Learn and Learn Again

I welcome mystery writer Kathleen Kaska as my guest blogger today. Kathleen is not a newcomer to Make Mine Mystery. She was the 5th Saturday blogger for two years. After taking a position as the marketing director for Cave Art Press, Kathleen was left with less time to write, so she bowed out in order to complete several works in progress. A Two Horse Town, the second book in her Kate Caraway animal-rights mystery series will be released by Black Opal Books later this year. Let’s hear what Kathleen has to say today on a return visit to her old stomping grounds, Make Mine Mystery blogspot. Linda Thorne

By Kathleen Kaska

A few weeks ago, I attended the Chanticleer Authors Conference. My latest mystery, Run Dog Run, had made the “Mystery and Mayhem” short list. I attended hoping my book would win, but knowing the competition was fierce. I didn’t come home with the grand prize, but at least I came home with helpful writing tools.

On the last day of the conference, I attended Jessica Page Morrell’s all-day class, “Writing Craft Sessions that Will Take Your Work to the Next Level.” It was the best six hours of the entire three days and it was just what I needed. The morning session focused on the details of plotting, and the afternoon dealt with the necessity of learning from great writers. The information was so useful, I bought her book, Between the Lines: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing. Chapter three, “Cliffhangers and Thrusters,” caused me to take a closer look at my WIP, a hardboiled detective novel set in the 1940s.

Morrell describes thrusters as structural devices, usually at the beginning of a chapter or scene that push the story ahead and keeps readers turning the pages. Cliffhangers, of which I’m sure you are familiar, are actually thrusters that occur at the end of a chapter or scene, or even a book if you’re writing a series. This technique was not new to me, but it was something I needed to revisit.

After reading this chapter, I noted that my cliffhangers weren’t too bad. Here are three examples:

“The only thing he accomplished since taking this case was screwing his client’s wife.”

“The next time Kendrick laid eyes on Roman, he promised himself he’d slit the guy’s throat.”

“The snarl on her lip had disappeared, but the look of disdain had hardened.”

My thrusters need work, however. Here are three examples:
“Kendrick took a taxi back to the hotel.”

“It was just past nine when Kendrick called Damien Carver at his office.”

“New York City was a great place to live.” (This one made me cringe.)

Now, take a look at three cliffhangers and three thrusters from New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben’s The Stranger:

Cliffhangers:

“Did you fake your pregnancy?”

“It was two in the morning when Adam remembered something—or, to be more precise, someone.”

“She attached the image to the e-mail and typed two words before hitting send: HE KNOWS.”

Thrusters:

“The stranger didn’t shatter Adam’s world all at once.” (This is the opening line of the book!)

“The stranger hated to do this one.”

“It was amazing how many things could happen in a single moment.”

The message: no matter how much you absorb, no matter how much you write, no matter how many books you’ve gotten published, the learning process never stops.

That terrible thruster, “New York City was a great place to live,” now reads: “It was ten in the morning. Kendrick didn’t care. He ordered an ice-cold draft and toasted the Big Apple.”

Links:

http://jessicamorrell.com/

https://kathleenkaska.com/

Nancy Drew - Memories, Fantasies and Libraries

by Janis Patterson

I’ll admit it – I loved Nancy Drew. Didn’t like Trixie Belden, couldn’t stand the other one whose name I can’t remember right now, was never allowed to read Cherry Ames (she was a nurse, and my mother hated that) but I simply loved Nancy Drew. Our own Kathleen Kaska recently blogged on Nancy Drew, which brought up a plethora of memories I thought amusing enough to share with you.

I learned to read early – around three, we think, but no one knows for sure – and by five was gleefully working my way through my parents’ library before they really knew what I was reading, not that in those antique days there was anything ‘risque’ in there. I had gotten about half-way through their small collection of Ellery Queens, which I pretty much understood, and some history books which I pretty much didn’t. I remember especially remember Boswell’s London Journal, mainly for how much it horrified my parents to find me reading it.

Anyway, in their search to find more age-appropriate reading matter for me, Mother took me to the local library where a kindly librarian took us to the children’s department. I was allowed to pick out six books, and I remember being very distressed at how thin they were. Mother was very distressed that I had them all read before we could drive home. After several equally unproductive visits, we went over to the grown-up section (‘adult’ has such an unfortunate connotation these days) and I found several books I would like to read. The kindly librarian suddenly turned into a martinet; children, she said in pointy tones, could not check out books from the adult section because they would only tear them up and they couldn’t really read them anyway. When I realized I was being insulted I reacted with a spirited rebuttal, which resulted in the librarian regarding me much as she would a talking dog or other freak of nature. I was summarily ejected from the library and banished for a week. Although I now do speaking engagements at libraries I have looked at them askance ever since.

Then salvation came in the unlikely form of Sears and Roebuck. In my youth that was our main shopping outlet. On Thursday nights, when they stayed open until the dizzying hour of 9 pm, we would go after supper just for the fun of riding the new escalators. Those were indeed simpler times. Anyway, one night we walked past a sale display of Nancy Drew books. They looked fascinating and while Mother’s and Daddy's attention was occupied elsewhere, I inspected them and lost my heart. At 99 cents each they were still a fair amount, for our family at least, but the memory of my humiliation in the library was still fresh, so somehow my parents scraped up the required amount and I was the proud possessor of my first Nancy Drew. I don’t remember which one it was, but I do know I still own it – I still have every one I ever owned. Whichever one it was, I must have read it fifteen or twenty times in the next week. After that, even though we were very far from well-to-do, once a month I got a new Nancy Drew, even after the price went back to the regular $1.99 – a goodly sum in those days.

