Cloudy With A Chance of Uh Oh

We’re into the home stretch of NaNoWriMo. Are you storing your manuscript on “the cloud”? You may want to reconsider.  On October 31, hundreds of people reported that Google Drive ate their homework. During a window of 10 hours, documents were deleted or locked. Some people saw a message saying the documents violated Google’s Terms of Service. Other people saw no error, they just lost control of their own work. Google’s official position is the “glitch” (I really hate that word) was due to a code push. See https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-docs-lockout-its-fixed-google-says-but-users-fret-over-creepy-monitoring/ for more. This isn’t the first time such an event occurred and it won’t be the last. It should serve as a reminder to those of us who create content that we need to be mindful of who has ultimate control. If you store your work on someone else’s system, like the cloud, it isn’t you. My preference is to keep my work solely under my control. I also believe in backups, as in plural. Accidents happen but the odds of losing a computer hard drive, a full backup, and 2 or 3 thumb drives simultaneously are small. A virus could wipe out most of them in one fell swoop, of course, which is why all operating systems need protection (I’m looking at you, Mac users). This is also why, out of an abundance of caution, I print out each draft of my works in progress. Paper doesn’t crash. It’s also satisfying to see my accomplishments in a physical form. How do you save your work? 

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Saying no

I am one of those people who says yes to everything, until one person too many asks and then I lose my temper and explode. Or whimper, anyway. Over the last few years I’ve become the slightest bit more assertive, but at the current trajectory, I should reach emotional maturity by time I turn 100. So I asked my Miss Demeanors if they had difficulty saying no. Robin: No (see what I did there?). Seriously, “no” is not a problem for me. My first instinct is usually to overextend myself when I get enthusiastic but I’ve learned to pick and choose quality over quantity. It’s better and healthier for me to put my passion and energy into fewer endeavors and knock them out of the park rather than risk half-assing something that will come back to haunt me. I’m perfectly comfortable “being the bad guy” for a moment rather than regretting a squandered opportunity for a lifetime. And, honestly, it’s rare that “no” makes me “the bad guy.” “No” doesn’t always mean “never.” It often means “not right now.” Tracee: I don’t have a problem using that particular two letter word. Part of this comes from years running large organizations highly dependent on volunteer help – I had to listen to my fair share of Nos. When I turn someone down I try to be specific so they will know that No means No, or No means Later or No means maybe a Yes if my assignment was different. I try to respect the No, and that means saying it with respect. That said, I don’t think that a No requires an explanation. As my mother would say “No, but thank you for asking.” End of story. When the time is right, it might turn into a yes! After all, for all things there is a time. Paula: I may paste what Robin has to say on my refrigerator LOL I read somewhere that you should spend the first part of your career saying yes to everything and then when you reach a certain level of success, it’s time to start saying no to everything. I still say yes more often than I should, but I’m getting better. Cate: I am horrible at saying no. Case in point: I am cooking a turkey for the second grade class for thanksgiving and my edit/rewrite is due at the end of the month. I also agreed to read and blurb someone’s book. I have problems. Michele: You do realize you’re asking a woman who one year ago today agreed to cochair a conference for writers and readers and who just came home from it. I don’t need the sign with Robin’s quote on my refrigerator. I need to crawl into the refrigerator and hide. I’m learning to say no and I’m selective about what I say yes to. On the other hand, saying yes means you have full life. Remember that quote, if you want something done, ask a busy person. I say yes a lot because I want to. Alexia: My ability to say “no” depends on the situation. I find it much harder to say no to friends than I do at work. I used to be afraid to say no to anyone. I wanted to be the “nice” girl who everyone liked, the indispensable Janie-on-the-spot. During my second year of residency (I remember the moment: standing near the elevators after a particularly crappy day on my 2nd pediatrics rotation.) I realized that always saying yes was getting me nowhere. People didn’t appreciate me; they took advantage of me. They interpreted niceness as weakness and went in for the kill. And at the end of the day, they still didn’t like me. No one likes their doormat. Uses it, sure. Likes it? Not so much. At that moment my animal brain woke up and said, “Screw nice. Let’s talk survival. These people aren’t your friends and won’t become your friends. Since they’re going to dislike you anyway, let them dislike you for not being a pushover. Have the spine to stand up for your own interests.” Magic happened. I’d pay money to see the expression on the face of someone who assumed I’d acquiesce (translation: roll over and play dead) when I asserted myself and said no to their plan, then explained the good reason I said no, and offered a better, more balanced alternative. Friends are different. I actually want to accommodate my friends’ requests because they’re my friends and that’s what you do for friends. Saying no is hard so I take the sneaky way out and pretend I didn’t get the message (phone call, email, text, etc). Avoidance: the preferred technique of passive aggressives, cowards, and people with boundary issues everywhere.Oddly, with family it’s a bit easier to say no. Probably because they’re stuck with me. Bwahahaha. Alison: I don’t like to say no to anyone, but I’m learning that it’s not only a necessary life skill, it’s a critical one. I’ve spent too many years saying yes to things I didn’t want to do, doing those things well, and being resentful. Now, I try my best to determine whether I’ll actually enjoy whatever it is that is being asked of me. If the answer is no, I say no if I can (familial obligations excepted). With close friends, I’ll give an honest explanation: “I’d love to help out with your charity project right now, but with my daughter applying to college, I just can’t take anything else on.” Otherwise, I find that a simple, “I’m sorry, I just can’t devote the time this deserves right now” works just fine.Now, if only I didn’t feel guilty after I said no, I think I might be on my way to good mental health. Tracee: Guilt after saying no is better than guilt after saying yes! 

