The Power of Positive Flying

 A day after returning from Bouchercon, I sit shoehorned into an economy seat for a four-and-a-half hour flight to the West Coast to make a site visit to one of our stations. I had fifteen hours to unpack, try to salvage waterlogged books and journals from the aftermath of the apparent flood that invaded my basement while I enjoyed Toronto, repack, eat (miniature Swiss chocolate bars, a Naked protein shake, and a Starbucks latte), catch up on some blogs (a Femmes Fatales post and two posts for my Lone Star Lit blog tour), nap, shower, dress, and catch a taxi back to the airport I’d just left. The shrieking (full-on, Banshee-worthy wails punctuated by sobs akin to chainsaws. Think of the fits thrown by Mary in the Secret Garden. Think of someone being tortured by Klingons.) temper tantrums of two of my coach-mates have turned the possibility of sleep on the plane into a hope as forlorn as Miss Havisham’s wedding dress. So what to do in the face of hours of cramped elbows, sore knees, a weird numbness in my pinky, and an onslaught of relentless screaming?
Focus on the positive. I picked up a magazine called “Live Happy” (seriously, that’s the name) in the airport lounge. It’s filled with tips for better living through positive thinking. So, I’ll try it. I’ll think of the nice things about this flight. The flight attendant gave me two creamers and two sugars for my coffee without my having to ask. The young woman in the middle seat next to me moved to an empty row so now I have more room. The vapor trails of the jet that passed disturbingly close beneath us were beautiful. The woman in the aisle seat is not chatty; she’s absorbed in her book. And I ended up with enough material for a blog post. 

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Bite-sized Bouchercon

 I started this post a few days ago. Now I’m sitting in Toronto Pearson International Airport waiting to board my flight back to the U.S. I’m manning the International Thriller Writers’ table at my first Bouchercon, feeling…overwhelmed. This conference is huge. I ran into Hank Phillipi Ryan in the elevator and joked there were more people in the hotel than there were on the streets. 1700 registrants. Wow. 1700 authors, editors, agents, bloggers, reviewers, readers, all gathered to celebrate mystery. Double wow. No danger of not finding enough to do. The opposite. Activities run non-stop from 7:30 am until 11 pm, or later. Hard decisions must be made to choose what to do without overdoing it and making yourself crazy. Try to do everything and, in addition to discovering you’d need to clone yourself to be in multiple places at the same time, you’ll collapse from exhaustion. Here are a few suggestions, based on what worked for me. If you’re on a panel, it’s easy. Start with that. Block out your time slot so you don’t inadvertently schedule yourself to be someplace else while you’re supposed to be on the dias. Dont forget, a 30 minute booksigning follows your panel. Next, find your friends’ (and agent’s and editors) panels and mark those. We members of the mystery community are friends with each other. The only throats we cut are on the page. We support each other. But at Bouchercon, support has to be rationed. At least two of your friends will be on concurrent panels. Attend one friend’s panel and buy the other a drink later to make up for it. You could spend the entire conference going from panel to panel to panel but I advise you not to. Panel fatigue will set in quickly. Break up the routine by volunteering for a shift at a table promoting one of the many writers’ organizations and fan societies represented at Bouchercon: Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and several others. Or volunteer to help Bouchercon itself. The volunteer table lists opportunities to serve. Plus, depending on what you sign up to do, you get to sit for a while and let people come to you. Finally, leave some time for fun. Cocktail and dinner parties abound. Or get away from the conference completely and be a tourist. Experience what your host city has on offer. Fellow Missdemeanor, Susan Breen, and I went on a ghost walk (led by Ryan of The Haunted Walk Toronto) through the Distillery District. We learned a bit of Toronto’s distillery past, discovered that Canadian ghosts are more polite than their American counterparts, and had a free sample of beer at Mill Street Brewery. I became a Fluevog shoe convert and celebrated my shoe-shopping victory with a tasting at Spirit of York distillery (sadly, not available in the US. Yet.) and at Soma chocolate. I also squeezed in a visit to the Guillermo del Toro exhibit, At Home with Monsters, at the Art Gallery of Ontario. I marveled at pieces from his apparently endless collection of books, movie memorabilia, paintings, photographs, and sculptures, all related to the people” places, and things that inspired him and accented by his quotations on creativity and belonging (or not). So, those were my tips for navigating Bouchercon. Pick and choose and break it into smaller pieces so it’s easier to wrap your hands, and your brain, around.