I would have gone back to the library and even apologized to the librarian for being so abnormal as to be able to read adult books if I could have checked out Nancy Drews. Unfortunately in those days libraries did not find Nancy and her friends ‘worthwhile’ reading and refused to stock them. More fool them.

Anyway, I was ecstatically happy no matter where the books came from. A mystery I could actually understand! A girl sleuth I could identify with! Of course, to my young mind there was no difference between a fictional, perfect teenager and my own much younger and rather lumpy self, but that made no difference. When I was reading, I was Nancy. Nancy drove a car (though I had to look up what a roadster was), she had seemingly unlimited funds, she was allowed to go where and when she wanted, all the while delicious mysteries seemed to leap into her path.

Now from the vantage point of my unfortunately advanced years, I realize no one could possibly be as perfect in mind, body, family, and life in general as Nancy Drew. Also that Carson Drew was the most lax of parents, perhaps even to the criminal point, but to my young self, as the product of two ridiculously overprotective parents, that was a situation to be envied.

As I grew a little older (though still in lower elementary school) I entered a very analytical phase and decided that just with a little application I could be just the same as Nancy. Of course, I had no money, no car, and two very hover-prone parents, but if I could just find a mystery to solve I was certain I could overcome those hurdles. I thought if I re-read every Nancy Drew I had and made a chart of how she got involved with each mystery, I could do the same thing and have a mystery of my own – only thing was, I found the mysteries all seemed to come to Nancy with no effort on her part. Drat!

The years have passed and my tastes have (hopefully!) become much more sophisticated. It’s been a couple of decades since I read a Nancy Drew, and perhaps that’s good. The province of our memory is often kinder than present perception, and I treasure my memories of Nancy Drew too much to put them at risk.

  

Making the Most of Your Setting

by Kathleen Kaska

            I’ve never been given the keys to a city, but almost.

         When I decided to set my Sydney Lockhart mystery series at historic hotels, I began with my favorite ones, since the research would require a multi-night stay at some of the finest old hotels in the country. What I didn’t realize was that viable outlets for promotion would be created. Elated that my first mystery had been accepted for publication, I envisioned book signings and e-mail announcements as promotions, and not much more. But that was a little more than three years ago, and my how things have changed.

         That first mystery, Murder at the Arlington, takes place in the historic Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The town has a large chain bookstore, which I was certain would stock the book. So a few weeks before it’s release, I sent a press release to the local newspaper. There was a nice review, but not much else happened locally to sell the book. My second Sydney Lockhart mystery, Murder at the Luther, was almost finished. It is set in the coastal town of Palacios, Texas. The 1936 Luther Hotel had become a second home to my husband and I whenever we visited the coast. But Palacios was just a spot on the map, much smaller than Hot Springs; and I wondered if I’d made the right decision when I chose this remote location.         

         In the meantime, I’d spiffed up my webpage, connected with Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, started a blog, and learned the value of self-promotion. Then we hit the road on a lengthy retirement trip (from teaching), which also included a month-long stay at the Arlington Hotel. As soon as we pulled into town, we stopped at the bookstore, expecting to see several copies of my book on a front table. There was no table, no book, and not much interest in Murder at the Arlington. So I decided to promote it myself. The hotel’s executive secretary had already read it and was delighted when I suggested a book signing in the lobby. The first night at the hotel, there was a Halloween celebration in town. Tons of people were imbibing on the hotel’s verandah and milling around the nearby shops on Bathhouse Row. I grabbed a stack of promo cards and spent the evening inviting them to the signing. The next say, I visited the chamber of commerce and they agreed to announced the signing in their weakly publication, website, and on their tourist kiosks. Local shops posted the announcement in their windows. Three shops actually stocked the book. And Maxwell Blade, the famous local magician who entertained the Clintons at the White House, gave us tickets to his show and introduced me to his audience. Later on, a local book group read my book and invited me to their meeting—a luncheon at the hotel. By the end of our stay, I had two successful signings at the hotel and one at a gift shop. More than 200 books were sold that month and I made dozens of connections.

         Would I have the same success in Palacios? When our travels brought us to the Luther Hotel right before Christmas, I contacted Old Main Bookstore (the local bookstore/coffee shop), the newspaper, and of course, the Luther Hotel. I had my doubts about how successful a book signing in Palacois would be. Me of little faith. The bookstore sold out in the first ten minutes and we took orders for two more hours. Folks staying at the hotel ordered multiple copies (one woman ordered 20); Jack Findley, the owner, now stocks the book, ordering several every few weeks.

         If you ever visit the Luther Hotel, ask Jack (original owner Charles Luther’s son-in-law) to give you the Murder at the Luther tour. Be sure and note the plaque on the door of the La Salle Suite. It reads, “Sydney Lockhart Slept Here.”

         On my next visit, Jack had a wine and cheese reception for me at the hotel. It seemed entire town turned out; more books were sold; the school superintendent offered me a teaching job and the local real-estate agent offered a good deal on a beach house. I deeply appreciate all the kindness shown. No offense, Tony, but I left my heart in Palacios.

         Murder at the Galvez (LL-Publications)  will be released on December 7. Where to spend a few days in December? My favorite place in Galveston—the historic Hotel Galvez. 

Kathleen Kaska is the author the Classic Triviography Mystery Series, which includes The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book, The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book, and The Agatha Christie Triviography and Quiz Book. All three have just been reissued in by LL-Publications. Kathleen also writes the award-winning Sydney Lockhart mystery series set in the 1950s. Her first two mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queens Book Group, the largest book group in the country. Her nonfiction book, The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story, (University Press of Florida) was released on September 16. 

www.kathleenkaskawrites@blogspot.com