Going dark...

The hardest part of life is choosing. Choosing what to eat for dinner when the menu is filled with amazing food you have to try.

Choosing where to take your career when the world is filled with stories you want to write.

And choosing where to spend the 24 hours every writer gets a day.

This is my last post for MMM. I've loved my time here but I'm struggling to fit everything in, especially the most important part, the writing. :)

I know many of you struggle with the same dilemma, fitting in time for you and your own dreams.

Let me just leave you with one last story.

Once upon a time there was a girl who wanted to become a writer. Being very literal, she searched for a college degree that would lead her down the right path. Not finding that, she took the practical way out, and went to work for the state after getting her degree.

Many years later, the girl found herself fighting breast cancer. While she sat and waited for doctors, and tests, and chemo, and radiation, she read. As she read, the stories she'd been carrying around for years started to bubble up. The stories she would write, someday.

The girl made a decision. Since someday wasn't looking too promising, she sat at her little kitchen table and wrote. Then she sent out those two essays and sold them to the world.

Then she started again.

That was 2007, in 2012, my first book was published and in 2014, Guidebook to Murder hit the NYT list.

Make today your someday.

Much love,
Lynn

Virtual friends, real and imagined.

When I was in first grade, I met Zandy. She lived two streets away from me and we were best friends. We had sleepovers, rode our bikes together, and went to the corner store together for penny candy. Yep, I’m telling my age here.

Zandy and I swore we’d be friends forever, but then my mom moved the family from the suburban neighborhood I loved to a farm on forty acres. No kids my age lived within a full square mile, even if my mom would have allowed me to ride my bike that far.

Today, my friendships are cemented virtually.  I get to meet people on line and have them turn into my besties. Laura Bradford is one of those people I met on line. She was part of The Good Girls Kill for Money blog and I won a book Laura had as a giveaway. Instead of her mailing the book, we agreed to meet for lunch. And our friendship was born.

Now that she lives four or five states over, we’ve kept in touch through email, Facebook, the occasional phone call and annual face to face meet ups. And when we do get together, it’s like no time has passed.

I’ve lost track of Zandy, but just last year, a friend from high school found me on Facebook. Brad was the goofy kid who loved life and loved to laugh. We were band kids. We were all Tolkien geeks, believing that the world followed the same rules for good and evil. It was great catching up with him but seeing him as an adult? It’s kind of crazy.

I’ve met many people (virtually) in the last few years that when we finally meet in person, it’s like we’ve been friends forever. For me, I’m loving the social part of the social media part of being a writer. Maybe that’s why I’m so comfortable writing about my imaginary friends who live in South Cove. I’m used to not meeting real people except on my computer. Who’s to say my made up worlds aren’t as real as the internet one I visit daily?

Have you developed friendships on the internet? 

What happens after the book's written?

Writing a book is hard work. Lots of time alone in front  of a computer, crafting out characters, making sure your plot holds together. And when you're done, the editing process starts.

Many authors use beta readers to check out the story. Or they have critique partners who will tell them that it's great, but the first three chapters have to be re-written. If you're self publishing, you might hire a developmental editor at this point to flush out the flaws.

Traditionally published authors call these developmental edits and my editor does a great job of letting me know what worked, and what she felt could need some polish.

Your time's free so you start writing another book.

Then the first book comes home and you spend another block of time revising and editing what didn't work. You put book #2 aside and dive back into book #1.

You send book #1 off again, this time for copy edits, and you return to writing book #2, where you just get into the story, when book #1 comes back for page proofs.

Sighing this time, you set book #2 regretfully aside, as you're really loving the story and are connected to your characters, and read through the pages trying to catch every typo, formating issue, or just plain misused word.

After obsessing for a large block of time, you send the page proofs back. And try to get back into book #2 which you left off in the sagging middle, so your momentum is shot.

But you find the spark again, and you're just getting into the swing, when your publicist sends you a list of original blog posts she needs to promote book #1 which releases next month.

Sigh.

It's a wonder any book ever gets written.

