Throwback Thursday, Rochelle B. Weinstein

LUCY BURDETTE: Today it's a pleasure to introduce Rochelle Weinstein with some absolutely wonderful advice for surviving the writing and publishing rat race. But it also goes for life! Welcome Rochelle...

ROCHELLE WEINSTEIN: The date was June 29, 2017. I had dinner with a fellow author at a lovely restaurant in Banner Elk, North Carolina. My third novel had released the year before and my fourth was slated to release in 2018. Before that, my self-published works released in 2012 and 2013. Dinner with Rebecca Warner is always brimming with author talk—sharing tidbits about the business, our latest reads, the ups and downs of the industry. 

Upon returning home that evening, I ventured onto Publisher’s Marketplace in search of something I now have the faintest idea what. As a lark, I did what we tend to do online, searched for myself, clicking on the Bestseller tab, which was sure to say: no bestseller status available. But there it was. What We Leave Behind, my first self-published work featured on the USA Today Bestseller list. #145. But I was only finding this out three years later. Talk about an epic Throwback Thursday.

I tell this story because it highlights my journey to publishing and some of the best of advice in the business: never giving up. Backtrack. When I sat down to write What We Leave Behind, I had no formal training (unless voracious reader counts) and I was merely filling time during a year-long severance. Doors didn’t open for me—they slammed—and when I made the decision to self-publish, I had specific goals for my work. The Mourning After followed a similar path, and with robust sales and a community of readers and fans, I sought an agent for my third novel, Where We Fall. They say the third time’s the charm, and I secured an agent and a publishing deal.  

Never during that time of disappointment and hustle did I know about the bestseller status. I had been diligently working on Somebody’s Daughter (my fourth novel) doing what I loved, going going going. And it raises the question: What if I had given up? What if I had walked away after that first door closed? Rebecca texted me the next day. “The puzzling thing is, Rochelle, you didn’t have this accomplishment to bolster you through some tough times, and you pushed through. What does that say about your capacity to go to great heights?”

There. That. 

Yes. My self-published title, my little engine that could, hit a bestseller list. I didn’t have that to hold onto. I didn’t know what I was capable of. But I kept going. Moving. Writing. Listening. Learning. Trusting. Dusting off the bruises.  

Anyone who has been in the trenches knows the sting of rejection, the vulnerability (or stigma) associated with self-publishing, and the vast challenges we face as writers competing in an over-saturated market. Many writers don’t have accolades or career milestones boosting them through the rough patches, so what I’ve learned from this experience is that it’s what we do with the hard times, how we handle the pitfalls, that ultimately measure our success. If you’re a writer in the trenches, focus on your goal and ignore the voices saying you can’t. It’s a wild ride with highs and lows, but if you stay the course you are bound to land where you were supposed to. And soar.

 

How do you react to rejection? Do you easily get frustrated and give up? Or do you let the misery in, experience it, and get back on the saddle? Do you know why you write? The goals you have for your work? The best advice I can give: the difference between success and failure is the never giving up. Onward. 

About the Author

Rochelle B. Weinstein is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of emotionally driven women’s fiction, including When We Let Go, This Is Not How It Ends, Somebody’s Daughter, Where We Fall, The Mourning After, and What We Leave Behind. Rochelle spent her early years, always with a book in hand, raised by the likes of Sidney Sheldon and Judy Blume. A former entertainment industry executive, she splits her time between sunny South Florida and the mountains of North Carolina. When she’s not writing, Rochelle can be found hiking, reading, and searching for the world’s best nachos. She is currently working on her seventh novel. Please visit her at rochelleweinstein.com.

About WHEN WE LET GO: When Avery Beckett is proposed to by Jude Masters, a widowed father and the man she loves, it should be a time of great joy. Instead, Avery is on edge. She’s wary of the idea of family, doubtful of happy endings, and too afraid to take the leap. It’s the kind of fear that comes from having secrets. Before Avery commits to a new life, she must reconcile with the one she left behind.

When Avery returns to her childhood farm in the North Carolina mountains, she’s surprised to be saddled with a companion: Jude’s teenage daughter, Elle, who’s grappling with the loss of her mother and the complicated emotions of first love. On a path of mending wounds and breaking down walls, Avery and Elle form an unexpected alliance. It’s giving them the courage to move forward. And for Avery, everything she needs to confront the past.

An emotional tale of mothers and daughters, loss and acceptance, When We Let Go is about the lessons that come from heartbreak and the healing it takes to embrace the joy of a second chance.

We Celebrate Ramona!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: How many of you have had a guardian angel? A mentor, a guide, a muse, a cheerleader- teamleader-guide?  For oh-so-many of us, the answer is: Yes! Ramona!

Ramona DeFelice Long –well, let’s talk about her. Personally? My book THE OTHER WOMAN  would not be what it is without her brilliant editing. But that’s just me.  Just the beginning. She’s the iron fist in the velvet glove (she’d tell me that’s a cliché, gently but firmly) for all her grateful authors n her daily writing sprints. She’s a generous and brilliantly reliable presence in her beloved Pennwriters, and every organization she’s has blessed with her presence. She’s a dear and treasured friend of the Reds, and of  all of us.

