WHEN A CHARACTER DEMANDS THEIR OWN SERIES

Wall mural by Alex Perryman.

Have you ever written a story, perhaps a stand-alone story or a secondary character, only to find that the character has lots of adventures to tell? And wants to tell them? 

My guest, L.J. Sellers, tells how a routine research trip for her homicide series ended up with a demanding character, Jamie Dallas, and a new series. I'll let her tell you the tale.

When I sat down with an FBI agent to talk about a story in progress, I was expecting a broad overview of how an eco-terrorist case would be handled. Instead, I learned that my agent-friend had been the lead on the investigation into the Eugene cell of the Earth Liberation Front, an eco-terrorist group that sabotaged and burned businesses across the northwest.

What was most fascinating was that a key component of the investigation was to send an undercover agent to infiltrate the group. As soon as I heard that, I knew I had to incorporate the character and tactic into my story.

So I created Agent Jamie Dallas, a young woman who specializes in undercover work—and has to lie, cheat, steal files, seduce targets, and put on performances to accomplish her goals. Unlike my homicide detective character, Agent Dallas is free to travel. She’s based in Phoenix, but the bureau sends her out on special assignments to infiltrate groups.

She’s also young, unencumbered, and willing to take risks. Once I got inside her head and wrote her part, I had so much fun, she simply demanded her own series. Writing the character has invigorated me, reminding me that I used to be young, adventurous, and seductive. It’s such a blast to put myself back in that mode—then amp it up with a little spying and gunplay.

So now I rotate between the two series, with protagonists who couldn't be more different. Yet I’m equally comfortable writing from both perspectives—as well as many others. Writers tend to have multiple personalities, but I seem to have dozens!

I've now published two Agent Dallas books, each set in a different location. Another great reason to write this series—I get to travel every once in a while for research. In The Trigger, Dallas infiltrates a group of survivalists near Redding, CA to find a missing woman, and in The Target, she gets inside a San Diego medical technology company to solve an agent’s murder and stop a corporate saboteur.

 

I have a third book planned for the fall, as well as a trip to Washington DC. Based on readers’ enthusiastic response, I suspect there will be many more.

One of the greatest joys of writing is to explore facets my own personality and to live vicariously through the adventures of my characters. It’s a great life, and I feel blessed to be a full-time writer with such loyal readers.

                                                                                                                                                            

BUY: AMAZON

Agent Jamie Dallas loves undercover assignments that get her out of the Phoenix Bureau. But her new case is daunting—an FBI agent is mysteriously dead, and a medical device company is targeting competitors with dangerous acts of sabotage. 

Dallas infiltrates TecLife, spies on her new bosses, and tries to steal a sample of their mutant bacteria. But soon her life is in danger when she’s caught in a battle between companies, each hoping to kill the competition while launching a billion-dollar blockbuster. 

Meanwhile, a famous actor is found beaten and murdered in an abandoned cannery, and a young detective lands the case of a lifetime. Determined to bring justice to his favorite star, Detective Cortez follows a trail of evidence that leads to the medical-product war—but he has no idea how deadly it is. 
Can Dallas survive long enough to stop a researcher who’s gone over the edge and save millions of consumers from getting caught in the crossfire? Excerpt

                                                                                                                                             

L.J. Sellers writes the bestselling Detective Jackson mysteries—a two-time Readers Favorite Award winner—as well as the Agent Dallas series and provocative standalone thrillers. Her novels have been highly praised by reviewers, and she is one of the highest-rated crime fiction authors on Amazon. L.J. resides in Eugene, Oregon where most of her novels are set and is an award-winning journalist who earned the Grand Neal. When not plotting murders, she enjoys standup comedy, cycling, social networking, and attending mystery conferences. She’s also been known to jump out of airplanes. You can find Linda: Facebook, Twitter, Website

MONDAY'S MUSINGS—TOOK A TRIP AND NEVER LEFT THE RANCH

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Mine was great and I got to spend some time with my mother on Saturday and got to see her mama cat's new litter of babies. She has them in one of her extra bedrooms—now a nursery, lol! That's my mom J.

We have a winner for M.L. Buchman's Pure Heat: Farawayeyes. If you'll contact me I'll arrange for you to pick up your copy. Congratulations!

While I was recuperating and restless I had the chance to read some books that I enjoyed. Somewhere along the way my sense of restlessness was assuaged by my 'travels'. I've been to Texas, Colorado, Montana and slipped up into northwest Canadian wilderness, traveled all the way over to Pennsylvania and up to Maine.  Pretty nifty. Take a trip and never leave the farm, J  I’d thought I share a few with you (All were at least 4 1/2 stars in rating). 

Being restless I wanted something different. Something to pique my interest and divert me from hurting. I do have eclectic taste in reading. And it is very much mood driven. About the only thing I don’t read is horror (sorry horror fans), I don’t care for heavy-duty erotic romance (I like a bit left to my imagination), and kid’s books (my kid’s all grown up). I've read and enjoyed a few YA—but I really have to be in the mood to read YA (preferably when I don’t have a house load of young adults running in and out or playing Dear Abby with me). 