But the good news, it does. And it gets releases. And after all that work, you get reader email saying how they read the book in a weekend, loved it, and when's the next one coming out?

For fans of the Tourist Trap mysteries, the answer is this month. June 23rd is release day for Dressed to Kill.

Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More in the tucked-away town of South Cove, California—is not particularly thrilled to be portraying a twenties flapper for the dinner theater murder mystery. Though it is for charity…

Of course everyone is expecting a “dead” body at the dress rehearsal…but this one isn’t acting! It turns out the main suspect is the late actor’s conniving girlfriend Sherry…who also happens to be the ex-wife of Jill’s main squeeze. Sherry is definitely a master manipulator…but is she a killer? Jill may discover the truth only when the curtain comes up on the final act…and by then, it may be far too late.

The rules of winning

During my day job, I say I've won the day if I get more stuff off my desk than comes on it. I'm knee deep in the urgent there, hoping to keep the urgent from becoming the fire that consumes my time.

Writing a novel is different. Here, to use Covey's (Check out First Things First if you're looking for a time management book) terms, I'm working more in the important quadrant. It's turtle writing, slow and steady, making sure my weekly word counts are being met or exceeded. It's this pre-planning and driving with a flashlight in the dark that gets me from an idea about a book to a full fledged novel up for sale in your local bookstore.  Or with kitten masks on your face.

It's like magic. But not the magic wand kind. Writing a book's a lot like planting a seed. If you walk away and leave it alone, the seed will probably die or be eaten by a crow. However, if you tend the seed. Water it when it needs a drink, clear out the weeds surrounding the tiny sprout, and keep it from being eaten, you might just take your seed to a full grown plant. Then maybe to a producing plant, one that gives you back your rewards.

But the magic isn't in the seed. It's in the work.

Johnny Appleseed taught us a little seed can change the world. But they forgot the most important part of the story, the work that went into making those trees grow.

Currently, I'm starting a new story. Actually a new story in a new series. So my flashlight at times is pretty dim, causing me to slow down and write more carefully. I'm hoping my struggles day to day will combine to be a pretty good book by the time I finish. Editing is the time when the lights are all on and the sun is beating down on your sentence structure. That's when you find the loose threads and tie them into knots.

But I'm not there yet, I'm still in the dark. And I'm hoping the magic really is in the work.

What about you? What measure do you use to define a successful day?

Lynn

The Life and Times of an Author with a Part Time Schedule

Hi, I'm Lynn and I'm an author.

Sometimes it feels like I'm a different person when I'm in my author mode. I work full time at an administrative position and when I'm there, I'm full on into the mode. I've even called my doctor on breaks and announced my name and who I work for.

Habit. You say something enough you start to believe it.

So when does that happen for being an author. I'm getting prepared for my fourth Tourist Trap release this June. I've got a stack of blogs to write, my postcards are ordered and sitting on my supply shelf, and I'm thinking about getting some different giveaways, like pens and notepads.

If you looked at what I spend on this kind of stuff, you'd agree I'm an author. If you looked at the time I spend on writing and promoting, you'd say I had a second career.

So why doesn't it feel like it yet? Covey talks about the roles we play in our life - wife, mother, employee, friend, author... (this is one of my writer groups - The lala's at San Antonio)

I've been working since I left college. Always trying to reach that next pinnacle in my career. Ready for my next promotion. I've tried different industries, working first for social service agencies, then health care, and now, I'm in corporate world. They all boil down to one thing.

Do your job well and you'll be rewarded.

Maybe being an author is the same principle. Do your job (the writing, the promotion, the scheduling) well, and you'll be rewarded. The difference is at my day job, I'm not responsible for the day to day activities or the life of the company. That's someone else's worry. As an author, no one cares about my books more than I do. Not my editor, not my reader, and not my future agent, whoever that might be. I'm the CEO of this writing gig.

As my mom would have said, "Buck up and do the work."

We're country like that.

Hi, I'm Lynn and I write the Tourist Trap series for Kensington.

(Better?)

If you're looking for Jill's next adventure in South Cove, Dressed to Kill is coming June 23rd.