Plus. What a rock star. She’s hilarious, and wry, and knowing --and so many writers, like me, rely on her every word. We have shared many a glass of wine. Yes, Ramona.

Okay, and listen—that’s not even the point. Her new book is out! The Murderess of Bayou Rosa. Go right out—okay, not OUT, you can stay inside,  and not RIGHT NOW, because now you need to read this interview, but after you do, click click click and get Ramona’s book.  

Yes, Ramona.

HANK:   When was the first moment you knew you wanted to write? Or wait--did loving to read come first?

RAMONA: In 5^th Grade, I entered a patriotic poem contest sponsored by the VFW. This is how my poem began:

The grand ol’ flag of the USA

Flies in the wind of the windy day.

Clearly, poetry is not my wheelhouse, but my poem won the contest. “Grand Ol’ Flag” was published in the state VFW newsletter, and I was presented a $25 Savings Bond at a ceremony at the local VFW chapter. (Named, incidentally, after the first American soldier to die in WWII, Freddie Falgout lived one town away from where I grew up. He died one day before his 21^st birthday.)  After the presentation, the  VFW president handed me the original hand-written poem and asked if I’d like to read it. I was too surprised to be terrified, so I walked to the mic and read to an audience of foreign war veterans. Walking back to my seat, I was stopped by a man who whispered, “I could never read in front of people like that. You are braver than I am, young lady, and I fought at Guadalcanal!”

Add this up, and this is what you get: On a single night when I was twelve years old, I was published and paid, I gave a public reading, and was praised by a fan. I was young, but I had enough sense to realize I’d found my place in the world.  

HANK: Where did you grow up? What books did you read as a child that you remember now?

RAMONA: I had two childhoods. From birth to age seven, I lived in a neighborhood full of family: my grandmother, three aunts, one uncle, and nineteen cousins lived on my lane in Golden Meadow, Louisiana. The town was so named because fields of wild goldenrods grew every summer. It’s about 60 miles southwest of New Orleans. I spent summer weekends at Grand Isle, an island beach on the Gulf of Mexico that is also the setting for Kate Chopin’s The Awakening.

After a particularly nasty hurricane flooded our house, my father and a professional carpenter built our future home out of flood zone. It was in the middle of sugar cane fields. Our closest neighbor was my great-grandfather. I was eight; he was eighty-eight. The name of the closest town was Larose (ahem). My siblings and I spent summers in the middle of nowhere all summer because my mother, a nurse, always worked. I rode my bike, watched TV, fought with my brothers, and read. My mom took us to the library once a week. We were allowed to get 10 books. I usually read my 10 books in two days, so I read my sister and brothers’ books, which is why I know a lot about the U.S. space program and baseball.

My favorite books were Rumer Godden’s doll books, The Secret Garden and The Secret Language. I devoured all the brave girl books: Pippi, Anne with an e, Donna Parker, Katie John. All wonderful role models.

HANK: Donna Parker! Seriously. We have to talk. I learned SO much from Donna Parker.  Anyway. You have helped so many writers--including me. How did you come to be an editor?

RAMONA: I owe my career to my Great Friend and mentor, Nancy Martin. When Nancy started her Blackbird Sisters mystery series, we were in a critique group together. Brainstorming the Blackbirds was heavenly, because in between all the brave girl books I’d read thousands of mysteries, I had a knack for understanding characters and mystery plots. I must have absorbed how mysteries were supposed to work by reading so many at a young age. After critiquing Nancy’s first couple of mysteries, she asked if I would read a mystery manuscript from a friend, then another, until I realized I had a marketable skill. I decided, with no experience in business at all, to open my own editing service. I got my first big break when I was asked to edit the first Guppy anthology. Since FISH TALES was published in 2011, I had steady work as an editor.

Before anyone sends me a manuscript, I retired earlier this year. Working as a development editor, teaching online courses, and presenting workshops were an excellent way to spend the last decade.

HANK: What's the biggest mistake new authors make?  (Tell us as many as you want. Sigh.)

RAMONA: Without a doubt, the most common error is front loading the first few pages of a manuscript with background instead of action. “Action” does not need to be a car chase, but a telling event or a character in an intriguing situation.

Others, in no particular order:

Too many characters introduced too quickly. IRL, it’s tough to go to a party, meet a bunch of new people, and remember their names and how they are connect to the host. The same thing applies to fiction.

A character driving/waking up/making coffee, etc., ALONE. Unless isolation is a theme of the story, you are asking the reader to watch a character perform mundane acts. If the car breaks down or the windshield shattered by a gunshot, that’s a story.

Weather. There is weather everywhere, all the time. Unless it directly affects the story, weather is weather.

Misleading first impressions. IRL, we form instant impressions of people when we first meet them. Those impressions can be hard to shake. This means, if you introduce your protagonist in a compromising or weak or silly situation, will I believe it when she’s suddenly competent enough to solve a mystery?

HANK: LOVE this. I am printing it out. Now, you.  We are so thrilled with your new book! Congratulations! Give is the elevator pitch for  The Murderess of Bayou Rosa. . (You made us learn to do it--now it's your turn.)