I have a towering stack of TBR books I can read but nothing appealed. Have you had those times? 

A friend of mine who writes sexy and fun cowboys also writes women’s fiction (which I hadn't read yet). She has a great sense of humor and I've laughed a lot reading her books, her turn of phrase, her realistic settings, sense of family and community. I needed some laughter and so I thought, why not?

TheBlue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee and the second, The Red Hot Chilli Cookoff, by Carolyn Brown. 

“Welcome to Cadillac, Texas, where the jalapeños are hot, the gossip is hotter, and at the end of the day, it's the priceless friendships that are left standing...”

Oh, I am so glad I passed that welcome sign! That was five days of fun and laughter spent in Cadillac, Texas. Just what the doctor ordered.  What drew me to her stories?  Well, I loved watching movies like Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes, and absolutely loved Designing Woman series on TV. These books encapsulate the best of those shows. The southern humor, laughter and tears, diverse multi-generational women and how they deal with life, and strong friendships that see you through everything life throws you. Scratch the surface of the southern charm and you’ll find some very strong women who can take you to the cleaners without breaking a sweat and smile graciously while doing it, bless their hearts. I have to tell you, I fell in love with the feisty Agnes! The woman is diabolical and Lord love her, she can have my back anytime. She is a character in both books. All I can say is I’m glad I’m not the pretentious Violet (I loved how that played out!).

If you like a face paced page-turner and laugh out loud situations these two stories are a must read this summer.

I tried a new, to me, author, Mark Nykanen. I haven’t read any of his books but that will change henceforth. I read his thriller, Primitive Excellent story. Definitely intense. I like stories that grab from current issues facing us and in this case it was climate control and what dangers could be facing our world if steps aren't  taken to correct consumption. I've read a lot about the issue. But Primitive doesn't preach and it is an involving, multi-layered thriller about climate change theories. It starts with a kidnapping of a well-known model, Sonya Adams, to act as a spokesperson for their group’s agenda and subsequent media frenzy and some darker governmental agencies involved. It kept me turning pages and I liked the growth of Sonya and how she found her own tough core to survive. There is a well-developed layer in the story that says the surface may not show the whole and that’s especially true in the relationship between Sonya and her estranged daughter, Darcy. They seem at first glance to be polar opposites and yet at the core of both are more similar they either believes. Tightly constructed and entertaining story. Makes you think. If you like a good suspense/thriller it’s worth the read!

Another new to me author, but not for long, is Melinda Leigh. I read her romantic suspense, Midnight Exposure. Another multi-layered page-turner. I really liked the reasons for the creepy villains actions. She developed that well without tipping her hand by prematurely revealing him (I knew one character had to be involved but minute clues said he wasn't the main bad guy and that kept me guessing for awhile). You really got to see the bad guy’s arc and goals and motivations. Still a very creepy guy but very well done. This one starts with the disappearance of two hikers, which is blamed on the snowstorms in the Maine wilderness, but it’s oh so much more. Add in the attempted kidnapping of visitor, Jayne Sullivan, a tall red-headed beauty who is a part time tabloid photographer, a reclusive sculptor with past, and sparks fly. There is a well done happy ever after but not before some serious danger to traverse and problems, one of which is to keep Jayne out of the hands of a creepy Druid with an agenda. I really enjoyed the story—clever in execution and fast paced with a good romance attached. Hope you will, too.

So, how was your Mother's Day? Do anything fun? Read any good books you'd like to share?

 

CUTTING THROUGH THE CLUTTER WITH A CLEAR BRAND

You solidify your brand by contributing something new or fresh to the conversation of your genre or theme...

It's my pleasure to have New York Times bestselling novelist, Thomas Greanias, as my guest. As a former journalist he uses his knowledge of politics, national security, and real life conspiracies to write tightly woven thrillers of international intrigue and mystery. 

Tom's topic is one that many are chatting about these days, pro and con, branding as an author.



A lot of writers are worried about their "brands" these days. Even Brand Name authors.


One fellow New York Times bestselling author, who has sold millions more books than I have, confided to me just how hard it is to "break through the clutter" in the paradoxical world of fewer print sales for authors and more titles for readers than ever before. "You don't get it, Tom. You have your Atlantis series, and you're the No. 1 name in eBook adventure. You were the first to break through big-time in the digital space. I can't claim that leadership position. Now the digital space is where publishing is going."

The answer, this author decided, was to launch a new series, which has done well, and on top of that add a young adult series. The workload is so heavy that this Brand Name author is close to the next predictable stage: taking on co-authors like James Patterson did.

I think there's a better way to build your brand, a better brand for you to aspire to, and that brand is you.

The reality is that your name IS your brand. And the most powerful way you define your brand is through the novels you write. Each new title adds an association to your name, associations that hopefully strike a positive chord with readers. Positive emotions usually come from writing a damn good novel that delivers on its promise. If you're writing a suspense novel, for example, you need to deliver suspense to your readers. A romance novel should deliver romance. A thriller should deliver thrills. Your voice in how you tell your story fills out your brand.

