KN Magazine: Articles

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The Writer's Life: Supporting Characters: Allies

Monk has Sharona Flemming. Hercule Poirot partnered with Capt. Arthur Hasting. Sherlock Holmes needs Dr. Watson. These well-known detectives were nothing without their sidekicks. They helped the detectives to be better at everything from detecting to being human. Author Beth Terrell takes on the importance of allies in this month’s writing how-to column.

Supporting Cast: Allies
By Jaden (Beth) Terrell

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about your main character, and we’ve touched on the victim and the villain. Now let’s look at your protagonist’s allies.

No matter how much of a loner your character is, or how reluctantly he plays with others, a crime investigation doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Whether he’s a professional investigator or an amateur sleuth, sooner or later, he’ll need to get information he has no way of learning for himself from someone else. Maybe he needs to identify a fingerprint or trace a license plate? Where can he get that information?

Then, there’s his personal life—perhaps he has a love interest, sidekick, or confidante. Or maybe she has a family that will play a role in one or more subplots.

There are several things to take into account when creating allies for your main character. First, ask yourself what needs to be accomplished that your character can’t do. If she’s a sharpshooting martial artist who relies primarily on brawn and charm to get what she wants, and the villain is stalking his victims in cyberspace, then, one of her allies will need to be someone who can help her navigate the digital universe.

Allies can fill the gaps in your character’s skill set and knowledge. Look at the clues that need to be found and interpreted; then think of who might best be able to provide that information. Does your PI need a source at the police department? At the DMV? Does she need access to a computer hacker? An informant in a street gang?

An ally should also be someone whose skills and personality traits complement the protagonist’s. Is your character serious to a fault? Maybe one of his friends or allies can be a light-hearted jokester who brings some much-needed humor to the story. Is the main character impulsive and devil-may-care, someone who rarely takes anything seriously? Maybe he needs someone more serious alongside him to remind him to be wise.

While many allies help the protagonist out of affection or a sense of responsibility, others (such as an informant who cooperates only because the protagonist has something on him) are more reluctant. Each can play a valuable role. Might that reluctant ally end up betraying your protagonist at a critical moment? That doubt can increase tension and keep your reader wondering what might happen. Another way to ratchet up tension is for the villain to threaten someone the protagonist cares about. The love interest, perhaps? The best friend? A family member? A partner whose skills are integral to solving the crime?

Allies can reveal your protagonist’s character traits. For example, my protagonist is a private detective named Jared McKean. Jared is competent and impulsive, a martial artist and horse whisperer. His interactions with Frank Campanella, his surrogate father and former partner in the homicide department, show his tough-guy side. But he also has a son with Down syndrome and an ex-wife he’s still in love with. Jared’s interactions with his son and ex-wife reveal his compassionate side and the lengths he’ll go to in order to preserve a loving relationship with both.

You can also use an ally to reveal a skill or some specialized knowledge your character has. In the second Jared McKean book, A Cup Full of Midnight, Jared recalls sitting at the kitchen table with his ex-wife, Maria (who is an artist), and a big box of Crayola crayons. She holds up a crayon and asks him what color it is.

“Blue?” he asks.
“No, cobalt.” She holds up another. “And this one?”
“Cobalt?”
“Cornflower.”
He thinks, I never knew there were so many colors in the world.

This scene does two things. First, it shows you how Jared feels about Maria—that she’s expanded his vision and opened his eyes to a brighter, more vivid world. Second, because of this scene, when he has to describe a suspect or a witness’s living room, it’s believable that he’s able to use more nuanced descriptions of color.

What qualities do you want to reveal about your character? What kinds of allies will most effectively showcase or explain those qualities? Do you want to show that your protagonist is uncomfortable with praise? Give her an ally who loves to give compliments. Do you want to show his fear of heights? Give him an ally who insists on meeting on the roof of the city’s tallest apartment building.

Once you’ve established what roles are needed, you can begin to fill them. To avoid a cast of thousands, ask yourself if one character could plausibly play multiple roles. Could the sidekick and confidante be the same person? Could she have one or more of the skills your protagonist will need to reach his goals?

Below is a chart that might help you figure out who your protagonist’s allies are. Some of these characters will be more developed than others. That’s fine. Use the questions you’ve learned so far to flesh out each character as much as you need to.

Download or Print a FREE Supporting Cast Worksheet – Created by Jaden (Beth) Terrell

Supporting characters are an important tool in your Novelist Took Kit. Their foibles and passions can underscore your theme, reveal your main character’s strengths and weaknesses, and add depth to your novel. A rich, well-crafted supporting cast can help turn a pretty good book into a great one.

Jaden Terrell (Beth Terrell) is a Shamus Award finalist, a contributor to “Now Write! Mysteries” (a collection of writing exercises by Tarcher/Penguin), and the author of the Jared McKean private detective novels Racing The Devil, A Cup Full of Midnight, and River of Glass. Terrell is the special programs coordinator for the Killer Nashville conference and the winner of the 2009 Magnolia Award for service to the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America (SEMWA). A former special education teacher, Terrell is now a writing coach and developmental editor whose leisure activities include ballroom dancing and equine massage therapy. www.jadenterrell.com

Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale.

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Self-Publishing: Finding Your Audience

So, you’ve published a book? Now, the real hurdle is getting it to your readers. This is an extremely difficult task—especially for self-published writers—and dooms a good many. Author Tom Wood shares his own methods to distribute his novel, Vendetta Stone.

Finding Your Audience: Festivals, Events, Book Signings
By Tom Wood

Over and over, an old media axiom was reinforced during several workshops at the recent Film-Com event in Nashville.

“If Content is King, then Distribution is King Kong.”

For self-published authors, truer words were never spoken.

Or harder to achieve.

Writing your book is just the first baby-step in this process. Distribution of your novel is everything.

On one hand, distribution is easier than ever, thanks to the Internet. I self-published through CreateSpace, and get worldwide distribution through Amazon and Kindle.

My book, Vendetta Stone, sells very well in Europe and I have registered sales in Australia and many other countries outside the U.S.

On the other hand, I have trouble getting my fictional true-crime thriller in chain bookstores and even some independent bookstores. The latter especially bothers me.

I understand how indie storeowners would consider Amazon the enemy, but not carrying my book isn’t hurting Amazon. It’s hurting me—and, potentially, readers who might enjoy my book.

Some chain bookstores won’t carry Vendetta Stone on the shelves, but it is available for order on their website or at a store.

So distribution can be a tricky puzzle to solve.

A grass roots approach seems to work, at least it does for me.

I do as much promotion as possible, arranging events and interviews, festivals and libraries, speaking engagements, etc. My motto is: Never turn down an opportunity.

When Vendetta Stone first came out in late 2013, John Seigenthaler, my former boss at The Tennessean, invited me to tape a segment for his long-running talk show with authors. It aired in late July 2014, just a few days after his death at age 86.