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Ready to try a new genre?

 Earlier this week we hosted Jonathan Putnam and Art Taylor. They’re both mystery writers, however they occupy a niche different than ours – Jonathan with historical mysteries and Art with a focus on short fiction. As the week went on, I found myself thinking about plot lines outside of the mystery genre. My question to you is: if you chose to write something ‘different’ what would it be? I often feel a pull toward historical fiction (not in the mystery genre, although at the heart of every story there is a mystery) and, in particular, a big epic. Maybe even a multi-generational, multi-country sprawling story. Anyone else feel the pull? ROBIN: I’m with you, there are always mysteries, regardless of the genre. Without questions, there are no conflicts, thus no story. I sometimes feel a pull towards literary fiction, something family-drama-ish. It’s been fascinating reading my parents’ letters to each other from the time they were dating up through their honeymoon. The letters answered some questions about my own family’s history while raising new ones. All of it is fodder that I’ll use in present and future works. MICHELE: Yes! Not only do I feel a pull, I had a fictional woman named Elise whispering in my ear, pestering me constantly, until I told her story. I wrote an entire romantic comedy about her, fully enjoyed the experience, but never named the book, nor did I shop it. What’s with that? I love a romantic farce! (Aren’t most love stories farcical?) What do you think about Elise? Shall I excavate her from the bottom of a desk drawer? Or let sleeping lies lie? Then, there’s Madeline who’s begging me to tell about her adventures as a domestic servant for Boston Brahmins on Beacon Hill after fleeing Ireland. I hope my fellow Miss Demeanors also hear voices and that it isn’t just me. SUSAN:  I came to being a mystery writer after having spent ten years as a short story writer and then another ten years as a literary fiction writer, if it is respectable to describe oneself as that. Writing mysteries was my secret pull all those years, and I’m so glad I surrendered to it. Michele, I’m very intrigued by Madeline and would love to hear her story.  ALISON: I feel as though I’m baring my soul: one of my guilty pleasures is watching shows like “Odd Mom Out” and “Keeping up Appearances,” (Anyone else love Hyacinth Bucket, oops, Bouquet?), as well as the supposedly more high-brow “Upstairs Downstairs” and “Downton Abbey.” I love fluffy stories layered on top of denser questions about the dynamics of socioeconomic class. I’ve written half of a mystery based on the idea of a mother who goes a little off the rails when her perfect child does not get into the perfect school. I wouldn’t have believed applying to independent schools in Manhattan could really be so dramatic if I hadn’t gone through it myself. Don’t get me wrong. Most people are lovely and wonderful, but the ones who aren’t…well, let’s just say there might be some justifiable homicides out there. CATE: I would love to write a magical realism / dystopia book about a suburban American mom who keeps seeing signs of the apocalypse as she has to go around living her regular life. It would start with an odd chalk sign that she sees exiting her local coffee shop. She would keep going throughout her mundane week, all the while the signs would be building up. The protagonist would occasionally hear things on the television or the radio that would be clear evidence. But she’d keep ignoring them because she lives in a bubble and is relatively happy in her contained world. It would end with a flood and fire, and some greater commentary on interconnectedness and willful blindness and the struggle between individual survival and collective awareness. Maybe someday. I’m not mature enough to write it now without it being awful. Also, I’d probably need to reread revelations and ain’t nobody got time for that at the moment. ALEXIA: I would love to write a science fiction novel along the lines of Blade Runner or RoboCop. Of course, both of those are police procedurals set in the future so maybe writing a sci-fi cop story isn’t so different from writing mysteries after all. I’d also like to write a middle grade fantasy novel with a princess who saves everybody instead of waiting to be saved, historical fiction about the Black professional middle class in the first half of the 20th century, and a good old-fashioned ghost story. PAULA: I write a lot of nonfiction, and enjoy it, especially the books on writing and mindfulness and creativity. But I’d love to write women’s fiction someday. In my dotage…. TRACEE: Glad to hear I’m not the only one who hears (in Michele’s words) voices in my head….. all those characters who try to pull me into stories I’m not quite ready to write. I’m going to keep an eye on Cate and see if she is carrying Revelations around. First sign of a breakout into a new genre! (Paula, I hear your voice whispering in my ear….. establish yourself and then branch out! Don’t splinter too early! Good advice.) Anyone else out there ready to break type and go out on a writing limb?

