Analyzing What Motivates Your Character Can Make All The Difference

Due to an injury that is making it hard to concentrate, I am rerunning this column from last year rather than writing something new (though I am making small updates). Whether you've read it before or this is the first time, I hope it is helpful. 

It's strange how you can start writing a story intending it to be about one thing, and in the end, realize it's really about something else. Has that happened to you?

With my 2024 story "A Matter of Trust" I wanted to portray the dissolution of a marriage (with a crime thrown in, of course). The story opens with a happily married couple enjoying dinner. An argument develops because the wife is worried about her husband's health. His blood sugar is too high, thanks to his love of jelly. He agrees to start cycling, a way to get his weight--and his blood sugar--under control. The argument ends, and the two are happy once more. For a time anyway. Neither of them foresee that the husband would become addicted to the jelly donuts sold by a shop in town--a shop he begins to secretly ride his bicycle to each day. And they certainly don't anticipate the events that would come from that addiction.

As my writing progressed, I realized that the husband--the main character--was an emotional eater, and jelly (rather than his wife) was the love of his life. I started working that concept into the story, going back to the beginning and layering the idea into the husband's thoughts. I'd expected that doing so would be enough for the man's actions to not only be believable but also understandable, even if the reader wouldn't agree with them. He would be a real person, rather than a character who did things because the plot dictated it. That should have been enough for a solid story.

But when I reached the end, I realized what I'd written still wasn't enough. (Don't you hate when that happens?) Why had this guy come to associate jelly with love? That was the key question. Once I figured out the answer and layered it into the story, only then did the husband become full-blown and the story have real heft. Only then did I realize that a story about the dissolution of a marriage turned out to actually be a story about ... Well, I'm not going to say. I don't want to give everything away. (But I promise, there's a crime in there!)

This type of analysis can be useful for most stories. Readers become invested when characters feel real. So the more an author understands why a character does what he or she does, the more the character will (hopefully) come across as a complex human being rather than a cardboard cutout. 

I hope I've enticed you to read "A Matter of Trust," maybe with a jelly donut by your side. The story is a current finalist for the Anthony Award and can be read on my website. Just click here. 

But if you'd like to read more sports stories, pick up the anthology it was published in, THREE STRIKES--YOU'RE DEAD! Every story in the book involves crime and sports (baseball--major league, minor league, and high school--biathlon, boxing, bull riding, figure skating (that Thriller Award-nominated story is by fellow SleuthSayer Joseph S. Walker), marching band/football, running, swimming, tennis, ultimate Frisbee, zorbing, and cycling, of course). It can be purchased in trade paperback and ebook formats from the usual online sources. The trade paperback also can be purchased directly from the publisher, Wildside Press.

Everything Is Fodder (especially torture by broccoli)

This is a reprint of a column I ran three years ago, with minor updates. I hope it is helpful to you (and amusing too).

Things many people find difficult to do:

• Lose weight
• Follow directions
• Not give unsolicited advice on social media.

You can count me among "many people" when it comes to the first item. But with the other two, I know about their prevalence because I have been a victim of them.

A victim, I say!

Yes, yes, I occasionally give unsolicited advice, but it's always with hesitation. An explanation for why I'm wading in. An apology even. Other people, I've found, don't have such qualms.

An example (one of many): During the height of 2020 pandemic madness, I posted on Facebook that I had a lot of broccoli in my house but the dressing I'd gotten in my last grocery pickup didn't taste good. I mentioned the three other condiments I had at home (salsa, ketchup, and butter) and asked my friends if any of them would work with broccoli, as I had my doubts. (I hadn't thought of melting the butter--once that option was pointed out, it was a doh moment.) At any rate, I also made clear that I don't cook and had no other ingredients in the house, so I requested that my friends not make alternate suggestions of condiments to use or ways to cook the broccoli. I thought I was pretty clear.

Then the following happened. The conversation has been greatly condensed since I received more than 300 responses. Names have been removed to protect the guilty.

