Tempests in Teacups
I have a fan page on Facebook, which recently took away my ability to post directly after each comment. Now I post, get a hundred remarks, and if I want to reply to an individual I have to include that in my status post. (I may have the terminology wrong, but that’s the new procedure.)
Recently I posted that I’d turned in the editorial changes for the next Sookie novel, DEADLOCKED. Amid all the encouraging responses was one that definitely rubbed me the wrong way. One poster said, “Well, I hope the next one’s better than your last two.” That was not the end of his remarks.
Most often I can ignore stuff like that. But I was having an irritable day. So when I updated my status, as part of the text I said, “If you don’t like the books, don’t read them. There are plenty of books out there to read.” For the life of me, I don’t understand why people keep reading series if they don’t enjoy them.
I might as well have lit a match and stuck it to a fuse. Of course, there were readers who hadn’t read the original remark, and they wondered why I was so “snippy.” Some readers took as instant an offense to my remark as I had to the poster’s. One more thoughtful reader said that telling people to read other books was a cop-out, since I dodged responding to the criticism (I’m still thinking about that one).
One reader gently suggested that I leave posting on my fan page to the people at Penguin. I had to laugh.
This is the danger of on-line communication, of course. I was genuine in my response to that reader. Please, read other books if you don’t think mine are any good. Why would you put yourself through that? But it’s also true I was less than smooth about how I phrased it, and I should have cited his post specifically.
Lesson learned.
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September 28, 2011
September 26, 2011
On Being In Between
by Donna Andrews
I'm in between right now.
I've turned in a manuscript to my editor, and I'm waiting to hear what he thinks of it. (The title, incidentally, will be Some Like It Hawk.) Soon, either I'll start working on revisions or I'll dive into little more research and planning for the next book, which I currently plan to set at the Virginia State Fair and call The Bantam Menace.
But not just yet.
I have dozens of things on my to-do list--in fact, task one is to perform a really good review and make sure my to-do list bears some vague resemblance to reality. And many of those things are important and some are even urgent, and I'm just not giving them the attention they deserve. I'm getting some of them done, but at a really slow rate. I should feel guilty about that, I suppose.
But I don't. I'm in between. Don't want to get fully immersed in anything--a new writing project or anything else--until I know I can stay immersed for a while. In between can feel annoying, maddening, frustrating, and a horrible waste of time. Or it can feel delightful.
I was in between at Bouchercon, and reveling in it. I felt sorry for the many writer friends who would regularly retreat to their hotel rooms to pound out a few pages. Or the ones who knew they had no time to write, but couldn't help fretting about the manuscripts waiting back home.
I've been there and done that, and will again. So I tried not to gloat about the fact that I was at another stage. Not finished, exactly. But in between can feel a lot like finished, with the added benefit that I will probably have another crack at my manuscript--a chance to make it that much better, armed not only with the perspective that comes with taking a break but also some comments from my savvy editor.
That, of course, is the half-full-glass way of looking at it. I often hear writers in a half-empty-glass mood complaining that they hate the waiting and dread having to work on their book again. Heck, I've made that complaint myself. Maybe I will again. Just because I've learned how to enjoy being in between doesn't mean I'll always manage it. But I hope not.
The first time I was aware of enjoying in between was a little over eleven years ago, when Murder with Peacocks was nominated for first a Lefty and then an Agatha. After the first shock of joy and excitement, I realized that I didn't want being a nominee to end. It wasn't that I dreaded the possibility of losing. I was actively enjoying the highly temporary state of being a nominee--a state that was all the sweeter for being so temporary.
Then again, I've probably enjoyed in between all my life. When asked what my favorite season is, I have been known to choose both spring and fall--and specifically the first few warm days of spring, when you know the weather is about to change, and the first few delicious cool days of autumn, when you know that winter is definitely coming--but not yet. I was an early convert from ripping the Christmas presents open to lingering over each one.
And I've spent an amazing amount of time chasing sunsets, the beautiful between time of the day, so I could take pictures that would capture some small portion of their fleeting beauty. (I love sunrises, too, but they're usually scheduled far too early for me to enjoy, much less take pictures of.)
