KN Magazine: Articles
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction? / Peter H. Green
As writers, our job is always to raise the stakes in our story’s conflict, making the situation as desperate for our heroes as possible—and what better way than to drop our protagonist in the middle of a natural disaster?
In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Peter H. Green shares how he incorporates the power of nature in his novels, not only as a vivid setting, but also as a formidable antagonist.
Happy Reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction?
By Peter H. Green
How authors generate their characters and themes often remains a mystery to the writers themselves. This fact became apparent to me when Bouchercon selected the Gateway City for its national mystery conference in 2011, and we St. Louisans were dazzled by a firmament of crime-writing stars. The opportunity to meet some of them stimulated sparks of intuition among us with the rapidity of flint striking steel. My revelation came, not exactly because of, but during the course of drinking beer.
Because I had helped arrange workshops with him at St. Louis Writers Guild, Bob Randisi—who has written some 573 novels, including 400 westerns, and bills himself as “the last of the great pulp writers”—invited me to a dinner for the group he founded in 1981, Private Eye Writers of America, at the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I felt like a bug on the wall at this gathering of illustrious writers.
On the familiar plant tour, somewhere between the brew house and the beer tasting room, I encountered award-winning author S.J. Rozan. I had been hoping to meet her, since her career path of professional-architect-turned-writer paralleled mine. I asked her what challenged her most in writing architectural mysteries. “Actually,” she told me, “due to the slow development of most building projects, reading an architectural mystery is about as interesting as watching paint dry.”
But this hadn’t been my experience, and as we picked our way along a narrow catwalk overlooking three-story high vats of brew, I struggled to understand why.
“It’s different for me,” I told her at last. “That’s why mysteries occur during catastrophic events affecting buildings and the infrastructure. My protagonist, architect and amateur sleuth Patrick MacKenna, knows things hidden from the public eye and the average law officer, and he meets the obscure individuals, unknown to the average citizen, who handle millions of our tax dollars.”
I explained that their freedom to spend this money on designs for infrastructure, often hidden underground, or for our complex buildings, which only they can understand, afforded them an opportunity for major mischief! While I didn’t expect her effusive praise for this discovery, I was pleased when S.J. nodded and allowed as how this might be true.
As I plunged into my second career of writing, I also discovered the potential of natural disasters to turn a novel’s setting into a character in the story. In James Lee Burke’s The Tin Roof Blowdown, Hurricane Katrina broods, threatens, and attacks, while government blunders, people suffer, and detective Dave Robicheaux struggles to solve a crime. Similarly, in my debut novel, Crimes of Design, a “rain machine” as persistent as in St. Louis’s notorious 1993 flood poses a relentless menace to its victims, enabling evildoers to work unseen in the background of man’s comparatively feeble efforts to resist natural forces. Here’s how the setting becomes a character in the second chapter of Crimes of Design:
Foul weather compounded their troubles. Lightning and thunderstorms had unnerved St. Louisans for months. The newsmen called it another “rain machine”. As in 1993, it had settled over the sprawling Mississippi basin in early spring and stayed. The stationary front, anchored by low pressure over the Great Plains and a high-pressure system in the Southeast, sent storm after storm down a virtual railroad track across the Midwest, creating a new lake in North Dakota, swelling the Platte, the Kaw, the Missouri, the Illinois and finally the Mississippi out of their banks and reclaiming large chunks of the continent for their waters. The monster flashed its eyes, let out angry growls and kept coming, flooding the land and setting everyone on edge.
Similarly, in my latest mystery, Fatal Designs, an earthquake is the inciting incident, separating Erin MacKenna from her canoeing party. In ancient times, the Chinese believed such phenomena were the result of a huge dragon writhing under the surface of the earth. Although Patrick MacKenna knows perfectly well that shifting tectonic plates, not subterranean mythical creatures, cause earthquakes, he begins to sense an unseen evil being working against the honest efforts of mankind to survive this urban disaster—particularly against his own.
Almost without my realizing it, the setting of the novel had evolved into a character, which my protagonist feels is working to defeat him, much like some malignant, unseen dragon. It stimulates him to summon all his resources to find the human culprits, and solve the crime. Likewise, Burke’s choice to pit Dave Robicheaux against the forces of the hurricane, which he brings to life as an almost sentient foe, raises the stakes and makes his main character’s victory even sweeter.
Peter H. Green, an architect and city planner, launched a second career as writer in 2004. He has written a World War II biographical memoir, and two crime novels. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Connie. For more about him and his works, visit his website at www.peterhgreen.com.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction? / Peter H. Green
As writers, our job is always to raise the stakes in our story’s conflict, making the situation as desperate for our heroes as possible—and what better way than to drop our protagonist in the middle of a natural disaster?In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Peter H. Green shares how he incorporates the power of nature in his novels, not only as a vivid setting, but also as a formidable antagonist.Happy Reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction?
By Peter H. Green
How authors generate their characters and themes often remains a mystery to the writers themselves. This fact became apparent to me when Bouchercon selected the Gateway City for its national mystery conference in 2011, and we St. Louisans were dazzled by a firmament of crime-writing stars. The opportunity to meet some of them stimulated sparks of intuition among us with the rapidity of flint striking steel. My revelation came, not exactly because of, but during the course of drinking beer.
Because I had helped arrange workshops with him at St. Louis Writers Guild, Bob Randisi—who has written some 573 novels, including 400 westerns, and bills himself as “the last of the great pulp writers”—invited me to a dinner for the group he founded in 1981, Private Eye Writers of America, at the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I felt like a bug on the wall at this gathering of illustrious writers.
On the familiar plant tour, somewhere between the brew house and the beer tasting room, I encountered award-winning author S.J. Rozan. I had been hoping to meet her, since her career path of professional-architect-turned-writer paralleled mine. I asked her what challenged her most in writing architectural mysteries. “Actually,” she told me, “due to the slow development of most building projects, reading an architectural mystery is about as interesting as watching paint dry.”
But this hadn’t been my experience, and as we picked our way along a narrow catwalk overlooking three-story high vats of brew, I struggled to understand why.
“It’s different for me,” I told her at last. “That’s why mysteries occur during catastrophic events affecting buildings and the infrastructure. My protagonist, architect and amateur sleuth Patrick MacKenna, knows things hidden from the public eye and the average law officer, and he meets the obscure individuals, unknown to the average citizen, who handle millions of our tax dollars.”
I explained that their freedom to spend this money on designs for infrastructure, often hidden underground, or for our complex buildings, which only they can understand, afforded them an opportunity for major mischief! While I didn’t expect her effusive praise for this discovery, I was pleased when S.J. nodded and allowed as how this might be true.
As I plunged into my second career of writing, I also discovered the potential of natural disasters to turn a novel’s setting into a character in the story. In James Lee Burke’s The Tin Roof Blowdown, Hurricane Katrina broods, threatens, and attacks, while government blunders, people suffer, and detective Dave Robicheaux struggles to solve a crime. Similarly, in my debut novel, Crimes of Design, a “rain machine” as persistent as in St. Louis’s notorious 1993 flood poses a relentless menace to its victims, enabling evildoers to work unseen in the background of man’s comparatively feeble efforts to resist natural forces. Here’s how the setting becomes a character in the second chapter of Crimes of Design:
Foul weather compounded their troubles. Lightning and thunderstorms had unnerved St. Louisans for months. The newsmen called it another “rain machine”. As in 1993, it had settled over the sprawling Mississippi basin in early spring and stayed. The stationary front, anchored by low pressure over the Great Plains and a high-pressure system in the Southeast, sent storm after storm down a virtual railroad track across the Midwest, creating a new lake in North Dakota, swelling the Platte, the Kaw, the Missouri, the Illinois and finally the Mississippi out of their banks and reclaiming large chunks of the continent for their waters. The monster flashed its eyes, let out angry growls and kept coming, flooding the land and setting everyone on edge.
Similarly, in my latest mystery, Fatal Designs, an earthquake is the inciting incident, separating Erin MacKenna from her canoeing party. In ancient times, the Chinese believed such phenomena were the result of a huge dragon writhing under the surface of the earth. Although Patrick MacKenna knows perfectly well that shifting tectonic plates, not subterranean mythical creatures, cause earthquakes, he begins to sense an unseen evil being working against the honest efforts of mankind to survive this urban disaster—particularly against his own.
Almost without my realizing it, the setting of the novel had evolved into a character, which my protagonist feels is working to defeat him, much like some malignant, unseen dragon. It stimulates him to summon all his resources to find the human culprits, and solve the crime. Likewise, Burke’s choice to pit Dave Robicheaux against the forces of the hurricane, which he brings to life as an almost sentient foe, raises the stakes and makes his main character’s victory even sweeter.
Peter H. Green, an architect and city planner, launched a second career as writer in 2004. He has written a World War II biographical memoir, and two crime novels. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Connie. For more about him and his works, visit his website at www.peterhgreen.com.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction? / Peter H. Green
As writers, our job is always to raise the stakes in our story’s conflict, making the situation as desperate for our heroes as possible—and what better way than to drop our protagonist in the middle of a natural disaster?In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Peter H. Green shares how he incorporates the power of nature in his novels, not only as a vivid setting, but also as a formidable antagonist.Happy Reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Can Setting Become a Character in Fiction?
By Peter H. Green
How authors generate their characters and themes often remains a mystery to the writers themselves. This fact became apparent to me when Bouchercon selected the Gateway City for its national mystery conference in 2011, and we St. Louisans were dazzled by a firmament of crime-writing stars. The opportunity to meet some of them stimulated sparks of intuition among us with the rapidity of flint striking steel. My revelation came, not exactly because of, but during the course of drinking beer.
