A Second Chance for the Written Word

Joyce Yarrow is an amazingly talented woman. Not only is she a writer of considerable ability, but she is a singer-songwriter, screenwriter, multi-media performance artist and member of the world vocal ensemble, Abráce. 

She is also an adventurous traveler having done research for her book  

Code of Thieves (previously published as The Last Matryoshka) in Moscow and getting to know the local police (no, she wasn't arrested, but did get to tour a prison). India was one of her more recent destinations, where she was asked to lecture on "The Place of Place in Mystery Writing" at the University of Allahabad. Pretty impressive stuff for a girl raised in the south east Bronx, New York!

Not surprisingly, the accomplishments of other talented individuals interest her. With the Olympics in full swing just this past few weeks, Joyce found herself drawn into a kind of kinship with figure skaters. Writing and skating ... so different, yet -- well, I'll let Joyce explain. In her well-chosen words, the writer in you will likely find some inspiration and the reader in you will gain appreciation.

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Recently I posted the following status on Facebook:

As a novelist, no wonder I love the idea of figure skating so much – you start off with a jump that propels the storyline, lead into some fast fancy footwork accompanied by longer arcs of character development, finish with a giant leap into the unknown and a dizzying spin - and then you’re judged!

Fact is, I’ve got structure on my brain due to a rewrite I’m doing of a literary/crime novel.  A feeling of barely controlled chaos is inevitable when approaching a task like this and questions abound: – What plot points do I change and why? Are some of these characters I worked so hard to create actually expendable?  Is pace more important than lyricism? Why is this SO hard?

In the midst of this angst, clarity has gradually emerged. In a work of fiction, the author continually makes choices that change what happens next. As I slowed down and examined the important crossroads in my protagonist’s story, I began to see that I could actually enjoy this! I mean, how many second chances do we get in ‘real life’ – here was an opportunity to open some doors that had been left closed, to confront an adversary more forcefully, to take a few more risks than before in the endeavor to end up in a better place. Who wouldn’t want to do this if given a choice?

The most unexpected arrival has been a new adversary who will keep my protagonist on her toes. He scares me – a good sign – but my heroine will rise to the occasion. I’m happy to say I’ve made  some ‘clean jumps’ and will skate to the finish in spite of a few slips on the ice.

I’d better get back to it – since I have a deadline. To my writer friends – happy revising. To my reader friends – enjoy the results!

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Joyce's published novels include Ask the Dead (Martin Brown Publishers) and Code of Thieves, Istoria Books e-book edition (published as The Last Matryoshka by Five Star Mysteries in hardcover). She is a Pushcart Nominee whose stories have appeared in Inkwell Journal, Whistling Shade, Descant, Arabesques, and Weber: The Contemporary West. You can find her at JoyceYarrow.com . Her books can be found online and in book stores everywhere. Her newest book, a romantic suspense co-authored with Indian writer Arindam Roy, is awaiting a title. Keep your ear to the ground -- you wont want to miss it.

 

Look! Up in the sky ... or right in front of you

Kait in the cockpit 

Kait Carson is another wonderfully talented author I have known for years and consider a good friend. However, because about 3,000 miles separate us, we have never had the pleasure of hacking out plot lines over coffee at the local Starbucks. Nevertheless, I often pick her brain knowing she has the ability to see an array of story possibilities in any given situation. She pushes and prods and coaxes the writer's standard "What if" question into giving up the details. 

Take it away, Kait! Let us in on your secret!

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Ideas are everywhere

Driving down the road a few weeks ago, I saw a young man on a bicycle. Not unusual. He turned to look over his shoulder at the car approaching and I saw the most spectacular jaw line I have ever seen. Strong, chiseled. He is clearly someone you can lean on in an emergency. I knew instantly that he’s a character in my next book. I also know he’s got piercing blue eyes. A muscle in his jaw jumps when he’s angry. He’s a lawyer and he has a secret that he guards with his life. The same secret that can cost him his life and that my sleuth, Hayden Kent, must uncover. All that from a glimpse of a jaw.  Go figure!

