Welcome to winter #amfreezing #amwriting

So we had a record warmest December this season, and warmest Christmas Day ever, complete with rain. Now here we are, a couple weeks into the new year, and it’s back to January reality in MN, with high temps around zero: a few days around -6 for a high, and a few days in the single digits above zero. Thought we were going to be hit with the snowstorm that passed through, but we didn’t get it. We’re not escaping the bitter cold and wind chills, though. Wind chill advisory through Tuesday. Four days of double-digit below zero wind chill.

Ahhh, feels like winter in MN. Finally. Not that I particularly like winter, but all that mild 30s, 40s, and 50 temps just didn’t feel like December in MN. I mean, we do have a reputation. Even so, we don’t get as many of those COLD days now as I remember when I was a kid. Part of me kinda misses it.

The holidays are over now, and it’s time to get my butt in gear. I’ve got a short story to finish drafting, and a short story to revise, along with my other projects. Also on the docket: revamp my website, schedule my personal writing retreat(s), and clean my house. Wait. *checks to do list* Yep, that’s on there, since hubs has decided we really are going to host Easter this year. And even though Easter isn’t until the end of March, I’d better start now.

One of my short stories is part of a collaboration between myself and the 4 fellow authors of our Midwest Mystery Works group. The group formed as a way to market and promote our work, pooling our resources to help us all with the dreaded marketing chores we all love to hate. Anyway, our group sponsors/runs a monthly MN mystery night that spotlights local (MN) authors. It’s been a big hit.

Our current project is a cool collaboration where each of us write a short story featuring our main characters from our books, and then a longer story that reveals whodunit and how our heroes get the bad guy. So far, it’s coming along well.

One thing I realized as we’ve been working on the story arc that carries through all the stories is that I’ve learned a lot about story structure over the years. There is a structure to a story that is deliberate, and that is what’s been driving our project. One of our members came up with the initial “draft” of the story arc, and we’ve all contributed, but as we’ve refined the story arc, we look at all those things that make a good story–a good mystery, and a good thriller.

Who are the characters? What do they want/why do they want it? What’s stopping them? Are the stakes high enough? What happens if they don’t get it? Why this character? If something happens to him or her, does it raise the stakes enough? How can we raise the stakes more? We’ve made character adjustments to support this. And pacing. Pacing is a huge part of this project, because each of the 5 short stories needs to slowly increase the tension, the suspense, and the stakes, and the longer finale story will be the thrill ride at the end.

How can our individual characters contribute to the story arc and help ratchet things up? How much do we reveal of the master story arc and when? It’s been fun collaborating because we all know how to build a good story, we know what needs to be part of it, and we know how to do those things that will have a reader start at the first story and want to keep reading because each story will reveal a little more of the mystery, will answer questions and ask a few more.

The idea is to give readers a taste of each author’s characters that will encourage them to read our books and take more adventures with our characters. It’s an experiment, and a gamble (what book isn’t a gamble?), but we can all see how it’d be a great introduction to each of our books.

I’d better get back to it. Stay warm and keep writing!

PS: For those who are interested, Zoey has finally decided the kittens are tolerable. Not friends, but tolerable. I suspect it has a lot to do with it being too cold to go outside. She doesn’t have much choice 🙂

Back when they both fit on my lap

Eureka! (Book 2 edition) #amrevising

I’ve been working on the section of book 2 that’s still on the revision list (yes, this is the 4th “revise and resubmit” task from my agent). The pacing needs work. Thing is, there’s info in those scenes that is important to the mystery.

So how do I improve the pacing without cutting more stuff? Because I’ve already got it down to the bare necessities for the story.

Okay, I did cut more stuff, but stuff that was details that could be glossed over without affecting the story very much.

So I did what I usually do–take a walk. I hope no one watches me while I’m walking because I talk things out. The movement helps me think, and we got some much-needed rain this week, so I wasn’t in danger of getting “dusted out” by the neighbors and their grain trucks bringing the harvest in.

And as I’m talking out options for adjusting the pacing, I had a revelation. The scenes involve pictures of suspicious and not so suspicious activity conducted by some of the characters. The photos give some background without spelling things out or long drawn-out chunks of characters talking as an info dump.

I realized the order of the photo reveals was wrong. The photo reveals need to increment–step up the reader’s suspicion as each picture is described, from fairly innocent to “now that’s suspicious–what’s going on there?”

All the elements are there, but by shuffling the order a bit, it leads to a natural increase in suspicion and reader reactions like (I hope): that doesn’t seem suspicious, oh wait what’s going on there, okay that could be something, oooh that’s definitely something, whoa there’s something that could be really big.

When I got back to my manuscript, I saw how I screwed up the order–even through all those revisions. It was one of those realizations that you look at and think: duh, what the hell was I doing? That’s not the way to do it.

I blame my Muse for slacking *looks around for Muse, sighs with relief at his current absence*

Which reminds me just how much I’ve learned over the past however many years about writing. When I started writing, it’d been after many years of reading (if you can say that when you’re in 5th grade). At some point, I think, as a insatiable reader, you pick up a lot of things about storytelling that you don’t realize. Kinda like being able to tell when a sentence doesn’t sound right because some rule of grammar was violated (you know, like subject-verb agreement) without actually knowing the specific rule.