Friend A

Roast it in the oven with olive oil and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. It’s not hard. Or steam it and top with butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

Me

Don't have olive oil, cheese, or lemon. 

Friend A

Ok—just steam and add butter. Do you have Italian dressing. You could use that as an olive oil substitute.

Me

Nope, I don't.

As you can see, I was calm at this point, merely reminding Friend A that I didn't have some of the items she suggested I use.

Friend B

A nice, sweet balsamic vinegar. I like white balsamic.

Me

I don't have vinegar (and I don't like it either). More for you!

See how pleasant I was? This was early going.

Friend C

I roast broccoli with garlic and chopped up bacon.

Me

I have no garlic and I don't like bacon.

Friend D

Saute in some olive oil with garlic. Squeeze on some lemon before eating if you have some. Delicious. Or roast tossed in olive oil with a little garlic salt or sea salt or Goya adobo seasoning.

Me

I don't have any olive oil or garlic. Or lemon. Or sea salt or adobo seasoning. And sauteing and roasting means cooking. I don't cook. 

Friend E

Add it to something you like ... or, as others have said, butter is good, and I'd add some seasoned salt. I like sprinkling blends from Penzeys Spices on various foods. Their Salad Elegant would be great on broccoli.

Me

I don't have seasoned salt. I wasn't kidding about the only possible toppings I have in the house. Butter, salsa, and ketchup.

Friend F

The extent to which people cannot comprehend the state of your pantry is deeply hilarious to me.

Me

I am less amused.

Friend F

Would definitely think twice about hiring your fb friends for a job that requires ability to follow instructions.

She (Friend F) wasn't kidding. But I steeled myself and kept reading the responses.

Friend G

I would boil some water, add a ton of salt, and blanch the broccoli for like 2-3 minutes. Then drain and chill.

Me

Blanch?

Friend G

Extremely easy. [Lists a link for how to blanch.]  

Note to the reader: Not extremely easy.

Friend H

Really tasty: sliced zucchini or yellow squash, plus a red sweet pepper, sauteed in olive oil or butter with garlic and sweet red onion or green spring onions. Add a little basil for punch, but it isn't required.

Me

[Mouth hanging open.]

At this point, I stopped responding to almost all the comments, most of which were suggestions of other things I should cook using food I didn't have in the house. Me. The person who doesn't cook and who certainly would not be going to the market for the suggested foods. (Add one picky eater who doesn't cook and the height of the pandemic and you got hell no.) 

Occasionally, though, I became so incensed, I did respond.

Friend I

Saute in a pan, with ginger, olive oil and garlic, 1 T corn starch, and 1/4 cup of water.

Me

I DON'T COOK!

Friend G

This post has turned absurd, and I love it.

Me

That makes one of us

Friend J

Two of us! Sorry, Barb.

Me

It's like people are trying to give me a stroke at this point.

Can you feel the stress? Years have passed, and reading all these comments is aggravating me all over again.

You may be wondering why I'm sharing all of this with you, other than for your amusement. It's because of something I often say: Everything is fodder. If you're looking for a story idea, mining current events or events in your own life is often a good place to start. I took this condiment conversation and my associated aggravation and put it to good use when the fine folks at Malice Domestic put out a call for short stories for their anthology titled Malice Domestic 16: Mystery Most Diabolical.

What if, I thought, a low-earning spendthrift without any morals is the only living relative of a rich elderly woman. He decides to friend her on Facebook, aiming to drive her crazy with unsolicited advice so she'll have a heart attack and die and he can inherit all her money. That sounded pretty diabolical to me. 

Five thousand words later, the idea became my short story "Go Big or Go Home," which is the lead story in Mystery Most Diabolical. The book was released in 2022. And yes, it has Facebook conversations just like the one above.

Regular readers of this blog may recall how I also mined my history before I wrote "The Postman Always Flirts Twice," which came out in the fall of 2024 in the anthology Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy. Being pressured to go on a date with your mailman isn't great, until you use it as starting point for a short story three decades later. Which reinforces the point of this column: everything is fodder!

