READ ANYTHING GOOD LATELY?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and I thought I’d share some of the gems I’ve come across:

Racing the Devil, an Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd

No Shred of Evidence, an Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd

An Unmarked Grave, a Bess Crawford Mystery by Charles Todd

Yes, I’m on a Charles Todd kick. Charles Todd is the nom de plume [well, sort of] of an American mother-and-son writing team, Caroline and Charles Todd. The two series are set during and just after World War One.

Bess Crawford is a nurse who works on the front lines in France during the war, and who stumbles across mysteries and murders. I love the layered background of her life, with a childhood in India, a mysterious father and his aide, and her willingness to get grubby to bring justice to bear. 

After the war, Inspector Ian Rutledge returned to Scotland Yard a changed man. Suffering from PTSD, he now lives with a voice in his head of a soldier he executed for refusing a direct order. This damaged man clings to his work as his only salvation.

I’ve also been reading some excellent science fiction and fantasy, all with a mystery bent:

Company Town, by Madeline Ashby, was shortlisted for the most recent Canada Reads contest, in which five famous Canadians champion a different Canadian book. This is how the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which organizes the contest every year, describes it:

Canada Reads is a "literary Survivor," with celebrities championing books. Books are voted "off the bookshelf," one each day, until one book is chosen as the title the whole country should read this year.

Set off the Canadian east coast, Company Town tells the story of the fearless Hwa, a young woman who works as a bodyguard on the city-sized oil rig they all call home. There are death threats, alternate timelines and a series of interconnected murders, and Hwa must choose between protecting herself and protecting those in her charge.

Loved, loved, loved the story. I gobbled it up.

And finally, I’ll finish off with a novella, Death by Effigy, by my friend, Karen L. Abrahamson.

I know I could be biased, but I’m not. This is a lovely, lovely story featuring a murder mystery set in exotic 19th century Burma. It features an old singer and a magical Burmese puppet, the impish, ancient Yamin, who so desperately wants to be taken seriously by the humans and the members of his puppet troupe. Fascinating culture and unusual, endearing characters.

The one thing all these books have in common are strong, engaging characters, characters that the reader wants to follow on their adventures. It’s something I strive to achieve in my own writing.

Okay, now it’s your turn. What stories have you read lately that you would recommend? Any non-fiction?

facebook | twitter | web

Paying it forward

This week, I received a lovely bouquet of flowers. It was a heartfelt thanks from another writer. I had shown her how to e-publish her fantasy trilogy, from registering with the e-stores and e-distributors to seeing the finished product for sale online. It was thrilling for her, and for me.

It also took me away from my own writing, and I didn’t mind. Why? It was my chance to pay it forward.

When I started on this publishing journey, with my first Carina novel, On Her Trail, I realized I was going to have to up my game and develop an online presence. Everything from learning about Twitter and Facebook to setting up my own web site. It was daunting, but with the help of my friends, I did it.

Then I decided to start publishing under my own imprint. That was a whole other order of headache. I took in-person and online courses, used Lynda.com, learned about cover design, learned about e-stores and e-distributors… the whole shebang. And that’s before I decided to publish my novels in print. Learning InDesign just about killed me.

But I did it, thanks to a supportive online community and my friend Karen Abrahamson who talked me off the ledge more than once. I have her to thank for the survival of my computer monitor, if not my sanity.

I also got a lot of financial support from the Government of Yukon, which is very supportive of its artists. There are many in-person workshops I couldn’t have attended but for the grants from the Arts Section.

In return for all this financial aid, I’ve held talks to share what I learned with local writers, but I have no idea if I was of any use to anyone. I responded happily to phone calls and emails from writers asking this or that question about the new publishing world. But it seemed like so little in return for all the help I’d received.

Then last year a respected, traditionally-published writer from my community contacted me, asking if I would help him get his memoir out. We spent the next few months working on it. And yes, it took a lot of my time, but I knew he would never have done it alone. He comes from a generation where he simply handed over his manuscript and the publishing house took care of everything. So this was an education for him, and frankly, a lot of fun for both of us.

There is no way I can ever repay all the people who helped me on my journey. But I can help others. Now, I’m no saint. At one point I will say no, regretfully. But for now, it feels right to help others on their own journey. It’s good karma.