RAMONA: In 1920, in a small bayou town, a free-spirited women shoots her lover in the back, sticking her hometown with a legal and moral dilemma: Can a jury of twelve men vote to hang a woman they’ve known since birth?

HANK:  Ooh.  I love justice stories. Where did the idea come from?

RAMONA: A couple of years ago, I needed a story to donate to a charity anthology. I was in the habit of walking every night after dinner, and I loved seeing the changes in the moon. It reminded me of a Louisiana saying: “Marry a man by the light of the  moon and he will be true to you.” 

That saying led me to a story about a moonlight wedding that goes awry. That story, “Light of the Moon,” was published in Into the Woods. It had an open ending, because I love open endings. (Others do not.) I was asked several times to write a sequel. Not until Sister Jean, who manages the retreat houses where I went 4 or 5 times a year, asked if I was writing a sequel did I really consider it. I went to Catholic school. I can’t say no to a nun.

HANK: Smiling. How was it to write? I mean--how long did it take to write THE MURDERESS OF BAYOU ROSA, what did you learn, how did it change you?

RAMONA: The first 2/3 were a snap! The short story gave me setting, characters, inciting incident, antagonist, voice, etc. It was like a summary and all I had to do was fill in what happened before the short story began. I did that, and made some significant changes, but writing it was a breeze. Took me six months to write 220 pages. (I hear you book-a-year folks laughing, but this is lightning speed for me!) The final one third took me a year and a half. It began where the short story ended, and the reason I’d left it open was because I had no clue what happened next. I wrote about ten endings (seriously). The last 100 pages took 18 months because I was never happy with the ending. Then I found Carl (who is sorta-kinda based on a real person) and the right ending showed itself. My first draft was 104,000 words. I got it down to 95k.

What did I learn? That I was not immune to some of the mistakes my clients made!

How did it change me?  I had to keep reminding myself that women had different attitudes in 1920. I did not want to write a false protagonist—a woman whose actions or ideas were unrealistic for the times. The lasting impression from this book is an acutely awareness of how very much we owe to the women who came before us, who fought for the vote, fought for women to serve on juries, fought to own property and not be property, fought to work outside the home, fought to hold public office, and fought to be educated, all the while cooking every meal from scratch, washing clothes by hand, and raising a family with no safety nets. I hugged my refrigerator and memories of my grandmothers many times while writing the book.

HANK: Aw. Like I said.   LOVE this. And yes,  open endings are so difficult. Just like life. Reds and readers--tell us someone who—like Ramona for me—has changed your life.

Yes! Ramona.  And TWO lucky commenters will win a copy of her wonderful new book! 

THE MURDERESS OF BAYOU ROSA

In the summer of 1920, in the town of Bayou Rosa, Louisiana, a free-spirited woman named Joelle Amais shoots her lover in the back but won't tell anyone why. Joelle is a woman with a checkered past, and as the weeks stretch between her arrest and a delayed trial, her defiant silence threatens to blow Bayou Rosa apart.

Joelle’s only ally is her daughter Geneva, the town schoolteacher, whose demure demeanor hides the stubbornness she inherited from her mother. Geneva is determined to see her mother get a fair trial, but now the town is faced with a legal and moral dilemma. With rows of new graves in the cemetery from a devastating world war and influenza epidemic, can a jury of twelve men vote to hang a woman they’ve seen grow up since birth?

Ramona DeFelice Long writes short fiction, essays, memoir and one novel about family, women, and quirky things that come her way. Her work has appeared in numerous literary and regional magazines. She is a Louisiana native now living in Delaware.

Website: www.ramonadef.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ramona.d.long Ramona’s Sprint Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/270472177602954/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ramonadef

Rhys Spreads a Little Christmas Cheer

RHYS BOWEN: This has been the week when the Reds take over the world. Well, not quite. Writers are known to embellish the truth, but this week we are celebrating THREE Reds releases, which is pretty amazing, don't you think.

And Ingrid has kindly given me a day to talk a little about mine. It's called THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST and is a Molly Murphy book--as you can guess from the cover it's another Christmas story. Having already published two books this year, In Farleigh Field in the spring and On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service in August, I really didn't have time to write a third book this year. I mean, only a crazy person (or maybe our darling Jenn) would think of writing three books in a year. But my publisher kept on at me: couldn't I find time for maybe a shorter book, a Christmas book? And in the end it was easier to say yes.

And my editor said, "Do you have an idea for another Christmas book?"
 And off the top of my head I replied, "How about on Christmas Eve a small child walks out into the snow and simply vanishes. The footsteps just stop."
And she said, "Ooh, I love it!"
And as I walked away I remember thinking, "I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to make that work!"

But it did work, and I think you'll find it both suspenseful and heartwarming. As with all my Molly books, her own story is always woven into the plot. And this time she is in a dark place--I won't tell you why. You have to read the book. But finding this young mother's tragic story helps her to heal from her own depression.

So Jenn and I will be part of the Poisoned Pen holiday party in Scottsdale tomorrow at 2 p.m. and we'll be happy to sign copies for you (books make great Christmas presents. Think of Iceland!)

