Is there such thing as too many books?

 My husband claims that I don’t understand the purpose of a book tour (which is evidently to tout my own book). Recently, during the course of sixteen days, I traveled through seven states, visiting 13 bookstores. During that time I bought books. (Of course.) How could I not? Each store was a unique experience. Moreover, it was a chance to talk about we were each reading. The clerks had amazing recommendations and it was impossible not to follow up on their suggestions. One of my first purchases was The Lives of the Great Gardeners. It is a lovely surprise. Four to six pages on individual gardeners throughout the ages – from Le Notre and Thomas Jefferson to contemporary designers. Matthew Beaumont’s Night Walking promises to be a journey though London. The Art of American Still Life was purchased at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, one of two books accompanying a charming exhibit. The Sound of a Wild Snail is a marvelous tale of patience and harmony. Rising Tide was a favorite recommendation in Arkansas where much of the subject – a terrible flood – took place. My mother’s family is from the region and I recognized many of the names and small towns. I will dive in soon for a full read. Some are new authors and titles to me. Others feel like old friends – most particularly Louise Penny, Ian Rankin, Charles Todd and Charles Cumming. These books have climbed to the top of my to-be-read list (I’m 25% of the way through…. Todd’s Racing the Devil lived up to and beyond expectation). The Warlock and the Wolf was a gift from the author who attended one of my book signings. Many thanks for the thoughtful gesture. I confess to purchasing Michael Connelly’s The Crossing at the airport to get me through the first terminal wait. But it made the trip with me, so counts as part of the haul. Like many people, I fall into reading habits and this was an opportunity to branch out. I’m curious – have you branched out in your reading selection recently?  

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Book Tour! A time for writers and readers.

 On February 6th I left home for my very first book tour, and for the next two and half weeks I visited 13 cities to talk about and sign Swiss Vendetta. I had an idea of what to expect. I have public speaking experience from my former job in the non-profit world and with university alumni relations. The latter required travel and sometimes Q&A in a different city every night. From this, I was prepared for the daily cycle of fatigue and even random thoughts along the lines of – why did I say yes to this? At the same time, I anticipated the jolt of energy that arrived every time I stepped in front of the crowd or sat at the signing table. In this, I wasn’t disappointed. There were a few surprises. The first one is a slightly embarrassing: that people had read Swiss Vendetta. To give me some credit, the night of my first stop coincided with the day of the book’s release. It was impossible for anyone other than a beta reader or recipient of an advance copy to have read it. I got used to that rhythm. The questions were about my background, why I started to write, did I always know I wanted to write mysteries. A few days into the tour, the story changed. A man raised his hand, not for a question, but with a statement: I loved this line from the book, “The young are foolish. But foolish doesn’t mean you deserve to die.” For a second I didn’t know what to say. Was the nice man a plant, someone sent by my mother to make me feel good? How could he know what was in the book? Fortunately, I relied on the old standby of Thank you, which bought me a moment to realize he’d read the Swiss Vendetta and had an opinion. However, in that first half second it was a little like what it must feel like to meet a stranger who holds up a photograph and says, Hi, I’m your here-to-fore unknown brother. Very personal and unsettling and then exciting and also a step into uncharted territory. From this point forward I had the great pleasure to meet readers – many people who had read the book and wanted to talk about characters and setting and plot points and favorite lines. Each and every one of them gave me a tiny moment of joy (even the man who had a complicated question about a character entering a place and leaving and then reentering). It was a pleasure to talk about the second in the series – A Well-Timed Murder – and to speculate about a third. I had another entirely pleasant surprise near the end of my time on the road. In reading emails from readers who had a thought to share, and some who said that they wished they could come to a signing but work prevented it, there was one from a very nice woman who had heard my book recommended by an author at his own book signing. I have always felt a comradery among writers (at least in the mystery and suspense genre) but the idea that we are out there in the world celebrating each other was such a pleasant experience. I arrived home exhausted. There is a rhythm on the road that keeps you going and when the rhythm breaks you feel the fatigue of travel and of ‘being on’ every afternoon or evening. At the same time, I can’t wait to go out there again. Apart from actually writing, talking about writing and reading is pure joy. Thank you readers who turned out and made these weeks unforgettable! As a reader, what do you look forward to at a book talk and signing? Authors, what’s been your experience meeting your readers? 

