The Dreaded Mogus (Read this and see.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Some days on the writing road you meet a colleague who turns out to be a lifetime pal. Jess Lourey and I have been on so many adventures, and misadventures, and life changes and hurdles and hilarity—I cannot begin to tell you. (Someday we will.)

Shannon is a Forge colleague, and when I read her amazing first book, I knew were we soul mates, too.

Then Jess and Shannon met. And they teamed up to become the power sisters. Seriously. They are a force of nature.  And now, with shelves of their individual books between them, they are once again taking their show on the road. And their sisters at Jungle Red are welcoming them with open arms, champagnes, and…fear of the dreaded mogus. 

(Plus--you could win their books!)

SHANNON BAKER:   Good morning Reds and everyone. Thanks, Hank, for inviting Jess and me for a stop-over on the Lourey/Baker Double Booked Blog Tour redux, in which we get to mention our upcoming releases, but more importantly, settle in for a good visit (as my grandma would say).  Virtually traveling with Jess is more fun than a person can have without a prescription. 

I’m Shannon Baker on the road to peddle Dark Signal, the newest in the Kate Fox series, where it’s murder by railroad tie. Forge is releasing a .99 Kate Fox short story September 17^th, but at the time of this writing, I don’t have a link, so I’ll put it in the comments. Jess Lourey is announcing the ever-hilarious installment in the Murder by Month series, March of Crime.

Shannon: I recently ran a half marathon. It was my first. I’m 57 years old. I’d kind of always wanted to run a ½ marathon, but the idea of actually racking up 13.1 miles seemed so far outside of my abilities (and the bounds of sanity), I didn’t ever try. Jess, when was a time you challenged yourself to do something you thought might be outside your abilities?

JESS LOUREY: First, can I say how thrilled I am to be here? The Reds are amazing women, and I count two of my favorite people among them: Hallie and Hank.

HANK and HALLIE: Aw. We feel the same way. xo

JESS: Mwa-h. So My 2016 TEDx Talk, and the book it inspired, Rewrite Your Life: Discover Your Truth Through the Healing Power of Fiction, were so far out of my comfort zone that I’m still finding my way back. Both deal with the transformative power of turning your facts into fiction. The thing is, I don’t write memoir for a reason. I like hiding behind stories, and I had to drop my fiction fig leaf to share the process with others. I am glad I did, but I’m still dealing with the psychic terror.

Shannon, congratulations on the half marathon! How’d you do? Did you have special equipment? And why in the name of all things lazy did you do it?

Shannon: A couple of things inspired me to run the race, not least was proving to myself I wasn’t too old to try new, fun things. Once I convinced myself it might be possible and even enjoyable, I immediately signed up for a race three months down the road. I invited my daughter (who had talked about wanting to run a ½ marathon…someday) and her fiancé to take a trip from Portland, OR to Tucson and run it with me.  With that, I was set-in-cement committed.

Shannon: As you can imagine, you don’t just wake up one morning and run 13.1 miles. I found a training schedule that would take me to race day. And I stuck with it. The first week my big run was only 6 miles. And the next week, 7 didn’t seem so hard. The week I ran 10 miles nearly blew me away. Ten miles! Me? No way. After that, adding one more mile a week didn’t seem insurmountable.

Jess: Hmmm. Does it count as exercise to drink beer while I read about you training for a marathon? Because that bottle isn’t making its way to my mouth by itself. Also, you make this whole training process sound pretty smoo—oooth.

Shannon: I suffered some set-backs along the way. I developed a hitch in my giddy-up (a technical term) that required slacking off and lots of Ibuprofen. I contracted a dread mogus flying to a book event. Nevertheless, I persisted. (I’ve been waiting to use that quote!)

Jess: What is a dread mogus? Also, rock on with that quote. I’m going to talk politics here, and I’m going to keep it simple: women are capable, women are amazing, and it is our time. Boys are welcome, too—some of my favorite people are male—but it’s long past time to shake up the system. Back to our regularly-scheduled programming: Shannon, after you peturped (I can make up words, too) the dread mogus, what’d you do?