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Passage to India

Yesterday I got my visa to go to India. That means, on Jan. 3, I will be catching a plane to Delhi, and then another plane to Pantnagar, and will then drive (or better to say, be driven) for two hours to Bambasa, which is where the Good Shepherd Agricultural Mission/Orphanage is located.  (The picture below is from their Summer Games.) There I will finally have a chance to meet Rosey, a young woman I’ve been sponsoring for the last few years. She’s just turning 17, speaks fluent English and dreams of being a journalist. She’s also endured some very tough things in her life and she’s a very inspiring and loving spirit. I’ll be there for a week. Usually they have visitors help out with the farm work, though I can’t imagine I’ll be of much use in a rice paddy. Perhaps I can give some writing lessons. Or help with the library. Rosey has promised me I will not be bored and I believe her absolutely. Only a few weeks ago, they found a python on their grounds, and I believe there’s been an elephant wandering around. Rosey said they’d teach me how to cook some Indian food, and her friends are dying to see my daughter’s wedding pictures. One of the things that has surprised me, though maybe it’s not surprising in this day of the internet, is that they are all very savvy about Western culture. They’re up-to-date on movies and Rosey adores The Hunger Games. What an adventure this is going to be!    

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NaNoWriMo & Me

 My first introduction to NaNoWriMo was not auspicious. I was teaching a novel writing class at night and one of my students kept handing in manuscripts that didn’t have contractions. Plus there would be lots of extraneous little words in her pages. It. It. It. Finally I said to her, “For Pete’s sake, why don’t you use contractions?” And she explained that she was doing NaNoWriMo (in which you try to write 50,000 words in the month of November). She needed to bulk her word count. “I see,” I said, thinking that that sounded like a colossal waste of time in order to get a really bloated manuscript. Years passed.  Then, I had a deadline ahead of me. It happened to be November and I thought, why not give this a try? Maybe it will inspire me to write quickly. That was three years ago and after that I was hooked. This year I’m working on a draft of Maggie Dove 3. What I love about NaNoWriMo is that it forces my mind to go in unexpected places. The fact is, I probably write 1,700 words a day anyway, but usually I’m revising things. Trying to make things perfect. Or good, anyway. Shuffling things around. With NaNoWriMo it all comes out fresh, and often I surprise myself. At the start of November, which was only two weeks ago, I had one sentence in my mind about what I thought this new Maggie Dove would be about. Now I have 21,000 words and it’s all so different than I anticipated. I still have a lot of work ahead of me. When November’s done, I’ll go through my NaNoWriMo draft and break it into scenes. I’ll throw out pages. Or store them away for something different. I’ll expand on other things. But, the great thing is that now I know who the characters are, who the murderer is, why it’s done, how it’s done. I have something solid to grapple with.  Thank you, NaNoWriMo and see you next year.