Also this week marks another huge anniversary for me and real cause for celebration: TWENTY YEARS AGO THIS WEEK MY FIRST MYSTERY WAS PUBLISHED.  Evans Above. With a print run of 2500. And an advance so small that... well let's just say it took care of a trip to Starbucks.

This should be a heartening tale for those of you at the start of your writing careers. I knew nobody in the mystery community. I had zero encouragement from my publisher. My book was on the very last page of the catalog. And in addition to those, when I should have been trying to publicize the book I was instead in Australia with my mum who was dying of pancreatic cancer.

 But I had a three book contract--there was a glimmer of hope. I joined SinC and MWA. I went to as many bookstores as I could. And my second book was nominated for a Barry Award: on a list with Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Jeffrey Deaver: I thought someone was playing a cruel joke when they sent me the notification. But it was true. And it gave me tremendous hope. Important people thought my book was worth reading!

My one piece of luck was that in those days there was a mystery bookstore in almost every city. My husband retired and together we criss-crossed the country signing and speaking at any bookstore that would have me. Usually with an audience of 2 or three. Robin Agnew at Aunt Agathas reminded me that the first time it was herself and one Welsh woman at my signing. Last summer they had to hold my event at the library because the store wasn't big enough!

Exactly the same with the Poisoned Pen. Only three or four people but Barbara Peters believed in me and kept inviting me back and now it's quite normal to sell over 100 books there.

 So you beginning writers here is my message: Have faith. Believe in your own talent. Write the best book you can, every time. Be partners with as many bookstores as possible. Speak anywhere you are asked. Make the most of the all the great opportunities MWA and SinC offer you and realize that for most of us it is small steps forward.  Unless the publisher offers you a six figure advance you are not going to get any real help from them. It's all up to you!

So keep working hard. Next February will see the publication of my FORTIETH mystery/suspense novel. Again it's historical and it's called THE TUSCAN CHILD.  And one day you might switch on your computer to see this:

Okay, I realize that the other two are in this position habitually and I only pop in occasionally but it's still very nice!

And I'm happy to give away a signed copy of THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST to one lucky commenter today!  All you'll need is a roaring fire, a cup of tea and a box of chocolates and you're all set for the season!

Characters Welcome! A guest blog by Lesa Holstine

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  Our guest today is Lesa Holstine, eponymous blogger of Lesa's Book Critiques, one of the smartest book review sites on the web. I'm going to quote her own blog profile to give you an idea of her range:

Lesa has been a library manager/administrator for over 30 years, in Ohio, Florida, Arizona, and, now, Indiana. Winner of the 2011 Arizona Library Association Outstanding Library Service Award. She is a contributing Book Reviewer for Library Journal, Mystery Readers Journal, ReadertoReader.com and VibrantNation.com. Winner of the 2009 and 2010 Spinetingler Awards for Best Reviewer. First Fan Guest of Honor for Desert Sleuths Chapter of Sisters in Crime, Write Now! Conference.

 In other words, Lesa loves books. A lot. Today, she shares with us  - aspiring authors, pay attention! - that one thing that makes a good story a great read.

“Characters welcome” is the slogan of the USA Network, but it could be the slogan for my mother’s side of the family as well. We’re all readers. I just happen to be the one in the family who writes a blog about books. I started Lesa’s Book Critiques eight and a half years ago as a place where I could talk about what I had read. And, I didn’t care if it was only my family who read the posts. My mother was one of seven children, and there are more than forty first cousins in my generation. So, I not only discuss books on my blog, but I write a book column in the family newsletter. And, it’s not uncommon for my Mom and my sisters to all read a book at the same time, something I featured on my blog.

Why am I mentioning my extended family of readers today? Because I was just home for a week, together with my Mom and both sisters. We do talk about books on the phone, but this was a chance to talk in person. And, we’re all passionate about mysteries. We take characters and mysteries very seriously. We want authors to bring characters to life. And, I know we’re not the only ones. Why else would Rhys Bowen have so many comments on Facebook when she asked how far Lady Georgie and her love interest, Darcy, should go? Readers care.

If you had overheard our conversations this week, you would have heard one of my sisters recommend Jacquelyn Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs books to the other. She referred to them as meaty books in which she learned a lot about British history. And, you would have heard me passionately discuss the development of Jane Cleland’s Josie Prescott series. My sister teased me, knowing my pet peeve. “What? Josie Prescott isn’t Too Stupid to Live?” I analyzed Josie’s growth from a lonely woman to a strong woman who has gathered around her a family made of co-workers, friends and a cat. And, she is smart enough to work with the police, not against them.

Can you tell we care about characters and how they change? My youngest sister’s email notes to me probably contain much better and more succinct reviews than any of mine. She’ll complain about a character who dumps a boyfriend, or she’ll tell me the sleuth’s behavior was inconsistent. I have a cousin who reads the mysteries, and drops me notes commenting on the development of the series.