My first book, Zoned for Murder came from a real life incident. It was 2005, the height of the housing boom in South Florida and one of my friends was the local zoning officer. She had the thankless job of citing the folks doing below standard work on homes to insure quick sales. She also needed to ride herd on the rest of the community for more typical zoning violations. One day she mentioned receiving death threats. Both against herself and her dogs. Zoned for Murder was born from that comment. I wondered what if. What if someone did try to murder a zoning official? What would push someone over the edge from disgruntled citizen to murderer? It didn’t take long before I had the answers to the questions and my sleuth, Catherine Swope was caught up in a murder investigation that threatened her own life.

Murder in the Multiples, the second in the Swope series, sprang from a photo of a mansion up for auction.

The home was gorgeous. It was confiscated by federal agents as spoils of drug profits. That’s all it took to play the “what if” game. What would happen if a Realtor bought the house for re-sale? What would happen if the re-sale buyer of the house were the rival bidder’s husband? A doting and well-meaning man who was blind to his wife’s secrets? What would happen when Catherine found her rival dead in the bathtub on the day of the closing? Who gains, who loses?  My husband created a dummy cover for Murder in the Multiples to help me visualize the house and the day of the murder. He drew his inspiration from what I told him of the story.

Death by Blue Water, the first in the Hayden Kent series, sprang from one of my passions. Scuba diving. I am a rabid wreck diver. One day, at 120 feet, a plastic bag floated out of a cabin and past my face. What if the bag was a hand, floating up to a window from the cabin floor attached to a very dead man? What if I had an appointment to meet this man? What if this man was the brother of the man who recently jilted me? What if, what if, what if. My husband created a dummy cover for Death by Blue Water based on how he sees the inciting incident.

So, where do my ideas come from? Everywhere. Sometimes it’s something as concrete as a news story, other times it can be as nebulous as a glimpse of a biker’s jaw. The most important part of the process for me is the what if question, and how my imagination answers that. Things are never what they seem to be.

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Kait Carson currently lives in an airpark in Florida, where she mixes scuba diving, flying and a day job in with her writing. Her work has appeared in "Chicken Soup For The Soul" (writing as Kim A. Hoyo), "Cup Of Comfort" (writing as Kim H. Striker ), "True Confessions", "True Romance", "True Stories" and "Women's World". Zoned For Murder is her first full length mystery. Death by Blue Water and Murder in the Multiples will be available soon.

You can catch Kait any time at http://www.kaitcarson.com

Messy Story Ideas

[whispering] I always do introductions, so settle down, Lucy. Display some patience .... Jeez. 

Ahem. I first met Lucy Carol at Bookfest 2013. I had wandered over to the RWA table because I heard
they were giving away calendars with pretty pictures (see below). Lucy was standing demurely next to a stack of her books, Hot Scheming Mess. I caught sight of the bold cover (see right) and the title and hauled my butt to a halt. "LOVE your title," I said. And shortly after had a copy in my hand. Getting to know Lucy is about like reading her book -- you never know what's coming next ...

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Susan: We have an eager guest today who writes hilarious madcap mysteries! With her crazy background in the performing arts she's probably chock-full of secrets to getting story ideas. Let's get right to it. Lucy, where do you get your story ideas?

Lucy: You did NOT just ask me that.

Susan: Well, actually, I did. I just did.

Lucy: You did NOT go there!

Susan: I'm there. Right now. You're here with me.

Lucy: You bitch.

Susan: Lucy! They're all here with us right now, reading you!

Lucy: What? Now? [sputter ...] Quick! Create a diversion!

Susan: Oh for God's sake. Come on. You promised.

Lucy: I'm sorting through my paperwork, I'll need a moment ...

Susan: Come on, just ...

Lucy: Here. Distract them with this picture while I search.

Susan: You should've been prepared before we ... Oh! H.e.l.l.o!

[stunned silence]

Lucy: Susan?