After the taping, John and I discussed marketing strategies. When I told him I didn’t want to be seen as too pushy, he smiled and offered two words of advice that have stuck with me. “Be pushy,” was all he said.

And that is about the best advice I have to offer—be pushy (but in a kinder, gentler way).

You are going to have to network to find some of those opportunities, keeping your eyes open for any prospect. One author I know announced that she would be appearing at the prestigious 2014 Dahlonega Literary Festival. I made a couple of calls, looked at the event’s website, sent a few emails—now I will be at the 2016 Dahlonega Literary Festival in March.

So, finding lists of major book events in your region is one key. Reach out to your local and state libraries for contact lists. Scan the local newspapers for lists of upcoming events that don’t have a thing to do with books. They publish those lists sometimes months in advance or have a website with that information readily available. They might even provide you with a list, or at least point you in the right direction.

Festivals and fairs are always looking for vendors to hawk their products. And if you’re an author, your books are your products. Go to FestivalNet.com for an idea of what’s out there. It will blow your mind just how many different events are listed in your area.

It’s like this: when you are writing, you are creating worlds, spinning yarns and living the dream. When you are promoting, you are a salesman, and you have one product to sell. Well, two. Besides the book, you are selling yourself (but not your soul) as someone to whom an audience should pay attention. It takes a lot of confidence, and a little brass. But if you don’t do it, who will?

Our Authors Circle group annually has several members at events in Franklin, Tennessee, such as the Main Street Festival in the spring, and Dickens of a Christmas in early December. We are right out there with all the food vendors, the candlestick makers, the jewelry sellers, and everyone else. Books make great Christmas gifts, right?

For speaking engagements which may lead to sales opportunities, contact the Rotary Club, the Lions and any other civic groups you can think of, especially those which have something to do with your particular genre. Think outside the box—and the books!

Here’s a final suggestion: always carry a few bookmarks to distribute wherever you are. If I see someone reading a book at the airport or a coffee shop, I’ll politely interrupt and offer them a bookmark with a picture of my book cover, a teaser, and information on how they can order a copy.

Maybe someday they’ll look at it and decide it intrigues them enough to buy.

That’s old-school distribution: one reader at a time.

A veteran sports writer and copy editor, Tom Wood has covered a variety of events ranging from the Iroquois Memorial Steeplechase to the Atlanta Olympic Games for The Tennessean in Nashville. After retirement, he continues his passion for writing, contributing to the Civil War-based anthology, Filtered Through Time and conducting an interview with Stephen King for Feast of Fear: Conversations with Stephen King. In the last year, Tom has begun writing Western fiction short stories, two of which have been published by Western Trail Blazer. “Tennesseans West” is his next project with four other authors involved. He is also an actor and can be seen in several episodes of the ABC series “Nashville”. He also coordinates the Killer Nashville guest blog series. Vendetta Stone is his first novel and he is working on the sequel.

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Arthur Author January 2016

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Marketing Your Book 101: Don't Artificially Boost Your Twitter Account

Save shortcuts for traffic congestion. That’s what marketing guru, Erik Deckers says. Build your Twitter following with care. In this month’s column, Deckers talks about the pitfalls of padding your Twitter account and how to do it right.

Don't Artificially Boost Your Twitter Account
By Erik Deckers

I'm not impressed by your gigantic Twitter account.

Your tens of thousands of followers. Your legions of fans. The rampaging throngs of people who follow you and you follow back. The Kardashian-ness of your Twempire (Twitter + empire) only makes me look down my nose at you.

(Said the guy with 18,500 followers. More on my hypocrisy in a minute.)

It's become an epidemic among new Twitter users, this belief that you need 50,000+ followers just to be somebody. That Twitter success means having inflated numbers, and no real content to back it up. I especially see authors falling for this, believing that more followers equals more sales.

It doesn't.

I can spot these Twitter fakers from a mile away. They're the ones with 30, 50, even 100,000 followers, and yet they've only written a few hundred tweets. I've written over 50,000, and yet have only 18,500 followers. Nobody is that awesome at Twitter that they've got 100,000 people hanging on their every word after just a few hundred tweets.

There's no rule of thumb here. Nothing that says "you must have 2,000 tweets before you have 2,000 followers." But unless you're an A-list celebrity who just announced on Conan that you joined Twitter, you're not going to magically get 100,000 followers without publishing much of anything. It's only achieved through cheating.

Here's How They Do It

There are two ways you can build up a massive Twitter following, and they're both morally repugnant. I'm only telling you so you can avoid them, not do them.

1) You pay someone $25 or so for 5,000 followers. Sure, you have 5,000 shiny new followers, but they're not real. They're fake accounts, usually created by spammers in The Philippines. It's like filling the audience with mannequins at your next reading and bragging about a full house.

2) You yo-yo follow people. If you follow me, I get a notification, and follow you back. A few days later, you unfollow me, but I don't get notified, so I keep following you. Imagine doing that to 2,000 people. You follow them, unfollow them a few days later, and repeat, thus growing your army.

I call that yo-yo following. You raise and drop your follower/following count like a yo-yo. Do that for a few weeks with some black market software, and soon you're in the 100K club.

Here's The Best Way

There's a third way to get a big following: Create good work.

Write interesting stuff on Twitter that people want to see. Not inane motivational sayings every single morning. Not an uninterrupted stream of news articles. Just have conversations, and be interesting (I discussed this more in-depth in last month's column).

I've Twitter chatted with one of my favorite authors, Christopher Fowler (@Peculiar), author of the Bryant & May mystery series, about the weather in Indianapolis versus Barcelona, and the genius of interior windows for cooling a house. Even if he weren't already a favorite, I would check out his work just because he took the time to chat. That's the power of a simple person-to-person connection.

It will take a long time, but this is how you build a network of people who like you, trust you, believe in you, and want to support you. If you can fill your network with just 500 of these followers, you're doing much better than the person who yo-yo'ed their way to 50,000.

You have 500 readers, 500 friends, 500 people who want to see you do well. Not 50,000 faceless people who couldn't care less about you.

I've been on Twitter since 2007, and have amassed a respectable following by slowly adding people. It also didn't hurt that I've written three social media books, which attracted a lot of attention in the early days of social media.

I follow authors, artists, and people in my line of work. I follow people who interest me and I want to have conversations with. They're the people I remember, and the people who respond when I tweet something funny or ask for help with a problem, or even share something I've written.

I was recently followed by an author who had over 235,000 followers and was following 225,000. Needless to say, I ignored her. She had no interest in hearing what I had to say. At best, I'm one of a massive crowd. At worst, she'll unfollow me later, letting her black market software fill the hole.

Even if people follow her, they probably don't read her messages. They don't know when she's written a new book or see any new announcements. They don't care about her, because she hasn't shown she cares about them. Her strategy works if she's relying on statistical probability to create sales, but as a true communication strategy, it's ineffective.