Because I had helped arrange workshops with him at St. Louis Writers Guild, Bob Randisi—who has written some 573 novels, including 400 westerns, and bills himself as “the last of the great pulp writers”—invited me to a dinner for the group he founded in 1981, Private Eye Writers of America, at the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I felt like a bug on the wall at this gathering of illustrious writers.
On the familiar plant tour, somewhere between the brew house and the beer tasting room, I encountered award-winning author S.J. Rozan. I had been hoping to meet her, since her career path of professional-architect-turned-writer paralleled mine. I asked her what challenged her most in writing architectural mysteries. “Actually,” she told me, “due to the slow development of most building projects, reading an architectural mystery is about as interesting as watching paint dry.”
But this hadn’t been my experience, and as we picked our way along a narrow catwalk overlooking three-story high vats of brew, I struggled to understand why.
“It’s different for me,” I told her at last. “That’s why mysteries occur during catastrophic events affecting buildings and the infrastructure. My protagonist, architect and amateur sleuth Patrick MacKenna, knows things hidden from the public eye and the average law officer, and he meets the obscure individuals, unknown to the average citizen, who handle millions of our tax dollars.”
I explained that their freedom to spend this money on designs for infrastructure, often hidden underground, or for our complex buildings, which only they can understand, afforded them an opportunity for major mischief! While I didn’t expect her effusive praise for this discovery, I was pleased when S.J. nodded and allowed as how this might be true.
As I plunged into my second career of writing, I also discovered the potential of natural disasters to turn a novel’s setting into a character in the story. In James Lee Burke’s The Tin Roof Blowdown, Hurricane Katrina broods, threatens, and attacks, while government blunders, people suffer, and detective Dave Robicheaux struggles to solve a crime. Similarly, in my debut novel, Crimes of Design, a “rain machine” as persistent as in St. Louis’s notorious 1993 flood poses a relentless menace to its victims, enabling evildoers to work unseen in the background of man’s comparatively feeble efforts to resist natural forces. Here’s how the setting becomes a character in the second chapter of Crimes of Design:
Foul weather compounded their troubles. Lightning and thunderstorms had unnerved St. Louisans for months. The newsmen called it another “rain machine”. As in 1993, it had settled over the sprawling Mississippi basin in early spring and stayed. The stationary front, anchored by low pressure over the Great Plains and a high-pressure system in the Southeast, sent storm after storm down a virtual railroad track across the Midwest, creating a new lake in North Dakota, swelling the Platte, the Kaw, the Missouri, the Illinois and finally the Mississippi out of their banks and reclaiming large chunks of the continent for their waters. The monster flashed its eyes, let out angry growls and kept coming, flooding the land and setting everyone on edge.
Similarly, in my latest mystery, Fatal Designs, an earthquake is the inciting incident, separating Erin MacKenna from her canoeing party. In ancient times, the Chinese believed such phenomena were the result of a huge dragon writhing under the surface of the earth. Although Patrick MacKenna knows perfectly well that shifting tectonic plates, not subterranean mythical creatures, cause earthquakes, he begins to sense an unseen evil being working against the honest efforts of mankind to survive this urban disaster—particularly against his own.
Almost without my realizing it, the setting of the novel had evolved into a character, which my protagonist feels is working to defeat him, much like some malignant, unseen dragon. It stimulates him to summon all his resources to find the human culprits, and solve the crime. Likewise, Burke’s choice to pit Dave Robicheaux against the forces of the hurricane, which he brings to life as an almost sentient foe, raises the stakes and makes his main character’s victory even sweeter.
Peter H. Green, an architect and city planner, launched a second career as writer in 2004. He has written a World War II biographical memoir, and two crime novels. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Connie. For more about him and his works, visit his website at www.peterhgreen.com.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal / Carmen Amato
In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Carmen Amato shares her insights in structuring a movie deal that she can live with. While this is an individual decision, it is a path well-worth thinking about: what can you live with? Hollywood is notorious for making deals… in favor of Hollywood. Here are a few things to consider as you troll the dark waters of Tinseltown.
Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal
By Carmen Amato
As an author, you own ideas. Stories are your final products.
If you sign a contract with a publisher or distributor, in effect, they are investing in your final product. If you sign a contract with a screenwriter or movie studio, they aren’t an investor so much as the owner of a separate work of art based on it.
This is an important difference. The trick is to become an investor in their final product.
When I began the Emilia Cruz mystery series, I knew it would translate well to film. Emilia is the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, taking on Mexico’s notorious drug cartels as well as the country’s culture of machismo. Set in an iconic location, the Emilia Cruz series is a multi-ethnic drama, with plenty of intrigue and action. Think Hawaii 5-0 meets House of Cards.
Given all that, I wasn’t surprised to receive queries about buying film rights after the third book was published. But I was surprised by what I learned along the way to a signed deal:
Separate but equal: A screenplay for a film or series based on an author’s book is a separate and new entertainment product. That owner (screenwriter, studio, director, etc.) is responsible for its final form and bringing it to viewers. The contract is the vehicle for defining the relationship between the originator (you, the author) and the film owner.
Due diligence: Research about those seeking rights to the Emilia Cruz series yielded critical information. One prominent director only made Spanish-language films. Another studio had a strong record of documentaries, but not drama. I ultimately signed with screenwriter and director Emily Skopov, best known for her work on Xena, Warrior Princess.
Ask, but be realistic: Ask for what you want in the contract negotiation, but unless you have significant influence in the film industry, don’t expect casting or final script approval. Some areas to negotiate include source credit, production role, and rating. Do you care if your novel ends up as an XXX adult film?
Skin in the game: My research also showed that many authors give away film rights in return for “exploratory” efforts by a movie studio. That’s a real gamble, in my view. Not only did I feel that I should be paid for the film rights, but I wanted the buyer to want to be incentivized to move ahead on the project and get their investment back.
Own what you sell: Does anyone else in your publishing food chain (publisher, agent, foreign rights distributer, etc.) hold rights to your story? On the flip side, are you selling more than you intend? In my case, I held all the rights and ensured the contract did not give away rights to characters, future distribution, or franchise rights. Yes, the Emilia Cruz lunchbox could happen.
The everlasting story: You need an exit strategy to avoid tying up your rights forever. In the final contract I signed, there is a cascading timeline that allows the contract to expire within a certain time frame if no progress on a film has been made.
Wilderness guide: A good intellectual property rights lawyer is your essential guide. Expect to pay 20% of the amount you receive, or a flat hourly rate. Yes, it will put a dent in your wallet, but the potential for mistakes with long-term impact is much less.
Ready for Hollywood? Be a realistic and informed negotiator at the onset of any film rights discussion. Don’t do it just for the money, but for your author brand and momentum for your next project. For the investment of a lifetime.
Not to mention that lunchbox.
In addition to romantic suspense novels The Hidden Light of Mexico Cityand Awakening Macbeth, Carmen Amato is the author of the Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco, including Cliff Diver,Hat Dance, Diablo Nights, and the collection of short stories Made in Acapulco. Originally from New York, Carmen’s experiences living in Mexico and Central America drive the authenticity and drama of her writing. Visit her website at carmenamato.net for a free copy of The Beast, the first Emilia Cruz story, and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal / Carmen Amato
In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Carmen Amato shares her insights in structuring a movie deal that she can live with. While this is an individual decision, it is a path well-worth thinking about: what can you live with? Hollywood is notorious for making deals… in favor of Hollywood. Here are a few things to consider as you troll the dark waters of Tinseltown.Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal
By Carmen Amato
As an author, you own ideas. Stories are your final products.
If you sign a contract with a publisher or distributor, in effect, they are investing in your final product. If you sign a contract with a screenwriter or movie studio, they aren’t an investor so much as the owner of a separate work of art based on it.
This is an important difference. The trick is to become an investor in their final product.
When I began the Emilia Cruz mystery series, I knew it would translate well to film. Emilia is the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, taking on Mexico’s notorious drug cartels as well as the country’s culture of machismo. Set in an iconic location, the Emilia Cruz series is a multi-ethnic drama, with plenty of intrigue and action. Think Hawaii 5-0 meets House of Cards.
Given all that, I wasn’t surprised to receive queries about buying film rights after the third book was published. But I was surprised by what I learned along the way to a signed deal:
Separate but equal: A screenplay for a film or series based on an author’s book is a separate and new entertainment product. That owner (screenwriter, studio, director, etc.) is responsible for its final form and bringing it to viewers. The contract is the vehicle for defining the relationship between the originator (you, the author) and the film owner.
Due diligence: Research about those seeking rights to the Emilia Cruz series yielded critical information. One prominent director only made Spanish-language films. Another studio had a strong record of documentaries, but not drama. I ultimately signed with screenwriter and director Emily Skopov, best known for her work on Xena, Warrior Princess.
Ask, but be realistic: Ask for what you want in the contract negotiation, but unless you have significant influence in the film industry, don’t expect casting or final script approval. Some areas to negotiate include source credit, production role, and rating. Do you care if your novel ends up as an XXX adult film?
Skin in the game: My research also showed that many authors give away film rights in return for “exploratory” efforts by a movie studio. That’s a real gamble, in my view. Not only did I feel that I should be paid for the film rights, but I wanted the buyer to want to be incentivized to move ahead on the project and get their investment back.
Own what you sell: Does anyone else in your publishing food chain (publisher, agent, foreign rights distributer, etc.) hold rights to your story? On the flip side, are you selling more than you intend? In my case, I held all the rights and ensured the contract did not give away rights to characters, future distribution, or franchise rights. Yes, the Emilia Cruz lunchbox could happen.
The everlasting story: You need an exit strategy to avoid tying up your rights forever. In the final contract I signed, there is a cascading timeline that allows the contract to expire within a certain time frame if no progress on a film has been made.
