Carpe Duodecim

Today will be amazing. Are you ready for it? Have you had your coffee? (Or did I scare you away with the Latin title?) If you’re still here, hold on, cuz here it comes…

Today is 12-12-12. It’s the last of those “repeating” dates for a long, long time. At least in our lifetime. There is no 13-13-13 or 14-14-14 or…well you get the idea. So, today I’m urging each of you to carpe duodecim. Seize the twelve.

If you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of fond of symbolism. I love numerology, word patterns, fractal images, etc. In fact, when naming my children (I have three), I considered syllables and abbreviated nicknames when naming them so that when I chose names, I had a nice, neat, reciprocal pattern. My husband’s nickname is three letters. My name (Anne) is four. Our first child has a one-syllable, five-letter name, second child has two syllables and four letters, and, you guessed it, third (and final!) child has three syllables and his nickname is three letters long. (Now, if only that last child had been a girl, it would have been girl-boy-girl-boy…you get the idea. It’s okay, though. I’m kind of fond of the tot, so I’ll keep him.)

And no, my love of thought-provoking patterns doesn’t end with numbers. I love juicy words. Words that have meat and flavor and evoke emotion. For instance, why say “walked” when you can say “jogged,” “strutted,” or “stumbled?” So much more meaning there. So much more elegant.

And, images! Well, the world is founded on fractals…tiny, repeating, beautiful patterns (see the image above, captured by the author "Eequor" on Wikipedia).

Okay, so maybe my passion isn’t so much fondness as fanaticism. I like patterns. I like things nice and neat and symmetrical…and packed with flavor.

So, today is special. Go forth and do great things. Heck, do 12 great things. Breathe fresh air, create new art, say hello to someone new, or do whatever makes you happy (as long as it’s legal…according to the Mayans, we may only have a few days left before the end of the world and you really don’t want to spend them in jail, do you?).

Go do something fabulous. Carpe duodecim. Cuz this won’t happen again for another 100 years... If the Mayans were wrong.

What are you going to do with your special day? Do you have any “quirks” centered around words, numbers, or calendars? (Or is it just me?)

The Other Side of THAT.

Hi all!
I'm sure you're wondering what THAT (in the title) refers to...

I'm talking about the other side of the coin. The writing coin.
In coming up with today's blogs, (and I say blogs since it's my usual blog day at my own place), I wondered what I could talk about that might resonate with people. People who might be writers. As I said at my blog, I think most people have the dream to write either their life story or someone else's or maybe a story they've got spinning in their head, they just don't get around to writing it. But, I digress...

So, what is THIS side of the coin, you ask? It's about ideas. It's about having so many ideas that you can't write fast enough to accommodate your flying brain. Have you ever had one of those stories? You have your characters and you have their conflict and it's so very clear to you and your characters what has to happen that the book just writes itself? I've been fortunate enough to have that happen once in twelve books. I haven't yet sold that book, but I haven't tried. I'm debating exactly where it should go. But my point is that the story flowed from page one and I never had one spot where I had to stop and wonder what happened next. My characters drove that story and every page was fun to write.

Obviously, not all stories are going to be that easy. Or even a fraction of that easy. But they are fun when they happen. (If you're interested in reading the other side of the coin, check out my blog You Heard It Here.)

Have you ever had one of those? A story that told itself or a story so clear in your head that you sat down and pounded it out in record time? I'd love to hear about it. <G>

Festive Offerings to Entertain

During the roll up to Christmas I like to get in the mood by watching, listening and reading festive offerings. With that in mind I thought I’d mention a few of my favorites.

Music:
Christmas isn’t Christmas to me until I hear the song Snoopy’s Christmas sung by The Royal Guardsmen. This is my all-time favorite song.



While searching YouTube I found this video. See if your favorite is here.



Movies:

I have two favorites. The first is an action movie featuring Bruce Willis. Die Hard, the first movie, is one of my standby action movies and it just happens to take place during Christmas. Yippee ki yay!



The other movie I like to watch is Love Actually. It’s a romantic comedy with a great cast including Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and Bill Nighy just to mention a few. Each time I watch this movie I notice new things and the ending always makes me smile.



