a sip. “Then I realized I didn’t want to make the effort.”

“Same as working your cases then.”

“Exactly! Guy blow his brains out or something?” Perry asks; never one to let tact get in his way.

 “Nope. Sounds like he did the running car thing. Carbon dioxide poisoning.”

Perry raises an eyebrow, “You mean monoxide?”

“Yeah, that too.”

I arrive at the front of the residence and find no one. No crime scene tape. No police officer maintaining the crime scene log. Nothing. I double-check the call notes that I printed out and confirm the address.

I key up on the police radio, “Delta 6, 10-55 any unit on-scene.”

A static-filled transmission comes back and says, “Go ahead.”

I key up again, “I’m 97. Can you advise your 10-20?”

“97 with the decedent.”

“10-4. Where exactly is that?”

“On San Remo. 122.”

I look at the house that I’m parked in front of. Number 122 is on the red door in black letters. I thought this road was Valencia though. I key up and say, “I’m at 122 Valencia.”

“10-4,” the static-filled voice says.

Not 10-4. Not 10-4 at all. You said you’re on San Remo. I’m on Valencia. This is a row house. No garage. This suicide allegedly happened in a car inside of a garage. I key back up on the police radio and advise that I am at a different address.

“10-54, same address.”

With that, I am tempted to turn my police radio off, put the car in drive, take myself to an early lunch, and forget that I was ever dispatched to this nonsense. The back-and-forth radio traffic continued for far longer than I wish to admit to before I realize that 122 Valencia and 122 San Remo are, in fact, the same address. This is one of those new neighborhoods that have the front of the residence facing a road, with one name, and the back of the residence, where the garage is, on an alley that they gave its own name for some unknown reason. I am confident that I have never been so annoyed with an investigation before the investigative part has even begun.

I finally park, duck under the crime scene tape, sign into the crime scene log, and assess the situation. The garage door is completely up, presumably to allow the carbon monoxide to ventilate. It is also allowing for an unobstructed view for the neighbors who have decided this is a far better way to spend their Monday morning than watching soap operas. Don’t these people have jobs?

I make contact with the initial responding officer, Shauna, and get the facts. “Ok, Detective, this is what we have. 51-year-old white male. Garage door was closed. Vents on the lower portion of the garage door were covered with cardboard and taped into place. Windows of the car were in the down position.” “Naturally,” I say. Shauna looks up and says, “What?” I tell her not to worry about it and to continue. “The car was in drive with the e-brake on and still running. There was about a quarter tank of gas left when it was turned off by Fire Rescue. Not sure why it was in drive.” I explain to her that this model of BWM will turn itself off if left running in park for a while. This guy probably learned by trial and error. “House was locked up and nothing suspicious was found. Lots of valuables inside.” With that, she closed her notepad.

“Who found him?”

“The realtor. I guess the house is for sale and there was a showing scheduled for today.” Shauna said.

 “Looks like the price just dropped by about ten grand. Okie-dokie, let’s have a little look around.” To my surprise, Shauna followed me as I started taking stock of the surroundings. Most officers walk the other way when the detective shows up, knowing that the investigation is being turned over and their burden has come to an end. It’s nice to see an officer wanting to learn a few things. The decedent had a black tank top on, tan shots, and Reef flip-flops. That was handy as a lot of skin was exposed.

 “See this discoloration in the lower parts of his body?” I ask. Shauna nods. “This is lividity. When a person dies, the blood pools in the lower areas of the body as it’s positioned and is typically dark. However, you’ll notice that this guy’s lividity is a bright pink color. That’s good.”

 “Good? Why is it good?”

I look at Shauna and explain to her that carbon monoxide poisoning causes a cherry-colored lividity and that so far, the lividity color and location is consistent with dying in the car and not being murdered somewhere else and placed in this car to look like a suicide. I say that’s good because a murder would be far more paperwork. I push his body off of the seat and pull his tank top up.

“See where there’s no cherry color?” I ask Shauna.

“Yep.”

“Lividity won’t develop where the body was in contact with something. This adds to the good column.”

“Cause he wasn’t murdered and placed here?” she says with a smile.

“Bingo! Cause that would be what?”

“More paperwork!” we say in unison. We smile in unison too. I wonder how old she is. You have to be 19 to be a cop in Florida. Our agency won’t hire anyone under 21 in an attempt to lower liability. She’s been here about a year. It doesn’t take a great detective to put her in her early 20s.

