Still READING Fiction Novels? WHY?

Well, of course we have all heard that reading books, whether printed on paper or available in e-form, is declining throughout much of the human race. After all we have technology--from television to the latest eyeglasses with a tiny video screen up in one corner. That's how we learn and are entertained today.  Why waste our time with a book?

Well . . . .

Imagine holding a baby. Picture the baby. Feel it. Soft. Warm. A bit heavy, maybe like a ten-pound sack of sugar. Interesting sounds and smells. Perhaps a tiny fist opens and grabs your finger. Love. Got that image?

Okay. Think about being in a tornado or hurricane. These days, most of us can at least imagine that. Furious wind. The famous freight-train sound. The crack of splintering wood, perhaps a rush of water. Air sucked out of us. How can we breathe? Fear rising to panic.

Next, think about watching a Fourth of July parade. The high school band is marching by, playing "Stars and Stripes Forever," perhaps with more enthusiasm than talent. But still . . . heart beating faster. Tears?

What have you been feeling?   Emotions!

Humans are hard-wired to express and feel emotions. Sadness, joy, fear, horror, outrage, pride, compassion, joy, empathy, love. As humans we feel, we respond, we even make decisions based on emotion. We may decide what is good and true and what is not based on a "gut" feeling" which, frankly, is just another way to use and express emotion. What would human life be like without emotions? But to get there, something must have the time to touch us--the time to get inside us far enough to stir responding feelings. (Humans often find great satisfaction in responding to positive emotions.)

Personal relationships, experiencing or viewing disaster or triumph, and much more, can awaken emotion. Reading a book can also give us that. Books offer enough time to create emotions and allow us to experience them. I think, because of that--if nothing else--books in some form will endure.

What do you think?

Radine
http://www.RadinesBooks.com

Different Strokes for Different Folks, But Different Names?

Let’s start with genres. Some writers are able to conquer more than one, most of them closely related. Like mystery and romantic suspense. Even romance and mystery are related and many do both of these. This brings us to the topic I want to discuss: names.

I know several authors who use more than one name for publication. Okay, I AM one. So far I’ve used two, but in 2014 will have a book out with a third name. What are the reasons for using different names and are those reasons valid?

**Here’s what I’ve come up with on using multiple names.

PRO: Using one name per genre is less confusing to readers.

CON: If a reader likes your writing in one genre, the reader might like it in another and you’d be easier to find with only one name.

**On using a pen name.

PRO: Your real name is hard to remember/pronounce/spell.

CON: Look at Janet Evanovich. Had anyone heard of that name before she made it big? An unusual name is more memorable.

PRO: You want to protect your job/spouse/family by using a pen name.

CON: Nothing occurs to me for this.

Personally, I’m participating in a couple of the above. My real name is hard to remember and spell, so I came up with Kaye George as a pen name. However, when I wrote a book solely for my grandkids I used my real name, Judy Egner, so that would be less confusing for them. Another book for another grandkid is in the works if I ever put aside the time to finish it. My third name, Janet  Cantrell, is being used for a hired work, so that was necessary and not a choice for me (although I did choose the name).

However, when my Neanderthal mystery is published, I’ll use the same pen name I’ve used for most of my work, Kaye George. It IS a mystery, but it’s very different from my other mysteries. I’ve written the gamut under this name from cozy and light and fluffy, to medium and traditional, to tough and hard-boiled to horror. One of my cousins read one of my horror tales (“The Bathroom”) and said she was afraid to read anything else by me. Exactly the reaction I want! Except that I want people to read my horror who are looking for horror! That cousin prefers cozies. I did steer her away from the rest of my horror stories. I hope she read something else eventually.

Maybe it’s a mistake not to differentiate my work with different names. Maybe not. It’s a little late to change that now, though!

Lawrence Block on Writer's Block

I rarely suffer from writer’s block, thanks to my journalism training, but I’m told many writers do. While packing to move, I found an article concerning the malady, written, ironically, by Lawrence Block, an MWA Grandmaster.

