The Long and Winding Road to UNSAFE HAVEN @LucyBurdette

RHYS BOWEN: Since it's my week to host I am honored to have the chance to introduce Lucy's new venture. It's breathtaking--absolutely true. It takes your breath away as you read it.

It's a tense, taught thriller, so different from the cozy lives of the characters in the Key West books that you might wonder how one writer can create such diverse books. 

Needless to say we are all very proud of her and hope she sells a gazillion copies!

 LUCY BURDETTE: Thank you so much Rhys! All of you Reds have been amazingly supportive and for that I am very, very grateful.

Today’s the day that my one and only thriller, UNSAFE HAVEN, is available to the world in hardcover, audio, and ebook versions. Hooray! I’m so pleased because my gosh it’s been a long haul figuring out how to make this book work. What was the nugget of the story? Who were the important characters? How do I get the right pacing? Today I’ll share a little bit of the (lengthy, interminable, agonizing) process…

As early as 2008, I was thinking about the question of why public figures take enormous personal, career-threatening risks:

The type of people we tend to elect to public office also are the type to take risks — big risks, says Frank Farley, professor of educational psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia. "They believe they control their fate," he says. "It's the thrill of it." If Spitzer had simply wanted to have an affair, "he could have done it in a less risky way."

Hmmm, somehow I had to work that into the story. I found notes from my earliest (very rough and sometimes ridiculous) brainstorming in 2009:

A woman finds a baby in the subway and no one claims the child. The police aren’t taking the case as seriously as they should.

(Homeless women are kidnapped or offered shelter while they carry a baby for wealthy couples who can’t conceive-a doctor is involved who is implanting pre-fertilized eggs (only in young homeless women who have no STDs), so no DNA from the women will ever be discovered.)

One of the homeless women escaped and left her baby in the subway where the protagonist found her. She goes undercover and interviews homeless women, gang members and others to find out the truth of how the baby came to be abandoned.

But the wealthy wanna-be parents aren’t about to let her uncover their secrets without trying to murder her to hide the truth, and they have some corrupt cops on their side.

Since these girls are runaways, no one reports them missing, and once they’ve delivered the child, they can easily be murdered with a drug overdose and no one questions one more homeless OD.

No, no, no! This was a mess of unruly ideas! No one in her right mind would read this...At that point, I took a few classes. Here were some questions from Bob Mayer’s class in 2010, focused on essential blurbs:

ME: What if a teenage runaway gives birth to her baby alone in a New York subway station. She presses the infant into the arms of a newly jilted bride who soon learns that the child could be the offspring of a well-known public figure and that the girl’s life—and her own—are now in danger. 

BOB: Big problem is your plot runs on coincidence. Jilted bride just happens to be there? It can work, but has to be well done. In danger how? The Pelican Brief Syndrome is when the bad guy does something worse than the original bad thing to cover it up. It’s an incident. I’m not seeing the whole story. Why does the bride care? Why doesn’t she turn the kid over to child services? 

ME: Oh brother, how will I ever write this??

There was a significant lull while I was writing the first seven Key West mysteries. Then, when the series was dropped by Penguin, I turned back to the “homeless baby thriller,” as the poor thing was called for the longest time. Here’s part of an editorial letter with suggestions from my agent:

PAIGE: My last string of comments brings me to another issue that readers may have, which is the timing or pacing of the novel. Pacing was both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness in the story. While the opening chapters achieved an excellent momentum that kept readers frantically turning pages, the middle lagged. This is because too much of the plot has readers watching Elizabeth unravel mysteries that we already know the answers to.

And then some very smart feedback from my pal Susan Hubbard in 2017:

SUSAN: I would start with Addy on the subway. All we should know is that she’s running away from someone called Georgia, whom she fears, and running toward someone named Rafe, who is supposedly going to help her. The reader should be concerned that Addy might not know who’s really got her best interests at heart.

Now I had plenty of good suggestions, but Crooked Lane had bought the continuation of the Key West series, so I had a lot of writing to do. The next thing I knew, last February, my clever agent had sold the book to an editor at Severn House. Here's what the editor said:

I’ve now had a chance to read UNSAFE HAVEN, which I found a darkly compelling and original read, involving a sympathetic and engaging young heroine, a well-paced plot and an emotionally powerful denouement. 

 The upshot is that we would be delighted to make you an offer!

Phew! Except I’d made so many false starts I wasn’t confident I had the story just right. Luckily, the editor at Severn House was fantastic and helped me figure out ways to tie up loose ends and tighten plot and character. 

Now it's flown the nest where it fledged for YEARS and I hope you'll give it a try! 

