An Unsuitable Job for a Sleuth? Ask Alicia Stone...

HALLIE EPHRON:  Jeannette de Beauvoir last visited Jungle Red as half of J.A. Squires (Assignment: Nepal and the upcoming Assignment: Robin Hood). Now she's back with series debut, "Murder Most Academic," and a new pseudonym,  Alicia Stone.

Her protagonist this time out is more unconventional than ever.  Jeannette, I think you're breaking new ground with this book.
JEANNETTE DE BEAUVOIR: I could be wrong, but I think that one of the few professions that hasn’t had a mystery series wrapped around it is prostitution. Oh, we all know that Janet Evanovich’s Lula used to be a “ho,” but that’s a stereotypical and limited vision of the profession: high-class escorts and call girls generally dress discreetly, are well-read and cultured, and have a firm grasp of English grammar.

So I hope the world is ready for a series featuring Trinity Pierce, who is definitely a woman with a past. These days she’s a history professor; but until two years ago she was financing her graduate school education (and her mother’s residence in an expensive psychiatric hospital) with regular work as a high-class call girl. She is careful not to share that past with anyone at Boston’s Moreland College, where she hopes to eventually secure tenure.

In the series debut, "Murder Most Academic," Trinity's former madam, Kate Kazanjian, comes to her with a problem: one of her clients is being blackmailed. The client also happens to teach at Moreland, and Kate wants Trinity to figure out what’s going on and save her friend.

HALLIE: This unfamiliar world opens up all sorts of fascinating plot possibilities! Can you give us a few, and any dark corners that you preferred not to explore?

JEANNETTE: Well, being around any illegal activity entails some edginess, doesn't it? But you have to understand, this isn't the world of human trafficking or forced prostitution, so it's actually much more ordinary than most people think.

HALLIE: What kind of research did you do to make this world feel real?

JEANNETTE: One of my closest friends in the world is, in fact, a madam. I've long been fascinated observing her world, and by the people I've met through her who work in that world.

I didn't have as many prejudices about it as most people, perhaps; I'm half French and grew up in France, where there's a far more relaxed attitude toward such things; but I do recognize that a lot of people make assumptions about the profession. All of the women I met are strong, smart, creative feminists who have chosen to do sex work in order to give themselves time and space to do other things.

HALLIE: Really?! You are so right, that's not what I would have expected.

Like all the best mysteries this one is driven by character. And one thing you take great advantage of is characters who are in some ways opposites: Trinity and Kate. How does that contrast drive your story?

JEANNETTE: Trinity and Kate haven't seen each other since Trinity got the job at Moreland and retired from being a call girl. And I think that was really a mistake, because they're so great together.

Trinity has a dark past, but Kate lives with her *mother*, for heaven's sake, who also mothers all the women who work for her. Kate's used to figuring things out, but within narrow kinds of parameters; Trinity thinks with a little more breadth. They both care a lot about people, though, and that's what unites them. I'm glad that they're back in each other's lives now.

HALLIE: So what do you think? Can readers get on board with a former prostitute as a series sleuth? I'm guessing yes.

Murder Most Academic is published by Mainly Murder Press and is available in paperback and ebook formats. More at www.aliciastone.com.

Small Press--Huge Opportunity!

HANK: Kate George grew up on a northern California ranch alongside two brothers, feral cats, at least one mountain lion and cattle. (If there were fewer cattle, eventually, somehow, probably the mountain lion had nothing to do with it....I tucked in this photo because we've never had a mountain lion on JRW before.)

Anyway.

After working in a variety of occupations from actress to motorcycle safety instructor (both extremely valuable to a mystery author) she earned a degree in anthropology from UC Davis before deciding to return to writing. She now lives in Vermont with her dogs, kids, husband and currently several feet of snow.

She's also a pioneer. A ground-breaker. A trail-blazer.

Her mystery Moonlighting in Vermont was the very first novel published by...well, let her tell it.

Small Press--Huge Opportunity!
by Kate George

At a time when publishing seems uncertain at best, and harrowing tales of cuts at the major publishing houses are making authors quake in their boots, there is a publisher that has been steadily increasing the number of books it publishes. Mainly Murder Press, LLC opened its doors in early 2009 and published its first novel, Moonlighting in Vermont in August of that year. They currently have twenty-one titles for sale with one release a month for the rest of the year. Not bad for a small press.

How do they manage? Well first of all your manuscript must be ready. MMP does very little editing or revision. If they like the story, great! But you are responsible for making sure there aren’t any typos in the manuscript.

They will format for the printer, and make small suggestions, but don’t expect to get a manuscript back with suggested revisions and a promise to re-read when the revisions are finished. Either it’s ready or it’s not. I suggest having someone read for typos before you submit. If you can’t afford a copy editor – and many of us can’t – then find a good friend or family member with an eye for detail and promise them dinner if they’ll proof your manuscript.

Up until January 2011 MMP only published mystery and suspense either set in New England or written by a New England author. However as of the next submission period, October 2011, they’ve opened the presses to all mystery and suspense authors. A wide spread of subgenres are represented among the MMP titles, from cozy to international suspense, so if your work is good and falls under the mystery and suspense heading then it’s worth it to give it a try.

The downside, because isn’t there always a downside? Is that MMP doesn’t pay an advance. The upside is that their royalties are somewhat higher than publishers offering an advance. So it balances out. It also doesn’t take quite so long to get your work into print. The tough part is that if you want your book to sell, you will have to do your own promotion. But that’s the case for everybody who isn’t a best seller these days. The advantage of being with one of the big houses is that they actually but books in stores. As a MMP author you will have to ask bookstores to carry your books.

And yes, if you were wondering, Moonlighting in Vermont is mine. I was the first author published by MMP and I’m afraid I let them down in the area of promotion. With my second book, California Schemin’, hopefully I’ve learned a little bit more, but I’m not sure. For me it’s the hardest part of being an author –discovering venues for meeting prospective readers and going to events. For one thing, I live in the hills of Vermont. It’s a hike to get to the bookstores. For another, I’m shy. Like many authors I find promoting my work to be excruciating.

I’ve been working on online promotion, following the methodology of Draculas and other online successes. So far I’m not doing that well. I haven’t been able to find that magical mix that gets people reading. But I’m working on it.

The long and the short? If you’re a mystery writer with a polished manuscript who’d like to get your work into print then give Mainly Murder Press a try. Go to mainlymurderpress.com and read the submission guidelines and while you’re waiting for submissions to open again polish your work.

And here's a bit about the book:

California Schemin’

A California vacation sounds like a great idea to Vermonter Bree MacGowan until a dead woman falls into her life, she’s abducted from her bed, and her boyfriend disappears completely. It’s enough to make a girl wish she’d never heard of California. Luckily for Bree, a rugged undercover federal agent is determined to keep her from becoming a casualty in his latest case, but Bree is less than cooperative. It could be she doesn’t know he’s on her side, or maybe she’s just plain hardheaded. Either way, it’s enough to make a guy wish he’d never heard of Bree MacGowan.

California Schemin’ available at http://mainlymurderpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=52, http://www.amazon.com/California-Schemin-Kate-George/dp/0982795246/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299175652&sr=8-5 and can be ordered from any bookstore.

Questions about small preses? Kate's publishing experiences? Any other Mainly Murder authors out there who'd like to chime in?

(Tomorrow--a true icon of the mystery world will be here to visit. You won't want to miss it! I mean, her.

And Saturday, a special offer just for JRW readers!)