I wrote the chapter on “Mystery Fiction” for the latest edition of Genreflecting. I discuss Julia’s books, Deborah’s, Rhys’, Jane’s, and Hank’s, among others. Why? Their characters fit my comment. “Most readers of mysteries will also say they read the books for the appeal of the characters.” And, I’ll honestly tell you that I drop a series if the sleuth is consistently “Too Stupid to Live”. I also disliked a recent bestseller that lasted forever on the lists. I hated the characters.

When authors ask what they should write about when they do a guest blog, I often suggest they do an interview with their sleuth, or allow a couple characters to do the guest blog. It’s fun to see the questions an author will ask of the character. And, I’ve seen some very revealing questions and comments come from those characters. Sometimes, the sleuth has interviewed the author, which can be funny.

I want to like your characters. And, my extended family reads my blog, and the newsletter. We talk about your books, but we really talk about your characters. We care, and we can be passionate about our likes and dislikes. We’re not telling you what to write, or how to develop your characters. As readers, we really just want you to know we appreciate what you do, and we sometimes discuss your books and characters as if they were acquaintances. Give us characters to love, and we’ll forgive a weak mystery now and then. I’m sure I’m not the only one who read every Spenser book by Robert B. Parker because I adored the character even when the mysteries grew weak. So, “Characters welcome”, please.

What do you look for in characters, dear readers? Who are the most memorable ones for you? Join in the discussion, and one lucky commenter will win an ARC of THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS!

Lesa Holstine blogs about books and reading at Lesa's Book Critiques. You can also like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter as @LesaHolstine and keep up with all her posts on Tumblr.

The Yin and Yang of Writing: a guest post by Jenny Milchman

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: The day after Christmas, thoughts tend to turn toward - well, yes, toward returns and post-Christmas sales, but also toward the New Year. A time to start fresh: a new calendar, new prospects, new resolutions. For many of us who write, the New Year will be marked with one important resolution: get that novel started. Or finished. Or both.

Jenny Milchman knows this resolution well. It took her eleven years, twenty-two drafts and a one hundred and eighty thousand word manuscript to get to the place she is now: awaiting the January 15th publication of Cover of Snow, a stunning thriller that's gotten rave pre-pub reviews from Lee Child, Laura Lippman, Louise Penny and Yours Truly. Obviously, the years spent honing her craft were well worth it. But how does a writer keep going? How does he or she handle the crazy ups and downs of the literary life? Jenny is going to tell us how to stay motivated and make that resolution a reality:

Writing is a craft that wears two faces. You know the ones I mean. There is the part where the writer finishes his or her day’s work, sits back, and smiles like the Cheshire Cat bathed in cream.

“Man, am I a good writer. Not a good writer. A great writer. In fact, a word has not been invented yet to describe what a fantastic writer I am. Maybe I should coin a word to describe what a great writer I am, like Lewis Carroll coined the word chortle. Lucky I’m such a great writer.”

A few days pass. Maybe the writer gives those pages out to some trusty readers. Maybe he or she submits them somewhere, or begins querying on the project. The feedback and rejections start trickling in.

“Man, do I suck. What made me think I should let anyone even read this dreck that just came spilling out of my incompetent fingertips? I am such a bad writer, not writing isn’t sufficient consequence for me. I shouldn’t stop writing, I should stop living.”

Right now you’re either nodding in recognition, or looking at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am crazy. I’m a writer. This passion of ours could drive a person nuts.

I started writing my first novel in 1998 (I’m not including that Victorian-esque thing I wrote when I was studying English Lit in college, or the ones with magic marker illustrations from when I was six.) I was an intern pursuing a graduate degree in psych, and I had this very intense case. I think the reason I’d never finished a real novel before was because I thought I had to write something like the classics I’d studied, and hadn’t come to the fairly obvious realization that you should write what you like to read (even if you’re not going to write what you know).

What I read was suspense. Thrillers. Mysteries. And now I had a case that was right out of a suspense novel, and don’t we all start with something autobiographical? So I created a sleuth who was, what else, a psychologist-in-training. And got her into all sorts of fixes. 180,000 words later, I was done. My novel wasn’t, but you couldn’t tell that to me. I was firmly embedded in the every-word-I-wrote-is-a-freaking-miracle phase, and refused to revise until a handful of kindly agents showed me the error of my ways.

There’s another aspect of writing that wears two faces, like one of those tragedy/comedy masks from theater, and that’s publishing.

Cruelest business in the world. It could make you long to be a coal miner. (I fully understand that coal mining is harder than any day ever spent at a computer. Just sometimes it doesn’t feel that way.)

A hasty auto-sent rejection might be the only response you see to your carefully crafted query and the pages you suffered through the aforementioned yin and yang of writing to create. And that’s if you’re lucky. You might get no rejection, no response at all, and just be left hoping day after day after day that this could be the morning when your pages are finally read. And that the agent will call to say she or he didn’t even bother signing you before getting you a major book deal and selling the film rights to boot.

But every yin has its yang, and one day that tragic scowl just might flip.

I wrote eight novels, signed with three agents, and stayed on more or less continuous submission for eleven years before the magic happened, and so I know just why people keep at this for so long.

When the publishing game is going well, there is no greater high. Publishing is like gambling, writing is, too, and we risk it all every time we sit down at our machines, or take out a pad and a pen, or slide a slice of paper into a typewriter (which I hear is gaining in popularity again).

