KN Magazine: Articles
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home / R. D. Sherrill
We all build as we go, as we grow as we go. R.D. Sherrill has written a realistic blog that proves—in charity and in the book business—that it all begins at home.
This is excellent advice for writers at any stage of his/her career.
As you read, note Sherrill’s success from Book 1 to Book 4, and the mental shift that made it all possible. Apply his thinking to your own book releases, and you’ve got a formula for upping your success.
We all have somewhere to go, right? Might as well be up.
Until next time, Happy Reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home
By R.D. Sherrill
It took several years and four books for the message to sink in: Before you are a world-wide bestseller, you’ve got to be a hometown bestseller.
Let me explain the growing pains it took to properly launch Murder U earlier this year.
Like many aspiring authors, I was full of hope when I completed my first novel. R.D. Sherrill had arrived! I expected the literary world to bow down to the next big thing. Red Dog Saloon was sure to be a bestseller in no time.
I contacted publishers and agents, all of whom I assumed would respond in short order, offering massive signing bonuses, and perhaps even a flashy Porsche in which I could drive to my book signings. Two years later and I’m still making payments on my own Hyundai. At least I’m getting good gas mileage to those signings.
The dream of immediate success is a pipe dream for a new author. While one in a million may hit a homerun the first time at bat, and a select few may eventually get called up to the majors, most will languish in the minor leagues for the rest of their lives. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it’s simple math; we can’t all win.
It’s not a lack of talent. Heck, some of the best authors I’ve met have never even published a word. They are intimidated before they even enter the business. There are thousands of writers out there trying to land the same contact. A talented author is simply drowned out by the white noise, and unless your query can catch the eye of an opened-minded agent who happens to be browsing the slush pile, then you’re out of luck.
This is not only true when it comes to the traditional publishing business, but also applies in the new age of independent publishing. More and more people are self-publishing, meaning the competition for readers is reaching heights it never has before. So what’s a writer to do?
It all starts at home.
Sometimes we writers get ahead of ourselves. Before you become a world-wide sensation, you need to capture the hometown audience. Your hometown is your launching pad to success; you can’t take it for granted. It took me four books to understand what my publicist, Ashley Wright, had been telling me since I released Red Dog Saloon.
My day job is a crime and courts reporter for my hometown newspaper. As such, I am pretty well-known around town. I figured that alone would cement the hometown success of my first book. So, I rushed things and put the book out with very little advance warning. I expected everyone I’d ever known to flock to the premiere of my book.
Let me tell you, it’s awkward when you’re sitting in an empty room at the local library with a stack of books and nobody walking through the door. I had six people come to my literary debut, two of whom were relatives.
While the debut fell flat, I did go on to sell hundreds of my first book, as word spread that my stuff was actually pretty good. However, the failed debut was so frustrating that I didn’t bother having launch parties for my next two books, Average Joe and Friday Night Frights. Both books I rushed to market, wanting to have something “new” out there. As you would guess, those two releases sold far less.
Then it came time for Murder U to be released. A debut party at the same local library was scheduled. Unlike before, I put time into promoting the release, even going to the extent of delivering personal invitations to folks who had bought my other books. It was during this advance PR work I found out many people in my hometown of about thirteen thousand had no idea I’d published two books since Red Dog Saloon. Wow.
Here I am, trying to become a world-wide phenomenon, and readers in my own hometown had no idea about my last two releases.
This time I barraged social media, hit all the radio stations the day of my book debut, and made sure that my friends at the paper gave me a color page to announce my new book. And, instead of making it just a book signing—I made it an event with refreshments, door prizes, and a Q&A session.
To say it was an unexpected success would be an understatement. I sold seven books before my billed start time even rolled around. For the first time in my life as an author, I experienced something I never had before—a line waiting for me to sign. I almost sold out in the first hour. And not just Murder U: my other books were selling, too.
I know this is nothing to an established author who has a huge name and hundreds of great reviews, but to a small-town writer like me, it’s something special. And through the launch party, I got several offers to make appearances, some of which were elsewhere in the state. Using connections I’ve made through local civic organizations, I’ve even had a couple of out-of-state invitations.
So my advice is this: Get your base right at home and everything will build upward from there. It sounds simple, but I suspect many of us overlook this obvious fundamental of the independent publishing world.
R.D. Sherrill is an award-winning journalist with the Southern Standard newspaper in McMinnville, Tenn., where he has served as crime and courts reporter and columnist for the past twenty-five years. His most recent novel, Murder U, debuted in mid-July. His works may be found at www.RDSherrillbooks.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, 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.)
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home / R. D. Sherrill
We all build as we go, as we grow as we go. R.D. Sherrill has written a realistic blog that proves—in charity and in the book business—that it all begins at home.This is excellent advice for writers at any stage of his/her career.As you read, note Sherrill’s success from Book 1 to Book 4, and the mental shift that made it all possible. Apply his thinking to your own book releases, and you’ve got a formula for upping your success.We all have somewhere to go, right? Might as well be up.Until next time, Happy Reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home
By R.D. Sherrill
It took several years and four books for the message to sink in: Before you are a world-wide bestseller, you’ve got to be a hometown bestseller.
Let me explain the growing pains it took to properly launch Murder U earlier this year.