It only just occurred to me that perhaps I've finally figured out why I love beaches, in spite of having little interest in swimming, boating, or tanning. Beaches, and seacoasts generally, are between water, land, and sky--the ultimate in between.
In short, I like being in between. I'm not sure anyone really understands that, so if people ask what I'm working on now that I've turned the manuscript in, I mention that I'm waiting for my edits. Marinating the next book. Working on various projects for MWA, SinC, or Malice. Contemplating a short story. Cleaning and organizing the house. Working on my garden. Taking a lot of pictures. Relaxing with my family. Catching up on my reading.
And they're all true. But what am I really doing? Relishing the in between time.
Donna
P.S. Photos taken in Hawaii, California, Albuquerque, Oxford [MD], and Reston [VA]. See if you can guess which is which!
September 21, 2011
Moving Day
By Kris Neri
We moved our bookstore recently. We moved to a new suite within the same building. People keep saying to us, “That must have been easy.” Well, it’s easier — we didn’t have to load a truck and unload it. But nothing about moving is easy.
We moved to the suite we originally wanted when we first saw this building, but which someone snagged just two weeks before us. We certainly thrived just fine in our old suite. It was an attractive space — people always commented on its positive energy. But it was still pretty much just a rectangle. The new space, with its high ceilings and big curved space is both stylish and interesting.
Moving a store isn’t too different from moving a house in some respects. You look at some of the things you’ve collected and say, “How did we get all this stuff?” I have a penchant for picking up things that I think will look adorable in a display, such as the pair of chef figures that I found somewhere. I will say they are cute when they’re in a cookbook display — the big chef holds a cookbook, while the little chef points at it. Sorta. But mostly they just stare at me from a box in the backroom, along with all the other display pieces that fall into the category of, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
In other ways, moving a store is very different from moving a house. When you’re moving a business, you can’t afford too much downtime. That means you can’t spend weeks packing it all up in advance the way most people do with a home, because you have to keep that merchandise on display for as long as possible.
We had very little downtime. My husband and our contractor moved our complicated cash wrap and computer late one afternoon. While they did, I continued to do business, selling books with a calculator and making change from cash box, or writing credit card slips by hand, the way I sometimes do when we sell books at conferences. I wouldn’t want to do it that way all the time, but it worked well enough.
An army of volunteers showed up the next day to help us with the bulk of the
moving. When you’re in business, it’s highly gratifying when so many of your customers are willing to perform grueling labor all day long just to help your business function. We really couldn’t have done it without the great support of our wonderful friends and volunteer movers. All day long people carried fixtures from our old store, through an empty store and into the new space, while others packed boxes of books and re-shelved them in the new store.
Though it all, customers continued to wander through both spaces. Despite the chaos, some actually found books they were looking for. Maybe that was because my husband kept warning them, “If you don’t buy something, you have to help us move.” Too bad more of them didn’t take it seriously.
As with a home move, we didn’t get everything quite right. In retail, the layout is called a planogram. We learned all about planograms from when we first set up our store six years ago. Whether you know it or not, every retail store has set up a flow of fixtures and display pieces to help making your browsing more logical and comfortable. In the first space, we did them all on paper, which requires considerable imagination. In the new space, we drew fixture outlines on the floor in chalk. That made it easier to visualize.
Even still, I ended up exchanging the Health & Fitness section with Creativity because where we originally put them just didn’t feel right. But we’ve actually done better in both stores than we have in our house. I’ve rearranged the living room twice and my study three times, and if my bed weren’t so impossibly heavy, we would have moved that, too.
I needed an Epson salts bath, and ate too much take-out pizza, but in the end, it was worth it. We love the new space. It feels good. It feels like home.
But I absolutely refuse to do this again for a long, long time.
What was your best move? Your worst one?
September 19, 2011
DANA RULES!