Have you ever worked on a project that took forever? How did you stick with it? I have one hardcover copy to give away to one commenter...

You can read chapter one here.

Ways to order your copy of UNSAFE HAVEN:

Book depository 

Indiebound 

Barnes and Noble 

Amazon 

Plus signed copies at Key West Island Bookstore and Books and Books

"In a major departure from her lighthearted Key West mysteries, Burdette invites readers into the world of a chilling thriller. (Unsafe Haven is) a page- turner highlighting the problem of exploited runaways."

—Kirkus Reviews

“Lucy Burdette shows us that she can write dark as well as light. Brilliantly plotted with characters we come to care about."

—Rhys Bowen, NYT bestselling author of the Venice Sketchbook and the Royal Spyness and Molly Murphy mysteries

"Lucy Burdette's Unsafe Haven is a gripping rollercoaster of suspense—you will root for her characters through every twist and turn of this beautifully plotted novel."

—Deborah Crombie, NYT bestselling author of A Bitter Feast

"Devastating, heartbreaking and completely immersive. This riveting story of fear and redemption, motherhood and second chances, and our responsibility to strangers is a powerful thriller proving one split-second decision can change our lives forever. Unsafe Haven has Hollywood written all over it!" 

—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

RHYS: so lets all give a mighty round of applause and do tell your friends and helpful librarians about Lucy's new book!

FIVE QUESTIONS I WISH SOMEONE WOULD ASK ME @ ConnieCBerry

LUCY BURDETTE: We really love it when students we've witnessed studying the craft of writing in our classes end up publishing a book and appearing here. Today, I'm delighted to introduce Connie Berry, author of the Kate Hamilton Mystery Series!

CONNIE BERRY: I've been a fan of crime writers much longer than I've been one myself. With the second book in my Kate Hamilton series now out (I'm still a rookie), I look back with gratitude on all the author panels I've attended over the years. I learned so much, grew as a writer, set my standards higher, and felt part of a warm, inclusive community. Thank you to the Jungle Reds and other authors who teach with passion, welcome newcomers, and respond patiently to the same questions over and over again. 

How long did it take to write your first book?

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

How did you get your agent? your publisher?

Where do you get your inspiration?

Are your characters based on real people?

Great questions. I've asked them myself because we all want to know how authors do what they do. But now, looking forward to my own panel at Bouchercon, I've begun to wonder about the questions authors wish someone would ask them. In every book there are hidden gems we hope someone will discover. There are stories about the writing process we'd love to tell. Here are the top five questions I wish someone would ask me—with answers!

1. What period of your life most inspires your writing?
Anyone who's read my books knows that like my protagonist, Kate, I grew up with antiques. My parents were collectors first, eventually opening a shop, not because they wanted to sell antiques but because they needed a plausible excuse to keep buying them. The house I grew up in looked a bit like a disorganized museum. As a child, I learned to read the marks on antique silver, to distinguish authentic Gallé glass from reproductions, and to identify Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Much of what I write comes from my background, raised in the antiques trade by a pair of endearing eccentrics who were always ready to take life's intriguing detours. 

2. Which character was the most challenging for you to write?
One of the major characters in A Dream of Death is Bo Duff, a gentle, intellectually challenged man who is suspected of murder. Bo is loosely based on a young man I knew growing up, a mechanical genius. In the first few drafts of the book, Bo had his own point of view, and I struggled to get his thinking and speaking right. Eventually, I kept only Kate's point of view, but writing in Bo's character proved to be invaluable in understanding him as a person. He's still very dear to my heart.

3. Were there any scenes or characters that didn't make it into the final version? Are you kidding? There are way more words in my outtakes file than ever made it into my books. Two characters in particular were hard to delete—a young couple raising sheep. I hope they'll resurface one day, perhaps in a short story.

4. What's the weirdest or scariest research you've done while writing your books? Readers may not realize that most crime writers have online browsing histories that could be used against them in court. I've Googled the symptoms of Paraquat poisoning, how long it takes a body to decompose in fresh water, and where to fatally shoot someone with a bow and arrow. The scariest research I've done was scrambling around on the slick, lead roof of a stately home in the Scottish Highlands—with acrophobia.

5. What little-known writer most influences your writing—and why? Have you read Miss Read (Dora Jessie Saint), writer of novels set in the English countryside? You should. She's gone now but has left a legacy of more than forty-five novels and three collections of short stories. You couldn't honestly call the Miss Read books page-turners, but she introduced her readers to such unforgettable characters as Mrs. Pringle, the temperamental cleaner of the village school; the Lovelock sisters, three elderly spinsters who maintain a dignified penury with a spot of shoplifting; old Ma Curdle, the gypsy matriarch who visits the village of Thrush Green every spring; and Dottie Harmer, whose herbal tonics give everyone the collywobbles. She taught me that every character must shine.