Of course, typewriters are gaining in popularity again! At least a rejection won’t ever come in on one.

But this could be the day that your agent calls on the honest-to-goodness telephone, instead of emailing, to say that an editor wants to buy your book.

And when you get that call, you’re not going to remember the fifty or eighty or hundred form rejections, all the months (years) spent on submission, getting close but smoking no cigars, or anything else from the tails side of this particular coin. You’re rolling heads now, baby, and there is no better business than this.

Which is only reasonable, you chortle.

After all, the pages you just submitted were the very best ones ever penned in the entire history of the world.

Until you look at them again the next day.

How about you, dear reader? Is this the year you're going to write that novel? Or are you just looking forward to reading some great new ones? Let us know!

 

Jenny Milchman is a suspense novelist from New Jersey whose short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Adirondack Mysteries II, and in an e-published volume called Lunch Reads. Jenny is the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, and the chair of International Thriller Writers’ Debut Authors Program. Her first novel, Coverof Snow, will be published by Ballantine in January.

Take my life - please

ROSEMARY HARRIS: It's just occurred to me that some of our readers may not - ahem - be old enough to get the reference in the title of this post. An ancient comedian, totally corny, probably deceased by now, started many of his routines with the line "take my wife....please." (Henny Youngman, if you're interested.)

I've been thinking of my version of that line recently. Some of you may have noticed that I've been keeping a low profile on JR in the past few weeks. Over Thanksgiving I spent two weeks in Trinidad and Tobago helping to build a house with habitat for humanity. While I was there I received some rather startling news. A relative of mine had committed suicide.

Before you think me a heartless wench for even mentioning it on JR I should explain that we were not particularly close (he was married to my cousin and I hadn't even seen them for a number of years.) But there aren't many of us left so I don't have many relatives so I flew to the west coast to try to help.

There I learned that the manner and circumstances of his death were, to say the least, interesting. And they'd make the framework of a pretty good book. The inspiration only, of course, I'm not a journalist. And there may be lawsuits coming down the pike which I wouldn't even want to go near.

Ordinarily I'd never dream of using the personal tragedy of someone close to me as fodder for a novel, but - here's the catch - not only do I think the widow wouldn't mind, I kind of think she'd like it. And might consider it cathartic. The more I learned about their marriage the more I realized they weren't the golden couple I'd thought they were.

Dare I go for it? What do you JR readers and writers think? 

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ah,dear Ro. Welcome home, and we are thinking of you. And we celebrated your birthday here at JR!

As for your question. Well, I'd say--be very very careful. Is there a legal issue? It'd be fiction. "Any resemblance to persons living or dead.." you know. Still, if in the novel, the wife is--portrayed in an unflattering way, she might be upset. On the other hand, if I read a story in the newspaper about a similar situation (whatever it is) and I didn't know the person, I might not be hesitant to use it as the nugget of a possible story.

I AM a journalist, and the touchstone I use is: Would I be okay if someone did it to me? But no one can make the decision but you.

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm with Hank, I'd be wary. And it's all so fresh--I might be tempted to write down some of the details so you don't lose them. And then let it alone for a while. Chances are, some of that experience will feed into a book at some point. It almost all does, doesn't it?

Whether we intend it or not... Hallie had an experience along these lines early in her writing, I'm sure she'll have wise things to say...

HALLIE EPHRON: Oh, Ro. How painfully sad. It's wonderful that you were able to go and be supportive.

Lawsuits in the offing? Prominent couple who are also your family? Yikes. As Lucy says, I went down a road like that once and, for me at least, it was a long way to an ugly dead end. Fortunately it was at the beginning of my writing career and I learned a lot about writing human drama. But I lost a few years to the effort and letting go was awful at the end.

Having said that, inspiration is pure gold, and real life is full of rich detail and wonderfully complicated emotions. If you're inspired why not pick up just a tiny thread of this to weave into a story populated with made-up characters. At the end, hopefully you'll still be able to say with the utmost confidence: This is a work of fiction.

RHYS BOWEN: I agree with all of the above words of wisdom. Write down all the details, all the emotions, impressions etc and if you decide later to put it into a book remove it from your family situation. Maybe make it historical or in another part of the world. You don't want to alienate your family, even if you're not close now. You only have one family, Ro

JAN BROGAN : We all steal from our own lives one way or another, but using something so recent and close to you will restrict you from really exploring the story in a truly fictional way, I think. Unconsciously, you will be making choices that are not based on what makes the best story.

My condolences to your cousin. I had a best friend commit suicide when I was 28, and it's really a very complicated grief. Even if you think your cousin wants you to write about it now, she may have a completely different take on it later. I'm with the crowd. Let it rest for now and percolate -for later.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Everything we experience is material, Ro. Sometimes I think writers are a bit like vampires, because we will ultimately use all our experiences, good and bad, and those of people close to us. But on this I agree with fellow Reds. I'd record the details, your emotions and impressions, then just let it stew in your subconscious for a while. Something amazing may come out of it that won't bear any obvious resemblance to the tragedy in your own family.

