KN Magazine: Articles
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing … Maybe? / Claire Applewhite
It’s much too easy to find oneself wrapped up in the work of being an author. Writing has its own set of demands, and today’s authors are expected to also function as editors, publicists, marketing strategists, researchers—you name it. But, as any good writer can tell you, the payoff is in those moments where fantasy and reality intersect. It’s in these moments that inspiration strikes and the writing flourishes.
In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Claire Applewhite explores what it means enter into that give-and-take between the real and imagined.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Sooner or later, if a writer is fortunate, it happens. I’m referring to that magic moment when your hero rises up from the ashes. I’m talking about a connection.
I’m talking about 3:30 a.m., and you need answers. Suddenly, they appear.
You may not notice that you don’t notice. You may continue to type. Secretly, you might even rejoice that this human wannabe is finally pulling its own weight. You were beginning to wonder about that, I know. I know, because the same thoughts occurred to me, but, I digress.
I was, I thought, well acquainted with my Vietnam vet-turned-PI, Elvin Suggs. After all I’d put him through in The Wrong Side of Memphis, what else could happen to him? Oh, did I have a lot to learn!
The year was 2011. For a while, I had been researching the history of Coral Courts, a St. Louis no-tell motel. It seemed like the perfect place for a murder mystery setting. Why? Each bungalow had its own garage and private entrance. Of course, the motel staff was expected to exercise discretion.
I don’t struggle with writer’s block, nor do I wait for inspiration.to write. I have a goal of five pages a day, and that is my guideline. Around 3:45 one morning, I was trying to decide where Elvin Suggs was going after losing another round with Dimond “Di” Redding. My second book, St. Louis Hustle, was halfway complete, and yet I felt weary and frustrated. “C’mon Elvin,” I said, “what do you really want?’ In that isolated moment, I felt a presence I couldn't explain. Suddenly, I knew exactly where Elvin was going. Three months later, the first draft of St. Louis Hustle was finished! Still, I wanted to know: who provided the answer?
Faced with a quirky question without answers, I did what I usually do in such a pressing situation. I asked Google. It turns out, Elvin Suggs got himself a sweet spot on the Thrilling Detective website. Yes, he did. All by his lonesome.
And, he never told me.
I sensed my rising indignation. This was news! Why didn’t Elvin tell me?
FACT: Elvin Suggs is not a real man.
FACT: Elvin Suggs cannot talk.
Still, he could give me his new address. When is he most likely to visit? I’ve noticed a pattern: I am usually alone, it is typically around 4:00 a.m., and like a sizzling skillet waiting for a steak, the world that Elvin is about to enter is tense, threatening, and entirely too hot.
A writer that I admire once told me that she never had to rewrite anything that she wrote at three o’clock in the morning. I, too, have found that claim to be true. Indeed, a physician once observed that many critically ill patients expire between three and five a.m. At this time, in his opinion, the veil between the physical world and the supernatural is at its thinnest; those who might seek protection from demons are in a most vulnerable state. I know that if I am searching for answers, somehow they will be there if the setting feels alive, the action crackles with tension, and the characters possess a certain intrigue. Elvin is most likely to appear when a petite blonde arrives on the scene. Any scene will do, by the way.
And there is something else. One must disconnect from the known to connect with the unknown. After all, there is no need to engage the imagination to observe the familiar. The insight that allows the imagination to create something out of nothing demands a stiff tariff: an exchange of reality for stardust, the stuff that dreams are made of. So, dream on—until your dream comes true—or talks back.
Shore 'nuf.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing … Maybe? / Claire Applewhite
It’s much too easy to find oneself wrapped up in the work of being an author. Writing has its own set of demands, and today’s authors are expected to also function as editors, publicists, marketing strategists, researchers—you name it. But, as any good writer can tell you, the payoff is in those moments where fantasy and reality intersect. It’s in these moments that inspiration strikes and the writing flourishes.
In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Claire Applewhite explores what it means enter into that give-and-take between the real and imagined.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Sooner or later, if a writer is fortunate, it happens. I’m referring to that magic moment when your hero rises up from the ashes. I’m talking about a connection.
I’m talking about 3:30 a.m., and you need answers. Suddenly, they appear.
You may not notice that you don’t notice. You may continue to type. Secretly, you might even rejoice that this human wannabe is finally pulling its own weight. You were beginning to wonder about that, I know. I know, because the same thoughts occurred to me, but, I digress.
I was, I thought, well acquainted with my Vietnam vet-turned-PI, Elvin Suggs. After all I’d put him through in The Wrong Side of Memphis, what else could happen to him? Oh, did I have a lot to learn!
The year was 2011. For a while, I had been researching the history of Coral Courts, a St. Louis no-tell motel. It seemed like the perfect place for a murder mystery setting. Why? Each bungalow had its own garage and private entrance. Of course, the motel staff was expected to exercise discretion.
I don’t struggle with writer’s block, nor do I wait for inspiration.to write. I have a goal of five pages a day, and that is my guideline. Around 3:45 one morning, I was trying to decide where Elvin Suggs was going after losing another round with Dimond “Di” Redding. My second book, St. Louis Hustle, was halfway complete, and yet I felt weary and frustrated. “C’mon Elvin,” I said, “what do you really want?’ In that isolated moment, I felt a presence I couldn't explain. Suddenly, I knew exactly where Elvin was going. Three months later, the first draft of St. Louis Hustle was finished! Still, I wanted to know: who provided the answer?
Faced with a quirky question without answers, I did what I usually do in such a pressing situation. I asked Google. It turns out, Elvin Suggs got himself a sweet spot on the Thrilling Detective website. Yes, he did. All by his lonesome.
And, he never told me.
I sensed my rising indignation. This was news! Why didn’t Elvin tell me?
FACT: Elvin Suggs is not a real man.
FACT: Elvin Suggs cannot talk.
Still, he could give me his new address. When is he most likely to visit? I’ve noticed a pattern: I am usually alone, it is typically around 4:00 a.m., and like a sizzling skillet waiting for a steak, the world that Elvin is about to enter is tense, threatening, and entirely too hot.
A writer that I admire once told me that she never had to rewrite anything that she wrote at three o’clock in the morning. I, too, have found that claim to be true. Indeed, a physician once observed that many critically ill patients expire between three and five a.m. At this time, in his opinion, the veil between the physical world and the supernatural is at its thinnest; those who might seek protection from demons are in a most vulnerable state. I know that if I am searching for answers, somehow they will be there if the setting feels alive, the action crackles with tension, and the characters possess a certain intrigue. Elvin is most likely to appear when a petite blonde arrives on the scene. Any scene will do, by the way.
And there is something else. One must disconnect from the known to connect with the unknown. After all, there is no need to engage the imagination to observe the familiar. The insight that allows the imagination to create something out of nothing demands a stiff tariff: an exchange of reality for stardust, the stuff that dreams are made of. So, dream on—until your dream comes true—or talks back.
Shore 'nuf.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing … Maybe? / Claire Applewhite
It’s much too easy to find oneself wrapped up in the work of being an author. Writing has its own set of demands, and today’s authors are expected to also function as editors, publicists, marketing strategists, researchers—you name it. But, as any good writer can tell you, the payoff is in those moments where fantasy and reality intersect. It’s in these moments that inspiration strikes and the writing flourishes.
In this week’s Killer Nashville Guest Blog, author Claire Applewhite explores what it means enter into that give-and-take between the real and imagined.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Sooner or later, if a writer is fortunate, it happens. I’m referring to that magic moment when your hero rises up from the ashes. I’m talking about a connection.
I’m talking about 3:30 a.m., and you need answers. Suddenly, they appear.
You may not notice that you don’t notice. You may continue to type. Secretly, you might even rejoice that this human wannabe is finally pulling its own weight. You were beginning to wonder about that, I know. I know, because the same thoughts occurred to me, but, I digress.
I was, I thought, well acquainted with my Vietnam vet-turned-PI, Elvin Suggs. After all I’d put him through in The Wrong Side of Memphis, what else could happen to him? Oh, did I have a lot to learn!
The year was 2011. For a while, I had been researching the history of Coral Courts, a St. Louis no-tell motel. It seemed like the perfect place for a murder mystery setting. Why? Each bungalow had its own garage and private entrance. Of course, the motel staff was expected to exercise discretion.
I don’t struggle with writer’s block, nor do I wait for inspiration.to write. I have a goal of five pages a day, and that is my guideline. Around 3:45 one morning, I was trying to decide where Elvin Suggs was going after losing another round with Dimond “Di” Redding. My second book, St. Louis Hustle, was halfway complete, and yet I felt weary and frustrated. “C’mon Elvin,” I said, “what do you really want?’ In that isolated moment, I felt a presence I couldn't explain. Suddenly, I knew exactly where Elvin was going. Three months later, the first draft of St. Louis Hustle was finished! Still, I wanted to know: who provided the answer?
Faced with a quirky question without answers, I did what I usually do in such a pressing situation. I asked Google. It turns out, Elvin Suggs got himself a sweet spot on the Thrilling Detective website. Yes, he did. All by his lonesome.
And, he never told me.
I sensed my rising indignation. This was news! Why didn’t Elvin tell me?
FACT: Elvin Suggs is not a real man.
FACT: Elvin Suggs cannot talk.
Still, he could give me his new address. When is he most likely to visit? I’ve noticed a pattern: I am usually alone, it is typically around 4:00 a.m., and like a sizzling skillet waiting for a steak, the world that Elvin is about to enter is tense, threatening, and entirely too hot.
A writer that I admire once told me that she never had to rewrite anything that she wrote at three o’clock in the morning. I, too, have found that claim to be true. Indeed, a physician once observed that many critically ill patients expire between three and five a.m. At this time, in his opinion, the veil between the physical world and the supernatural is at its thinnest; those who might seek protection from demons are in a most vulnerable state. I know that if I am searching for answers, somehow they will be there if the setting feels alive, the action crackles with tension, and the characters possess a certain intrigue. Elvin is most likely to appear when a petite blonde arrives on the scene. Any scene will do, by the way.
And there is something else. One must disconnect from the known to connect with the unknown. After all, there is no need to engage the imagination to observe the familiar. The insight that allows the imagination to create something out of nothing demands a stiff tariff: an exchange of reality for stardust, the stuff that dreams are made of. So, dream on—until your dream comes true—or talks back.
Shore 'nuf.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
The Thrill of the Kill / Merry Jones
Writing in the thriller genre is an experience unlike any other. Not only do we get our reader's palms sweaty and their hearts racing, but we often times get our adrenaline pumping while we write! As the excitement peaks we find ourselves ticking ever-harder at the keys until, before we know it, we have knocked out a few pages of thrilling literature. This week's guest blogger, Merry Jones, discusses her experience with trying to write a murder free thriller.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In 2016, after writing a dozen thrillers, I decided to try something new: writing a book that didn’t include a single murder. I was going to switch it up and produce a novel that focused more on nuances of character than on twists of plot, more on relationships and society than on renegades and sociopaths.
