It's never too late: Part II

HALLIE EPHRON: Today we look at second batch of writers who didn't get started writing fiction until late and ask them how they did it. 

Today:

• Sara J. Henry
• Edith Maxwell
• Barbara Ross
• Hank Phillippi Ryan

Here are the questions everyone answered:

• When did you start writing?
• What career did you have before you published your first crime novel?
• Why did you start writing fiction?
• How long did it take from when you started writing fiction to seeing your first book published?
• Did you take writing classes or complete an MFA program and did that help?
• Were you in a writing group and/or hire an independent editor to work with you on your first published book?
• If you could do it over, what would you do differently?

Sara J. Henry Latest book: A COLD AND LONELY PLACE, Broadway Books
Crime novels published to date: 2
Before writing: USDA plant and soil scientist, columnist, newspaper sports editor, newspaper editor, magazine editor, health/fitness writer, book editor, bicycle mechanic, in roughly in that order.
Started writing: At 6 I was writing one-page short stories, and at 12 started a novel. Then I stopped, and didn’t try fiction again until my early 40s.
Why started: I quit at 12 because I didn’t know what to do after the first chapters. I started again nearly three decades later because life was ticking by, and writing fiction was my dream.
How long from starting writing to publishing first book: I put my first finished novel in a drawer in 1999; took it out and tackled learning to rewrite in 2008. Book deal in 2009; publication in 2011, at age 54.
Classes, MFA: No fiction writing classes. I took some journalism classes, which gave me confidence I could write, and later got a masters in journalism.
Writing group, independent editor: I joined a writing group when I moved to Nashville – I don’t think I would have started a novel without them. No editor, just trusted readers (I self-edit as only a right-brain/left-brain person can do).
Do over: Not be so scared. Ask more questions. Have more faith in myself.

Edith Maxwell/Maddie Day Latest book: FLIPPED FOR MURDER by Maddie Day, Kensington
Crime novels published to date: 6
Before writing: Auto mechanic, conversational English teacher in Japan, adjunct professor in linguistics, speech recognition researcher, at-home mom/organic farmer/childbirth educator/freelance editor, technical writer.
Started writing: 1994
Why started: My now-ex-husband, when our younger son headed off to kindergarten, said, "You like to read mysteries so much, why don't you write one?" One of the best things he ever did for me, other than help create our sons.
How long from starting writing to publishing first book: 18 years
Classes, MFA: I took workshops at Crime Bake and with SINC-NE, and a few online classes with the Guppies (I've never studied creative writing in an academic setting). All of that really helped; I wouldn't be published without Sisters in Crime.
Writing group, independent editor: I joined Susan Oleksiw's writing group when I first started writing crime fiction, and I learned a huge amount about POV, use of weather to advance the story, keeping characters' names distinct, and so much more, and I'm still in an in-person writing group. I didn't hire an independent editor for my first book, but now either Sherry Harris or Ramona DeFelice Long edit all my books before I send them in.
Do over: Start earlier, I guess, so I would have more time in my life to write all the books I have ideas for! But I am loving the ride now as a full-time fiction writer and I have no regrets.

Barbara Ross  Latest book: MUSSELED OUT, Kensington
Crime novels to date: 4
Before writing: Mostly, I worked it tech start ups with the most challenging and rewarding years, as a Chief Operating Officer in higher education technology, coming after I started that first book in 1996.
Started writing: I always wrote, but I didn't start my first novel until 1996.
Why started: I sold my stock options from the first start up I worked out and took a year off from working. My kids were in middle school. It was a now or never type of thing.
How long from starting writing to publishing first book: This always embarrasses me, but it was 14 years. I finished the book in 1998 and got an agent easily, but the book didn't sell. Meanwhile, the tech startup I co-founded survived the dotcom crash and, against all odds, took off. I was crazy busy. Finally, when we sold that business in 2006, I took another year off and rototilled that first book.
Classes, MFA: Lots of classes--at the New England Crime Bake, at Seascape, at Grub Street and online. I loved taking classes and it's one of the things I miss now that I'm a working writer with tight deadlines. I never have time to do the homework.
Writing group, independent editor: I have been in the same writers group for 20 years. Love them. My life (and my work) would have been so much less without them.
Do over: When my first book didn't sell and my agent dropped me, I went into a bit of a tailspin. Yes, my business was taking off and I had teenagers, so I was busy, but I wish I'd been more resilient. That really set me back, the net net of which is, I have less time and I'll get to tell fewer stories. That said, writing a novel, much less several novels requires a lot of skills--the ability to recognize a story, an ear for the words, the discipline to finish and do all those rewrites, the drive to get an agent, etc. Some people have all those skills when they're young, and God bless'em, but I had to grow into it.