**Congratulations to Femme DANA!**
HANK: We simply cannot find a font size large enough to convey our delight (but NOT our surprise..) at Femme Dana Cameron's total world domination at the Bouchercon Mystery convention in St. Louis!
At the Anthony Awards..it was beating hearts and racing pulse, as the fabulous Ridley Pearson announced the nominees for the coveted Best Short Story...he paused, all drama, and said:
The Anthony goes to---Dana Cameron!
There was a masive whoop and shriek from across the crowded ballroom--and Dana, in a gorgeous fluttery sweater, floated to the podium.
Wait, here's a photo....(click on it to make it nice and big!)
But wait, there's more! here's Femmes Charlaine and Toni, with Queen Dana and new Femme Anthony--the smiles tell it all. (That one's clickable, too!)
But wait, there's more! Dana's "Swing Shift" also won the Macavity for best short story..photos to come..
and Femme Charlaine was the Bouchercon Guest of Honor! She was surrounded by fans everywhere she went.. and her signing lines were around the block. Maybe two blocks. It was such a treat to see. Toni wrote a lovely and perfect tribute for the Bouchercon program...here's just a bit of it!
********************
What’s Charlaine really like?
Charlaine is awesome.
She’s is warm and friendly, sharp as a tack, and as funny as all get out. She’s a devoted wife and mother of three, she’s active in her church, and is a darned good cook. She’s loyal to her friends and business associates alike, and values honesty.
Charlaine reads voraciously, and has said the best thing about her success is being able to afford to buy as many books as she want. She loves to talk books, both as a writer and as a reader.
Despite living in a small town where it can be a hassle to get to a theater, she is a big movie fan, and she sees all kinds of movies, from action/adventure to comedy to period dramas. (If you want to make her happy, tell her how much you liked Daniel Day Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans.) As for the small screen, she adores Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is always happy to discuss the goings on at Project Runway. And unsurprisingly, she enjoys True Blood quite a bit.
So if you meet Charlaine in the halls, now you’ll know what to make small talk about. But here’s the really amazing stuff.
You probably realize that writers are no nicer than other people. When somebody hits it big, there’s usually some a certain amount of jealousy among the rest of us. A sense of “I’m as good a writer as he is!” or “That plot is old hat,” or “Why don’t I sell that many books?” But I bet you could spend this whole weekend listening in on conversations and not hear one person badmouth Charlaine.
Partially that’s because she has worked so hard to get where she is. She wrote two standalone novels, the eight Aurora Teagarden books, and five Lily Bard books before creating Sookie. So she’s not exactly an overnight success.
Partially it’s because she’s so generous. She’s blurbed a slew of writers’ books, regularly promotes books on her web site, and in the anthologies she’s edited and co-edited, takes pains to include writers she admires and wants to give a boost to.
Then there’s the way she treats new writers, and I’ll tell my own story here. Charlaine was already well-established in the field when she met me at a cocktail party, but even though my second book had just come out, she spoke to me like an equal. That alone would have been enough to win my heart. But later that evening, a fan came up, introduced herself to Charlaine, and after a dismissive glance at my nametag, told Charlaine how much she adored her work. Charlaine accepted the compliments, but then told the woman all about my books and how she was sure the woman would enjoy then, too. I know darned well I’m not the only one to benefit from Charlaine’s generosity.
But mostly I think Charlaine is so beloved because she’s just the most gracious person you’ll ever want to meet, and that’s with readers, writers, booksellers, librarians... (In fact, since her mother was a librarian, she has a particular affinity for that profession.)
As a fellow Southerner, I can award Charlaine the highest of accolades: she doesn’t put on airs.
************
In other news: Well, I did not win the Anthony for Best Paperback Original for DRIVE TIME. (Duane Swerzienski did.) (Not for DRIVE TIME :-)) But, as they say--at least, the nominees do!--it was fantastic to be nominated. And you know, I'm stll absolutely thrilledl
Congratulations to all--and we'll post more photos asap!
September 13, 2011
September 10, 2011
Reflecting Absence
By Elaine Viets
"Reflecting Absence" is the 9/11 national memorial.