So you build your brand by writing your books. You solidify your brand by contributing something new or fresh to the conversation of your genre or theme.

For example, I contributed to the conversation about Atlantis to advance it to the 21st century. Everywhere I looked in fiction and Hollywood, it was the same old underwater fantasy that had little to do with Plato’s 4th century BC account. For starters, I went back to the source and asked, “What if it were literally true?" That led to Raising Atlantis, my novel about rogue archaeologist Conrad Yeats, beautiful Vatican linguist Serena Serghetti, and a secret U.S. military expedition that discovers ancient ruins two miles under the ice of Antarctica. Sequels such as The Atlantis Prophecy and The Atlantis Revelation then established that Atlantis is more than a lost continent. It’s a centuries-old global conspiracy playing out before our eyes even now. The Atlanteans, in short, are among us.

You, too, can rise above your genre or subject matter by adding something new to the conversations that you’re passionate about. You get your brand, and we all benefit.

• Question for readers: Do you prefer the familiarity of the same character in a series of books (Harry Potter, for example), or the same type of character (poor rookie lawyer from South) in different one-offs (John Grisham's legals thrillers).

Tom is offering two chances to win either a copy of his special edition Atlantis Legacy (first two books combined) or a hardcover of The Atlantis Revelation. If you're interested in being considered, please either leave me a way to contact you in your comment or send me an email: siamckye at gmail.com
 

Back Cover Blurb:
 
Deep beneath the ancient city of Jerusalem lies a secret that knows no bounds, devastating enough to reach across time. History’s greatest spy story begins here.

For a millennium, Jerusalem’s Temple Mount has been at the center of war and death. There’s never been a time when blood wasn’t spilled upon this ancient, sacred site. Flash forward to present-day Jerusalem, where 35-year-old Israeli counterterrorism agent Sam Deker has just thwarted the most recent act of violence—an attempt by radical Palestinians to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque and pin the blame on right-wing Orthodox Jews. The threat, however, is a diversion. Deker himself is the real target. He is captured and taken to neighboring Jordan, where he is tortured because of his deep knowledge of Israel’s most closely guarded state secret.


Deker escapes with his comrade Uri Elezar, making it all the way to the border, only to be taken down at the banks of the Jordan River. This time, however, Deker wakes up in the middle of the ancient Israelite army on the eve of its historic siege of Jericho. Deker doesn’t know if he is dead, in some torture-induced psychosis, or really back in time. But General Bin-Nun has declared a colossal holy war, and he’s sending Deker and Elezar on a dangerous mission to spy on the Promised Land in advance of the invasion.


For Deker, it’s his only hope to escape this genocidal hell. Then he finds himself in the arms of a beautiful enemy named Rahab, caught in a web of deadly betrayal, as he struggles to unlock the truth, secure Israel’s future and his own, and save the twenty-first century from The Promised War.  EXCERPT

BUY: Amazon, Barnes &Noble, Borders, IndieBound

Hardcover and digital

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New York Times bestselling novelist Thomas Greanias is one of the world's leading authors of adventure, No. 1 in eBooks, Audiobooks and the World Wide Web. His tightly woven thrillers of international intrigue and mystery first exploded online before thrilling readers in print in dozens of languages and countries around the globe.
 

A former journalist, Greanias has reported on issues of national security as an on-air correspondent in Washington, D.C. for NBC affiliates, and he has advised the White House, Congress, and Fortune 500 corporations on the future of digital media. His work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, radio and television, and his top-ranking sources in governments, intelligence agencies and supernational organizations continue to inform and inspire his plots.  Thomas Greania on Twitter  On Facebook

WHAT KIND OF WRITER ARE YOU?

My guest is thriller author, Graham Brown. His debut thriller, BLACK RAIN, has the backdrop of Mayan myth. I can't wait to read it.


Graham cracks me up with his view of things. Take a look at his website and read his latest adventure, Hieroglyphic Canyon. I also like his thoughts on writing. I can so relate to his *style*. :-)


People often ask: “What kind of books do you write?” An important question, but I think a more important question for us writers is “What kind of writer are you?”

It’s important because you have to know yourself to know how to get your best work out. I been fortunate enough, even before I was published, to talk with and occasionally hang out with other writers. To my dismay they all seemed so damn organized. I actually made me sick. Word counts, page counts, designated times for writing. Ummm… yeah, I don’t do any of that stuff.

Which begs the question - Am I doing this thing wrong somehow?

I mean, I could do a word count but most likely it would resemble my senior paper from high school which had to be fifteen hundred words and in which I used every possible trick to lengthen every single sentence as much as humanly possible including repeating and repeating and repeating words and phrases. If Lucas had written Star Wars that way it would have started “A, long, long, long , long ,long , loooooong time ago in a galaxy far, far, extremely, very far away…” Nope – word count’s not going to work for me.

Then, I met a couple of writers that only work when they’re really feeling it. “Really Feeling It”? Are you kidding me? Nine times out of ten I don’t “really feel it” until I’ve been working for an hour or so. That first hour of work is like – “ugh, I think I’ve forgotten how to do this.” Followed by - “why do I suck so much.” Followed by – “wait, look, a sentence with some redeeming value – PROGRESS!”

