Island Confidential: funny

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Author Interview: Sybil Johnson, Paint the Town Dead

The Ocean Painting Society invites you to join the painting wave…

It’s June in the quiet Los Angeles County city of Vista Beach, the place computer programmer and tole-painting enthusiast Aurora (Rory) Anderson calls home. Decorative painters are flocking to the newly built Akaw hotel to attend the Ocean Painting Society’s inaugural convention.

During the week-long event, Rory plans on shopping the trade show floor, working in her mother’s booth, taking classes and connecting with other decorative painting fans. She doesn’t expect to witness her childhood friend collapse in class and die. When the police find no evidence of foul play, Rory embarks on her own investigation. Can she brush aside the lies to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice?

Q: Can you tell us what the book is about?

I’d love to! In PAINT THE TOWN DEAD, computer programmer and tole painting enthusiast Rory Anderson attends a painting convention at a newly built hotel in downtown Vista Beach, the California beach city where she lives. The hotel is embroiled in controversy. Protesters picket outside the main entrance and generally make life miserable for its owners and guests. Rory herself is targeted because she wrote software for the hotel. Even with all that’s going on in the city, she’s looking forward to shopping the trade show floor, taking classes, working at her mother’s booth and connecting with other decorative painting fans. She’s not expecting to witness a childhood friend collapse in class and die. When the police find no evidence of foul play, Rory launches her own investigation into her friend’s death.

Q: What is tole painting?

The term tole painting is traditionally applied to the art of painting on tin but, when I started taking classes in the 90s, it was used in a broader sense to mean the decoration of objects using various painting strokes and techniques. These days the term decorative painting is more commonly used, though I tend to use the two terms interchangeably. Folk art such as Norwegian Rosemaling, German Bauernmalerei and Russian Zhostovo fall under this umbrella. Today there’s a broad range of pattern books and packets available for the painter to choose from or you can come up with your own designs. Don’t tell my husband, but I’ve got a whole closet full of wood and other surfaces to paint. So many projects, so little time!

Q: How does your own painting experience inform your writing?

From all of the painting projects I’ve done over the years, I’ve learned a lot that I apply to my writing.
• Be patient with yourself, you can only paint/write based on your ability at the time. With regular practice comes improvement.
• Don’t constantly compare yourself to others, thinking everyone writes or paints better. Just do the best you can.
• You won’t know what a project will look like until it’s finished. The intermediate stages often seem ugly both in painting and writing. Don’t fret over it. Don’t give up. A painting project looks better after it’s varnished. A writing project looks better after it’s polished.
• Nothing is written in stone. You can always start over. Wood can be sanded. Paint can be removed from most surfaces. Characters can be changed, plots restructured, sentences reworded. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that, just because you’ve written something down, it can’t be modified.
• You don’t have to do everything the way the instructions say. Paint colors can be changed. Parts of a design can be omitted. Writing rules can be broken as long as you understand what those rules are and why you’re ignoring them.

Q: Your covers are so cute, who designed them? Who came up with the idea?

They are great, aren’t they? I really love them! Both of them were designed by the same artist, the talented Stephanie Chontos, in collaboration with my publisher, Henery Press.

Q: Being a writer seems like a big shift from working in computer science. How did you make the decision to leave tech?

I moved from the software development world into writing mysteries because I was looking for a new challenge. At that time, I was working freelance and my contract had ended. One morning I woke up with this vision of a young woman finding the body of her painting teacher in her garden so I decided to try writing. From that germ of an idea my first book, FATAL BRUSHSTROKE, was born and published many years later. I was lucky enough to be able to quit my day job and devote myself full-time to writing.

There are more similarities between programming and writing mysteries than you might think. The approach to writing a mystery and writing a program is fairly similar. In both, you start with an idea and a set of requirements. For a mystery it’s what a reader expects to see in the story; in programming it’s a list of features. They also both involve a period of design. At least that’s true for me since I’m an outliner not a pantser. In writing, I’m plotting the storyline and “designing” characters; in programming, I’m designing algorithms and deciding how to structure the code. There are also artistic aspects to writing code. An elegant piece of code can take my breath away just like a well-written/well-plotted book.

Q: Writing can be very solitary. How do you balance the need for solitude with the need to get out and be with people?