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Miss Demeanors in Toronto! Come find us.

 Five of the Miss Demeanors, along with Paula Munier, better known as the glue that binds them together, swarm the city for the weekend. While you will certainly find them in the bar or roaming the halls to see friends, visit panels and chat with readers, there are times when you can count on finding them! Thursday kicks off with Michele Dorsey and Tracee de Hahn on competing panels (wander from one to the other and they promise not to object as the door opens and shuts): Michele’s panel is in Sheraton A at 4 pm. She joins fellow beach lovers Ryan Aldred, Baron R. Birtcher, David Burnsworth, Mike Martin and moderator Kay Kendall talking about “Coastal Crimes: How does living on the Water’s edge drive crime?” Meanwhile at 4 pm in Sheraton C, you are invited to “Read the World: Discover mysterious characters travelling through multiple counties.” Tracee de Hahn will sell you on the merits of a vacation in Switzerland, or at least a good read about that country, joined by panelists Cathy Ace, Annamaria Alfieri, Barry Lancet, Chris Pave and moderator Puja Guha, chatting about their respective destinations. Michele and Tracee will sign books immediately following their panels in Osgoode. 7:30 am and Friday starts bright and (too?) early for Tracee at the New Author’s Breakfast in Grand East where she has her one minute of fame. She will follow that up at 10 am in the VIP Room Concourse Level as a 20 on the 20s. Stop by and talk about ANYTHING. Really. She will be signing at 11 am. Saturday is another early day for the Miss Demeanors as they swarm the Sisters in Crime Breakfast to help celebrate 30 marvelous years. 7:30 am in Grand East (reservations required). Dashing straight out from breakfast, Alexia, Cate and Paula offer another chance to run between panels to catch all of the action. At 10 am in Sheraton A, Alexia Gordon with co-panelists Christine Cabo, Allen Eskins, Thomas Mullen, Lisa Turner and moderator Katharine M. Nohr, represent the US contingent in “North vs South: An American Panel, with authors setting their work at either end of the contiguous states.” Going head to head at 10 am with Alexia are Cate Holahan and Paula Munier in Grand West. Paula moderates this panel on “The Twisted Panel: Plotting, how to keep them interested….. and guessing.” They are joined by Jane Cleland, Ragnar Jónasson, Linda Landrigan and Felicia Yap. Alexia, Cate and Paula, will sign books immediately following their panels in Osgoode. Closing out a great day, at 4 pm Susan Breen and her co-panelists Scott Adlerberg, Terry Shames, Randall Silvas, Robin Yocum and moderator Valentina Giambanco share thoughts on “Pacing a Mystery: the keys to pacing from writers of a variety of mystery styles.” Immediately afterwards, Susan will be signing at Osgoode. On Sunday, you have a chance to quiz Michele to your heart’s content from 9:20-9:40 while she holds forth as a 20 on the 20s in the VIP room. At 10:30 she’ll be signing in Osgoode. Whew, we will leave tired, but rejuvenated! Hope to see many of you there! And thanks to Alison and Robin for staying behind to hold down the fort below the border. For all the Bouchercon details list the official website here. 

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DON’T BOTHER ME, I’M NOT WRITING