Shannon: My daughter and her fiancé flew in, we carbo-loaded and bought new running clothes, although my almost son-in-law only opted for new socks. Then ran the race, in much better times than any of us believed we could, and I basked in the glow of that accomplishment.

Jess: Well-deserved. I felt the same way after my TEDx Talk, and when the backstage pass I kept from the event snags my eye, I feel a tiny purr of that wonderful “I did it, you guys I did it!” feeling you earn when you Do the Thing That Is Hard. And what that thing is differs for all of us. For me, the combination of sharing personal information I’d kept hidden for over a decade, public speaking, and standing on the revered TEDx red circle was so terrifying for me that I woke up at 2:00 am the night before my Talk, sweating cold, realizing that I’d been gone for three days and hadn’t asked anyone to feed my cat. I was on my phone, crying, scrolling through my contacts to see who I could call to see if my poor kitty was even still alive, before I realized I don’t have a cat.

I learned something important about myself, and the world: we were put here to push our boundaries. All the good stuff is on the other side of Uncomfortable I Don’t Wanna. Shannon, what were your takeaways from the half marathon?

Shannon: Through this, I learned that a mile can be really far, or hardly any distance at all, depending on where I focused my attention (and what was on my playlist). Any big chore can be tackled by breaking it into chunks. Commitment and accountability are key. And whatever the journey, find comrades to share, commiserate, and celebrate.

Jess: Love it. As in running, so in life.

Shannon: I admit that a few days after the race I felt let down and wondered if I ought to schedule another race and see if I could better my time. But running is not my passion. Writing is.

Jess: That’s so interesting that you say that. A while back I started a writing retreat business because I was searching for something that I apparently wasn’t getting with my full-time teaching, writing two novels a year schedule. After five months and hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested, I realized I hadn’t been running toward something. I’d been running away from writing. I’m back, and remind me this is where I belong, yes?

HANK: Love you guys so much--and congratulations on your wild success! (I am now doing the thing that is hard. So your inspiration comes at the perfect time.)

Reds and readers, what have you faced and conquered?

And wait--there's more!

JESS AND SHANNON: Yes, there's more! We are each giving away three books on the Lourey/Baker Double-Booked Tour. For every comment you make along our tour stop, you’ll get another entry in the contest. We get lonely if you’re not talking to us.  This is our last stop but we’ll count if you check out our other visits.

September 2 Mysterious Musings

September 5 Janice Hardy

September 7 The Creative Penn

September 9 Write to Done

September 12        Wicked Cozy Writers

September 20        Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Blog

September 21        There’s a Dead Guy in the Living Room

September 23        Femmes Fatales

September 24        Writer Unboxed

September 25        Dru’s Book Musings

September 27        Do Some Damage

October 3               Terry Ambrose

October 12             Jungle Red Writers

Jess Lourey (rhymes with "dowry") is best known for her critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing "a splendid mix of humor and suspense." She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft's Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a regular Psychology Today blogger, and a sought-after workshop leader and keynote speaker who delivered the 2016 "Rewrite Your Life" TEDx Talk. March of Crime, the 11th book in her humorous mystery series, releases September 2017. You can find out more at www.jessicalourey.com

Shannon Baker is the author of the Kate Fox mystery series (Tor/Forge). Set in the isolated cattle country of the Nebraska Sandhills, Kirkus says, “Baker serves up a ballsy heroine, a colorful backdrop, and a surprising ending.” She also writes the Nora Abbott mystery series (Midnight Ink), featuring Hopi Indian mysticism and environmental issues. Shannon makes her home in Tucson where she enjoys cocktails by the pool, breathtaking sunsets, a crazy Weimeraner, and killing people (in the pages of her books). She was voted Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 and 2017 Writer of the Year. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com

  

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A Mixed Bag of What? From Jess and Shannon

What We Wished We Knew Then

This is Jess

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Do you know Jess Lourey and Shannon Baker? If I had a million hours, I could not begin to list the superlatives that they deserve. Hilarious, first, and talented. And loving, and thoughtful, and spiritual, and authentic and genuine.

