The Snickers Bar

This is the deal. A while back, when I first got serious about trying to "sell" one of my novels, I bought a candy bar (something I NEVER do cause they're just a little too tasty) and put it in a little side drawer in my desk. It was a Butterfinger, as I remember, and I promised myself I could have it when I sold the book.

Years went by.

When I began submitting my 2nd book, I did the same thing with a Snickers bar. Sad to say, the Butterfinger was still there. The 3d ms saw a Mounds Bar added to the pile. Things were getting pretty crowded in that little drawer. Luckily, right around that time I sold Hunter Huntress and got to eat the Butterfinger which, as you can imagine, was pretty stale. I mean we're talking 7 or 8 years. Still, never has success tasted so sweet!

The recent acquisition of Matinicus means I can finally eat that Snickers bar--something I plan on doing tonight. Can't wait...this one's only 4 years old.

"Matinicus" to be Published March, 2012

Happy to report that a just last week I signed a contract with PublishingWorks, a terrific small publisher here in NH, for the publication of Matinicus--the first of three mysteries set on the coast of Maine. Matinicus is a double murder mystery tracing the development of a stubbornly self-sufficient fishing community through the eyes of a disturbed and unhappily married island woman of the 1820s, a conflicted twenty-first century teenage girl, and a middle aged, womanizing university botanist—Dr. Gil Hodges—who arrives on-island to verify the existence of a purported 22 species of wild orchid only to find himself hounded by the ghost of a child some 200 years dead. Matinicus is the prequel to Reese's Leap, the novel I'm currently writing. PublishingWorks specializes in the fiction of New England and just as importantly from my point of view has signed on for national and international sales distribution with Publishers Group West (PGW), the leading book sales and distribution company in the United States. One thing I've learned over the last few years: distribution is everything. Funny how I found them, too. I was scouring the mystery section of RiverRun, our local indie book palace, for publishers I'd not yet submitted to. PublishingWorks had just come out with a new New England-based mystery entitled Sumner Island which was set prominently on RiverRun's "new releases" table. I jotted the name down, emailed them that afternoon, later sent them some chapters and then the full ms. Four months later, they signed me. How cool is that? Look for Matinicus in March, of 2012. Available everywhere in paperback and all e-formats!

Home Again, Home Again...Tickety-Boo

Just back from Florida where I made time for a few very cool book events--the first, a "Tea with the Author" get together in the sleepy town of Welaka, where I read and discussed the book for about two hours. Lovely well-read ladies all, and I'm going to skype in to their book club meeting probably next month. Next day it was over to Jacksonville for a meeting of two book clubs--this one lasted almost three hours as so many people wanted more info about this writing business.

I've given this talk about Hunter Huntress so often now, I've pretty much got a handle on what people want to hear. Every meeting/reading is unique, of course, but in addition to hearing about the book, most are also intrigued about where I get my ideas and about the writing process itself, as well as all the crazy changes taking place in publishing. Now THERE'S a topic I could natter on about for hours!

So I'm taking my dog-and-pony show on the road again. Next up is a reading and signing February 11 at the York Maine Public Library beginning at 7:00. Hope to see some of you there!

See, Now This Is What I Love About Writing...

So picture this. You're making your way through your manuscript, tweaking here and there, feeling like you know pretty much the whole story and how it unfolds, when you stop cold--realize something's missing. The paragraph you just read for the hundredth time leads logically and interestingly enough into the next, yet there's something missing. You feel it in your gut. You try and suss it out, but intellectual thought isn't any help at this stage. So you take a walk, make some tea, lie down for a 20-minute power nap.

Going back to the computer, you suddenly realize if you add a line just here it touches on two or three structural elements you were never really sure you needed but somehow couldn't let go of, or bits of character or dialogue you really love but weren't quite sure where to use or even if they belonged in the book at all. Pulls all of it together to become something larger--a plot twist, maybe, or an insight that adds deeper meaning to one or more of the plot lines. Raises the stakes, in other words.

Little miracles, these--precious gifts from the writing gods--and like all such serendipity the key is letting go of the plan and letting yourself be led by instinct. Keeping an open mind as you read your work and seeing it with fresh eyes every time.

This shot is of my "character wall" for Reese's Leap, which keeps me visually oriented to the characters and their storyline.

The Thing About Publishing

Want to know what trying to get published is like? Sit down in the back yard, stare at the ground and wait for the grass to grow.

I've been getting some interest in another of my ms (a double mystery called Matinicus--the prequel to the one I'm writing now), which is a good thing, and while checking out the publishers involved I've learned some interesting stuff. It's all about distribution. Signing with a publisher means nothing if the house doesn't have a decent distributor. These are companies that visit the brick and mortar stores (B&N, indies, etc.) and convince them to stock your book. Publishers hire them for a percentage of the take. Some publishers have told me they have a distributor when what they actually have is a wholesaler. Whole different animal. These are big companies like Ingram and Baker & Taylor, who physically warehouse books, mailing out orders as they come in. They do nothing to help spread the word or pump the book up.

Complicating matters even further is the fact that some wholesalers also have distribution arms (Ingram for instance), so unless you actually push the publisher on it, you'll never known which part of the company it's using.

Just because things aren't already hard enough...

Keep On Keepin' On

Yes, I'm still here, nose to the grindstone and all that. Slowly making my way through the Reese's Leap ms and hope to be ready with a first draft by spring. Then off it goes to my readers. Meanwhile I have a fresh nibble on Matinicus (its prequel), so keep your fingers crossed.

Took my show on the road with a visit to a book group in Kennebunk, Maine this past Friday evening and it was a blast! Terrific food, great wine and very spirited discussion. This for Hunter Huntress, the book that came out in June. I absolutely love book clubs. If you have one, consider having me "in" for discussion. I'm happy to travel if you're relatively close by; I can also Skype in!

Next Wednesday, Oct. 27, I'm at the Barrington Public Library beginning at 7:00 (another Hunter Huntress event). Come on by for one of my Double Chocolate Chunk cookies!

Now Starts the Hard Part

By that I mean the real nuts and bolts editing work--going through each section of the ms, deciding which parts to keep and which to toss or expand on, and then polishing the work to where I can send this first draft out to my readers. It's here I really get to know my characters and they often surprise me! I figure this will take me into the New Year. I'll keep you posted.

Busy working on lining up book clubs and library readings and have a few coming up including Oct. 27 at the Barrington Public Library (http://home.metrocast.net/~blibrary/ ) beginning at 7:00 p.m. Hope to see some of you there!

Just finished reading The Help'" which I found incredibly moving and very well written--the voices of each of the disparate characters unique and consistent. Other recent reads include a few of Michael Kimball's well plotted mystery/thrillers: Undone and Mouth to Mouth.

Here's another shot from the island on which Reese's Leap is based, this one the inspiration for Adria's cabin, "The Birches."