Like many aspiring authors, I was full of hope when I completed my first novel. R.D. Sherrill had arrived! I expected the literary world to bow down to the next big thing. Red Dog Saloon was sure to be a bestseller in no time.
I contacted publishers and agents, all of whom I assumed would respond in short order, offering massive signing bonuses, and perhaps even a flashy Porsche in which I could drive to my book signings. Two years later and I’m still making payments on my own Hyundai. At least I’m getting good gas mileage to those signings.
The dream of immediate success is a pipe dream for a new author. While one in a million may hit a homerun the first time at bat, and a select few may eventually get called up to the majors, most will languish in the minor leagues for the rest of their lives. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it’s simple math; we can’t all win.
It’s not a lack of talent. Heck, some of the best authors I’ve met have never even published a word. They are intimidated before they even enter the business. There are thousands of writers out there trying to land the same contact. A talented author is simply drowned out by the white noise, and unless your query can catch the eye of an opened-minded agent who happens to be browsing the slush pile, then you’re out of luck.
This is not only true when it comes to the traditional publishing business, but also applies in the new age of independent publishing. More and more people are self-publishing, meaning the competition for readers is reaching heights it never has before. So what’s a writer to do?
It all starts at home.
Sometimes we writers get ahead of ourselves. Before you become a world-wide sensation, you need to capture the hometown audience. Your hometown is your launching pad to success; you can’t take it for granted. It took me four books to understand what my publicist, Ashley Wright, had been telling me since I released Red Dog Saloon.
My day job is a crime and courts reporter for my hometown newspaper. As such, I am pretty well-known around town. I figured that alone would cement the hometown success of my first book. So, I rushed things and put the book out with very little advance warning. I expected everyone I’d ever known to flock to the premiere of my book.
Let me tell you, it’s awkward when you’re sitting in an empty room at the local library with a stack of books and nobody walking through the door. I had six people come to my literary debut, two of whom were relatives.
While the debut fell flat, I did go on to sell hundreds of my first book, as word spread that my stuff was actually pretty good. However, the failed debut was so frustrating that I didn’t bother having launch parties for my next two books, Average Joe and Friday Night Frights. Both books I rushed to market, wanting to have something “new” out there. As you would guess, those two releases sold far less.
Then it came time for Murder U to be released. A debut party at the same local library was scheduled. Unlike before, I put time into promoting the release, even going to the extent of delivering personal invitations to folks who had bought my other books. It was during this advance PR work I found out many people in my hometown of about thirteen thousand had no idea I’d published two books since Red Dog Saloon. Wow.
Here I am, trying to become a world-wide phenomenon, and readers in my own hometown had no idea about my last two releases.
This time I barraged social media, hit all the radio stations the day of my book debut, and made sure that my friends at the paper gave me a color page to announce my new book. And, instead of making it just a book signing—I made it an event with refreshments, door prizes, and a Q&A session.
To say it was an unexpected success would be an understatement. I sold seven books before my billed start time even rolled around. For the first time in my life as an author, I experienced something I never had before—a line waiting for me to sign. I almost sold out in the first hour. And not just Murder U: my other books were selling, too.
I know this is nothing to an established author who has a huge name and hundreds of great reviews, but to a small-town writer like me, it’s something special. And through the launch party, I got several offers to make appearances, some of which were elsewhere in the state. Using connections I’ve made through local civic organizations, I’ve even had a couple of out-of-state invitations.
So my advice is this: Get your base right at home and everything will build upward from there. It sounds simple, but I suspect many of us overlook this obvious fundamental of the independent publishing world.
R.D. Sherrill is an award-winning journalist with the Southern Standard newspaper in McMinnville, Tenn., where he has served as crime and courts reporter and columnist for the past twenty-five years. His most recent novel, Murder U, debuted in mid-July. His works may be found at www.RDSherrillbooks.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, 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.)
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home / R. D. Sherrill
We all build as we go, as we grow as we go. R.D. Sherrill has written a realistic blog that proves—in charity and in the book business—that it all begins at home.This is excellent advice for writers at any stage of his/her career.As you read, note Sherrill’s success from Book 1 to Book 4, and the mental shift that made it all possible. Apply his thinking to your own book releases, and you’ve got a formula for upping your success.We all have somewhere to go, right? Might as well be up.Until next time, Happy Reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Savvy PR—It All Begins at Home
By R.D. Sherrill
It took several years and four books for the message to sink in: Before you are a world-wide bestseller, you’ve got to be a hometown bestseller.
Let me explain the growing pains it took to properly launch Murder U earlier this year.
Like many aspiring authors, I was full of hope when I completed my first novel. R.D. Sherrill had arrived! I expected the literary world to bow down to the next big thing. Red Dog Saloon was sure to be a bestseller in no time.
I contacted publishers and agents, all of whom I assumed would respond in short order, offering massive signing bonuses, and perhaps even a flashy Porsche in which I could drive to my book signings. Two years later and I’m still making payments on my own Hyundai. At least I’m getting good gas mileage to those signings.
The dream of immediate success is a pipe dream for a new author. While one in a million may hit a homerun the first time at bat, and a select few may eventually get called up to the majors, most will languish in the minor leagues for the rest of their lives. Sorry to be a buzzkill, but it’s simple math; we can’t all win.