You build a strong Twitter network the same way you make new friends: slowly, over time, letting people get to know you, and sharing in their interests. If everything grows naturally and organically, without being forced or faked, you'll have a network of true fans and friends who want to support you and see you do your best.

Erik Deckers owns a content marketing agency in Indianapolis, and is the co-author of four books on social media. He is also a professional speaker and newspaper humor columnist, and was named a 2016 writer-in-residence at the Kerouac House Project.

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Under the Microscope with Todd Matthews and Joshua Savage: Behind the Scenes at NamUs

In this installment of “Under the Microscope”, Todd Matthews, Director of Communications and Case Management for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and Joshua Savage give us a behind-the-scenes, myth-debunking look at NamUs—what it is, does, and how it works.

Behind the Scenes at NamUs: The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
By Todd Matthews and Joshua Savage

In 2015, nearly every major television network had a lineup of programs that focused on forensic investigations. Through their programming, television networks have given the public a never-before-seen look into the world of forensics—a look that, unfortunately, is not entirely accurate. Many of these programs are limited to a 30 or 60 minute time slot, with many of those minutes being devoted to commercial breaks, resulting in a program that has to solve a crime or a mystery in an extremely short time period. In so doing, the networks have inadvertently given the public an inaccurate accounting of the actual processes involved. The paragraphs that follow will give readers and writers an accurate account of the various resources that are available to law enforcement and the public through NamUs, the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Since its inception in 2007, NamUs has made great strides towards combatting our nation’s Silent Mass Disaster. Beginning as a centralized repository for information regarding missing and unidentified persons, NamUs has expanded into a world-class organization that has become the gold standard for countries around the world seeking to replicate its successes. It is the go-to tool for authorities nationwide, offering its services free of charge, thanks to a generous grant from the National Institute of Justice.

Entering Into the System

Once a Missing Persons (MP) case is entered into the NamUs MP Database, the case is assigned an MP number located in the top left near the subject’s name and photograph (if one is available). The investigating agency will receive a default set of automated possible matches based on a standard search criteria. The default setting is a general system search based on geography, chronology, and physical characteristics. Once entered into the system, the search can be fine-tuned to be more specific based upon available information and biometrics. The more information that is available, the more accurate the search will be.

Forensic Odontology

The NamUs subject matter experts will then work with investigators in their process of elimination. NamUs currently has two Forensic Odontologists on staff who can analyze and enter dental coding information into the NamUs MP and Unidentified Persons (UP) Systems, allowing for comparisons and exclusions based on available dental records. Recently, they have made great strides in this area by building a working relationship with the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Through their efforts, they have opened the door to quick and easy access to military dental records for comparison to current unidentified persons cases.

Fingerprint Unit

In addition to Forensic Odontology, we also have a Fingerprint Unit that can analyze and enter fingerprint information and conduct comparisons using our sophisticated Cogent Automated Fingerprint Identification System (CAFIS), the first of its kind in the United States. This system allows NamUs to store and compare fingerprint information related to missing and unidentified persons cases from across the United States, creating the only database of its kind in the country. Other databases allow for local storage or one-time searching of missing and unidentified fingerprints, but do not serve as a permanent repository for these types of biometric records. In addition, the CAFIS system ensures that identifications are not missed, especially when dealing with fingerprints from unidentified decedents, which are often of inferior quality due to decomposition of the remains.

So long as we have the needed biometric information for comparisons, we can issue an exclusion based on scientific evidence. If we do not have the needed criteria to compare or exclude a case, we do our best to further enrich the cases. Our Regional System Administrators will then contact local authorities to inquire about the cases, and secure the relevant information, if available. This information could also include securing a family reference DNA sample from any living relatives in the area. Written records might also be available, but not digitized and uploaded.

Shared Information

With the biometric data entered (dental, DNA, and fingerprints) the investigator not only gets to compare his or her case to the system suggested matches, but through their efforts, they are also making their information available to other investigating agencies who might be searching for the same information. Furthermore, NamUs is the only organization that not only allows access to the general public, but encourages it. Family and friends can oftentimes provide critical information that can assist authorities with their investigations. Our staff can further aid this process by facilitating contact between the public and investigators, allowing for efficient use of resources and time on both sides.

Future Updates

In the very near future, NamUs will be entering its newest iteration dubbed “NamUs 2.0”. This upgrade will provide additional features, and make the system easier for everyone to use—from the input of new cases to searches across the databases. One of the newest features currently in development is a system designed to assist families and law enforcement during “critical incidents”. While the NamUs Unidentified Persons and Missing Persons Databases largely deal with the long-term missing and unidentified, the Critical Incident (CI) Database will be an entirely different entity within the NamUs system. Drawing from its already established successes as a web-based platform and its capable and highly-trained staff, NamUs can activate the CI Database in emergency situations when needed.

When activated, emergency personnel will gain a centralized repository for information relating to the missing, injured, or deceased, as well as those found alive during CI events. Government officials and other agencies will be able to access the information entered into the CI Database by logging into the system using their username and secure password. By creating the CI Database, NamUs hopes to provide a simple, secure, and scalable system to provide accurate tracking and documentation during any event that might require use of the system.

NamUs will continue to grow as these new features come online, so please stay tuned to our website, http://namus.gov/new-features.htm, for more information.

Todd Matthews serves as Director of Communications and Case Management for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. In his current role, he manages the NamUs Regional System Administrator staff, oversees quality assurance and quality control of NamUs data, performs outreach and training, coordinates all NamUs print and broadcast media, and serves as the media spokesperson for NamUs. Matthews previously served as a NamUs Regional System Administrator and was a member of the NamUs Advisory Board for the development of the NamUs database and program. In those roles, he piloted efforts to coordinate data exchanges between NamUs and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. He has also served as the Media Director for two important volunteer programs related to missing and unidentified persons: The Doe Network and Project EDAN. He has worked as a blogger for Discovery ID and served as a consultant for Jerry Brukheimer on "The Forgotten" and Dick Wolf on "Lost & Found", two scripted series related to missing and unidentified persons.

Joshua Savage joined NamUs in February 2015 as a Communications Specialist. He is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University (B.A. History, 2011) and East Tennessee State University (M.A. History, 2014). During his time at ETSU, Josh served in a number of roles ranging from President of the Alpha Epsilon Epsilon Chapter of the Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society to Councilman on the ETSU Graduate Council. His research centered on the American Experience in World War II, with a focus on the Tennessee Army Maneuvers of June 1941 which ultimately became the focus of his Master's Thesis. Because of his service with the History Department of ETSU, Josh received a full graduate assistantship for the 2013-2014 academic year and the Dale J. Schmitt Outstanding Graduate Student Award in May 2014.

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Live From Italy: Reflections from an Italian Streetside

In this month’s “International Corner”, author Timothy Williams takes us to Italy to paint a picture of the political/economic climate in the 1970s. A young man working at an Italian university, Williams faced much fiscal and personal hardship when he chose to speak out against what he felt were unethical, illegal business practices. Here, he tells us how he surmounted those hardships with the help of Piero Trotti—the man who served as the inspiration for the protagonist of Williams’s six novels.