To those of you with Macavity Award ballots, this postman story (which won the Agatha Award in April) is now a Macavity finalist in the Best Short Story category. I invite you to read it before the voting deadline at the end of this month. To read it online, click here. 

  

Some Great Books

The first half of the year will end in about thirty-five minutes on the East Coast of the US, so this is a perfect time for me to share my five favorite crime/mystery reads of the year so far. If you choose to check any of them out, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

In reverse order, they are ...

5. The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan - This excellent Sherlock-and-Watson-type amateur-sleuth mystery came out in 2024. It is the first in a series and was extremely well plotted with strong voices and witty, clever, and wonderfully descriptive writing. 

I wish the main character, who played the Watson role, wasn't as closed off as she was, but I expect the author did this to give her room to grow, as well as personal secrets--especially one big one--to reveal, in future books. But these are small issues in an otherwise strong book, especially considering it is the author's first published mystery (though not his first published novel).

4. Bearer of Bad News by Elizabeth Dini - This is a wonderful book, especially for an author's first published novel. It came out in April of this year. It's an intriguing story with delightful writing that often had me laughing. It has strong voice and characters, especially the main character, who has a nice arc. The writing was often insightful, with emotional depth. While mainly set in modern day, the book also has a historical component that is timely. Those sections can be dark (but not gory), but that element of the book is offset by the lightheartedness of the main character. I hope it is the start of a series.

The only drawback worth mentioning is that there were a lot of characters, and I had a bit of a hard time keeping track of who was who and who did what. I think if I had read the book with my eyes, I would not have had that problem. (That said, the audio reader was fantastic.) 

3. A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn - This is the eighth book in the Veronica Speedwell series, and it came out in 2023. It was a great read. It has a strong voice, as usual, as well as a charming setting, an interesting mystery, enjoyable characters, and the main character had a strong arc through which she grew and her romantic relationship was strengthened. 

I had some small quibbles with the resolution, which I won't go into because I don't want to spoil things. Just know they should not keep you from reading this book. If you like historical mysteries, I highly recommend this whole series, which is largely set in England in the 1890s. Start with the first book, A Curious Beginning.

2.  The Case of the Missing Maid by Rob Osler - This book, which came out last year, is the first book in a new series by Osler. I enjoyed it so much, I read it in one day. It is set in 1898 Chicago and stars a gay female private eye. The book has a great voice, a charming main character, as well as an enjoyable supporting cast. It also has an intriguing plot. 

My concerns were minor (one scene in which the main character's thoughts went on too long for my taste, and there was one anachronism). If you like historical mysteries, you will want to pick this one up.

And my favorite mystery read of the year so far ...

1. The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter - This witty 2024 romantic cozy mystery has great voices, characters who grow, well-planted clues, a marvelous setting, and strong writing. I did have an issue with the main characters' failure to realize in a timely manner something that seemed obvious to me, but I am willing to let this issue go because I loved this book so much. 

What mystery/crime novels have you read this year that you have loved? I would appreciate your recommendations.

And, before I go, a little news. I am delighted that my short story "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" was named a finalist two weeks ago for this year's Macavity Award. This story won the Agatha Award in April. It was published in the anthology Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy. While I highly recommend you buy the book, if you would like to read my story, it is available for free reading for a limited time by clicking here. 

 

 

Things You Learn From Editing ... Take Two

I am bogged down with work, so I offer you this repeat of a column from 2019, with some minor edits. The information should be just as helpful now as it was then.

 

As the old saying goes, it's never too late to teach an old dog new tricks. (As a multiple-time dog owner, I can attest that this is true!) The saying also applies to writers. No matter how much experience you have, you still can learn more.

I was reminded of this point recently as I've been editing short stories for an anthology coming out next spring. Some of the stories have been written by authors I consider to be short-story experts. Other stories have been written by authors who have had several stories published but who haven't broken out yet, and others still have been penned by authors who are just starting out. And I have learned something from all of them--sometimes simply from reading the stories (even the newest writer can come up with a twist or a turn of phrase that turns my head) and other times from editing them.