When I started taking writing classes, I learned why stories unfold the way they do, and why that way is effective in keeping the reader engaged. And especially with mysteries, there’s a definite method to the madness.

All I have to do is remember that 🙂

I’m sooo looking forward to my upcoming writing retreat! Two weeks and counting. Still not entirely sure what I’ll work on, but it’ll be something 🙂 And I still have to finish my R&R on book 2 before my retreat (I know, I said the end of the month, but this month only has 30 days, so …) Oh crap. I have homework I need to do this weekend. Ugh.

Anyway, we’re finally getting some rain (we could have used it months ago), and a few days of humid July weather to kick off October in MN–sigh. Nothing like climate change to screw up a nice traditionally cooler fall.

Happy Writing!

Daisy nap

Getting ready for the ‘con (Bouchercon, that is)

OMG! I cannot believe Bouchercon is in less than a week! Wasn’t it just the Fourth of July? Geez.

On the one hand, I kinda dread it, because downtown Minneapolis, traffic, lots of people (waaay more than at Left Coast Crime (LCC) this spring). On the other hand, I can’t wait because I’ll get to see a lot of the authors I met at LCC, and bonus: my writing teacher will be there! Yes, I did just see her at the reunion, but it’ll be fun to see her at B’con.

A lot of our Sisters in Crime (SinC) chapter members (Twin Cities chapter) will be there. It’ll be the first time I’ve seen some of them since, well, you know, the whole pandemic thing. We are intending to start meeting in person again, but for me, as chapter president, I live over an hour away from our meeting place. They changed their procedures for groups gathering, so for me to take a day to drive all the way there to go over the new stuff for 15 minutes, then drive all the way back home is not the best use of my time or gas. I need to check to see if someone can be there when I’m in the area. I have a couple author events in the Cities (where our meeting place is) in October, so maybe I can work something out then.

It’ll be a good time. I’ll be busy with some volunteer stuff, and a panel, and if I’m lucky (unlucky?) I’ll get to moderate other panels–I’ll be a “floating” moderator just in case.

So why spend four days with almost a thousand people at a convention? Networking is a primary reason. Need an author to write a blurb for you? Because of LCC and SinC, I know a lot of authors who I could ask to write blurbs for me; in fact, I already have one for Book 2, whom I met at LCC. And an author you ask for a blurb is probably a little more likely to give you one if they know you. And even better if they just had some success with their latest book.

In some ways, conventions like this are reunions. I looked through the list of registered attendees, and I lost count of the number of names I remember from LCC. And, I suspect, I’ll get to see a lot of them again next spring at LCC in Tucson. I’m looking forward to seeing those authors I met at LCC. Great people!

This is my first Bouchercon (sounds like “couch-er-con”), only because it’s in Minneapolis. Not sure how many others I’ll hit, at least in the near future. I don’t have to pay airfare for this one, so I don’t have to come in a day early, or get transport from the airport to the hotel and back. I’ll see what it’s like; almost a thousand attendees is probably close to twice as many people as at LCC.

Anyway, don’t be surprised if I miss a post next week. I’ll be at B’con, and may just wait to post until I get back home. We’ll see.

To those in the US, have a wonderful holiday weekend! Labor Day signals the end of summer fun, or at least the summer travel season. Oh, and the start of the school year.

Happy Writing!

Juniper after playing hard

Introvert much? #amwriting #amrevising

Summer Solstice this week!

So as I’m trying to figure out what to write for this post, I keep thinking about the writerly part of my life. Writing and revising, sure, but there is a lot more to “being” a writer.

I think most writers are introverts. We’re so much more comfortable huddling at home with our notebooks, pens, and computers than we are at in-person events like book fairs, writing conferences, and writer/reader conventions.

Okay, that last one comes from knowing that Bouchercon, THE mystery writers/readers convention, is being held in Minneapolis this year. This convention is to all flavors of the mystery genre as Comi-con is to comic books, sci-fi, and superhero stuff. Well, we don’t dress up as our favorite characters … of course, our favorite characters aren’t blue, or wear robes with light swords, or have pointy ears, and we usually don’t debate which Spiderman or Batman actor was the best.

As writers, the craft is our focus. One thing writer conventions have is the opportunity to expand our knowledge of the craft. Is it enough for introverted writers to venture out and gather with hundreds of other writers? Eh, maybe. But hundreds?? The thought alone is enough to keep an introvert at home where it’s nice and quiet.

If we’re serious about getting that elusive book deal or pulling the trigger on self-publication, we know the whole introvert-stay-at-home-away-from-people thing isn’t going to cut it. Not only do we have to sell our books somehow, but one thing that can help on the book-selling front is a blurb from an author who is better-known than you are.