So what kind of writer am I anyway? Well for me, getting going is tough- I don’t mean sitting in the seat – although that can be a problem too. I mean cranking out pages that I think are worthy of all the effort. It just doesn’t start quickly. But once I get going I don’t want to stop.

I guess that means I’m a sprint writer. No that’s not quite right, 100,000 plus words cannot be considered a sprint. A “binge” writer? No – that sounds like it’s involuntary somehow and that I have to throw it all away afterward – thankfully neither of which is generally the case. Okay so here it is – I’m a Freight Train writer. It takes a long time to get up any momentum but once I start going don’t park on the tracks in front of me.

When I’m really working, I end up staying up later and later every night. Which, of course, makes it harder and harder to get up in the morning, but I don’t care- I write until physically can’t go anymore.

With apologies to Gabriel Byrne, it reminds me of the talking Heads song – Life During Wartime. Sleep in the daytime, work in the night time, I might not ever get home…

Now, I’m not recommending this to anyone – in fact I think it’s probably the least healthy style of writing out there. What I am suggesting is find out what works for you – try different things and when you’ve found THE WAY you get your best work done, don’t worry if it’s different from what others are doing, because I guarantee everyone is doing something a little different. And in my opinion, knowing yourself is as important as knowing your characters.


Funny thing is, this was a hard realization to come to. Mostly because my first book, Black Rain, which came out in January of 2010, was a different process. I wrote it over a long period of years, prior to being represented. Prior to having any real deadlines. I wrote that one more like one of those “when I’m feeling it authors.”

My second book, Black Sun, which comes out this August, was a different story (no pun intended). Written on a dead-line, with important people like agents and editors waiting to see it, I tried to do the page count thing, and I did, in a way – at first I fell way behind in my page count, while I thought and considered and backtracked and rearranged, and then, when the train got going, I caught up and passed the page count And it went quickly, and it came out great and it was tighter on the first draft, than my prior book had been on the third or fourth. Guess we’re learning something.


And when it came time to do the revisions – I did them the same way – thinking and jotting down notes for hours and days, while not a keystroke was written. And then, I went into the work mode, pretty much twenty-four/seven for several weeks. I didn’t want to be interrupted by anything, not dinner, not walking the dog, or going out with my wife or our friends.


To quote another line from Life During Wartime – no time for dancing, or lovey dovey, I ain’t got time for that now…


So now I’m working on a third book, I’ve been filling up legal pads with scribbled character notes and dialogue fragments and arrows and abbreviations galore to the point where; if one of these suckers falls into the wrong hands it will probably get me committed as some kind of Uni-bomber like mad man. Doesn’t help that during this phase, shaving and personal hygiene go out the window and that I’m often seen talking to myself in public, working out dialogue, (which is almost always conflict so it seems like I‘m arguing with myself). Truth be told, it’s not a pretty sight, the other day at Starbucks people were scurrying away in all directions to get away from me. The character I was working on was plotting to destroy the world and I think I may have voiced some of his plans to the unsuspecting public. Might have to go to a different Starbucks next time.


But anyway , somehow this works and now the train is starting to move. The nights will soon get longer and the days will get later and the whole thing will pick up speed until hopefully it comes to a roaring finish and I can reflect on another line from Life During Wartime, in which we hear the singer tell us - “I’m burning notebooks, what good are note books, they won’t keep you alive…” No, but then again, they might bring a story to life.

• So tell me about your “weirdest” writing habit? If you dare.

# - # - #

• A Coveted Treasure,
• 
  
  A Perilous Mission,
• 
  
  And a Dark Secret That Kills

Covert government operative Danielle Laidlaw leads an expedition into the deepest reaches of the Amazon in search of a legendary Mayan city. Assisted by a renowned university professor and protected by a mercenary named Hawker, her team journeys into the tangled rain forest—unaware that they are replacements for a group that vanished weeks before, and that the treasure they are seeking is no mere artifact but a breakthrough discovery that could transform the world.

Shadowed by a ruthless billionaire, threatened by a violent indigenous tribe, and stalked by an unseen enemy that leaves battered corpses in its wake, the group desperately seeks the connection between the deadly reality of the Mayan legend, the nomadic tribe that haunts them, and the chilling secret buried beneath the ancient ruins.

Excerpt

~*~*~*~

Graham Brown was born in Chicago in 1969. He grew up in Illinois, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, traveling often with his family. Graham earned a degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona and went on to get a law degree from Arizona State College of Law in Tempe.

A former pilot, lawyer and executive at a small health care company, Graham could not escape the allure of the thriller. After writing in his spare time for years he decided to see what he could make of it. Black Rain is the first result, with other novels on the way.


Graham has spent the better part of the last 21 years in the deserts of Arizona and southern California. He currently lives in Tucson, with his wife, Tracey.

Doing It Like You Mean It

"The writer’s state of mind is an effort of perception, a sustained devotion to the equal observation of things without and within."