It’s not a lack of talent. Heck, some of the best authors I’ve met have never even published a word. They are intimidated before they even enter the business. There are thousands of writers out there trying to land the same contact. A talented author is simply drowned out by the white noise, and unless your query can catch the eye of an opened-minded agent who happens to be browsing the slush pile, then you’re out of luck.
This is not only true when it comes to the traditional publishing business, but also applies in the new age of independent publishing. More and more people are self-publishing, meaning the competition for readers is reaching heights it never has before. So what’s a writer to do?
It all starts at home.
Sometimes we writers get ahead of ourselves. Before you become a world-wide sensation, you need to capture the hometown audience. Your hometown is your launching pad to success; you can’t take it for granted. It took me four books to understand what my publicist, Ashley Wright, had been telling me since I released Red Dog Saloon.
My day job is a crime and courts reporter for my hometown newspaper. As such, I am pretty well-known around town. I figured that alone would cement the hometown success of my first book. So, I rushed things and put the book out with very little advance warning. I expected everyone I’d ever known to flock to the premiere of my book.
Let me tell you, it’s awkward when you’re sitting in an empty room at the local library with a stack of books and nobody walking through the door. I had six people come to my literary debut, two of whom were relatives.
While the debut fell flat, I did go on to sell hundreds of my first book, as word spread that my stuff was actually pretty good. However, the failed debut was so frustrating that I didn’t bother having launch parties for my next two books, Average Joe and Friday Night Frights. Both books I rushed to market, wanting to have something “new” out there. As you would guess, those two releases sold far less.
Then it came time for Murder U to be released. A debut party at the same local library was scheduled. Unlike before, I put time into promoting the release, even going to the extent of delivering personal invitations to folks who had bought my other books. It was during this advance PR work I found out many people in my hometown of about thirteen thousand had no idea I’d published two books since Red Dog Saloon. Wow.
Here I am, trying to become a world-wide phenomenon, and readers in my own hometown had no idea about my last two releases.
This time I barraged social media, hit all the radio stations the day of my book debut, and made sure that my friends at the paper gave me a color page to announce my new book. And, instead of making it just a book signing—I made it an event with refreshments, door prizes, and a Q&A session.
To say it was an unexpected success would be an understatement. I sold seven books before my billed start time even rolled around. For the first time in my life as an author, I experienced something I never had before—a line waiting for me to sign. I almost sold out in the first hour. And not just Murder U: my other books were selling, too.
I know this is nothing to an established author who has a huge name and hundreds of great reviews, but to a small-town writer like me, it’s something special. And through the launch party, I got several offers to make appearances, some of which were elsewhere in the state. Using connections I’ve made through local civic organizations, I’ve even had a couple of out-of-state invitations.
So my advice is this: Get your base right at home and everything will build upward from there. It sounds simple, but I suspect many of us overlook this obvious fundamental of the independent publishing world.
R.D. Sherrill is an award-winning journalist with the Southern Standard newspaper in McMinnville, Tenn., where he has served as crime and courts reporter and columnist for the past twenty-five years. His most recent novel, Murder U, debuted in mid-July. His works may be found at www.RDSherrillbooks.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, 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.)
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.)
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right! / Neal Griffin
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard medical examiners and members of law enforcement say that solving crime in the real world is nothing like what we see on television. Cop shows make for great entertainment, but they also tend to become the sources of widespread misconceptions about police procedures. In this week’s Killer Nashville guest blog, Neal Griffin gives us a working cop’s point-of-view on the most famously misrepresented law enforcement obligation: reading the Miranda rights.
Read like they are burning books!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right!
By Neal Griffin
Great crime fiction weaves an intricate plot, driven by hard-hitting, gritty characters. Cops and crooks who know how to act and how to talk are central to a dramatic tale.
But how important is it for the writer to get the procedural details correct? Is it necessary to properly describe how a cop stands in a stranger’s house? Or to understand why crooks dig through the trash for receipts of small but expensive items? If the reader is none the wiser, maybe details like these aren’t so critical. But if you want your story to ring true, or you’re just looking to avoid a nasty email from someone who loves nothing more than finding flaws and going public, read on.
Perhaps no single police procedure is more misunderstood than a Miranda warning. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of smirking crooks in the back of my car, who let me know that my failure to advise them of their rights will be my undoing. “You screwed up, cop,” they tell me. “Everybody knows you gotta read me my rights.” Even the most inebriated drunk can recite the opening lines, though perhaps a bit slurred, and accented with a few timely belches: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will…”
Silly crooks.
A cop with just a few months of street experience is pretty savvy when it comes to avoiding Miranda. Don’t get me wrong. The law is the law; you read ’em when you have to. But most cops tend to avoid reminding someone they just arrested that it might be a good idea for them to keep their mouth shut. Working around Miranda is pretty basic in the real world, so good crime fiction should reflect that.
The rule of thumb is this: custody + interrogation = Miranda. If either is missing, no Miranda warning is necessary. So while a Hollywood cop who reads Miranda as they’re putting on the cuffs might create a good scene for television, it would be more realistic to portray a cop who works around the Miranda warning, by not creating a “custodial interrogation”.
