Girls Just Wanna have Fun....

I confess I was back and forth on whether to even go to Sleuthfest. My first book is 10 months
from publication, I didn't know anyone else who was going, and I'd heard that it was a much smaller event than Malice Domestic. Besides...Florida...all those blondes, all that conditioned air...
Well, imagine my surprise. There were a few ups and downs - one or two panels that weren't what I expected, and I couldn't get the Mets/Marlins games in the hotel, go figure, but that aside, Sleuthfest was terrific. One of the advantages of its being a somewhat smaller show is that you can actually have some face time with panelists, ask a lot of questions, and feel like you get to know some of your fellow attendees. I hung with Catherine and Joanne a lot but had a chance to chat up Shannon, Demetra, Karen, Rhonda, Chris, and lots of other writers.
Especially generous with information was Nancy J. Cohen, http://www.nancyjcohen.com/ author of The Bad Hair Day Mysteries who handled all of her panel duties professionally (and with handouts!) as opposed to just bloviating about "her craft."
Two highlights for me - needless to say the picture above is one. The incredibly generous Kate White http://www.katewhite.com/ and Linda Fairstein http://www.lindafairstein.com/ who cheerfully submitted to the photo op, and proved they really were that cool at their interview, and book signings the next day. The other highlight was the Sleuthfest auction, where I'm thrilled to say I scored a critique by Stuart Kaminsky http://www.stuartkaminsky.com/. Needless to say, I will be rewriting that baby a few dozen times before submitting it to the master. Another highlight? JAKonrath's Workshop. The patron saint of new writers, Konrath writes the Newbie's Guide to Publishing...chockfull of good advice ...check it out at www.jakonrath.com.

Rosemary

ON VIOLENCE

"Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that he sings at gravemaking?"
*** Shakespeare


RO: I guess violence, specifically gun violence, is on a lot of people's minds in light of recent events. Fortunately for me, I write cozies - yes there is murder and mayhem, but also heavy doses of humor to lighten up the action.

My victims are more likely to get struck by lightning on the golf course while sabotaging a rival's sprinkler system (haven't used that but you get the idea..) than to be blown away by a 9mm. How do you deal with writing about violence and murder...especially at a time like this?

JAN: I was thinking about this all week, but I wasn't so much thinking about gun violence as much as the glorification of all violence. No question that's what our culture does. It's easy to blame it on video games, television and movies, but I think all storytellers play a role. My stuff isn't cozy, it's gritty and realistic. There isn't any gun play in Yesterday's Fatal, but life is still pretty cheap. I don't deal with serial killers, mental illness or even crimes of passion. My bad guys are all pretty logical. Yes, I can come up with a hundred rationalizations why its okay, but I'm not sure it is. And

I'm really tired of hearing everyone pass the blame off to someone else - gun laws, mental health inadequacies, media, campus security, instead of people agreeing that it all has to be addressed. I've got kids on college campuses....this one is going to haunt me for a while.

HANK: I read a draft manscript from a writer who is going to be great sometime soon. The person is new to the mystery-writing world, and although is still "finding her pins," as Hallie always says, the writer is going to be really good.

But in the first page of the ms., something blows up and 700 people are killed. Then the main character goes home and has dinner. I said, you know, you don't have to kill 700 people. That would be tragic and devastating, and the main character would be scarred and harmed forever.
She wouldn't go home and have dinner, unless she were in shock.

The writer said--it doesn't matter, we don't know those people. I said yeah, but if it were real, someone would know them. Why isn't it just as suspenseful to have the bomb almost go off? And almost kill 700 people?That's even scarier and more suspenseful.

Now trust me, this person is a really good writer. But I'm haunted by killing hundreds of people. Even fictional people. Without a wince. (Am I a wimp here?)

Did you see Stranger Than Fiction? When (and I won't give anything away, but it's a fascinating movie)a mystery novelist played by Emma Thompson is haunted by the characters she's killed, because she suddenly thinks they might be real?

Although..one more thought...the remarkable A. O. Scott (in a very thoughtful NY Times article) says most adults easily know the difference between real and make-believe.

HALLIE: An interesting idea that it's okay to kill people/characters that you/readers don't know. Scary.

I remember my very very first radio interview back in 2000 I was asked if I thought that people who committed all the terrible crimes in today's world were getting their ideas from murder mysteries. I said that world of most mystery novels is one in which you can tell evil from innocence, and for the most part justice is served. If only the real world were that way.

Having said that, I sometimes wonder if we don't numb our audiences to murder and mayhem.

There's violence in my books. And plenty of shades of gray in terms of good and evil. But I hope I never kill off a character without a twinge.

Second time around for First Efforts

The Jungle Red gang recently got a comment on our inaugural blog that was worth a second look...

Jack Bludis said...
When I saw the title, "On First Efforts," I thought it was about our VERY first efforts. At the age of 18, I sent my first story to the New Yorker ... they didn't think I was a genius. It took ten or fifteen more stories and about a hundred rejections before it got through to me that I was just an ordinary person who wanted to write.I suspect there are many others who have had a similar experience, but others who published their first and never looked back.Rosemary? Hallie? Hank? Jan? Or it just us guys who dive into it with ego and come out humble?

Ro: Maybe I shouldn't spread this around but Pushing Up Daisies is the very first thing I've ever written. Granted, I did rewrite it about 10 times - 5 or 6 times on my own and after every rejection by an agent. FYI, I didn't make changes based on any comments the agents had (only one even had anything constructive to say) I just reread and saw how I could make it better. What about the rest of you, JRs and readers? What was your first time like?

HANK:
I just looked back on that first blog--which, of course, was my first blog. Ro had practiced on her personal one, and loved it, but the rest of us were new. Now I look forward to reading it every day, checking the comments, see who's visiting and what everyone is thinking.

Anyway--to answer the actual question. The first thing I ever really wrote that got published was an essay for Rolling Stone magazine. I was the Washington editorial type at Rolling Stone for a column called "Capital Chatter" which was a compendium of cool stuff and insider stories. So I edited and collected items, fact-checked, and also wrote from time to time. (I was--23?)

And the very first was a story/essay about Susan Ford's Prom.I went to the White House, and was in the press pool that got to go to the Prom, interview guests, including Susan, if I can remember correctly, although it was more than 30 years ago. Argh.

And I remember I loved it. Writing it. Seeing it. I don't even remember who said okay, print it--Jann Wenner supposedly read everything, but we never really knew for sure.My first book is Prime Time (June 2007!!) Even though I started a different mystery in 1991 (more about the unlamented Greeskeeper in earlier posts...) Prime Time is the first I finished. But wow, I'm hunble. It was a much tougher ride than I'd ever imagined.

JAN:
Well Jack, I can safely say I was delusional at any even earlier age than you. In first grade, I wrote my first book, The Cat On the Moon, and dropped it on the street, knowing for certain a publisher would pick it up and make it a bestseller. In second grade, when I found a book on the reading shelf entitled The Cat on the Moon, I was certain I'd been plagiarized. I was too mad to actually read it, but it's a good thing I didn't have a budget for legal or I probably would have sued! Scary, huh?