A Good Time Was Had by All!

I’ve done signings where I’ve sold more books, but none have been quite as special as this one. There are several reasons.

First, I have a three book contract for the Fat Cat mysteries, writing as Janet Cantrell. The first book came out last September, 2014. We had moved from Texas, where I had lots of writing contacts, and I didn’t do a signing for it. It sold well anyway (national bestseller on two lists, Barnes & Noble and Bookscan), but I missed doing a signing. So this was my first signing as Janet Cantrell, for the second in the series, FAT CAT SPREADS OUT.

Second, this was a new first for me. I was asked to do this signing by the store! I went in to sign the stock of FAT CAT AT LARGE, the first book, last fall. As I was signing the books at the information desk, I was asked if I’d like to do a signing when the second one came out. I didn’t fall over, but felt like it. The Barnes & Noble here is not open for a signing at all, so I assumed maybe no one did local author signings in this town. However, Books A Million not only offered this signing, but wants me to come back when the third book comes out.

Third, the people who showed up were special. Neyland’s grandparents were there from Nashville. They used to own Mysteries and more until December, I believe. Neyland is one of my biggest fans, according to his mommy, Mary Ann Fisher. She sent me a picture of him reading my first book and promised to send one of him reading the book Greg and Mary Bruss bought last Saturday.

Another person I was glad to see was Dawn Frazier, who has been an online fan of the books and lives near.

Then there was the staff. I couldn’t have asked for nicer people! Rachel and Will each bought a book and looked after me and my husband while we were there.

I’m so glad I’ll be going back in March!

Visual Aids to Writing

By Kaye  George

I know many people use charts and other visual aids for plotting, but this one is new to me. It’s not a new concept by any means, but my TBR stack of articles has been there for quite a while and the printouts of Jennifer Crusie’s blogs just came to the top this week. Take a look at these two:

http://www.jennycrusie.com/more-stuff/book-collages/

http://www.jennycrusie.com/for-writers/essays/picture-this-collage-as-prewriting-and-inspiration/

When I read these, I realized I had done this, somewhat, when writing my Neanderthal mystery. I needed a lot of help visualizing the people for this novel. I wanted to keep in mind what they looked like--that they were not modern humans, but not animals either. I found the best pictures I could and even assigned some of the pictures to the individuals.

I’ve never done so much research for anything in my life. I wanted the story to be as accurate as I could make it. I set it in North America 30,000 years ago, as the last Ice Age was approaching and as the Neanderthals were living their last days on earth as a separate group of people. The Mississippi River didn’t exist, so I had to know what the terrain was like. I had to find out what an approaching glacier would look like, since all of them are receding now. Plants, animals, climate, housing, clothing, I had pictures of it all. Plus, I drew a map of the settlement and the surroundings, after figuring out how far a bunch of people could move in a day. Whew!

Fast forward to the FAT CAT series I’m writing. I had to spend a few weeks away from it to finish up my project for Barking Rain Press, and I was very worried about getting back into it. Crusie claims that a collage is a cure for that. If it really is, I’m all for it. As I read her articles, I thought, “This is great! It will solve my problems.”

Then another light bulb lit up! I already have a bunch of pictorial helps--on Pinterest! I started some boards as soon as I got the deal, just thinking they might do some good. I have a Dessert Bar board and one for Fat Cats! If you glance at my boards (http://pinterest.com/kayegeorge/), you’ll see they all relate to something I’m writing in some way. I’ll need one on Minneapolis, or maybe Dinkeytown, the setting for the series. Or maybe I should combine all of those for myself. Since Pinterest just announced the new Secret Boards, I can experiment and see what I come up with. I’m looking forward to this!

(Just found this: http://pinterest.com/volpane/for-collage-public-domain-images/)

(And this: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-digital-collage-sheet-3701368.html?cat=2)

However, I can’t find any illustrations of collages. Oh well. Click on some of the fantastic ones on the second Crusie link--they’re super duper!

Lightbulb & Glacier from Dreamstime

The Third Publishing Type--Traditional

by Kaye George

I've blogged a bit on small-press publication and on self-publishing. I'm pumped that I can also, as of very recently, blog with some knowledge of traditional publishing.

I have the great good fortune to call Kim Lionetti, of BookEnds Literary, my agent. Kim and this agency have a long, successful track record in the field of cozy mysteries, many of them with Berkley Prime Crime. There's more than one study saying that most mystery readers are women over fifty or so. Whatever the demographic, Berkley has it nailed and there are thousands of loyal cozy readers who snap up dozens of the books as soon as they hit the book shelf, or the Amazon screen.

It's possible I'll do a mystery or two or three through Kim that will be my own idea and written under my own name. For now, however, I have a deal (not actually a signed and counter-signed contract, because that world moves very slowly) to write three books as a Work For Hire.

If you're unfamiliar with that term, you're not alone. Many, but not all, cozies are written under this arrangement. With a WFH, I am given a file, called a bible, that gives me the main part of an idea for a series thought up by a Berkley editor. This bible file contains 4 or 5 main characters, their names and roles, and maybe a brief description. I'm also given the beginning of the plot, but by no means the whole synopsis. Included are very brief sketches of ideas for books 2 and 3 in the series.

(In case you're thinking WFH is easy to get, be assured you must have a completed manuscript to snag the agent first, then audition for a WFH with a proposal, as below, for a project that will probably not get published. That process took me over ten years.)

After I was given the bible (this was before I nailed the deal), I wrote a proposal, which was the first three chapters and a detailed synopsis for the idea. I'll tell you briefly that the series will be the FAT CAT mystery series and will feature Quincy, an adorable but pudgy cat on a diet. Seeking to fill his little tummy, he gets loose from his mistress, Chase Oliver, who is part owner of Bar None, a dessert bar shop in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis. In his travels he uncovers dead bodies and clues, putting Chase in danger of being arrested. (I was given Minneapolis, and chose Dinkytown for the setting.)

To be decided are the book titles and my name, as the author (hence the unfinished contract at this point). The publisher will own all the rights, including plot, characters, and author name. There used to be a restriction on revealing who the WFH author really was, but that's removed and everyone will know it's me.

This is a great way to get a foot inside the door of traditional, agented authorship. I didn't have to think up an idea the publisher might like--the idea is already there. I just had to write something they liked and want to publish. It takes half the doubt away. I'm looking forward to this whole process and seeing how the big kids do it.