Susan: ...mmm ...

Lucy: I found it. I'm ready.

Susan: Hm? Oh. Oh good. Let me see it. [sound of rustling paper] What is this? A recipe for a dry martini? What's the matter with you?  

Lucy: You have your writing tools, I have mine.

Susan: You're not getting out of this.

Lucy: [sigh] I know. I'll try.

Susan: Why are you resisting this so much?

Lucy: Because there's no actual answer.

Susan: So ... where do you get your story ideas?

Lucy: Moment of truth. Ready?

Susan: I'm losing my patience.

Lucy: The truth is ... I DON'T KNOW. They bombard me. They come in the door as older ideas are leaving. I try to sort through them and figure out which ones are the keepers. I'm a distractible person with a short attention span. I'll be with a group of people, participating in a conversation like a normal grownup, and someone will say, "Lucy? Where did you go?" I come back to the present, embarrassed, and say something like, "I was just admiring that chair over there." Naturally, everyone turns to look at the stupid chair that has no interesting characteristics whatsoever. But the truth is, my mind was in a chase scene, ducking and dodging around corners, trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guy, steal a kiss from the good guy, collect more clues, and save the kitten.

Susan: The uh ... the good guy you mentioned. Is that him in that picture by any chance?

Lucy: Him? Yeah, he's one of the two hot guys that chases Madison around in my first book, Hot Scheming Mess. His name is Xander Boyd, but his friends call him ExBoy.

Susan: [chewing on a pen]

Lucy: [snaps fingers in front of Susan] Hey. Can we get back to the discussion?

Susan: Hmm? Oh. I was just admiring that chair over there.

Lucy: So, anyway, it's not like getting an idea is the issue. It's more like taming it into something cohesive. That's the hard part for me. I can't be so in love with the idea that I forget to trim it down to something logical, believable, ripe for conflict. Oh and it has to bring out the urgency in the reader to want to see it all come together in a satisfying conclusion.

Susan: [sighs] ... satisfying conclusion ...

Lucy: [shaking head] You're impossible when you're like this. Let me make you a drink. [looking around]

Where's that recipe?

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Lucy Carol's background is in the performing arts. She's been an actress, voiceover artist, professional dancer and done a stint doing singing telegrams -- which are every bit as crazy as you imagine, and provided plenty of material for her stories. Hot Scheming Mess is her debut, madcap mystery and Totally Running With Scissors, a short story, is due to be released any day.

Lucy's Motto: Hiding from the truth cuz I suspect its lying!

Inspiration -- Jane-style

Jane Isenberg was already a successful writer when I met her ... oh, several years ago, at my very first Sisters in Crime meeting. Her first book, a memoir titled Going by the Book, won the James N. Britton award. Her Bel Barrett Mystery Series was well-known and well-loved. She has degrees from Vassar College, Southern Connecticut State College and New York University. On top of that, she taught English for forty years. Was I intimidated? You bet. Should I have been? Not at all. Jane has a warm humor and a sincere kindness that she lavishes on those who know her. She's retired from teaching now and lives in Issaquah, Washington with her husband Phil Thompkins. She's still writing, and still winning awards, though. The Bones and The Book is her latest, and won the prestigious Willa Award in 2013.

Inspiration for Jane seems to me to have come from rising up and meeting challenges. Here's her story.

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The Bones and the Book, a historical mystery set in Seattle's small Jewish community during the Gold Rush