Even though I do enjoy being around people, I’m pretty content with staying at home for long periods of time so I try to schedule regular outings. I study Ancient Egyptian and Coptic with a group I’ve been a member of since the 90s, so that gets me out of the house on a regular basis. And I plan lunches with friends and attend Sisters in Crime/LA’s monthly meetings.

Q: Give your fellow writers one great tip–productivity, craft, marketing, anything!

Take time to celebrate your accomplishments. This is something I know I don’t do enough. With all the deadlines and writing one book while finishing up another, I think writers sometimes forget to take time to acknowledge what we’ve accomplished. Taking a germ of an idea and fashioning it into a finished novel is a huge achievement.

Q: What’s next for Aurora?

A heat wave, a little romance, a trompe l’oeil painting class and, of course, a murder to solve.

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others.

She’s the author of the Aurora Anderson Mystery series, set in the world of decorative painting. The first in the series, Fatal Brushstroke, will be released by Henery Press November 18, 2014.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Visit Sybil at http://bit.ly/1Oay8Fc

Website | Facebook | Henery Press | Twitter | Goodreads

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Filed under: Author Interviews, Fun, Terri L. Austin Tagged: Author Interviews, blog tour, cozy, cozy mystery, funny, paint the town dead, tole painting
from Author Interview: Sybil Johnson, Paint the Town Dead

Author Interview: LynDee Walker, Cover Shot (part of an Agatha-nominated series)

It’s been a slow news month in Richmond, and crime reporter Nichelle Clarke is enjoying the downtime when ominous messages and a dead body kick things into high gear. And that’s before the guy with the rifle takes a hospital full of people hostage.

Up to the top of her knee-high Prada boots in leads, Nichelle finds her favorite detectives under pressure to make an arrest, but it doesn’t add up—and ignoring the “why” of this story could cost Nichelle the most important person in her life.

With too much to lose, a shot at the story of a lifetime, and a missing bullet that might be the key, landing this headline could save the day, but can Nichelle dig up the truth before the killer buries her with it?

Books in the Headlines in High Heels Mystery Series:

Q: Aloha LynnDee, and thanks for stopping by! Cover Shot is #5 in the Agatha Award-nominated Headlines in High Heels Mystery series. Can you tell us what the series, and the newest book, is about?

A: The series follows crime reporter Nichelle Clarke as she moves into more investigative reporting. The books are humorous mysteries with a little romance, and the main storylines take on some big issues: police and political corruption, religion as a business, the healthcare system…Nichelle chases important stories, and we all get to have some laughs along the way.

For this book, I wanted to show how pivotal photos can be to a story, and I also wanted to take a big issue from current headlines and flip it on its head to see what would happen. It was probably the most complicated book in the series so far, but it’s also the one that gives me the biggest sense of accomplishment when I look at the finished product.

Q: You started out as a journalist. Was there anything about news reporting that you brought with you to fiction writing? What did you learn about drawing in readers and keeping them engaged?

A: The most helpful skills I brought from the newsroom are the ability to write in any noisy environment (great whether the noise is coming from my littles or a crowd at Starbucks) and the ability to write on deadline. When you’re a journalist, you don’t have the luxury of “waiting for the muse:” the editor expects his copy on time, and you’d better have it ready.

I think the ability to hook a reader and keep them turning pages has less to do with journalism and more to do with just being a good storyteller, though it’s a skill that serves authors and reporters both well. News writing did teach me that the first sentence is everything. That line is the one that gets picked apart and tinkered with the most in every one of my books.

Q: What are some similarities and differences between writing articles for a deadline and writing a novel?

A: With a first novel, you have the luxury of taking your time. You can study every single word and rewrite to your heart’s content. When you’re working under deadline, like with journalism, there comes a point when you have to be finished. That said, I do think it’s true that practice makes every author better, so what would’ve taken months of revising on a first book take s a couple days by the fifth. That part is nice.

In both cases, you want to write the best story you can in the fewest words you can. When I first started writing fiction, I made the mistake of using way too many big flowery words, and they weakened the story. Use strong words. Make every scene count. The same lessons I learned in journalism school, just reworked slightly for the longer form of novels.

Q: Your website is gorgeous, and fits very nicely with the feel of your books. What went into its design?

A: Weeks of work and a whole lot of swearwords. (I’m kidding. Sort of.)