“So,” I ask Shauna after realizing I’ve been staring at her too long, “How long do you think this guy’s been dead?”

“About 24 hours,” she replies with confidence.

“Very good. What brings you to that conclusion?”

“Complete guess. Sounded reasonable.”

I tell her it’s a damn good guess. I explain to her that rigor is still set and that in this temperature and humidity, it will probably begin to release around the thirty-hour mark. I explain that there is still a quarter of a tank of gas left. This car will probably idle for about thirty-five hours before running out of gas. I explain that his Rolex is still running. Stillness will stop an unwound Rolex after about forty-eight hours. I tell her that a search of his cell phone will probably give a more accurate timeframe but twenty-four hours was a damn good guess.

“Pretty impressive,” she says. I think she may actually be impressed.

“Impressive? What’s impressive are those Yeti tumblers. Did you notice his beverage?” Shauna glances at the cup holder by the gear shift lever. I grab the Yeti and remove the top. “It’s still full of ice. These things can really keep drinks cold. This would be a morbid sales pitch but still an effective one.” As I give the drink a sniff, Shauna makes a slightly disgusted face. Ok, a completely disgusted face.

“Gin and Tonic,” I say.

“How do you know?” She asks.

“The smell. Quinine. The botanicals of the gin.” I pause for effect. “The bottle of Tanqueray in the recycling bin.” I smile as I point over to the recycling bin. “And, I’m a G&T drinker myself.”

“Aren’t they old man drinks?” The seriousness of her face as she asks the question cuts me deep. I immediately recognize our age gap. With my left thumb, I twist my wedding band around my ring finger and force a smile.

“Put in your report the cause of death as carbon monoxide toxicity with likely acute ethanol intoxication. Put the manner as suicide.”

“Sure thing, Detective. Thanks for the info. Have a good day.” With that Shauna turns around and walks away with her ponytail bouncing. I take myself, and only myself, to lunch.

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W.C. Gordon is a cop, veteran, and author of the novel The Detective Next Door. His writing is influenced by his personal experiences in the military and in law enforcement, which he then mixes with bourbon and dark humor. He lives at his home in South Florida with his wife and dog.

Turn Endings into Beginnings by Bryan Robinson, Ph.D

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” —T. S. Eliot

One year’s ending shepherds in the beginning of another year. We’re ending and beginning our writing life all at the same time. Writing is a passion, an intensely personal calling, a long-time dream for most, and a solitary endeavor. It involves a lot of rejection and heartbreak at every stage. Many writers will review the past twelve months and set resolutions for the new year. We can begin again as we wipe the slate clean and contemplate beginning anew one day at a time.

Out of endings, fresh starts are born on our writing journeys. In the new year we can ask ourselves what we want to do differently to hone our craft. Develop better writing habits? Stop procrastinating? Create a healthier lifestyle? Cultivate a more positive outlook? Improve a faltering relationship? Learn to cope with rejection and self-doubt? Harness greater resilience and perseverance?

Everything we do outside our literary life contributes to writing success, whether it’s tying up something left incomplete, changing habits, cultivating a more positive attitude, or thickening our skin.

Today’s Takeaway

Start this new year with a clean slate and think about good writing habits, positive attitudes, or dedicated practices you can create to put your craft at the top of the charts.

From Daily Writing Resilience by Bryan Robinson. © 2018 by Bryan Robinson. Used by permission from Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., www.Llewellyn.com.

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Bryan E. Robinson is a licensed psychotherapist and author of two novels and 40 nonfiction books. He applies his experiences to crafting insightful nonfiction self-help books and psychological thrillers. His multi-award winning southern noir murder mystery, Limestone Gumption, won the New Apple Book Medal for best psychological suspense, the Silver IPPY Award for outstanding mystery of the year, the Bronze Foreword Review INDIEFAB Book Award for best mystery, and the 2015 USA Regional Excellence Book Award for best fiction in the Southeast.

His most recent release is Daily Writing Resilience: 365 Meditations and Inspirations for Writers (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2018). He has written for Psychology Today, First for Women, and Natural Health, and his blogs and columns for writers appear in Southern Writer’s Magazine. He is a consulting editor for The Big Thrill, the online magazine for International Thriller Writers. His long-selling book, Chained to the Desk, is now in its 3rd Edition (New York University Press, 1998, 2007, 2014). His books have been translated into thirteen languages, and he has appeared on every major television network: 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, NBC Universal, The CBS Early Show, CNBC’s The Big Idea. He hosted the PBS documentary, Overdoing It: How to Slow Down and Take Care of Yourself.