Block asked the question: “What’s the biggest factor in determining writing success? “ Not just talent, “but a feel for language, an intuitive understanding of how to arrange words in their best order, a sense of what is and is not dramatically effective.”

Perseverance and the courage to continue writing, no matter how many walls you’ve papered with rejection slips, are also contributing factors. Block credits believing in your ability to write as the most important aspect of successful writing. Comparing writers to athletes, he said, “Mental attitude and preparation make the difference. It plays precisely the same role for us that it does for the runner and the weight lifter. The more completely I believe in myself, the more I am able to employ the talent I possess. My belief in my ability and in the worth of my work will enable me to work to the limit of my capacity."

He recommends sitting at the computer for fifteen minutes before beginning to write. Spend that time telling yourself what a good writer you are and that you do excellent work. Erasing negative thoughts before you begin is a huge step in getting those words down on paper. Negative beliefs, whether or not you’re aware of them, can sabotage your work. Thoughts such as: I’m not a good writer, what I’ve written is crap, I never finish what I start, no one will publish my work, etc.

As so often happens, the first third of your book goes well but when you get to the middle you’re stuck, particularly if you don’t outline the plot (which I don’t). During my current work in progress, I wrote myself into a corner and had to put my story in reverse and back up some 20,000 words. It was not only discouraging, it briefly made me lose confidence in my ability to write. But once I took off in another direction, the writing has gone quite well.

I’ve also found that reading the previous chapter before starting to write helps to carry me forward into the next chapter. Bestselling novelists I’ve interviewed have said to stop writing when you’re over the “hump”—when a plot problem is solved--so that you’re ready to finish the scene the following day. That isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially for me, because you want your muse to run its course before you quit for the day.

I aim for five pages and sometimes find that it’s like pulling teeth to meet my goal, so I stop, hoping to take up the slack the following day. Writing fast and making changes in the second draft seems to work for most successful writers.

Negative beliefs can be damaging as well as paralyzing, resulting in long term writer’s block. But how do you pull yourself out of writer’s depression? Lawrence Block recommends putting your negative thoughts on paper. When you read them, tell yourself they’re all LIES. Rejection won’t destroy you, he said. “Nobody ever died of a rejection slip, and nobody every succeeded without accumulating plenty of them along the way."

~Jean Henry Mead

Where in the world is Lynn?

Today?  Probably at the day job.

Saturday, April 20^th, I released my fourth romance.  Temporary Roommates is set in St. Louis in Forest Park – the site of the 1904 World’s Fair.  Several buildings still stand in the park from the event.  It’s a runner’s paradise and for Annie, my heroine, exactly the reason she chose to move from a small town in southern Missouri to St. Louis. 

I like to think of myself as adventuresome.  This year I've been to Shreveport- Louisiana and Nashville- home of Mysteries & More.  Both trips were in March and I drove to the book related events by myself.  I want to be the first one to try something new, or feel wander lust to get in the car and go.  I want to be brave, like Annie in my story. 

But I think that’s not so true anymore. I’m happy at home. When my husband and I played darts, we traveled all around the country.  I found out that a ballroom in Las Vegas looks an awful lot like a ballroom in Decatur, IL.

Now, I choose my adventures a little more wisely.  I focus on the benefit, not the wild hair that drove me to think Nebraska in February would be fun. (For the record, it wasn't a fun drive.  But my nephew’s wedding was a blast.) And no matter where I go I look for story ideas.  And I’m not often disappointed.

My next trip this year is to Memphis to meet up with some romance writers for a workshop.  And maybe, if I keep my eyes open, I’ll see one of my characters visiting the sites along with me.

Your turn.  Are you a homebody?  Or do you have itchy feet and like to travel?

BLURB- Annie Baxter has her dream job.  Now, all she needs is a cheap apartment close to the hospital.  Troy Saunders knows his life as an intern is all about the long hours. He doesn't have time to play doctor to some Nurse Barbie.  So when his sister finds a great apartment walking distance to work and next to the best running paths in the city, he’s sold. Two leasing agents, two prospective renters, one apartment.  Can they co-exist without fireworks?