It's the editing finds that can lead to especially interesting conversations.

Did you know that SOB is in the dictionary? All caps. No periods. The acronym for son of a bitch is a word all its own, at least according to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Even more surprising (to me at least), mansplain has made the dictionary too. I won't bother to tell you what that words means. I'm sure you know.

Turning to homophones, two-word terms often become single words when slang enters the picture. For instance, a woman might go to the drug store to buy a douche bag, but if her boyfriend is being a jerk, she'd call him a douchebag (one word, no space). 

 

Descriptions of animal excrement are usually spelled as two words: horse shit, bull shit, chicken shit. But when you mean "no way" or "a load of not-actual crap" you spell it horseshit and bullshit (again, one word, no space). And when you mean that someone is a coward, you call him a chickenshit--also one word. (Thanks to Michael Bracken for helping me see the horse shit/horseshit distinction.) It's interesting that horses, bulls, and chickens have had their excrement turned into slang words, yet dog shit is just that. Two words meaning excrement. As I told a friend, I might start saying "dogshit," when I want to say "no way!" just to see if it catches on. (Update: six years have passed since I originally wrote this column, and dogshit has yet to catch on. Sigh.)

Keeping with the one-word or two-words questions, do you go into a room or in to a room? This may be an obvious thing for you, but it's one of those little things I find myself double-checking over and over. Same for on to/onto, some time/sometime, and so many more. Each of these words has their proper place, so I like to make sure I use them properly.

Yep, that's a bear on a trampoline.

To answer these questions: you go into a room. Into is the correct word if you are showing motion. The onto/on to question also turns on whether you are showing movement. I jump onto the trampoline. I catch on to my boyfriend's lies. 

 

As to sometime or some time, this question turns on whether you are talking about a period of time (writing this blog is taking some time) or if you mean an indefinite date (I'll get back to you sometime next month).

 

One more thing that I see messed up all the time, so it is worth noting the distinction: When writing about a person with golden hair, use blond as an adjective, no matter the gender of the person you are talking about. When writing about a man with golden hair, use blond a noun. The only time to spell it blonde--notice the e at the end--is when the word is used as a noun for a woman with golden hair. (Yes, this blond/blonde distinction has been noted before here on SleuthSayers, but it is worth repeating.)

  
Well, I hate to cut this column short, but again, I'm short on time. (Ha ha!) (And that's two words for ha ha, per our friend Mr. Webster.)

Do you have any interesting word usage issues/spelling knowledge you'd like to share? Please do. I'm always eager to learn something new.

Murder, Neat is on a Roll!

In February of 2024, I had the good fortune of having my turn to post here on SleuthSayers fall on the very day that our first anthology, Murder, Neat, was released. The book has twenty-four short stories, all written by members of this blog. Michael Bracken and I edited it, stepping in after our original editor and fellow SleuthSayer, the late Paul D. Marks, fell ill.

Every anthology editor has high hopes their baby will be well received and that the individual stories in it will be beloved. (The authors with stories in the book hope that too, of course.) So you can imagine the smiles we all shared when Murder, Neat was named one of the six finalists a few months ago for the inaugural Derringer Award for Best Anthology. Those smiles turned to grins on May 1 when we won the Derringer, especially because the competition was stiff. (Hats off to the editors and authors of the other five anthologies. You can find a list of the finalists here.) 

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Murder, Neat was named a finalist for this year's Anthony Award in the Best Anthology category. Talk about icing on a delicious cake. So this is a good time to remind you about the anthology and, if you haven't read it, entice you to do so. (I also hope you will check out the four other anthologies nominated for the Anthony Award. Bouchercon attendees, please read before you vote. You can find the names of the nominated anthologies, as well as the finalists in all the other categories, here. One of those other anthologies was edited by Michael Bracken (him again!), working with fellow SleuthSayer Stacy Woodson.)

Back to Murder, Neat. Every story takes the reader to a location where drinking happens. Bars--be they regular, college, dive, or gastropub--make an appearance, of course, as do restaurants and even a winery. What also happens in those locations? Crime, of course!