Hank Phillippi Ryan
Latest book: WHAT YOU SEE, Forge
Crime novels to date: 8
Before writing: Investigative Reporter/television. Still on the air at Boston’s NBC affiliate.
Started writing: 2005
Why started: I always wanted to write crime fiction! But I simply never had a good idea for a plot. One day in 2005—I did! From that moment on, I was obsessed. My husband said—but Hank, do you know how to write a mystery? I said—how hard can I be? I’ve read a million of them. I was so wrong. But that one good idea propelled me. My first manuscript was 723 pages long. I had to CUT 400 pages! Best education ever about my writing. I learned more about myself that way than from any other writing experience.
How long from starting writing to publishing first book: Two years.
PRIME TIME was my first novel, and it sold. It also won the Agatha for Best First novel.
Classes, MFA: I took one two-day writing class—yours, Hallie! I had almost decided not to, and then I remember, clearly, saying to myself—you wouldn’t attempt to make a cake without a recipe. So why are you trying to write a book without any guidance? It made a profound difference. Partly craft, partly attitude.
Writing group, independent editor: I hired an independent editor, one of the best decisions I have ever made. She is brilliant, and 10 years later, I would not consider turning in a book she didn’t read and work on with me first. The influence and guidance of an experienced second set of eyes is beyond valuable. The suggestions and changes and observations she made turned my manuscript into a different—and better-- book, and turned me into a different—and better--writer.
Do over: One, I realized that some of the decisions I made in the first book were made too quickly. It seemed natural and organic at the time, but I should have worked harder, even though, back then, I thought I was working as hard as I possibly could. I didn’t comprehend how lasting each and every choice is to the book. And in a series, even more so. I would have made a better mailing list. But would I have started sooner? No. Absolutely not. When I was cultivating my career as a journalist, in my 20, 30s and 40s, I was not the person I am today. I started writing at 55—and that was the perfect time. I am convinced these things begin exactly at the right time, and I am very grateful for how it turned out.

HALLIE: My favorite thing here is all the different careers we've all had. Plant scientist. COO. Corporate trainer. Psychologist. Investigative TV reporter. Linguistics professor. The list goes on... And none of it goes to waste, because we weren't wasting time, we were just doing research for our writing. We just didn't know it.

Getting into the Game: a guest blog by Sara J. Henry

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  It won't come as a surprise to anyone who reads my writing to find out I;m always on the look-out for a good book set in the Adirondacks. Which is how I stumbled across Sara J. Henry. I had read some excellent reviews of her debut novel, Learning to Swim, and upon realizing it took place in the Adirondacks, I snatched it up. 

Reader, I loved it. I wasn't the only one, either; Learning to Swim was nominated for the Barry and Macavity awards and won the Anthony, Agatha and Mary Higgins Clark awards. Hoping to ride on her coattails, I asked if I could blurb the sequel, A Cold and Lonely Place. (When it, too, picks up a bunch of award nominations, I figure Sara will be good to stand me a few drinks.)

Sara's here today to answer the one question I didn't get a chance to ask her when we met at Bouchercon: how does a nice girl from Tennessee wind up writing about the North Country?