Finding the Hero Through Hardship: Reflections from an Italian Streetside

By Timothy Williams

Walking up Strada Nuova I noticed a naked black woman. Her photograph had pride of place in one of the boutiques where she was sitting, with her back to the passers by and with her face hidden.

I would have recognized the shape of the back and plaited hair anywhere.

It was 1977 and we were poor. My wife had never told me she had posed for the photograph but I knew she was grateful for any money she could bring in. When we were in the south of Italy, she had done some modeling. In the seventies, black mannequins were a novelty and she had even gotten as far as Palazzo Pitti presenting clothes for Max Mara. She had never enjoyed the job. The other girls were catty, she said, and you're old at twenty-seven. She was twenty-seven.

I taught at the university. The pay was paltry and we survived only because we ate cheaply in the college restaurant. No frills: a cappuccino was a luxury and a doughnut was out of the question. Fortunately my wife didn't drink coffee and didn't like doughnuts.

We were poor and then the Italian government, in a hiccup of fiscal rigor, decided to make us even poorer, by imposing income tax.

We'd been married for four years and we got on well. My wife was fun and I could make her smile. Being beautiful, she attracted many glances and once a prelate outside the college where I worked had seen her pedaling an old bicycle while I perched contentedly on the cross bar. Perhaps he thought that I had acquired a lady chauffeur from Africa to ferry me about his flat Lombard city.

We did not want to leave Italy, but with the threat of taxation, financial ruin loomed. We liked this northern city in the summer with its mosquitoes, frogs and rice, and in winter with its fogs and snow. We liked the cobbled streets, Habsburg architecture and dour, hardworking folk. My job gave me free time and my wife made friends—Rosanna who ran a little shop, Pisanelli and Spadano who were students at the university. Despite her origins, my wife had a background Italians could identify with; she had been brought up Catholic in a devout and provincial backwater.

Two people couldn't live on the 145,000 lire the faculty gave me each month, but there were rumblings in the university and I soon learned that other foreigners like me were unhappy about the new taxation. People who were teaching French or Spanish or German found themselves facing penury. They said the university was employing us illegally.

We worked as teachers, they told me, but we were being paid as researchers. Either we were teachers or we researched; we could not do both. No research was ever asked of us so, clearly, we were teachers in everything but name. Imposing tax on us when we were so poorly paid was unjust and, more to the point, illegal.

These were the years of lead. The Partisan War, now over for more than thirty years, was still being re-enacted on the streets of Italy. Young men and women were killing and maiming civilians in the battle between communism and fascism. My immediate employer, the university, was decidedly to the left—a nest of communists, Maoists, Trotskyists, Lotta Continua, etc. Everybody from the Magnificent Rector down to the last bidello or college porter knew our situation was untenable, but the humanist convictions and generosity of our bosses did not stretch as far as to actually doing anything to help us, their exploited collaborators and subordinates.

I was young and naïve: I had yet to learn the ancient Italian law of not raising your head above the parapet. Furious that I was being exploited by a communist university, I withdrew my labour. I ceased to take class or exam, telling myself that my colleagues would follow suit and join me in my strike action. No one did. I merely alienated my colleagues who, with families to feed, could not afford to rise above the parapet. No matter how badly paid, they needed the job that brought prestige and a modicum of security. Not theirs, then, to rock the boat.

My one man's strike served no purpose other than to put me on the front page of the city's newspaper: Bizarre protest at the university. Insufficient pay. On strike alone. Thirty years old, English, without health insurance.

Knowing the university was going to sack me, I started writing letters to America, seeking employment in a distant land of milk, honey, decent pay, and sensible labour laws.

Somebody suggested I should also see the Inspectorate of Labour, an organization set up by Mussolini, to protect the interests of the worker in the corporatist state. They might be able to help me, I was told. My wife had said she would be happy in America, but she was putting on a brave front. She did not want to say goodbye to Rosanna, Pisanelli, Spadano, and all the others.

I found the Inspectorate Building in a nondescript back street of the foggy city, and I was sent to the fourth floor where a thin man with bright eyes, a long nose and dark hair, shook my hand and invited me to sit down. He appeared amused that an Englishman should come to his office.

That is how I met Piero Trotti.

Not the policeman Piero Trotti who was to become the protagonist of my six novels, but the real Piero Trotti: the good Italian on whom I based my honest policeman.

The real Piero Trotti worked as a labor inspector and he took me under his wing. We became friends and, in time, through his doggedness, understanding of labor law and cunning, Piero Trotti forced the university to recognize the folly of its ways. Abbiamo fatto giurisprudenza, Piero Trotti wrote me more than a year later. The law has changed. We have won.

Our victory came too late; by the time Italian law was changed to accommodate foreign collaborators in universities, my wife and I had said goodbye to Rosanna, Pisanelli and Spadano. We had left the foggy city.

The University of New York at Stony Brook came up trumps and offered me decent pay and sensible labour laws on the other side of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, the offer got lost in the Italian postal system and my wife and I were already back and working in Manchester when the letter inviting me to America fell onto a damp doormat.

Nearly forty years on, thanks to Piero Trotti, I now receive a pension from the Italian government. It's not a lot of money, but it pays for the daily cappuccino and an Italian doughnut.

When my wife and I returned to her Caribbean island, I started work on my first book, a novel set in the city on the Lombard plain. Instinctively, I knew my policeman had to be Piero Trotti. In a byzantine world, where conspiracy and chaos vie, I needed a protagonist of integrity, a man whom readers would identify with and through whose eyes they could get a better understanding of the frustrations and, yes, joys of living in Italy during the years of lead.

Converging Parallels was immediately accepted by a London publisher. At about the same time that the book was published in England, my wife left me.

I sometimes wonder whether she ever kept the photo from the boutique in Strada Nuova.

Of course, there is always a black girl in all my books.

In 2011, The Guardian of London selected Timothy Williams as one of the ten best modern European Crime Writers. His first novel Converging Parallels, featuring the policeman Commissario Trotti, was published in 1982 and was followed by four more procedurals set in Northern Italy. Soho Press republished the entire series in 2014/15. The Second Day of the Renaissance, the last novel in the Trotti cycle, will be published in 2016. Soho has also published two Caribbean books, featuring the investigative judge, Anne Marie Laveaud. Now retired from teaching in Guadeloupe, Timothy Williams spends his time in France, Italy, and Kenya, and was in Nairobi during the Westgate massacre of 2013. To find out more about Timothy Williams, visit http://timothywilliamsbooks.com.