When the book came out, Art Taylor, a retired fellow SleuthSayer with a story in the book, hosted four other of our bloggers on his personal blog, The First Two Pages. There they each wrote about--no surprise here--the first two pages of their stories. I invite you to click here to read the first of those essays, by Melodie Campbell. Near the bottom of that screen, you will be able to click to read the next essay by one of the Murder, Neat bloggers, Lawrence Maddox, followed by one by David Edgerley Gates, and finally, one by Leigh Lundin.

If you haven't yet read Murder, Neat, you can purchase it in trade paperback and ebook. We all hope you enjoy it. Cheers!

Finally, before I go, a little more news: I'm honored to have been named a finalist for this year's Anthony Award for Best Short Story for my tale "A Matter of Trust," which appeared in the anthology Three Strikes--You're Dead! The other nominated authors are James D.F. Hannah, Curtis Ippolito, Gabriel Valjan, and Kristopher Zgorski. I hope you will take the time to read all of their nominated stories. You can find the names of those stories by clicking on the link in the third paragraph of this blog. And you can read my story here.

Quotes and other memories from Malice Domestic

I just returned from this year's Malice Domestic convention, where I had a lovely time celebrating my friends Marcia Talley, Donna Andrews,Gigi Pandian, and Les and Leslie Blatt, who were, respectively, the guest of honor, the lifetime achievement honoree, the toastmaster, and the co-fan guests of honor. (There also were two honorees with whom I have no personal connection. Lucy Worsley was honored as the Poirot Award recipient, and Dorothy Gilman was remembered--Malice's term for honoring a deceased mystery community member.)

While at the convention, I saw many friends, made some new ones, sat on one panel, moderated another, hosted a table at the banquet, won the Agatha Award for best short story of 2024 (for my whodunit "The Postman Always Flirts Twice," from Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy), received some other good news (for myself and for a fellow author), saw a character naming I donated to the charity auction go for $500, and listened to authors speak eloquently--and humorously--on panels. It was a great time, even if I did lose my retainer.

Here are some quotes from the panels. My apologies if I didn't get some of the wording exactly right.

"Motivation for a killer is so important. You have to set it up right away." -- Tina Kashian

Marcia Talley during guest
of honor speech

"Cozies are popular because they make people feel comfortable. Sure, people are killing each other, but they're doing it in a nice way." -- Marcia Talley

In response to a question about the best advice you ever received: "Find your community. As much as writing is a solo effort, you can't get through this alone. You need your people to help you when you get a bad review or a plot hole or ..." -- Sarah E. Burr. (Sarah didn't trail off in that last sentence, but I didn't get the end written down, hence the ellipsis.)

"A hate crime, such as a swastika painted on a synagogue, is dark, but when the whole town comes together to paint over the swastika and support the temple, that is the cozy treatment. That is how to use dark social issues in cozies." -- Kathleen Marple Kalb, who also writes as Nikki Knight

During a discussion about enjoying novels set during World War I and World War II, despite how horrific the wars were, Catriona McPherson made the following analogy: "You can be nostalgic for a time--like the lockdown--without being nostalgic about Covid. It's being nostalgic for the time spent with your family."

"Cozies are for optimistic readers. Bad things happen, but everything is right in the end. Noir is for pessimistic readers because the ending gives them what they expect from the world." -- Paula Munier

If you're interested in learning about Malice Domestic, which brings fans and authors together to celebrate the traditional mystery every April in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, click here. The website has not been updated yet for the 2026 convention, but it should be soon. I hope to see you there next year, when the honorees will be:

Guest of Honor Annette Dashofy

Lifetime Achievement Honoree Jacqueline Winspear

Toastmaster Ellen Byron

Poirot Award Honoree Jim Huang

Malice Remembers Margaret Maron

Fan Guest of Honor Billy Aguiar

Can You Have Too Much Inspiration?