And so sorry about that. A close friend committed suicide a few years ago. It's a very difficult and complicated thing, even when it's someone not particularly close. My condolences to your cousin.

ROSEMARY: This is why I love the JRs. Not just good writing advice, but good living advice. I may write this story now and let it sit for a few years. Or forever. And the real story is still unfolding. Mine will go down a different path.

That's the great thing about inspiration, it just gets you out of the gate. It doesn't require you to follow it all the way through to the end. Have any true crimes inspired you lately?

Believing in good fortunes...

HALLIE EPHRON: I have a confession: I read my horoscope every single day and I save fortunes from  fortune cookies. I'm an opportunistic believer in their predictions -- I listen when they say what I want to hear.

Sometimes the advice is completely useless, as with this recent warning in my horoscope:
* Avoid snap judgments.
Yuh, right. As if I could.

But more often than not, there's something I need to hear, once I've twisted it around so it's meaningful for my writing life. Like the fortune I got when I was waiting to hear back from my agent on whether a publisher wanted my first standalone novel NEVER TELL A LIE: "If your cookie is in 2 pieces the answer is yes."

It was! A few days later I had an offer. The little slip with that fortune is scotch-taped to my printer.

Here's what my horoscope said one day when I was stuck in the mushy middle of my work in progress:
* Just keep in mind that your current growth phase isn't finished; you simply have a chance now to move a project along at your own speed by taking a good idea and developing it further.

When I lost the Mary Higgins Clark Award:
* Working with amazing people doesn't have to rob you of your self-esteem.

When I was thinking about exhuming a character I'd excised from an earlier novel and inserting it into my work in progress:
*  Reconnecting with someone from your past is possible as amorous Venus turns retrograde this week. Yet it's best not to expect that history will simply repeat itself.

A day when I was planning to outline a new book:
* Don't be cocky and think that everything you imagine will unfold according to your plans. Just allow your daydreams to flow without analysis; you will have plenty of time to make sense of it all later on.

The day I finally get a decent Kirkus review:
* Just don't let your confidence grow into arrogance because you're still likely to encounter a little turbulence along the way.

And the best writing advice I ever got came from a horoscope:
* Go ahead and set your sights on a far-off galaxy, strap on your seat belt and prepare for blast-off. if you experience self-doubt, remember that he who hesitates is lost. Ultimately, you can figure out a way to make it all work.

Here's the fortune I got when I was down in the dumps and considering giving up writing:

* You will succeed in a far out profession

(I saved that one, too.)

So, Readers and Reds, your assignment for today: Go find your horoscope or crack open a fortune cookie and let us know what useful bit of advice it has for you, or maybe it just gives you a good laugh.

If you haven't got one handy, here's the horoscope page in the LA Times. (Mine begins: Nurturing others comes naturally to you, especially today...)

 

The Best Writing Advice You'll Never Get: a guest blog by E.J. Copperman

Looks like the Jersey Shore, all right.

The elusive and mysterious E.J. Copperman has long been a friend of the Reds. Rare orchid collector, bon vivant, international curling champion (we won't mention the rumors which suggest the sport is merely a cover for espionage) Copperman still manages to pen type word process write the Haunted Guesthouse mysteries. Are the tales of a ghost-ridden manse on the Jersey Shore ripped from life? Copperman isn't telling. (Showing, sure, but not telling.) We feel fortunate to get Copperman's unique take on the ubiquitous Advice to Writers.

Nobody has ever given me writing advice.

Wait. No. One person has given me writing advice, but I haven't followed it (maybe that's why nobody else has offered).

I know; I'm shocked, too. You always hear authors talking about "the best writing advice someone ever gave me," or "the one piece of writing advice I wish I'd never heard," or "the one piece of writing advice I always pass on to young writers." It seems like every writer is absolutely inundated with tips and inside information on the best way to rearrange those 26 letters in the English alphabet to somehow tell a coherent story.

Not me. The one piece of advice I remember getting--and this was in response to a direct question--was from the late brilliant comedy writer and screenwriter Larry Gelbart, who once told me (in response to deciding what to write about), "Go where the pain is."

I believe Mr. Gelbart was a genius, an underappreciated master who could make you laugh and cry, sometimes at the same moment (he was also a ridiculously nice man and a gentleman). But I don't think I've ever heeded his advice. I haven't gone where the pain is. It's too painful.

Other than that, I've been on my own for quite some time now. And I don't really mind all that much. I mean, I haven't actually sought out any writing advice, although I haven't actively dissuaded anyone from offering it, either. I guess it's just never come up in conversation. I've met a good number of writers in my time, including many of the fantastically talented Jungle Reds, but I've never asked how they write, nor have they asked me. We just do what we do, and figure if anybody wants to know, they'll say so.

I really don't mind the lack of direct mentoring. I'm not sure I'd be able to implement any changes even a world-class writer might suggest. Writing is such a personal thing, after all. When an aspiring author asks, I will hand out two pieces of... I don't know that I'd call it "advice" so much as "products of experience":

1. Don't tell me about "Writer's Block." I don't believe there is such a thing. I believe writers are the best procrastinators on the planet, will do ANYTHING to avoid pulling the day's allotment of words out of their heads, and therefore have created a fictional disease that prevents them from writing. Nonsense. If you feel "blocked," write anything. It's easier to fix something you've written than to write something new.