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Dying for Dinner: Peach Sangria and Masqueraded Chicken & Dumplings

Dying for Dinner

Congratulations! You survived the holiday season. This Thanksgiving, Aunt Grace shared her views on immigration, tax reform, and her opinion of Millennials (and what’s that trash they’re playing on the radio anyway?). Cousin Jim brought his new girlfriend to your house for Christmas, and they spent the entire dinner arguing on the front porch while your uncles finished off yet another bottle of booze. Hey, that’s family, right? But now that fiasco’s out of the way and you can finally get some much-deserved peace and quiet.

That’s where Killer Nashville comes in. Need to relax for a moment? Diane Kelly shares her recipe for a quick and simple sangria blend. Hungry and would rather do your taxes than be reduced to eating one more piece of ham or turkey? Cynthia Lott has a vegetarian “chicken” and dumplings recipe guaranteed to hit the spot.

Easy-Peasy Peach Sangria Recipe

By Diane Kelly

I fell in love with sangria after trying a fruity batch at a friend’s party. I decided to incorporate the drink into one of my books, and thus came Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria, the fourth book in my Death and Taxes series. My heroine, IRS Special Agent Tara Holloway, treats herself to glass of the light, refreshing drink after a hard day’s work pursuing white-collar criminals funneling money to terrorists.

Ingredients:

1 bottle of your favorite white zinfandel wine

1 ½ cups peach schnapps

½ cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate

One peach, sliced

½ cup raspberries

1 small orange, sliced

1 ½ cups lemon-lime soda

Directions:

Place fruit in a pitcher. Add wine, schnapps, and lemonade concentrate. Stir well. Refrigerate at least one hour.
Add soda just before serving and stir again. Serve over ice, enjoy with friends, and forget your troubles!

Masqueraded “Chicken” & Dumplings

By Cynthia Lott

The recipe is something I pulled in bits and pieces from other places and made my own. I have been vegetarian for fifteen years and this recipe is a comfort food for those of us who don't eat chicken. The Irises is book 2 in my Southern Spectral Series.

For the Dumplings:

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 stick margarine

3/4-cup soy milk

For the soup:

1/2 stick margarine

1/2-cup onion, chopped

1/2-cup celery, chopped

1/2-cup flour

1/4 tsp. celery salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

A dash of red pepper flakes or cayenne if you like it spicy

8 cups vegetable broth

2 medium carrots, diced

A package of fake chicken such as Morningstar, Gardein, Lightlife, or Beyond Meat Brands

1 bay leaf

Directions:

Combine the dumpling dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix the margarine with the dry mixture until it becomes crumbly. Add the soymilk and stir until moistened.
Knead the dough for thirty seconds on a floured surface. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness and cut into ½-inch squares. Set aside.
Sauté margarine, onion, celery in a large saucepan until soft.
Add the flour, salt, and pepper (and hot spices if you like) to make a thick paste. Slowly mix in the broth and bring to a boil.
Add the carrots, fake chicken and bay leaf.
Add the dumpling squares one at a time, stirring gently. Reduce heat. Simmer for around twenty minutes, stirring often.

Makes 6-8 servings.

DIANE KELLY CROP

A former Assistant Attorney General and tax advisor, Diane Kelly inadvertently worked with white-collar criminals. Lest she end up in jail, Diane decided self-employment was a good idea. Her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her award-winning Death and Taxes romantic mystery series. A graduate of her hometown's Citizen Police Academy, Kelly also writes the hilarious K-9 cop Paw Enforcement series. Sign up for Diane’s newsletter at www.dianekelly.com. "Like" Diane on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dianekellybooks, and follow her on Twitter @dianekellybooks.

Cynthia

Cynthia Lott is a professional researcher/librarian and writer. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Louisiana State University and an MLS from University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Feathers is her debut paranormal thriller in The Southern Spectral Series, published by RiverRun Select. The second book, The Irises, was published in June of 2015.

These recipes are so good they should be a crime. If you concoct either of these great recipes, let us know what you think and send us a picture. We may include it here with a link to your website.

What are you cooking? Submit your favorite recipes. They can be based on your favorite literary character, your Aunt Clara’s, or some amalgamation of ingredients you’ve discovered that makes life worth living (nothing with arsenic seasoning, please). Make sure to include your contact information and explanation of the origin of the recipe. Send your submissions (to which you avow in a court of law that you have all rights to and are granting the nonexclusive rights to Killer Nashville to use in any form and at any time) with subject line “Dying For Dinner” to contact@KillerNashville.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.

1/8/16 1/8/16

In The Public Eye: Three Quick Ways to Become an Outcast on Social Media

Social media, and the use of it, has become an undeniably important component of our daily lives. When you’re a writer or public figure, social media can prove to be one of the biggest tools in your arsenal. But what happens when you misuse this tool, and how can you avoid doing so? Public relations expert Julie Schoerke lays out the dos and don’ts of social media to keep you from committing common faux pas.

Three Quick Ways to Become an Outcast On Social Media
By Julie Schoerke

Social media is just great, until it isn’t.

Everyone wants to be the life of the party—witty, fun, sought out. Without realizing it, some very nice people whom I know, have managed to alienate people on social media to the point of getting blocked. And, I truly believe, they just don’t understand the etiquette.

Three of the best ways to become persona non-grata on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media are to:

Vomit on your audience—There’s the 9:1 rule. Post about your book only one time to every nine times that you post something to support your fellow authors, share an interesting statistic or information you just learned, or something fun and funny. Vomiting on your audience is when you boorishly self-promote. Most people wouldn’t do it at a party (well, maybe some would), don’t do it at the all day/all night cyber party we call social media.
Tagaggressively. This is akin to name-dropping, but kind of even worse. When you have a post that you think will be interesting to others, have faith that they’ll see it in their newsfeed. If you want to tag others so that their friends see it on their newsfeed…well, DON’T. Tagging is reserved for highlighting others in a positive way—tag people who are featured in the photo that accompanies the post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.
Negativity can easily drive friends away in a social situation, and the same goes for virtual friends. Of course there is the political screaming that is rampant on social media—as an author/public figure, it doesn’t do your career much good to entangle in that unless that’s what your books are about.

But, even more importantly, complaining can come off as crass and ungrateful. For example, there is one New York Times bestselling author, whose books I adored—they were funny, ironic, and self-deprecating—but I came to realize that the books obviously had a great editor, because this author wrote the meanest, cruelest things about strangers that she came upon in her everyday life. She ridiculed them and sometimes even took photos and posted them of poor, unsuspecting people in grocery lines that offended her. I blocked her—it was just too mean-spirited. And I’ve never read another of her books.

There is another multi-New York Times bestselling author that I continue to follow just to use as an example for our clients. She has had great success. She is a brilliant writer—terrific wordsmith with riveting stories and fabulous titles that cause her books to fly off the shelves around the country. But, on social media she berates fans and reviewers and shares her personal frustrations as an author very publicly. For someone who has attained such great success in a field that is more competitive than making it onto a U.S. Olympic team, it feels small and ungrateful to complain that others don’t understand how challenging her life is as an author.