Thank you for the sweet comment—I’m really proud of the fact that I did it myself. I am not a technical girl at all, but I had an idea of what I wanted and I taught myself web design via Google (“why are there gray boxes around my photos? Oh. This says to use this code to make them go away. Copy. Paste. Fixed.”) My editor sent me the artwork and color codes from the cover of Front Page Fatality, and I used those to make the site go with the books.

Q: Over the five books in the High Heels series, how have you allowed the characters to change, and what has stayed the same? How do you address characters’ aging over the course of a series?

A: I think everyone has changed in some way—it’s one of my favorite things about writing the series. The characters are like friends to me, and I love watching them learn and grow. Nichelle has realized a lot of things about herself, good and bad, that have given her more confidence or are helping her be a better person. Bob has learned he’s not Superman and has some limits, and he’s gotten more protective of Nichelle. Parker has gone from Captain Notch on the Bedpost to a one-woman guy. Joey has tried to fight his attraction to Nichelle pretty unsuccessfully, while Kyle has tried just as hard to win her back. I love opening a new file and getting to catch up with them all. The constant in my stories is that the main characters are good people at heart—flawed, sure, but all trying to make some kind of positive difference in their corner of the world.

Nichelle is aging, and since I have so many stories of hers I’d like to tell, I started her out pretty young (28) and I’m moving the timeline by only a few weeks or months at a time.

Q: Do you have any cast iron skillet recipes for a beginner? I have a cast iron skillet and no idea what to make in it.

A: My mother made the world’s best cornbread, and the skillet was the secret. Here’s how you do it:

1 cup white cornmeal
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 375.

Before you start mixing the batter, put the oil into your cast iron skillet, and put it in the oven to heat while you’re making the batter.

In a large bowl, beat sugar, butter, eggs, milk, honey, and water (I have a kitchenaid stand mixer that does this beautifully: use the flat paddle beater and speed 3).

In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt.

While mixing, slowly add dry mixture to batter. It will be slightly lumpy when fully mixed.

Take the skillet out of the oven (careful, it’s hot!), and tilt it so the inside gets coated with the oil. Quickly pour your batter into the skillet (the outside of the bread gets flash-fried in the hot oil, which is how you get the crispy crust), and then pop it into the oven.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Q: So now that you’ve given us something delicious and fattening, what one or two things would you recommend to writers and other computer-bound people to maintain health and sanity?

A: Sunshine and exercise. It’s sometimes hard for me to follow my own advice, because between children and deadlines, my days stay full—but getting outside for a walk or a bike ride recharges me like nothing else.

Links to where readers can follow you (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)

Twitter:
Facebook:
Pinterest:

Thanks so much for having me today! What a fun interview!

LynDee Walker’s award-winning journalistic work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the nation.

Her debut novel, FRONT PAGE FATALITY, is an amazon and Barnes & Noble #1 bestseller, and was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. DEVIL IN THE DEADLINE is the fourth in LynDee’s Headlines in High Heels mystery series. The fifth COVER SHOT is out November 2015.

LynDee adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is either playing with her children, working on her next novel, or admiring beautiful shoes she can’t wear.

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

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Author Interview: Amy Metz, Short and Tall Tales at Goose Pimple Junction

This is not your average Southern town. With a hint of mystery and a lot of laughs, you’ll catch a glimpse of everyday life in Goose Pimple Junction in this short story compilation. Tales is a fun escape that will answer readers’ burning questions about the residents of this quirky, small town.

How did Johnny Butterfield become police chief?
How did Tess and Jack get engaged?
How did Ima Jean come to live with Louetta?
How do you celebrate an Apple Day?

Q: Aloha Amy, and thanks for stopping by! Can you tell us what the Goose Pimple Junction series is about?

A: My Goose Pimple Junction series is a humorous cozy mystery series about folks in a fictional small town in the South. The residents are wacky, close-knit, loving, trusting, and genuinely good people. Readers have said the characters are the kind of people they’d like to know. Every once in a while, a bad guy comes to town, but the residents handle it with wit, wisdom, and grace. And a lot of laughs.

Q: Who is your typical reader?

A: I think my typical reader is a woman, but I’ve heard from men who like the series also.

Q: Is Goose Pimple Junction modeled after a real place?