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Crime Bake

I spent last weekend at the New England Crime Bake, which is a small mystery conference in Massachusetts. By small I mean intimate, by which I mean that you could sit down at a table with mega-best-selling author Lisa Gardner and ask her questions. (I did not ask a question, but I did make a comment. An introvert’s triumph!)  There were so many craft lectures on topics I wanted to learn about: Lisa Gardner talking about Character Development, Jane Cleland talking about Mastering Suspense, fabulous agent Paula Munier talking about Practicing Your Pitch, Susan Reynolds talking about how to Fire Up Your Writing Brain. Then there were “Drop in and Ask the Expert” panels, including our own Miss Demeanor Robin Stuart teaching about cyber crime and Bruce Coffin explaining police procedurals. One of my favorite panels was titled “The Survivors Club: Career Strategies for the Long Haul.” On the panel were moderator Lisa Haselton and panelists Lea Wait, Stephen D. Rogers and Toni L.P. Kelner. Listening to them speak, honestly and humorously about a career in the writing business, was like going to therapy. There were the horror stories about editors departing suddenly and writers being jettisoned. Stephen Rogers has had 800 short stories published, which sounds fabulous, except that in order to reach that number he had to get 4,000 rejections. They shared stories about changing their names to get more sales,  trying to adapt to the times,  compromises they had to make or didn’t make. At the end, wrapping up the session, Toni said something wonderful that I didn’t write down, so I’m paraphrasing it, but it was something like, I’m so happy with what I do. I can’t complain at all. Agreed. Then there was the final banquet, and the Miss Demeanors (among them Michele Dorsey, who co-organized this fabulous conference) and an assortment of wonderful people, were honored for our achievements.  As everyone cheered, I thought how blessed I was to be part of this wonderful community.    

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Guest Post: Lois Winston

I’m delighted to welcome Lois Winston to our blog today. Lois is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.                                       ***On the Hunt for Plots and Characters I started out my writing career penning romances. On more than one occasion some Neanderthal at a party would ask how I researched my sex scenes. Interestingly enough, now that I write murder mysteries, no one has ever asked me if I’ve killed anyone. I wonder why that is… So where do I get the ideas for the plots and characters in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries? I don’t have to look any further than the nightly news or my daily newspaper. In Scrapbook of Murder, the sixth book in the series, I was influenced by a sex scandal that had occurred at a pricey boarding school in New Hampshire and an ongoing, truly bizarre mystery in my own town that has made international headlines. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/24/the-watcher-house-home-letters-westfield_n_7656620.html All of the plots for my books, including my early romances, have been sparked by actual news stories. I even keep a notebook of interesting articles. Reading through the clippings invariably gives me the idea for a plot or character for my next book. News stories are great for generating plots, and human-interest stories are often great fodder for developing characters. However, the character most readers love to hate in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries is Lucille, Anastasia’s communist mother-in-law. I didn’t have to look any further than my own communist mother-in-law when I created her. It’s a good thing she’s no longer alive, because she’d probably kill me! (In my defense, though, both my husband and his sister think Lucille is a hoot-and-a-half!)   Scrapbook of MurderAn Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6 Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but normal deserted craft editor Anastasia Pollack’s world nearly a year ago. Now, tripping over dead bodies seems to be the “new normal” for this reluctant amateur sleuth. When the daughter of a murdered neighbor asks Anastasia to create a family scrapbook from old photographs and memorabilia discovered in a battered suitcase, she agrees—not only out of friendship but also from a sense of guilt over the older woman’s death. However, as Anastasia begins sorting through the contents of the suitcase, she discovers a letter revealing a fifty-year-old secret, one that unearths a long-buried scandal and unleashes a killer. Suddenly Anastasia is back in sleuthing mode as she races to prevent a suitcase full of trouble from leading to more deaths. Buy Links:Kindle https://amzn.to/2ffIMgyKobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/scrapbook-of-murderiTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/scrapbook-of-murder/id1286758416?mt=11Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scrapbook-of-murder-lois-winston/1127145157?ean=2940158851896Paperback https://amzn.to/2y2Omhl  Website: www.loiswinston.comKiller Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.comPinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuthTwitter at https://twitter.com/AnasleuthNewsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5 