Books:

I never have time to read Christmas books. I buy them and run out of time. This year, however, I’m running away to Hawaii for Christmas, and I intend to read all the books I’ve saved from previous years while relaxing by the pool. Note – there might be a fruity cocktail or two involved. I have Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry, A Regency Christmas anthology and a Clockwork Christmas, a Carina Press offering all loaded on my iPad ready to go.

This year I discovered audio books in a big way. I’d love to listen to a few Christmas stories, but haven’t come across any yet. If you have some to suggest, let me know.

Finally, let me head into promo territory to tell you about my Christmas book. Christmas is Coming is book two in my Fancy Free series. And yes, it’s a naughty one. These characters got up to mischief before Christmas. Please don’t hate them for it :)

Christmas is coming. Give your lover the gift of pleasure…

Gaby Montgomery works for Fancy Free as a condom designer. Recently she’s been designing sex toys and testing her inventions with fellow designer Marc, but they’ve parted ways. The timing couldn’t be worse because she’s stuck without a willing test subject for her sexy products.

Gaby’s roommates Liam Richardson and Fletch Darcy both want a serious relationship with Gaby, and now that she’s free, it’s time to make a move. But how do they decide which one will date Gaby? Fletch finally suggests they share her. Liam is skeptical but agrees the scheme might work, which allows Fletch to move on to step two of his romance plan. Fletch doesn’t just want Gaby, he wants Liam as well.

The loving is hot, their days full of fun product testing, exquisite pleasure and laughter. Everything is perfect until the outside world intrudes, putting their budding relationship under stress. This time their love and friendship might not stand the pressure.

Publisher’s Note: Want to have more fun with the characters in this book, including finding out more about those spaceship sightings, then pick up Fancy Free along with the books in the Talking Dog series. They’re an out-of-this world experience.

Read an excerpt
Purchase

Do you enjoy Christmas-themed stories, movies and television? Do you have any favorites or ones you’d recommend?

Helping Your Favorite Author

I decided to use my December post to write a blog on helping others. Well, okay, helping authors to be exact. Ho, ho, ho … Happy Holidays to us!!!

People are often surprised I hold down a full-time job in addition to writing. Here’s a big surprise -- writing isn’t always a lucrative business. Many mid-list writers are struggling artists. I have several friends who are considering giving up writing altogether because it is so hard to make it financially worthwhile. Luckily, you can help. You really can. There are ways to keep your favorite authors in business.

So, seeing as how we are in the giving season … I’ve listed five ways you can help your favorite authors this holiday and year round.

1.)   Buy the Book. Sounds simple and it is. Each book you buy helps the author increase his/her sales record and be better positioned for future books.

2.)  Buy the Book as a Gift. Books are the perfect gift. Besides, if you ask nicely, most authors will happily provide a bookmark or bookplate so you can give an autographed book. There are ways to sign e-books, too. Just ask.

3.)   Recommend the Book. Word of mouth is a great way to help your favorite authors get noticed by others. You can recommend it to your neighbors, friends and family. Ot you can recommend by “liking” it, tagging it, or writing a review on Amazon.com, Goodreads, BarnesandNoble.com and a zillion other sites and online bookstores.

4.)  Review the Book. Although this is mentioned in #3, it deserves additional attention. If you have a blog, a Facebook account, a Twitter handle or belong to LinkedIn, tell others what you like about the book and author in your own words. Write a review. It can be an entire blog post or it can be a few words. It doesn’t matter. Just get the word out. Share your thoughts about the books on your own social media platform. If you liked the book, a few kind words can make a world of difference to an author.

5.)  Let the Author Directly Know You Like the Books. Most authors have websites and social media platforms. It isn’t that hard these days to track down your favorite author. Don’t assume they are inundated with constant praise and encouragement from the public at large. The truth is that most writers operate in a vacuum. Most of the time we’re convinced our stuff is crap. If you enjoyed a novel, take a minute and let your favorite author know via e-mail, website or Twitter. It can be as simple as a sentence or two letting them know how much you liked it. Speaking from personal experience, one positive fan letter can energize me for a long time. That is, perhaps, one of the very best gifts you can give a writer.

Light or Dark? A Tale Of Two Books

I am happy. Today is release day for my first hardcover in years – a cozy mystery called EXERCISE IS MURDER coming from Five Star/Gale Cengage Publishing. Who doesn’t like Release Day? My story is going out into the world, which I hope will treat it kindly and everyone buys lots and lots of copies!