Killer Nashville wants to follow YOU!

Join us on our social media accounts.

There are some great examples of generous, fun, interesting authors on social media. There are thousands of great people on social media who are generous, encouraging to other writers, fun, thought-provoking and real members of the community—some you probably know, others you probably don’t. I’ll share a few of my favorites here, and please add authors that you think would be great for the rest of us to follow. Feel free to include yourself in the comments (as long as you feel pretty confident that your newsfeed follows the above advice):

Clay Stafford (if you have to ask why, you’ve flunked the test)
Jenny Milchman (always promoting other authors—generous)
Charles Salzburg (every day has a fascinating true crime story to share and is funny)
Kay Kendall (interesting tidbits of all kinds to share)
Roy Burkhead (he’s like BuzzFeed for the publishing industry)
Karolyn Sherwood (great combination of book reviews with heartfelt posts and personal insight)
Rita Dragnotte (she’s quickly becoming a celebrated Chicago literary tastemaker)
Peter Golden (fabulous photos on social media, past and present)
Dinty Moore (pithy, clever, smart)
Harrison Scott Key (straight David Sedaris of the South)
Dawn Lerman (good example of an author of a very popular book right now who is also genuine on social media and responds to others’ posts…it’s not all about her)

Julie Schoerke founded JKS Communications, a Literary Publicity Firm, 15 years ago, and the firm has gone on to represent more than 600 authors, as well as publishers and literary organizations. Personalizing creative campaigns for each author, having an accountability system in place throughout the authors' campaigns and including former journalists on the publicity team are hallmarks of her vision for the firm. Julie speaks at writers’ conferences, universities, and book festivals across the United States. She also writes book- marketing and book-promotion columns for trade publications and is a featured guest frequently on radio. JKS Communications is headquartered in Nashville, TN with operations in New Orleans and New York as well. For more information please visit www.jkscommunications.com

1/8/16 1/8/16

In The Public Eye: Three Quick Ways to Become an Outcast on Social Media

Three Quick Ways to Become an Outcast On Social Media
By Julie Schoerke

Social media is just great, until it isn’t.

Three of the best ways to become persona non-grata on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media are to:

Vomit on your audience—There’s the 9:1 rule. Post about your book only one time to every nine times that you post something to support your fellow authors, share an interesting statistic or information you just learned, or something fun and funny. Vomiting on your audience is when you boorishly self-promote. Most people wouldn’t do it at a party (well, maybe some would), don’t do it at the all day/all night cyber party we call social media.
Tagaggressively. This is akin to name-dropping, but kind of even worse. When you have a post that you think will be interesting to others, have faith that they’ll see it in their newsfeed. If you want to tag others so that their friends see it on their newsfeed…well, DON’T. Tagging is reserved for highlighting others in a positive way—tag people who are featured in the photo that accompanies the post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, etc.
Negativity can easily drive friends away in a social situation, and the same goes for virtual friends. Of course there is the political screaming that is rampant on social media—as an author/public figure, it doesn’t do your career much good to entangle in that unless that’s what your books are about.

Killer Nashville wants to follow YOU!

Join us on our social media accounts.

Clay Stafford (if you have to ask why, you’ve flunked the test)
Jenny Milchman (always promoting other authors—generous)
Charles Salzburg (every day has a fascinating true crime story to share and is funny)
Kay Kendall (interesting tidbits of all kinds to share)
Roy Burkhead (he’s like BuzzFeed for the publishing industry)
Karolyn Sherwood (great combination of book reviews with heartfelt posts and personal insight)
Rita Dragnotte (she’s quickly becoming a celebrated Chicago literary tastemaker)
Peter Golden (fabulous photos on social media, past and present)
Dinty Moore (pithy, clever, smart)
Harrison Scott Key (straight David Sedaris of the South)
Dawn Lerman (good example of an author of a very popular book right now who is also genuine on social media and responds to others’ posts…it’s not all about her)

1/8/16 1/8/16

October Photo Prompt Contest Winner

"Lights Out" by David Robert Kozma

“Who’s killing?” asked Cadence. “Who’s recording?”

“Why can’t we both kill them,” replied Remington, his twin brother. “We both killed our unborn sibling.”

“There was no recorder in mom’s tummy. One of us has to record.”

“Let’s play rock, paper, scissors,” suggested Remington. “Winner kills.”

“That’ll take hours. We tie on everything.”

“Then, let’s play lights out. That’s how we decided on who killed our dog.”

Cadence and his brother grabbed their glass jack-o-lanterns and lit them in the backyard. They held them up to the wind. Whomever’s light went out first had to work the camera.

Strangely, the wind blew both lights out at the same time.

“We tied!” shouted Remington.

“Well, you got your wish. We’re both killing them.”

They each grabbed their weapon of choice from the garage. Cadence grabbed his dad’s hunting bow and Remington picked up an axe. They went inside, turned off the lights, and waited in the dark for their parents to get home. It wasn’t long before they heard footsteps approaching the front door. They assumed position as the door opened.

There stood Beverly, their sister, whom they strangled in their mother’s womb before they were born. An umbilical cord was raveled around her neck and her skin was blue. She held up her glass jack-o-lantern with the light still lit and said: “I win. Winner kills? Right?”

Screams of two young boys filled the night. Screams that would haunt the neighborhood for years to come.

1/8/16 1/8/16

State of the Industry: Contract Decoding

So you’ve just finished your latest book and, boy, is it a good one. You’ve got characters who jump off the page, an engaging plot, and you’re certain if you could get Bill Shakespeare, Stephen King, and Hemingway in the same room, they’d sing your praises ‘til the cows came home (They were at the river. It was there.). It’s time your baby bird flew the coup and landed safely in the arms of a competent publisher. But where do you start?

In this first of three installments, Milt Toby explores the ins-and-outs of the standard publication processes. As an accomplished author and attorney, Toby is better equipped to be your guide than most.

Contract Decoding (Part 1 of 3)
By Milt Toby

Making sense of a publishing contract is not for the faint of heart. Faced with page after page of mind-numbing legalese, nearly always written by the publisher’s attorneys, authors sometimes give up midway through the process. They throw up their hands in despair and sign on the dotted line with minimal understanding of the long-term commitments they are making. This is a mistake, a serious one that often cannot be rectified. Publishing contracts set the parameters for what often will be a long-term relationship between parties that may have competing interests in their respective approaches to selling books.

“I didn’t read the contract”, or “I read it, but I didn’t understand it”, or “it doesn’t mean what I thought it did” are common arguments from authors who want to get out of a contract. These arguments hardly ever carry any weight in court, however. A contract with an author’s signature carries with it the strong presumption that the author read the contract, understood it, and approved the terms.

