Selfish and unselfish acts

So we know off the bat that when I say unselfish in any context, I ‘m not talking about myself.  I’m the want-it-yesterday type.  But, last week a warning light appeared on my dashboard.  In an aside – why don’t the lights look like something identifiable?  This was an inverted horseshoe shaped thing with a big exclamation point in the center.  I dragged out the manual only to discover that said light meant I had a flat tire.  Only problem?  I didn’t have a flat tire.  But, in the name of caution, I asked my husband what I should do.  Since he has no man skills, his solution was to put black electrical tape over the warning light – obviously he’s from the out of sight, out of mind school of thought.

It was a mistake to seek his counsel anyway and you’d think after 30 years I’d know better than to ask him for automotive advice.  After all, he is the guy who can’t put windshield washer in a car.  In fact, the last time one of the fluorescent lights went out in the laundry room, he paid an electrician $175.00 to change the bulb.

I was saved the electrical tape option by Angel’s dad.  Yes, I should know his name and I apologize that I don’t, but in my defense, I’m sure he only thinks of me as Katie’s mom – it’s all part of that have children obliterate your identity syndrome.  I happened to be asking Dana (Samantha’s mom J - see, I do know some proper nouns) if she knew anything about non-flat flat tire warnings.  Angel’s dad was kind enough to explain PSI to me and tell me what needed to be done.  He must have seen my eyes glazing over because he magically produced some gauge thingy and also happened to have a portable air compressor on hand.  Angel’s dad has some serious man skills.  He adjusted my tire pressure and even explained how to reset the on-board computer to kill the warning light. 

When I returned home, sans warning light – without having made the long trek to the dealership in Palm Beach - I mocked my husband’s complete lack of man skills while singing the praises of Angel’s dad for the unselfish way he just dove right in.  Nice guy.

The selfish gift?  I booked myself for a weeklong cruise.  Yep, just me, my iPad and my eReader.  All alone.  Selfish but necessary.  I’m justifying this because I had a crappy year last year so I need a mental rejuvenation.  Cruising was the perfect solution.  No decisions to be made.  Eat when you want, sleep when you want.  The only thing I must do is the life preserver evacuation drill. 

Rhonda

Tools for writing faster

Yes, I live my life ass backward.  I sleep during the day and work all night.  Why? No phones, no family, no interruptions.  It’s a lot easier to go with the flow when the flow isn’t interrupted.  When I go back and read a chapter (or whatever), I can always tell when I got up out of the chair.  I find a summary paragraph; guess that’s how I get back into the swing of a manuscript.

I also plot backward.  Maybe it’s a mystery thing, though I did it the same way when I was writing for Harlequin and Random House.  I always know the ending – HEA or bad guy gets caught.  It goes something like this:

1. Bad guy captured
2. Protagonists reveal bad guy
3. Protagonists eliminate suspect #5
4. Bad guy does something bad
5. Protagonists get close to solution
6. Blah, blah, blah – until I get to the opening.

I always know the opening, that inciting incident that throws the characters into the story with a drop in to a scene in progress.  I never start with . . . ‘When my alarm went off . . .’ I try to put some action right up front to draw readers in.  Sometimes that is easier said than done, but I think it’s an important part of pacing and structure.

And speaking of structure (even though we aren’t speaking, we’re reading), I’m a plotting fool.  I know everything that will happen before I write the first word.  I need structure or I can’t get past the third chapter.  I know this for a fact since I spent almost ten years as a three chapter Sally.  It wasn’t until I discovered the white board and colored post-its that I really learned how to structure a novel.  I would assign a color to each facet of the story – her, heroine, villain, setting, danger, etc.  Then I’d make notes on the post-its and place them in chapters.  Then I had a visual.  I could see just from the colors if my villain didn’t have enough time on the page, or if the danger wasn’t ratcheting up enough.  The visual really helped me focus on my strengths and weaknesses.

Now I use plotting software.  And no, I have no financial stake in any of these programs, I just happen to like them.  My go-to software is Power Structure.  I think it costs about $80.00 these days.  It’s set-up exactly like the white board and you can assign colors to all the plot points and you can print it out just like the white board.  It does take some getting used to and in my case, I use the Novel format and I’ve customized it to include a timeline and a place to put threads and descriptions so I keep myself organized.  I then print out the plot points by chapter, put them in a three ring binder and I’m off.  Sometimes I have too much, so I have to move some plot points to the next chapter or I don’t have enough, so I add something.  I do all that by hand and write the notes on the printed plot points.