My guest is Anthony Flacco. He's worn many professional hats in his career. Anthony writes both non-fiction true crime, has a historical crime series out with Ballantine, and screenwriter for Disney, Discovery, and NBC Studios.

Anthony is well aware of the difficulty writers face in pursuing publication. The sheer numbers of submissions we're competing against for attention. His topic covers the need of well crafted proposals and queries, as well as developing, what he calls, a writers state of mind.



It was just over six years ago when my partner of fifteen years left independent publishing in Hollywood to open her own literary management company (Sharlene Martin of Martin Literary Management). She was already an entrepreneur who had crafted a successful and nationally recognized business on her own, and by the time that she went forward with literary management her expertise had been fortified by her years of watching me engage in those same struggles known by all of us who write for commercial publication--especially with regard to the securing and maintaining of effective representation. She decided to specialize in nonfiction books because they are what she most likes to read. For her, the result was a rapid rise to success and power in the nonfiction book world. For me, there has been a backdoor benefit that I never could have anticipated beyond collecting jokes about sleeping with your agent or having a representative who returns my calls.

That unexpected benefit rose from my work as editorial consultant for her company, which I originally took on in the inevitable need to help her run her business in the afternoons while I did my own writing throughout the night.

• My prior one-way experience of the literary marketplace expanded exponentially once I crossed to the other side of the desk and began to read and evaluate incoming submissions, edit book proposals and book manuscripts to put them into sellable form, and—most gratifying of all—converse with my partner every day on issues of writing and the publication game.
  
  That’s how an afternoon job that I never applied for became the most important one of my writing life outside of the writing itself. It stabilized my psyche in ways I could not have predicted, to the point that in a perfect world I would love to be able to rent my seat at the editorial desk to any one of you, perhaps charging by the hour or by the day (you know, just to keep the lights turned on), and thereby provide you with the same invaluable bird’s-eye view on the profession while you watch the tsunami of hopeful manuscripts wash across the transom. I’m pretty sure that the experience would change a lot of things for you as it certainly has for me, all for the better.
  
  
  You would find that the chance to watch and sometimes assist other writers who struggle with the same issues that you do is revelatory in its power to take the sting out of the blows that you often endure in the marketplace, since they turn out to be the same ones suffered by virtually everyone striving for authorship. (And I include the wildly successful ones who rake in royalties of seven figures.) Are there exceptions? Maybe. And they are about as relevant to the rest of us as the knowledge of who won this week’s Lotto—loose factoids.
  
  
  The revelation’s power arrives in two separate forms. The first is common to all who struggle to get published, since it involves the process. The second is typical of every writer—and this part includes those rich ones with the big waterfront mansions—because it involves living the writer’s life and maintaining a writer’s state of mind.
• 
  
  Regarding the first, the real and relevant truths about the struggle for a contract with major publishing houses is this: those publishing house slights, those yawning chasms of silence that loom up right where a response to your submission ought to be, were never the personal affronts that they seemed, not to me and not to you. The onslaught of material is daunting in the extreme.

For sad example, in the past I confess to having written to publishing house editors to ask if they would be willing to read and evaluate my work—and was genuinely disappointed by their indifference. If I had a rationale at all in wasting my time that way, other than that of seeking a toe-hold anywhere I could find one, it would have been something to the effect that I hoped for my work to be strong enough to grab them in the first few lines, they might be willing to invest their time and energy on my behalf out of sheer excitement over the stuff on the page.

It’s painful to admit to that now, because during the intervening years I have witnessed countless such requests coming in over the transom and I can’t help but appreciate the vast quantity of time and work that each would involve. Impossible. But the world is full of people who will ask for it anyway.

• The result is that as a writer, I still look for feedback all the time—but never inside of the profession. Writers’ groups and literate friends are there to do what busy professionals simply cannot.

When you stop by to rent your time in the editorial seat, you will likely find that the amount of work and creative energy that you see being wasted by many prospective authors will knock you backward. The sight of it will permanently change the way that you go about things. Conversely, the stunning work of serious contenders who bear a passion to tell their stories will keep the high water mark clear before your eyes. Perhaps not all of us feel driven to seek the highest level of quality in our work—ordinarily—but you can bet that an awareness of the avalanche of competing manuscripts will amp up your energy for excellence.

And yet in our enthusiasm for a new book idea and our desire for a major contract, it’s easy to forget that ideas—good ideas, even great ideas—are like that shared anatomical trait on our collective nether regions. It takes so much more, more, more than that in the outrageously competitive world of nonfiction books.

• From the editor’s side of the desk you observe how many intelligent and often supremely well-educated writers will try to cut corners on their queries, their proposals, their drafts. Even the most brilliant among them will frequently reduce their rationalizations for sloppy work to the same handful of familiar excuses that my ears burn to consider:
  
  “But I’m so busy (or) I can’t afford the cost of doing it right (or) Hey--if you appreciate my work, you won’t need a well-crafted query letter and a fully completed book proposal. You’ll cut me some slack and give me a boost. Why? Well, naturally, because I’m meeeeeeee…”

If that sounds laughable, it only emphasizes the extremes to which any of us can wander if we look for easy ways to publication. We ignore the broad statistics of more than a quarter million titles coming to the market each year, forgetting that each and every one of them represents a single find among a daunting pile of rejected works.