The issue of interrogation is pretty straightforward: if an officer initiates any questioning that can illicit incriminating information, it will qualify. The issue of custody can be tricky, because it’s largely subjective. If you create a scene where a half-dozen armed and uniformed cops are standing over a guy who tried to rip off a jewelry store, he’s in custody from a legal standpoint. The subjective point being, he might not be handcuffed or under arrest, but he probably doesn’t exactly feel free to get up and leave.
The savvy cop, created by the educated crime fiction writer, would take that suspect off to the side, and put them at ease. Instead of immediately pulling out the cuffs, the officer might break the ice with personal introductions and a short conversation about the weather. Then, in a relaxed and genteel manner, he might say something like, “So tell me, what happened before we got here? The storeowner says you tried to rip him off. Is that true?”
Now, the crook probably isn’t going to tell the truth—they generally struggle with that—but you can bet he’ll say something. Or, in cop jargon, he’ll “lock himself into a story”, which sometimes is as good as a confession. But at the minimum, the conversation is underway without a pesky Miranda warning.
Save your Miranda warnings for interrogations in places like station houses with locked doors and holding cells with bars over the windows. Otherwise, write it right and let your cops do their jobs like they would in the real world.
Neal Griffin’s debut crime novel, Benefit of the Doubt, was released by Forge Books on May 12 and went immediately to No. 8 on the L.A. Times bestseller list. Praised for his gritty and authentic voice, Griffin remains a working cop in Southern California. His next book, A Voice From the Field, is scheduled for release by Forge in the spring of 2016, and will once again feature the police characters of Ben Sawyer and Tia Suarez. In the words of bestselling author Andrew Gross, “Griffin is the new kid in town, and he is here to stay.” Neal can be reached at neal@nealgriffin.com and is happy to answer questions on police procedures, but he’s of little use when it comes to beating a traffic ticket.
(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.)
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right! / Neal Griffin
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard medical examiners and members of law enforcement say that solving crime in the real world is nothing like what we see on television. Cop shows make for great entertainment, but they also tend to become the sources of widespread misconceptions about police procedures. In this week’s Killer Nashville guest blog, Neal Griffin gives us a working cop’s point-of-view on the most famously misrepresented law enforcement obligation: reading the Miranda rights.Read like they are burning books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right!
By Neal Griffin
Great crime fiction weaves an intricate plot, driven by hard-hitting, gritty characters. Cops and crooks who know how to act and how to talk are central to a dramatic tale.
But how important is it for the writer to get the procedural details correct? Is it necessary to properly describe how a cop stands in a stranger’s house? Or to understand why crooks dig through the trash for receipts of small but expensive items? If the reader is none the wiser, maybe details like these aren’t so critical. But if you want your story to ring true, or you’re just looking to avoid a nasty email from someone who loves nothing more than finding flaws and going public, read on.
Perhaps no single police procedure is more misunderstood than a Miranda warning. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of smirking crooks in the back of my car, who let me know that my failure to advise them of their rights will be my undoing. “You screwed up, cop,” they tell me. “Everybody knows you gotta read me my rights.” Even the most inebriated drunk can recite the opening lines, though perhaps a bit slurred, and accented with a few timely belches: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will…”
Silly crooks.
A cop with just a few months of street experience is pretty savvy when it comes to avoiding Miranda. Don’t get me wrong. The law is the law; you read ’em when you have to. But most cops tend to avoid reminding someone they just arrested that it might be a good idea for them to keep their mouth shut. Working around Miranda is pretty basic in the real world, so good crime fiction should reflect that.
The rule of thumb is this: custody + interrogation = Miranda. If either is missing, no Miranda warning is necessary. So while a Hollywood cop who reads Miranda as they’re putting on the cuffs might create a good scene for television, it would be more realistic to portray a cop who works around the Miranda warning, by not creating a “custodial interrogation”.
The issue of interrogation is pretty straightforward: if an officer initiates any questioning that can illicit incriminating information, it will qualify. The issue of custody can be tricky, because it’s largely subjective. If you create a scene where a half-dozen armed and uniformed cops are standing over a guy who tried to rip off a jewelry store, he’s in custody from a legal standpoint. The subjective point being, he might not be handcuffed or under arrest, but he probably doesn’t exactly feel free to get up and leave.
The savvy cop, created by the educated crime fiction writer, would take that suspect off to the side, and put them at ease. Instead of immediately pulling out the cuffs, the officer might break the ice with personal introductions and a short conversation about the weather. Then, in a relaxed and genteel manner, he might say something like, “So tell me, what happened before we got here? The storeowner says you tried to rip him off. Is that true?”
Now, the crook probably isn’t going to tell the truth—they generally struggle with that—but you can bet he’ll say something. Or, in cop jargon, he’ll “lock himself into a story”, which sometimes is as good as a confession. But at the minimum, the conversation is underway without a pesky Miranda warning.
Save your Miranda warnings for interrogations in places like station houses with locked doors and holding cells with bars over the windows. Otherwise, write it right and let your cops do their jobs like they would in the real world.