How about you? Do you find yourself mentoring other writers? Do you wish there was someone around to help you?

web | facebook | twitter

Of hives and hyperventilation

It’s that time of the year. Again.

You know. The time of year when we look back and take stock of our successes. And failures.

The time of year when we look forward, hitch up our pants, and set goals.

I hate it.

It’s that whole goal thing. Anyone who read my last post (Lying Fallow) knows that I don’t react well to too much pressure. And goal setting is definitely too much pressure for me. I don’t even do resolutions, having learned that any resolution I make in January won’t last to February.

I realize that many, many people thrive on setting goals and making resolutions. On New Year’s Day, I spoke with my friend Karen Abrahamson (a wonderful writer of urban fantasies with unique settings and premises). She happily rattled off all her writing goals for 2014, which included two new novels, a new novella series, multiple short stories… and then publishing all of them.

Hives broke out on my face.

You couldn’t pay me enough to deliberately set my anxiety bar higher than it already is, but for her, it works. She wrote half a MILLION new words last year (excuse me—I need to find a paper bag in which to breathe for a minute). She is a goal-oriented writer, always striving to write better and bigger stories.

She exhausts me.

But I guess I can’t judge her by my standards, just as she can’t judge me by hers (thank goodness). I am finally figuring out what approach works best for me, so that I don’t overcommit and destroy my fragile little ego when I disappoint myself. And I need to trust other writers to know best what works for them.

What about you? Does a lack of goals make you feel untethered? Or does setting goals make you want to take that tether and hang yourself with it?

P.S. Here’s my latest cover, for my upcoming novel release (February): Obeah. See? I do have goals. Bite-sized, manageable ones.

 

Web | Facebook | Twitter

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION

Most people take vacations to rest. They go to the cottage, a resort or the beach to unwind and relax.

On my vacations, I go to writers’ workshops in Lincoln City on the beautiful Oregon coast. And there’s nothing restful or relaxing about ‘em.

I’ve just returned from the latest one. It was an eight-day “Advanced Master Writing and Business Seminar” and it was—bar none—the most mind-blowing business experience I’ve had as a professional writer. Some of the topics we covered included:

• Selling to traditional publishers in the new world
• Copyright law and contract law for fiction writers
• Cash streams and cash flow for writers
• Accounting for writers
• Advanced audio training for audio books
• How to sell short fiction to traditional publishers
• Advanced cover design

The main instructors were Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Scott William Carter. They were aided by Christina F. York, accountant by day and mystery novelist by night (writing as Christy Fifield and Christy Evans); Jane Kennedy, writer and audiobook producer for WMG Publishing; Allyson Longuiera, publisher of WMG Publishing and professional graphic designer; Lee Allred, writer and all-around cool guy; Matt Buchman, who writes fabulous military romances and was a Project Manager in a previous life; and a surprise guest speaker, Mark Lefebvre, who writes fiction under the name Mark Leslie and whose day job is Director of Self-Publishing & Author Relations, Kobo Inc. I mean, how cool is that?

We had the wonderful Sheldon Mcarthur, owner of North by Northwest Books in Lincoln City, who not only submitted to an interview with Dean Smith about how a bookstore owner does business with an independent publisher (including writers who publish their own books), but who also hosted a group book signing at his store, which included me and my two books, The Tuxedoed Man and TheWeeping Woman.

Not only did we learn a lot from the formal presenters, we learned a lot from each other, too. We were over 30 participants from all over the U.S. and Canada, not to mention the United Kingdom and Germany. I was seated between two fabulous writers, Karen Abrahamson and Annie Reed, both of whom are well published, experienced and very generous with their knowledge.

Can you see why this was exhausting? I filled two notebooks and by the end of the week, I felt like information had to be shoehorned into my brain because it was already so full.

And to top it all off, the participants were invited to submit two short stories for consideration for two Fiction River anthologies edited by Dean Wesley Smith, and he bought my story for the Moonscapes one!

I left Oregon buzzing with ideas, information and plans. And in spite of the fact that it was very tiring and that no lying about on the beach took place, the writer in me is refreshed and recharged, ready to roar!

I don’t think I’m alone, and I don’t think this “recharging the batteries” is limited to writers. I know quilters and knitters who take workshops and come away filled with new energy, new ideas and new friends. How do you replenish your creative energies?

Web | Facebook | Twitter