I was trying to think of a funny thing to say about them, some anecdote or experience to explain how fabulous they are, but it’s—well, Jess and I have criss-crossed the country together as part of MWA University (Hallie, too), have eaten ridiculous food and (sometimes) great wine, have taught and listened and commiserated and laughed and planned and plotted and shared the terribles and the fabulousness. Fabulousnesses.

And then along comes Shannon, who shares an editor with me—as well as an outlook and a joy and an enthusiasm to see what’s coming next.

This is Shannon

Their books are terrific.

And today, hurray, here they are on Jungle Red. And they are so fabulous, they wrote their own intro. At least—they thought they did.

THE INTRO THEY WROTE:

Today's guest post features thriller writers Jess Lourey (Salem's Cipher) and Shannon Baker (Stripped Bare), both of whose latest books hit shelves on September 6, 2016. They are embarking on their whirlwind, 30-day Lourey/Baker Double-booked Blog Tour in celebration of their dual release date. Today, they’re joining Jungle Red Writers to share what they wished they knew way back when, in the land and time before they’d written and published 19 books between them.

Jess here. I wish I had known at age 18 that youth is its own beauty, and that 125 pounds is not fat no matter what the magazines tell you. I wish I had known in my 20s how great dating would become in my 40s (all the guys have jobs and vasectomies; I am now happily married, but the point remains). Even more important than those two tips, I wish I knew three very specific things about writing way back in 2003 when I was hand-mailing query letters (featuring licked stamps! remember when?) out into the world.

   1. Writing novels is a marathon, not a sprint. May Day, my first book, hit shelves in 2006 to some good reviews (notwithstanding Kirkus, who I swear keeps ellipses in business). Twelve novels later, ten of those traditionally published, and I’m still working my day job. I don’t think the awareness that building a writing career takes time would have changed anything for me because like most writers, I write for the love of the story, not the money. Still, I maybe wouldn’t have gotten so down on myself if I hadn’t expected I’d have made it big by at least my tenth book.

   2.   I wish I had known I would make lifelong friends by joining the crime fiction community. I might have jumped in this pond sooner if someone had told me how cool all the fish are. I have all sorts of theories about why mystery writers are the best human beings you’ll ever meet, but bottom line, writing novels has brought amazing people into my life who I’m lucky enough to call friends, including Shannon, Hank, and Hallie.

   3. Everyone thinks their book is crap at various times when writing it. (If this isn’t true, don’t tell me.) Write through that stage. It is the equivalent of me at age 12 (through 19), when I thought claw bangs, frosted lipstick, and pinned jeans were the way to go. Keep moving forward, in writing and in life. Things always get better.

Shannon, you’re working on your second series, which is earning rave reviews, and you’ve been in this business as long as I have, right? What pearls of wisdom do you have to share?

Shannon: First of all, what are pinned jeans? And secondly and more importantly, huge congratulations on your recent marriage. One thing I know now that I didn’t back then is that you can find the love of your life in your middling years and it’s even better than in your twenties.

HANK: Yay Yay Yay!

Shannon: Damnit, Jess. You went first and got all the good ones. But here’s my first turd of wisdom:

   1.  Know when to quit. That’s right. I have this little disaster I call Ashes of the Red Heifer. I started writing that sucker in 1997. It’s a great premise. The TV series, Dig, is based on the same ideas. But I didn’t have the craft to carry it off. I kept working on it, though. Every time I’d learn something new, I’d rewrite the doomed thing. It went through so many critique groups it became completely homogenized. At one point, a New York agent picked it up. But 9/11 hit and no one would touch it. I hate to admit I rewrote that for over 10 years and finally sold it to a nanopress. It is out of print and shouldn’t have ever been in print. To use a Biblical reference, you can’t put new wine into an old wine skin. Let it go and start something new.

   2.  Your journey is your own. If I could internalize this point, I’d be happier and wiser than I am now. Other writers are better, luckier, smarter, more successful, prettier, thinner, have more friends…. Do what you can, be who you are, and don’t worry about someone else’s path. The Desiderata says it best. (You remember all the hippies loved that in the 70’s, right? In my new series, Kate’s mother lives by it.)