Thank you so much, Lucy, for welcoming me to The Jungle Reds!

Reds, what are your favorite questions to ask writers?

Like her protagonist, Connie was raised by antiques dealers in a home filled with objects of the past. Connie loves history, mysteries, cute animals, travel with a hint of adventure, and all things British. She lives in Ohio with her husband and adorable dog, Millie.

About A Legacy of Murder (Crooked Lane, Oct 2019):
Kate Hamilton arrives in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, dreaming of log fires, steaming wassail, and Tom Mallory, the detective inspector she met during a recent murder investigation in Scotland. Kate also looks forward to spending time with her daughter, Christine, an intern at Finchley Hall, famous for the unearthing in 1818 of a treasure trove known as the Finchley Hoard. But when the body of another intern is found floating in Blackwater Lake, romance takes a back seat. Long Barston is on Tom Mallory’s patch, and the clues to the killer’s identity point backward more than four hundred years to a legacy of murder and a blood-red ruby ring.

Stay in touch with Connie:

website: www.connieberry.com

FB: Connie Berry, Author

Twitter: @conniecberry

Amazon: https://amzn.to/33yio8p

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/32hcLLE

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2oHgTpB

Overcoming Fear by Karen McCarthy

LUCY BURDETTE: I met today's guest Karen McCarthy years ago at a writing weekend, and was delighted when she contacted me to say she'd finally finished her novel and decided to self-publish. She wondered if you all might be interested in hearing about the biggest obstacle she faced: fear. I said of course, as we all face this in some way, whether we're writers or not. Lead on, Karen!

KAREN MCCARTHY: Become someone no one thought you could be.  Even you.

I just did this.  I became a published author.  Even though people said I was too old, the writing had dragged on too long, and I knew nothing about the publishing business. The committee in my head chimed in to say you are a lawyer not a writer, you have no talent, you aren't good enough, you can't do it.

This may sound all too familiar to those who witness the writing success of others and, though they may have achieved in other fields, think publishing a book is an unreachable goal.  The thing standing in the way of me doing it was fear. The thing that beat the fear was tenacity and never giving up.

The hard part was already over.  Since my murder revolved around Elvis Week in Memphis, I had already visited all the Elvis sites, attended the candlelight vigil at Graceland where the murder occurs and written elaborate backgrounds for all the characters who come together for their own reunion at this event.  I had put all this together in a first draft and that's where the fear began.

Sending this fledgling attempt for anyone to actually see, I imagined a terse reply to throw it all in the trash.  Yet the editor I hired found much to like, while making copious use of the red pencil. Numerous rewrites, revision, tweaks and edits ensued.  This took a number of years, not months.  Life kept getting in the way. My friends quit asking when the novel would be finished.

Yet I persevered, through death of a spouse, divorce from a second, a year long illness and just big, messy life in general.  And when it was done and I began the long and sometimes bewildering process of self publishing (without which this book would never have seen the light of day) the fear returned.

Putting it out there, saying this is what I've got.  Here it is.  The sense of vulnerability, of people thinking surely she could do better than this, this is mediocre, fear of not measuring up.

But I was not getting any younger. I had passed the social security and Medicare age. I didn't want to lie on my deathbed and regret I never did this.  So I pushed the Publish button on Amazon and pushed the exit button on fear.  And my book is doing well.  I have received praise from many quarters. This is lovely of course, but it is really the coming to grips with my own fear that has given me the most satisfaction of all.

Is fear standing in your way?

About the book:  It's August in Memphis, and August means Elvis.  For decades the fans have come from all over the world to pay tribute to the life of the King of Rock and Roll. Elvis Week will be capped by the famous candlelight vigil at Graceland, his mansion south of the city.  Among those attending are “The Magnificent Seven,” baby boomers who were Elvis fans and classmates in college thirty-five years ago.  

One of these women will not leave Memphis alive.  One of them is her murderer.

Mac McCalla, the Memphis lawyer who finds them all on her doorstep,is uneasy with the murky undercurrents between her old classmates as they tour the Elvis sites. Her fears are borne out when a clash of past and present leaves one of them dead. Which of these seemingly ordinary women has crossed the line and become a killer?  

As the zany, carnival atmosphere of Elvismania unfolds around her, Mac discovers that the answer lies in who these women were so long ago. The secrets that have followed them through the years are revealed one by one until finally Mac finds herself in a near-fatal confrontation with a friend is unmasked as a murderer.