Wilderness guide: A good intellectual property rights lawyer is your essential guide. Expect to pay 20% of the amount you receive, or a flat hourly rate. Yes, it will put a dent in your wallet, but the potential for mistakes with long-term impact is much less.
Ready for Hollywood? Be a realistic and informed negotiator at the onset of any film rights discussion. Don’t do it just for the money, but for your author brand and momentum for your next project. For the investment of a lifetime.
Not to mention that lunchbox.
In addition to romantic suspense novels The Hidden Light of Mexico City and Awakening Macbeth, Carmen Amato is the author of the Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco, including Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights, and the collection of short stories Made in Acapulco. Originally from New York, Carmen’s experiences living in Mexico and Central America drive the authenticity and drama of her writing. Visit her website at carmenamato.net for a free copy of The Beast, the first Emilia Cruz story, and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal / Carmen Amato
In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Carmen Amato shares her insights in structuring a movie deal that she can live with. While this is an individual decision, it is a path well-worth thinking about: what can you live with? Hollywood is notorious for making deals… in favor of Hollywood. Here are a few things to consider as you troll the dark waters of Tinseltown.Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
7 Tips for Negotiating Your Mystery Movie Deal
By Carmen Amato
As an author, you own ideas. Stories are your final products.
If you sign a contract with a publisher or distributor, in effect, they are investing in your final product. If you sign a contract with a screenwriter or movie studio, they aren’t an investor so much as the owner of a separate work of art based on it.
This is an important difference. The trick is to become an investor in their final product.
When I began the Emilia Cruz mystery series, I knew it would translate well to film. Emilia is the first and only female police detective in Acapulco, taking on Mexico’s notorious drug cartels as well as the country’s culture of machismo. Set in an iconic location, the Emilia Cruz series is a multi-ethnic drama, with plenty of intrigue and action. Think Hawaii 5-0 meets House of Cards.
Given all that, I wasn’t surprised to receive queries about buying film rights after the third book was published. But I was surprised by what I learned along the way to a signed deal:
Separate but equal: A screenplay for a film or series based on an author’s book is a separate and new entertainment product. That owner (screenwriter, studio, director, etc.) is responsible for its final form and bringing it to viewers. The contract is the vehicle for defining the relationship between the originator (you, the author) and the film owner.
Due diligence: Research about those seeking rights to the Emilia Cruz series yielded critical information. One prominent director only made Spanish-language films. Another studio had a strong record of documentaries, but not drama. I ultimately signed with screenwriter and director Emily Skopov, best known for her work on Xena, Warrior Princess.
Ask, but be realistic: Ask for what you want in the contract negotiation, but unless you have significant influence in the film industry, don’t expect casting or final script approval. Some areas to negotiate include source credit, production role, and rating. Do you care if your novel ends up as an XXX adult film?
Skin in the game: My research also showed that many authors give away film rights in return for “exploratory” efforts by a movie studio. That’s a real gamble, in my view. Not only did I feel that I should be paid for the film rights, but I wanted the buyer to want to be incentivized to move ahead on the project and get their investment back.
Own what you sell: Does anyone else in your publishing food chain (publisher, agent, foreign rights distributer, etc.) hold rights to your story? On the flip side, are you selling more than you intend? In my case, I held all the rights and ensured the contract did not give away rights to characters, future distribution, or franchise rights. Yes, the Emilia Cruz lunchbox could happen.
The everlasting story: You need an exit strategy to avoid tying up your rights forever. In the final contract I signed, there is a cascading timeline that allows the contract to expire within a certain time frame if no progress on a film has been made.
Wilderness guide: A good intellectual property rights lawyer is your essential guide. Expect to pay 20% of the amount you receive, or a flat hourly rate. Yes, it will put a dent in your wallet, but the potential for mistakes with long-term impact is much less.
Ready for Hollywood? Be a realistic and informed negotiator at the onset of any film rights discussion. Don’t do it just for the money, but for your author brand and momentum for your next project. For the investment of a lifetime.
Not to mention that lunchbox.
In addition to romantic suspense novels The Hidden Light of Mexico City and Awakening Macbeth, Carmen Amato is the author of the Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco, including Cliff Diver, Hat Dance, Diablo Nights, and the collection of short stories Made in Acapulco. Originally from New York, Carmen’s experiences living in Mexico and Central America drive the authenticity and drama of her writing. Visit her website at carmenamato.net for a free copy of The Beast, the first Emilia Cruz story, and follow her on Twitter @CarmenConnects.
(Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.)
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting / Linda Thorne
What do you really want to do with your life? Author Linda Thorne had that moment of clarity and she’s been writing ever since. She says in this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog that she was hooked regardless of whether her work was published or not. Publication finally came…ten years after that first epiphany.
Find your passion, and then read and write like someone is burning the books!
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting
By Linda Thorne
I remember the day I made up my mind to write a book and meant it. Certainly not the first time I’d toyed with the notion. My protagonist would be a career human resources manager like me, but she’d be a creation of my imagination that could get away with about anything. She’d turn sleuth and solve crimes, be the instigator in getting bad bosses their comeuppance, and go where day-to-day HR managers never go.
The year was 2005 and my husband and I were living in a little town called Hanford, in the Central Valley of California, where I was having the damnedest time finding a job. I was reading a Carolyn Haines book in her Bone series and thought, I can write a book like this; it would be easy. The thought came out of nowhere with such clarity I knew this time I’d do it.
Looking back, I’ve laughed at my naivety hundreds of times. I misjudged the simple, clean writing of Carolyn Haines as easy. I know now how hard it is to put words on paper that appear as effortless writing.
But it all seemed so doable on that particular day, so with determination in my heart I went to the nearest bookstore and bought a book called, You Can Write A Novel, by James V. Smith, Jr. and read it. This was going to be a snap. I purchased varying colors and sizes of index cards and began logging descriptions and motivations for characters, plot points for the storyline, and other needed information. I sorted and organized the cards and stored them inside a notebook. All I had to do was follow the recipe and “bam,” a perfect cake, first time out.
Yeah, right. I spent seven months writing the book I’d titled Just Another Termination but the finished product didn’t sound like any other book I’d ever read. It wasn’t good. Actually, that’s too mild. It was awful.
So I began the long process of beating myself over the head to get it because once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Writing became my curse as well as my love. I learned to write while rewriting, studying self-help books, writing short stories, sharing my work at critique group meetings.
I submitted my book to agents and publishers for years. I also entered contests, my favorite being the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, a free contest for anyone who had not already published a novel. Each year when I didn’t win, I’d do a critical review of my book before submitting it for the next year’s contest. In 2013, I knew I was making headway because, Just Another Termination made the finals. It made the finals again in 2014, but I couldn’t wait another year.
Just Another Termination tells the story of Judy Kenagy, the first human resources manager to turn sleuth or, at least, the first to admit it. The story begins on the Mississippi Gulf Coast pre-Katrina when a young female employee, a no-call-no-show, is found shot to death.
I tweaked the book again and submitted it to Black Opal Books. To my surprise, they offered me a publishing contract for a 2015 release date. I was ecstatic, but I also knew getting published was not an end by any means. There’s marketing the book, writing other books and dealing with their promotion too.
The journey has taken longer and been tougher than I ever imagined and it’s not over. It’s been ten years and counting since that day in Hanford, California, over a decade ago. Whether a curse or a blessing, the decision has been made.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Like her lead character, Thorne is a career human resources manager who has worked in the HR profession in Arizona, Colorado, Mississippi, California, and now, Tennessee. Her HR positions have ranged in title from vice-president (a small savings and loan), director, manager, specialist to generalist. She is working on a sequel to her debut novel, A Promotion to Die For, where her main character earns a promotion and encounters an unsolved murder all while Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently lives in Hermitage, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, with her husband, Dave, and two border collies (fur people), Abby and Mo. Visit her website at www.lindathorne.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and publisher/editor-in-chief Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting / Linda Thorne
What do you really want to do with your life? Author Linda Thorne had that moment of clarity and she’s been writing ever since. She says in this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog that she was hooked regardless of whether her work was published or not. Publication finally came…ten years after that first epiphany.Find your passion, and then read and write like someone is burning the books!Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting
By Linda Thorne
I remember the day I made up my mind to write a book and meant it. Certainly not the first time I’d toyed with the notion. My protagonist would be a career human resources manager like me, but she’d be a creation of my imagination that could get away with about anything. She’d turn sleuth and solve crimes, be the instigator in getting bad bosses their comeuppance, and go where day-to-day HR managers never go.
The year was 2005 and my husband and I were living in a little town called Hanford, in the Central Valley of California, where I was having the damnedest time finding a job. I was reading a Carolyn Haines book in her Bone series and thought, I can write a book like this; it would be easy. The thought came out of nowhere with such clarity I knew this time I’d do it.
Looking back, I’ve laughed at my naivety hundreds of times. I misjudged the simple, clean writing of Carolyn Haines as easy. I know now how hard it is to put words on paper that appear as effortless writing.
But it all seemed so doable on that particular day, so with determination in my heart I went to the nearest bookstore and bought a book called, You Can Write A Novel, by James V. Smith, Jr. and read it. This was going to be a snap. I purchased varying colors and sizes of index cards and began logging descriptions and motivations for characters, plot points for the storyline, and other needed information. I sorted and organized the cards and stored them inside a notebook. All I had to do was follow the recipe and “bam,” a perfect cake, first time out.
Yeah, right. I spent seven months writing the book I’d titled Just Another Termination
So I began the long process of beating myself over the head to get it because once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Writing became my curse as well as my love. I learned to write while rewriting, studying self-help books, writing short stories, sharing my work at critique group meetings.