I started out optimistic and fresh. With great enthusiasm, I followed the protagonist through her days, traced her routine, her interactions with husband, children, mother, friends and rivals. I let her inner life unfold, revealed her motivations, thoughts and, gradually, her backstory. I planted seeds of conflict in more than one of her relationships.
I made it almost to a hundred pages of Child’s Play (January 2017) before I had to kill somebody. I couldn’t hold out any longer. Couldn’t help it.
In a frenzy of fingers on keyboard, I dispatched the victim in a particularly nasty way. And I didn’t regret it. In fact, I felt satisfied. Enormously relieved.
As thriller writers, maybe you understand. Without murder or mayhem, the work seemed flat and dull. And not only that. I admit it: I enjoyed the kill.
Was it wrong? A weakness on my part? Does the murder reflect my dark world-view or something twisted in my psyche? Why couldn’t I write a murder-free book? With a universe of choices, why do I persist in choosing plots in which the protagonist faces violence and merciless, brutal slaughter?
Certainly there is drama that doesn’t involve killing. People suffer non-lethal dilemmas. They make bad choices. They have character flaws. Lose their wealth, health, dreams, innocence and sanity. Get betrayed by lovers, friends, spouses, and partners. Villains can be serial swindlers, serial liars or serial losers. They don’t have to be serial killers.
Even thrillers, theoretically, can be written without a homicide. Coups, conspiracies, contaminations and kidnappings are just a few crimes that can be conducted without a drop of blood. Clearly, countless volumes of great murder-free literature — including some of our genre — have been written through the centuries.
So why couldn’t I write just one. Why on page 97 was I compelled to kill the protagonist’s best friend?
It wasn’t just because of her nasal voice or the perpetually perfect highlights in her hair. Nor was it her compulsion to brag and one-up. No. The killing wasn’t about the victim. It was about me, my need to off somebody.
After days of disappointment in myself for not achieving my murderless manuscript goal, I’ve come up with some theories about why I failed. I wonder if any of you will relate.
The Game. For me, writing involves engaging in a game with readers. That game requires my characters to be caught up in a high stakes puzzle that they, along with the readers, are racing the clock to solve. Along the way, readers vicariously experience the characters’ risks and dangers. The greater the risks and the higher the stakes of failure, the more urgent solving the puzzle becomes. And the highest stake is the ultimate price: getting killed. I like urgent, so I set the stakes high.
Deity Complex. Writing about murder and death puts me in charge of mortality, at least in the world of the book. As far as the characters are concerned, I am God, the creator and destroyer, the one with the power to decide who lives, who dies. Even if it’s fiction, being God is a pretty good gig. And in that small pretend world for the short time it’s in my hands, death becomes manageable, controllable. Even sometimes sensible.
I get to see inside the bad guys. Because they are human, good villains (not an oxymoron) are not simply embodiments of evil. Like all of us, they are capable of both “good” and “bad” behavior. Their traits and motivations exist to some degree in of all of us, thus pressing readers--and the writer--to confront our own potentials for badness. But without committing dire and disturbing acts like murder, villains pale. The less daunting their choice of behavior, the less demanding its effect on readers—and the writer.
Finally, as a female, I like to create female protagonists who resist the traditional socio-political roles of passive, weak and vulnerable victims. By standing up to murderers, winning battles with the highest stakes, destroying or even killing villains, these fictional females can serve as metaphors for real women—and anyone else who has struggled to survive and/or defeat injustice, brutality and misfortune.
These are the rationales I’ve come up with for killing my characters. Do any of them apply to you?
Merry Jones is a versatile author, having written suspense novels, thrillers, mysteries, humor and non-fiction. Jones lives outside of Philadelphia where she teaches creative writing, belongs to many writing organizations including the Philadelphia Liars Club, and sculls on the Schuylkill River. Her third novel in the Elle Harrison thrillers series, Child’s Play, was released in January 2017. Reach her at merryjones.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
The Thrill of the Kill / Merry Jones
Writing in the thriller genre is an experience unlike any other. Not only do we get our reader's palms sweaty and their hearts racing, but we often times get our adrenaline pumping while we write! As the excitement peaks we find ourselves ticking ever-harder at the keys until, before we know it, we have knocked out a few pages of thrilling literature. This week's guest blogger, Merry Jones, discusses her experience with trying to write a murder free thriller.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In 2016, after writing a dozen thrillers, I decided to try something new: writing a book that didn’t include a single murder. I was going to switch it up and produce a novel that focused more on nuances of character than on twists of plot, more on relationships and society than on renegades and sociopaths.
I started out optimistic and fresh. With great enthusiasm, I followed the protagonist through her days, traced her routine, her interactions with husband, children, mother, friends and rivals. I let her inner life unfold, revealed her motivations, thoughts and, gradually, her backstory. I planted seeds of conflict in more than one of her relationships.
I made it almost to a hundred pages of Child’s Play (January 2017) before I had to kill somebody. I couldn’t hold out any longer. Couldn’t help it.
In a frenzy of fingers on keyboard, I dispatched the victim in a particularly nasty way. And I didn’t regret it. In fact, I felt satisfied. Enormously relieved.
As thriller writers, maybe you understand. Without murder or mayhem, the work seemed flat and dull. And not only that. I admit it: I enjoyed the kill.
Was it wrong? A weakness on my part? Does the murder reflect my dark world-view or something twisted in my psyche? Why couldn’t I write a murder-free book? With a universe of choices, why do I persist in choosing plots in which the protagonist faces violence and merciless, brutal slaughter?
Certainly there is drama that doesn’t involve killing. People suffer non-lethal dilemmas. They make bad choices. They have character flaws. Lose their wealth, health, dreams, innocence and sanity. Get betrayed by lovers, friends, spouses, and partners. Villains can be serial swindlers, serial liars or serial losers. They don’t have to be seria
l killers.
Even thrillers, theoretically, can be written without a homicide. Coups, conspiracies, contaminations and kidnappings are just a few crimes that can be conducted without a drop of blood. Clearly, countless volumes of great murder-free literature — including some of our genre — have been written through the centuries.
So why couldn’t I write just one. Why on page 97 was I compelled to kill the protagonist’s best friend?
It wasn’t just because of her nasal voice or the perpetually perfect highlights in her hair. Nor was it her compulsion to brag and one-up. No. The killing wasn’t about the victim. It was about me, my need to off somebody.
After days of disappointment in myself for not achieving my murderless manuscript goal, I’ve come up with some theories about why I failed. I wonder if any of you will relate.
- The Game. For me, writing involves engaging in a game with readers. That game requires my characters to be caught up in a high stakes puzzle that they, along with the readers, are racing the clock to solve. Along the way, readers vicariously experience the characters’ risks and dangers. The greater the risks and the higher the stakes of failure, the more urgent solving the puzzle becomes. And the highest stake is the ultimate price: getting killed. I like urgent, so I set the stakes high.
- Deity Complex. Writing about murder and death puts me in charge of mortality, at least in the world of the book. As far as the characters are concerned, I am God, the creator and destroyer, the one with the power to decide who lives, who dies. Even if it’s fiction, being God is a pretty good gig. And in that small pretend world for the short time it’s in my hands, death becomes manageable, controllable. Even sometimes sensible.
- I get to see inside the bad guys. Because they are human, good villains (not an oxymoron) are not simply embodiments of evil. Like all of us, they are capable of both “good” and “bad” behavior. Their traits and motivations exist to some degree in of all of us, thus pressing readers--and the writer--to confront our own potentials for badness. But without committing dire and disturbing acts like murder, villains pale. The less daunting their choice of behavior, the less demanding its effect on readers—and the writer.
- Finally, as a female, I like to create female protagonists who resist the traditional socio-political roles of passive, weak and vulnerable victims. By standing up to murderers, winning battles with the highest stakes, destroying or even killing villains, these fictional females can serve as metaphors for real women—and anyone else who has struggled to survive and/or defeat injustice, brutality and misfortune.
These are the rationales I’ve come up with for killing my characters. Do any of them apply to you?
Merry Jones is a versatile author, having written suspense novels, thrillers, mysteries, humor and non-fiction. Jones lives outside of Philadelphia where she teaches creative writing, belongs to many writing organizations including the Philadelphia Liars Club, and sculls on the Schuylkill River. Her third novel in the Elle Harrison thrillers series, Child’s Play, was released in January 2017. Reach her at merryjones.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
The Thrill of the Kill / Merry Jones
Writing in the thriller genre is an experience unlike any other. Not only do we get our reader's palms sweaty and their hearts racing, but we often times get our adrenaline pumping while we write! As the excitement peaks we find ourselves ticking ever-harder at the keys until, before we know it, we have knocked out a few pages of thrilling literature. This week's guest blogger, Merry Jones, discusses her experience with trying to write a murder free thriller.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In 2016, after writing a dozen thrillers, I decided to try something new: writing a book that didn’t include a single murder. I was going to switch it up and produce a novel that focused more on nuances of character than on twists of plot, more on relationships and society than on renegades and sociopaths.
I started out optimistic and fresh. With great enthusiasm, I followed the protagonist through her days, traced her routine, her interactions with husband, children, mother, friends and rivals. I let her inner life unfold, revealed her motivations, thoughts and, gradually, her backstory. I planted seeds of conflict in more than one of her relationships.
I made it almost to a hundred pages of Child’s Play (January 2017) before I had to kill somebody. I couldn’t hold out any longer. Couldn’t help it.
In a frenzy of fingers on keyboard, I dispatched the victim in a particularly nasty way. And I didn’t regret it. In fact, I felt satisfied. Enormously relieved.
As thriller writers, maybe you understand. Without murder or mayhem, the work seemed flat and dull. And not only that. I admit it: I enjoyed the kill.
Was it wrong? A weakness on my part? Does the murder reflect my dark world-view or something twisted in my psyche? Why couldn’t I write a murder-free book? With a universe of choices, why do I persist in choosing plots in which the protagonist faces violence and merciless, brutal slaughter?
Certainly there is drama that doesn’t involve killing. People suffer non-lethal dilemmas. They make bad choices. They have character flaws. Lose their wealth, health, dreams, innocence and sanity. Get betrayed by lovers, friends, spouses, and partners. Villains can be serial swindlers, serial liars or serial losers. They don’t have to be seria
l killers.
Even thrillers, theoretically, can be written without a homicide. Coups, conspiracies, contaminations and kidnappings are just a few crimes that can be conducted without a drop of blood. Clearly, countless volumes of great murder-free literature — including some of our genre — have been written through the centuries.
So why couldn’t I write just one. Why on page 97 was I compelled to kill the protagonist’s best friend?
It wasn’t just because of her nasal voice or the perpetually perfect highlights in her hair. Nor was it her compulsion to brag and one-up. No. The killing wasn’t about the victim. It was about me, my need to off somebody.
After days of disappointment in myself for not achieving my murderless manuscript goal, I’ve come up with some theories about why I failed. I wonder if any of you will relate.
- The Game. For me, writing involves engaging in a game with readers. That game requires my characters to be caught up in a high stakes puzzle that they, along with the readers, are racing the clock to solve. Along the way, readers vicariously experience the characters’ risks and dangers. The greater the risks and the higher the stakes of failure, the more urgent solving the puzzle becomes. And the highest stake is the ultimate price: getting killed. I like urgent, so I set the stakes high.