My second go-to program is WriteWayPro.  About $40.00.  This is my characterization tool.  As you may have guessed, I’m a huge fan of visuals.  WWP allows me to upload images for my characters.  I often go to soap opera sites because they have a vast array of ages and looks and I can usually find a green-eyed blonde or a handsome sixty-year-old man.  Sometimes I have an actor or a model in mind, so I search fan sites and grab a picture.  For Finley, I used the picture of the blonde actress on CSI Miami.  She was had the right look.  This part is actually fun for me.  I call it casting.  Once I have my photos uploaded I customized the template to include the things that are important for me to know.  BTW, most of this never makes it into the book, it just so I know the character’s ins and outs so I can write them more realistically – flaws and all.   I steal from awesome author Leanne Banks, who always asks these four questions: (3 if it’s a mystery, 4 if it’s a romance)

1.  Why do this man and this woman fall in love at this point in time? (romance)
2. What is protagonist’s biggest fear? (Like commitment, or snakes or whatever)
3. What is the protagonist’s secret wish? (to get married, to crawl across the snakes to find the treasure – remember Indiana Jones?, or whatever – there should be a direct link between the wish and the fear)
4. What is the protagonist’s super power? (No tights or capes.  This is the one trait that only this character has.  It can be anything.  For example, I am invisible to wait staff.  I practically have to dance on a table to get my check)

My third friendly organizational program is yWriter and it’s free.  While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of Power Structure or WWP, it gets the job done.  It has enough features to keep you on track and help you visualize your entire manuscript.

So why use organizational software?  It’s a great way to collect your thoughts and in my humble opinion, it prevents you from writing drafts.  That’s a real time saver in my mind.  When I finish a book, I’m done.  I don’t have to go back in and add clues or find a way to fix a dropped thread and I’ve worked from a timeline so I make sure Finley goes to work Monday through Friday.  And it saves on post-its.  No more ripping them off the board and replacing them as the story progresses.  And it’s portable.  I always have my plot and characters with me so I can work on a plane, train, or automobile.  That comes in really handy when travelling or even sitting in a car line waiting for a kid to finish an activity.

And yes, I’ve set up my software for plotting backward.  It’s easy to do and in the end, the week or so I spend organizing myself saves valuable time.

Happy writing,

Rhonda

I need a hooker

Yes, hookers.  I’m off to Savannah next week to research an upcoming book.  I’m mooching off a friend who lives near Savannah and she asked me the kind of things I needed to now.  One of them was where the hookers hang in Savannah.  She has no idea.  How awkward will it be to go traipsing into a seedy bar, looking like the middle-aged woman I am, asking the barkeep where to find a hooker?  There has to be an easier and less humiliating way.

So aside from the hooker dilemma, there are some perks to actually going to the setting you’re going to use.  It helps to know the sights, sounds and architecture of a city.  Not to mention the one-way streets and an assorted back alley or two.  Restaurants are a must, and a tax deduction.  I haven’t been to Savannah in 20 or 30 years, so I’m sure much has changed.  I know there’s some line about being above or below Gaston Street that separates the wealthy from the rest of us, but I can’t recall if that’s north or south.  Plus I get the perk of seeing a dear friend.

But do I always go to this much trouble?  Nope.  I did a seven book series set in Montana and never set foot in the place.  Instead I found a couple of folks from Montana online who were willing to share their info with me and I subscribed to a weekly newspaper from a small town to get the feel for what was news.  And just as an FYI, they report births and deaths, including the bovine variety.  Now Montana is a pretty easy place to fudge.  There are tons of famous paintings and photos of Montana, so I just went to the library and found some images I could use as a reference.  The state is so huge and so sparsely populated that my fake town just had to be small and surrounded by lots of land.   And the other thing I did . . . joined the Cattleman’s Association.  I now know all things cow.  More than I wanted to know, actually.  Animal husbandry sounds gross and there’s no way I’d want to stick my arm up the whoops-a-daisy of a distressed animal.  Hell, I wouldn’t want to do it with a happy cow.

No one told me when I started writing a gazillion years ago that I’d be doing stuff like this.  I’ll date myself and tell you it’s so much easier with the internet, no more ten cents a copy on those library reference books.  The other thing I like is how willing people are to talk about themselves and their lives.  I set a couple of books in New Orleans, had gone there to a conference so I had the lay and feel of the land, but I needed to talk to a prosecutor.  It took me all of two phone calls and I was speaking to the prosecutor in no time.  He told me all about their judicial system (Parishes instead of counties) and even gave me the language for the charging documents (you have to specify that a human being was murdered – as opposed to what I’m not sure).  Great info and yes I acknowledge all these people in my books.  It’s only fair.

Now I’m just wondering what to pack for my day of hunting hookers.  At least my friend will be with me so I won’t chicken out.

You gotta live research.

Sleuthfest 101

For those of you who don’t know, Sleuthfest is the annual conference of the Florida Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.  But that’s a bit misleading.  The attendees range from romance to YA.  Why?  Because in addition to mystery topics, SF offers many other panels of interest.  This year they had many craft panels – plotting, characterization, etc.  And at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what genre you’ve chosen, getting the fundamentals is really important.  And just so you know this wasn’t just about writing, they also offered several panels on marketing and various looks at the electronic aspects of publishing.