About Karen: 

Cross an attorney who practiced law in Memphis, TN for twenty-five years with a lifelong Elvis fan and you find Karen McCarthy, an author who knew it would be fun to set a mystery novel with a legal twist amid the bizarre and captivating atmosphere that pervades Memphis every year during Elvis Week. Her pro bono work with the Abused Women's Shelter and Legal Services gave her the idea for the plot and helped create the courtroom scenes. Having visited all of the hallowed spots favored by the King, Karen piloted her characters through the swirling fans that mob the city every August. The ghost of Elvis provided the crucial clue. 

Karen divides her time between Memphis and her home in Key West, Florida where she can be found out on her boat, the Dragon Lady, or kayaking and scuba diving. She makes flying visits to Dallas to see her son and his family who live with a dog named Presley. Presley is featured in the book under an alias.

It's never too late: Part I

HALLIE EPHRON: “It’s Never Too Late” is the headline on the November/December issue of Writers Digest Magazine. That got me thinking about the many writers I know who didn’t start writing fiction until their 40s or even their 50s, when many people are thinking of retiring, and have gone on to have terrific success.

How did they do it?

Today starts a 2-part piece in which authors who started late share how they did it.

Today:

• Annamaria Alfieri
• Lucy Burdette/Roberta Isleib
• Jane Cleland
• Sheila Connolly
• Hallie Ephron

Tomorrow:

• 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?

AnnaMaria Alfieri

Last published book: STRANGE GODS, Minotaur Books  

Crime novels published to date: 4

Before writing: Management training consultant, CEO of small marketing company, non-fiction author

Started writing: 1950

Why started: I knew when I was nine that I wanted to write stories.

How long from starting writing to publishing first book: I started writing fiction with an eye to publication in the late 80's.  I had a book I thought was publishable in 1999.  I tried to get an agent to represent it for eight years.  In the end, I had to write a fifth nonfiction book to get and agent to read CITY OF SILVER.  When it finally went out to potential publishers, it sold to St. Martin’s Minotaur in four days.  It came out in 2009 and earned starred reviews and love letters from critics.  I say this because I want people to know that rejections by potential agents do NOT mean the book is not worthy.

Classes, MFA: I studied creative writing in college, but not afterwards.

Writing group, independent editor:  I did join two writing groups, and I think they helped me develop my skills.  I did not employ an editor, but I did polish and polish and polish my own manuscript.  I still do that.

Do over: I am so delighted that I am getting published that I don’t look back.  And I often think that I am better prepared now to write about the human condition.  I don’t think I would have been a very insightful writer had I tried to write fiction seriously when I was a young woman.  

Lucy Burdette/RobertaIsleib

Latest book: FATAL RESERVATIONS, NAL

Crime novels published to date: 14

Before writing: I worked in a private practice as a clinical psychologist.

Started writing: The year it entered my mind, 1998

Why started: I can only explain that it was a midlife crisis related to many hours of bad golf. (What could I make of all that wasted time?)

How long from starting writing to publishing first book: 4 years

Classes, MFA: I took a lot of local classes on all kinds of writing. Yes it absolutely helped--I had no clue how to write fiction.

Writing group, independent editor: Yes definitely to a writing group. Still work with them! I finally hired an independent editor for books 3 to 7. It was so helpful--a private tutorial on character, plot, setting, and words, but all tailored to me!

Do over: I think this was a process that had to unspool, so not sure it could have been different.

Jane Cleland

Latest book: ORNAMENTS OF DEATH, Minotaur Books

Crime novels published to date: 10

Before writing: Corporate trainer specializing in business communications

Started writing: I’ve always been a writer. I started writing my “Josie” mysteries in 2003. I wrote my first mystery (now on the shelf) in 1998. (I started one in 1984, but didn’t get far.)

Classes, MFA: Only after I was published. Both classes and the MFA helped.

Why started: My mother was a writer. When I was a kid, I thought that’s what all women did.

How long from starting writing to publishing first book: 21 years.

Writing group, independent editor: No to the writing group. Yes to independent editors.

Do over: Learn more about craft earlier in my career.

Hallie Ephron/G. H.Ephron

Latest book: NIGHT NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT, HarperCollins

Crime novels published to date: 9

Started writing: 1990

Before writing: Taught elementary school, college, wrote training materials for high-tech companies, had my own marketing copywriting business

Why started: I ran out of excuses not to (kids were out of the house, an empty room could be my office…)

How long from start to publishing first book: 10 years

Classes, MFA: for 3 semesters I took a fiction class with the great Arthur Edelstein and learned to write scenes and harness viewpoint

Writing group independent editor: Yes and yes, though I no longer use either

Do over: Not be so aggrieved by early rejections; they were telling me what I needed to hear.