- Deity Complex. Writing about murder and death puts me in charge of mortality, at least in the world of the book. As far as the characters are concerned, I am God, the creator and destroyer, the one with the power to decide who lives, who dies. Even if it’s fiction, being God is a pretty good gig. And in that small pretend world for the short time it’s in my hands, death becomes manageable, controllable. Even sometimes sensible.
- I get to see inside the bad guys. Because they are human, good villains (not an oxymoron) are not simply embodiments of evil. Like all of us, they are capable of both “good” and “bad” behavior. Their traits and motivations exist to some degree in of all of us, thus pressing readers--and the writer--to confront our own potentials for badness. But without committing dire and disturbing acts like murder, villains pale. The less daunting their choice of behavior, the less demanding its effect on readers—and the writer.
- Finally, as a female, I like to create female protagonists who resist the traditional socio-political roles of passive, weak and vulnerable victims. By standing up to murderers, winning battles with the highest stakes, destroying or even killing villains, these fictional females can serve as metaphors for real women—and anyone else who has struggled to survive and/or defeat injustice, brutality and misfortune.
These are the rationales I’ve come up with for killing my characters. Do any of them apply to you?
Merry Jones is a versatile author, having written suspense novels, thrillers, mysteries, humor and non-fiction. Jones lives outside of Philadelphia where she teaches creative writing, belongs to many writing organizations including the Philadelphia Liars Club, and sculls on the Schuylkill River. Her third novel in the Elle Harrison thrillers series, Child’s Play, was released in January 2017. Reach her at merryjones.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Characters in Our Lives Are Characters in Our Books / Tim O’Mara
The process of creating characters is something all writers must go through. Building a personality from the ground up can prove to be a daunting task! So don't do it. Build on solid foundations that you already have. Making a character based on someone that you know, or even you yourself, can help you make a more realistic character that you can be consistent with. This week's Killer Nashville guest blogger, Tim O'Mara, discuses his process of character creation.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
“…any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, … events, or locales is entirely coincidental.”
And if you believe that, I know a very nice bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in purchasing.
If it weren’t for actual persons—those who’ve passed and those still with us—actual events, or locales, my Raymond Donne series (the fourth of which, Nasty Cutter, from Severn House, will hit the bookshelves this fall in the UK and January 1, 2017, in the U.S.) would never have seen the ink on paper. Raymond, himself, is based on my brother, the cop, and me, the public schoolteacher. Many of the people who’ve crossed our paths are also depicted in these novels—that’s one of the beauties of “composite characters”—though I’ve been careful enough to fictionalize them enough in order to limit any interaction with attorneys.
“Aggie,” the lead character in Smoked, my novella in the trilogy Triple Shot from Down & Out Books, is based to some extent on someone in my life. I’m pretty sure this person doesn’t read all that much, but even if he (or she) does, he (or she) would have to admit to participating in some pretty shady—and illegal—actual events in order to prove I’d crossed the line between fiction and real life. And although Smoked takes place in an unnamed Midwestern state—here are two hints: it borders Illinois and has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the country—it should be pretty clear to residents of that state where I’m writing about. Its rivers and creeks make it one of my favorite places to travel as well as a natural setting for the story.
And although I’m not a big fan of the person who may or may not “resemble” Aggie, as an author I know I can’t have a lead character who is completely devoid of positive characteristics or likeability. I go out of my way to give Aggie a way to justify his existence before he passes from this mortal coil, an opportunity to show the world—fictional in this case—that it’s not all about him, and he does have the ability to put others before himself. I wish his real-word counterpart would do as much, but I haven’t seen or heard of it happening as of yet.
As a writer of crime fiction, if I didn’t have people such as Aggie in my life, I’d have to make them up from whole cloth. Not only is that harder to do, it’s not nearly as much fun. I’m not just talking about the folks who skirt—and sometimes go over—the edges of the law. I also need those who do things worth writing about. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Interesting people do interesting things.” And hey, if it’s good enough for the Master of Suspense, it’s good enough for me.
Aggie, by deciding to break into his ex-wife’s house at the opening of Smoked to get what he wants, has unwittingly put himself in an interesting situation, one which will introduce him to more interesting people doing a bunch of interesting stuff that will eventually fill a thirty thousand-plus-word novella. The fun part for me—not being one who outlines—came from not knowing who Aggie was going to meet and exactly what he’d have to do to come out on the other side. (Or does he?) He may not have had a good time, but I did—and hope the reader will as well.
There’s a famous quote—often and not accurately attributed to the Chinese—that says, “May you live in interesting times.” No matter where the quote comes from, it’s one that all writers—not just of crime fiction—would do well to keep in mind. We do live in interesting times, surrounded by interesting people. It’s our job as fictional world creators to stay aware in these times, and choose those events we’d like to write about. Yes, this will also include using “actual persons, living or dead,” but just enough to keep their “coincidental” resemblance from turning into actual litigation. That would be an interesting time I’d rather not live through.
Tim O’Mara has been teaching math and special education in New York City public schools since 1987, yet he is best known for his Raymond Donne mysteries about an ex-cop who now teaches in the same Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood he once policed: Sacrifice Fly (2012), Crooked Numbers (2013), Dead Red (2015), Nasty Cutter (January 2017). His short story, The Tip, is featured in the 2016 anthology Unloaded. The anthology’s proceeds benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence. His most recent project is Triple Shot (2016), a novella featuring fellow authors Ross Klavan and Charles Salzberg.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Characters in Our Lives Are Characters in Our Books / Tim O’Mara
The process of creating characters is something all writers must go through. Building a personality from the ground up can prove to be a daunting task! So don't do it. Build on solid foundations that you already have. Making a character based on someone that you know, or even you yourself, can help you make a more realistic character that you can be consistent with. This week's Killer Nashville guest blogger, Tim O'Mara, discuses his process of character creation.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
“…any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, … events, or locales is entirely coincidental.”
And if you believe that, I know a very nice bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in purchasing.
If it weren’t for actual persons—those who’ve passed and those still with us—actual events, or locales, my Raymond Donne series (the fourth of which, Nasty Cutter, from Severn House, will hit the bookshelves this fall in the UK and January 1, 2017, in the U.S.) would never have seen the ink on paper. Raymond, himself, is based on my brother, the cop, and me, the public schoolteacher. Many of the people who’ve crossed our paths are also depicted in these novels—that’s one of the beauties of “composite characters”—though I’ve been careful enough to fictionalize them enough in order to limit any interaction with attorneys.
“Aggie,” the lead character in Smoked, my novella in the trilogy Triple Shot from Down & Out Books, is based to some extent on someone in my life. I’m pretty sure this person doesn’t read all that much, but even if he (or she) does, he (or she) would have to admit to participating in some pretty shady—and illegal—actual events in order to prove I’d crossed the line between fiction and real life. And although Smoked takes place in an unnamed Midwestern state—here are two hints: it borders Illinois and has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the country—it should be pretty clear to residents of that state where I’m writing about. Its rivers and creeks make it one of my favorite places to travel as well as a natural setting for the story.
And although I’m not a big fan of the person who may or may not “resemble” Aggie, as an author I know I can’t have a lead character who is completely devoid of positive characteristics or likeability. I go out of my way to give Aggie a way to justify his existence before he passes from this mortal coil, an opportunity to show the world—fictional in this case—that it’s not all about him, and he does have the ability to put others before himself. I wish his real-word counterpart would do as much, but I haven’t seen or heard of it happening as of yet.
As a writer of crime fiction, if I didn’t have people such as Aggie in my life, I’d have to make them up from whole cloth. Not only is that harder to do, it’s not nearly as much fun. I’m not just talking about the folks who skirt—and sometimes go over—the edges of the law. I also need those who do things worth writing about. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Interesting people do interesting things.” And hey, if it’s good enough for the Master of Suspense, it’s good enough for me.
Aggie, by deciding to break into his ex-wife’s house at the opening of Smoked to get what he wants, has unwittingly put himself in an interesting situation, one which will introduce him to more interesting people doing a bunch of interesting stuff that will eventually fill a thirty thousand-plus-word novella. The fun part for me—not being one who outlines—came from not knowing who Aggie was going to meet and exactly what he’d have to do to come out on the other side. (Or does he?) He may not have had a good time, but I did—and hope the reader will as well.
There’s a famous quote—often and not accurately attributed to the Chinese—that says, “May you live in interesting times.” No matter where the quote comes from, it’s one that all writers—not just of crime fiction—would do well to keep in mind. We do live in interesting times, surrounded by interesting people. It’s our job as fictional world creators to stay aware in these times, and choose those events we’d like to write about. Yes, this will also include using “actual persons, living or dead,” but just enough to keep their “coincidental” resemblance from turning into actual litigation. That would be an interesting time I’d rather not live through.
Tim O’Mara has been teaching math and special education in New York City public schools since 1987, yet he is best known for his Raymond Donne mysteries about an ex-cop who now teaches in the same Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood he once policed: Sacrifice Fly (2012), Crooked Numbers (2013), Dead Red (2015), Nasty Cutter (January 2017). His short story, The Tip, is featured in the 2016 anthology Unloaded. The anthology’s proceeds benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence. His most recent project is Triple Shot (2016), a novella featuring fellow authors Ross Klavan and Charles Salzberg.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Characters in Our Lives Are Characters in Our Books / Tim O’Mara
The process of creating characters is something all writers must go through. Building a personality from the ground up can prove to be a daunting task! So don't do it. Build on solid foundations that you already have. Making a character based on someone that you know, or even you yourself, can help you make a more realistic character that you can be consistent with. This week's Killer Nashville guest blogger, Tim O'Mara, discuses his process of character creation.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
“…any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, … events, or locales is entirely coincidental.”
And if you believe that, I know a very nice bridge in Brooklyn you might be interested in purchasing.
If it weren’t for actual persons—those who’ve passed and those still with us—actual events, or locales, my Raymond Donne series (the fourth of which, Nasty Cutter, from Severn House, will hit the bookshelves this fall in the UK and January 1, 2017, in the U.S.) would never have seen the ink on paper. Raymond, himself, is based on my brother, the cop, and me, the public schoolteacher. Many of the people who’ve crossed our paths are also depicted in these novels—that’s one of the beauties of “composite characters”—though I’ve been careful enough to fictionalize them enough in order to limit any interaction with attorneys.
“Aggie,” the lead character in Smoked, my novella in the trilogy Triple Shot from Down & Out Books, is based to some extent on someone in my life. I’m pretty sure this person doesn’t read all that much, but even if he (or she) does, he (or she) would have to admit to participating in some pretty shady—and illegal—actual events in order to prove I’d crossed the line between fiction and real life. And although Smoked takes place in an unnamed Midwestern state—here are two hints: it borders Illinois and has one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the country—it should be pretty clear to residents of that state where I’m writing about. Its rivers and creeks make it one of my favorite places to travel as well as a natural setting for the story.