Authors’ questions should be answered and their concerns resolved before, rather than after, signing the contract. Deciphering all the language in a typical publishing contract is beyond the scope of this article. For the same reason, the article will be limited to so-called “traditional” publishing contracts. Self-publishing, whether print, or ebook, or a combination of the two, has its own set of issues, as do the pay-to-play arrangements in which the author pays at least a share of the publisher’s expenses associated with getting a book in print. Instead, the focus here will be on a few of the most important contract clauses. Coincidently, these issues also are the ones that frequently cause problems for authors, the first of which will be explored in this installment:

the rights being sold;
getting paid;
warranties and indemnification.

Competing Interests

Fundamental to evaluating a publishing contract is an understanding of the nature of the relationship between an author and a publisher. While it is tempting to view that relationship as a partnership—and in some sense that characterization is a fair one—a publishing contract represents the competing interests of the two parties. The best deal for a publisher is one that maximizes profits while limiting potential liability in case of a lawsuit. Authors want the same things, maximum profit and minimal liability.

The parties’ goals tend to be mutually exclusive, however, and authors must understand that a contract drafted by a publisher’s attorneys is going to reflect the publisher’s interests and not necessarily the interests of the author. There is nothing unethical about this. It is a fact of life that an attorney’s obligation when representing a client is to protect the client’s interest. It also is a fact of life that authors (or their agents if they are lucky enough to have one) must protect their own interests in contract negotiations. There are no contract police that swoop in to protect an author’s interests.

The first step is figuring out exactly what the contract language really means.

Rights and Wrongs

Two questions matter the most to an author evaluating a publishing contract:

First, who really owns the rights to the manuscript?
Second, which rights are being sold?

The answer to the first question is not as obvious as it might seem. The default rule pursuant to Section 201(a) of the Copyright Act is that authors start out owning all rights to their work, beginning the moment the work is fixed in some tangible form. Copyright ownership is important because it allows an author to make money, either through self-publishing or through selling the publication rights to someone else. Publishing contracts typically require an author to warrant (legalese for “promise”) that she is the copyright owner and that she has the legal right to transfer those rights—more about potentially troublesome warranties later.

There are important exceptions to the general rule of copyright ownership that affect an author’s ability to earn money from her writing, however, including works made for hire and works produced by two or more contributors.

Work Made for Hire

If you write a book or magazine article as part of your job duties, as a staff writer for example, the employer, not the writer, is the “author” for copyright purposes. In this situation, which seldom applies to authors of fiction, the employer is the “author” and is the owner of the copyright. This means that the author of a work for hire, the individual who actually put words to paper, has no rights in the book or article.

Work for hire arrangements are most common in the newspaper and magazine publishing world. Work for hire language might appear in a book contract as well, though, and should raise a serious warning flag for authors.

Before signing a work for hire agreement, an author should weigh the effect of the clause—no rights in the resulting work—against the money (including royalties, if applicable) being offered by the publisher. A general rule of thumb is that the more rights being transferred, the more the author should be paid. A work for hire contract, in which all rights belong to the publisher from the start, should command the highest payment of all.

A contract that requires the author to transfer all rights to the publisher takes a different route to achieve the same effect as a work for hire agreement: although the author owns the copyright initially, the author winds up with no rights to the book. Authors should be wary of contracts that call for a transfer of “all rights,” “all world rights,” or something similar.

A question that sometimes arises involves registration of the copyright in the book. The contract should specify that the publisher will register the copyright for the book in the author’s name. With work for hire and all rights agreements, however, the copyright will be registered in the publisher’s name.

Collaborative Works

A second exception that can hamper an author’s ability to transfer rights in a book to an interested publisher arises when there is more than one author. Ownership of the copyright in a “joint work” is shared by the contributing authors, and problems can result if one co-author wants to sign a publishing contract and the other co-author does not. In such a situation, one of the joint authors may not have legal authority to act unilaterally when negotiating a publishing contract.

Authors considering a joint writing project should have a written agreement setting out their respective rights in the resulting work.

The answer to the second question—which rights are being sold—is more straightforward: the rights being sold are those specifically identified in the publishing contract. Corresponding language stating that all rights not specifically identified in the contract remain with the author always should be included in the contract.

The primary right, the most important one to both authors and publishers, is the right to actually publish the book. Typical language is “the exclusive right to publish the book for the first time in an English-language version” or something similar. Open-ended language, such as simply the “right to publish the book” should be avoided.

Everything else is a “subsidiary right.” These include electronic rights, serialization, book club editions, foreign language translations, audio recordings, Braille/large type, and film/television/radio/stage rights. Publishers generally ask for all subsidiary rights as a matter of course, and for many authors this is not a bad idea. The party in the best position to exploit a particular subsidiary right is the party that should have it, and this often will be the publisher. If, on the other hand, an author has a relative or friend with a high-powered job in Hollywood, for example, the author might want to retain performance rights. Publishing contracts typically call for a 50%-50% split between author and publisher for income from the sale of subsidiary rights.

Lessons Learned

Beyond the right to publish the book, with appropriate limitations to that right, there is no “correct” answer to which rights an author should transfer to a publisher. That is a business decision and an author should consult with an attorney, her agent, or other advisors familiar with publishing contracts for advice on whether the proposed contract accomplishes what it is supposed to do to protect the author’s interests.

In our next edition, Milt will explore one of the more popular aspects of publishing: getting paid.

Milt Toby is an attorney and award-winning author of nonfiction. He joined the Board of Directors of the American Society of Journalists and Authors in July, after several years as Chair of the ASJA Contracts & Conflicts Committee. The information in this article is presented for educational purposes only and is neither legal advice nor a solicitation for clients. For more information about Milt’s books, visit his website at www.miltonctoby.com.

1/8/16 1/8/16

State of the Industry: Contract Decoding

Contract Decoding (Part 1 of 3)
By Milt Toby

the rights being sold;
getting paid;
warranties and indemnification.

Competing Interests

The first step is figuring out exactly what the contract language really means.

Rights and Wrongs

Two questions matter the most to an author evaluating a publishing contract:

First, who really owns the rights to the manuscript?
Second, which rights are being sold?

Work Made for Hire

Collaborative Works

Authors considering a joint writing project should have a written agreement setting out their respective rights in the resulting work.

Lessons Learned

In our next edition, Milt will explore one of the more popular aspects of publishing: getting paid.

1/8/16 1/8/16

Featured Poetry: "Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole"

By Tim J. Conroy

Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole
Our minds should muse and blaze at end of day
Read, read against the sucking of the soul

All children at first brush know ads are trolls
Because the screen has plated sad clichés
Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole

Good beings, remote control, novels unsold
These lives might have rose with a Hemingway
Read, read against the sucking of the soul

Wild folk who played and sang the rock n roll
Staged the obituary of their day
Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole

Weaker ones, too dull, working rigmarole
Eyes reflect a dead character at play
Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole

So you, old friend, kindle a vital scroll
Draft, plot, type with your heartbeat, tear away
Do not stare blankly at that rabbit hole
Read, read against the sucking of the soul

1/4/16 1/4/16

Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson

We all need a healthy dose of reality. But what happens when the cold, hard facts of disappointment and failure start to overshadow the moments of happiness and victory? Can you make your own silver linings? This week’s guest blogger, author, professor, and psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, has known considerable success, but even his past triumphs and accolades weren’t enough to defeat debilitating self-doubt. He had to develop an entirely new set of tactics to get him through, and he’s here to teach you how to soldier on.