Available at - http://www.passioninprint.com/ShowBook.php?CR=LC_TMPRMATES 

Using Bad Weather to Your Advantage

One thing I've learned is that the weather is unpredictable. I've often heard people say they'd like to be weathermen, because a weatherman does not have to be right all the time.

Do people have any power over the weather? Those who believe in global warming insist we do, although no one knows for sure.

What we do know as authors is that, with a bit of care, we can use bad weather to our advantage. We can do this with actual or fictional occurrences. On March 13, a wintery storm hit Arizona, with snow, hail, rain covering the state. On April 20, California got hit with snow, wind and rain.

Some areas in Illinois, such as DesPlaines, are still trying to recover from a heavy rainfall on Wednesday, April 18, and more rain is predicted beginning tonight.

Freak weather can produce strange happenings. If you look to the right in this picture taken April 19, you might discern two ducks swimming in a makeshift weather related pool in a parking lot across from Golf Mill in Niles, Illinois. They knew how to take advantage of the situation. We can, too!

Some ways to use bad weather:
1. Bad weather conditions can impede victims in their efforts to evade an enemy. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms are all impediments when trying to escape.
2. The same kind of conditions can delay rescuers attempting to reach victims.
3. Inclement weather might tempt a character take a trip for relief. Anything can happen on the way to or from. If the destination is an unfamiliar place, even more havoc can ensue when venturing into an unexpectedly dangerous area.
4. Then there's the tried and true scenario of being stuck in a cabin in a snowstorm. This one is used often in mysteries and romances.
5. Communication methods, such as landlines, cells, Internet, even power, can be wiped out by bad weather.  Without communication, victims may not be aware of bad guys in the area. And, if they do have such knowledge, they may not be able to transmit it to other victims or rescuers.

These are just some ways bad weather can be used to advantage in mysteries and other genres. Maybe you can think of others. I invite you to mention one, either real or fictional, in your own book, or one you've read.

Find excerpts and links to all of Morgan Mandel's books at
http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

Connect on Twitter: @MorganMandel

Setting...Local or Widespread?

By Chester Campbell

When deciding where to set a novel, an author has a choice of restricting the story to a single locale or spreading it across a wider tapestry. There are several factors to consider in making the selection. Sticking to a single location, which is one of the hallmarks of cozies, has the advantage of requiring a minimum of research. If you are like me and choose the city where you've spent most of your life, it's an easy choice.

My seven books in two mystery series featuring PI's are set primarily in Nashville. Since I've spent most of my 87 years here, it makes describing the locale simple. During the early part of my writing life, I was a newspaper reporter or a local magazine editor, giving me total familiarity with the area. The city has changed considerably in recent years, but I've watched it grow and develop. When I need to, I do a drive-by in a particular area to check out recent changes.

The first two books in the Greg McKenzie series are set only partly in Nashville. The first takes place also in the Holy Land, which I had just visited before I started writing. The second starts in Nashville and then goes to Perdido Key and the Pensacola area. Part of it was written at my brother's condo on Perdido Key, which my wife and I visited twice a year.

Both of my Sid Chance PI stories are set in the Nashville area. But I didn't start out locating books in my home town. My first novels were a trilogy of post Cold War political thrillers. I spread the action across the map.

Research is a major consideration when choosing a widespread setting. Getting an unfamiliar area right can be a problem. I set the first two books mostly in locations I was familiar with.

Star Ferry in Hong Kong Harbor

The first involved the Great Smoky Mountains, an area I tromped about many times in my younger days; Washington, D.C., which I had visited many times on business, and Hong Kong, where I spent several days during a Far Eastern tour. I had made several visits to other American cities used in the story. Brief scenes were set in Vienna, Austria, Tel Aviv, Israel and the island of Cyprus. I used tour books and online research to provide sufficient background for those.