And although I’m not a big fan of the person who may or may not “resemble” Aggie, as an author I know I can’t have a lead character who is completely devoid of positive characteristics or likeability. I go out of my way to give Aggie a way to justify his existence before he passes from this mortal coil, an opportunity to show the world—fictional in this case—that it’s not all about him, and he does have the ability to put others before himself. I wish his real-word counterpart would do as much, but I haven’t seen or heard of it happening as of yet.
As a writer of crime fiction, if I didn’t have people such as Aggie in my life, I’d have to make them up from whole cloth. Not only is that harder to do, it’s not nearly as much fun. I’m not just talking about the folks who skirt—and sometimes go over—the edges of the law. I also need those who do things worth writing about. Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Interesting people do interesting things.” And hey, if it’s good enough for the Master of Suspense, it’s good enough for me.
Aggie, by deciding to break into his ex-wife’s house at the opening of Smoked to get what he wants, has unwittingly put himself in an interesting situation, one which will introduce him to more interesting people doing a bunch of interesting stuff that will eventually fill a thirty thousand-plus-word novella. The fun part for me—not being one who outlines—came from not knowing who Aggie was going to meet and exactly what he’d have to do to come out on the other side. (Or does he?) He may not have had a good time, but I did—and hope the reader will as well.
There’s a famous quote—often and not accurately attributed to the Chinese—that says, “May you live in interesting times.” No matter where the quote comes from, it’s one that all writers—not just of crime fiction—would do well to keep in mind. We do live in interesting times, surrounded by interesting people. It’s our job as fictional world creators to stay aware in these times, and choose those events we’d like to write about. Yes, this will also include using “actual persons, living or dead,” but just enough to keep their “coincidental” resemblance from turning into actual litigation. That would be an interesting time I’d rather not live through.
Tim O’Mara has been teaching math and special education in New York City public schools since 1987, yet he is best known for his Raymond Donne mysteries about an ex-cop who now teaches in the same Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood he once policed: Sacrifice Fly (2012), Crooked Numbers (2013), Dead Red (2015), Nasty Cutter (January 2017). His short story, The Tip, is featured in the 2016 anthology Unloaded. The anthology’s proceeds benefit the nonprofit States United To Prevent Gun Violence. His most recent project is Triple Shot (2016), a novella featuring fellow authors Ross Klavan and Charles Salzberg.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun / Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey
Something a lot of writers struggle with is promoting themselves. You can write an amazing book, but if no one knows that it exists they can't read it. This week's guest bloggers, Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey, discuss their decision to set up a joint blog tour, and how one could help you!
Happy reading!
Hellloooo, Killer Nashville — she says in the rock star voice she uses in her dreams — thanks for icing up that sweet tea and having us in for a chat. Actually, can I have a dollop of bourbon instead? I’m not overly fond of sweet tea. Jess? Tea or bourbon?
Jess here. As a lifelong diplomat, I say we throw back a Long Island Iced Tea as a compromise, only we call it a Nashville Iced Tea and make it out of gin, tonic, and three limes, which is my summer drink of choice. Back to you, Shannon.
Okay, now that we’re settled in, let the introductions begin. I’m Shannon Baker and this is Jess Lourey. We discovered we had books due for the same September launch date (mine is Stripped Bare while Jess has Salem’s Cipher; both books are available for preorder) and with high hopes and much enthusiasm which might or might not have been a product of a late night at the bar at Left Coast Crime, we launched the Lourey/Baker Double-booked Tour.
We’re both mystery/thriller writers, and between us, have published 19 books (more on Jess’s side of the scale), a barrel of short stories, a zillion articles, and we won’t even try to count blog posts. It’s safe to say that writing is a big part of our lives. So today, we’re going to talk about not-writing.
Specifically, what to do after the book is done. As writers, we know we’ve got to promote ourselves. If no one knows we have a book out, they don’t know if they want to read it. It’s not like we’re peddling snake oil that might kill someone. There are readers who would love our books, and we need to get the word to them. And yet, it takes time and energy and different part of your brain to promote, not to mention sales-i-ness, which most writers do not come by naturally.
Shannon: I might have been grousing about setting up a blog tour when Jess and I figured out we had books launching on the same day and we started to brainstorm about how we could work together. Doing a joint tour makes so much sense to me. First of all, it cut the work load by half. We both queried blog and review sites and we both wrote interview questions and edited.
Jess: We are productive grousers, aren’t we? I agree that setting up a joint blog tour was one of the best marketing decisions I’ve ever made. As you say, it cut the work in half, but it also made it fun. Like most writers, I hate to market. It feels like swimming in grease—I’m not good at it, I never get anywhere, and I end up looking oily. But doing it together, it felt more like collaboration, like hanging out with a good friend, like drinking our way across cyber space and talking about books. Shannon, how much do you normally market your books?
Shannon here: I am a marketing disaster. Generally, I’m not one to procrastinate, but I can put off soliciting blogs or asking for reviews until deadlines fade into memory. So pairing up with a friend, someone I didn’t want to disappoint, gave me incentive to get on the ball and get my end done.
Jess: Sweet. Good old peer pressure. It doesn’t die after high school, it morphs. Shannon, anything unexpected in setting up this joint blog tour?
Shannon: What surprised me was how much fun I’ve had. It wasn’t quite as lively as sitting in the conference bar with a cold beer in front of me bantering with Jess, but ‘pert near it. There were times I spewed my beverage when I read a response of Jess’s to something I’d asked.
Jess: Back atcha. As far as productive advice for other authors thinking of setting up a joint blog tour:
Do it.
Check out the event schedule of other authors on book tour to find out which sites are amenable to hosting blog tours.
Reach out to a mix of blog reviewers and blog hosts who want you to write an article to spread out the amount of writing you have to do.
Be clear about who is querying where so you don’t double up, make sure to pitch unique ideas to each venue, consider a book giveaway, and keep the book tour within a discrete period of time—2 weeks to a month is good—to ramp up the excitement.
Have a sense of humor. (Not a requirement, but a bonus.)
End each blog post by saying where you’ll be next to build up an audience for each of the sites kind enough to promote you.
Get your posts plus photos to them early so they don’t need to stress.
Consider each writing a short story as a gift for anyone who preorders your book and forwards the preorder receipt to a dedicated email account (the email account can be set up to automatically respond with the short story).
Watch the preorders roll in! (Right???)
Jessica (Jess) Lourey is best known for her critically acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s 2014 Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and leads interactive writing workshops all over the world. Salem’s Cipher, a breakneck thriller about a race to save the first viable U.S. female presidential candidate from assassination, is the first in her thrilling Witch Hunt Series, and hits stores September 2016. You can find out more at jessicalourey.com, or find Jess on Facebook or Twitter.
Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink, a fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder set in western landscapes of Flagstaff, AZ, Boulder, CO, and Moab, UT. Seconds before quitting writing forever and taking up competitive drinking, Shannon was nominated for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 Writer of the Year. Buoyed with that confidence, she acquired an agent who secured a multi-book contract with Tor/Forge. The first in the Kate Fox Mystery Series, Stripped Bare will release in hardcover September 2016. Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, it’s been called Longmire meets The Good Wife. Visit Shannon at Shannon-Baker.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun / Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey
Something a lot of writers struggle with is promoting themselves. You can write an amazing book, but if no one knows that it exists they can't read it. This week's guest bloggers, Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey, discuss their decision to set up a joint blog tour, and how one could help you!
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Hellloooo, Killer Nashville — she says in the rock star voice she uses in her dreams — thanks for icing up that sweet tea and having us in for a chat. Actually, can I have a dollop of bourbon instead? I’m not overly fond of sweet tea. Jess? Tea or bourbon?
Jess here. As a lifelong diplomat, I say we throw back a Long Island Iced Tea as a compromise, only we call it a Nashville Iced Tea and make it out of gin, tonic, and three limes, which is my summer drink of choice. Back to you, Shannon.
Okay, now that we’re settled in, let the introductions begin. I’m Shannon Baker and this is Jess Lourey. We discovered we had books due for the same September launch date (mine is Stripped Bare while Jess has Salem’s Cipher; both books are available for preorder) and with high hopes and much enthusiasm which might or might not have been a product of a late night at the bar at Left Coast Crime, we launched the Lourey/Baker Double-booked Tour.
We’re both mystery/thriller writers, and between us, have published 19 books (more on Jess’s side of the scale), a barrel of short stories, a zillion articles, and we won’t even try to count blog posts. It’s safe to say that writing is a big part of our lives. So today, we’re going to talk about not-writing.
Specifically, what to do after the book is done. As writers, we know we’ve got to promote ourselves. If no one knows we have a book out, they don’t know if they want to read it. It’s not like we’re peddling snake oil that might kill someone. There are readers who would love our books, and we need to get the word to them. And yet, it takes time and energy and different part of your brain to promote, not to mention sales-i-ness, which most writers do not come by naturally.
Shannon: I might have been grousing about setting up a blog tour when Jess and I figured out we had books launching on the same day and we started to brainstorm about how we could work together. Doing a joint tour makes so much sense to me. First of all, it cut the work load by half. We both queried blog and review sites and we both wrote interview questions and edited.
Jess: We are productive grousers, aren’t we? I agree that setting up a joint blog tour was one of the best marketing decisions I’ve ever made. As you say, it cut the work in half, but it also made it fun. Like most writers, I hate to market. It feels like swimming in grease—I’m not good at it, I never get anywhere, and I end up looking oily. But doing it together, it felt more like collaboration, like hanging out with a good friend, like drinking our way across cyber space and talking about books. Shannon, how much do you normally market your books?
Shannon here: I am a marketing disaster. Generally, I’m not one to procrastinate, but I can put off soliciting blogs or asking for reviews until deadlines fade into memory. So pairing up with a friend, someone I didn’t want to disappoint, gave me incentive to get on the ball and get my end done.
Jess: Sweet. Good old peer pressure. It doesn’t die after high school, it morphs. Shannon, anything unexpected in setting up this joint blog tour?
Shannon: What surprised me was how much fun I’ve had. It wasn’t quite as lively as sitting in the conference bar with a cold beer in front of me bantering with Jess, but ‘pert near it. There were times I spewed my beverage when I read a response of Jess’s to something I’d asked.
Jess: Back atcha. As far as productive advice for other authors thinking of setting up a joint blog tour:
- Do it.
- Check out the event schedule of other authors on book tour to find out which sites are amenable to hosting blog tours.
- Reach out to a mix of blog reviewers and blog hosts who want you to write an article to spread out the amount of writing you have to do.
- Be clear about who is querying where so you don’t double up, make sure to pitch unique ideas to each venue, consider a book giveaway, and keep the book tour within a discrete period of time—2 weeks to a month is good—to ramp up the excitement.
- Have a sense of humor. (Not a requirement, but a bonus.)
- End each blog post by saying where you’ll be next to build up an audience for each of the sites kind enough to promote you.
- Get your posts plus photos to them early so they don’t need to stress.
- Consider each writing a short story as a gift for anyone who preorders your book and forwards the preorder receipt to a dedicated email account (the email account can be set up to automatically respond with the short story).