Replace Your Nail with a Spike by Bryan Robinson, Ph.D.

INSPIRATION

“The nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and kept on writing.” —Stephen King

When you started writing, did you think it would answer all your prayers and you’d live happily ever after? Did you dream your mystery would appear on bookstore shelves beside Lee Child or Louise Penny? That it would hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list and garner the major literary awards? That Steven Spielberg would beat down your door to sign the screenplay?

Many mystery writers do.

If you’re like most new authors, though, you discover that nightmares often accompany the dreams. An agent’s dismissal, publisher rejection, blistering reviews, crickets at bookstore signings, zero awards, or agonizing writer’s block can besiege you. Chances are, you have trouble locating your book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble, and you might make a little money but not enough to pay off the mortgage.  

After meteoric challenges, are you still in the writing game, waiting for Hollywood to call? If you’re a “spike” writer, you are because you reject the idea of rejection. Not writing isn’t an option. You don’t allow defeat to take you down. You use rejection and disappointment to fuel your fierce determination and persevere through literary storms—albeit bruised, bereft, and beleaguered.

Once you substitute a spike for a nail, you have a different way of looking at rejection. You consider it an honor to be in such good company—members of an elite club of great authors. Every successful writer from Stephen King to the Beatles to J.K. Rowling—whose Harry Potter series was rejected by twelve publishing houses—has travelled the same road as each of us. Thriller writer Steve Berry had 85 rejections over twelve years of trying before hitting it big. Janet Evanovich received ten years of rejection letters that she stored in a box. When it was finally full, she took it to the curb and set it on fire. James Lee Burke saved all of his rejection slips because he planned to autograph them and auction them off. And author Judith Guest said, “Some of our worst rejections can help make us better writers.”

Only the diligent survive the writing business. A-list writers work long and hard and face tumultuous ups-and-downs before the taste of success. Stephen King and Patricia Cornwell are “spike” writers. So are Steve Berry, Barbara Neely, and Mary Higgins Clark. If you’re a “spike” writer, no one can reject you without your consent. Not your writing talents, self-confidence, and especially your persistence. Nothing. Nada.

 When the rejection letters arrive—and they will—you don’t have to let defeat turn you into a wreck. “Spike” writers are creators of their writing, not victims of it. Instead of letting rejection slips prescribe your course of action, you can prescribe theirs: haul them to the scrap heap, make a scrapbook, wallpaper a room, put them on your website, read them at book signings, use them for wrapping paper, or set them on fire. Jilted mystery writers can even put their rejection letters behind them (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun) thanks to a website (https://www.lulu.com) that lets authors print their rejection letters onto rolls of customized toilet paper.

You get where I’m going? Are you feeling empowered yet?

 A “spike” writer is a force to be reckoned with. Rejection is not final, nor fatal. It strengthens you, makes you more resilient, gives you the stamina to rise up and scale writing obstacles. You can face rejection with fierce determination and substitute your nail with a spike, never give up, and keep on writing those mysteries.

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Bryan E. Robinson is a licensed psychotherapist and author of two novels and 40 nonfiction books. He applies his experiences to crafting insightful nonfiction self-help books and psychological thrillers. His multi-award winning southern noir murder mystery, Limestone Gumption, won the New Apple Book Medal for best psychological suspense, the Silver IPPY Award for outstanding mystery of the year, the Bronze Foreword Review INDIEFAB Book Award for best mystery, and the 2015 USA Regional Excellence Book Award for best fiction in the Southeast.

His most recent release is Daily Writing Resilience: 365 Meditations and Inspirations for Writers (Llewellyn Worldwide, 2018). He has written for Psychology Today, First for Women, and Natural Health, and his blogs and columns for writers appear in Southern Writer’s Magazine. He is a consulting editor for The Big Thrill, the online magazine for International Thriller Writers. His long-selling book, Chained to the Desk, is now in its 3rd Edition (New York University Press, 1998, 2007, 2014). His books have been translated into thirteen languages, and he has appeared on every major television network: 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC’s World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News, NBC Universal, The CBS Early Show, CNBC’s The Big Idea. He hosted the PBS documentary, Overdoing It: How to Slow Down and Take Care of Yourself.