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Four-Legged Writing Partners

Speaking of my dog and drafts, I have to give credit where it’s due. Method and motive are two key ingredients to crime fiction. So are red herrings. As I wend my way through early drafts it’s not unusual to hit a snag where logic breaks down. This is where Emma comes in. When I get stuck, I take her for a walk. I’ve learned that she has little patience for me to suddenly stop and jot down ideas in a notebook so I take my phone to dictate instead. I figured that I’m not the first author with a four-legged writing partner. This brought to mind a question for my fellow Miss Demeanors. Dogs or cats?   Alexia: I prefer dogs but like dogs and cats. Saying I prefer dogs is sort of like saying I prefer chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream to moose tracks. I’m not saying no to either but given the choice… I don’t have a concrete reason for the preference. Maybe because dogs seem more social. Having a cat would be like having two extreme introverts in the house. Dogs provide me with social interaction and force me to get out of the house. Cate:I have an eight year old puggle (half pug, half beagle) who acts like a cat for half the day. Westley loves attention and affection, but also loves sitting in his favorite spot and sleeping away most of the day. He is very good company as I write. Petting him helped me distress from the more intense scenes in The Widower’s Wife and my upcoming book Lies She Told.            Paula:  We have two dogs: 1) Freddie, the inspiration for FIXING FREDDIE: The True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle (Adams Media, 2010) and 2) Bear, our Newfoundland-retriever rescue, the inspiration for Susie Bear, the search-and-rescue dog in my mystery SPARE THESE STONES, coming in 2018 from Minotaur. We also have a tiger tabby named Ursula, the 8 1/2 pound Queen of All She Surveys, including dogs and humans. You’ll find both cats and dogs in my work, as well as in my life. They also keep me company as I noodle on my stories. Dogs are good for walking and hiking and snowshoeing and paddle boarding; cats are good for naps and reading and binge-watching British mysteries. All good for fueling my process creative process! Susan: I have two little cockapoos and they are my obsession. (They’re a mixture of cocker spaniel and poodle.) They keep me company when I’m writing and they take me for walks when I’m not. I also have two rescue cats with whom I have an amicable relationship. They don’t scratch me, and I feed them. When I was writing Maggie Dove’s Detective Agency, I knew I wanted her to have a pet. Maggie Dove seemed to me to be a rescuing sort of person, and so over the course of the novel she absorbs two cats. I’d love for her to take on a Golden Retriever, but I need to think more about that.               Michele: We have always had cats and dogs. At one point, my three children seemed to believe they were each entitled to their own individual dog and cat! The dogs were always golden retrievers, except for one little blonde cocker spaniel who crept into my heart, and the cats often tabbies. We lost our thirteen year old golden, Cheddar, in September. Three weeks later, our sixteen year old cat, Miss Dingle named after the town in Ireland, died of a broken heart. They were inseparable. Ours hearts have huge holes right now as we ponder how to continue to have pets when we have sprouted our own wings and travel.              Tracee: I have two Jack Russell terriers – Alvaro and Laika. Alvaro is the one who demands a walk, which is usually a good thing, although sometimes he wants the walk at the very worst time. Laika – named for the terrier sent up by the Russians in Sputnik – only wants lap time, sometimes I think she wants to be a cat. She certainly wants to be better friends with the neighborhood cats….our favorite is Malcolm who literally runs across the yard when my husband arrives. Ever faithful even though he’s technically the neighbors. We also have a Flemish Giant rabbit named Guinness who came with the house! She is perfectly lovely, a very very dark brown. When I need a completely understanding companion she’s the one to visit (she has her own house in the back yard). She is quiet and undemanding but always ready to cozy up in exchange for a carrot. The Jack Russells pretend they want to be friends, but based on their attitude to the squirrels I think it would end badly!  

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Write. Revise. Repeat.

 Writing is rewriting. We hear that at every conference and workshop. What surprises me is the accompanying chorus of groans from attendees. Apparently, I’m in the minority of writers who enjoy revising. I think of the process as similar to painting. The first draft is my pencil drawing. I’m just blurting out the arc of the story, seeing what works and what doesn’t. There are lots of eraser marks on the canvas at this point. I add color in broad strokes in version 2. This is when my primary focus is character development. In version 3, I add shading and details to evoke empathy and reaction. I keep going until my agent tells me it’s done, or an editor tells us both. To give you an idea of how much revising I’m talking about, let’s look at my journey so far. I worked on a single manuscript through 8 revisions before I felt ready to pitch agents. Landing one of them was my singular goal. So where did I pitch? At a dedicated pitch conference, Algonkian’s New York Pitch (https://newyorkpitchconference.com/). This particular conference is part workshop, part opportunity-of-a-lifetime. I can’t say enough good things about the experience. While there, I revised my pitch 4 times, based on feedback from agents and editors. What happened next? I got signed by the very rock star agent I’d set my sights on before I stepped foot in New York, Paula Munier. What am I doing now? Revising, again, based on feedback from some of the top publishing houses and conversations with Paula. I’m also working on the first pencil dra – I mean, first drafts of two new manuscripts. In between, I’ve written and revised outlines for two more projects that are waiting for my attention. I can’t wait to see how all of them turn out. See, I love the process. It’s fun and satisfying to see my characters take shape and evolve. I love it so much I intend to keep doing it, over and over again. 