A: No. It’s purely fictional. They say truth is stranger than fiction, but that’s not the case with Goose Pimple Junction. I have reviewers who say “That wouldn’t really happen in a Southern town,” or “They don’t talk that way in the South,” and they are correct. My town is fictional. There are bits and pieces of real life, but my characters say and do things that are unique to my fictional town of Goose Pimple Junction.

Q: How does Short & Tall Tales fit into the series?

A: Short & Tall Tales occurs chronologically between books one and two. Since Heroes & Hooligans begins a few months after Murder & Mayhem ended, there are a few things that happened in between them that readers weren’t privy to. Short & Tall Tales tells how Johnny became chief of police and how Ima Jean came to live with Louetta, among other things. None of it is vital information to the series, it’s just a fun, short look at life in Goose Pimple Junction.

Q: What are some useful Southern phrases that everyone should know?

A: Oh my goodness, don’t get me started. Okay, here are some of my favorites:
Get your straw out of my Kool-Aid. (That means mind your own business.)
He’s crazier than a sprayed roach.
Well shave my legs and call me smoothy.
I’m as busy as a moth in a mitten.
If it has tires or testicles, it’s gonna give you trouble.
What is your major malfunction?
He’s handier than a pocket on a shirt.
You can put a porcupine in a wood chipper, but you will not make maple syrup.
That went over like a pregnant pole vaulter.
You can just get glad in the same pants you got mad in.

Q: Writing can be very solitary. How do you balance the need for solitude with the need to get out and be with people?

A: I don’t – I’m very imbalanced! I’m a pretty solitary person and probably spend 70% of my time by myself. I like to spend time with my friends and family, but I don’t mind being alone at all.

Q: What’s next for the good citizens of Goose Pimple Junction?

A: Would you believe there will be another murder? It’s true, but that’s not all. Pickle’s mother, Caledonia, will have marriage problems, a hit woman will come to town, a teenage rascal will wreak havoc on the town, Hank Beanblossom will fall in love . . . and more.

Q: How do you celebrate an Apple Day?

A: You’ll have to read Short & Tall Tales to find out! Basically, Apple Day is an all-day festival with a lot of food, a parade, some contests (baking contests; Apple Dumpling Pageant . . . ), workshops (Praise the Lard and Pass the Apple Pie), and more food. Main Street is busy with vendors and shoppers. Barbecue, fried chicken, and fish sandwich booths sit alongside fried apple pie and arts & crafts booths. Big iron vats full of simmering apple butter dot the street, and men in overalls use six-foot-long wooden paddles to stir the thick deliciousness over an open fire. I guess it’s a cross between a Fourth of July festival and an Oktoberfest, only it’s all about apples. And town camaraderie.

Q: Your blog A Blue Million Books has lots of great resources for authors. How did you evolve from writing fiction to helping other authors?

A: As an indie author, I know how hard it is to get your name and your book out there. So I started a blog in the hopes of helping other authors promote their work. I live in Louisville, Kentucky, where we have a campaign called, “Keep Louisville Weird.” That’s simply a catchy way of saying support local business. McDonald’s and Applebee’s are everywhere, but it’s the local businesses that give a city uniqueness and flavor. Local businesses are usually small businesses, with limited capital and resources. Not unlike indie authors.

So I have my own campaign called “Authors Are Weird Too.” Everybody has heard of John Sandford, Michael Connelly, and Patricia Cornwall. They’re doing just fine on their own, thank you very much. But it’s the new authors, especially the new indie authors who need support. I hope to do that on my blog. As I promoted my book, I compiled a ton of marketing ideas and decided it might be something others could benefit from, so I added it as a page (Marketing for Indies) on my blog. I hope it’s a good resource for other authors.

Amy Metz is the author of the Goose Pimple Junction mystery series. She is a former first grade teacher and the mother of two sons. When not writing, enjoying her family, or surfing Pinterest, Amy can usually be found with a mixing spoon, camera, or book in one hand and a glass of sweet tea in the other. Amy lives in Louisville, Kentucky and loves a good Southern phrase. She can be reached at her website http://amymetz.com or her blog http://bit.ly/1MOZNJA.