Richard Kuklinski, the “Iceman” by Bradley Harper

MYSTERIES IN HISTORY:

TRUE CRIMES AND REAL PEOPLE WHO INSPIRED GREAT STORIES

September, 1983, a police officer stops to examine a woman’s blouse he finds along the side of the road beside a stone wall. Beneath the blouse he finds what appears to be a decomposing human body wrapped in several layers of trash bags. When Dr. Frederick Zugibe, the medical examiner in Rockland County, New York, opens the bags up he finds the body of a middle-aged white man, around six feet tall and weighing about two-hundred pounds, with a single bullet wound to the back of the head.

Based upon his initial inspection he believes the victim to have died two-to-three weeks before, but as he continues his examination several things stand out to make him reassess his initial impression.

First: As a body decomposes bacteria feed upon the tissue, creating gas that bloats the body. There was no bloating in this case.

Second: The skin was an odd shade of beige—something he had never seen before.

Third: Since bacteria are the engines of decomposition, the body breaks down from the inside out, as the gut is the major microbial reservoir. This body was breaking down in the opposite manner, while the skin was sloughing off the corpse, the internal organs were relatively pristine.

Zugibe suspected the body’s discovery was staged. The draping of a woman’s blouse over the bag, for example, declaring the killer’s desire for the body to be found within a specific time frame after it had been left there. He also believed that the body had been frozen for some time in an attempt to derive an erroneous conclusion as to time of death, probably to help support the killer’s alibi.

Dr. Zugibe examined the internal organs under a microscope, and sure enough, the cellular structure was distorted consistent with prior freezing.

The hands were mummified, but after injecting the fingers with a solution that allowed fingerprints be taken it was identified as belonging to Louis Masgay, a Pennsylvania man missing for the past two and a half years.

The FBI had been investigating a Richard Kuklinski, suspected of being a Mafia hit man, and when a police informant tipped them off that he had seen a body in an industrial freezer owned by Kuklinski, he was finally brought to justice.

Once confronted with the evidence, Kuklinski was not shy about his avocation, and was convicted of five murders, though he admitted to killing around two-hundred. His details were not always consistent but police experts do believe he murdered over one-hundred people, some on mob-ordered hits, and some people who he felt had slighted him in some way. At six-feet four inches tall and weighing over two-hundred and forty pounds, he was a powerful and skilled killer who would sometimes pummel his victims to death if he felt they didn’t deserve a rapid demise.

Kuklinski was able to kill so many people yet escape detection because he delighted in varying his methods, and was not psychotic or prone to the vices associated with most criminals, not doing drugs or chasing women, and lived a fairly quiet life as a married man with children. He related that his “audition” to be a hitman for the mob consisted of him riding in a car with his future employer, Roy DeMeo. DeMeo took them to a park and when the mobster saw a man walking his dog, instructed Kuklinski to kill him. Kuklinski walked behind the man, shot him in the back of the head, and climbed back into the car. He was hired.

HBO did a special on him around 2003, and a movie, The Iceman, was made in 2012, with Michael Shannon playing the killer.

Despite the brutality of some of his killings, he had an odd sort of honor code in that he never killed a woman or a child. Perhaps the Iceman wasn’t entirely cold-hearted, after all.

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Bradley Harper is a retired US Army Colonel and pathologist who has performed over two-hundred autopsies and some twenty forensic death investigations. A life-long fan of Sherlock Holmes, he did intensive research for his debut novel, A Knife in the Fog, which involved a young Doctor Conan Doyle in the hunt for Jack the Ripper, including a trip to London’s East End with noted Jack the Ripper historian Richard Jones. Harper’s first novel was published in October 2018 and was a finalist for a 2019 Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America for Best First Novel by an American Author and is a Recommended Read by the Arthur Conan Doyle Estate.

Knife went on to win Killer Nashville’s 2019 Silver Falchion as Best Mystery. The audio book, narrated by former Royal Shakespearean actor Matthew Lloyd Davies, won Audiofile Magazine’s 2019 Earphone award for Best Mystery and Suspense. The book is also available in Japan via Hayakawa Publishing.

His second novel, Queen’s Gambit, involving a fictional assassination attempt on Queen Victoria, Won Killer Nashville’s 2020 Silver Falchion Award twice, once for Best Suspense, and again as Book of the Year.