Sheila Connolly

Latest book: A GALA EVENT, Berkley

Crime novels published to date: 26 (including the first three under the pen name Sarah Atwell)

Before writing: Professor of art history, municipal investment banker, non-profit fundraiser, genealogist-for-hire (and I've used all of them in my books)

Started writing: 2001

Why started: I'd always been a reader, and I finally decided in 2001 (after 9/11) that it was time to try writing.

How long from starting writing to publishing first book: Started writing 2001, signed with an agent in 2006, and first book appeared in 2008 (as Sarah Atwell; the first under my own name came out later the same year.)

Classes, MFA: No, although I did join RWA and SinC.

Writing group, independent editor: I was part of a writing group for a while when I began writing, but we didn't last--I forget when it fell apart

Do over: Actually, nothing. I tried writing much earlier (I finished three pages) and realized I had nothing to say. It was only when the universe presented me with a chunk of free time (after I was let go from one job) and a clean quiet place to work (I was house-sitting for someone, and the place came with a cleaning lady) that I decided to get serious and dig in. After that I couldn't stop myself.

HALLIE: Tune in tomorrow to hear from Sara J. Henry, Edith Maxwell, Barbara Ross, and Hank Phillippi Ryan

And in the meanwhile: What's the hardest thing you ever tried to learn to do and how long did it take you?

Welcome Guest Author Kristen-Paige Madonia

LUCY BURDETTE: Lots of folks spending the winter in Key West look forward to the Friends of the Key West Library talks that occur every Monday at 6 at the Studios of Key West. The books are interesting and the writers, often even more so. I was excited to hear Kristen-Paige Madonia talk about her debut novel a couple of weeks ago. Once she started reading from her book, FINGERPRINTS OF YOU, I knew you'd want to meet her, too. And then when Judy Blume (yes that Judy Blume) began to rave about Kristen's writing from her seat in the crowd, I knew you'd really, really want to meet her. Welcome Kristen!

Kristen-Paige: Thanks so much for having me! I'm thrilled to be here.

LUCY: Will you start by telling us a little about the book. Did you set out to write a young adult novel? Were you picturing that audience? (It was fun to see so many teens in the crowd, though I'm loving the book and I'm eons beyond "YA".)

K-P: I started writing Fingerprints of You in 2008 back when I was still living in San Francisco. At the time, my agent and I were preparing to send out another novel, a project I began in grad-school, which meant I was hard at work in final edits before we submitted the manuscript. But I caught sight of two women one afternoon while I was writing at a cafe, and my imagination shifted. They immediately became Stella and Lemon: a young single mother, an artist and a wanderer still trying to find her way, and her feisty but vulnerable seventeen year old daughter, a child that had been exposed to things a lot of seventeen year olds had not. I only saw the women for a handful of moments, just long enough for them to pass through the crosswalk, but I couldn't stop thinking about these new characters and the intimate but also competitive relationship I imagined them having. So I wrote them into a short-story that eventually became the first two chapters of the novel.

If truth be told, I never imagined an audience, adult or YA, and simply wrote the book because it felt like it needed to be written. I didn't think much about who might end up reading it or how it might one day be marketed. The YA genre has become such a rich and lively place in literature, and it's clear now that teens are not the only ones reading from the YA shelves. My book leans toward the older side of YA and covers a wide-range of "adult" themes, and I'm always happy to hear from non-teen readers once they've finished the book, though I love connecting with teens, too. The coming-of-age story appeals to everyone, regardless of how old the protagonist is, because aren't we all, in some way or another, continuously coming-of-age?

LUCY: It's such a tough time to get published and you have an inspiring story about persistence. Will you talk a little about that?

K-P: Well that first novel I mentioned, the book my agent and I were preparing for submission? We never were able to sell it. We tried for months, sending it out to the big publishing houses and waiting for responses, round after round of submissions, and while we received some lovely responses and feedback, no one picked it up. It was 2008, a difficult time for all industries, but particularly challenging for debut authors to break into the publishing world. And really I just don't think the book was meant to be my first published novel. By then I had attended a number of writing conferences and had discovered a supportive community of authors, so I contacted a mentor of mine, Judy Blume, and unleashed my sob-story. No one wanted my novel, surely my career was over before it began, those kinds of things. I confessed we couldn't sell the book and she said, "It's not your job to sell the book. Your job is to go write another one. That's who you are. It's what you do." She reminded me that the publishing side is just that, one side to the process, and it always, always, always begins with the art. So I pulled out Stella and Lemon's short-story and returned to the craft of creating fiction. Once I realized it had the potential to become a novel, I applied for a writing residency at The Studios of Key West and spent five weeks there writing the first draft. When the book was ready to be sent out to editors in 2010, my agent sold it to Simon & Schuster in our first round of submissions.