Neal Griffin’s debut crime novel, Benefit of the Doubt, was released by Forge Books on May 12 and went immediately to No. 8 on the L.A. Times bestseller list. Praised for his gritty and authentic voice, Griffin remains a working cop in Southern California. His next book, A Voice From the Field, is scheduled for release by Forge in the spring of 2016, and will once again feature the police characters of Ben Sawyer and Tia Suarez. In the words of bestselling author Andrew Gross, “Griffin is the new kid in town, and he is here to stay.” Neal can be reached at neal@nealgriffin.com and is happy to answer questions on police procedures, but he’s of little use when it comes to beating a traffic ticket.
(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.)
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right! / Neal Griffin
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard medical examiners and members of law enforcement say that solving crime in the real world is nothing like what we see on television. Cop shows make for great entertainment, but they also tend to become the sources of widespread misconceptions about police procedures. In this week’s Killer Nashville guest blog, Neal Griffin gives us a working cop’s point-of-view on the most famously misrepresented law enforcement obligation: reading the Miranda rights.Read like they are burning books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Reading Them Their Rights? Get It Right!
By Neal Griffin
Great crime fiction weaves an intricate plot, driven by hard-hitting, gritty characters. Cops and crooks who know how to act and how to talk are central to a dramatic tale.
But how important is it for the writer to get the procedural details correct? Is it necessary to properly describe how a cop stands in a stranger’s house? Or to understand why crooks dig through the trash for receipts of small but expensive items? If the reader is none the wiser, maybe details like these aren’t so critical. But if you want your story to ring true, or you’re just looking to avoid a nasty email from someone who loves nothing more than finding flaws and going public, read on.
Perhaps no single police procedure is more misunderstood than a Miranda warning. Over the years, I’ve had plenty of smirking crooks in the back of my car, who let me know that my failure to advise them of their rights will be my undoing. “You screwed up, cop,” they tell me. “Everybody knows you gotta read me my rights.” Even the most inebriated drunk can recite the opening lines, though perhaps a bit slurred, and accented with a few timely belches: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will…”
Silly crooks.
A cop with just a few months of street experience is pretty savvy when it comes to avoiding Miranda. Don’t get me wrong. The law is the law; you read ’em when you have to. But most cops tend to avoid reminding someone they just arrested that it might be a good idea for them to keep their mouth shut. Working around Miranda is pretty basic in the real world, so good crime fiction should reflect that.
The rule of thumb is this: custody + interrogation = Miranda. If either is missing, no Miranda warning is necessary. So while a Hollywood cop who reads Miranda as they’re putting on the cuffs might create a good scene for television, it would be more realistic to portray a cop who works around the Miranda warning, by not creating a “custodial interrogation”.
The issue of interrogation is pretty straightforward: if an officer initiates any questioning that can illicit incriminating information, it will qualify. The issue of custody can be tricky, because it’s largely subjective. If you create a scene where a half-dozen armed and uniformed cops are standing over a guy who tried to rip off a jewelry store, he’s in custody from a legal standpoint. The subjective point being, he might not be handcuffed or under arrest, but he probably doesn’t exactly feel free to get up and leave.
The savvy cop, created by the educated crime fiction writer, would take that suspect off to the side, and put them at ease. Instead of immediately pulling out the cuffs, the officer might break the ice with personal introductions and a short conversation about the weather. Then, in a relaxed and genteel manner, he might say something like, “So tell me, what happened before we got here? The storeowner says you tried to rip him off. Is that true?”
Now, the crook probably isn’t going to tell the truth—they generally struggle with that—but you can bet he’ll say something. Or, in cop jargon, he’ll “lock himself into a story”, which sometimes is as good as a confession. But at the minimum, the conversation is underway without a pesky Miranda warning.
Save your Miranda warnings for interrogations in places like station houses with locked doors and holding cells with bars over the windows. Otherwise, write it right and let your cops do their jobs like they would in the real world.
Neal Griffin’s debut crime novel, Benefit of the Doubt, was released by Forge Books on May 12 and went immediately to No. 8 on the L.A. Times bestseller list. Praised for his gritty and authentic voice, Griffin remains a working cop in Southern California. His next book, A Voice From the Field, is scheduled for release by Forge in the spring of 2016, and will once again feature the police characters of Ben Sawyer and Tia Suarez. In the words of bestselling author Andrew Gross, “Griffin is the new kid in town, and he is here to stay.” Neal can be reached at neal@nealgriffin.com and is happy to answer questions on police procedures, but he’s of little use when it comes to beating a traffic ticket.
(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 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.)
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
Killer Nashville’s very own Maria Giordano sat down to interview Guest of Honor and best-selling author, M. William Phelps, this week. They discuss the upcoming Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference where Phelps will be speaking on true crime writing, the most recent and early books written by Phelps, and Phelps’ own writing process, and how he remains open to opportunity to write another day.
Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
By Maria Giordano
Award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 30 books, winner of the 2013 Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award, and now a Guest of Honor at the 2015 Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference October 29-November 1.
Also a crime, murder, and serial killer expert, in addition to creator, producer, writer, and former host of the Investigation Discovery series Dark Minds, Phelps will meet with Killer Nashville Founder Clay Stafford for an interview, and will be recognized during the four-day conference and its culminating Guest of Honor & Awards Dinner October 31 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
Phelps will be honored alongside authors John Gilstrap and Robert K. Tanenbaum, who are also 2015 Killer Nashville Guests of Honor. The trio of authors join past honored alums such as Peter Straub, Anne Perry, and Jeffery Deaver.