It’s dedicated to the 2,983 people who died at the World Trade Center, on Flight 93 and at the Pentagon.
The terrorists’ victims are commemorated with the largest waterfalls ever made and the names of the dead are written in bronze. The waterfalls are in the one-acre "footprints" of the twin towers.
Most memorials tell us what to think: Weeping angels, wreaths, broken columns and crosses of sacrifice command us to cry, to mourn, to feel loss and emptiness.
"Reflecting Absence" lets us choose our thoughts. Water can be so many things – purifying, terrifying, healing, life-giving, death-dealing and calming.
The tragedy of 9/11 is engraved in the American psyche. We remember where we were when the planes flew into the towers, just as earlier generations knew where they were when Pearl Harbor was attacked and John Kennedy was shot.
I was on the phone with my agent in New York, asking why a group hadn’t paid me for a speech. After I hung up and saw the photos on the Internet, I called him back and apologized.
You didn’t know, he told me.
His memories included seeing the cars and SUVs parked in the Westchester commuter lot, waiting for the drivers who would never return from Manhattan.
9/11 was a terrible loss, a real absence. But it has been a presence for a decade, and a triumph. America regrouped and New York rebuilt. Out of the horrors came acts of extraordinary sacrifice and heroism. Out of the tragedy came a united spirit.
Now I worry that we are losing that spirit. The nation I love is turning on itself. The country I honor is being divided by hate and discord. Political debate is turning into petty snubs and childish rudeness. Our inability to conduct civil discourse delights our enemies.
If it continues, then 9/11 will be a total loss and make a strong country weak.
Don’t let the terrorists win.
For a short video of the 9/11 Memorial, click here: http://tinyurl.com/3scth9b
Then tell us your reflections of 9/11.
September 08, 2011
Emma Fielding and the "Cheerful Predators"
I recently started work on a short story featuring Emma Fielding, the archaeologist protagonist in my novels. It took quite a bit of time to get the hang of her voice again, because it's been a long time since Emma and I have been together. We both needed some time apart, and in that time, I've developed a range of characters for whom violence is a go-to move. Emma was always very intellectual and occasionally got herself in trouble, either by over-thinking the problem or by worrying how her involvement in solving a crime was changing her and those around her. It's been quite a gear-shift.
Gerry Stueben the werewolf might get worried, but inevitably, he'll fang up and go to town on an evildoer and feel better for it. Anna Hoyt, 18th-century tavern owner, is mostly concerned with keeping her own skin and autonomy intact; although she hasn't gotten truly violent, she's done things Emma would never dream of, and slept soundly, once the problem was solved. Jayne, my recovering covert operative (whose first appearance in a short story is forthcoming!), is happiest when she's drawing a bead on some criminal a-hole who needs to be eradicated. To her mind, it's not murder so much as Pest Control, and if she can do it, she ought to.
These are not the thoughtful responses of a middle-aged academic (Emma or me, when you get right down to it). Sometimes, these characters, whom I've dubbed "cheerful predators," worry me. They have the idea it's okay for them to wage war on criminals, whether that right is self-assumed, God-given, a biological imperative, or what-have-you. They get me thinking about big questions about vigilantes, what's best for the common good, what happens when the law works against your survival, etc.
It's very confusing.
It's very exciting.
But having spent so much time in their heads, they've made it difficult to write an Emma story, now. For instance, faced with the bad guy, which of these responses is Emma Fielding most likely to use?
A.) She unbuttons the top of her blouse, leaning over provocatively as she pours a glass of poisoned whiskey, which she shoves toward the killer.
B.) She grabs an antique dagger from a museum case, follows the bad guy into the men's room. Shoving him into a stall, she stabs him several times before wiping the knife and dropping it in the trash on the way back out to join her party as if nothing's happened.
C.) She tracks the killer through the woods, and under the light of the full moon, corners him by a cliff. Snarling, her fangs extended, she leaps at him, tearing out his throat as they both tumble into the abyss.
None of the above? All of the above? Maybe a little of each?