and in 1965, was inspired by an idea I got 3,000 miles east of Seattle and a century and a century and a half later. In the mid-nineteen nineties I visited the Tenement Museum on Manhattan's Lower Eastside. The tour of the place where so many of our immigrant ancestors lived was fascinating and moving, but it wasn't until I hit the gift ship that inspiration struck. That's where I spotted a note card imprinted with a facsimile of the business card of a fortune teller named Dora Meltzer who had once lived in that very building. I assumed she was an Orthodox Jewish immigrant, and she intrigued me because fortune telling is prohibited by the rabbis. I figured she must have been very gutsy to disobey rabbinical strictures, and I've always had a soft spot for women who defy the rules men make for us. Standing there n line at the cash register with my credit card and that little note card in my hand, I figured this Dora Meltzer had a story and I wanted to know what it was. As I paid, it occurred to me that the only way I'd ever know her story was to make it up. That's when I decided that someday I'd write a book featuring an Orthodox immigrant girl who comes to New York's Lower Eastside at the turn of the Nineteenth Century and tells fortunes. Someday didn't come until I'd finished writing the last of my Bel Barrett Mystery Series in 2005.

By then, I'd moved from the east coast to Issaquah, Washington where, to my astonishment, for the first time in my life, I often found myself the only Jew in the room! Oy vey! This proved daunting, because my new

Jane, getting acquainted with the
neighbors

neighbors were curious about Jews and asked me many questions. If I found being Jewish here challenging in 2005, what had it been like for those Jews who came a hundred and fifty years ago? I began to explore Washington State history and the history of Jews in Washington. I focused on Seattle where Jewish hisotry is exciting because of all the conflict within the small Jewish community itself. As a conflict-averse Jew, I was upset to learn that Seattle's Jews didn't always play nicely together, but as a mystery writer I was delighted! Without conflict people don't get murdered. Free to begin my mystery about the immigrant Jewish fortune teller, I decided to move her to Seattle where the action was. Besides, the story of Jews on the Lower Eastside has been told many times, while the story of Seattle's Jews had yet to be fictionalized. I'd be researching and writing what I didn't

Jane, hanging with the local
wildlife

know, and that was a little scary, but also intriguing. My dicey decision was validated in 2013 when The Bones and the Book won a Will Award for Original Softcover Fiction from Women Writing in The West!

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If you want to find out more about Jane Isenberg and her books, here's a Link To Her Website and Jane's Blog - Notes to My Muses (you'll love this, I promise!)

Ideas from the Ooze, and Adjacent Locations

Author Kaye George is a powerhouse. I've known her for almost the entire span of my writing career and am continually amazed at her ability to not only produce a quantity of excellent work, but a broad spectrum as well. Her humorous Imogene Duckworthy mystery series is set in down-and-out Saltlick, Texas and will make you laugh outloud, her Cressa Carraway musical mystery series speaks to one of her great loves -- music. The People of the Wind series is about Neanderthals. The Fat Cat cozy mystery series will be coming out in 2014. 
A Patchwork of Stories is her collection of short stories, but you'll find her in several anthologies and magazines. Not only that, she reviews for "Suspense Magazine," writes for newsletter and blogs, gives workshops on short story writing and promotion. And she has time for her friends and family. When I figure out how she does it, I'm going to bottle it and make a million. 

So, here she is. Take notes -- and be sure to ask some questions!

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Where do ideas come from?

Sometimes I know where my ideas came from and sometimes I don’t.

Well, they all come from inside my head, I know that.

I figure that everything a writer hears, sees, smells, touches, and tastes goes into what I call the primordial ooze in our brains and we’re not entirely responsible for what comes out.

I do know that my Imogene Duckworthy series arose from frustration. I was tired of getting rejection after rejection--hundreds of them--and decided to write something over the top to amuse myself.

Apparently I amused other people, too, because my readers are asked for a 4th book. I hope it gets done sometime this year or next! Since I was going for humor, I couldn’t think of a better place to set it than the one we had just moved from, a tiny town outside Wichita Falls. That city is named for a man-made water fall, since the original one (which was more of a steep rapids) washed away in a storm a long time ago.

Pretty funny to me!

My Neanderthal series, People of the Wind, arose from my life-long fascination with

Neanderthals and the fact that so many discoveries are being made about them recently. I get so excited about all this, I just had to write about it. I even had a DNA test and found that I’m 2.9 percent Neanderthal. And I have the t-shirt to prove it.