Author Ellen Byron joins the MissDemeanors today to share her thoughts on mindless creativity. Don’t miss her new mystery, A Cajun Christmas Killing, available now. Here’s Ellen: I spend a lot of time when I’m not writing, writing. It may look like I’m getting dinner together or doing the laundry, but I’ve found  that when I’m engaged in some mindless task – and if you ever ate at my house, you’d know my cooking is mindless – I have some of my most creative thoughts. It turns out I’m not alone in this. Google “mindless creativity” and you’ll get pages of articles proving this really is a thing. I found an article in Nature magazine about a study that showed “simply taking a break does not bring on inspiration — rather, creativity is fostered by tasks that allow the mind to wander.” A piece in Inc. Magazine was titled, “Want to be more creative? Do something mindless.” In a recent post on the Chicks on the Case blog, Lisa Q. Mathews shared this tidbit: Dame Agatha Christie herself claimed that she did some of her best plotting while doing the dishes.  Around the time I was thinking about this topic, the inimitable Dru of Dru’s Musings posted a picture from work showing a table filled with cans of Play Doh. I asked her about this, and she said, “Playing with Play Doh breaks up the monotony of the day, allowing you to relax and set your mind free by escaping with something fun.” Exactly.  Photo courtesy of Dru I’m now a fervent proponent of the Mindless Creativity Movement. Okay, there isn’t a movement, I just made that up, but there should be because we often feel guilty when we step away from our computers to do a task or errand or even something fun like play with Play Doh, and we shouldn’t. I’ve had so many brainstorms pushing a shopping cart through Target that I actually thanked them in the acknowledgments of my second book, Body on the Bayou. I’m not kidding. It reads, “And finally, a big thank-you to my local Target stores. I do some of my best thinking aimlessly wandering those jam-packed aisles.” I even wrote a blog post about the most mindless task of all. It’s titled “The Zen of Picking Up Dog Poo.” https://chicksonthecase.com/2017/07/17/the-zen-of-picking-up-dog-poo/ One drag about mindless creativity is that our nearest and dearest often don’t know it’s going on. They see us cleaning out the pantry or organizing the recycle bin and think, “Oh yay, she’s finally off the computer. I can talk to her.” I’ve lost some gems this way and snapped at the poor person who interrupted my creative process. When I shared an apartment with a particularly chatty roommate, I actually made a sign that read “Still Working” that I wore around my neck when I wasn’t literally writing. Another potential problem is the thin line between mindless creativity and procrastination. I have to be honest with myself and acknowledge when a midday trip to my favorite clothing store is the latter. But sometimes the two work hand-in-hand, and procrastination actually turns into mindless creativity. I ruined two pots when I chose to procrastinate by cooking, then had a brainstorm about my current book, A Cajun Christmas Killing, and ran back to the computer, totally forgetting about what I’d left on the stove. So next time you’re stuck on something, whatever it might be, trying getting your mind off the project and onto a mindless task. Even if you don’t have a breakthrough, at least your spice rack will be organized and your backyard poo-free. Your fearless MissDemeanor again. Forget the spice rack; go pick up a copy of Ellen’s new book, A Cajun Christmas Killing.  Here’s a peek (It’s okay, I won’t tell Santa):  Maggie Crozat is home in Cajun Country during the most magical time of the year. But the Grinch has come to stay at the Crozat Plantation B&B, and he’s flooding travel websites with vicious reviews. Maggie ID’s him as rival businessman Donald Baxter –until Baxter is found stabbed to death. With her detective boyfriend sidelined as a suspect, Maggie must catch the real killer or it will be the opposite of a Joyeux Noel for her. Books make much better presents than slipper socks and fruitcake. So grab copies now for everyone on your nice list. And on your naughty list, too. Beat the holiday rush. Ellen Byron writes the Cajun Country Mystery series. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called her new book, A Cajun Christmas Killing, “superb.” Body on the Bayou won the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Mystery, and was nominated for a Best Contemporary Novel Agatha Award. Plantation Shudders, was nominated for Agatha, Lefty, and Daphne awards, and made the USA Today Bestseller list. She’s written over 200 national magazine articles; published plays include the award-winning Graceland; TV credits include Wings, Just Shoot Me, Fairly OddParents, and pilots. Ellen lives in Studio City with her husband, daughter, and two spoiled rescue dogs. https://www.ellenbyron.com/https://www.facebook.com/ellenbyronauthor/https://twitter.com/ellenbyronla    

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Writer's Retreats. To go or not to go.

 We’ve talked about conferences now and then, but writer’s retreats are a different matter entirely. Retreats are about writing, or at least should be, while conferences are more typically about networking and pitching and learning about publishing and craft. If you’re thinking about a retreat, first decided what you want to accomplish. Do you need a leader, or are you working on a place to finish (or start) a project? Is this also a ‘get away’ from daily life and a chance to recharge (i.e do you need a beach or spa or fine dining)? Do you have a weekend or a few weeks? Don’t forget that you can make your own retreat…. Borrow a friend’s vacation home, book yourself into a hotel, or simply send the family away to relatives so you can write. Bottom line, even a short retreat can help a writer accomplish a great deal. Two or three days to work on difficult issues in your manuscript may work wonders.  If you want a ‘learning’ retreat, investigate the package. How are the days/hours structured? What will be ‘taught’? Will there be classes (on plot, character, even getting published) or prompts? Or, are you working on your project, using the instructor as a critic? Do you go alone or take a writing buddy for moral support? Bottom line, taking time to focus ONLY on writing can work miracles, but to benefit you have to set goals and match the experience to your goals. Writing miracles benefit from planning…. That said, any experiences to share? Any cautions or success stories (come on, you’ve led a retreat where a student wrote a break out novel or wrote one of your own!)?  