It took exactly twelve weeks to decide I wanted to make a living writing – the twelve weeks I spent working as a soil scientist in Gainesville, Florida. I was twenty, with a boss who told me every Friday, “Only thirty-five years to retirement.” Maybe that was his way of hinting that this was not the career for me (kids, the career that seems fun in college may not be anything close to fun when you’re doing it forty hours a week, in a hot Florida town where the clay layer doesn’t kick in until eighty inches, which is how deep you have to dig to map soils.)

Time for a new plan.

I got a column in the local paper, and started journalism graduate school. After a series of part-time newspaper jobs, I turned to the ads in the back of Editor & Publisher. One week I applied for jobs as farm editor, religion editor, and sports editor – all of which I was equally unqualified for.

One editor responded, from a tiny newspaper in a tiny town in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. I arrived for my interview in what seemed the dead of winter, stepping off the small plane at a tiny airport into a world that was white as far as the eye could see. It was cold in a way I’d never experienced.

They offered me the job as sports editor.

I took it.

Never mind that this was an area where sports were big – with three high schools, two community colleges, softball teams, three-day sled dog races, canoe races, Winter Carnival competitions, rugby tournaments. With the Olympic Center nearby, there was luge, bobsled, biathlon, ski jumping, horse show competition, boxing, triathlon. And more.

It was my job to cover them all.

Never mind that my sports experience was limited to competing in bicycle and running races, and writing a string of sports features. I’d been to exactly one college football game.

I worked the way you can work only when you’re in your twenties and have already flubbed one career and don’t want to flub another. I bought a book that detailed the rules of various sports. I went from event to event, shooting hockey from the penalty box, basketball from under the hoop, football from the sidelines. With this many sports to cover, understanding the nuances of game play was neither possible nor necessary. I took a lot of photos, got quotes from coaches, and spelled names right. I worked nearly around the clock, coming in at 3 am on Monday morning to write features and develop film and lay out my pages. Nearing deadline, the press room guys would stare at me through the window in the door while I hustled through my last page.

.

Winters were brutal. Bit by bit I assembled an essential wardrobe – wool-lined Sorel boots, long johns, insulated gloves, head warmer, wool hat, thick coat. I learned to carry cardboard to stand on at outside events for insulation. I kept a sleeping bag in the car in case I got stranded. I put a lot of miles on my car and shot a lot of film. I discovered coffee. I ate on the run. I was thinner than I’d ever been.

I loved it.

Toward the end of my second year someone sent one of my bobsled articles to a magazine that reprinted it and sent me a check that was more than I earned in a week. Light dawned. I couldn’t keep up this pace and didn’t want to cut corners, so not too much later I resigned to write freelance write. Then after a few years, I went off to other places, to work at magazines, at other papers, as a book editor.

But I never forgot this place I loved, and the people who made me feel I belonged for the first time in my life.

So when I sat down to write a novel, years later, this was where it had to be set.
 

Location, location, location. It's as important for a novel as it is for real estate. What are your stand-out settings in fiction, dear Readers? What sort of settings do you love to read about? And has a new place ever made itself home in your own life? One lucky commenter will win a copy of A Cold and Lonely Place!

Sara’s first novel, Learning to Swim, won the Anthony and Agatha awards for best first novel and the Mary Higgins Clark award. Its sequel is A Cold and Lonely Place (Crown, Feb. 5, 2013), which Howard Frank Mosher describes as “a character-driven thriller set in one of the coldest and loneliest places in the United States: the Adirondack Mountains in mid-winter.” (Publishers Weekly refers to “Henry's bone-deep sense of this terribly beautiful place,” and Booklist says the book “perfectly conjures the lure of living in a small and beautiful mountain town during a bitterly cold winter.” Which makes the author very happy.)

You can read excerpts of Sara's books at her website, friend her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter as @SaraJHenry. She blogs at Sara in Vermont.