2. Here's the exact style and method you should use in your writing: The one that works for you. If it entails getting up at 4 in the morning and working until 9, more power to you. Try not to make too much noise, because I'll be fast asleep. If your process is to write longhand with a quill pen on parchment, enjoy yourself. I am a Jobsian Mac maniac. I will avail myself of technology and write at 4 in the afternoon, when I'm awake. What works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. That's why there's more than one writer on the planet.

That's it. If you want more advice, you're going to have to ask questions. But I'll give you this for free, because it came from a genius: Go where the pain is.

Maybe it'll work for you.


E.J. Copperman is the author of the Haunted Guesthouse series, in which a divorced mom tries to run a Jersey Shore guesthouse that happens to be inhabited by two ghosts. The latest in the series (which can be read out of order), OLD HAUNTS, publishes on February 7. You can also friend Copperman on Facebook, chat on Twitter, or catch Copperman's blog, Sliced Bread.

Usually, we'd ask you to tell us what writing advice you've used, dear Reader. How about we mix it up this time? Share with us the most ridiculous piece of writing lore you've read or heard!

Hitting the big time with a little story: Robert Daniher

HALLIE: Getting a first short story published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine is hitting the big time, a milestone worth serious celebration! And today we're celebrating with Robert Daniher whose short story "Pain in the Neck" is being published in the October edition.

Congratulations Bob! What was it like hearing, and how did they contact you with the good news?

ROBERT DANIHER: I received a letter in the mail from Dell Magazines that resembled a subscription renewal. My subscription had run out several months earlier and I often got renewals in the mail. I almost threw the envelope out, if you can believe that. When I opened it and a check fell out in my lap, I fell off my chair.

There was a letter from the Assistant Editor which began with, "Congratulations!" I was ecstatic! I'd been published in a few smaller markets before but this was my first publication in a national magazine (MWA approved) and the first time I was PAID.

The story was the month's winner for their Mysterious Photograph contest. Each month the magazine features a strange photograph and asks the readers to write a crime story in 250 words or less about the photo. I was especially excited because many successful authors have won that contest in the past. Such as: Nancy Pickard and Stephen D. Rogers. Certainly nice company to be in.

HALLIE: Was this the first short story you submitted to them?

ROBERT DANIHER: Oh no. I'd been submitting to both Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen on and off for a decade now. But after receiving nothing but rejections I took a break from submitting and devoted my time to focus on improving my writing. I joined a writer's group, joined the Mystery Writer's of America and participated in the MWA-NY chapter's annual Mentor Program. I only began submitting my work again, recently.

HALLIE: Tell us about the story, and what do you think it is about it that made it a winner?

ROBERT DANIHER: Developing a crime and a solution in so few words is a very daunting task. I find that most winners of that contest seem to focus on a brief situation that takes you in one direction with a twist at the end. A lot of the time, it's all about the twist. Dark humor seems to be consistent in many of the winners as well.

What I tried to do with my story was create just that. A short setup to a funny twist that, hopefully, the reader won't expect. I'm sure a lot of really good stories got sent in that month. But ultimately there's a combination of skill, luck and timing to these things and I guess this time all three came together for me.

I also think persistence is a key factor. You have to write everyday and keep submitting no matter how discouraged you get. I know that sounds cliche, but it really does help you become a better writer. It's like being an athlete. They don't just play a game once a week and become the best. They practice every day with discipline for years. It's the same with writing. You have to respect it and be disciplined. I still have a long way to go in my writing career, but I can tell my work has improved greatly since taking that break and becoming more disciplined. Persistence, even in the face of rejection, can ultimately lead to success.

HALLIE: You've said a mouthful! Every one of us at Jungle Red can attest to how you have to keep at it, keep growing. Can you give us a line or a paragraph from the story, just a teaser?

ROBERT DANIHER: I can't offer too much since it's only 250 words. But I can say, if you hit the lottery, keep your mouth shut about it until you cash the ticket.

HALLIE: I find short stories excruciatingly difficult to write. Do you, and what do you think it is about the form that makes it so hard for some of us to master?

ROBERT DANIHER: I agree. It's easy for writers to fall in love with their words. Sometimes, in order to set a scene, we like to spend a lot of time describing things in order to put the reader into the moment. Raymond Chandler was famous for it. We also love to show our research if there was a lot done for our stories. In a novel, this works and is often needed. But, there's no room for it in a short story.

I learned a lot of that during the MWA Mentor Program. My mentor was cutting things from my work left and right. It wasn't fun to see that but, in the end, it really made a difference. A lot of my details weren't actually necessary. My final drafts are now half the original length. It's heartbreaking for writers to get rid of all that good stuff. That's probably why some writers avoid the short story. For me, it's that challenge that draws me to it, as excruciating as it is.

HALLIE: Thanks, Bob! You are an inspiration! And we're all rooting for you to keep right on publishing. And special thanks for this wonderful photo of you with such an inspirational writing book.