Jill Gardner—owner of Coffee, Books, and More in the tucked-away town of South Cove, California—is not particularly thrilled to be portraying a twenties flapper for the dinner theater murder mystery. Though it is for charity…

Of course everyone is expecting a “dead” body at the dress rehearsal…but this one isn't acting! It turns out the main suspect is the late actor’s conniving girlfriend Sherry…who also happens to be the ex-wife of Jill’s main squeeze. Sherry is definitely a master manipulator…but is she a killer? Jill may discover the truth only when the curtain comes up on the final act…and by then, it may be far too late.

Out of Thin Air

Hey, MMM fans. I've been thinking about where our stories come from. Actually, I listened to a lecture Stephen King gave to a Massachusetts University on U-tube. He talked about the kernels that stayed with him. Those were the things he knew he would write, sooner or later.

He started Under the Dome when he was still teaching high school. But, he put the book away, wondering if it was too big for him to write then.

I have one of those books on my desk top. I've been playing with the woman's fiction for a couple of years now, maybe longer. I have the first scene in my head but I haven't felt comfortable enough to dive into the lake and find the lake monster. Not quite yet. Although the book keeps calling to me. I loved hearing King talk about his own process. It made me feel a little less freaky and more like a writer.

Today I hit send on an email to my editor. It's a new cozy proposal that I started playing with last summer during my two week driving trip out west to Idaho. The idea has been marinating for months, with me writing notes about the project. Then last week, I sat down and started making decisions. Who, what, where, when, and how. And one more decision, why. Who were the characters and why were they on the page when they were? My notebook page looked like doodles rather than an outline. But it worked and I'm excited to begin this new adventure.

So where do your stories come from fellow MMM authors? Do they drop down fully cooked as if you dreamed them? Or are you a mad plotter with spreadsheets and pages done before you even start to write the story?

Or are you like me, someone who takes an idea and plays with it for a while in my head before it turns into a story?

Lynn

By the way, GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER, the book that hit the NYT's list last summer is on sale through January. Amazon/Nook/Kobo - it's $1.99. It's a great time to take a chance on a new series.

Planning... and evaluating...and planning some more - Lynn Cahoon

I studied Covey early in my business career and got hooked on the idea of goal setting, evaluating, and re-setting goals.

Probably you're also hearing a mixture of my training experience in that last sentence. Plan, develop, present, evaluate, revamp. What good is a great plan if it doesn't work? I'm also a big fan of continuous education - a term for people like me who are always taking on a new task or theory to learn more.

The Addie Model...

But I think with all that, I learned a new lesson this year. And that's one of focus. If you've followed my writing career, you know I moved from cowboys to warlocks to small town to cozy mystery. It's a logical path, knowing my personal history.

It also confuses the crap out of anyone trying to brand me as a certain type of writer.

So this year, my main focus is to stay focused. I have four series going - one that is one novella away from being complete. That will be done in 2015. I'm taking my unsold Harlequin targeted series ans self publishing them. Look for the Castle View series (an Idaho set trilogy) and the Country Fairy Tales series to arrive in 2015 as well.

On the cozy mystery side, I've got one more Tourist Trap mystery on contract to write in 2015 (hopefully I'll have three more releases in this series in 2015), then hopefully, my publisher will sign on for three more. (If this happens, my writing schedule for 2015 will change dramatically from what it is now. But that's a good thing.)

I have a cozy series with one book written (set in Idaho) which I'd love to see available for readers this next year, but I'll have to see where the Tourist Traps go for book #7.

And, I have this idea floating around in my head....

Juggling the priorities, juggling the writing, and re-evaluating goals and plans as Lynn's writing world changes.

So, I've got my first goal plan for 2015 done. How about you?

Remember, a goal is a dream with a deadline....

Want a chance to win five mysteries from five different authors including me? Check out my author page tomorrow for instructions. Leave a comment to win.

New release alert... If the Shoe Kills by Lynn Cahoon

Hey peeps,

As you read this, I'm at the day job, my last day for a while. I'm having surgery tomorrow, so if I don't post a response to your comment, give me a few days... I'll be back, better than ever.