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Lessons From Emma

 It’s been raining a lot. My dog is on my mind because she’s not like me. I’ve got a revision to work on so being trapped indoors is kind of ideal. Emma doesn’t see it that way. Emma’s needs are simple – eat, sleep, play, cuddle. These are the ingredients for her happy life. She has taken an active dislike of any electronic devices because she recognizes that these objects take my attention away from her. How do I know this? Because she throws her tennis ball against my computer, drops her Kong onto my laptop keyboard when I’m on the couch, or drops any number of heavy toys on my feet if I’m checking email on my phone. Emma, being a dog, is inherently honest about what she wants. Attention. It may sound funny coming from a web site but we all need to turn off our electronics on a regular basis. Turn off the phones, computers, music players…anything that distracts us from the real world. It’s good and healthy to remember there IS a real world filled with real live people (and pets) – people we love and care about, who love and care about us. When we immerse ourselves in the virtual world it’s all too easy to take the real world for granted. It’s completely common now to see two people out to dinner who don’t speak to each other because they’re both texting, checking email, or whatever on their smart phones. They may even be texting each other. All in the name of accessibility. There’s a price we pay for all of this access. It’s alienation. By spending more and more time favoring digital over physical we isolate ourselves. As writers, we’re a little too good at that without the electronic props. You could be surrounded by people but if your attention is focused on a screen you may as well be alone. You may have several hundred Facebook friends and still be lonely because none of them can give you a physical hug. And it’s not just you who feels the impact of your isolation, especially if you have a family. I’m just as guilty as anyone. I’m trying to build a web presence, after all, while holding down a full time job and balancing family, friends and taking care of myself. It’s not unusual for me to be on a computer and two different smart phones simultaneously. And it started to take its toll, both on me and my family. Even Emma. My family missed me, regardless of whether or not I was physically home. So we’re trying something new around my house. We’ve instituted “unplugged Sundays” – no computers, cell phones, iPads, etc. It’s only been a couple of weeks but it seems to be working. We all feel closer. We even went out to dinner last night and forgot to bring our phones.  

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The Day Packed A Whallop

See what I did there in the blog title? There are lots of great pieces of advice for new writers. Two of the best pointers I heard early on went hand in hand. First, show, don’t tell. Second, active, not passive. Both feed into the heart of every story’s core: character. Characters don’t happen to a story, a story happens to a character. Telling the story of how your character reacts is passive, showing their story unfold is active, thus engaging for readers. One of my tricks to know I’m getting it right is paying attention to the use of one word: was. It’s a subtle but powerful test: She was cocking the gun. She cocked the gun. Which version grabs you? They both essentially say the same thing but the second version shows an action as it takes place. Removing “was” puts the reader in the character’s shoes and creates tension. “Was” keeps the action – thus the reader – at arm’s length. Showing your characters act/react reveals their nature. It’s like meeting someone you befriend over time. You learn who the person is through your experiences with them. They can tell you they prefer beignets to donuts but it’s more interesting to see their annoyance at the multitude of decisions when faced with donuts. Cake, raised, or old fashioned? Glazed with just sugar, just chocolate or both? This bakery vs that chain store? Hear the person complain about a donut’s the lack of density and too much sugar. Then watch their relief at finding a shop that sells traditional, New Orleans-style beignets. Listen to them order, “One please.” See the way their eyes close as they take the first bite. Did you notice how many times I used “was” in that last paragraph? Do you have any tricks to help strengthen your story telling? 

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Should you go to a conference?