I submitted my book to agents and publishers for years. I also entered contests, my favorite being the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, a free contest for anyone who had not already published a novel. Each year when I didn’t win, I’d do a critical review of my book before submitting it for the next year’s contest. In 2013, I knew I was making headway because, Just Another Termination made the finals. It made the finals again in 2014, but I couldn’t wait another year.
Just Another Termination tells the story of Judy Kenagy, the first human resources manager to turn sleuth or, at least, the first to admit it. The story begins on the Mississippi Gulf Coast pre-Katrina when a young female employee, a no-call-no-show, is found shot to death.
I tweaked the book again and submitted it to Black Opal Books. To my surprise, they offered me a publishing contract for a 2015 release date. I was ecstatic, but I also knew getting published was not an end by any means. There’s marketing the book, writing other books and dealing with their promotion too.
The journey has taken longer and been tougher than I ever imagined and it’s not over. It’s been ten years and counting since that day in Hanford, California, over a decade ago. Whether a curse or a blessing, the decision has been made.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Like her lead character, Thorne is a career human resources manager who has worked in the HR profession in Arizona, Colorado, Mississippi, California, and now, Tennessee. Her HR positions have ranged in title from vice-president (a small savings and loan), director, manager, specialist to generalist. She is working on a sequel to her debut novel, A Promotion to Die For, where her main character earns a promotion and encounters an unsolved murder all while Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently lives in Hermitage, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, with her husband, Dave, and two border collies (fur people), Abby and Mo. Visit her website at www.lindathorne.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and publisher/editor-in-chief Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting / Linda Thorne
What do you really want to do with your life? Author Linda Thorne had that moment of clarity and she’s been writing ever since. She says in this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog that she was hooked regardless of whether her work was published or not. Publication finally came…ten years after that first epiphany.Find your passion, and then read and write like someone is burning the books!Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
My Writing Curse — Ten Years and Counting
By Linda Thorne
I remember the day I made up my mind to write a book and meant it. Certainly not the first time I’d toyed with the notion. My protagonist would be a career human resources manager like me, but she’d be a creation of my imagination that could get away with about anything. She’d turn sleuth and solve crimes, be the instigator in getting bad bosses their comeuppance, and go where day-to-day HR managers never go.
The year was 2005 and my husband and I were living in a little town called Hanford, in the Central Valley of California, where I was having the damnedest time finding a job. I was reading a Carolyn Haines book in her Bone series and thought, I can write a book like this; it would be easy. The thought came out of nowhere with such clarity I knew this time I’d do it.
Looking back, I’ve laughed at my naivety hundreds of times. I misjudged the simple, clean writing of Carolyn Haines as easy. I know now how hard it is to put words on paper that appear as effortless writing.
But it all seemed so doable on that particular day, so with determination in my heart I went to the nearest bookstore and bought a book called, You Can Write A Novel, by James V. Smith, Jr. and read it. This was going to be a snap. I purchased varying colors and sizes of index cards and began logging descriptions and motivations for characters, plot points for the storyline, and other needed information. I sorted and organized the cards and stored them inside a notebook. All I had to do was follow the recipe and “bam,” a perfect cake, first time out.
Yeah, right. I spent seven months writing the book I’d titled Just Another Termination
So I began the long process of beating myself over the head to get it because once I started writing, I couldn’t stop. Writing became my curse as well as my love. I learned to write while rewriting, studying self-help books, writing short stories, sharing my work at critique group meetings.
I submitted my book to agents and publishers for years. I also entered contests, my favorite being the Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, a free contest for anyone who had not already published a novel. Each year when I didn’t win, I’d do a critical review of my book before submitting it for the next year’s contest. In 2013, I knew I was making headway because, Just Another Termination made the finals. It made the finals again in 2014, but I couldn’t wait another year.
Just Another Termination tells the story of Judy Kenagy, the first human resources manager to turn sleuth or, at least, the first to admit it. The story begins on the Mississippi Gulf Coast pre-Katrina when a young female employee, a no-call-no-show, is found shot to death.
I tweaked the book again and submitted it to Black Opal Books. To my surprise, they offered me a publishing contract for a 2015 release date. I was ecstatic, but I also knew getting published was not an end by any means. There’s marketing the book, writing other books and dealing with their promotion too.
The journey has taken longer and been tougher than I ever imagined and it’s not over. It’s been ten years and counting since that day in Hanford, California, over a decade ago. Whether a curse or a blessing, the decision has been made.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Like her lead character, Thorne is a career human resources manager who has worked in the HR profession in Arizona, Colorado, Mississippi, California, and now, Tennessee. Her HR positions have ranged in title from vice-president (a small savings and loan), director, manager, specialist to generalist. She is working on a sequel to her debut novel, A Promotion to Die For, where her main character earns a promotion and encounters an unsolved murder all while Hurricane Katrina is bearing down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She currently lives in Hermitage, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, with her husband, Dave, and two border collies (fur people), Abby and Mo. Visit her website at www.lindathorne.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, and publisher/editor-in-chief Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them / Kay Kendall
Balance. Moderation. These are not just words, but the keys to pretty much all aspects of living a healthy, full life from eating to drinking, and now completely applicable to writing. And it makes complete sense! As I’ve heard from wiser people than I, “It’s a marathon not a race.” Killer Nashville guest blog author Kay Kendall shares her own awareness for her desire to sprint, but recognizes that writing is a long-term commitment and, though we stumble, we all need to honestly look at ourselves to find our own sense of balance.
Bottom line: Enjoy; you’re probably doing fine! Take confidence, continue the race using what works for you, and until next time, read like they’re burning books.
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them
By Kay Kendall
Before I began my second career as a mystery writer, I spent twenty-five years as a public relations executive. That time — combined with eight years in college and graduate school—taught me a lot about myself. My preferred work habits featured intense bursts of creativity and fascination with a large, innovative project, followed by fallow periods when I regrouped. That was exciting. Maintenance projects bored me. I was a hare, not a tortoise.
When I set out to become a mystery author, I realized I needed to smooth out my habits. Sure, I could probably produce one book in a frenzy of late nights, caffeinated days, and ignored loved one. But that was no way to build a sustainable career, writing book after book. So, I plotted my new path.
As I moved along toward the publication of my debut novel Desolation Row in 2013, I developed new patterns that enabled the publication in July 2015 of Rainy Day Women, the second in the Austin Starr Mystery series.Remember the old axiom “slow and steady wins the race?” Those are my watchwords now, and here are the turtle-esque rules I use to keep me focused on that new way of living.
Maintain balance in your daily life. Don’t give up anything that you really enjoy. Fit that activity into your writing life. If you are going to be a full-time author over the course of many years, you can’t give up going to movies.
Enjoy them. You can’t give up gardening. Keep doing that, too. Besides, your mind needs a breather. Some new plot twist may well pop up while you’re pulling a weed. I admit that the old myth of the author writing a book in a white-hot fit of inspiration still appeals to me, but I’ve trained myself to see that sanity and calmness and balance have their rewards too.
Make time for your pals. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and trying to get published these days is a killer. I need all the support I can get, and my friends have stayed right beside me on my journey. They keep me going through the darkest days and share my joy upon publication. I’ve also made new friends by joining writers’ critique groups and associations. Many writers are said to be introverts, but I’m not. Two new pals who write mysteries are extreme introverts, and I keep in close touch with them and actively encourage them to mingle with other writers. I’m a staunch believer in the truth of what Barbra Streisand sang back in the Sixties. Remember this? “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Physical activity is essential. Keep walking the dog—or running, spinning, or dancing. Whatever exercise you used to do before you became an avid or full-time writer, don’t stop. Health gurus insist that sitting all day is a terrible habit that can lead to early death and/or dementia. Besides, when I’m on my exercise bike, I zone out and then, given enough time, ideas for my writing zone in. The mind-body connection is worth protecting with sufficient exercise. Even when I’m on a deadline, I try to stick to this rule. However, it’s time for a true confession. I have trouble actually walking the talk on this.
Keep reading. Just because you’re writing your own book, that doesn’t mean you can stop reading other ones. In fact, I’ve read more, not less, since I began to write fiction. I submerged myself in the mystery/suspense genre for almost two years before I started Desolation Row. Picking up tricks of the trade by osmosis suits me better than gulping a dozen dry how-to tomes. Of course, I read a few of those too!
Believe you can achieve your aims. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” I first saw that quote on a coffee mug for sale at Whole Foods and was scared to touch it. How dare I think I could write a novel? Yet I forced myself to buy that mug and drank from it while I wrote. When my first manuscript didn’t sell, I wrote the second, which got published. My friends (see comment above) helped keep me going. I really did “get by with a little help from my friends.” (*Footnote—the Beatles.)
Keep on keeping on. Once you find what works to make your writing life roll along as smoothly as possible, keep on doing it. Sometimes I find guidelines in how-to articles suggesting that my way is not the right way. The best writing coaches add the caveat, though, that there is no perfect method of writing a novel.
I’ve now been at this venture long enough that I’ve come across some authors who do have habits similar to mine. For example, many experts advise you to write a first draft as rapidly as possible, not editing as you go. But I just cannot do that. Just can’t. Feeling a little guilty, I write my way through manuscripts, editing and re-editing as I go. And recently—lo and behold—I read about a bestselling author who said he always begins his day by editing what he’s written the day before. What a relief! I am okay after all. So, as we used to say back in the day, just keep on truckin’.