"We can make you faster, stronger..."

The sale job on the Bionic Woman had the wrong focus. It was fine for Steve Majors, but the female side needs better promises. They should have said, "We can make you taller, skinnier, funnier..."

Anyway, on to the good news... IF THE SHOE KILLS released November 10th (insert Kermit flail here...) (No, seriously, I don't have the gif, so if you do, post our green friend into the comments.

And, I'm an official dot.com. Check out the website at www.lynncahoon.com :)

See you all next month.

If the Shoe Kills

The tourist town of South Cove, California, is a lovely place to spend the holidays. But this year, shop owner Jill Gardner discovers there’s no place like home for homicide. . .

As owner of Coffee, Books, and More, Jill Gardner looks forward to the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. But when the mayor ropes her into being liaison for a new work program, 'tis the season to be wary. Local businesses are afraid the interns will be delinquents, punks, or worse. For Jill, nothing’s worse than Ted Hendricks--the jerk who runs the program. After a few run-ins, Jill’s ready to kill the guy. That, however, turns out to be unnecessary when she finds Ted in his car--dead as a doornail. Officer Greg assumes it’s a suicide. Jill thinks it’s murder. And if the holidays weren’t stressful enough, a spoiled blonde wants to sue the city for breaking her heel. Jill has to act fast to solve this mess--before the other shoe drops. . .

"Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true." --Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries

Bits and Pieces By Lynn Cahoon

Life is winning this week. Or should I say the last three weeks. I won't go into my tale of woe, but if I'm not back on today to respond, I beg some grace. :) 

So what's going on in Lynn's writing world?  It feels as fractured as the rest of my life. I pressed SEND on the email for Tourist Trap #5 which will be available in March 2015. Then I started two new projects, hoping to get a generous word count on one before I had to get serious on the next Tourist Trap mystery due the end of the year.  

And when I couldn't write, I spent time editing a third story (romance) that I'll self publish near the end of the year. 

See, fractured.  Three plots in my head, three heroes, and even three different styles. 

I've decided to go back to focusing on one story - Tourist Trap #6. And when I meet my weekly word goal, that's when I can play in the other worlds, but not before. 

Homework first, right?

How do you handle too many projects trying to claim your time?  

BTW, if you haven't checked out The Tourist Trap mystery series, MISSION TO MURDER is on sale now for #99cents at all fine digital outlets.  Amazon/Nook/Kobo

In the California coastal town of South Cove, history is one of its many tourist attractions—until it becomes deadly…

Jill Gardner, proprietor of Coffee, Books, and More, has discovered that the old stone wall on her property might be a centuries-old mission worthy of being declared a landmark. But Craig Morgan, the obnoxious owner of South Cove’s most popular tourist spot, The Castle, makes it his business to contest her claim. When Morgan is found murdered at The Castle shortly after a heated argument with Jill, even her detective boyfriend has to ask her for an alibi. Jill decides she must find the real murderer to clear her name. But when the killer comes for her, she’ll need to jump from historic preservation to self-preservation…

Summer Reading List

Do you have a reading list for the summer?

This year, I’m focusing on a few cozy’s before I return to writing The Tourist Trap Mysteries in a few weeks. I avoid reading in the genre I'm writing.  When I start back with the mystery, I’ll buzz through Robyn Carr’s Thunder Point and Virgin River series.  

Usually, I try to pick up at least one classic I haven’t read. Reading under one of our shade trees seems to help get me into the story. This year I've been too busy to make my list.

One year I tried to bribe my high school age son into reading a pre-college list I'd found. He ignored me. Xbox had already claimed him. Now he reads coding books. Computer coding - non fiction. What I think is as exciting as stereo instillation instructions.

I'm considering grabbing the Hunger Games or another YA series to keep me in the story longer. 

I'm open to suggestions. So what are you reading this summer?

Lynn

Side Note – If you haven’t read GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER – A TOURIST TRAP MYSTERY, now’s a great time to pick up your digital copy.  From June 10-24^th, Kensington is running a sale on GUIDEBOOK to get ready for the July 31st release of MISSION TO MURDER (available for pre-order now.)