 I sold my first novel, The Fiction Class, to an editor I met at the NY Pitch Conference. A few years later,  I met my fabulous agent, Paula Munier,  at the NY Pitch Conference. She sold my Maggie Dove mystery series to an editor I had met at the NY Pitch Conference. So it would be fair to say, I’m in the pro-conference camp. (I should add that I now work at the NY Pitch Conference.)  Last year, with my new mystery series debuting, I thought it  important to get out and meet people in the mystery-writing community, and so I went to three new (to me) conferences: Malice Domestic, which is geared toward cozies, Bouchercon, which is huge and was in New Orleans, and Writers’ Police Academy, which was in Wisconsin and gave me lots of hands-on experience. The conferences were thrilling, exhausting and educational and I’m still going through my notes. So, I asked my fellow Miss Demeanors what they felt about conferences and this is what they said:  Count me among the big fans, too. I attend a lot of conferences for both my day job and my writing career and learned early on that you get out of them what you put in. Like most experiences in life. Through writers’ conferences I’ve learned the difference between writing for myself and writing for commercial markets, continually learn how to hone my craft, and offer my technology expertise to fellow authors during social events to anyone who asks. I’ve also seized opportunities to hang out with a couple of my heroes whose careers I intend to mimic. And, of course, I met my wonderful agent, Paula, at a conference 🙂
–Robin Stuart Conferences? I’m a huge advocate. There’s no other place where you can learn about the business, network, and feel like a part of a vibrant community. Of course I met Paula at my first writer’s conference so I’m predisposed to like them. And there are so many choices – near and far, for craft, networking or to meet fans. Anywhere or any type, I return home re-charged. –Tracee de Hahn It’s how I found Paula. That was super helpful for me. I don’t know from a sales perspective. They always seem like writers talking to other writers. I makes me feel like I have a community, though–Cate Holahan I love writer’s conferences. As a writer, I love them for craft, camaraderie, and creativity. As an author, I love them for selling books and networking. As an agent, I love them for meeting new writers and hanging out with editors and agents and clients. Best of all, they’re fun!–Paula Munier I adore writing conferences where I can get lots of information about craft and the business of writing and seek the comfort and company of fellow writers. This year I am co-chair of my favorite conference, The New England Crime Bake. I’d love to see you there. 

–Michele Dorsey  

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My walk on the west side

I spend most of my time holed up in my office and occasionally going into the woods with my dogs. But on Wednesdays, I venture into New York City. There I teach writing classes for Gotham Writers. So every Wednesday I walk from Grand Central over to Eighth Avenue, and every Wednesday I see some amazing things.   First, I go past Library Walk, which I love. It’s a collection of plaques on the street which feature quotes by various writers. (Let me tell you that it was not easy to take this picture. I was almost trampled alive.)  Then, I keep on going until I get to the flower beds in front of the NY Public Library. In the spring, this is filled with tulips. In February it has these white branches, but it’s always changing and I never know what to expect.   Then I continue on, heading West, and the vibe begins to change. Things begin to get a bit more gritty and crowded.  I pass by the Millinery synagogue, which is an old building tucked in between a lot of new ones. I always stop and pay my respects.   Then I keep on going west, and I pass by what I think is the single most disgusting menu in New York:  Keep going west and now I’m in the heart of the Garment District, which I love. There are so many stores filled with zippers and buttons and beautiful fabrics. In the summer there are sample sales and for $5, you can buy clothes off the rack. Occasionally I am almost run down by one of those racks.                          And then I’m at Eighth Avenue and it’s time to work, and I walk into my office, chat for a few minutes and then begin talking about novels with my students. How do you get to work? 

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Seeds

 One of my favorite books is Seeds by Richard Horan, which tells of his quest to find the “trees that inspired famous American writers.” At the back of the book are some wonderful quotes about trees and here are some of my favorites: “You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.”  –Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons “A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today as it ever was. It does not need to adopt startling methods.”–Robert Henri “He who plants a tree,/Plants a hope.”–Lucy Larcom “For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”–Martin Luther “Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.”–Albert Schweitzer What inspires you? 

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The best romantic books

It’s Valentine’s Day. So whose mind doesn’t turn to reading?  Or romantic reading anyway. I’ve been having a grand time trying to make a list of some of my favorite Valentine’s Day reading and this is what I’ve come up with. 1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.  I’ve read it a thousand times and I still swoon when Mr. Rochester shows up on his horse. 2. Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. For years I wanted to be a governess because of this book. 3. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. The movie is fabulous, but the book is pretty fabulous too. I just love the way they talk to each other. 4. The Devil’s Cub by Georgette Heyer and basically anything by Georgette Heyer. 5. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It’s about a thousand pages long, but I think I read it in five minutes. 6.  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which is not actually a romance, except I spent so much time obsessing over Atticus Finch that it might just as well have been,  and when I met husband, my first thought was: He’s just like Atticus. So it wound up being a romance after all. Happy Valentine’s Day, Brad! How about you? Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day read? 

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