Sometimes, something obvious to one person may not be as clear to another. That was true for me in high school (math and science). And it was true for me from the first time I heard "Escape: The Pina Colada Song" until just a few years ago, when I realized that the author of the personal ad (remember those?) in the song wanted someone not into yoga, rather than someone not into yogurt. (Not being a fan of yogurt's texture, its supposed inclusion in the ad had made a ton of sense to me. But I digress.)

I also had a hard time seeing something important about writing short stories inspired by things--often songs--and I didn't even realize it. Until recently. 

But before I tell you about that, I need to give a little backstory. Short story anthologies inspired by music have been popular for more than a decade. I've had stories in books inspired by the songs of Billy Joel and Joni Mitchell, as well as by songs that were one-hit wonders in the US. Now I am glad to add another story sparked by music to my list: "Keep It Dark" appears in In Too Deep: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Genesis. The book, edited by Adam Meyer, was published last week by Down & Out Books.

I spent a lot of time in high school listening to Genesis on the radio, as well as to the independent releases of Phil Collins, who was the band's drummer and its lead vocalist from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. But to my surprise, when I reviewed the list of Genesis's songs in anticipation of writing a story for this new anthology (thank you, Adam, for inviting me to contribute), there was one--okay, more than one, but bear with me--that I had never heard of: "Keep It Dark."

It appeared on the 1981 album Abacab. A Rolling Stone article from 2014 about twenty great Genesis songs that aren't well known said "Keep It Dark" was never released as a single in the US, which explained why I had never heard it. I eagerly streamed it, and for the first half, I sat confused, thinking, Is this really a Genesis song? It is bad. I can understand why it wasn't released as a single in the US. But then a funny thing happened; the song grew on me. By the time it ended, I immediately played it again. And now I love it! And I totally get why it was released individually in the UK and hit #33 on the UK singles chart. And I get why Rolling Stone thinks so highly of it.

The unusual beat is catchy, and the lyrics are interesting. They tell a story--one more detailed than a lot of songs do. I decided to use "Keep It Dark" as my story's inspiration. I needed to pay tribute to the song, but I didn't want to retell the story this song tells. That turned out to be difficult. Everything I was writing felt derivative. 

And this is where the thing that you may think is obvious--but it wasn't for me--comes into play. Needing help, I called my fellow SleuthSayer John Floyd, who is a very wise man. He told me not to get bogged down trying to work so many details from the song into my story. Just find a piece of it that I could run with. That advice felt like opening a window on a lovely spring day. Rejuvenated, I took John's advice, and I ended up with a story I am delighted with. If you listen to the song "Keep It Dark," I believe you will see that it sparked my story of the same name, yet my tale is different.

Here is what my "Keep It Dark" is about:

It's the spring of 1972, and life's been good for Gary. He loves working at the pawn shop, where he helps people out of their financial jams. But a sleazy new employee has changed the vibe, and Gary's in his crosshairs. Can this good guy find a way out of the jam he's about to find himself in?

I hope John's advice is as helpful to you as it was to me. Thanks again, John! And I hope you will pick up a copy of In Too Deep. It has seventeen stories, including ones by fellow SleuthSayers Michael Bracken, Joseph S. Walker, and Stacy Woodson. 

You can buy the book in ebook and trade paperback from the usual sources, as well as directly from the publisher. If you buy the paperback straight from Down & Out Books, you can have the ebook thrown in for free. Just click here. 

Do you have a favorite Genesis song? Which song and why? I would love to hear. And listen to "Keep It Dark" and let me know if it grows on you like it did on me.

Should You Be Persistent or Tenacious? What's the Difference?

This is a modified reprint of a column from January 2019. While it is geared toward writers, I think the information could be helpful toward meeting most any goal.

 

I planned to title this column The Power of Persistence. It seemed perfect for January, when so many people make resolutions for the new year. But then I thought, maybe "tenacity" would be a better word than "persistence." I had always treated the words as synonyms, but are they? Maybe, I thought, I should check. It turns out there's an important difference between the two words.

Persistence means trying repeatedly to reach a goal through the same method, figuring eventually you'll succeed. Tenacity means trying to reach a goal through varying methods, learning from each failure and trying different approaches. For anyone striving to achieve a goal, tenacity may be the better approach.