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Cover Reveal: The Case of the Defunct Adjunct

A forbidden kiss. A death in plain sight. And the faculty meeting’s just begun. When the lecherous Kent Lovely, Mahina State University’s one-man hostile work environment, collapses into the haupia cheesecake, the Student Retention Office’s summer retreat goes from dull to disastrous. Now Professor Molly Barda has to fight to keep an innocent out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

Encircle Publications and cover designer Deirdre Wait, the team behind the cover of The Musubi Murder, have done it again. The cover for The Case of the Defuct Adjunct features eye-candy colors, a clean and lighthearted aesthetic, and a hint of foul play.

We wanted a set of covers that were strongly branded, so that the reader could see right away that they were part of a series. At the same time, we wanted each cover to showcase a unique element of the story, and to stand on its own.

Detail: Haupia sweet potato pie

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From Satiring.com: College Syllabus Through the Eyes of That Student –

Instructor: A name I’ll misspell and to which I’ll apply the wrong title
Email: The address of another professor in another department who shares the same surname initial
Class Meets: 15 minutes before I arrive on campus
Office Hours: Never, for weeks at a time, and then all 24 hours before an assignment is due

Read the whole thing

College Syllabus Through the Eyes of *That* Student –.

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Filed under: College Misery, Higher Ed, Impression Management Tagged: funny, I knew it, Satiring, syllabi, teaching
from From Satiring.com: College Syllabus Through the Eyes of *That* Student –

Will my book title be a bestseller?

I just found out about Lulu’s title scorer.

The Lulu Titlescorer has been developed exclusively for Lulu by statisticians who studied the titles of 50 years’ worth of top bestsellers and identified which title attributes separated the bestsellers from the rest.

We commissioned a research team to analyse the title of every novel to have topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List during the half-century from 1955 to 2004 and then compare them with the titles of a control group of less successful novels by the same authors.

The team, lead by British statistician Dr. Atai Winkler, then used the data gathered from a total of some 700 titles to create this “Lulu Titlescorer” a program able to predict the chances that any given title would produce a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.

The fruit of this work is presented here, in the form of the Lulu Titlescorer: a program that you can use to gauge the chances that your own title will deliver you a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.

You can plug in your own book titles here.
This is what I got:

The title The Musubi Murder has a 35.9% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title Molly Barda and the Cursed Canoe has a 14.6% chance of being a bestselling title, but The Cursed Canoe has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title Molly Barda and the Black Thumb has a 34.8% chance of being a bestselling title, but The Black Thumb has a 69.0% chance of being a bestselling title!

Apparently I should leave Molly Barda out of the title.

The title The Invasive Species has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title The Blessed Event has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

I listed The Black Thumb as a figurative title, and the others as literal. “Figurative” titles score higher, all else being equal.

So what title will catapult my books to the top of the bestseller lists?

The title Fifty Shades of Grey has a 34.8% chance of being a bestselling title! Nope. Can’t use that.

The title Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has a 14.6% chance of being a bestselling title! Oh dear. Box office poison.

The title Miserable Misery has a 69.0% chance of being a bestselling title! We have a winner.

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Filed under: Fun, Impression Management, Language, Science!, Writing Tagged: bestseller, career advice, funny, judging a book by its cover, Lulu, marketing, science, title analyzer, Writing
from Will my book title be a bestseller?

GUEST POST: Cheesecake, love, and other mysteries by Laura Pauling

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. She’s the author of the young adult Circle of Spies Series, the Prom Impossible Series, the time travel mysteries, Heist and A Royal Heist, and the Holly Hart Cozy Mystery Series: Footprints in the Frosting and Deadly Independence with more coming.

She lives the cover of a suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don’t tell anyone. And she may or may not actually bake cookies. You decide.

Laura Pauling

Laura stopped by to chat about cheesecake, love, and other mysteries.

cheesecake, love, & other mysteries

I wanted to write a cozy mystery. That much I knew. All I needed was inspiration in the form of an amateur sleuth. As I waited for the creative winds to blow my way, I happened to chat with a friend.

I found my inspiration.

My friend was branching out and starting her own business–selling cheesecakes! I loved it. I loved that with an already established career, kids, a husband, and two dogs, she was getting creative with her life. Pursuing a dream. Putting in the hard work and long hours it takes to launch a business. Making herself vulnerable.

Love, love, loved it. And I found my amateur sleuth. The facts that my sleuth, Holly Hart, bakes cheesecake and has red hair are the only similarities between her and the real-life inspiration.