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Connecting With Readers

So, the AMA on Snapchat was fun yesterday. More than thirty readers weighed in with questions asking everything from how I create characters to my personal political views (it’s Twitter, where so much tends to skew Trump. What can you do?). You can check it out here.   In keeping with the social media-centric posts this week, I asked the MissDemeanors to weigh in on their favorite tools were to connect with readers. Here’s what they said.  Susan Breen: I love twitter. I’ve come to the conclusion that I see the world in 140 character bites. I love the whole retweeting thing, which allows me to interact with people I might not otherwise. It’s a sort of living diary, for me. Alexia Gordon: I like Facebook and Instagram as my go-to social media tools. Conferences are how I meet readers face-to-face. Paula Munier: I interact with readers on Facebook and twitter—and that’s fun. But I really love meeting readers (and writers!) in person at conferences and bookstores and library events. Robin Stuart: Twitter is my go-to for online interactions. I’ve tinkered with InstaFaceSnap but have had the most consistent experiences with readers and writers on Twitter. I also agree with Paula. The networking and mingling at conferences and workshops can’t be beat. I meet a surprising number of crime fiction fans at Sisters in Crime and MWA events. Prior to joining the organizations I expected the events to attract only writers. Meeting and hearing from enthusiastic readers is a happy bonus. Another tool that I like (and keep hoping mentions my latest book) is The Skimm. A daily email that summarizes the news for its five million readers, The Skimm also highlights books of interest on Fridays. The newsletter was started by two, now 30-something, NBC News producers for millennials that need to know what’s going on in a nutshell before heading to the office.     

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The New Social Media Frontiers

We all know about Facebook, Twitter and (hopefully after my last post) Instagram. But what about all the other ways to interact with readers online? How do we reach readers on new platforms?  Today, at 4 p.m., I’ll be doing something that I never tried before. I’ll be participating in a Ask Me Anything interview on Snapchat. I am hoping that the questions will focus on my books and the writing. But, it’s Ask Me Anything, so we’ll see.  According to one of the organizers of the Snapchat AMA, Author Joe Clifford, that last AMA they hosted resulted in 51,000 tweet impressions and 12,700 video views. That was nearly 6X the engagement that the author usually received from tweets.  I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are some must follow book snapchatters that I learned about this morning, courtesy of BookRiot. On their list is MyBookBath, a snapchat by a Vancouver book blogger who takes videos and photos of beautiful book swag and bookshelves. BookRiot has a snapchat too that’s made lists on blogs such as iDiva. And, if you’re joining the snapchat book community, there are some lenses to try that will spruce up your posts. Barnes & Noble recommends “Rotting Pig Head on A Stick” (It’s a Lord of the Flies reference) and Book Cover Face Swap (which puts your face on your favorite book cover).     