“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”  Namaste.

.        3. I'll try to stay away from quoting ancients on this one. Again, this is a do as I say, not as I do kind of thing. Try to maintain a sane perspective on this writing gig. So much of the business is out of our control. One of my friends decided in the fourth grade that she wanted to be a novelist. She is in her 50’s and hasn’t published a novel, yet. She battles depression, literally, over this. She can’t make the markets yearn for her work or force a publisher to take her on. No one knows what makes one book a runaway bestseller and a better book languish. What’s the worst thing that can happen if you don’t hit that goal you’ve set for yourself? The sun will come up, your children will still be brats, sex will still feel great, and you keep writing books. It’s writing, people, not life.

Haha! Jess here.  That's me and Shannon for you, a mixed bag of wisdom, turds and sex.

What we wished we knew then ...  

HANK: Wait, wait, I hear you wrapping up. But yeah, what are pinned jeans.

JESS: Anyone out there know? 

Thank you for joining us today! I am giving away a Salem’s Cipher and Shannon is giving away a Stripped Bare. Tell us what you wished you knew when, writing-related or otherwise, or leave a comment for a chance to win.

And because we love you best of all, we’ve got more:

If you order Salem's Cipher before September 6, 2016, you are invited to forward your receipt to salemscipher@gmail.com to receive a Salem short story and to be automatically entered in a drawing to win a 50-book gift basket mailed to the winner's home.

If you order Stripped Bare before September 6, 2016, you are invited to forward your receipt to katefoxstrippedbare@gmail.com to receive a Kate Fox short story and be entered for a book gift basket mailed to your home.

You’re welcome to enter both contests.  

HANK:  Love to you both, too. Reds--instead of trying to match their advice--lets talk about pinned jeans. What they heck are they? Did you wear them? What's the clothing choice you most regret? Shoulder pads don't count.

Mine: The lavender linen hot pants suit (very conservative) I wore to a wedding in 1972. WHAT was I thinking?

Or okay…their advice is so great. DO you have any? 

A copy of my new DRIVE TIME to once lucky commenter.

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Jessica (Jess) Lourey is best known for her critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month mysteries, which have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, the latter calling her writing "a splendid mix of humor and suspense." She is a tenured professor of creative writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft's 2014 Excellence in Teaching fellowship, and leads interactive writing workshops all over the world. Salem’s Cipher, the first in her thrilling Witch Hunt Series, hits stores September 2016. You can find out more at www.jessicalourey.com, or find Jess on Facebook or Twitter

Shannon Baker writes the Kate Fox mystery series. Stripped Bare, the first in the series, features a sheriff in rural Nebraska and has been called Longmire meets The Good Wife. Baker also writes the Nora Abbott Mystery Series, a fast-paced mix of murder, environmental issues and Hopi Indians published by Midnight Ink. Baker was voted Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2104 Writer of the Year. She writes from the Colorado Rockies to the Nebraska Sandhills, the peaks of Flagstaff and the deserts of Tucson. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com

Pop on over to the Midnight Ink blog Monday as we continue the Lourey/Baker Double Booked Tour.

The Puppy Stork is Coming!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Oh, well, it’s the funniest cartoon I’ve ever seen, and I’m posting it.

Hilarious, huh? Kind of? Anyway, the reason it’s relevant today is that author Shannon Baker is getting a puppy!

Yay. It’s book launch time for her, and she’s been all over the place talking about Tattered Legacy. It’s full of Hopi Indian legends, polygamists, aliens, super-wealthy and politically powerful Mormons and more iconic scenery than you can imagine all stuffed into 350 pages—so what’s not to love?

But I wonder—is she getting the puppy for book tour? Okay, no, of course not. But she’s as delighted as any puppy-expecting parent… She’s got a new book out, and a puppy on the way. Whoa.  I mean, wow.

Oh, I mean: Bow wow.