How could I not be inspired? How could anyone not be inspired? If only in that it proves that we can do anything we put our mind to. It’s never to late to start a business or write that novel or attempt to combine what we love with what we do, whether it be for money or love.

After I found my sleuth, I dove into writing the mysteries. I have four written and two already published. Footprints in the Frosting came out in May, and Deadly Independence went live early June. If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll receive a free mystery, Murder with a Slice of Cheesecake, which will release in July.

If you could branch out and try something new or follow a dream, what would it be?

Visit Laura at http://bit.ly/1LvUYUk to sign up for her newsletter and receive a free Holly Hart cozy mystery novella.

Author Links

Purchase Links

Footprints in the Frosting: Holly Hart Cozy Mystery 1
COMING SOON: Deadly Independence: Holly Hart Cozy Mystery 2

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from GUEST POST: Cheesecake, love, and other mysteries by Laura Pauling

GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY: The Right Kind of Skin (Rhino) by Joanne Guidoccio

In high school, Joanne Guidoccio dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she entertained the idea of writing as a career. In 2008, she took an early retirement from teaching and decided to launch a second career that would tap into her creative side and utilize her well-honed organizational skills. Before long, Joanne was a working writer; her articles and book reviews were published in newspapers, magazines, and online. Eventually she progressed to fiction, where she finds that reinvention is a recurring theme in her novels and short stories.

Author Joanne Guidoccio

Today, Joanne came by to chat about having the right kind of skin. Rhino skin.

Writers especially will appreciate this:

It behooves you to develop a thicker skin.

Toastmaster Rosalind Scantlebury did not mince words at a recent Table Topics Contest. Responding to the prompt—Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me—she focused on an individual’s responsibility not to take things so personally. She peppered her impromptu talk with provocative comments, among them, “What other people think of you is none of your business.”

Definitely inspiring, especially for writers.

Thirty-one years of teaching adolescents thickened my skin considerably, but I faced different challenges when I embarked on a writing career. I had to learn how to deal effectively with critiques and rejection letters from agents and publishers and, most important of all, acquire that coveted rhino skin.

These are some of the strategies in my toolbox:

Get the Back Story
Whenever I attend readings, I pay special attention to the author’s back story. I like hearing the details about his or her writing journey and the challenges encountered along the way. Occasionally, I pick up valuable nuggets of advice that help me along my own journey. For example, Guelph writer Nicholas Ruddock (The Parabolist) established his platform by entering and placing in short story contests. When New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny couldn’t find a Canadian or American agent, she crossed the pond and approached a British agent.

Read Bad Reviews
If I have enjoyed reading a book, I look up the one-star reviews on Amazon. That’s right, I gravitate toward the negative. While shaking my head at the nitpicking and negative comments, I realize that no author is immune from criticism. Not even authors of best-selling novels can please everyone.

Eliminate the Negative
Some writers file and keep all their rejection letters. I suspect they refer to these letters often and get discouraged all over again. It is important to keep accurate records, but it is not necessary to keep these negative reminders around for future reference. After reading a rejection letter, I update the information on a spreadsheet and delete the file.

Throw More Irons Into the Fire
We’ve all heard the advice. Send out the manuscript and then immediately start on another one. Easier said than done. After writing 70K words and looking at multiple drafts of that manuscript, the thought of starting all over again can be daunting. Instead, I like to work on shorter pieces: book reviews, short stories, articles, more blog posts. Entering contests and taking online writing courses also keep my skills sharp. It is important not to sit around waiting for a response. Some action—any action—is needed.

Get Support
I belong to Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, Guppies, and Romance Writers of America. I also participate in discussion boards for The Wild Rose Press and Soul Mate Publishing Authors. I try to attend writing workshops, panels and readings offered within a fifty-mile radius. While interacting with these authors, I get valuable advice and feedback about my work. I appreciate all the help I have received, especially from good friend and fellow writer Patricia Anderson. I had only request: “Let it rip!” And she did, but in a constructive way.

From Toronto based freelancer Ian Harvey…
“Rejections are part of the game, but this is the only game in which rejection doesn’t mean no. It means not now, or not for me, or not for me right now. It doesn’t mean no forever.”

Get Joanne’s latest, A Season for Killing Blondes.