Kay Kendall, the author of Desolation Row and Rainy Day Women, is a reformed public relations executive who won international awards for her work. Kendall lives in Texas with her Canadian-born husband, three house rabbits and spaniel Wills. She has degrees in Russian and Soviet history, and her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them / Kay Kendall
Balance. Moderation. These are not just words, but the keys to pretty much all aspects of living a healthy, full life from eating to drinking, and now completely applicable to writing. And it makes complete sense! As I’ve heard from wiser people than I, “It’s a marathon not a race.” Killer Nashville guest blog author Kay Kendall shares her own awareness for her desire to sprint, but recognizes that writing is a long-term commitment and, though we stumble, we all need to honestly look at ourselves to find our own sense of balance. Bottom line: Enjoy; you’re probably doing fine! Take confidence, continue the race using what works for you, and until next time, read like they’re burning books! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them
By Kay Kendall
Before I began my second career as a mystery writer, I spent twenty-five years as a public relations executive. That time — combined with eight years in college and graduate school—taught me a lot about myself. My preferred work habits featured intense bursts of creativity and fascination with a large, innovative project, followed by fallow periods when I regrouped. That was exciting. Maintenance projects bored me. I was a hare, not a tortoise.
When I set out to become a mystery author, I realized I needed to smooth out my habits. Sure, I could probably produce one book in a frenzy of late nights, caffeinated days, and ignored loved one. But that was no way to build a sustainable career, writing book after book. So, I plotted my new path.
As I moved along toward the publication of my debut novel Desolation Row
Maintain balance in your daily life. Don’t give up anything that you really enjoy. Fit that activity into your writing life. If you are going to be a full-time author over the course of many years, you can’t give up going to movies.
Enjoy them. You can’t give up gardening. Keep doing that, too. Besides, your mind needs a breather. Some new plot twist may well pop up while you’re pulling a weed. I admit that the old myth of the author writing a book in a white-hot fit of inspiration still appeals to me, but I’ve trained myself to see that sanity and calmness and balance have their rewards too.
Make time for your pals. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and trying to get published these days is a killer. I need all the support I can get, and my friends have stayed right beside me on my journey. They keep me going through the darkest days and share my joy upon publication. I’ve also made new friends by joining writers’ critique groups and associations. Many writers are said to be introverts, but I’m not. Two new pals who write mysteries are extreme introverts, and I keep in close touch with them and actively encourage them to mingle with other writers. I’m a staunch believer in the truth of what Barbra Streisand sang back in the Sixties. Remember this? “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Physical activity is essential. Keep walking the dog—or running, spinning, or dancing. Whatever exercise you used to do before you became an avid or full-time writer, don’t stop. Health gurus insist that sitting all day is a terrible habit that can lead to early death and/or dementia. Besides, when I’m on my exercise bike, I zone out and then, given enough time, ideas for my writing zone in. The mind-body connection is worth protecting with sufficient exercise. Even when I’m on a deadline, I try to stick to this rule. However, it’s time for a true confession. I have trouble actually walking the talk on this.
Keep reading. Just because you’re writing your own book, that doesn’t mean you can stop reading other ones. In fact, I’ve read more, not less, since I began to write fiction. I submerged myself in the mystery/suspense genre for almost two years before I started Desolation Row. Picking up tricks of the trade by osmosis suits me better than gulping a dozen dry how-to tomes. Of course, I read a few of those too!
Believe you can achieve your aims. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” I first saw that quote on a coffee mug for sale at Whole Foods and was scared to touch it. How dare I think I could write a novel? Yet I forced myself to buy that mug and drank from it while I wrote. When my first manuscript didn’t sell, I wrote the second, which got published. My friends (see comment above) helped keep me going. I really did “get by with a little help from my friends.” (*Footnote—the Beatles.)
Keep on keeping on. Once you find what works to make your writing life roll along as smoothly as possible, keep on doing it. Sometimes I find guidelines in how-to articles suggesting that my way is not the right way. The best writing coaches add the caveat, though, that there is no perfect method of writing a novel.
I’ve now been at this venture long enough that I’ve come across some authors who do have habits similar to mine. For example, many experts advise you to write a first draft as rapidly as possible, not editing as you go. But I just cannot do that. Just can’t. Feeling a little guilty, I write my way through manuscripts, editing and re-editing as I go. And recently—lo and behold—I read about a bestselling author who said he always begins his day by editing what he’s written the day before. What a relief! I am okay after all. So, as we used to say back in the day, just keep on truckin’.
Kay Kendall, the author of Desolation Row and Rainy Day Women, is a reformed public relations executive who won international awards for her work. Kendall lives in Texas with her Canadian-born husband, three house rabbits and spaniel Wills. She has degrees in Russian and Soviet history, and her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them / Kay Kendall
Balance. Moderation. These are not just words, but the keys to pretty much all aspects of living a healthy, full life from eating to drinking, and now completely applicable to writing. And it makes complete sense! As I’ve heard from wiser people than I, “It’s a marathon not a race.” Killer Nashville guest blog author Kay Kendall shares her own awareness for her desire to sprint, but recognizes that writing is a long-term commitment and, though we stumble, we all need to honestly look at ourselves to find our own sense of balance. Bottom line: Enjoy; you’re probably doing fine! Take confidence, continue the race using what works for you, and until next time, read like they’re burning books! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Being a “One-hit Wonder” vs. Sustaining a Career: My Habits and How I Changed Them
By Kay Kendall
Before I began my second career as a mystery writer, I spent twenty-five years as a public relations executive. That time — combined with eight years in college and graduate school—taught me a lot about myself. My preferred work habits featured intense bursts of creativity and fascination with a large, innovative project, followed by fallow periods when I regrouped. That was exciting. Maintenance projects bored me. I was a hare, not a tortoise.
When I set out to become a mystery author, I realized I needed to smooth out my habits. Sure, I could probably produce one book in a frenzy of late nights, caffeinated days, and ignored loved one. But that was no way to build a sustainable career, writing book after book. So, I plotted my new path.
As I moved along toward the publication of my debut novel Desolation Row
Maintain balance in your daily life. Don’t give up anything that you really enjoy. Fit that activity into your writing life. If you are going to be a full-time author over the course of many years, you can’t give up going to movies.
Enjoy them. You can’t give up gardening. Keep doing that, too. Besides, your mind needs a breather. Some new plot twist may well pop up while you’re pulling a weed. I admit that the old myth of the author writing a book in a white-hot fit of inspiration still appeals to me, but I’ve trained myself to see that sanity and calmness and balance have their rewards too.
Make time for your pals. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, and trying to get published these days is a killer. I need all the support I can get, and my friends have stayed right beside me on my journey. They keep me going through the darkest days and share my joy upon publication. I’ve also made new friends by joining writers’ critique groups and associations. Many writers are said to be introverts, but I’m not. Two new pals who write mysteries are extreme introverts, and I keep in close touch with them and actively encourage them to mingle with other writers. I’m a staunch believer in the truth of what Barbra Streisand sang back in the Sixties. Remember this? “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.”
Physical activity is essential. Keep walking the dog—or running, spinning, or dancing. Whatever exercise you used to do before you became an avid or full-time writer, don’t stop. Health gurus insist that sitting all day is a terrible habit that can lead to early death and/or dementia. Besides, when I’m on my exercise bike, I zone out and then, given enough time, ideas for my writing zone in. The mind-body connection is worth protecting with sufficient exercise. Even when I’m on a deadline, I try to stick to this rule. However, it’s time for a true confession. I have trouble actually walking the talk on this.
Keep reading. Just because you’re writing your own book, that doesn’t mean you can stop reading other ones. In fact, I’ve read more, not less, since I began to write fiction. I submerged myself in the mystery/suspense genre for almost two years before I started Desolation Row. Picking up tricks of the trade by osmosis suits me better than gulping a dozen dry how-to tomes. Of course, I read a few of those too!
Believe you can achieve your aims. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” I first saw that quote on a coffee mug for sale at Whole Foods and was scared to touch it. How dare I think I could write a novel? Yet I forced myself to buy that mug and drank from it while I wrote. When my first manuscript didn’t sell, I wrote the second, which got published. My friends (see comment above) helped keep me going. I really did “get by with a little help from my friends.” (*Footnote—the Beatles.)
Keep on keeping on. Once you find what works to make your writing life roll along as smoothly as possible, keep on doing it. Sometimes I find guidelines in how-to articles suggesting that my way is not the right way. The best writing coaches add the caveat, though, that there is no perfect method of writing a novel.
I’ve now been at this venture long enough that I’ve come across some authors who do have habits similar to mine. For example, many experts advise you to write a first draft as rapidly as possible, not editing as you go. But I just cannot do that. Just can’t. Feeling a little guilty, I write my way through manuscripts, editing and re-editing as I go. And recently—lo and behold—I read about a bestselling author who said he always begins his day by editing what he’s written the day before. What a relief! I am okay after all. So, as we used to say back in the day, just keep on truckin’.
Kay Kendall, the author of Desolation Row and Rainy Day Women, is a reformed public relations executive who won international awards for her work. Kendall lives in Texas with her Canadian-born husband, three house rabbits and spaniel Wills. She has degrees in Russian and Soviet history, and her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel / K.C. Tansley
In the middle of downward turn, a spiral out of control, or the dashing of one’s hopes and dreams, no one, and I repeat, no one likes to hear the same tired sayings like, “When one door closes; another door opens” or “You will look back and laugh”. It’s just too painful even if the intent is to instill optimism.
In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, K.C. Tansley shares her roller-coaster ride to publishing, which despite the turmoil turned out to be the best thing to ever happen.
This is a lesson for all of us: Never give up!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel
By K.C. Tansley
You know the first manuscript that most writers leave under their bed? After seven years of revising and querying, I sold mine to Harlequin in the spring of 2013.
Within a month, I had an agent at ICM Partners and the deal memo from Harlequin. This was really happening. My YA time travel murder mystery, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts, was going to be traditionally published! My craziest dream was coming true.