How does this apply to writing? First, let's talk about getting writing done. Everyone has their own method. Some people write every morning before daybreak. Others write at night. Some people write for a set number of hours each day. Others write as long as it takes to meet a daily quota. Some people plot out what they're going to write. Others write by the seat of their pants. 

 

It doesn't matter what your approach is, as long as it works for you. So, does it? Are you getting enough writing done? Enough revision done? Are you making the best use of your time?

I have a friend (and editing client) who used to be a pantser. But she found that after finishing every draft, she had so many loose ends to address and problems to fix, it took her much longer to revise than she'd like. So she started forcing herself to plot before she began writing each book. Not detailed outlines, but she figures out who kills whom, how, and why, what her subplot will be (again, just the basics), and what her theme is. These changes in her approach have enabled her to be so much more productive. She writes faster now, and she needs less time for revision. That's tenacity in action.

Moving on to a finished product, how do you react to rejection? If you have a rejected short story, for instance, after you curse the universe, do you find another venue and send that story out immediately? Or do you reread it and look for ways to improve it? If a story has been rejected several times (there's no shame here; we've all been there), do you keep sending it out anyway or do you put it in a drawer to let it cool off for a few months or until the market has changed or your skills have improved?

If sending a story out a few times without revising after each rejection usually results in a sale for you, great. Then your persistence works, and it means you have more time for other projects. But if you find yourself sending a story out a dozen times without success, then perhaps you should consider a new approach. After a story is rejected, say, three times, maybe you should give it a hard look and see how it can be changed. Maybe you should let it sit in a drawer for a while so when you review it, you'll have a fresh take.

And if you're getting a lot of rejections, perhaps it's time to re-evaluate your markets or what you write. I know some writers who started their careers writing science fiction, but it turned out that they were better suited to writing mysteries. Once they let their true selves out on the page, they started making sales. I know a writer who's been working on a novel for years, but she can't seem to finish it. Yet she's had a lot of success with short stories. If she were to decide to only write short stories and let the novel lie fallow, that wouldn't be a failure; it would be tenacity in action: finding what works for her.

I was about to write that the one thing you shouldn't do is give up, but there might be value in letting go. If your goal is to write a novel or short story but you never seem to finish your project, and if the mere thought of working on it feels like drudgery instead of joy, then maybe being a professional writer isn't for you. There's no shame in that. Not every person is suited to every task. 

 

When I was a kid I loved swimming, but I was never going to make a swim team. I wasn't fast enough. Maybe with a lot of practice and other changes I could have gotten there, but I didn't want to take those steps. And that's okay. I enjoyed swimming for the fun of it, and that was enough for me. Maybe writing for yourself, without the pressure of getting to write "The End," is what gives you joy. If so, more power to you. And maybe it turns out you don't want to finish that book or story you started writing. That's okay too, even if you did tell everyone that you were writing it. You're allowed to try things and stop if it turns out they aren't the right fit for you.

But if you believe writing is the right fit, yet you aren't as productive as you'd like, or your sales aren't as good as you want them to be, then be tenacious. Evaluate your approaches to getting writing done, to editing your work, to seeking publication.

 

Maybe you need to revise how you're doing things. Are you writing in the morning but are more alert in the evening? Change when you write. Is your work typically ready to be sent out into the world as soon as you finish? If you get a lot of rejections, maybe it's not. Maybe you need to force yourself to let your work sit for a while after you finish, so you can review it again with fresh eyes before you start submitting. Do you have a contract, but your books aren't selling as well as you'd like? Perhaps you should find someone you trust who can try to help you improve. 

 

No matter how successful you are, there's always something new to learn. The key is to figure out what works for you and keep doing it, and also figure out what isn't working for you and change it.

That, my fellow writers, is my advice for you. Be tenacious. Evaluate what you want, and evaluate your methods for getting there. If your methods aren't working, change them. If in six months your new methods aren't working, change them again. Work hard. Work smart. And be sure to enjoy yourself along the way, because if you're not enjoying writing, why bother doing it?