- Watch the preorders roll in! (Right???)
Jessica (Jess) Lourey is best known for her critically acclaimed Murder-by-Month 
mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s 2014 Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and leads interactive writing workshops all over the world. Salem’s Cipher, a breakneck thriller about a race to save the first viable U.S. female presidential candidate from assassination, is the first in her thrilling Witch Hunt Series, and hits stores September 2016. You can find out more at jessicalourey.com, or find Jess on Facebook or Twitter.
Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink, a fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder set in western landscapes of Flagstaff, AZ, Boulder, CO, and Moab, UT. Seconds before quitting writing forever and taking up competitive drinking, Shannon was nominated for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 Writer of the Year. Buoyed with that confidence, she acquired an agent who secured a multi-book contract with Tor/Forge. The first in the Kate Fox Mystery Series, Stripped Bare will release in hardcover September 2016. Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, it’s been called Longmire meets The Good Wife. Visit Shannon at Shannon-Baker.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun / Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey
Something a lot of writers struggle with is promoting themselves. You can write an amazing book, but if no one knows that it exists they can't read it. This week's guest bloggers, Shannon Baker and Jess Lourey, discuss their decision to set up a joint blog tour, and how one could help you!
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Hellloooo, Killer Nashville — she says in the rock star voice she uses in her dreams — thanks for icing up that sweet tea and having us in for a chat. Actually, can I have a dollop of bourbon instead? I’m not overly fond of sweet tea. Jess? Tea or bourbon?
Jess here. As a lifelong diplomat, I say we throw back a Long Island Iced Tea as a compromise, only we call it a Nashville Iced Tea and make it out of gin, tonic, and three limes, which is my summer drink of choice. Back to you, Shannon.
Okay, now that we’re settled in, let the introductions begin. I’m Shannon Baker and this is Jess Lourey. We discovered we had books due for the same September launch date (mine is Stripped Bare while Jess has Salem’s Cipher; both books are available for preorder) and with high hopes and much enthusiasm which might or might not have been a product of a late night at the bar at Left Coast Crime, we launched the Lourey/Baker Double-booked Tour.
We’re both mystery/thriller writers, and between us, have published 19 books (more on Jess’s side of the scale), a barrel of short stories, a zillion articles, and we won’t even try to count blog posts. It’s safe to say that writing is a big part of our lives. So today, we’re going to talk about not-writing.
Specifically, what to do after the book is done. As writers, we know we’ve got to promote ourselves. If no one knows we have a book out, they don’t know if they want to read it. It’s not like we’re peddling snake oil that might kill someone. There are readers who would love our books, and we need to get the word to them. And yet, it takes time and energy and different part of your brain to promote, not to mention sales-i-ness, which most writers do not come by naturally.
Shannon: I might have been grousing about setting up a blog tour when Jess and I figured out we had books launching on the same day and we started to brainstorm about how we could work together. Doing a joint tour makes so much sense to me. First of all, it cut the work load by half. We both queried blog and review sites and we both wrote interview questions and edited.
Jess: We are productive grousers, aren’t we? I agree that setting up a joint blog tour was one of the best marketing decisions I’ve ever made. As you say, it cut the work in half, but it also made it fun. Like most writers, I hate to market. It feels like swimming in grease—I’m not good at it, I never get anywhere, and I end up looking oily. But doing it together, it felt more like collaboration, like hanging out with a good friend, like drinking our way across cyber space and talking about books. Shannon, how much do you normally market your books?
Shannon here: I am a marketing disaster. Generally, I’m not one to procrastinate, but I can put off soliciting blogs or asking for reviews until deadlines fade into memory. So pairing up with a friend, someone I didn’t want to disappoint, gave me incentive to get on the ball and get my end done.
Jess: Sweet. Good old peer pressure. It doesn’t die after high school, it morphs. Shannon, anything unexpected in setting up this joint blog tour?
Shannon: What surprised me was how much fun I’ve had. It wasn’t quite as lively as sitting in the conference bar with a cold beer in front of me bantering with Jess, but ‘pert near it. There were times I spewed my beverage when I read a response of Jess’s to something I’d asked.
Jess: Back atcha. As far as productive advice for other authors thinking of setting up a joint blog tour:
- Do it.
- Check out the event schedule of other authors on book tour to find out which sites are amenable to hosting blog tours.
- Reach out to a mix of blog reviewers and blog hosts who want you to write an article to spread out the amount of writing you have to do.
- Be clear about who is querying where so you don’t double up, make sure to pitch unique ideas to each venue, consider a book giveaway, and keep the book tour within a discrete period of time—2 weeks to a month is good—to ramp up the excitement.
- Have a sense of humor. (Not a requirement, but a bonus.)
- End each blog post by saying where you’ll be next to build up an audience for each of the sites kind enough to promote you.
- Get your posts plus photos to them early so they don’t need to stress.
- Consider each writing a short story as a gift for anyone who preorders your book and forwards the preorder receipt to a dedicated email account (the email account can be set up to automatically respond with the short story).
- Watch the preorders roll in! (Right???)
Jessica (Jess) Lourey is best known for her critically acclaimed Murder-by-Month 
mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing “a splendid mix of humor and suspense.” She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s 2014 Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and leads interactive writing workshops all over the world. Salem’s Cipher, a breakneck thriller about a race to save the first viable U.S. female presidential candidate from assassination, is the first in her thrilling Witch Hunt Series, and hits stores September 2016. You can find out more at jessicalourey.com, or find Jess on Facebook or Twitter.
Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink, a fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder set in western landscapes of Flagstaff, AZ, Boulder, CO, and Moab, UT. Seconds before quitting writing forever and taking up competitive drinking, Shannon was nominated for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 Writer of the Year. Buoyed with that confidence, she acquired an agent who secured a multi-book contract with Tor/Forge. The first in the Kate Fox Mystery Series, Stripped Bare will release in hardcover September 2016. Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, it’s been called Longmire meets The Good Wife. Visit Shannon at Shannon-Baker.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Mastering the 5-Minute Pitch: 10 Tips for Giving a Great Book Talk / Liz Lazarus
Giving a great speech can be a daunting task for a writer. Our usual method of conveying our thoughts is through the carefully constructed written word. When giving a speech we find that not having an eraser or a delete key can take us a little out of our element. This week's guest blogger, Liz Lazarus, gives us some tips on how we can move past these barriers and deliver a compelling book talk.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Have you ever wondered how many writers are introverts versus extroverts? Given the solitary nature of the vocation, I imagine that more authors are introverts, which can make giving that all too familiar five-minute speech a bit daunting.
I’m frequently in front of an audience as a consultant, so I have honed my speaking skills over the years. I’ve been asked to give a few talks about Free of Malice and from preparing myself and watching other authors, I thought I’d share my 10 tips of delivering a great speech.
Thank. This first step may seem obvious but in the excitement of thinking about your book and what you plan to share, people often forget to thank the host of the event and the audience for coming. It’s not the end of the world if you forget, but it’s a classy way to start your presentation.
Teaser. If you start by throwing out a teaser, the audience will want to hear more. For Free of Malice, I share that there were three reasons that propelled me to write the book. Thus, it creates curiosity and encourages the audience to listen a little more intently to discover those facts.
Humor. People always appreciate a laugh. My go-to line is that I’m an engineer, so what the heck am I doing writing a book and giving book talks!
WIFM. The old adage, What’s In It For Me, applies for book talks. Let the audience know what they will receive from reading your book, whether something educational, entertaining or even a good cry. Let them know the kind of book you are offering. In addition to my book being suspenseful, I note that Atlantans will appreciate the familiar landmarks and that there is a theme song to my book, an added bonus. Consider adapting these elements based on your audience.
Props. Hold your book up for part of the talk. You want people to associate the cover with you and if you are among several authors, it’s even more important for the audience to make that connection. Also, hold your book during photo ops at the event and with your readers.
Ratings and Reviews. Don’t be bashful about sharing ratings, whether from Goodreads, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Or share a snippet from a review indicating what others are saying about your work. I’ve found most authors don’t like to brag, so don’t think of it as bragging but as sharing useful information that will help potential readers make their purchase decision. You’d want to know a book’s rating before purchase, right?
Close. It may seem either corny or self-serving but part of closing the deal is asking for the sale. I’ve noticed that most writers don’t have the natural inclination to self-promote, or to ask for the purchase, but the reality is we give book talks to sell books and create fans.
Practice. I must have rehearsed five or six times before my first five-minute talk. First, I wanted to be sure I was within the allotted time, but also each time that I reviewed what I planned to say, I became more comfortable. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve seen in my professional career that can successfully “wing a presentation.” Because I’m not one of them, practice does make perfect.
De-stress. My friend and CNN host and speaker, Nadia Bilchik, has some great voice warm-up exercises on this video. I highly recommend! I’ve tried them a few times and they really did relax my vocal chords.
Enjoy. At the end of the day, you are talking about something near and dear to you – your book. Enjoy promoting your book. Share your writing process and how your book came into being. Be yourself, smile, and the audience will go on that journey with you.
In summary, glossophobia or speech anxiety is a fear that many people share, so if you get nervous before a talk, know that you are not alone. Glossophobia comes from the Greek glōssa, meaning tongue, and phobos, fear or dread. I’ve seen many suggested remedies from hypnosis to speech coaches to the ploy of picturing the audience nude. What has worked best for me is good, old fashioned practice and, just before I begin, I think about a past speech that prompted audience members to approach me afterward with compliments and to purchase my novel.
Putting that image of success in my head just before beginning my talk positions me in the right frame of mind.
Liz Lazarus is author of Free of Malice, a psychological legal thriller loosely based on her personal experience. She was born in Valdosta, GA, graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern with an MBA in their executive master’s program. She spent most of her career at General Electric’s Healthcare division and is currently a managing director at a strategic planning consulting firm in addition to being an author. She would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions at freeofmalice.com, via FB at AuthorLizLazarus, or twitter, @liz_lazarus.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Mastering the 5-Minute Pitch: 10 Tips for Giving a Great Book Talk / Liz Lazarus
Giving a great speech can be a daunting task for a writer. Our usual method of conveying our thoughts is through the carefully constructed written word. When giving a speech we find that not having an eraser or a delete key can take us a little out of our element. This week's guest blogger, Liz Lazarus, gives us some tips on how we can move past these barriers and deliver a compelling book talk.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Have you ever wondered how many writers are introverts versus extroverts? Given the solitary nature of the vocation, I imagine that more authors are introverts, which can make giving that all too familiar five-minute speech a bit daunting.
I’m frequently in front of an audience as a consultant, so I have honed my speaking skills over the years. I’ve been asked to give a few talks about Free of Malice and from preparing myself and watching other authors, I thought I’d share my 10 tips of delivering a great speech.
- Thank. This first step may seem obvious but in the excitement of thinking about your book and what you plan to share, people often forget to thank the host of the event and the audience for coming. It’s not the end of the world if you forget, but it’s a classy way to start your presentation.