Compared to my October release – BEADED TO DEATH, Carina Press – EXERCISE IS MURDER is darker and more realistic. BEADED is much more lighthearted.

So why is one story darker? Same writer, roughly same length, roughly same socio-economic setting – what’s the difference?

I’ll be honest – I don’t know. Both deal with heavy issues – politics and infidelity and murder in EXERCISE, drug dealing and murder in BEADED. I can’t tell you why one turned out lighter than the other. I just know that when I was writing BEADED it was a struggle to keep the story from going into farce. Of course, the 7’3” nephew on the run from an unwanted basketball scholarship helped. That is hardly a realistic circumstance.

But on the other hand, a harmless plumber’s widow being brutally murdered in the middle of an exclusive exercise class in a very expensive condominium is not very realistic either. When I was working on EXERCISE it was hard to keep the story as light as it is. The characters each had so many problems – and motives – it was difficult to keep the story from falling into a morass of noir. Yet a reviewer – a lady whose taste and judgment I have admired for years – called it a ‘laugh-filled romp.’

One person’s romp is another’s whatever… etc.

So if I have learned anything in this writing life it is that the story will tell itself. Oh, we writers have to spell and watch POV and make sure the names and the tenses are straight, but it is the story and the characters themselves who decide if a story is light or dark. No amount of cute descriptions or a running barrage of jokes is going to change the basic tenor of the story.

As writers we are accustomed to being in control. We know our characters, we decide where and when and how things are going to happen – most of the time. Sometimes we just have to hang on and let things go as they may. That’s when the magic of writing occurs.

If I were a pushy publicist type, I’d suggest that you read both BEADED TO DEATH and EXERCISE IS MURDER and compare the two. I’d urge you to explore the difference of shadings, and ask you to let me know what you think.

That, however, would be utter commercialism. Besides, you’re very astute and learned readers – you’ve probably already thought of it yourself.

At least, I hope so.

In any case, share my joy in this release week for EXERCISE IS MURDER. Thanks for coming by!

Janis Patterson is a seventh-generation Texan and a third-generation wordsmith who writes mysteries as Janis Patterson, romances and other things as Janis Susan May, children’s books as Janis Susan Patterson and scholarly works as J.S.M. Patterson.

          Formerly an actress and singer, a talent agent and Supervisor of Accessioning for a bio-genetic DNA testing lab, Janis has also been editor-in-chief of two multi-magazine publishing groups as well as many other things, including an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist.

          Janis married for the first time when most of her contemporaries were becoming grandmothers. Her husband, also an Egyptophile, even proposed in a moonlit garden near the Pyramids of Giza. Janis and her husband live in Texas with an assortment of rescued furbabies.

www.JanisPattersonMysteries.com

Just who and how are you on the net?

Join the authors and friends of Not Your Usual Suspects for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing.

Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.


TODAY'S POST: I-Spy something beginning with ...

ONLINE MARKETING

The internet and the growth of e-publishing has opened up many opportunities. Plenty of people have benefitted from being published earlier than they might have been in mainstream print publishing, and many niche genres have thrived. Assuming most people are online already, but maybe at different stages of a writing career, here are some headline suggestions and thoughts to consider in building up your confidence and exposure online.

Whatever your motivation for e-publishing, the online YOU is the first thing people see. Make it work for you. What’s great about the net? The access and immediacy and the astonishing breadth of exposure. And that’s what’s intimidating, too. But it doesn’t need to be.      

Who are you?

This is the essential first stop. You’ve chosen a pen name, you’re published: now you start to build a personal brand. Make it easy for readers to find and follow your trail.

Show them how to contact you and where you are on social media. Use your pen name consistently on email, Facebook, Twitter etc.

Where are you?

Your website is an essential online business card. It can be just a couple of pages or a template blog. There are many online editors to help you set up something simply that looks professional and clear. No design skills? Ask help from your community! Other people have the skills and many are glad to help. Always make it easy for readers to browse and buy. And build in scope for later books!

Gather them in

All the links on your website should take the reader to where your book's sold, then tempt them back again. Use links that open in a new window so the reader's always anchored to the starting point, so they can browse again.

Connections

Use the social media you’re happiest with, and post as often as you can and/or like. Try to balance promotional posts with other interests. You can post links to useful blogs or reTweet intriguing Tweets, if you don’t like to chat aimlessly. You can also set up your posts to feed through to other media where you spend less time, yet would like to be noticed.