My Most Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful Twelve Days: a guest blog by Sara J. Henry

 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Sara J. Henry, like me, is a Mason-Dixonite. She grew up in the south but now makes her home in the Green Mountain State. Her debut, Learning to Swim, initially caught my eye because it's set in New York State's Adirondack mountains. Learning to Swim caught a lot of eyes - it was an Emerging Author pick for retail giant Target, nominated for a Barry Award, and last month, it went on to win the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark award during Edgars Week, and then went on to win the Best First Agatha Award at Malice Domestic. However, Sara's not here to tell us why we should read Learning to Swim (although you really should!) She's here to give us a peek into what it's like to live the mystery writer's dream come true.

 My Most Amazing, Incredible, Wonderful Twelve Day

I live on a dirt road in southern Vermont—excitement is when a fox tunnels into my yard and I try to referee a chase between dog and fox as they lap the yard, me alternately trying to grab my 105-pound Newfie mix and direct the fox to a fox-sized opening in the fence.

A long time ago I wrote a novel. Parts were good and parts weren’t, and I put it in a drawer, where it stayed for a very long time. Eventually I pulled it out and revised it, over and over, until it was published. In the 14 months since I did two panels, and went to the few bookstores who asked me. And then my amazing twelve days began.

I head off to appear at the wonderful St. Louis County Library’s annual Suspense Night. (This, because at the previous fall’s Bouchercon, I’d shoved a copy of my novel into the library director’s hands, being abominably bad at talking about my work.) It goes well, and I’m delighted by the attendance of three long-ago Tennessee high school friends, now St. Louis transplants—one of whom arrives dressed as my novel’s main character, complete with fake ponytail.

Home one night, and then off to Booktopia in Manchester, Vermont. (This, because I’d forced my reticent self to meet the folks at Northshire Bookstore some time back, with my writer pal A.S. King’s words ringing in my ears, Sara, you HAVE to go to bookstores and meet people.) This is one of those events where you feel they accidentally invited the wrong person – there are seven other authors here, amazing authors, ones with books dancing around the New York Times bestseller list. I meet the delightful Richard Mason and Madeline Miller (the other debut author) at the opening party, and the next day appear with the wonderfully generous Howard Frank Mosher. The final event at Northshire is open to the public, and every chair is filled. I am scared almost spitless. I’m second to speak, and decide I’ll start with a funny childhood story. And people laugh, and I freeze only once, infinitesimally, and the result is now a podcast over at Books on the Nightstand.

Then to NYC where I appear on a panel with SJ Rozan at the MWA Symposium, and think from the audience’s blank faces that this must be the most boring panel ever, until I learn this is simply what people look like when listening. In a restroom I do a Superman-style fast change, to the shoes and black dress stashed in my daypack, and head into the MWA Agents and Editors party, where I’m up for the Mary Higgins Clark award. I’m happily standing there, with the analytic side of my brain assessing what I should say if I win, and then my name is called. And what I never once considered—the emotional impact of winning—hits me like a tidal wave, an enormous one. I cannot move, I cannot think, I almost cannot breathe. And I cry a little, but only a little, during my talk.

 

Next I’m at my cousin’s house in Virginia, where I play with my four adorable young cousins and do a book club group, and get up horribly early to drive to Malice Domestic in Bethesda. And there I have a lovely time at my first-ever Malice, until the awards ceremony where I am astoundingly up for a best first novel Agatha, and this time I refuse to let myself think that I could win, refuse to think of what I might say if I do, and sit in a sort of frozen stupor. (Yes, I am wearing the same immune-to-rolling-up black dress.) And then my name is called. So I stumble up there and stumble through a speech and stumble back to my table. And there, with my award teapot sitting in front of me, I dissolve into a puddle of tears, and my wonderful friend Jess Lourey takes charge of me for the rest of the evening. 

On the way home I stop at the home of A.S. and Mr. King and daughters, where I’m greeted with lovely child-drawn signs, and spend the day with people I love.

 

And so end my amazing, incredible, wonderful twelve days.

Now I am back on my dirt road in Vermont, marveling at the turns my life has taken—all because I wrote a novel that I decided to take out of the drawer, and didn’t give up on.

You can find out more about Sara, and read an excerpt of Learning to Swim, at her website. You can also follow her on Twitter as @SaraJHenry and like her on Facebook.