- Teaser. If you start by throwing out a teaser, the audience will want to hear more. For Free of Malice, I share that there were three reasons that propelled me to write the book. Thus, it creates curiosity and encourages the audience to listen a little more intently to discover those facts.
- Humor. People always appreciate a laugh. My go-to line is that I’m an engineer, so what the heck am I doing writing a book and giving book talks!
- WIFM. The old adage, What’s In It For Me, applies for book talks. Let the audience know what they will receive from reading your book, whether something educational, entertaining or even a good cry. Let them know the kind of book you are offering. In addition to my book being suspenseful, I note that Atlantans will appreciate the familiar landmarks and that there is a theme song to my book, an added bonus. Consider adapting these elements based on your audience.
- Props. Hold your book up for part of the talk. You want people to associate the cover with you and if you are among several authors, it’s even more important for the audience to make that connection. Also, hold your book during photo ops at the event and with your readers.
- Ratings and Reviews. Don’t be bashful about sharing ratings, whether from Goodreads, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Or share a snippet from a review indicating what others are saying about your work. I’ve found most authors don’t like to brag, so don’t think of it as bragging but as sharing useful information that will help potential readers make their purchase decision. You’d want to know a book’s rating before purchase, right?
- Close. It may seem either corny or self-serving but part of closing the deal is asking for the sale. I’ve noticed that most writers don’t have the natural inclination to self-promote, or to ask for the purchase, but the reality is we give book talks to sell books and create fans.
- Practice. I must have rehearsed five or six times before my first five-minute talk. First, I wanted to be sure I was within the allotted time, but also each time that I reviewed what I planned to say, I became more comfortable. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve seen in my professional career that can successfully “wing a presentation.” Because I’m not one of them, practice does make perfect.
- De-stress. My friend and CNN host and speaker, Nadia Bilchik, has some great voice warm-up exercises on this video. I highly recommend! I’ve tried them a few times and they really did relax my vocal chords.
- Enjoy. At the end of the day, you are talking about something near and dear to you – your book. Enjoy promoting your book. Share your writing process and how your book came into being. Be yourself, smile, and the audience will go on that journey with you.
In summary, glossophobia or speech anxiety is a fear that many people share, so if you get nervous before a talk, know that you are not alone. Glossophobia comes from the Greek glōssa, meaning tongue, and phobos, fear or dread. I’ve seen many suggested remedies from hypnosis to speech coaches to the ploy of picturing the audience nude. What has worked best for me is good, old fashioned practice and, just before I begin, I think about a past speech that prompted audience members to approach me afterward with compliments and to purchase my novel.
Putting that image of success in my head just before beginning my talk positions me in the right frame of mind.
Liz Lazarus is author of Free of Malice, a psychological legal thriller loosely based on her personal experience. She was born in Valdosta, GA, graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern with an MBA in their executive master’s program. She spent most of her career at General Electric’s Healthcare division and is currently a managing director at a strategic planning consulting firm in addition to being an author. She would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions at freeofmalice.com, via FB at AuthorLizLazarus, or twitter, @liz_lazarus.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Mastering the 5-Minute Pitch: 10 Tips for Giving a Great Book Talk / Liz Lazarus
Giving a great speech can be a daunting task for a writer. Our usual method of conveying our thoughts is through the carefully constructed written word. When giving a speech we find that not having an eraser or a delete key can take us a little out of our element. This week's guest blogger, Liz Lazarus, gives us some tips on how we can move past these barriers and deliver a compelling book talk.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Have you ever wondered how many writers are introverts versus extroverts? Given the solitary nature of the vocation, I imagine that more authors are introverts, which can make giving that all too familiar five-minute speech a bit daunting.
I’m frequently in front of an audience as a consultant, so I have honed my speaking skills over the years. I’ve been asked to give a few talks about Free of Malice and from preparing myself and watching other authors, I thought I’d share my 10 tips of delivering a great speech.
- Thank. This first step may seem obvious but in the excitement of thinking about your book and what you plan to share, people often forget to thank the host of the event and the audience for coming. It’s not the end of the world if you forget, but it’s a classy way to start your presentation.
- Teaser. If you start by throwing out a teaser, the audience will want to hear more. For Free of Malice, I share that there were three reasons that propelled me to write the book. Thus, it creates curiosity and encourages the audience to listen a little more intently to discover those facts.
- Humor. People always appreciate a laugh. My go-to line is that I’m an engineer, so what the heck am I doing writing a book and giving book talks!
- WIFM. The old adage, What’s In It For Me, applies for book talks. Let the audience know what they will receive from reading your book, whether something educational, entertaining or even a good cry. Let them know the kind of book you are offering. In addition to my book being suspenseful, I note that Atlantans will appreciate the familiar landmarks and that there is a theme song to my book, an added bonus. Consider adapting these elements based on your audience.
- Props. Hold your book up for part of the talk. You want people to associate the cover with you and if you are among several authors, it’s even more important for the audience to make that connection. Also, hold your book during photo ops at the event and with your readers.
- Ratings and Reviews. Don’t be bashful about sharing ratings, whether from Goodreads, Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Or share a snippet from a review indicating what others are saying about your work. I’ve found most authors don’t like to brag, so don’t think of it as bragging but as sharing useful information that will help potential readers make their purchase decision. You’d want to know a book’s rating before purchase, right?
- Close. It may seem either corny or self-serving but part of closing the deal is asking for the sale. I’ve noticed that most writers don’t have the natural inclination to self-promote, or to ask for the purchase, but the reality is we give book talks to sell books and create fans.
- Practice. I must have rehearsed five or six times before my first five-minute talk. First, I wanted to be sure I was within the allotted time, but also each time that I reviewed what I planned to say, I became more comfortable. I can count on one hand the number of people I’ve seen in my professional career that can successfully “wing a presentation.” Because I’m not one of them, practice does make perfect.
- De-stress. My friend and CNN host and speaker, Nadia Bilchik, has some great voice warm-up exercises on this video. I highly recommend! I’ve tried them a few times and they really did relax my vocal chords.
- Enjoy. At the end of the day, you are talking about something near and dear to you – your book. Enjoy promoting your book. Share your writing process and how your book came into being. Be yourself, smile, and the audience will go on that journey with you.
In summary, glossophobia or speech anxiety is a fear that many people share, so if you get nervous before a talk, know that you are not alone. Glossophobia comes from the Greek glōssa, meaning tongue, and phobos, fear or dread. I’ve seen many suggested remedies from hypnosis to speech coaches to the ploy of picturing the audience nude. What has worked best for me is good, old fashioned practice and, just before I begin, I think about a past speech that prompted audience members to approach me afterward with compliments and to purchase my novel.
Putting that image of success in my head just before beginning my talk positions me in the right frame of mind.
Liz Lazarus is author of Free of Malice, a psychological legal thriller loosely based on her personal experience. She was born in Valdosta, GA, graduated from Georgia Tech with an engineering degree and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern with an MBA in their executive master’s program. She spent most of her career at General Electric’s Healthcare division and is currently a managing director at a strategic planning consulting firm in addition to being an author. She would love to hear your thoughts or suggestions at freeofmalice.com, via FB at AuthorLizLazarus, or twitter, @liz_lazarus.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Conquering The Beast: Creating an Overview That Works / Thomas Locke
Writing an overview has proven time and time again to be a challenge that stumps even the most experienced of writers. How do you take this massive story that you've built and condense it down to a page? While is it important to give an accurate summation of your story, it is also important to sell your story. This week's guest blogger, Thomas Locke, discusses what he has learned while writing overviews, and how you can write one that hooks your readers.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Somewhere out there is an author for whom writing a commercial overview is a piece of cake. They sit down, the concept is hovering in the air over their computer, they type it out, done and dusted. I haven’t met them, but I’m sure they exist. If you happen to be that lone individual, I’d advise you not to tell the rest of us. Your end will be swift and certain.
The story overview is a beast. You have all these ideas that are swarming around in your head. You have a huge cast of characters, a growing storm of events, and three or four hundred pages later, you’ve created a fabulous tale.
Then comes the hard part.
How on earth do you distill all this down to one page? How can you tell your story in just a few paragraphs, create in that tiny space a vision that is so compelling the gatekeepers will fall over themselves in their haste to offer you a publishing contract, a film deal, the keys to the kingdom, whatever?
After twenty-five years as a published author, with more than seventy books in print, the simple answer is, it doesn’t come easy. But it can be done. I am going to offer you a few simple steps that will help deconstruct the project, and hopefully guide you towards a synopsis that is magnetic in its appeal.
Start with the question, so what’s your story about? Imagine you are seated in a television studio, with a much-loved interviewer staring at you from the other side of their desk. They ask you that question. How do you respond? You have the live audience on the other side of the camera, and they’re genuinely eager for you to tell them what they’re going to go out and buy the very next day. Write out that paragraph. Then set it aside.
Accept that it is a gradual process. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this first effort is going to be your finished project. Creating the winning overview is done through trial and error. A few days later, write your first paragraph again. Keep a notebook just for the overview. If you’re like me, most of these early attempts are not going to fit. But gradually you come to terms with the key element to the successful structure, which is:
Your job is not to tell your story. Your goal is to SELL your story. At some point there will come that moment when you discover the amazing concept, the emotional foundation that fuels your quest to write this story. When that happens...
Focus on that silver thread. Usually this emotional punch will help you identify the key plot line and characters that drive the story. The entire overview must center upon this one element. This time, when you write the paragraph, you will discover that the entire concept is real in a new sense. The paragraph that results is often called the story’s hook.
Begin with the hook, end with the climax. Gradually you develop a story concept that was not there before. As a result, you will often perceive your story’s climax in a new light. Write this final paragraph next. Remember, you are not entering into a contract. You are not required to actually keep this climax. You are selling.
Develop a log-line. The log-line is a Hollywood term, signifying the one sentence or even just a phrase that shouts to the world: This is unique, this is great, come join me on this amazing ride. At some point during the writing of my overview, I will go to the movies and walk down the line of posters for coming attractions. I visualize my story up there as a poster, and sketch out ideas for what this log-line might be. My goal is to come up with two, and I place one at the beginning and another at the end of my overview. These help the editor sell the story to the pub board, and the sales staff place your book with buyers. Oftentimes they also appear on the book’s back cover.
Polish and distill. Only at this point do I begin to concern myself with length. Because I want my overview to work with Hollywood, I must limit myself to one page. It is very rare for anything longer to be considered by senior executives. If an overview gets that far up the food chain, a junior exec will trim the longer structures. I much prefer to do that myself.
A final bit of advice to new authors: Refrain from speaking with anyone about your work until your overview is complete. This serves two purposes. First, you have created a commercial structure, and that is what outside readers are really all about. They respond to your project, not to the tender seed of creative fire that exists at heart level. Second, you now have a means by which you can present your story in a brief and concise fashion. When someone asks what the story is about, you actually know what to say.
Here is an overview of mine that has recently been successful both with a publisher and with a Hollywood production company. The thriller Trial Run was released last August, and has recently been named a Best Book of 2015 by Suspense Magazine. My current release, Flash Point, is the sequel.
Her goal was to shatter all boundaries.