LUCY: Since you are a writing teacher as well as a writer, could you share any words of wisdom that you appreciated at times when the work felt unforgiving and unrewarding?

K-P: First off, you have to stubborn and completely dedicated to the work for the right reasons. At the end of the day, you have to be writing because you love to, not because you imagine the book on shelves. So never write for trends; instead, tell the story that only you can tell, the story that excites you and will hold your attention for a long time. And I always think that if the work is making you uncomfortable, if there is an element of fear involved as you explore the characters and the subject matter, it usually means you're on the right track. Mostly I tell my students that there are no set rules. It's helpful to study the techniques the work, but there is no one way to write a successful story or book. And read. Read everything you can get your hands on. Books similar to and vastly different than the kind of work you're writing. All genres and subjects and styles. It always comes back to being well read and to practicing the craft. In a way it's like any other industry or trade: the more you do it, the better you'll become.
LUCY: I loved hearing the story about your cover art, which is absolutely stunning. Tell us about that?

K-P: Thank you, I love the cover art, too! Because I had studied the industry and had lots of author friends by the time my book was picked up for publication, I knew that typically writers don't have much to do with their cover. I was assigned an art director, and for months the only thing they told me was that they were "working on something outside of the box." That could mean so many different things! So I waited, and then one afternoon the file appeared in my in-box, and it essentially looked like the cover you see now. I eventually learned that my brilliant art director fell in love with the tattoo imagery in the book and sketched the original design, but then brought in a tattoo artist from San Diego to create the final artwork. All of it, the font and the images and even the small pieces of artwork you'll find at the chapter headings and page breaks, it's all custom tattoo art. The whole thing was absolutely wonderful, because you could tell that the art team at Simon & Schuster had fun working on the project. I now have copies of the original sketch and know how many changes were made before they sent it to me, how many meetings they had about the cover and all the small details, and I feel super grateful that they spent so much time working on it. I've never seen a cover quite like it.

LUCY: Thanks for visiting today Kristen-Paige! JR readers, Kristen-Paige will be hanging out with us all day so bring on your questions and comments!

Maya Rock on Agents, Editors, and Writing

LUCY BURDETTE: When I saw Maya Rock post on an alumni list for writers, my first thought was--what a cool name! My second thought (after hearing that she's worked as an agent for Writers House, an editor and a writer): we have to get her to guest on Jungle Red. So, Maya, welcome to our blog! To lead off, since you spent five years working at a literary agency, we'd love to hear some of your thoughts about what makes a query or a book jump out of the email box and catch an agent's attention?

MAYA ROCK: There is a certain format—hookish brief first paragraph, second paragraph that goes more in depth but is not overly detailed, conclusion paragraph with information about the author. What I looked for most in a letter was at the quality of writing. I also knew if a letter was bloated and long, the book probably was, too. I definitely paid more attention if the author mentioned something about my clients or my agency’s clients. And also if they compared themselves to other authors/titles. Those kinds of things felt like they were “entering my world” a little and made it slightly more personal.

LUCY BURDETTE: And now that you're in the editing business, can you talk a little
about the most common mistakes you see in the manuscripts you're working with?

MAYA ROCK: I have been surprised by how much flexibility there is with point of view. I’m not sure if that’s a mistake, but it seems like people really get into having different perspectives, in a way that I usually find disorienting. I also think people go long a lot. Understandable. I do too when working on first drafts. I think also a lot of people identify with their characters too much, and those characters sometimes start seeming like they’re fulfilling authors’ fantasies—they are a little flat and too perfect.

LUCY BURDETTE: I realize this is an impossible question, but we're all puzzled by
where the publishing business is headed. What role will agents play? and publishers? any theories or predictions?

MAYA ROCK: Hmmm. Well, I’m not good at those things. I guess in a sort of distanced, objective way I think ebooks will become the predominant form, but I’m not sure what that will mean to the industry. I did used to think Amazon was going to lure authors into their publishing house and manage to dominate because they seemed to have a more sophisticated sense of the internet than the traditional publishing houses. But I really don’t know anymore—the traditional houses seem to be catching up a little. I feel like something parallel must have happened to the music industry although in a much quicker way. I actively try not to think about these things except in a casual way because I feel like too much plotting about the industry drains my actually ability to plot a book.