$1.99 is a great price to try out a new cozy series. 

 “Murder, dirty politics, pirate lore, and a hot police detective: Guidebook to Murder has it all! A cozy lover’s dream come true.” --Susan McBride, author of The Debutante Dropout Mysteries

Keeping the important on the to do list...

So, you all know, I released two books last month.  GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER – BOOK #1 OF THE TOURIST TRAP MYSTERIES and THE BULL RIDER’S KEEPER –BOOK #3 OF The Bull Rider Series came into the book world with a bang.

At least in my world. And anyone who reads my posts, my blogs, my tweets, my emails… well you get the point. Promotion is part of the author’s world now and since I’m not on a five city book tour like Richard Castle, I have to be creative in other ways. (Thanks Wikipedia.) 

One way to get world of my new releases is to send the book out to blog review sites. For GUIDEBOOK, my publisher handled that process and put up a copy on Netgalley. I was so excited the first day I got an email from a stranger telling me they liked the book. Branching out into a new genre (cozy mystery) was exciting but scary. I knew I loved the book. My editor loved the book. Even my copy editor loved the book. But when a stranger says she loves the book, well, that made it real.

I've been slacking on getting THE BULL RIDER’S KEEPER out into the review world, not for lack of wanting to, but instead, my to do list and my brain has been filled with must do today items.

When that happens, your need to do items (those that are important but not urgent) can fall by the wayside.

This week I’m returning to my focus on the important, not just the urgent. And trying to weed out the unimportant/un-urgent time wasters. Like watching almost an entire season of Castle to clean out space on my DVR for 24. Maybe that was urgent though?

How do you juggle everything into your day? Are you a list maker like me? Or do you have a different time management style? 

The Stranger Within Me...My Fascination with Serial Killers

Is it just me who loves a good serial killer plot? I seem to be drawn to the stories of these people. 

Ted Bundy grabbed some of his victims by pretending to be injured. A broken winged bird, leading his prey away from the crowd. I think of Ann Rule working next to the charmer, and never knowing his true identity.

I think of all the times I did something really stupid hanging out in bars, meeting new people, and making horrible choices. I was the girl in the slasher movies that decides to go to the basement to check out the creaking noises that has to be an open window letting in the rain. But it’s not in the movies. Thankfully the window was causing the sound in real life.

I’m too young to tell you where I was when Kennedy was shot; instead, I know when they arrested Jeffrey Dahmer. It was the morning after I had gall bladder surgery.

When I visited my sister in coastal California, driving the week away trying to figure out what I was going to do with my newly divorced life, a serial killer was stalking and killing women in the exact area where I took long walks, alone.

He, too, was visiting from Idaho – after they arrested him in California, local law enforcement dug up what appeared to be his first kills on a farm in a small town north of my home.

Maybe I’ve outgrown my fascination with these villains. Now, I rarely watch the news, tired of hearing about the shootings and drug related crimes. Now, I like my murder off the page. Like in a cozy mystery.

What about you? True Crime or cozy mystery? Or somewhere in between?

Lynn

Writing out of Season

I like writing short stories.  They give me a break from the longer projects and a way to feel like I’m accomplishing something, even when my WIP won’t move out of the muddled middle.

The problem with writing (and submitting) shorts, is the one’s I’m writing now, in the dead of winter, will be considered for publication in mid-summer. Instead of focusing on the snow that’s scheduled to arrive tomorrow and keep me from driving to the day job, I have to be thinking of fun, sun, and maybe a little sand.

My feet are freezing even in my heavy socks and winter boots. The thought of flip flops makes me shiver.

But my character needs to be in shorts and a t-shirt, ready to run into the surf at a moment’s notice. Or enjoying a warm summer night with the new love of her life.  Not cuddled in sweats and blankets watching movies, baking brownies, and whipping up a new soup. (Stuffed Green Pepper soup is a-maz-ing – by the way.)