Luck by Dale T. Phillips

THE SUCCESSFUL INDIE WRITER

The one thing as a fiction writer to understand and accept: in reality, you have very little control over how many people will pay for your writing, or how many readers you will get. None. Advertising, quality, being deserving, none of it is a guarantee of sales. If your book sells, great, but even some of the great classics of the past were absolute failures in their time. Whether or not a book sells a lot of copies depends greatly on LUCK.

Some of the worst books hit it big, and some of the best had original pitiable sales numbers, and were quickly forgotten. Some books were pushed hard by traditional publishing, with major sales campaigns, and they were still flops. Some were rejected to death, and others blew up out of nowhere and sold millions.

As best-selling mystery author Barbara Ross says: “Even if you do everything right, you still might not move the sales needle significantly.”

NOTE: Despite this hard, realistic fact, the more you plan and work for success, the more likely it becomes, as you increase your chances significantly.

How to Get Luckier

Getting lucky involves putting yourself in a position to recognize and act on the lucky breaks when they happen. The more you follow the success techniques, the more often you get a shot at lucky breaks. Funny thing is, even with those who seemed to have skipped the line, they were writing for years before they became an “overnight” success. When author B.A. Shapiro burst onto the scene with The Art Forger, most people didn’t know she wrote nine novels before that, which didn’t get sold or published, and she had all but given up— only convinced to do “one more” by her husband. So, for many, having an incredibly supportive spouse is one of those “lucky breaks”! Remember that Tabitha King pulled a few pages of beginner Carrie manuscript from the wastebasket, and convinced Stephen to continue with it! That one turned out rather well…

Richard Wiseman showed some research into how lucky people generate good fortune, via these basic principles:

• They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities

• They make lucky decisions by listening to their intuitions

• They create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations

• They adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good

Low Sales

When authors complain about their low sales, one of my favorite examples to bring up is the artist Vincent Van Gogh. His paintings are worth uncounted millions now, and he is considered one of the most influential artists of all time. I ask the disgruntled author(s) how many paintings did Van Gogh sell in his lifetime of work? One. One painting, to his brother Theo, who had a gallery. Vincent’s work was completely unappreciated in his time. And yet, he produced more and more work, keeping up his art without stopping. He had to paint. Some have to write. So I tell the author(s) if they’ve sold a single book to a stranger, they’ve already been more successful in their lifetime than Van Gogh was in his. Some of them really get it, and it’s great to watch them process that, and change the frame of how they view their own success.

There is no telling what will happen to book sales over time. Some sell in small numbers but steadily over the years, some hit it big long after their publication date. Don Winslow is an astonishingly good writer, who toiled for twenty years with meh sales, until exploding with a best-seller. Philip K. Dick, the science fiction writer, had fairly modest sales in his lifetime, and now they’re making smash movies and television shows from dozens of his works. Shame he didn’t live to see it, he’d have been baffled and tickled at the same time. Emily Dickinson didn’t have many poems published until after she was dead, and now she’s a literary icon. You just never know when your work might get popular.

The thing is to get it out. An unpublished book does not sell, while each published work increases your chances of having more sales of all your work (discoverability). That’s a term for when readers discover your work.

Some authors write a book, get it quickly published without the years of frustration and heartache, and do well right out of the gate. That’s been the dream sold by traditional publishing for years, that once you’re launched, you’ve made it. It’s only true for a tiny few— like someone who doesn’t usually play the lottery buying one ticket one day and hitting it big. Some friends of mine were a big deal starting with their first novel, and good for them, because they’re terrific people and excellent writers. Another writer had written a novel, went to a party, mentioned his book, and got an agent essentially on the spot, and went on to a nice career writing mystery novels, without any of the hassle of agent and publisher hunting. He’s careful about telling this story, because so many authors have gone through hell, and here he breezed past all that, and knows many would hate him for it. For some, it’s difficult not to begrudge someone else’s spectacular good fortune if you’ve been struggling to do something similar for years, but without success.

Another author who hit it big with traditional publishing on her first novel told me she’d written twenty unpublished novels before that. That’s dedication to your craft, people, and that’s how she got good enough to do well when the time came to go commercial. And yet, some authors still feel she didn’t “pay her dues,” and she has a tough time with the naked, bitter envy of those who haven’t worked anywhere near as long or hard as she has.