***

And now a friendly reminder: I'm honored to have two short stories nominated this year for the Agatha Award, "A Matter of Trust" from the anthology Three Strikes--You're Dead! and "The Postman Always Flirts Twice" from the anthology Agatha and Derringer Get Cozy. They, as well as the three other Agatha-nominated stories, can be read online for free. Click here to go to the Malice Domestic website and scroll down to the short story titles. Each one is a link to a pdf of that story.

 

Malice Domestic attendees will be able to vote for the Agatha winners during the convention next month, so this is a great time to sit down with a cup of tea and read all the nominated stories. Enjoy! 

They Have the Beat

In late December, an anthology I edited was published by Level Short. It's called Angel City Beat, and it includes fifteen stories by members of the Sisters in Crime Los Angeles chapter about the city they call home. On Monday evening--as I'm writing this--eight authors in the anthology are appearing on a panel moderated by Naomi Hirahara (who wrote the book's introduction) at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, as part of the book's launch party. I wasn't able to be there, but this is the perfect time to let you know about this book here.

Here is the book's description: The City of Angels has a dark side. Hidden beneath its shiny surface are misdeeds, miscreants, and murderers. From Santa Monica's sandy beaches to Hollywood’s glitzy streets, from Boyle Heights to Holmby Hills to the dirt trails of the San Gabriel Mountains, there are so many tales to tell. So many people on the beat. The police detectives seeking justice. The reporters seeking truth. Writers who build beats into their movies and TV shows. And people who choose violence to beat others and come out on top. Angel City Beat is an anthology of stories that show life behind the plastic smiles of the rich and famous, the desperate pleas of the overlooked, and the promises of dreams forgotten. Angel City Beat is the beat of a city told by those who love her. 

More than anything, what the stories have in common is the setting, the Los Angeles area. But LA is so big and diverse--its geography and its inhabitants--and these stories reflect that. They are, in order of appearance:

"The Missing Mariachi" by Aimee Kluck - this is a police procedural story about a kidnapped woman

"Murder Unjustified" by Daryl Wood Gerber - this whodunit starring a TV showrunner offers a behind-the-scenes look at writing for Hollywood

"Getting Warmer" by Kate Mooney - a newspaper reporter is on the trail of a cold case that is heating up

"What's Really Unforgettable" by Ken Funsten, CFA - an investment manager is determined to help a potential client after the man is attacked and lands in the hospital with amnesia

"The Feast of the Seven Fishes" by Gail Alexander - this is a suspense story starring two caterers who witness a murder on Christmas Eve day

"Death Beat" by Meredith Taylor - a hospice worker notices her patients are dying faster than they should

''Everything's Relative" by Jenny Carless - a dystopian story set in the near future, when water is so scarce, it inspires desperate behavior

"Settling the Score" by Anne-Marie Campbell - a high-tech whodunit involving the LA Philharmonic Orchestra

"A Thesis on Murder" by Paula Bernstein - a graduate student is close to getting her PhD, but someone stands in her way

"Underbelly" by Jacquie Wilvers - when a screenplay is stolen, its author has plans for the thief

"A Dead Line" by Ken Funsten, CFA - a suspense story about a teenager whose summer job involves making cold calls

"Fatal Return" by Sybil Johnson - a whodunit involving a murder at a library

"Crime Doesn't Play" by Norman Klein - a police detective good at puzzles puts his skills to good use

"Unbeatable" by Melinda Loomis - A pet psychic is hired to ensure an unbeaten horse is ready for his upcoming final race just days after his jockey died in a horrific accident

"Byline for Murder" by Nancy Cole Silverman - a newspaper reporter is assigned the explosive story of an A-list actress accused of killing her costar

I hope you are enticed to pick up this anthology and check out its diverse stories. The book is available from the usual online sources. It also is available at Vroman's Bookstore. Click here to order a copy from this independent bookstore. If you live in the LA area, the anthology also will soon be on the shelves at the Pasadena Public Library.