That night, Professor Gabriella Speciale does something she has never done before. An Italian psychologist, she has spent five years studying the brainwave patterns of practitioners of deep meditation. She now intends to apply the latest electromagnetic techniques to stimulate similar brainwaves in ordinary subjects; those who have never practiced mental control. But her initial candidate reports something utterly unexpected. Then another. After the third research experiment, Gabriella decides to break with the demands of scientific objectivity. She must slip into the lab after-hours, and take her own trial run.
Gabriella seems to float on the edge of human consciousness. She senses a gradual separation from her physical form, frightening but also captivating. At one level she identifies the phenomenon as an out-of-body experience. These have been chronicled, and controversial, for centuries. Only now there is a difference. With a little tweaking, Gabriella finds a means to both control and direct the out-of-body experience. She seems to be omniscient – going anywhere, seeing everything. Has she, in effect, defied the laws of gravity, locality and time? As the lab comes back into focus, Gabriella is flush with exhilaration – and anxiety. She does not fully understand the ramifications – but something this big needs to be protected.
Charlie Hazard is a former security contractor who understands little about the human mind, but something about the human spirit. After his return from duty in Iraq, his ex-wife had labeled him “damaged goods.” At some level he agrees with her. Still, he is pleased to get the assignment from the laboratory. He is to guard an international group of scientists, testing some new technology about time-travel or clairvoyance or some such. Seems the here-and-now is tough enough to deal with. But Charlie is perceptive and loyal, and prepared to respond to any threat.
Reese Clawson specializes in global risk analysis for an elite cadre of industry executives. She infiltrates Gabriella’s group and steals the perception-bending technology. Her aim is decidedly mercenary – to package and sell the ultimate information-gathering system to the highest bidder. Her head spins with possibilities – marketing, detective work, espionage. But something has gone wrong. Her test-subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese scrambles to maintain control and stave-off the demands of her clients.
Charlie Hazard uncovers the theft and Reese Clawson’s intentions. Gabriella is faced with an impossible choice. Either she allows Clawson to undermine the fundamental paradigms of global security, or she finds a way to recapture the equipment. Surely another priority is to save the coma-bound subjects. Charlie steps forward to take on the challenge. He races against the clock, even as time and space twist in unexpected directions. He summons his battered courage to protect and rescue – in and out of the physical realm. But he remains keenly aware that….
What you don’t know can kill you.
I wish you every triumph in making a winning transition from creative project to commercial success.
Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Davis divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. Read more at http://tlocke.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Conquering The Beast: Creating an Overview That Works / Thomas Locke
Writing an overview has proven time and time again to be a challenge that stumps even the most experienced of writers. How do you take this massive story that you've built and condense it down to a page? While is it important to give an accurate summation of your story, it is also important to sell your story. This week's guest blogger, Thomas Locke, discusses what he has learned while writing overviews, and how you can write one that hooks your readers.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Somewhere out there is an author for whom writing a commercial overview is a piece of cake. They sit down, the concept is hovering in the air over their computer, they type it out, done and dusted. I haven’t met them, but I’m sure they exist. If you happen to be that lone individual, I’d advise you not to tell the rest of us. Your end will be swift and certain.
The story overview is a beast. You have all these ideas that are swarming around in your head. You have a huge cast of characters, a growing storm of events, and three or four hundred pages later, you’ve created a fabulous tale.
Then comes the hard part.
How on earth do you distill all this down to one page? How can you tell your story in just a few paragraphs, create in that tiny space a vision that is so compelling the gatekeepers will fall over themselves in their haste to offer you a publishing contract, a film deal, the keys to the kingdom, whatever?
After twenty-five years as a published author, with more than seventy books in print, the simple answer is, it doesn’t come easy. But it can be done. I am going to offer you a few simple steps that will help deconstruct the project, and hopefully guide you towards a synopsis that is magnetic in its appeal.
- Start with the question, so what’s your story about? Imagine you are seated in a television studio, with a much-loved interviewer staring at you from the other side of their desk. They ask you that question. How do you respond? You have the live audience on the other side of the camera, and they’re genuinely eager for you to tell them what they’re going to go out and buy the very next day. Write out that paragraph. Then set it aside.
- Accept that it is a gradual process. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this first effort is going to be your finished project. Creating the winning overview is done through trial and error. A few days later, write your first paragraph again. Keep a notebook just for the overview. If you’re like me, most of these early attempts are not going to fit. But gradually you come to terms with the key element to the successful structure, which is:
- Your job is not to tell your story. Your goal is to SELL your story. At some point there will come that moment when you discover the amazing concept, the emotional foundation that fuels your quest to write this story. When that happens...
- Focus on that silver thread. Usually this emotional punch will help you identify the key plot line and characters that drive the story. The entire overview must center upon this one element. This time, when you write the paragraph, you will discover that the entire concept is real in a new sense. The paragraph that results is often called the story’s hook.
- Begin with the hook, end with the climax. Gradually you develop a story concept that was not there before. As a result, you will often perceive your story’s climax in a new light. Write this final paragraph next. Remember, you are not entering into a contract. You are not required to actually keep this climax. You are selling.
- Develop a log-line. The log-line is a Hollywood term, signifying the one sentence or even just a phrase that shouts to the world: This is unique, this is great, come join me on this amazing ride. At some point during the writing of my overview, I will go to the movies and walk down the line of posters for coming attractions. I visualize my story up there as a poster, and sketch out ideas for what this log-line might be. My goal is to come up with two, and I place one at the beginning and another at the end of my overview. These help the editor sell the story to the pub board, and the sales staff place your book with buyers. Oftentimes they also appear on the book’s back cover.
- Polish and distill. Only at this point do I begin to concern myself with length. Because I want my overview to work with Hollywood, I must limit myself to one page. It is very rare for anything longer to be considered by senior executives. If an overview gets that far up the food chain, a junior exec will trim the longer structures. I much prefer to do that myself.
A final bit of advice to new authors: Refrain from speaking with anyone about your work until your overview is complete. This serves two purposes. First, you have created a commercial structure, and that is what outside readers are really all about. They respond to your project, not to the tender seed of creative fire that exists at heart level. Second, you now have a means by which you can present your story in a brief and concise fashion. When someone asks what the story is about, you actually know what to say.
Here is an overview of mine that has recently been successful both with a publisher and with a Hollywood production company. The thriller Trial Run was released last August, and has recently been named a Best Book of 2015 by Suspense Magazine. My current release, Flash Point, is the sequel.
Her goal was to shatter all boundaries.
That night, Professor Gabriella Speciale does something she has never done before. An Italian psychologist, she has spent five years studying the brainwave patterns of practitioners of deep meditation. She now intends to apply the latest electromagnetic techniques to stimulate similar brainwaves in ordinary subjects; those who have never practiced mental control. But her initial candidate reports something utterly unexpected. Then another. After the third research experiment, Gabriella decides to break with the demands of scientific objectivity. She must slip into the lab after-hours, and take her own trial run.
Gabriella seems to float on the edge of human consciousness. She senses a gradual separation from her physical form, frightening but also captivating. At one level she identifies the phenomenon as an out-of-body experience. These have been chronicled, and controversial, for centuries. Only now there is a difference. With a little tweaking, Gabriella finds a means to both control and direct the out-of-body experience. She seems to be omniscient – going anywhere, seeing everything. Has she, in effect, defied the laws of gravity, locality and time? As the lab comes back into focus, Gabriella is flush with exhilaration – and anxiety. She does not fully understand the ramifications – but something this big needs to be protected.
Charlie Hazard is a former security contractor who understands little about the human mind, but something about the human spirit. After his return from duty in Iraq, his ex-wife had labeled him “damaged goods.” At some level he agrees with her. Still, he is pleased to get the assignment from the laboratory. He is to guard an international group of scientists, testing some new technology about time-travel or clairvoyance or some such. Seems the here-and-now is tough enough to deal with. But Charlie is perceptive and loyal, and prepared to respond to any threat.
Reese Clawson specializes in global risk analysis for an elite cadre of industry executives. She infiltrates Gabriella’s group and steals the perception-bending technology. Her aim is decidedly mercenary – to package and sell the ultimate information-gathering system to the highest bidder. Her head spins with possibilities – marketing, detective work, espionage. But something has gone wrong. Her test-subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese scrambles to maintain control and stave-off the demands of her clients.
Charlie Hazard uncovers the theft and Reese Clawson’s intentions. Gabriella is faced with an impossible choice. Either she allows Clawson to undermine the fundamental paradigms of global security, or she finds a way to recapture the equipment. Surely another priority is to save the coma-bound subjects. Charlie steps forward to take on the challenge. He races against the clock, even as time and space twist in unexpected directions. He summons his battered courage to protect and rescue – in and out of the physical realm. But he remains keenly aware that….
What you don’t know can kill you.
I wish you every triumph in making a winning transition from creative project to
commercial success.
Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Davis divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. Read more at http://tlocke.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Conquering The Beast: Creating an Overview That Works / Thomas Locke
Writing an overview has proven time and time again to be a challenge that stumps even the most experienced of writers. How do you take this massive story that you've built and condense it down to a page? While is it important to give an accurate summation of your story, it is also important to sell your story. This week's guest blogger, Thomas Locke, discusses what he has learned while writing overviews, and how you can write one that hooks your readers.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Somewhere out there is an author for whom writing a commercial overview is a piece of cake. They sit down, the concept is hovering in the air over their computer, they type it out, done and dusted. I haven’t met them, but I’m sure they exist. If you happen to be that lone individual, I’d advise you not to tell the rest of us. Your end will be swift and certain.
The story overview is a beast. You have all these ideas that are swarming around in your head. You have a huge cast of characters, a growing storm of events, and three or four hundred pages later, you’ve created a fabulous tale.
Then comes the hard part.
How on earth do you distill all this down to one page? How can you tell your story in just a few paragraphs, create in that tiny space a vision that is so compelling the gatekeepers will fall over themselves in their haste to offer you a publishing contract, a film deal, the keys to the kingdom, whatever?
After twenty-five years as a published author, with more than seventy books in print, the simple answer is, it doesn’t come easy. But it can be done. I am going to offer you a few simple steps that will help deconstruct the project, and hopefully guide you towards a synopsis that is magnetic in its appeal.
- Start with the question, so what’s your story about? Imagine you are seated in a television studio, with a much-loved interviewer staring at you from the other side of their desk. They ask you that question. How do you respond? You have the live audience on the other side of the camera, and they’re genuinely eager for you to tell them what they’re going to go out and buy the very next day. Write out that paragraph. Then set it aside.
- Accept that it is a gradual process. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this first effort is going to be your finished project. Creating the winning overview is done through trial and error. A few days later, write your first paragraph again. Keep a notebook just for the overview. If you’re like me, most of these early attempts are not going to fit. But gradually you come to terms with the key element to the successful structure, which is:
- Your job is not to tell your story. Your goal is to SELL your story. At some point there will come that moment when you discover the amazing concept, the emotional foundation that fuels your quest to write this story. When that happens...