Thing is, Emma's gotten tougher over time, and while she hasn't joined the ranks of my cheerful predators, she's not the mild-mannered archaeologist we met in Site Unseen, either.
Though she probably isn't a werewolf.
It will be interesting to see what happens at the end of this story, and how this older, more experienced Emma (and I) solve the crime.
(Just as a reminder, my Fangborn story "Swing Shift" has been nominated for an Anthony and a Macavity award! If you'd like to read it, you can see it here, for a short time only.)
September 04, 2011
Hot Summer, Cool Conference!
Have you had a monster hot summer? We have here in Nashville. Temps have been in the 90s, with an occasional 100, for months now.
I'd hoped it would be cooler last weekend. That's when many friends, fellow authors, agents and publishers came to town for the annual Killer Nashville conference. Thank goodness the air-conditioning worked fine at KN's new venue, the Hutton Hotel near the downtown area.
What a cool place! Beautiful and also green-conscious in its design throughout. I hear the rooms were fab and the restaurant's food was out of this world.
Killer Nashville is similar to another great conference, Sleuthfest down in Florida every year, in that sessions fall under a "track" category, like panels on writing skills, marketing/publicity, plus a special track of talks by professionals from law enforcement, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, private investigators, psychiatrists, anthropologists and others who have information of interest to crime writers. A fun feature every year is a crime scene room. Attendees study the mock crime scene, complete with a (dummy) victim, and use their detecting skills to figure out what happened.
This year, my favorite session was something a little different from what we usually see at a mystery con. Barbara Fass Leavy, professor of English in Psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, talked to us about important themes in the books of Ruth Rendell. And we all know the big theme that Rendell does better than anyone else - dysfunctional families!
Professor Leavy analyzes this and other aspects that make the Rendell/Vine novels such standouts in her latest book, The Fiction of Ruth Rendell: Ancient Tragedy and the Modern Family.
Leavy was also a professor of English Literature at Queens College, City University of New York, so she offers balanced literary insights. She was a charming speaker, obviously passionate about Rendell's skill. After the talk, I found out she wrote a book on one of my favorite subjects, folklore. I ordered it right away - In Search of the Swan Maiden: A Narrative on Folklore and Gender. Can't wait to read it!
KN offers the opportunity for writers to pitch their novels to attending agents and editors each year. They also offer critiques of attendees' short stories or first pages of a novel. I enjoyed doing some of the critiques and talking with talented new writers. They had some awesome stuff!
I lucked out on my panel assignment - moderating "Writing Compelling Combat Scenes Using Real-Life Tactics and Combat Moves." Oh my goodness, what terrific panelists on this one. Stephen Brayton writes about a 6' female private eye. He's a 5th degree black belt and an instructor in Tae Kwon Do. Ernie Lancaster served in the military and was a sniper in the Tact Unit of the Memphis Police Department from which he retired after 33 years. Michael A. Black was an Army MP, a Southside Chicago cop for 30 years, also a black belt, and has a Masters degree in Writing. Rick Reed, also ex-military, was an Intelligence Analyst and Korean Interpreter, he was a police detective for about 30 years, wrote a non-fiction book about a serial killer he caught, writes fiction now and is a college professor of Criminal Justice. Oooh-weee, these guys had some hair-raising fight stories to tell!
This year at Killer Nashville, instead of one Guest of Honor, there were two. Donald Bain, best known for his books Coffee, Tea or Me? and most recently the Jessica Fletcher mystery series he writes with wife Renee Paley-Bain, took top honors along with thriller writer Robert Dugoni. Here's a photo of the two of them as they each receive KN's signature gift from the Nashville-based and world-renowned Gibson Guitar company.
At the mike is KN's executive director Clay Stafford, an award-winning film producer and this year's recipient of the Magnolia Award for Service from the Southeast chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Thanks to photographer Michael Hicks for this great photo from the banquet on Saturday night.
If you enjoy mystery conferences, I hope you'll come visit us at a future Killer Nashville!
- Mary
http://www.ernestlancaster.com