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Giving Back

The writing community has been very good to me. At the suggestion of one of my mentors I began volunteering at conferences. My first stint was a timekeeper at a California Crime Writers event a couple of years ago. Since then, as I’ve gotten more attention I volunteer to speak at conferences, I mentor aspiring writers, and I shamelessly promote fellow authors every chance I get. Volunteerism is in my blood, literally – I gave blood in a hurricane relief drive earlier this week. I also regularly donate time & money for causes near and dear to my heart like Alzheimer’s and cancer research. Volunteering with and for writers is one thing, the other forms of giving back I do are my little candle in the dark, gestures to try to make the world a better place, one humble effort at a time. My question this week is, how do you give back? Susan: I hope you don’t mind if I turn the question around, Robin, but only yesterday I learned that the woman I considered my mentor, died, and so it’s been very much in my heart how blessed I was to be on the receiving end of her guidance. Jane Carter was one of my students, though a far better writer than I will ever be. She revered language and expected, or possibly demanded, the best from me and she did not hesitate to tell me when I was being flippant. At the same time she had such a kind and loving heart and she read everything I wrote and adored it. She loved Nabokov, and gave me a copy of P’nin, which I treasure, though have never enjoyed as much as she did. Toward the end of her life, after a very circuitious route, she wound up in a homeless shelter in Harlem. I went to visit her. You would think she would be bitter and angry at that point and she certainly had cause to be, but when I walked into her room she grabbed me and said, “Susan, come here. You have to hear this man’s story!” She’d talked to every single person there and knew each person’s story and she wanted to set up a writing class, which she did. The last time I saw her was at the Harlem Book Festival, which was a fantastically hot day, and I have to confess I left behind my booth and went off with her to have Cuban food and ices and we talked for hours. I guess I would hope to be irreplaceable in someone else’s life the way she was to me. Paula: Great story, Susan. Everyone needs a Jane Carter in her life.I know this may sound strange, but I try not to talk about it. Not that I do any more or less than anybody else, but it’s that one part of the Sermon on the Mount that I actually took to heart. Mostly thanks to a novel recommended to me by my catechism teacher when I was girl: Magnificent Obsession, by Lloyd C. Douglas. (They made a 1954 movie adaptation with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman.) This book had a very strong impact on me, a good Catholic girl who like all good Catholic girls of a certain age wanted to be a nun. I outgrew that part, at least. Tracee: Here’s to the Jane Carters. I love that this illustrates the breadth of giving back. Teachers who stay those extra minutes to encourage a student, high school athletes who mentor their younger almost-peers. Children who travel great distances to spend time with parents. I was a professional fund raiser for years, both as director of a non-profit and as an assistant vice president at a university. I spent a great deal of time emphasizing that we really did value time, talent and treasure. Too often people think that if they can’t give cash then they aren’t giving anything of value. Being a mentor is a sharing of time and talent (buying that coffee to spend time over is also sharing treasure). When I was head of a non-profit we depended (that’s an understatement) on the contributions of time by our museum docents, of talent by those who helped curate new exhibits and, of course, treasure to pay the lighting bill. Each of those contributions played an equally integral role. I found that when people give from the heart to something they value then they feel the good they’ve done and want to do more. For some that means a shift in the how (from time to treasure) or an increase in their financial contribution. For others it means that they forgo their financial contributions while on a fixed income in retirement and give the time that they didn’t have while working. A natural evolution is a mutual link that creates goodwill on both sides and is irreplaceable. Perhaps because I was a professional fund raiser I see the many ways people are asked to give today. Sometimes I think that every time I check out in a store I’m being asked to donate a dollar or round up for a charity. I feel guilty when I say no. It is