That was the hardest project I ever did, though. It involved tons of research (which, I admit, I loved) I had to decide whether they really could speak (that’s up for grabs), how their society was organized (also debated), whether the buried their dead (some think so, other don’t), and most importantly what kind of style could I use to convey that kind of world.

Tough, but fun! Can’t wait to get back to that world, 30,000 years ago, for a sequel.

This brings me to my Cressa Carraway Musical Mystery series. That was the source of much of the frustration mentioned above. I heard, over and over, to write what you know. I’m a musician so, in the first serious project I tackled, I wrote an amateur sleuth who is a musician.

Should be a cinch, right?

After those hundred of rejections, I realized this might not be so easy. Well, in the midst of them I figured that out. With the help of writing groups, writing courses, and an awesome publisher, Barking Rain Press, Eine Kleine Murder came into being. I’m so pleased it was so well received.

Still writing what I know, I used my mom’s cabin and the actual Illinois lake resort for the setting. I grew up swimming there as a child and love the place. Where all those weird characters came from is anybody’s guess, but no one like them lives there--good thing. They’re a bunch of weirdos.

As for my short stories, telling how they came into being would take a long, long time. From anywhere and everywhere. One thing I’ll never do is run out of ideas. I have folders full of them--so many ideas that I’ll never live long enough to write all of them. That good old primordial ooze.

Kaye at the site of some inspiration!

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Visit Kaye at her blog Kaye George, There's links to her books. Here's another link to Kaye's Books -- this one to Amazon, where you'll find a complete list. 

Owls and Other Muses

Lisa Stowe, my guest today, may not be a familiar name to you, but she has a long writing and editing history. I’ve known her since Death By A Dark Horse was named something else, and was in its initial, very rough, form.

At the time, she headed up a writers’ group at our local library. What impressed me was her quiet attention to each budding writer and her ability to discern just what each piece of work needed – then deliver the information in a manner that both challenged and encouraged the author rather than dispirit.

Knowing I’d found the help I needed, I handed over my rough draft of DBADH. When she was done reading it, her suggestion was to start the story a little farther into my manuscript. I swallowed hard, and pondered her advice for three days because, as all writers know, cutting out your darlings is painful. At last, because I trusted her, the first seventy-five pages were severed, and … I knew I’d done the right thing. Since then, she has taught me much and encouraged my growth as a writer, for which I am very grateful.

I think you’ll understand, when you read her contribution to my blog, why I feel she is well qualified to coax a story from a writer. She has a gentle warmth and humor that make her wise words difficult to forget.

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Someone once told me that my guardian spirit was an owl. She then said she’d never seen so many around one person, that they perched along my roof line and in the trees. I thought that was a cool image, although I didn’t know if I should be thrilled or terrified. Another friend researched owls as guardian spirits and told me they were the keepers of stories.

So where do stories come from? Those guardian spirits that hold them safe.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? I enjoy thinking I’m surrounded by owls. Kind of like being in Hogwarts. Dropping stories down as I need them, rather like owl pellets in word form.

The reality is something different though. Rather than coming from an owl, I find myself listening in on conversations. I recently heard a woman talking about remodeling. It was, to be honest, a boring story. I started thinking it would be way more fun if this happened, and then if that started up, and then this person could jump in, and then what if…

And instantly I’ve daydreamed my way into something entertaining, while smiling and nodding to a story about plumbing problems.

Sometimes it’s a question that intrigues me. The Memory Keeper started because my father thought a bordello madam was his biological mother. He died before finding out and I knew the question would haunt me forever if I couldn’t answer it. So I did, in a story. What if she was his mother? What if a young woman looked for her grandfather’s history, looked for that madam, and old buried secrets came out in the open? What would those secrets be, and who would care?

For me, when I ask that question, the answer I receive isn’t a complete book, or even a full story. Usually I see the very last scene. I always know what the last line of the story is, and the writing process is figuring out how to get to that point. The questions get me wandering down a foggy path toward a clear ending.

‘What if…’ is a magical question. I ask it when eavesdropping on life.