Seoul Subway

A large part  of the second book takes place in South Korea. My familiarity there came from a tour in Seoul during the Korean War, plus a visit to the modern city while on the Far East tour mentioned above. That trip also provided several days in Chiangmai, Thailand, which I also featured in the book.

The third book, written in 1993 but never published, will be out next month. Overture to Disaster required the greatest amount of research, since much of it is set in areas I had never visited. A portion of it takes place in Mexico, mostly in the area of Guadalajara. I had been to Mexico City and taken a bus tour from there to Acapulco, so I knew the countryside fairly well. To get the flavor of Guadalajara and Lake Chapala to the south, the number one destination for retired U.S. servicemen, I corresponded with the editor of a retiree newspaper. She provided loads of helpful information.

The second area was a small community in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran. I chose it after reading a book about Army Special Forces that told how U.S. soldiers became heroes to the locals in the wake of a deadly earthquake. That was during the Shah's reign in the late seventies, but the people still would have viewed American soldiers with fondness.

The home of a character who was an investigator for the Minsk prosecutor proved the most challenging area to portray. The time was shortly after breakup of the Soviet Union and formation of the new Commonwealth of Independent States. Things were changing in the capital of the Republic of Belarus. I corresponded with an attache at the American Embassy there who provided me with answers to all my questions, including political conditions and locations of various government offices. 

The important thing in spreading your setting around the globe is to do everything possible to get it right. So far I've had no problem with readers taking potshots at my descriptions. What's your take on how to handle unfamiliar settings?

Visit me at Mystery Mania

Responsibility - Yours, Mine or Whose?

by Janis Patterson

Right now I’m still reeling from the ghastly Boston bombing on Monday. It’s one thing when we, safely seated at our computers, create horrors and crimes and deal in dark deeds as if they were bits of candy. It’s another one completely when the horrors are real, when the streets are full of blood and living, breathing people are hurt or killed.

I think people are drawn to crime fiction out of a love of justice and right. (You notice I didn’t say the law – the omission was deliberate.) Between the covers of a book all kinds of nasty things can happen, but even as we are horrified at the turns of event we can rest secure that the bad guy will be caught and pay the penalty for his crimes, that justice will triumph and all will be well. Would that things were so easily predictable in real life!

In real life things aren’t so clean. We can create the most logical motives and put out masterly clues that our sleuths can solve with assurance. We give our villains identifiable motives that are rational – at least in the book – and the skills to implement them. Real life… Where does crime start in real life? Name just about anything and it gets blamed – bad parenting, peer pressure, finances, politics, religion or lack of same, TV, video games, movies, books… just pick one or more.

I don’t know if I agree with such reasoning or not. Take two people with similar backgrounds – one will commit a heinous crime, the other turn into just an ordinary joe whose main criminal act is the occasional speeding ticket. What makes the difference?

Whatever it is, though, we who create those thrilling tales of murder and mayhem must walk a slender blade of responsibility. We must create interesting and on the whole realistic stories, but we must be very careful not to make our stories into an instruction manual for the criminal. Yes, we need verisimilitude, but we also need common sense. Let our villain build a bomb, but don’t give the reader step by step instruction. Same with poison or gun, knotted handkerchief or whatever, we need to be like the police and always hold back one crucial bit of information – one little piece that makes the thing whole and workable.

But, you say, there’s so much information out there – they can find out almost anything on the internet.

That’s true – and people who are so inclined will, but we will be in the clear. Self-responsibility and self-determination are two of the cornerstones of liberty. If a person is determined to commit a crime, they will and they must take the responsibility. No video game or book or film forced them to do it – no one jack-marched them down the street to find the ingredients. They did it themselves. We just have to be very careful that we don’t aid and abet them with detailed instructions. We can’t control their actions – we can only control our own, and we should act responsibly.

 Janis Patterson is a seventh-generation Texan and a third-generation wordsmith who writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson and scholarly works as J.S.M. Patterson.