“Just being part of the true crime world, I stay on top of most of the conferences/conventions. And my editor, Michaela Hamilton, has always praised Killer Nashville as one of the top genre conventions of the year,” Phelps said in an interview about the Killer Nashville conference. “Conventions hold a particular place in my heart. Early on, attending a conference changed my focus.”
Phelps will be a featured presenter during a conference breakout session, where he will share how he started down the true crime writing path.
“As I began to work on my first book, Perfect Poison, which is about a female serial killer, it felt as though I had found my place,” he said. “I was comfortable investigating and writing about the subject. I’m a guy from the streets. I grew up hard. I was actually writing about music when I discovered true crime.”
Phelps’ latest true crime novel, To Love and To Kill, will be released by Pinnacle in September. It follows the missing-persons case of Heather Strong, a young, beautiful suburban mother, whose case baffled Florida detectives. The trail leads a veteran investigator to a sordid triangle of relationships further blighted by jealousy and rage.
He is also a regularly recurring expert on two long-running cable series, Deadly Women and Snapped. Radio America calls Phelps “the nation’s leading authority on the mind of the female murderer,” and TV Rage says, “M. William Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the mind of a killer.”
Phelps doesn’t consider his cable television work a transition; rather, a path for which he made himself available.
“A major part of my career path was listening to the writing gods and knowing where I belonged,” he said. “Passion plays a central role in this. You must be passionate about what you’re doing. I’ve written 31 nonfiction books now…and every morning I still get up at 4:30 a.m. with the same energy and excitement to write another day. I pinch myself. I’m a very grateful guy. The television part comes with being ready and willing to always move forward when opportunity arises. Television is a bonus. The real work is the investigating and the writing about my findings, giving victims of crime their rightful place.”
A respected journalist, Phelps has written for numerous publications, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine, and Hartford Courant and consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter.
Phelps grew up in East Hartford, CT, and later moved to Vernon, CT. He now lives in a reclusive Connecticut farming community north of Hartford.
(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.)
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
Killer Nashville's very own Maria Giordano sat down to interview Guest of Honor and best-selling author, M. William Phelps, this week. They discuss the upcoming Killer Nashville Writers' Conference where Phelps will be speaking on true crime writing, the most recent and early books written by Phelps, and Phelps' own writing process, and how he remains open to opportunity to write another day.Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
By Maria Giordano
Award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 30 books, winner of the 2013 Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award, and now a Guest of Honor at the 2015 Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference October 29-November 1.
Also a crime, murder, and serial killer expert, in addition to creator, producer, writer, and former host of the Investigation Discovery series Dark Minds, Phelps will meet with Killer Nashville Founder Clay Stafford for an interview, and will be recognized during the four-day conference and its culminating Guest of Honor & Awards Dinner October 31 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
Phelps will be honored alongside authors John Gilstrap and Robert K. Tanenbaum, who are also 2015 Killer Nashville Guests of Honor. The trio of authors join past honored alums such as Peter Straub, Anne Perry, and Jeffery Deaver.
“Just being part of the true crime world, I stay on top of most of the conferences/conventions. And my editor, Michaela Hamilton, has always praised Killer Nashville as one of the top genre conventions of the year,” Phelps said in an interview about the Killer Nashville conference. “Conventions hold a particular place in my heart. Early on, attending a conference changed my focus.”
Phelps will be a featured presenter during a conference breakout session, where he will share how he started down the true crime writing path.
“As I began to work on my first book, Perfect Poison, which is about a female serial killer, it felt as though I had found my place,” he said. “I was comfortable investigating and writing about the subject. I’m a guy from the streets. I grew up hard. I was actually writing about music when I discovered true crime.”
He is also a regularly recurring expert on two long-running cable series, Deadly Women and Snapped. Radio America calls Phelps “the nation’s leading authority on the mind of the female murderer,” and TV Rage says, “M. William Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the mind of a killer.”
Phelps doesn’t consider his cable television work a transition; rather, a path for which he made himself available.
“A major part of my career path was listening to the writing gods and knowing where I belonged,” he said. “Passion plays a central role in this. You must be passionate about what you’re doing. I’ve written 31 nonfiction books now…and every morning I still get up at 4:30 a.m. with the same energy and excitement to write another day. I pinch myself. I’m a very grateful guy. The television part comes with being ready and willing to always move forward when opportunity arises. Television is a bonus. The real work is the investigating and the writing about my findings, giving victims of crime their rightful place.”
A respected journalist, Phelps has written for numerous publications, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine, and Hartford Courant and consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter.
Phelps grew up in East Hartford, CT, and later moved to Vernon, CT. He now lives in a reclusive Connecticut farming community north of Hartford.
Register for Killer Nashville 2015 here.
(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.)