• The second big reveal from this side of the desk:

I am now immune to the delusion that any amount of literary success can relieve a whittle or a jot from a writer’s responsibility to maintain the writer’s state of mind.

The challenge is difficult enough when you are balancing jobs and family along with your writing sessions, all the more so when you are juggling the endless temptations and demands of a life of privilege. No serious writer is ever free of the fear of wasting our fleeting moments on earth by neglecting opportunities to keep our thoughts primed and our discipline tight toward capturing those fleeting flashes that drove us to write in the first place. The writer’s state of mind is an effort of perception, a sustained devotion to the equal observation of things without and within. My time behind the editor’s desk has left indelible memories of those who achieve and maintain that state of mind, and who produce their work from within it.

As for me, I’ve started a collection of jokes about the wisdom (or folly) of sleeping with your agent. But the real result of my afternoon job has been to slap a pair of glasses onto my head with mirrors attached to the sides. They provide a clear and present view of the pack with whom I have chosen to run: countless thundering feet that will trample the ambitions of anyone who refuses to keep pace.

• As for wealth and glory, they are always the most unpredictable girls at the dance. It does no good to chase them--they come to you on their own. We all know stories of brilliant writers with exquisite works who were derided by critics or initially ignored and then later rediscovered. Therefore, regarding the writer’s state of mind, “doing it like you mean it” reveals a writer who never forgets that public appreciation and acceptance of one’s work may be the result of someone else’s subjective call, but the excellence of it is there to be guaranteed by you.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Anthony is the author of the new historical true crime book, The Road Out Of Hell, which has just been released by Union Square Press at Sterling Publishing. It tells the true story behind the murders that formed the basis for the movie “Changeling,” but focuses on young Sanford Clark, the thirteen year-old who was held for two years at the Wineville murder ranch and forced to participate in the most gruesome of crimes.

Anthony’s primary research source for that story is Jerry Clark, the surviving son of Sanford Clark, which is why Jerry’s name is on the book. Anthony is also the author of the nonfiction book ”Tiny Dancer” from St. Martin’s Press, which earned high praise from the NYT Book Review, and the true-crime book, “A Checklist For Murder” from Dell Books, which sold to NBC Studios as a TV movie.

He has two historical crime novels from Ballantine books, “The Last Nightingale,” nominated by the International Thriller Writers Assn. as Best Paperback Original for 2007, and also the novel, “The Hidden Man,” in 2008, which continued the San Francisco murder mystery series.

He is a masters degree graduate of the American Film Institute, where he won A.F.I.’s Paramount Studios Award for his screenwriting. He has worked as a screenwriter for The Walt Disney Studios, NBC Studios, and The Discovery Channel. His work was also featured in the 1000th issue Commemorative Edition of Reader’s Digest.

He is currently a member of the Writers Guild of America/west, the International Thriller Writer’s Association, and the Mystery Writers of America.


Anthony Flacco website You can see the book trailer and blurb for the book here as well.

Shaking Things Up With Joel Goldman

It's my pleasure to have author Joel Goldman as my guest today. Joel has written six thrillers and his latest of his Jack Davis series is The Dead Man

I'm always curious what makes a writer choose a particular genre and what makes them begin to write. Joel says, "I started writing thrillers when one of my then law partners complained to me about another partner. I told him we should write a murder mystery, kill the son-of-a-bitch off in the first chapter and spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. So, I did and I never looked back"

Joel shares a bit about the type of characters he likes to write and why.

I explore life through the stories I write, starting each book with the same question in mind. What happens when things go wrong, especially when no one is looking? Character and characters are measured by the answer to that question. Crime fiction poses that question when the stakes are the highest, when the answer determines not only who lives and dies but how well we do both.

Flawed characters make the most interesting subjects because authors and readers can identify with them, recognizing our own shortcomings and wondering what we would do in their place without having to bear any of the consequences. Creating Jack Davis allowed me to take this process one step further and learn more about myself as I asked what happens when the same thing goes wrong in my life and my protagonist’s life.

I practiced law for twenty-eight years, trying lawsuits all across the United States. In March 2004, I was in trial in San Francisco. I awoke one morning and, while shaving, began to shake uncontrollably. As Perry Mason and Denny Crain proved, you can get away with a lot in the courtroom but uncontrollable shaking is not one of them.

It took over a year and a half and examinations by doctors in New York, New Orleans and Phoenix to get a definitive diagnosis of my condition. I have tics, a neurological disorder with no known cause or cure and a name so totally unimpressive that no self-respecting telethon would ask it out on a date. It occurs so rarely in mid-life adults, that little is known about it. Its closest living neurological relative is Tourette’s Syndrome.

Tics is very idiosyncratic, meaning that there is no set pattern or typical course. The more I do, the more I shake, spasm and stutter. My symptoms vary over time, familiar shaking patterns fading into the background, replaced by spasms that hyperextend my neck, arch my back and twist my torso in ways that makes Cirque du Soleil jealous. Tics is not life threatening or life shortening but it is life annoying and it forced me to give up my law practice.