And that’s one of the things that should inspire writers to get out and meet other writers. It’s actually the most fun part of conventions, if you ask me. Talking to other writers–what’s more fun for a writer than talking about writing with someone who enjoys it as much as you do? Yes, being a member of a writers’ group like Sisters in Crime or Mystery Writers of America is good for access to other writers in the same genre, but meeting them in person?

Granted, you probably won’t be meeting James Patterson or Michael Connelly or Lee Child, but you could meet Brian Freeman or William Kent Kreuger. Or Kellye Garrett. Or Rachel Howzell Hall. Kellye, by the way, is an amazing people person. And Kent is one of the nicest people.

Yes, I know William Kent Kreuger. Check out his Cork O’Connor series.

I can hear you say it: Sure, but all those people! I can’t do crowds like that!

Neither can the rest of us. But for four days we can hang out and meet people. Why? It’s called “networking”. When my book 2 is ready (soon 🙂 ), I can ask authors I know personally for a blurb. Doesn’t mean they’ll give me one, but knowing them personally gives me an advantage over someone they’ve never met.

Blurbs aren’t the only reason to network. Knowing someone who knows someone is valuable! Looking for a cover designer? Check in with that author you met at Left Coast Crime who has amazing covers and ask who they use. Looking for an editor? Ask around for recommendations. How about reviewers? Again, ask around.

And when you join a group of authors who are rebooting a local “meet the author” series, knowing someone like William Kent Kreuger or Matt Goldman or Brian Freeman is gold. Nothing like getting a NYT-bestselling local author to help the visibility of an author-reader venture!

More on that to come. In the meantime, stay cool this week (it’s going to be ugly-hot in most of the country for the next week or so) and keep writing!

When characters change their story #amwriting #amreading

Holy crap! It’s almost March?! Wow! Either I haven’t been paying much attention (likely) or time has been flying (eh, not as likely). I’ve been working on my rural MN mystery project while I let Book 2 steep a bit. I figure I’ll give it another week before I tackle the next revision; I’m aiming to turn it in to my writing teacher by the end of March.

Really.

Anyway, I’ve been tinkering with the rural MN mystery for a few years, off and on between spits and starts with Book 2. I think it’s a neat story, and I’m trying out a few new-to-me techniques, like dual timelines and first-person POV (first person isn’t new to me, but I haven’t used it outside of a few short stories way back in the day).

I’ve had my main characters put together for a while. I know their histories, their motivations, and all that good stuff. I know where they came from, what they do for a living, and their favorite flavor of ice cream … okay, maybe not that last one, but you get it.

Secondary characters are a little different. There are secondary characters and secondary characters. Maybe minor characters is a better term. Yeah, let’s go with that. I still know the backgrounds of secondary characters; I suppose they would be called the supporting cast in a movie. Those are the ones with a history of some sort with the main characters.

Minor characters are the ones that pop in and out of the story because someone needs to be there. In my book, Murder in Plane Sight, I needed someone to take my main character to a place where she would cross paths with a secondary character. My main character, Sierra, had no reason to be anywhere the secondary character was.

To remedy this, I looked at Sierra’s background. Aha! She has a younger sister. Her sister’s sole purpose in the story is to make sure Sierra is someplace in particular. Voila! Minor character (for now), and she’s just the way I imagined her.

In the rural MN mystery, my main character is digging for information. There are two minor characters she talks to, kinda like witnesses. They both started out as “man on the street” characters who appear once, do their job, and exit – stage left.

I wrote a scene with the first minor character, and it went as expected. Five minutes (book time) of questions, and the minor character is finished. Bye, have a nice life.

Okay, on to the next scene. I had a similar vision for the MC’s conversation with this minor character: ask a few questions, go their separate ways.

Yeah, not so much. The character is a guy in his mid- to late-twenties, a cook in a nursing home who people claim looks a lot like a young Steve McQueen. In my mind, he was a “good neighbor”, willing to mow your lawn while you go on vacation or stop on the side of the road to help you change that flat tire. A “Minnesota Nice” kind of guy. Easy going. Pleasant. Just, nice.

He must have decided “nice” was overrated, because by the end of the scene, I had a new suspect/possible bad guy. How the hell did that happen? I swear he was nothing but a guy all the little old ladies love because he’s handsome and charming.

On the bright side (because there’s always a reason a writer’s subconscious does stuff like this, right?), I now have another someone who could have done the crime. I don’t know his background yet, so he may have a motive I haven’t discovered. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see more of a young Steve McQueen look-alike?

One more week to explore this story before I go back to Book 2 and revision round #4. Oh, almost forgot:

If you have some time next weekend, join me at the Deep Valley Book Festival’s “Cabin Fever” event! I’m on panels at 10a (CT) and 1p (CT). It’s fun, it’s authors, and it’s FREE! No driving required (or pants, if that’s your thing 😉 )

https://www.deepvalleybookfestival.com/cabin-fever-schedule

It feels like spring here, at least until it snows tomorrow. Sigh. The equinox is in three weeks–yippee! I’m starting my seeds and dreaming of fresh green grass and new leaves (when I’m not thinking about Book 2, that is 🙂 )

Happy Writing!

Wake me when it’s spring