Oh, and they had really cool guest speakers.  Does it get any better than Dr. Garavaglia (Dr. G to her television fans) sharing her insights on all sorts of forensic pathologies.  Her talk was full of useful information and yes, she did touch on the Casey Anthony trial.  Specifically the tap with the heart-shaped indentation.  I bought her book and look forward to reading more about the work she does for the three counties surrounding Orlando.

And then we had Jeff Ashton, the lead prosecutor (now retired) on the Casey Anthony trial.  I found his insights interesting but I couldn’t see past the genuine disappointment and frustration he still feels about the outcome of the trial.   I can’t wait to read his book to get even more of the inside scoop on what went on behind the scenes.

I had sex at ten AM.  Not real sex, but I participated on a panel on how to incorporate sex into a mystery or thriller without totally screwing up your pacing.  My panel mates and I were led by the stunning, poised and professional Hank Phillippi Ryan.  Does it get any better than that?  We touched on the fact that went men write sex they tend to focus on the physicality of the interaction whereas women tend to lean toward the emotional ramifications of doing the deed.  But we did all agree that sex has to have a purpose.  I can be used to show how a character’s life is going down the tubes as well as how the character is finding passion at the same time he or she is solving a crime/mystery/battling the clock.

But that’s not what you really want to know about Sleuthfest.  You want to know what the agents and editors had to say.  Well, I’m saving that for tomorrow.

Oh, and just as an aside, on Thursday night a small group of us gathered in Heather Graham’s room for an impromptu game of charades.  Seeing me try to act out Animal House was worth the price of admission.

Pitching a book and some rambling

Off to Sleuthfest.  For those of you unfamiliar with this conference, it is put on by the Florida chapter of Mystery Writers of America.  But it isn’t relevant just for mystery writers.  The panels include everything from pitching a book to editor and agent appointments to discussions on uploading original content to online sales sites.

The speakers are amazing.  Charlaine Harris, Dr. G the forensic pathologist of cable TV fame and Jeff Ashton, who prosecuted the Casey Anthony trial.  Those are just the special guests.  If you want to learn about the craft of or the business of publishing, this is a great regional conference.  It’s intimate and there are lots of extras – like a trip to the gun range.

Many members of Florida Romance Writers attend this annual event.  It’s very social and far more relaxed than some of the other conferences.  This is South Florida, everything is casual. 

But I will go with a slightly heavy heart.  My first crush died this week.  Yes, I’m dating myself but who cares.  Like Marsha Brady, Davy Jones was my first idol.  In my house watching the Monkees was a privilege earned and my sister and I worked hard to get rights to the one and only television for that special half-hour.  I have some vintage Monkees in my iTunes.

Oddly enough, Davy Jones died about 3 miles from my house.  In the nine years I’ve lived here, I’ve seen him about a half-dozen times.  Once at Publix buying beef jerky.  He was very generous to the Martin County community, giving his time and money to various schools and groups.  But he never acted like a star.  Unlike our other semi-famous neighbor – Burt Reynolds.  Burt is a prima donna who doesn’t seem to realize that his fame faded long ago and now he’s just a tanned guy with a bad hairpiece.  And apparently bad financial skills since he’s about to lose his house on Jupiter Island.  Guess money management isn’t his strong suit.

Somehow I’ve gone from a conference to neighbor bashing.  Not sure how that happened.  Sorry for the free association.  What I really wanted to cover was pitching your book at a conference.  I’ve done my fair share of pitching over the last 20+ years.  Here’s what I’ve learned.  The most helpful thing you can do is to pitch a total stranger and have them tell you what in your pitch caught their attention.  Maybe you’ve got too much characterization and not enough about the conflict.  Or maybe the reverse is true.  Bottom line, you should be able to sum it up in a sentence or two.  And why a stranger and not your best friend?  Your best friend is listening to you.  A total stranger is listening to your words.  They have no emotional investment, so they tend to be able to focus on your delivery.  Let’s face it, we all babble when we’re in a stressful situation.  The more you practice, the easier it is. 

Try to incorporate a pop culture reference.  Like “My manuscript is a cross between Sleeping with the Enemy and Double Jeopardy.  It gives an immediate sense of the tone and pacing of the story.  I pitched the Finley series as what would happen if Elle Woods from Legally Blonde was investigating murders? 

And those index cards – leave them at home.  You aren’t in the debate club.  You should know your story like the back of your hand because hopefully you’re pitching a complete manuscript (if you’re previously unpublished).  The days of buying on partials are long gone.  And don’t forget to follow-up.  Agents and editors say only about 30-40% of requested materials actually get sent to them.  And they don’t care if you send it 5 minutes after your appointment or a year later.  All you have to do is remind them of the request.  Then be prepared to wait.  While you’re waiting, write your next book.

Happy Writing,

Rhonda