The contract negotiations went on for a while. By early 2014, Harlequin had assigned my editor, and I received my editorial letter. My editor had a way of focusing and tightening the story while staying true to the heart of it. I was happy with where we were going and so excited to share what I knew would be the best version of this book with the world.
In the fall of 2014, I waited for line edits that didn't come. I emailed my editor and she apologized for the delay, but she was really good at being on time. Something felt off. I couldn't shake the feeling. I emailed my agent and asked her to look into it.
I’ll never forget what happened on October 4, 2014. I was sitting at a restaurant, waiting for my friend, when my agent’s reply came in. I knew I shouldn’t have read it, but I couldn’t help it. I clicked on it. And everything changed.
It was the worst-case scenario. My imprint was shutting down. My book wouldn't be published and the rights were reverting back to me. Eventually.
My mind raced with all the things that I had to do. Questions I needed answered. Emails I’d have to send. That kept me busy for a few days.
The worst part came next—weeks of waiting and uncertainty. Finally, my rights reverted back to me, and my agency and I parted ways.
That was when it all hit me. It felt like my world imploded. Everything I'd worked for over the past eight years was gone. Wiped out in one fell swoop. I was back to square one. Again.
It was the first time a dream nearly broke me. I didn’t see a reason to keep trying. It hurt too much. My book deal was dead and my dream had become a nightmare.
Mentally and physically, I was defeated. All I wanted to do was curl up and binge watch “The Vampire Diaries” for a few weeks. Hide in my bed and pretend this wasn't happening to me.
But I still had this novel that was line-edited and almost ready for publication. This story that I had lived with for nine years. These characters that I had poured my soul into. I couldn't abandon them. I wouldn’t abandon them.
But querying? No, I wasn't ready to face that kind of rejection again.
A friend of mine stepped up and passed the revised version of my manuscript around to her industry friends. It ended up with a small press. They shared the vision that my editor and I had for the book, and they wanted to publish it. They even hired my editor to freelance it to completion.
I was still emotionally torn up from what had happened, but I believed in my book. I put aside my personal stuff and gave the book the best chance I could.
This time around, I wasn’t a tiny cog in a massive publishing machine. My publisher wanted my input, and they communicated regularly with me. I felt like I was a partner in the publication process.
We still faced an uphill battle: a small press doesn't have the distribution network or the publicity machine of a major traditional publisher. We needed a promo push for this book so I hired a publicist for the book launch.
My book may be a product that is being brought to market, but it’s a unique product, a way to escape life and go on an adventure. It’s an emotional enterprise, so it is very important that everyone involved is emotionally invested in my book’s success. From the publisher to the editor to the cover designer to the formatter to publicist, everyone is doing his or her best work. And it shows. I feel supported and nurtured. That’s how indie publishing turned my worst nightmare back into my greatest dream. Going indie didn’t just save my book, it saved me.
K.C. Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson and three quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them. Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. As Kourtney Heintz, she writes award winning cross genre fiction for adults.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel / K.C. Tansley
In the middle of downward turn, a spiral out of control, or the dashing of one’s hopes and dreams, no one, and I repeat, no one likes to hear the same tired sayings like, “When one door closes; another door opens” or “You will look back and laugh”. It’s just too painful even if the intent is to instill optimism.In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, K.C. Tansley shares her roller-coaster ride to publishing, which despite the turmoil turned out to be the best thing to ever happen.This is a lesson for all of us: Never give up! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel
By K.C. Tansley
You know the first manuscript that most writers leave under their bed? After seven years of revising and querying, I sold mine to Harlequin in the spring of 2013.
Within a month, I had an agent at ICM Partners and the deal memo from Harlequin. This was really happening. My YA time travel murder mystery, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts
The contract negotiations went on for a while. By early 2014, Harlequin had assigned my editor, and I received my editorial letter. My editor had a way of focusing and tightening the story while staying true to the heart of it. I was happy with where we were going and so excited to share what I knew would be the best version of this book with the world.
In the fall of 2014, I waited for line edits that didn't come. I emailed my editor and she apologized for the delay, but she was really good at being on time. Something felt off. I couldn't shake the feeling. I emailed my agent and asked her to look into it.
I’ll never forget what happened on October 4, 2014. I was sitting at a restaurant, waiting for my friend, when my agent’s reply came in. I knew I shouldn’t have read it, but I couldn’t help it. I clicked on it. And everything changed.
It was the worst-case scenario. My imprint was shutting down. My book wouldn't be published and the rights
were reverting back to me. Eventually.
My mind raced with all the things that I had to do. Questions I needed answered. Emails I’d have to send. That kept me busy for a few days.
The worst part came next—weeks of waiting and uncertainty. Finally, my rights reverted back to me, and my agency and I parted ways.
That was when it all hit me. It felt like my world imploded. Everything I'd worked for over the past eight years was gone. Wiped out in one fell swoop. I was back to square one. Again.
It was the first time a dream nearly broke me. I didn’t see a reason to keep trying. It hurt too much. My book deal was dead and my dream had become a nightmare.
Mentally and physically, I was defeated. All I wanted to do was curl up and binge watch “The Vampire Diaries” for a few weeks. Hide in my bed and pretend this wasn't happening to me.
But I still had this novel that was line-edited and almost ready for publication. This story that I had lived with for nine years. These characters that I had poured my soul into. I couldn't abandon them. I wouldn’t abandon them.
But querying? No, I wasn't ready to face that kind of rejection again.
A friend of mine stepped up and passed the revised version of my manuscript around to her industry friends. It ended up with a small press. They shared the vision that my editor and I had for the book, and they wanted to publish it. They even hired my editor to freelance it to completion.
I was still emotionally torn up from what had happened, but I believed in my book. I put aside my personal stuff and gave the book the best chance I could.
This time around, I wasn’t a tiny cog in a massive publishing machine. My publisher wanted my input, and they communicated regularly with me. I felt like I was a partner in the publication process.
We still faced an uphill battle: a small press doesn't have the distribution network or the publicity machine of a major traditional publisher. We needed a promo push for this book so I hired a publicist for the book launch.
My book may be a product that is being brought to market, but it’s a unique product, a way to escape life and go on an adventure. It’s an emotional enterprise, so it is very important that everyone involved is emotionally invested in my book’s success. From the publisher to the editor to the cover designer to the formatter to publicist, everyone is doing his or her best work. And it shows. I feel supported and nurtured. That’s how indie publishing turned my worst nightmare back into my greatest dream. Going indie didn’t just save my book, it saved me.
K.C. Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson and three quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them. Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. As Kourtney Heintz, she writes award winning cross genre fiction for adults.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel / K.C. Tansley
In the middle of downward turn, a spiral out of control, or the dashing of one’s hopes and dreams, no one, and I repeat, no one likes to hear the same tired sayings like, “When one door closes; another door opens” or “You will look back and laugh”. It’s just too painful even if the intent is to instill optimism.In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, K.C. Tansley shares her roller-coaster ride to publishing, which despite the turmoil turned out to be the best thing to ever happen.This is a lesson for all of us: Never give up! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
How Small, Independent Publishing Saved My Novel
By K.C. Tansley
You know the first manuscript that most writers leave under their bed? After seven years of revising and querying, I sold mine to Harlequin in the spring of 2013.
Within a month, I had an agent at ICM Partners and the deal memo from Harlequin. This was really happening. My YA time travel murder mystery, The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts
The contract negotiations went on for a while. By early 2014, Harlequin had assigned my editor, and I received my editorial letter. My editor had a way of focusing and tightening the story while staying true to the heart of it. I was happy with where we were going and so excited to share what I knew would be the best version of this book with the world.
In the fall of 2014, I waited for line edits that didn't come. I emailed my editor and she apologized for the delay, but she was really good at being on time. Something felt off. I couldn't shake the feeling. I emailed my agent and asked her to look into it.
I’ll never forget what happened on October 4, 2014. I was sitting at a restaurant, waiting for my friend, when my agent’s reply came in. I knew I shouldn’t have read it, but I couldn’t help it. I clicked on it. And everything changed.
It was the worst-case scenario. My imprint was shutting down. My book wouldn't be published and the rights
were reverting back to me. Eventually.
My mind raced with all the things that I had to do. Questions I needed answered. Emails I’d have to send. That kept me busy for a few days.
The worst part came next—weeks of waiting and uncertainty. Finally, my rights reverted back to me, and my agency and I parted ways.
That was when it all hit me. It felt like my world imploded. Everything I'd worked for over the past eight years was gone. Wiped out in one fell swoop. I was back to square one. Again.
It was the first time a dream nearly broke me. I didn’t see a reason to keep trying. It hurt too much. My book deal was dead and my dream had become a nightmare.
Mentally and physically, I was defeated. All I wanted to do was curl up and binge watch “The Vampire Diaries” for a few weeks. Hide in my bed and pretend this wasn't happening to me.
But I still had this novel that was line-edited and almost ready for publication. This story that I had lived with for nine years. These characters that I had poured my soul into. I couldn't abandon them. I wouldn’t abandon them.
But querying? No, I wasn't ready to face that kind of rejection again.
A friend of mine stepped up and passed the revised version of my manuscript around to her industry friends. It ended up with a small press. They shared the vision that my editor and I had for the book, and they wanted to publish it. They even hired my editor to freelance it to completion.
I was still emotionally torn up from what had happened, but I believed in my book. I put aside my personal stuff and gave the book the best chance I could.
This time around, I wasn’t a tiny cog in a massive publishing machine. My publisher wanted my input, and they communicated regularly with me. I felt like I was a partner in the publication process.
We still faced an uphill battle: a small press doesn't have the distribution network or the publicity machine of a major traditional publisher. We needed a promo push for this book so I hired a publicist for the book launch.