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10 Bookstagrammers To Know

Bookstagrammers are the life blood of the social media book community. Found on Instagram under the hashtag #bookstagrammers, these literature-loving individuals read, review, photograph and spread the word about books that they love (and, sometimes, hate). Some wonderful bookstagrammers even supply casting recommendations for films.  At last count, there were 1.36 million posts by #bookstagrammers on Instagram. Here are some #bookstagrammers any thriller or mystery author should know.   BookSugar. Maria has more than fifty thousand followers on Instagram, which means a ton of exposure if you make her must read list. This Canadian book blogger’s tastes range skew literary (Jane Austen, anyone?) but she does include the occasionally mystery, thriller, or suspense novel on her list. Wendy Walker’s Emma In The Night made the list recently. Crime By The Book. Bookstagrammer Abby started out with a cup of coffee and passion for thrillers, mysteries, and suspense novels. Now she has 47,000 followers (and growing) and a major book marketing career! Though she works for Dutton, the opinions on her blog and Instagram account are her own. Her reviews are insightful, well-explained, and sought-after. She also clearly knows where to get the prettiest cups of joe in the city.     SuspenseThrill. Avid bookstagrammer, blogger and reviewer Chelsea Humphrey had 4,588 Instagram followers as of Nov. 7. She’ll probably have more before this post runs tomorrow. She is a top reviewer on Goodreads and her blog is followed by English-speaking mystery and thriller fans the world over. On top of all of this, she takes some beautiful book cover shots.  Texas Girl Reads. Texas Girl, Sarah, sure does read. A book or so a week, by my count. She also takes visually arresting images of the suspense novels and mysteries that she loves and shares her heartfelt reviews on Instagram. Sometimes, she’ll share her kids’ favorite picks too. She shares detailed reviews on Instagram, where she has 1,044 followers, and on her blog.   GareIndeedReads. Gare is a dedicated bookstagrammer that not only reads a new book seemingly every few days, but also provides in depth reviews on Instagram and on his slick, professional blog. On top of this, he also casts many of the books he reads, sharing his vote for the Hollywood stars he could picture playing parts of different characters. The photographs of the books that he takes along with his reviews, and the images of the celebrities that he sees starring in the one-day-film version make for some visually arresting book evangelizing. He has over 750 followers. (I also had the pleasure of meeting him at a recent book event and he’s a very thoughtful reader and all-around friendly person).    Kourtney’s Bookshelf. Kourtney is a dedicated mystery, thriller and suspense reader. Her Instagram and blog often feature new releases in the genre.  When she likes a book, this Texas girl will not only photograph it and share with her 1,676 followers, but she’ll often include favorite quotes from the novel.    Oh The Book Feels. You can truly feel the book love from this #bookstagrammer. More than 66,500 people follow this Kansas City reader’s Instagram account–and it’s not difficult to see why. Carmen’s photos are composed like works of art, which isn’t surprising given her book library.  She also has a cat that occasionally graces her posts, and knows how to pose perfectly on a book shelf ladder.   Angie’s Bookshelf is another thriller and suspense #bookstagrammer to follow. According to her brief bio, this avid reader of thrills and chills loves wine, coffee, music and books, which you know means she’s part of the thriller tribe. (Thriller writing and garage bands go together. Check out any conference for verification). Angie has 579 followers and a taste for travel, as evidenced by this beautiful book shot.  Who wouldn’t want to read whatever novel she put against that beach?  Prose and Palate. The alliteration in the name alone should tell you this #bookstagrammer appreciates thoughtful writing, and it shows in her Instagram posts. Stacy has more than 4,680 followers and a penchant for thrillers, historical fiction and Southern fiction. She takes beautiful photos and has a vintage typewriter that often peaks from behind the pages. She also is a regular Book of The Month Club judge and has the collection of coolest coffee mugs around. Check out her Instagram to see what I mean.  Books The Thing. Erika has nearly 1,000 followers (979 and growing as of this writing) and loves a good mystery. She reads all types: cozies, psychological thrillers, Agatha Christie-inspired, Sherlock Holmes’ updates. She also loves a good female sleuth, as evidenced by this post on her blog.    

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The Right #: A Bookstagram Guide

Forget Facebook. The book community is on Instagram and you can find them if you follow the right tags.  The first one to use and search for is #bookstagram. The reader community uses the hashtag to mark anything book related on the site and it’s been used more than 15 million times on the site. It’s basically the goto search term to find photos of books that folks are reading and tons of reviews. It’s not the only one, though. When posting about my books I often use the tags #thrillerbooks, #suspensebooks, and #suspensethriller, too. I’ve also seen plenty of folks use #mysterythrillerbooks and #mysterybooks. The latter hashtag has the mosts posts associated with it, so it’s a good catch all for the mystery/thriller community that gets significant search traffic.  Another useful hashtag, if you have a pet and a book to market, is #readingbuddy. People love their pets. They love their books. They combine them on instagram to adorable and wonderful marketing effect. Thanks to petbookclub for this post!  Another great hashtag is #bookfetish. Use this one for all posts involving love of books or when you buy a book. And, if your book is on one of the lists, always mark it #bestseller.  Tomorrow, I’ll mention some of my favorite bookstagrammers! 

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