LUCY BURDETTE: And that sounds like a good plan to me... Last but not least, you have two YA novels coming out in soon. Tell us a little about those please!

MAYA ROCK: Oh gosh, well one is coming out in 2013 and I think the other will hopefully be 2014. So it’s awhile off. The first one which is tentatively called SCRIPTED is “about at teen girl who starts to question her place on Bliss Island, where everyone’s lives are broadcasted to the mainland as a TV reality show." That description is taken from the contract. The second is a sequel to that.

LUCY: Congratulations--we'll be looking forward to those! Questions or comments JReds? Maya will do her best to answer....

Waiting for YES! Candace Hammond offers some insight

So now here I sit, an agented, debut novelist waiting for the phone to ring... Candace Hammond

HALLIE EPHRON: I so remember the long long wait after I "finished" my first novel, the waiting waiting waiting to hear from agents. Then the waiting waiting waiting to hear from publishing houses. It was excruciating, cruel, and unusual punishment for finally writing a book.

Then there were the demoralizing comments that came back ("I think it has many strengths, but it seems to me it needs some rethinking..." "I was not so drawn into the story that I felt a compellig need to read on..." "...he didn't set the recurring character lights flashing") and the prolonged soul searching that followed. Should I forge ahead? Revise? Give up? Eat a banana split? Go shopping?

All of it on the way to YES! Of course that's happy 20/20 hindsight.

We sincerely hope Candace Hammond is on the way to yes. Here the author of the blog Candy's Pop Goes Culture shares some thoughts on the waiting life.

CANDACE HAMMOND: There’s a song by the band, Zero 7, “In the Waiting Line,” that’s been running through my mind a lot lately.

The thing about being a first-time novelist is there’s a lot of waiting, and it’s about as fun as standing in line at the DMV.

I am a journalist. I write feature stories and columns for a mid-sized newspaper and various magazines. There’s a certain instant gratification to that pursuit. Within a few days I can interview someone, write an article, turn it in to my editor and see it in print.

My novel, “The Best Worst Year,” has taken somewhat longer. Seven years to be exact. Started when my youngest child headed off to college, I worked on it at night and early in the morning. There were times I put it aside, times when I was convinced it was the worst thing ever written, and times I just wanted to give up. But I didn’t.

A year ago an agent I’d queried called me. This was about as out of left field as George Clooney calling me and asking me to join him at Lake Como for a vacation. She loved my book. She told me it was the kind of book she’d like to, “curl up with a cupcake under a quilt and read.” After that it’s all a bit fuzzy, but when I hung up I had a pile of notes scribbled on Post-Its in front of me and a lot of work to do.

Two major rewrites, (loving my book had some provisos) and working with an editor in New York later, I finally have an agent. I’d spent nine long months unraveling the book like a beloved sweater and knitting it back together, hopefully making it a better fit with fewer holes.

I’d always thought getting an agent was the toughest hurdle you had to negotiate, but things have changed in publishing. Houses have downsized, you’re expected to have a platform before you are out of the gate and your book has to sparkle and wow.

So now here I sit, an agented, debut novelist waiting for the phone to ring. My book is out at several houses, I’ve had a couple of rejections, but we’re keeping positive.

I’m not good at waiting. I’m really not. So I’ve been distracting myself with various ploys, some more effective than others. I’m hoping soon I’ll be off the waiting line and on my way to holding a copy of my just published book. Until then, here are a few things I do to make the wait less agonizing. Sort of.

1. Planning what to wear at my book signings and when Kathie Lee and Hoda have me on “The Today Show.” This takes lots of time and study. Skirt? Pants? They have those high stools so heels could be a problem. These things are important and shouldn’t be left to the last minute.

2. Writing my acknowledgments for my book. I look at this as the writer’s equivalent to an actor writing an Oscar acceptance speech before their movie even comes out – something you don’t tell anyone about, but you know everyone does it.

3. Thinking about what actors will play all the parts when my book is made into a movie. This involves reading “Entertainment Weekly” religiously and visiting various gossip blogs – just to keep current. It’s research!

4. Working on my next book. Yes, I am just that foolish that I would put myself through all this again.

5. Reading other writers and comparing myself relentlessly. Often by page ten I’m flogging myself for my lack of imagination and become convinced I’m a hack. This is not terribly helpful so I then return to number one – planning cute outfits.

Writing a book is hard. Getting published is even harder. It takes a certain mix of talent, determination and a touch of insanity to pursue something where the only guarantee is you’re going to work harder than you ever have never knowing if it will pay off. That’s kind of crazy. But if it’s what you love to do, you have no choice but to keep trying.