Fortunately, I already had a second life – crime writer. My first series, four books featuring trial lawyer Lou Mason, allowed me to channel the legal career I’d only imagined. Tics gave me the chance to explore the life I’d won in the be-careful-what-you-ask-for sweepstakes by creating a new character, Jack Davis, an FBI Special Agent, forced to give up his career by a movement disorder that makes him shake when he should shoot.

Jack’s life shakes apart in Shakedown (2008) in the middle of an investigation into a drug ring that claims the lives of everyone in a drug house and threatens the people closest to him. In The Dead Man (2009), Jack he struggles to find purpose in a life that is forever throwing him off balance while he tracks a serial killer who specializes in making deadly nightmares come true.

For more about my books and me, visit my website, http://www.joelgoldman.com/, send me a friend request on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php and click here to watch the video preview of my new book, The Dead Man - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t55cZ1ZnfV0

***

Joel became a ten-year overnight success with the publication of his first book, Motion To Kill, in 2002, introducing trial lawyer Lou Mason. Lou made his second appearance in 2003’s Edgar® nominated The Last Witness. He managed to keep getting in and out of trouble in Cold Truth (2004) and Deadlocked (2005), which was nominated for a Shamus award and has been optioned for film. Joel retired from his law practice in 2006 and still hasn’t looked back.

Joel and his wife have three kids, all out in the world happily doing what they want where they want to do it. They also have two cockapoos, Roxy and Ruby, sisters born on Valentine's Day that may never grow up. Joel is a fourth generation Kansas Citian and am named after his great grandfather who came to the United States in 1881. Legend has it that he overheard his parents arranging his marriage and decided to take his chances in the New World, leaving under cover of darkness. As Joel says, “I don't know whether the story is true but I subscribe to this quote from one of my favorite movies, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: When legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

"Enter a drawing for a free, autographed copy of The Dead Man, by posting a comment about me and my books with a link to my website or the video preview of The Dead Man on your Facebook page, My Space page or website and sending me the link by midnight, May 21 at joelkgoldman@gmail.com. I'll write the names down, put them in a hat, close my eyes and pick a winner."

Sweet Justice Is Coming

A frequent question readers, and often—other writers, ask a Best-Selling author, is where do you get your ideas? How do you develop the idea into a story? How do you research it? What is your motivation for using certain topics?

Best selling author, Jordan Dane, answers some of these questions and explains the reasons behind her Sweet Justice Series.

Imagine the horror of going to your teenager’s bedroom one morning only to find her missing. Her bed hadn’t been slept in and her clothes are gone.

In 2000, that’s what one mother in Florida faced. Her only child had conspired against her and ran away. And worse, she later discovered that her daughter had left the country—without having a passport. From the moment I read this news story, I was hooked and had to know more about how such an atrocity could happen. The teen’s trail might have gone ice cold, but her mother pushed authorities in a direction.

She knew where to start looking.

Only six months earlier, the girl had received a computer for a gift—a thoughtful present from a mother who wanted the best for her child. But this gift soon brought a virtual menace into their home. A charming and anonymous stranger lured the 14-year old girl to Greece—a man she’d met in a teen chat room. We’ve all heard stories like this. But after researching the facts behind this case, I was amazed at the audacity of this Internet predator.

And I wanted to shed light on the shrewd tactics of online predators in my upcoming book—Evil Without A Face (Feb 2009, Avon, $7.99)—the first book in my Sweet Justice series.

The online predator not only manipulated the teenager in Florida, but he also convinced law-abiding adults to cooperate with his schemes. These people thought they were helping an abused kid, but they didn’t know the facts, check with her family or contact local law enforcement. This stranger duped an employee of the local phone company into arranging for a private cell phone to talk to the girl directly. His slick manipulation scored him a purchased airline ticket (without a direct connection to him) and a clandestine ride for the girl to the airport. But after he bribed a child pornographer to acquire an illegal passport for her to leave the United States, the girl was out of the country before her mother knew she was gone.

And the chase to save the girl was on—a mother’s worst fear.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. This happened in 2000, before the added airport security measures were implemented after 9/11 in 2001. The girl would never have been allowed on a plane without proper ID. But after contacting a source in the airline industry, I was shocked to learn how many children travel unaccompanied and without a valid ID on domestic flights these days. So this extraordinary Florida case became the framework for my novel, Evil Without A Face. And I chose to set part of the story in the unique venue of Alaska where I had lived for ten years.

My novels have the feel of being ripped from today's headlines because real crime inspires me. Who says crime doesn't pay? Violence is like the ripple effect on the surface of still water. The wake radiates out from the victim and touches many people. In my books, I give a voice to the many victims of crime.