If I was more organized, I’d write winter stories in the winter and summer stories in the summer and just hold off submitting.  My fear is I’d never submit because I’d lose the story or, worse, totally forget about it.

Instead, I’m firing up the barbecue under the carport and drinking a frozen margarita tonight. 

I’ll be back after my fingers unfreeze.

What about you – do you read out of season? Are you devouring hot summer romances while the wind drifts the snow outside your door? 

Lynn

Small town Shawnee isn't where Cash Dillon planned on spending his vacation, even after his short reunion with June Palmer, the girl who got away in high school. But Cash learns sometimes, living in the moment, isn't half bad.

Shawnee Holiday now available for your Kindle - 

Talent or Determination?

As I’m writing this, the weather outside is in the single digits and I’m stuck at home due to snow covered roads. Bad news is I have a lot of work to do at the day job that’s not getting done. Good news is I have heat, food, and a lot to do in my other life as a writer. 

Like this blog.

I’m not sure I ever loved the snow. When I lived in Idaho after my divorce, I took time to learn to cross country ski. Thirty minutes out of Boise, there was a small ski lodge with both downhill and cross-country trails. I loved spending Saturday mornings on the mountain, lost in my own world fighting through the fear. All I could hear was my own heavy breathing as I trudged the trail, going a little farther with each trip.

Was I an expert? No. In fact, going down little hills on the trail scared me. Most times when I felt out of control, I forced myself to fall over, stopping my descent. You’d be surprised how hard snow can be after a few warm days of sun and a few nights of freeze. It might look soft, instead, it was rock hard.

However, I got up each time I fell and then I kept going. With each trip, I gained confidence and strength. I started to believe in my ability not only to ski, but to succeed in other areas of my life. 

I wasn't an athlete in school. I dabbled in junior high but never had the confidence to try out for a team after that thinking I wasn't good enough. I was right, I wasn't. Not because I didn't have the ability, but because I didn't try.

Work, persistence, and determination three things anyone needs to succeed. Probably even more than talent.  

Speaking of persistence, how are your goals progressing?

Lynn

The 3 in 100 plan. Or how to be part of the 8 percent.

It’s January 14^th – Do you know where your New Year’s resolutions are? 

Most people give up on their resolutions within six months.  And worse, only eight percent of those who make resolutions reach their goal by the end of the year.

Eight percent.

I love resolutions, I call them goals.  One trick I learned to keep them in my sights is what I call 3 in 100.

Take a new notebook. Write out three of your resolution. (If you have more, put them aside for a while.)

The first page of my notebook looks like this.

• Goal #1 – Lose 20 pounds in 2014
• Goal #2 – Write Tourist Trap #4 Or at least three chapters and a synopsis
• Goal #3-Workout 5 times a week

Except #1 and #3 are kind of the same and hopefully #3 makes #1 happen.  But we’ll change #1 to stay within my calorie count.

• Goal #1 – Lose 20 pounds in 2014 Stay within my calorie count to lose weight.
• Goal #2 – Write Tourist Trap #4 Or at least three chapters and a synopsis.
• Goal #3-Workout 5 times a week.

Better ?Now the fun begins.

Day one – turn the page.  

• Write the date on the top of the page.
• I’m also going to add my ‘measurements’ so I can see if I’m progressing on my ultimate goal – to lose twenty pounds.
• Then I’m writing down one thing for each goal that I did to make progress.

For #1 it could be – packed my lunch and snacks for work. (Today it was carrots, celery and a shrimp salad.)

#2 – Write down all the ideas I have for a fourth book. Or what I call loose leaf plotting.

Finally #3 – worked out on Xbox game and rode bike for 30 minutes.  That may not happen as the snow hit pretty hard today so I didn't get my morning workout before I had to brave the commute. 

Day two – rinse and repeat.

Do this for 100 days in a row.  No stopping. If you miss doing anything toward your goals that day, write down your reason.  Is it really a good one?  Then do better tomorrow.

The nice thing is a new day gives you a blank slate to start all over and better. 

Questions? Do you use a goal plan like this? Or how do you make sure you’re one of the 8 percent come December?