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
Killer Nashville's very own Maria Giordano sat down to interview Guest of Honor and best-selling author, M. William Phelps, this week. They discuss the upcoming Killer Nashville Writers' Conference where Phelps will be speaking on true crime writing, the most recent and early books written by Phelps, and Phelps' own writing process, and how he remains open to opportunity to write another day.Happy Reading! And until next time, read like someone is burning the books!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Killer Nashville Guest of Honor M. William Phelps Remains Open to Opportunity
By Maria Giordano
Award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 30 books, winner of the 2013 Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award, and now a Guest of Honor at the 2015 Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference October 29-November 1.
Also a crime, murder, and serial killer expert, in addition to creator, producer, writer, and former host of the Investigation Discovery series Dark Minds, Phelps will meet with Killer Nashville Founder Clay Stafford for an interview, and will be recognized during the four-day conference and its culminating Guest of Honor & Awards Dinner October 31 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
Phelps will be honored alongside authors John Gilstrap and Robert K. Tanenbaum, who are also 2015 Killer Nashville Guests of Honor. The trio of authors join past honored alums such as Peter Straub, Anne Perry, and Jeffery Deaver.
“Just being part of the true crime world, I stay on top of most of the conferences/conventions. And my editor, Michaela Hamilton, has always praised Killer Nashville as one of the top genre conventions of the year,” Phelps said in an interview about the Killer Nashville conference. “Conventions hold a particular place in my heart. Early on, attending a conference changed my focus.”
Phelps will be a featured presenter during a conference breakout session, where he will share how he started down the true crime writing path.
“As I began to work on my first book, Perfect Poison, which is about a female serial killer, it felt as though I had found my place,” he said. “I was comfortable investigating and writing about the subject. I’m a guy from the streets. I grew up hard. I was actually writing about music when I discovered true crime.”
He is also a regularly recurring expert on two long-running cable series, Deadly Women and Snapped. Radio America calls Phelps “the nation’s leading authority on the mind of the female murderer,” and TV Rage says, “M. William Phelps dares to tread where few others will: into the mind of a killer.”
Phelps doesn’t consider his cable television work a transition; rather, a path for which he made himself available.
“A major part of my career path was listening to the writing gods and knowing where I belonged,” he said. “Passion plays a central role in this. You must be passionate about what you’re doing. I’ve written 31 nonfiction books now…and every morning I still get up at 4:30 a.m. with the same energy and excitement to write another day. I pinch myself. I’m a very grateful guy. The television part comes with being ready and willing to always move forward when opportunity arises. Television is a bonus. The real work is the investigating and the writing about my findings, giving victims of crime their rightful place.”
A respected journalist, Phelps has written for numerous publications, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine, and Hartford Courant and consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series Dexter.
Phelps grew up in East Hartford, CT, and later moved to Vernon, CT. He now lives in a reclusive Connecticut farming community north of Hartford.
Register for Killer Nashville 2015 here.
(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.)
The Shadow Knows / Marielena Zuniga
I have always been fascinated with the Chinese philosophy of the Yin and Yang, which is rooted in the idea of contraries. For example, with light, there is darkness, which are complete opposites. But rather than being opposing forces, they are actually intertwined. You can’t have one without the other. Killer Nashville guest blogger Marielena Zuniga touches on a similar concept: the shadow side, or that part of you that is your complete opposite. Awareness of this darker side can be illuminating and a touchstone for writing.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
The Shadow Knows
By Marielena Zuniga
Ever write a book you never intended? I did. Let me explain.
By nature, I'm a quiet, introspective, spiritual person. So naturally I thought my first novel would be much like my persona, the face I put out to the world. I would write in the style of Sue Monk Kidd, who is one of my favorite authors.
Who did I get instead? Sassy, in-your-face Loreen, a convict who has a history of making bad choices. Her worst choice is escaping from a Texas prison by stealing the tour bus of a famous country music singer so she can get home to her dying mama in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. Welcome to Loreen on the Lam: A Tennessee Mystery.
Welcome to the shadow side of writing. It’s a side you’ll want to befriend because, as some psychologists will tell you, it’s the seat of creativity.
What's the shadow? According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, the shadow side is the unknown “dark side” of our personality. It consists of the primitive or negative aspects of ourselves that are hidden, or that we want to repress or suppress, and can include such emotions as lust, power, selfishness, greed, envy, anger and more.
In books — as in real life — villains are often driven by their shadow sides. But good characters have them as well. Take my heroine, Loreen, who basically has a good heart, but has had a hard life. Growing up poor in Red Boiling Springs, she's never known her father and starts getting into trouble around age 14.
Loreen is a master at repressing “deep thoughts” or any kind of awareness. She has one such insight about her shadow side when she realizes she has been verbally abusing Tilly Davis, one of her unwanted passengers, a woman who has been battered by her husband.
“Then Loreen had another insight. She was abusing Tilly just as men had done. Dang. She didn’t want to do that. These awarenesses were coming too fast and she wanted them to go away.”
During her journey, however, Loreen starts to get in touch with her shadow side. She becomes aware of her selfishness, the bad choices she’s made, and her desire to escape life and responsibility. And, she begins to have “aha moments”.
While I might be prone to selfishness or any other dark part of myself, this doesn’t mean I – or anyone – acts on those traits. It doesn’t make us “bad” people. But when we can acknowledge them, we become more integrated and whole.