And of course, by waiting for an owl to poop an idea down on my head.

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To read more about Lisa and gain writing insight, visit her blog The Story River. If you need an editor, she is Outlaw Creek Editing. To spend some quality time with beautifully written, absorbing mysteries pick up The Memory Keeper and then Sparrow’s Silence at any retailer. They’re in print and e-book format. Here’s some links to make it easy for you:

Amazon: Lisa Stowe, author   The Memory Keeper    Sparrow's Silence 

Barnes & Noble:  All books in print and e-format

Smashwords: All E-Books

All other retailers -- search Lisa Stowe or the book title.

Inspiration

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I'd like to introduce all of you to a friend of mine, Diane Vallere. We've known each other for years, belong to the same organizations, served on committees together, but ... we've never met. Gotta love the internet! I'd know her in an instant if I saw her on the street, and I know enough about her to tell all of you that she is one of the most creative people I've ever met. 

Diane is a prolific author of  short stories (in 3 anthologies), full length novels that include two separate series; The Style and Error Series and the Mad for Mod Series -- so far a total of 7 titles -- and is working on a Fabric Shop Mystery Series for publisher Berkley Prime Crime. 

Phew! 

She also worked for years as a buyer for one of THE most famous luxury goods retailers, traveling the world to runway shows, shoe markets and lingerie fairs. Is she qualified to write what she writes? Darned toot'n! She's got the fashion industry nailed, and her books make you feel like you're part of it (I know this because I've read them all). Diane is also supremely qualified to hold forth on the genesis of ideas for entertaining stories, but I'll bet you've figured that out by now. So, without further ado, here's Diane!

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Diane's newest!

Most people who know me know how much I love Project Runway. And the one thing that resonates with me each week is how the designers are given their inspiration and immediately told to sketch their ideas. Thirty minutes, and then off to Mood Fabrics. The designer who can channel their inspiration and merge it with their brand quickly has a much easier time when it comes to selecting material and assembling a dress.

In a way, I approach my books like a designer. Each series is a collection; the combination of my books make up my brand. And the inspiration can come from anywhere: a line at the bank, a day at the beach, an appointment with a personal shopper, an old movie. The best way for me to keep rejuvenating the pool of ideas in my head is to keep exposing myself to new things.

This is the single most important part of my full-time writing life.While juggling writing with a full time job, I didn’t have the luxury of staring at a blank page. I had to be able to turn on my writing when I had a pocket of time. That was a great skill to develop. But that skill was born out of a different skill: the ability to find ideas in everyday life. In order to turn on the writer during my 1 hour lunch break, I needed to have a cache of ideas ready to be mined.

I keep a composition book for every project that I’m working on, and any time something strikes me that might work somewhere in a book, I jot it down in the notebook. (I am a compulsive composition book buyer for this reason). I buy them in coordinating sets of three to represent three books in a series. If I get an idea for a future book, I can tear out the page and clip it to the cover for the next book in that series.

Example: Because I knew I wanted to use a counterfeiting crime as part of the plot of THAT TOUCH OF INK, I was especially tuned into anything involving money. I watched how people acted at the bank. I paid attention to people who used cash instead of credit. When something struck me, I’d write it in the designated composition book. When I needed to shake loose an idea, I’d flip through the composition book until something felt fresh. That doesn’t mean I only had ideas about counterfeiting crimes during that time. In fact, I was so in tune with those characters that I got the idea for the third book in the series too. Since my writing schedule didn’t allow for me to write it right away, I started a new notebook with those ideas. (I started the third book in November and found a lot of ideas that just needed to be fleshed out!)

Getting ideas is easy—as long as I keep myself exposed to what is going on outside of my computer!

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Want to find out more about Diane's books? Go to her blog DIANE VALLERE (Go on, click on her name), and read excerpts from her books. All her books are available in print and e-book formats. She's got links to Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Nobel, Indiebound -- you name it. You'll find her everywhere. I can guarantee a delightful read!