- Focus on that silver thread. Usually this emotional punch will help you identify the key plot line and characters that drive the story. The entire overview must center upon this one element. This time, when you write the paragraph, you will discover that the entire concept is real in a new sense. The paragraph that results is often called the story’s hook.
- Begin with the hook, end with the climax. Gradually you develop a story concept that was not there before. As a result, you will often perceive your story’s climax in a new light. Write this final paragraph next. Remember, you are not entering into a contract. You are not required to actually keep this climax. You are selling.
- Develop a log-line. The log-line is a Hollywood term, signifying the one sentence or even just a phrase that shouts to the world: This is unique, this is great, come join me on this amazing ride. At some point during the writing of my overview, I will go to the movies and walk down the line of posters for coming attractions. I visualize my story up there as a poster, and sketch out ideas for what this log-line might be. My goal is to come up with two, and I place one at the beginning and another at the end of my overview. These help the editor sell the story to the pub board, and the sales staff place your book with buyers. Oftentimes they also appear on the book’s back cover.
- Polish and distill. Only at this point do I begin to concern myself with length. Because I want my overview to work with Hollywood, I must limit myself to one page. It is very rare for anything longer to be considered by senior executives. If an overview gets that far up the food chain, a junior exec will trim the longer structures. I much prefer to do that myself.
A final bit of advice to new authors: Refrain from speaking with anyone about your work until your overview is complete. This serves two purposes. First, you have created a commercial structure, and that is what outside readers are really all about. They respond to your project, not to the tender seed of creative fire that exists at heart level. Second, you now have a means by which you can present your story in a brief and concise fashion. When someone asks what the story is about, you actually know what to say.
Here is an overview of mine that has recently been successful both with a publisher and with a Hollywood production company. The thriller Trial Run was released last August, and has recently been named a Best Book of 2015 by Suspense Magazine. My current release, Flash Point, is the sequel.
Her goal was to shatter all boundaries.
That night, Professor Gabriella Speciale does something she has never done before. An Italian psychologist, she has spent five years studying the brainwave patterns of practitioners of deep meditation. She now intends to apply the latest electromagnetic techniques to stimulate similar brainwaves in ordinary subjects; those who have never practiced mental control. But her initial candidate reports something utterly unexpected. Then another. After the third research experiment, Gabriella decides to break with the demands of scientific objectivity. She must slip into the lab after-hours, and take her own trial run.
Gabriella seems to float on the edge of human consciousness. She senses a gradual separation from her physical form, frightening but also captivating. At one level she identifies the phenomenon as an out-of-body experience. These have been chronicled, and controversial, for centuries. Only now there is a difference. With a little tweaking, Gabriella finds a means to both control and direct the out-of-body experience. She seems to be omniscient – going anywhere, seeing everything. Has she, in effect, defied the laws of gravity, locality and time? As the lab comes back into focus, Gabriella is flush with exhilaration – and anxiety. She does not fully understand the ramifications – but something this big needs to be protected.
Charlie Hazard is a former security contractor who understands little about the human mind, but something about the human spirit. After his return from duty in Iraq, his ex-wife had labeled him “damaged goods.” At some level he agrees with her. Still, he is pleased to get the assignment from the laboratory. He is to guard an international group of scientists, testing some new technology about time-travel or clairvoyance or some such. Seems the here-and-now is tough enough to deal with. But Charlie is perceptive and loyal, and prepared to respond to any threat.
Reese Clawson specializes in global risk analysis for an elite cadre of industry executives. She infiltrates Gabriella’s group and steals the perception-bending technology. Her aim is decidedly mercenary – to package and sell the ultimate information-gathering system to the highest bidder. Her head spins with possibilities – marketing, detective work, espionage. But something has gone wrong. Her test-subjects slide into a coma-like state. Reese scrambles to maintain control and stave-off the demands of her clients.
Charlie Hazard uncovers the theft and Reese Clawson’s intentions. Gabriella is faced with an impossible choice. Either she allows Clawson to undermine the fundamental paradigms of global security, or she finds a way to recapture the equipment. Surely another priority is to save the coma-bound subjects. Charlie steps forward to take on the challenge. He races against the clock, even as time and space twist in unexpected directions. He summons his battered courage to protect and rescue – in and out of the physical realm. But he remains keenly aware that….
What you don’t know can kill you.
I wish you every triumph in making a winning transition from creative project to
commercial success.
Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Davis divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. Read more at http://tlocke.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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Three Lessons I’ve Learned as an Author / Robert Bailey
Sometimes the hardest part of writing is the very first word. Getting motivated and maintaining that creative energy is crucial to completing your novel. Writing for at least a few moments each day will help you to get into the rhythm of writing on a regular basis and make getting motivated to sit down and get to work that much easier. This weeks Killer Nashville guest blogger, Robert Bailey, discusses how to do just that.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Ever since I read The Bobbsey Twins in the Country in the third grade, I have loved fiction. My first crack at writing my own stories was during my senior year at Davidson College when I took a creative writing class. However, crazily enough, my writing career did not begin in earnest until I had a vivid daydream during a particularly boring day of law school: What would happen if my professor actually had to try a case? It was very much a smart aleck idea at the time, but it became the spark for a story that would feature a longtime law professor at the University of Alabama who returns to the courtroom to try a case with a young former student.
Eight years, three re-writes and thirty-eight drafts of the last re-write later, I signed my first publishing contract. The Professor was originally published in January 2014 from Exhibit A Books, and a second edition was released by Thomas & Mercer in August 2015. This past March, the sequel, Between Black and White, was published by Thomas & Mercer, and I am currently working on a third title in the series. I have learned many lessons since I began writing the prologue to The Professor over a decade ago. Here are three of the most important:
It doesn’t get any easier. You would think with two published novels under my belt that the writing process would become easier, right? Wrong. If anything, the process is more challenging now because I recognize mistakes in the narrative quicker than when I began my first book many moons ago. My expectations are higher, and it is harder to build momentum. And…
Momentum is critical. When writing the first draft of a novel, doubts are inevitable. Is the main character engaging? Is the plot moving? Is the villain realistic? Are character descriptions consistent? With all of this second-guessing going on in your head, it is important to move the story, even if it is just a page or a measly paragraph. Force yourself to keep the accelerator pressed down. During the writing of the first draft of Between Black and White, I had to try a jury trial over in Tuscumbia, Alabama. I was away from home for most of two weeks and did not write a word. When I returned to the computer a few weeks later, the manuscript felt dry and stale. I had to re-read large chunks of it to get up to speed, and, after doing so, I wasn’t happy with the story. All total, that two-week break probably cost me two months time in completing the manuscript. Now, regardless of my trial schedule, my goal is always to…
Write every day. Not only is daily writing important in creating momentum, it also breeds confidence and harnesses talent. I call it being “oily.” When a pro golfer has played several tournaments in a row and his fingers have band aids on them from constant practice, playing the course becomes a process defined by execution that day. There are few jitters—only the round at hand. First tee nerves are lessened, because he is on the first tee all the time, four times a week, in competition. Contrast that with the golfer coming back from injury who hasn’t played any competitive tournaments: will she be as sharp as the player that has been on the course every day? Of course not. Writing is the same way, and it is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way. After finishing both The Professor andBetween Black and White, I rewarded myself with several weeks off writing. The only thing the time away from the craft accomplished was to make me rusty and restless. Trust me: the best time to start your next book is the day after you finish your last book.
Robert Bailey is the author of Between Black and White released on March 15, 2016 by Thomas & Mercer. His debut novel, “The Professor, won the 2014 Beverly Hills Book Award for legal thriller of the year and was an Amazon bestseller, spending several weeks at No. 1 in the legal thriller category. He lives in Huntsville, Ala., where he practices law with the firm of Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
Three Lessons I’ve Learned as an Author / Robert Bailey
Sometimes the hardest part of writing is the very first word. Getting motivated and maintaining that creative energy is crucial to completing your novel. Writing for at least a few moments each day will help you to get into the rhythm of writing on a regular basis and make getting motivated to sit down and get to work that much easier. This weeks Killer Nashville guest blogger, Robert Bailey, discusses how to do just that.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Ever since I read The Bobbsey Twins in the Country in the third grade, I have loved fiction. My first crack at writing my own stories was during my senior year at Davidson College when I took a creative writing class. However, crazily enough, my writing career did not begin in earnest until I had a vivid daydream during a particularly boring day of law school: What would happen if my professor actually had to try a case? It was very much a smart aleck idea at the time, but it became the spark for a story that would feature a longtime law professor at the University of Alabama who returns to the courtroom to try a case with a young former student.
Eight years, three re-writes and thirty-eight drafts of the last re-write later, I signed my first publishing contract. The Professor was originally published in January 2014 from Exhibit A Books, and a second edition was released by Thomas & Mercer in August 2015. This past March, the sequel, Between Black and White, was published by Thomas & Mercer, and I am currently working on a third title in the series. I have learned many lessons since I began writing the prologue to The Professor over a decade ago. Here are three of the most important:
- It doesn’t get any easier. You would think with two published novels under my belt that the writing process would become easier, right? Wrong. If anything, the process is more challenging now because I recognize mistakes in the narrative quicker than when I began my first book many moons ago. My expectations are higher, and it is harder to build momentum. And…
Momentum is critical. When writing the first draft of a novel, doubts are inevitable. Is the main character engaging? Is the plot moving? Is the villain realistic? Are character descriptions consistent? With all of this second-guessing going on in your head, it is important to move the story, even if it is just a page or a measly paragraph. Force yourself to keep the accelerator pressed down. During the writing of the first draft of Between Black and White, I had to try a jury trial over in Tuscumbia, Alabama. I was away from home for most of two weeks and did not write a word. When I returned to the computer a few weeks later, the manuscript felt dry and stale. I had to re-read large chunks of it to get up to speed, and, after doing so, I wasn’t happy with the story. All total, that two-week break probably cost me two months time in completing the manuscript. Now, regardless of my trial schedule, my goal is always to…
- Write every day. Not only is daily writing important in creating momentum, it also breeds confidence and harnesses talent. I call it being “oily.” When a pro golfer has played several tournaments in a row and his fingers have band aids on them from constant practice, playing the course becomes a process defined by execution that day. There are few jitters—only the round at hand. First tee nerves are lessened, because he is on the first tee all the time, four times a week, in competition. Contrast that with the golfer coming back from injury who hasn’t played any competitive tournaments: will she be as sharp as the player that has been on the course every day? Of course not. Writing is the same way, and it is a lesson I’ve learned the hard way. After finishing both The Professor and Between Black and White, I rewarded myself with several weeks off writing. The only thing the time away from the craft accomplished was to make me rusty and restless. Trust me: the best time to start your next book is the day after you finish your last book.
Robert Bailey is the author of Between Black and White released on March 15, 2016 by Thomas & Mercer. His debut novel, “The Professor, won the 2014 Beverly Hills Book Award for legal thriller of the year and was an Amazon bestseller, spending several weeks at No. 1 in the legal thriller category. He lives in Huntsville, Ala., where he practices law with the firm of Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne.
(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, Arthur Jackson, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
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.
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