Happy reading!

Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine

Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson

When you started writing on a regular basis, did you think being an author would answer all your prayers, and you’d live happily ever after? Did you dream your book would be on bookstore shelves beside Lee Child, James Patterson, or Heather Graham? That it would hit number one on the bestsellers list and garner all the literary awards? That Steven Spielberg would beat down your door to sign your screenplay?

I did.

Were you perplexed to discover that nightmares come with the territory? Did an agent’s bludgeoning rejection, a publisher’s blast of disparagement, blistering reviews, no-shows at bookstore signings, deadline pressures, agonizing writer’s block, zero award nominations, and your own seismic rumble of self-doubt besiege you? And are you still waiting for Hollywood to call?

I am.

After dashed dreams, do you still love to write? If you have ink in your blood like me, you have to write. That’s what successful writers do. We persevere through literary storms, albeit bruised, bereft, and beleaguered. I’ve seen them: writers frazzled from publishing’s frenetic pace, spirits dead from unfulfilled hopes and stressful career demands. Empty shells, comatose, like zombies moving among the living.

I was one of them.

In the still and lonely hours before dawn, I plopped into the armchair, elbows digging into the knees of my ripped jeans. I dropped my head into my hands, grabbed a fistful of hair, and wept. That’s right. This grown man cried. After finishing my best mystery yet, or so I had thought, an editor I’d hired tore the plot to shreds. Rewrite after rewrite, dead-end after dead-end, confusion and frustration mired me. I wailed at the clock and shook my fist at the heavens, cursing, slamming things. Still, at every turn, I met one roadblock after another. Distraught, I didn’t know what else to do.

But cry.

Keep in mind, this wasn’t my first book. I had written thirty-five nonfiction and fiction books, tons of magazine and journal articles, blogs, and book chapters. I even won a few writing awards along the way. But I had never encountered that degree of writer’s hell. Those of us who are aspiring scribes know the publishing world is brutal—full of meteoric challenges, constant negativity, major setbacks, and devastating letdowns. Agents say the number one key to writing success—even more important than good writing—is perseverance, dogged determination in the face of disappointment.

One cruel fact of becoming a published author is that the mind’s negativity has a longer shelf life than positivity. I’ll bet you remember where you were on 9/11 but not the following week. Scientists say the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones to keep us out of harm’s way. It takes three positive thoughts to offset one negative thought. No wonder it’s difficult to remain hopeful and persevere in a publishing career bombarded with the same bad-news bias that keeps us safe.

But here’s the good news: Grass grows through concrete. When negativity strikes, you can bounce back by overriding your negative knee-jerk reactions and stacking your positivity deck. You can underestimate writing threats and overestimate writing possibilities with the same tried-and-true tips that have helped me navigate the ups-and-downs of a tumultuous publishing world, break free from the clutches of writing woes, and finish that murder mystery from hell:

1. Focus on the upside of downside situations. “I’ve hit a wall with my novel’s ending” becomes “Other than the ending, I’ve completed my novel and gotten promising feedback.”

2. Pinpoint opportunities contained in negative writing events. Ask, “How can I make this situation work to my advantage? Can I find something positive in it? What can I manage or overcome in this instance?”

3. Frame setbacks as lessons to learn, not failures to endure. Ask what you can learn from difficult writing outcomes and use them as stepping-stones, instead of roadblocks.

4. Broaden your scope. Look beyond rejection, put on your wide-angle lens, and let your love of writing steer you beyond the gloom.

5. Be chancy. Take small risks in new situations instead of predicting negative outcomes before giving them a try. “If I agree to be on a panel at Killer Nashville, I might fall flat on my face” becomes “If I participate on a panel, I might get to network with other writers and promote my murder mystery.”

6. Avoid blowing situations out of proportion. Don’t let one negative experience rule your whole life pattern: “I didn’t sell my novel, so now I’ll never be a published author” becomes “I didn’t sell the novel, but there are many more pathways to getting it published.”

7. Focus on the solution, not the problem. You’ll feel more empowered to cope with writing’s curveballs when you step away from the problem and brainstorm a wide range of possibilities.

8. Practice positive self-talk. After big writing letdowns, underscore your triumphs and high-five your “tallcomings” instead of bludgeoning yourself with your “shortcomings.”

9. Hang out with positive people. Optimism is contagious. When you surround yourself with optimistic people, positivity rubs off.

10. Strive to see the fresh starts contained in your losses. Every time you get up just one more time than you fall, your perseverance increases the likelihood of propelling your mystery to the top of the charts.

Bryan E. Robinson is a novelist, psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored thirty-five nonfiction books that have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery won multiple awards, and his work has been featured on every major television network. He maintains a private clinical practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has completed the sequel to Limestone Gumption, She’ll Be KILLING Round the Mountain, and is working on the third installment, Michael Row the BODY Ashore. Visit his website: www.bryanrobinsonnovels.com or email him at info@bryanrobinsonnovels.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, 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 be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.

*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. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.

1/4/16 1/4/16

Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson

Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson

I did.

I am.

I was one of them.

But cry.

1. Focus on the upside of downside situations. “I’ve hit a wall with my novel’s ending” becomes “Other than the ending, I’ve completed my novel and gotten promising feedback.”

3. Frame setbacks as lessons to learn, not failures to endure. Ask what you can learn from difficult writing outcomes and use them as stepping-stones, instead of roadblocks.

4. Broaden your scope. Look beyond rejection, put on your wide-angle lens, and let your love of writing steer you beyond the gloom.

7. Focus on the solution, not the problem. You’ll feel more empowered to cope with writing’s curveballs when you step away from the problem and brainstorm a wide range of possibilities.

8. Practice positive self-talk. After big writing letdowns, underscore your triumphs and high-five your “tallcomings” instead of bludgeoning yourself with your “shortcomings.”

9. Hang out with positive people. Optimism is contagious. When you surround yourself with optimistic people, positivity rubs off.

Bryan E. Robinson is a novelist, psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored thirty-five nonfiction books that have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery won multiple awards, and his work has been featured on every major television network. He maintains a private clinical practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has completed the sequel to Limestone Gumption, She’ll Be KILLING Round the Mountain, and is working on the third installment, Michael Row the BODY Ashore. Visit his website: www.bryanrobinsonnovels.com or email him at info@bryanrobinsonnovels.com

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Thanks to Tom Wood, 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 be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.

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Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson

Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson

I did.

I am.

I was one of them.

But cry.