My book may be a product that is being brought to market, but it’s a unique product, a way to escape life and go on an adventure. It’s an emotional enterprise, so it is very important that everyone involved is emotionally invested in my book’s success. From the publisher to the editor to the cover designer to the formatter to publicist, everyone is doing his or her best work. And it shows. I feel supported and nurtured. That’s how indie publishing turned my worst nightmare back into my greatest dream. Going indie didn’t just save my book, it saved me.
K.C. Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson and three quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables—spells, ghosts, time travel—and writes about them. Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days. As Kourtney Heintz, she writes award winning cross genre fiction for adults.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
North and South: A Writer’s Journey / Ellen Byron
We all have unique and life-stamping beginnings that stay with us forever, but it’s our life experiences that shape who we are. With any luck we both enhance and challenge ourselves with every new day.
In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Ellen Byron shares her journey to becoming a writer and reminds us of the ultimate two tenets of writing: know what you write and write what you love.
Read like they are burning books!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
North and South: A Writer’s Journey
By Ellen Byron
Why does a native Noo Yawkuh who lives in the City of Angels always seem to write about the South? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. And after giving it much thought, I’ve come up with two answers. One is obvious, the other less so.
My initial fascination began as a teenage obsession with Tennessee Williams. I was overwhelmed by the poetry of The Glass Menagerie, the sensual brutality of A Streetcar Named Desire, and the passion and heartbreak of Orpheus Descending.
Eventually it hit this Williams fangirl, what better place to pay homage to my idol than New Orleans? I transferred from a gritty New York state college to the lush, almost tropical campus of Tulane University, and embraced everything about the magical Crescent City. I reveled in its sultry humidity and guested at Mardi Gras balls. I people-watched on the streetcars, wondering if one of the white-gloved society matrons making her way to the French Quarter might have been the inspiration for Blanche DuBois. I wanted to be accepted so badly that I tried to hide my New York accent, and while no one ever mistook me for a Southerner, I did have a customer at the sandwich shop where I worked part-time ask if I was British.
When my parents came to visit, we’d rent a car and explore southern Louisiana. I learned that if you saw an alley of trees that dead-ended in an empty field, odds were that’s where a plantation once stood. I met proud and marvelous Cajuns, people whose ancestors were forced out of Canada in the mid-eighteenth century by Le Grand Derangement, their roots in America pre-dating the Declaration of Independence. People who still spoke French as their native tongue and English as their second language over two hundred years after their diaspora. And gradually this gal from Queens fell utterly in love with a way of life that couldn’t seem more different from her own background.
But was it so different? While mulling this over, I came up with the second answer to the question of why I feel so connected to a part of the country where I only spent a few years of my life.
My mother was born in Italy. She came to America with her parents at the age of three. During the decades that followed, a parade of relatives and pisanes (fellow countrymen) from the little village of Orsogna joined her in the migration. I spent much of my childhood at family functions where the air was thick with the scent of homemade sauces, pastas, and meats. Uncles, aunts and cousins spent the meal laughing and arguing in Italian. I could spend an entire day at a family event and never hear a word of English. It was a world unto itself.
So why do I feel drawn to the South? Because, like my family’s small enclave, it’s a world unto itself— a rich, unique culture within the larger culture of the United States. This is particularly true of southern Louisiana, where I’ve set my debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery The food, the music, and the language all come together in this part of the world to create a singular environment. (By the way, my fascination with the South isn’t limited to Louisiana. In my play Old Sins, Long Shadows, I trade the Pelican State for Kentucky as a family battles for the mineral rights to their land.)
I sometimes worry that this East Coast/West Coast girl might be viewed as some kind of carpetbagger. Then I remind myself of two writing tenets I’ve always adhered to: know about what you write, and write about what you love. Which is exactly what I’m doing. So I hope Southerners see my preoccupation as a form of flattery, and forgive any errors I might make as a wannabe rather than a native. To quote a favorite playwright of mine, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Or, as my late Nonna might have put it, “Ho sempre dipendeva dalla benevolenza di strainer.”
Ellen’s debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery, launches in August. Her TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and network pilots. She’s written over 200 articles for national magazines, and her plays, published by the Dramatists Play Service, have been performed around the world. She’s the recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, presented by the Malice Domestic Conference.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.
North and South: A Writer’s Journey / Ellen Byron
We all have unique and life-stamping beginnings that stay with us forever, but it’s our life experiences that shape who we are. With any luck we both enhance and challenge ourselves with every new day.In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Ellen Byron shares her journey to becoming a writer and reminds us of the ultimate two tenets of writing: know what you write and write what you love.Read like they are burning books! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
North and South: A Writer’s Journey
By Ellen Byron
Why does a native Noo Yawkuh who lives in the City of Angels always seem to write about the South? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. And after giving it much thought, I’ve come up with two answers. One is obvious, the other less so.
My initial fascination began as a teenage obsession with Tennessee Williams. I was overwhelmed by the poetry of The Glass Menagerie, the sensual brutality of A Streetcar Named Desire, and the passion and heartbreak of Orpheus Descending.
Eventually it hit this Williams fangirl, what better place to pay homage to my idol than New Orleans? I transferred from a gritty New York state college to the lush, almost tropical campus of Tulane University, and embraced everything about the magical Crescent City. I reveled in its sultry humidity and guested at Mardi Gras balls. I people-watched on the streetcars, wondering if one of the white-gloved society matrons making her way to the French Quarter might have been the inspiration for Blanche DuBois. I wanted to be accepted so badly that I tried to hide my New York accent, and while no one ever mistook me for a Southerner, I did have a customer at the sandwich shop where I worked part-time ask if I was British.
When my parents came to visit, we’d rent a car and explore southern Louisiana. I learned that if you saw an alley of trees that dead-ended in an empty field, odds were that’s where a plantation once stood. I met proud and marvelous Cajuns, people whose ancestors were forced out of Canada in the mid-eighteenth century by Le Grand Derangement, their roots in America pre-dating the Declaration of Independence. People who still spoke French as their native tongue and English as their second language over two hundred years after their diaspora. And gradually this gal from Queens fell utterly in love with a way of life that couldn’t seem more different from her own background.
But was it so different? While mulling this over, I came up with the second answer to the question of why I feel so connected to a part of the country where I only spent a few years of my life.
My mother was born in Italy. She came to America with her parents at the age of three. During the decades that followed, a parade of relatives and pisanes (fellow countrymen) from the little village of Orsogna joined her in the migration. I spent much of my childhood at family functions where the air was thick with the scent of homemade sauces, pastas, and meats. Uncles, aunts and cousins spent the meal laughing and arguing in Italian. I could spend an entire day at a family event and never hear a word of English. It was a world unto itself.
So why do I feel drawn to the South? Because, like my family’s small enclave, it’s a world unto itself— a rich, unique culture within the larger culture of the United States. This is particularly true of southern Louisiana,
where I’ve set my debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery
I sometimes worry that this East Coast/West Coast girl might be viewed as some kind of carpetbagger. Then I remind myself of two writing tenets I’ve always adhered to: know about what you write, and write about what you love. Which is exactly what I’m doing. So I hope Southerners see my preoccupation as a form of flattery, and forgive any errors I might make as a wannabe rather than a native. To quote a favorite playwright of mine, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Or, as my late Nonna might have put it, “Ho sempre dipendeva dalla benevolenza di strainer.”
Ellen’s debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery, launches in August. Her TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and network pilots. She’s written over 200 articles for national magazines, and her plays, published by the Dramatists Play Service, have been performed around the world. She’s the recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, presented by the Malice Domestic Conference.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.
North and South: A Writer’s Journey / Ellen Byron
We all have unique and life-stamping beginnings that stay with us forever, but it’s our life experiences that shape who we are. With any luck we both enhance and challenge ourselves with every new day.In this week’s Killer Nashville blog, author Ellen Byron shares her journey to becoming a writer and reminds us of the ultimate two tenets of writing: know what you write and write what you love.Read like they are burning books! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
North and South: A Writer’s Journey
By Ellen Byron
Why does a native Noo Yawkuh who lives in the City of Angels always seem to write about the South? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. And after giving it much thought, I’ve come up with two answers. One is obvious, the other less so.
My initial fascination began as a teenage obsession with Tennessee Williams. I was overwhelmed by the poetry of The Glass Menagerie, the sensual brutality of A Streetcar Named Desire, and the passion and heartbreak of Orpheus Descending.
Eventually it hit this Williams fangirl, what better place to pay homage to my idol than New Orleans? I transferred from a gritty New York state college to the lush, almost tropical campus of Tulane University, and embraced everything about the magical Crescent City. I reveled in its sultry humidity and guested at Mardi Gras balls. I people-watched on the streetcars, wondering if one of the white-gloved society matrons making her way to the French Quarter might have been the inspiration for Blanche DuBois. I wanted to be accepted so badly that I tried to hide my New York accent, and while no one ever mistook me for a Southerner, I did have a customer at the sandwich shop where I worked part-time ask if I was British.
When my parents came to visit, we’d rent a car and explore southern Louisiana. I learned that if you saw an alley of trees that dead-ended in an empty field, odds were that’s where a plantation once stood. I met proud and marvelous Cajuns, people whose ancestors were forced out of Canada in the mid-eighteenth century by Le Grand Derangement, their roots in America pre-dating the Declaration of Independence. People who still spoke French as their native tongue and English as their second language over two hundred years after their diaspora. And gradually this gal from Queens fell utterly in love with a way of life that couldn’t seem more different from her own background.
But was it so different? While mulling this over, I came up with the second answer to the question of why I feel so connected to a part of the country where I only spent a few years of my life.