So if you’ve written only one or two books or so, and haven’t got them to the top of the NY Times best-seller list yet, don’t despair. John D. MacDonald (or Ray Bradbury, or both) said that a writer has to write about a million words without any hope of selling them before they’re good enough to really sell. That number is more than a lot of writers will ever do in their entire career. That’s more than a dozen of those roughly 80K manuscripts that traditional publishing wants. If you only write one book a year, that’s twelve years of unpaid work before you do your good work. How many are willing to undergo that long an apprenticeship, with no guarantee?

With the new world in Indie publishing, one can publish anything and everything they’ve written. Best though, is to polish your work before you show it to the world. Don’t push out any old junk and expect it to sell a lot of copies. Too many did that (and still do), and it gives Indie publishing a bad rap, giving fuel to those who only point out the worst examples as representative of the whole world of Indie.

If a book is poorly written or badly flawed, I seldom give that author another chance. This includes many of the authors I meet, and even though they’re nice, and trying hard, I won’t finish their book if it doesn’t meet my standards for story and quality. The flip side is when I try something new and like it, I’ll grab other books that author has written. Good work has a much better chance of selling well. Sounds simple, but a surprising number of people don’t want to do the hard work to make a book better. We had one such in a critique group, and we gave him terrific ideas which would make the story compelling and exciting, a simple change that would kick it from humdrum into high gear. He said he’d already written that section, so he didn’t want to bother to rewrite. His books hardly sell, and that’s not bad luck, just poor craftsmanship.

For some authors who did well with their first novel, it put too much pressure on them to repeat, and they suffered from the ‘Sophomore slump’ of having trouble trying to make the next one as good. It even ruined some. If an author dumps their entire life story into the first book, what’s left for them to write about, when the traditional publishing house wants another just like it?

In this new world of publishing, there’s a related issue where authors who sold x number of copies in the past are selling thousands fewer with each book. Many writers who used to make a comfortable living can no longer sustain the sales numbers to pay the bills. That’s usually due simply to the major paradigm shifts in the publishing world, but if some enjoyed a career of success that suddenly went away, some writers panic, or are at a complete loss as to how to proceed. They’ve never had to adapt, and now they must, if they wish to keep going. As Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch have extensively documented, they know of many writers who simply gave up because they could not sustain their past sales numbers. Add to that the declining advance offers, and the hundreds of authors dropped by their publishers, and you’ve got big problems for many.

You know the publishing world has changed when long-time writers with distinguished careers, a string of awards, and track records of outstanding success are coming up to me (and Indie authors like me) to ask for advice on how now to move forward with their writing career. And yes, it happens more often than you’d think. Some get it, and are willing to adapt, others just quit, because it’s difficult and all new territory.

In poker, we have a half-joking saying: It’s better to be lucky than good. But don’t just put out something and hope for good luck. In writing, the better you are, and the more you work for it, the better your chances of good luck allowing you to sell more.

The Big Break

One day, something big might fall in your lap: the big contract, the television or movie option, the promotion that sells thousands. Celebrate, enjoy thoroughly, and also use caution. The wonderful wave might be a temporary thing, so never assume good fortune will last forever. There have been too many articles by authors who got a whopping book contract for a truckload of money, thought they Had it Made, spent the money, and found out the gravy train wasn’t running much after that. Some even got themselves into serious financial trouble, which is why you need that business way of thinking. They’d spend that windfall without taking care of the bottom line, and before they knew it, they’d overextended. The luck which seemed fabulous now looked like a curse.

And sometimes the big break is only promised, such as getting a movie or television deal, which may take years, or not come to fruition at all, through any number of things. That’s happened to a few writer friends, who have seen lovely offers come and go. It’s frustrating to have the big brass ring within reach, only to have it snatched away. Don’t spend money that isn’t in your account yet!

Fortune’s Wheel turns: one day you have great reviews, interviews aplenty, award nominations, top placement on selling charts, and everything going right. A few years later, it seems you can’t sell anything, nobody knows your name, and you’re left wondering what happened. Don’t get discouraged, it’s just life. Keep on the success path for a continued career.

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Dale T. Phillips has published novels, story collections, non-fiction, and over 70 short stories. Stephen King was Dale’s college writing teacher, and since then, Dale has found time to appear on stage, television, radio, in an independent feature film, and compete on Jeopardy. He’s a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. Visit Dale at www.daletphillips.com.