Is it terrifying as a writer to examine our dark side? You bet. But when we get to know our own shadow and, as a result, channel it through our characters’ innermost feelings and thoughts, that’s where the magic happens. If Stephen King had hidden from his shadow, The Shining would never have been written, and the same can be said for many other novels, from The Exorcist to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Loreen on the Lam: A Tennessee Mystery does not fall into the horror genre, nor is it necessary to go there to tackle a character’s hidden side. You can channel your own shadow into your characters with a few caveats:
The writer’s shadow should inform the story, but never take it over. This isn’t therapy in writing, nor is it a self-serving shadow rant. It’s about drawing from that “hidden” and creative reservoir within you that will give your characters depth and texture.
Along those lines, don’t be gratuitous with your shadow. Shadow material that’s violent or psychotic for its own sake is boring and self-indulgent. This is dishonest writing and serves no one.
Good characters have shadow sides and your characters’ shadows should repel them as much as yours do you. Readers need to see what your characters want to hide – and then how your characters come to peace with those hidden aspects of themselves, or not.
When I started writing Loreen on the Lam, I had no idea where she would take me. What I wasn’t expecting was a character who surprised me with those parts of myself I often keep hidden. So don’t be afraid to go digging into that shadow side of yourself and your writing. It knows.
Marielena Zuniga is an award-winning journalist and creative writer of more than 35 years. She holds a M.S. in counseling psychology.
(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/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.)
The Shadow Knows / Marielena Zuniga
I have always been fascinated with the Chinese philosophy of the Yin and Yang, which is rooted in the idea of contraries. For example, with light, there is darkness, which are complete opposites. But rather than being opposing forces, they are actually intertwined. You can’t have one without the other. Killer Nashville guest blogger Marielena Zuniga touches on a similar concept: the shadow side, or that part of you that is your complete opposite. Awareness of this darker side can be illuminating and a touchstone for writing. Happy reading! Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
The Shadow Knows
By Marielena Zuniga
Ever write a book you never intended? I did. Let me explain.
By nature, I'm a quiet, introspective, spiritual person. So naturally I thought my first novel would be much like my persona, the face I put out to the world. I would write in the style of Sue Monk Kidd, who is one of my favorite authors.
Who did I get instead? Sassy, in-your-face Loreen, a convict who has a history of making bad choices. Her worst choice is escaping from a Texas prison by stealing the tour bus of a famous country music singer so she can get home to her dying mama in Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee. Welcome to Loreen on the Lam: A Tennessee Mystery
Welcome to the shadow side of writing. It’s a side you’ll want to befriend because, as some psychologists will tell you, it’s the seat of creativity.
What's the shadow? According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, the shadow side is the unknown “dark side” of our personality. It consists of the primitive or negative aspects of ourselves that are hidden, or that we want to repress or suppress, and can include such emotions as lust, power, selfishness, greed, envy, anger and more.
In books — as in real life — villains are often driven by their shadow sides. But good characters have them as well. Take my heroine, Loreen, who basically has a good heart, but has had a hard life. Growing up poor in Red Boiling Springs, she's never known her father and starts getting into trouble around age 14.
Loreen is a master at repressing “deep thoughts” or any kind of awareness. She has one such insight about her shadow side when she realizes she has been verbally abusing Tilly Davis, one of her unwanted passengers, a woman who has been battered by her husband.
“Then Loreen had another insight. She was abusing Tilly just as men had done. Dang. She didn’t want to do that. These awarenesses were coming too fast and she wanted them to go away.”
During her journey, however, Loreen starts to get in touch with her shadow side. She becomes aware of her selfishness, the bad choices she’s made, and her desire to escape life and responsibility. And, she begins to have “aha moments”.
While I might be prone to selfishness or any other dark part of myself, this doesn’t mean I – or anyone – acts on those traits. It doesn’t make us “bad” people. But when we can acknowledge them, we become more integrated and whole.
Is it terrifying as a writer to examine our dark side? You bet. But when we get to know our own shadow and, as a result, channel it through our characters’ innermost feelings and thoughts, that’s where the magic happens. If Stephen King had hidden from his shadow, The Shining would never have been written, and the same can be said for many other novels, from The Exorcist to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Loreen on the Lam: A Tennessee Mystery does not fall into the horror genre, nor is it necessary to go there to tackle a character’s hidden side. You can channel your own shadow into your characters with a few caveats:
- The writer’s shadow should inform the story, but never take it over. This isn’t therapy in writing, nor is it a self-serving shadow rant. It’s about drawing from that “hidden” and creative reservoir within you that will give your characters depth and texture.
- Along those lines, don’t be gratuitous with your shadow. Shadow material that’s violent or psychotic for its own sake is boring and self-indulgent. This is dishonest writing and serves no one.
Good characters have shadow sides and your characters’ shadows should repel them as much as yours do you. Readers need to see what your characters want to hide – and then how your characters come to peace with those hidden aspects of themselves, or not.
When I started writing Loreen on the Lam, I had no idea where she would take me. What I wasn’t expecting was a character who surprised me with those parts of myself I often keep hidden. So don’t be afraid to go digging into that shadow side of yourself and your writing. It knows.
Marielena Zuniga is an award-winning journalist and creative writer of more than 35 years. She holds a M.S. in counseling psychology.
(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/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.)
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