My mother was born in Italy. She came to America with her parents at the age of three. During the decades that followed, a parade of relatives and pisanes (fellow countrymen) from the little village of Orsogna joined her in the migration. I spent much of my childhood at family functions where the air was thick with the scent of homemade sauces, pastas, and meats. Uncles, aunts and cousins spent the meal laughing and arguing in Italian. I could spend an entire day at a family event and never hear a word of English. It was a world unto itself.
So why do I feel drawn to the South? Because, like my family’s small enclave, it’s a world unto itself— a rich, unique culture within the larger culture of the United States. This is particularly true of southern Louisiana,
where I’ve set my debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery
I sometimes worry that this East Coast/West Coast girl might be viewed as some kind of carpetbagger. Then I remind myself of two writing tenets I’ve always adhered to: know about what you write, and write about what you love. Which is exactly what I’m doing. So I hope Southerners see my preoccupation as a form of flattery, and forgive any errors I might make as a wannabe rather than a native. To quote a favorite playwright of mine, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” Or, as my late Nonna might have put it, “Ho sempre dipendeva dalla benevolenza di strainer.”
Ellen’s debut novel, Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery, launches in August. Her TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, and network pilots. She’s written over 200 articles for national magazines, and her plays, published by the Dramatists Play Service, have been performed around the world. She’s the recipient of a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, presented by the Malice Domestic Conference.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Clay Janeway, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.
It’s No Mystery: Writing Mysteries for Kids Is the Best Job in the World / Robin Newman
Writing for children can be complicated. There’s so much to keep in mind like using vocabulary that’s age-appropriate and providing bite-sized clues, all while telling a good story. In this week’s Killer Nashville guest blog, author Robin Newman shares her love of writing children’s stories, and some helpful hints as you write yours.
Happy Reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
It’s No Mystery: Writing Mysteries for Kids Is the Best Job in the World
By Robin Newman
I wish I could say that I was an avid reader and writer as a child. But to tell the truth, I didn’t become a reader until I was in high school, and it wasn’t until law school that I realized that I enjoyed writing.
Growing up in the 1970s, many of my peers and I were TV junkies. Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Hong Kong Phooey, Bugs Bunny, Fat Albert, The Jetsons, Road Runner, and School House Rock played an intrinsic part of my childhood. I also grew up watching, and may have possibly read some of, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Later, as an adult, I was hooked on television detective shows like Dragnet, Law and Order, Murder, She Wrote, Cagney and Lacey, and Barney Miller. All of these shows were perfect fodder for a budding writer of children’s mysteries.
Television, in particular, has created expectations for readers of mysteries. So, it’s no mystery that when I started writing The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, my critique group told me that I should follow the formula and language used in detective shows. “Give us the facts, and just the facts…”
When writing a mystery for young children, there are a few things that one should consider, aside from the usual suspects of plot, character, and setting.
Age matters. Who is reading the story? The parent or the child? Will the reader get the joke? These are things that you need to think about when writing for a young audience.
Word counts. Is your story going to be a picture book, early reader, transitional reader, or chapter book? Picture books generally fall within the realm of 500 or fewer words. It’s extremely hard to write a detective story in fewer than 500 words.
When I started writing The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, it was a picture book. But my word counts were off the charts, around 1200-1600 words, and I knew an editor would hyperventilate if he or she saw my manuscript. Upon excellent advice, I changed the book to an early chapter book, and the story flowed much better.
Short and sweet. Try to keep your sentences short. There’s a lot going on in a mystery, and you need to keep your readers focused on tracking the clues that will help them find the culprit.
Vocabulary. Detective and mystery vocabulary is pretty sophisticated for emergent readers. Terms like alibi, suspect, witness, clues, investigation, etc., need to come across clearly in the text. For example, in this one scene of The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, Detective Wilcox is interrogating the suspect, Fowler the Owl:
“Hoo-hoo,” said Fowler, peeking her head out of her hole. “What brings you two tasty treats to my tree?”
“Investigating a case,” I said, holding up my badge. “Detective Wilcox and Captain Griswold, MFIs. Where were you between 8:00 and 10:00 this morning?”
“I was chasing a field mouse.”
“Do you have any witnesses?” If someone had seen her, she’d have an alibi.
“There was one, but I ate him.”
Easy clues and repetition. Make sure you leave a crumb trail of easy clues for your junior detectives to find. Having one character repeat or slightly modify what another character has said is an opportunity to emphasize a clue and slow down the reader to take note of an important fact.
“But she sure was acting like a funny bunny.”
“Funny ha ha or funny odd?” I asked.
“She didn’t say a word—not even a peep when I asked if she wanted a nice hot cup of slop! And she was still wearing her pajamas…”
Have fun! Don’t forget to add lots of fun puns and jokes. Kindergartners, first and second graders LOVE puns and bad jokes. This is the age of knock-knock jokes.
It’s no mystery: writing for kids is the best job in the world. I suspect that if you give it a try, you will love it too!
Raised in New York and Paris, Robin is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the City University of New York School of Law. She's been a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. She is the author of The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, A Wilcox & Griswold Mystery, illustrated by Deborah Zemke (Creston Books, Spring 2015), about two hardboiled mouse detectives working their beat from a shoebox at the back of Farmer Ed’s barn. They are MFIs, Missing Food Investigators, and on their seminal case, they’re on the hunt for Miss Rabbit’s missing carrot cake. (Note: The names of the animals have been changed to protect the good guys.) Visit her website at https://robinnewmanbooks.wordpress.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Meaghan Hill, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.
It’s No Mystery: Writing Mysteries for Kids Is the Best Job in the World / Robin Newman
Writing for children can be complicated. There’s so much to keep in mind like using vocabulary that’s age-appropriate and providing bite-sized clues, all while telling a good story. In this week’s Killer Nashville guest blog, author Robin Newman shares her love of writing children’s stories, and some helpful hints as you write yours.Happy Reading! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
It’s No Mystery: Writing Mysteries for Kids Is the Best Job in the World
By Robin Newman
I wish I could say that I was an avid reader and writer as a child. But to tell the truth, I didn’t become a reader until I was in high school, and it wasn’t until law school that I realized that I enjoyed writing.
Growing up in the 1970s, many of my peers and I were TV junkies. Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, Hong Kong Phooey, Bugs Bunny, Fat Albert, The Jetsons, Road Runner, and School House Rock played an intrinsic part of my childhood. I also grew up watching, and may have possibly read some of, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. Later, as an adult, I was hooked on television detective shows like Dragnet, Law and Order, Murder, She Wrote, Cagney and Lacey, and Barney Miller. All of these shows were perfect fodder for a budding writer of children’s mysteries.
Television, in particular, has created expectations for readers of mysteries. So, it’s no mystery that when I started writing The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake
When writing a mystery for young children, there are a few things that one should consider, aside from the usual suspects of plot, character, and setting.
Age matters. Who is reading the story? The parent or the child? Will the reader get the joke? These are things that you need to think about when writing for a young audience.
Word counts. Is your story going to be a picture book, early reader, transitional reader, or chapter book? Picture books generally fall within the realm of 500 or fewer words. It’s extremely hard to write a detective story in fewer than 500 words.
When I started writing The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, it was a picture book. But my word counts were off the charts, around 1200-1600 words, and I knew an editor would hyperventilate if he or she saw my manuscript. Upon excellent advice, I changed the book to an early chapter book, and the story flowed much better.
Short and sweet. Try to keep your sentences short. There’s a lot going on in a mystery, and you need to keep your readers focused on tracking the clues that will help them find the culprit.
Vocabulary. Detective and mystery vocabulary is pretty sophisticated for emergent readers. Terms like alibi, suspect, witness, clues, investigation, etc., need to come across clearly in the text. For example, in this one scene of The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, Detective Wilcox is interrogating the suspect, Fowler the Owl:
“Hoo-hoo,” said Fowler, peeking her head out of her hole. “What brings you two tasty treats to my tree?”
“Investigating a case,” I said, holding up my badge. “Detective Wilcox and Captain Griswold, MFIs. Where were you between 8:00 and 10:00 this morning?”
“I was chasing a field mouse.”
“Do you have any witnesses?” If someone had seen her, she’d have an alibi.
“There was one, but I ate him.”
Easy clues and repetition. Make sure you leave a crumb trail of easy clues for your junior detectives to find. Having one character repeat or slightly modify what another character has said is an opportunity to emphasize a clue and slow down the reader to take note of an important fact.
“But she sure was acting like a funny bunny.”
“Funny ha ha or funny odd?” I asked.
“She didn’t say a word—not even a peep when I asked if she wanted a nice hot cup of slop! And she was still wearing her pajamas…”
Have fun! Don’t forget to add lots of fun puns and jokes. Kindergartners, first and second graders LOVE puns and bad jokes. This is the age of knock-knock jokes.
It’s no mystery: writing for kids is the best job in the world. I suspect that if you give it a try, you will love it too!
Raised in New York and Paris, Robin is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and the City University of New York School of Law. She's been a practicing attorney and legal editor, but she prefers to write about witches, mice, pigs, and peacocks. She is the author of The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, A Wilcox & Griswold Mystery, illustrated by Deborah Zemke (Creston Books, Spring 2015), about two hardboiled mouse detectives working their beat from a shoebox at the back of Farmer Ed’s barn. They are MFIs, Missing Food Investigators, and on their seminal case, they’re on the hunt for Miss Rabbit’s missing carrot cake. (Note: The names of the animals have been changed to protect the good guys.) Visit her website at https://robinnewmanbooks.wordpress.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you. Thanks to Tom Wood, Maria Giordano, Will Chessor, Meaghan Hill, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog. And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.
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