the public nature of these gifts that disturbs me. Why should a person who has just written a thousand dollar check to a local nonprofit feel guilty for not giving another dollar at the check out stand to that same organization that same day? I would like to suspend judgement about “giving” and simply encourage people to be involved. That is a true gift. Michele: To me, the question how do you give back begs a bigger question. How do you live? What I have learned is that the simple practice of kindness is the answer to all things, whether it is by digging into your pockets, volunteering, speaking in a gentle tone, smiling at a scowling stranger, or speaking out on behalf of those without voices. Kindness breeds generosity, which breeds kindness. Kindness is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Alexia: Now that I’m at a point in my life where my income actually has a “discretionary” portion, I’ve tried to increase the “treasure” part of my giving. I’m someone who thinks “social justice warrior” is a compliment, not an insult, but I’m not really a get-out-in-the-streets-with-a-banner type so I make monthly donations to some organizations dedicated to pursuing social justice. I also donate to symphonies and libraries because I believe books and music are vital. I donate to a historical foundation that is making deliberate efforts to portray a more inclusive story–history for all of us instead of the select few. Time-wise, I volunteer on the Altar Guild at church. Not just so I can collect hysterical wedding stories. I find setting up and breaking down the altar to be a peaceful, spirit-filled exercise. Talent-wise, I’ve forgone the prestige and glamour (and, let’s be honest, money) of private practice and opted, instead, for a career in public service. I wasn’t destined to take up arms in defense of the Constitution but I serve the same goal (and actually had to swear an oath similar to the one uniformed officers swear) as those who do–to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic–by providing medical evaluation (at various points in my career) to those in uniform, those who’ve taken off the uniform (veterans), and those hoping to wear the uniform. Alison: Every one of these stories is inspiring, in the textbook definition of the term: to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on…I echo Paula; donations are not something I feel comfortable discussing. I also echo Michele; I think small kindnesses make a big difference. Something as apparently trivial as holding open a door can change a person’s perception of the day, which then alters the way that person interacts with the next person they encounter. This ripple effect is so cliché, but I have been on the receiving end more than once. The tiniest thing can transform my outlook and my ability to pass on compassion to a fellow human being. I’m raising a glass to everyone who tries each day to pass on some kindness in this world, however they choose to do it, even when it’s hard, perhaps, especially when it’s hard. Cate: I try to give back to writers by blurbing their books when asked because other writers who didn’t know me were kind enough to take time read and comment on my books. It’s the kind of giving back that our community does routinely. I just did this and it fit with the theme. I went to my daughter’s school Thursday and taught for 45 minutes about how to write better stories. I spoke to them about creating a problem and complications to the ultimate solution, rising action, falling action and the all important twist.  We created our own story in class about two brothers, Jack and Mack, who have a disagreement while playing chess. Mack, the little brother, loses the game and throws all the pieces on the floor, in full view of the baby monitor that their mother uses to keep an eye on them when they are in their room alone. Jack, the calm, older brother, asks him if he wants to play again and promises to go easier on him. Mack says no and, like a sore loser, tells him that he cheated. Jack tries to convince Mack he played fair, only to have Mack storm off to their mother with his assertion that Jack cheated. Jack convinces the mom that he didn’t cheat. Then, the TWIST, Mack brings in the baby monitor that recorded the whole thing. Jack totally cheated. Jack gets time out and the brothers hug it out in the end and resolve to play fair.  Robin: These are all such great stories. Have I mentioned how proud I am to be a Miss Demeanor? How about you, dear readers? Any stories to share of giving back, whether on the giving or receiving side?   It was giving back, to an extent, but also the most rewarding thing I’d ever volunteered to do for any of my kids’ classes.