A writer friend of mine told me recently that her uncle once said to her, “I always wanted to write a book, but I don’t know how to type.”

For those of us who have done it, we know being able to type is the easy part.

HALLIE: Oh, Candace! Love your sense of humor about this. I've been there, and I was far less sanguine.

Seriously, #4! START THE NEXT BOOK! (Ask our Lucy Burdette about that one.)

Readers, any advice for what to do while waiting for YES?

Welcome Nancy Pickard!

ROBERTA: Jungle Red Writers is so very delighted to welcome mystery goddess Nancy Pickard! She is the author of sixteen novels plus short stories and Seven Steps on the Writers Path with Lynn Lott. The Virgin of Small Plains won the Agatha award for best novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar, the Dilys, and the Macavity awards.

Welcome Nancy! First of all, we are dying to know what's coming next and when will we see it?

NANCY: Thanks, Roberta. It will be THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING, another stand-alone set in a small town in Kansas, but it's not finished yet. It's the story of what happens when a small town sends the wrong young guy to prison for murdering one of their most beloved residents, and then what happens twenty-six years later when he is released. It's a family saga, small town politics, love story, and mystery, set against dramatic landscape.

ROBERTA: Can't wait for that--though I guess we'll have to. I remember hearing you interviewed at Malice Domestic several years ago, just after THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS had been published to much acclaim. You said that you'd pulled back from conferences and other activities over a period of time to concentrate on writing. Can you please talk about your writing process and how you keep your focus?

NANCY: There was another reason I pulled back, which was that I felt myself getting cynical about conferences, etc. I sternly told myself that if I couldn't enjoy them and be appreciative, I should stay home. It took me about 10 years to go back with any regularity, but when I did they were fun again.

As for my focus? I don't have much sometimes. I'm a binge writer--when it's flowing, I don't do anything but write. But when it's not, flowing, when the well goes dry after I've sucked so much out of it, then nothing happens at all for a while. When I started writing fiction, I brought my disciplined, journalism-trained self with me, but I lost her somewhere along the way. I began to go with the ebb and flow of my internal rhythm of creativity--as pompous as that sounds, alas--and it changed my process completely. I think I write better books as a result of that change, but I have a harder time meeting deadlines. And by "harder" I mean I don't meet deadlines, lol. Well, I guess I do still meet the ones for short stories, but novels? Hopeless. I do not recommend this course of non-action for new writers!

ROBERTA: You've had wonderful success with short stories along with your novels. Tell us about how writing shorts feels different. Can you work on two things at the same time?

NANCY: I can't work on two things at the same time, except in the sense that I can sometimes write a short story or plot a new book during those dry-well periods I described earlier.

Short stories feel different, because they feel. . .short, lol. It is such a joy to know I will be able to type THE END after only about three weeks. I don't mean that it takes me three weeks of doing nothing but working on a story, I just mean that's about the gestation, writing, and editing period of several days spread over several weeks.

ROBERTA: Of course, everyone is nervous in this publishing climate. Since you've been at this a while, any thoughts on where you think we're headed? Advice for the anxious writers?

NANCY: I've been in this fiction business almost 30 years, and I can tell you that I have never experienced a single year when publishing people sat around on Dec. 30 and said to one another, "Wow, what a great year in publishing!" It's always a bad year in publishing. That's one reason I stopped reading industry news a long time back. It's best, I think, to limit one's focus to the page in front of us, because our own writing is the only thing we can control, and I'm not even sure how much real control we have over that. My philosophy from the beginning was that somebody is going to be published, no matter how dire the times, and it may as well be me. I've heard other published authors express the same bedrock sentiment. I recommend it. As for where we're headed? Every year will seem like a bad year in publishing to a lot of people; for others, well, somebody has to get published.

ROBERTA: I love that mantra: "Someone is going to be published, it might as well be me...someone is going to be published, it might as well be me..."

Last question, we can't end an interview without mentioning your central role in founding Sisters in Crime. Have women writers made progress since the early days of the organization? What do you think we need to keep working on?

NANCY: Absolutely, we've made tremendous progress. If we could compare bookstore and library shelves today with those of, say, 1980, we'd see the astonishing difference in the authors and kinds of books. What do we need to do? We, individually, need to keep writing the best books we can. We have much, much more than a toehold on those shelves now; we have entire shelves to ourselves. To keep that place, we need be creative, adventurous in our writing, and confident in ourselves. As an organization, we need to continue to support our sisters (and fellows). Join Sisters, provide useful programs for writers, BUY BOOKS, create and maintain links to the industry, have fun.

ROBERTA: Thank you for visiting--now go back and finish that book so we can all buy it! And the floor is open....