In Evil Without A Face, an illusive web of imposters on the Internet lures a deluded teen from her Alaskan home and launches a chain reaction collision course with an unlikely tangle of heroes. A new kind of criminal organization becomes the faceless enemy behind an insidious global conspiracy. And the life of one young girl and countless others hang in the balance. This is the initial driver to my new series. With an international setting, these thrillers will focus on the lives and loves of three women—a bounty hunter operating outside the law, an ambitious vice cop, and a former international operative with a mysterious past. These women give Lady Justice a whole new reason to wear blinders.

And their brand of justice is anything but sweet.

After researching the case in Florida, I became more concerned for naïve kids socializing in cyberspace—young people like my nieces and nephews. Savvy online criminals lurk in anonymity and carry on without fear of repercussion. I’m an active member of MySpace and Facebook and know how they operate. But these social networks aren’t the problem—the criminals are. And as you’ve seen in the headlines and on TV, the online community has become a real hunting ground for predators.

Why not? It’s easy pickings.

For the most part, the Internet is an invaluable tool. And it breaks down the barriers between countries, allowing many of us to have international friends. But the anonymity of cyberspace attracts all sorts of users with criminal intent. Terrorists have found new high-tech ways to recruit online and they have duped some Internet users into funding their activities or have resorted to outright stealing through subterfuge. And since crimes that cross over jurisdictions and international borders are harder to prosecute, offenders often get away with their schemes. That's why I wanted to write Evil Without A Face and dole out my brand justice. After all, who couldn’t use a liberal dose of ‘Sweet Justice’ when reality becomes stranger than fiction?

How has your use of the Internet changed over the years? Have you become more suspicious of certain behaviors from online strangers? And if you have children who use online resources, can you share some tips on how you keep them safer?

***

Avon/Harpercollins launched Jordan Dane’s debut suspense novels in a back to back publishing event in Spring 2008 after the 3-book series sold in auction. Ripped from the headlines, Jordan's gritty plots weave a tapestry of vivid settings, intrigue, and dark humor. Publishers Weekly compared her intense pacing to Lisa Jackson, Lisa Gardner, and Tami Hoag—romantic suspense that “crosses over into plain thriller country”. Pursuing publication since 2003, this national best selling and critically acclaimed author received awards in 33 national writing competitions. And recently, her debut novel NO ONE HEARD HER SCREAM was named Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2008 and Romantic Times Magazine nominated NO ONE LIVES FOREVER as Best Intrigue Novel of 2008. Formerly an energy sales manager in the oil and gas industry, she now is following her passion to write full time. Jordan and her husband share their residence with two cats of highborn lineage and the sweet memory of an impossible to forget canine. For more, visit www.jordandane.com.

Coming in November, 2009: THE WRONG SIDE OF DEAD

HOW CAN YOU BE A WRITER IF YOU'RE NOT A READER?

~Sia McKye~

I read a number of blogs. One blog I regularly read is written by an agent. On this particular occasion there was an informal discussion going on between several agents and editors, chatting about a dichotomy between readers and writers. The gist of it was that there were a whole lot of writers out there that weren’t readers. People convinced that they had a “book or two in them,” but they weren't readers. Then there were the writers who felt you shouldn't read other’s work in your genre because it would interfere with your "voice".

To me, the question has always been how can you effectively write a book if you don't read them? Base it on TV? Your fascinating life? Because you're a professional writer on the job?

I write many things professionally, articles, seminars, notes, and lots of reports. I'm writing something every day and while I don't have the time to read six or more books a week anymore, I do read something everyday. I read for pleasure. I also read to keep an eye out for what is selling, what’s not, styles of writing, and premises used.

I write creatively and have completed two 90k contemporary romance manuscripts of a trilogy and I'm working on a paranormal trilogy. So, I'd say I had “a book or two in me”. I’ve told stories all my life. I come from a very creative family of oral storytellers and published authors.

My love of books came from reading voraciously throughout my life. As a child my parents and grandparents felt to be well read one must read classic literature first. I was also encouraged to branch out and explore various genres, not just one. Consequently, I regularly read various sub-genres of romance, paranormals, suspense and thrillers, and I love Sci-fi. You could say I'm a mood driven reader. I'm the same with music for much of the same reasons--my parents and grandparents.

There is a perception out there that you can't read another’s words when formulating your stories--something nonsensical about copying the voice or premise, yada yada. To me, that's BS. My voice is mine and doesn’t change just because I read someone’s work.

I often think about how coaches train their athletes. It isn't by ignoring the competition. To the contrary, they watch recorded games of the competition so they can be better. Actors know the style of other actors--they watch them. You don't think musicians aren't aware of those who produce the same style of music? Or artists aren't aware of whose style is similar?

As an author, to know what’s marketable you have to read it. Analyze it. That’s keeping your finger on the pulse of market.

I’m a marketing/promotion rep by profession, to sell my products and people; I have to be familiar with what’s out there. Is their product comparable? Better? Worse? How is it packaged? Any book I write is my product and to market it effectively I have to know what’s selling, what my target demographics are and why.

So, you want to be a author? Read. Particularly in your genre. Know what’s selling out there and why.

Sia McKye has spent over twenty years in marketing and promotion. She's written and published various articles on writing, marketing, and promotion. She's a Marketing Rep by profession and also writes fiction.