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All about short fiction with Art Taylor

I’m delighted to be joined today by Art Taylor. The short version of his bio is that he’s a great guy and a great writer. He’s here today to talk about one of his specialties – Short Stories.  A more complete version of his bio would include Art’s credits as the author of On the Road with Del & Louise: A Novel in Stories, winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. He has won three additional Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, a Macavity Award, and three consecutive Derringer Awards for his short fiction, and his work has appeared in Best American Mystery Stories. He also edited Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015, winner of the Anthony Award for Best Anthology or Collection. He is an associate professor of English at George Mason University, and he contributes frequently to the Washington Post, the Washington Independent Review of Books, and Mystery Scene Magazine. With that out of the way, and before I go on to novel length, let’s get to the good stuff. Short stories. TdeH: Thanks for joining us today. I live a little in awe of great short stories. They are like Japanese sushi knives. Precise and well honed. You’ve made a name for yourself as a writer of short stories. What drew you to this form?  AT: Thanks for having me, Tracee! Always enjoy the chance to chat about short fiction. TdeH: Ah, short fiction! I like that, much more evocative than short story. Sorry to interrupt, now back to your answer… AT: Either name works for me! To answer your question. Part of being drawn to short stories as a writer is having been a fan of them as a reader first. The Encyclopedia Brown mysteries were one of the first series that I followed—such gems those stories—and later, when I sold magazine subscriptions door-to-door as an elementary school fundraiser, I ended up ordering a subscription myself to Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (maybe the only one I “sold”!), which introduced me to short mystery fiction at a much more advanced level. I used the word gem above, and I think that’s an accurate description of the best short fiction—something that’s perfectly, precisely cut (echoing that knife simile of your own, I guess), something that can marvel from various angles, and something brilliance is in inverse proportion to its compact size. (Did I carry that metaphor through OK?) TdeH: Gold star for metaphor continuity.  AT: As a writer—and one working often in a workshop setting in high school and college—I ended up trying to emulate the writers I was reading and admiring, whether Ed Hoch or Hugh Pentecost or others in EQMM or Hemingway or O’Connor or Welty in the classroom, and that included writing short instead of long. The workshop process in classes does, in fact, lean toward shorter fiction—something that can be read and critiqued in its entirety—and so that probably led me to feel more confident in writing short too, to develop those skills more. TdeH: Do you find that short fiction exercises a different part of the creative process than longer works? AT: I do—and in fact, while I’ve heard short story writers saying they struggle to write novels, I’ve heard the same thing in the opposite direction: novelists who struggle to write a short story. While some aspiring writers might think of the short story as a stepping stone toward writing novels, they do require different approaches. Short stories involve concision and subtraction and efficiency—cutting down a paragraph to the key detail or gesture or image that suggests larger things—rather than addition, with novels obviously involving more characters, more subplots, more… everything usually, a broader scope generally of character, plot, setting, and time. This is not to say that writers can’t do both, of course. But I do think that the best short stories can represent worlds as large as novels; they just do it in different ways. TdeH: Do you find a common thread binding your short fiction? AT: This is an interesting question, and one that I (honestly) struggle with myself. Ed Aymar, a good friend, once asked me if it was a challenge to my career that I wrote in such a variety of styles and subject matters (traditional here, noir there, etc.) since it all seemed antithetical to developing a brand. It was a revelatory question for me—not necessarily in a good way. And yet at the same time my writing group—and my wife Tara Laskowski too, always my first and finest reader—have emphasized that they can always hear my voice at the core of whatever I write, no matter how distant one story may be from the next in other ways. TdeH: I appreciate the idea of voice over brand. And I believe that you can have continuity of voice across genres. After all, most people read in a variety of genres – even if it is technically within one, say, from cozy mystery to hard boiled thriller. AT: I do think that my stories tend to revolve around several key themes, specifically relationships, the ties that bind, the responsibilities inherent in relationships, and the fall-out from not living up to those responsibilities in one way or another.  TdeH: You’ve already hinted at your answer, but I want to ask it straight out: I’ve often heard short stories lauded as a way into publishing. What’s your opinion about this?  AT: This takes some of my comments above in a different direction, of course. Before I was focused on craft, but from a business angle… well, I do think that short fiction publications might help toward other publishing opportunities, and I know it helped me specifically. Having some stories published, getting some attention for those stories, gave me a place in the mystery community that I wouldn’t have had otherwise and brought me to the attention of my publisher, Henery Press, and then to the publication of On the Road with Del & Louise (and from a craft angle, that story is a novel in stories, so there was actually an aesthetic component to all this too). So it’s possible to… I hesitate to say leverage but certainly it’s possible to build on success in one area toward success in another. TdeH: But not necessarily the path that is right for everyone? AT: Correct. I’ve heard from an agent friend that she’d rather start with a complete unknown when she’s trying to pitch a first novel to a publisher—someone to discover and debut. Many ways of looking at this, seems like. TdeH: Any advice for someone attempting their first work of short fiction – tips on story structure, theme, plot points? AT: My good friend and fellow short story writer Barb Goffman has said that a short story is about “one thing”—and keeping focus on that one thing may well go a long way toward making those moves I mentioned before, making those cuts to anything that’s not integral to the story being told. In my own short fiction workshops, I often talk about narrative arc in similar ways—using Janet Burroway’s discussion of Cinderella and her charts of the Cinderella story—to show how closely the movement of plot and of conflict relates to that “one thing” that the story is about, and I think that can be a good model for writers trying their hand at short fiction for the first time. What does a character want? What’s standing in the way of those desires? How do you navigate that character through that obstacle course—whether they reach the end of all those obstacles successfully or not? (And failure or disappointment can also be satisfying resolutions, of course. Compare the traditional Cinderella to Anne Sexton’s poem by the same name.) But that’s just a starting point, of course. In those same workshops, we also look at modular storytelling, at experiments in structure and form—at the many shapes a short story might take. Constraints may be part of the challenge in writing short—but finding ways around those constraints? What fun! What pleasures for both writer and reader too! TdeH: Art, thanks for spending time with us, and for sharing your insights into the world of short fiction. And congratulations on ALL of your awards! Learn more about Art and dip into his writing at arttaylorwriter.com, follow him on Twitter @ArtTaylorWriter, on Facebook at ArtTaylorShortStories, on Pinterest at arttaylorwriter and Instagram at arttaylorwriter