Group Hugs

Join some relevant Yahoo Groups. You can network, meet other authors, learn a lot about how the industry and these communities are run – both good and bad!

One on One

Do you have a blog? Invite a friend over to feature their new book. They’ll hopefully invite you back and you’ll tap into a new circle of readers and potential friends.

Also, look for themes or topics to blog about that will (i) be of interest to your visitors and also (ii) will provoke replies. Readers like to engage.

Marketing

You’ve met people. Now introduce them to your books!

Try to see it as introduction and information, rather than a hard sell. The book’s quality is what sells in the end – but there are lots of great books out there. This is all about letting readers know YOURS is also available.

*Use the Groups for promotion. See which ones offer Excerpt Days, gauge the amount of traffic to make sure you can make an effective contribution.

* Watch out for themed chats, set up specifically for your genre.

* Watch how other authors post and interact – then leap in yourself!

Promotional goodies

Promo gifts are optional (and fun!). You can send them out as prizes and/or take them to events. Run contests: offer free copies on release. The loss of $2 royalty is worth it to gain attention from new readers.

Reviews

A touchy subject, I know! They can be great and they can be devastating, but they also represent ATTENTION. While people are reviewing, they’re reading, which means other people may want to as well. Share them!

Keep in touch

Readers like to hear you’re still in the game between releases. Utilise a Coming Soon/WIP page on your website.

Quick wins

If we have product to offer but never emerge online, we may not sell much. However, if we spend all our time on the net, we’re unlikely to have any product to sell in the first place. So why not CHEAT a little?

*Post your news once but use feeds to other social media.

*Set up standard excerpts on Word, ready for a promo or chat day cut 'n paste.

*Make your signature standard. A strapline and a couple of website links is enough.

*Add your pen name on Google alerts. They’ll tell you if someone’s talking about your books anywhere on the net.

*Keep a note of potential blog topics for quick reference. Some publishers and genre groups like you to blog regularly.

Outing yourself

Some people don’t want – or can’t afford - their “real” persona to be available to all and sundry. Remember YOU’RE in charge of what you tell people. I do believe you can be friendly and cautious. And always try to be civil and generous. People remember bad behaviour for much longer than good.

           

Person v persona

It’s a big and definite step, moving from a personal online persona to a professional one. You must choose the best balance of your new life. Over the last few years online I’ve met some of the very best friends, learned a lot about publishing, expanded my life horizons like nobody’s business, and garnered plenty of writing inspiration. Enjoy your time in the spotlight and long may it continue!

Clare London
www.clarelondon.co.uk 


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FUTURE POSTS will cover:
Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.
We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!

Pulling the Plug

I read a lot of mystery series. A lot! Many of the ones I love are still going strong after the fifteen and twentieth book, while others are on life-support and should be put out of their misery. But just when and why does an author decide to end a series? Sometimes your publisher makes the decision for you. Declining sales, an editor that leaves the company, or a publisher going out of business can stop a series in its tracks. 

Fortunately, the rise of ebooks and self-publishing has put the control back into the hands of an author not ready to end their series after being dropped.

Some authors have a preset number of books in mind when they start writing a series. But often the very nature of the series dictates how many books will be written. In author Daniel Handler’s case, his series of unfortunate events, written under the name Lemony Snicket, tells the tale of the luckless Baudelaire orphans, and logically ended with unlucky number thirteen. And I’m assuming SueGrafton’s Kinsey Millhone series, which are titled after the alphabet, will end at book twenty-six.

Boredom can also be a deciding factor. Many authors just get sick to death of their main character and can’t bear to write another word about him/her. So they end it. That’s what one author confided to me when she ended her series after only four books. “I’m just so tired of _______. I want to write about someone else,” she told me. I guess that said it all.

My fifth Kendra Clayton mystery, Sly, Slick & Wicked, was released recently.  But who knows what the future holds. I’m currently exploring other genres and have a middle grade fantasy on submission as well as an adult urban fantasy in the works. And while I’m not ready to stop writing my series, I don’t know how I’ll feel a few more books down the line. But I suspect I’m going to keep writing about Kendra Clayton as long as people want to keep reading about her.

Angela Henry 

http://www.angelahenry.com/