SHANNON BAKER:   Exactly! But I’m sort of ADD and I wrote that book a while back so, for me, that was then. What is now, though, what has me wiggling in my seat with anticipation, is the NEXT thing in our lives. The Puppy Stork is winging her way to our house, bringing us a bouncing baby bundle of puppy love. We’re scheduled to pick up our 8-week old Weimaraner girl in mid-May.

We lost our last Boxer in 2011 and we’ve been a lonely, sad, dogless couple since then. We ached for a new dog but knew we were destined for a nomadic and pretty chaotic life until we pulled the plug on gainful day jobs and both became stay-at-homes. We made the choice to wait and it’s been a long, desolate trudge, both to the end of the paycheck producing situation and through the puppy drought.

Not the ACTUAL puppy...but like this!

I cringe to compare puppies and babies. When I had my daughters, I lived in rural Nebraska and the references to me and heifers didn’t make me grin. Dogs aren’t people so I’m not a dog mom. But dogs are a specialness all to themselves. At the same time better but not quite on par with people and the love for pets is deep and real. So, yeah, this has some of the same heart-tugs as bringing a baby home.

And as with having babies, I suppose I’ve blocked some of the less desirable details. After all, I did have more than one baby, so I’m obviously pretty good at selective memory.

I’m remembering the good parts of puppies. I can’t wait to cuddle and laugh at puppy antics. I am anticipating bonding and having that loyal, loving companion. I’m not focused so much on the housetraining. The books make it sound so easy. They sleep, they wake up, you run them outside to their spot, they go, you praise them, play with them, there are no accidents, they go back to sleep, you repeat the cycle. In two weeks, they’re reliably trained.

It’s a vague memory from my last puppy, but I think I followed the books. I don’t remember it being that easy.

Then there’s the crate training. Again, the book says it will be a lark. Puppies like their crates. It’s safe and quiet and homey. They will sleep in them all night. No problem. But I think I remember nighttime crying. Shoe loss, furniture damage, holes in the yard, barking. All of these issues are dispatched with positive and preventative training. I find it easy to believe the promises of the puppy book and truly believe our puppy will be nothing but pure joy and will grow into a well-trained, neurosis-free, perfect companion.

But then, I write fiction.

Speaking of which—Tattered Legacy, the third book in the Nora Abbott Mystery Series is available now at your favorite book venue. There are no puppies in it, but there is an aging golden retriever. And lots of mystery and murder and Hopi, polygamists, aliens, rich Mormons and Moab’s amazing landscapes.

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN:  We want photos! And meanwhile, who has some puppy advice for Shannon? And what about the puppy's name? So excited for you, Shannon!

Shannon Baker is the author of the Nora Abbott mystery series from Midnight Ink. A fast-paced mix of Hopi Indian mysticism, environmental issues, and murder. Shannon is an itinerant writer, which is a nice way of saying she’s confused. She never knows what time zone she’s in, Timbuck-Three, Nebraska, or  Denver, or Tucson. Nora Abbott has picked up that location schizophrenia and travels from Flagstaff in Tainted Mountain, to Boulder in Broken Trust and then to Moab in Tattered Legacy.  Shannon is proud to have been chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ 2014 Writer of the Year. Visit Shannon at www.Shannon-Baker.com

Shannon says:  While Tattered Legacy is available from your favorite online or bookstore, if you’d like to support indie bookstores, you’re welcome to contact Who Else Books atwww.BroadwayBookMall.com. Ron and Nina are the best! And they might have a signed copy to send.
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SEEING RED!  NEXT WEEK

Hallie: My new book NIGHT NIGHT SLEEP TIGHT is out! Please check my website http://www.HallieEphron.com  to see when I'll be visiting your town..and check it out! 

Hank: Headed for the Broward County Lit Fest! Saturday and Sunday:  Appearing with CJ Box and Oline Cogdill

Thursday: at the Broward County Public Library! Check my website http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com  for more info. Love to see you there!

Rhys: Today at  Santa Monica Library 2:30 p.m., then Beverly Hills Library, 5 p.m. Come say hello!

Debs: This coming Thursday, March 26th, 6 p.m., at the University of North Texas Willis Library. Tickets are still available for the dinner and book signing here.