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In It To Win It

When I started taking writing seriously I studied. What I researched was other writers. How did they achieve success? I admit, my definition of success is lofty. I aim high and always have. So what I set about learning was beyond “everything will be rainbows and unicorns once I get an agent.” First, because that’s just not true. Second, I mean this to be a career. There are plenty of career authors in the world, especially in crime fiction. I wanted to know how they got there. What I learned is an “overnight success” takes roughly 3 books in an average of 6 years. Readers generally discover authors around the 3rd book and then go back to the first 2. Authors with loyal fans keep that loyalty by continuing to produce. Some authors are machines who write 2 books a year. Most genre authors put out a book every 12-18 months. So, what I learned is, like anything personally rewarding, it’s a marathon not a sprint.   

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How I Got An Agent

Since I’m spilling some of my secrets this week I thought I’d share one that’s on the minds of a lot of aspiring writers, how I got my agent. The short answer is, I just kept going. That’s not helpful so to elaborate, I kept going to workshops on the craft of writing for commercial markets, critique boot camps, and conferences. Then I kept going back to my writing hidey hole to apply the lessons I learned. Along the way I earned a mentor. I say “earned” because I’ve found that no matter the career, there are always people willing to take a person under their wing but it’s a relationship that works only when the mentee acts on the time and effort graciously provided by the mentor. My early mentor, Michael Neff, is the director of Algonkian workshops and conferences, one of them being the New York Pitch Conference (https://newyorkpitchconference.com/). Michael invited me a year before I actually took him up on the offer. Why did I wait? Because I didn’t want to blow it. I wanted to walk in confident that both my manuscript and I were ready.An unrelated aside, you’ll note my fellow Miss Demeanor, Susan Breen, is also on the faculty at the New York Pitch. If you check out the website you’ll see this particular event is something a lot of us have in common 🙂 But I digress…. In the run-up to my trip to NY I studied the faculty that would be there, the agents, editors and authors who would be helping attendees hone their pitches throughout the event. Each genre has a leader and mine was Paula Munier. Something I’ve learned throughout multiple careers is that when someone you respect is willing to give you their time and energy, you listen to what they have to say. In addition to being an excellent coach, Paula has a pedigree that opens doors. I gave her my full attention. As a result, at the end of the long weekend I received read requests from every agent and editor I pitched. Was that all Paula’s doing? In large part, yes, but also it was my approach. I took this event seriously and treated it like a job interview. In essence, that’s exactly what pitches are. Like job interviews, I’m not only hoping someone finds me suited to them. It’s a 2-way street. I look for fit & chemistry, too. It’s not that I had any issues with the other agents I met but Paula and I hit it off right away. When I got her call, I didn’t hesitate. I signed with her immediately. So I guess the secret is, there is no secret. I got my agent through hard work and careful selection. And I just kept going.  

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