Fun, Mysterious, or Just Plain Creepy?

By Pat Stoltey

Some of the most amazing things happen while we're writing. We might sit down to type a chapter that we've worked out in advance. An hour later, we create an unplanned scene that came from nowhere and might even take our characters in a different direction than we expected.

Some writers prefer to write from an outline. I've tried it, but my story never stays on track. My outline becomes a moving target, as dynamic as the novel manuscript. I'm a very fast typist, and it sometimes feels as though my fingers are way ahead of my brain. I love those moments, but I don't know how they happen.

My current novel-in-the-works is in the revision stage to fix a few plot problems that reared their ugly heads after I submitted to my critique group. The main character is a woman on the run. At the beginning of the story, she thinks she's merely leaving her husband and wants to make sure he can't follow her until she's ready to talk to him. Everything goes wrong, of course, and my character ends up running from bad guys, the police, and eventually, the FBI.

At one moment in the story's first draft, when I thought she was trapped and would probably end the scene in handcuffs, my character stepped it up a notch and got away. Well, good for her, I thought. But I don't know how I came up with the getaway idea or while it waited until I was typing to surface.

Another day I charged into a tense scene with one of my very bad guys in a very bad temper...and he dropped dead. I jerked my hands off the keyboard and read the scene again. Where did that come from? I have no idea, because it wasn't how I expected the scene to go.

Do you ever experience writing that seems to come from your fingers instead of your mind? Is the idea fun, mysterious, or just plain creepy?

What's New from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers?

Here are a few of the new releases from members of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers:

The Silver Wheel
by Mary Gillgannon 9/25/12
ISBN: 978-1479206964
EISBN: 978-1452432090
Paperback: $15.00 ebook: $4.99

"Visions of secret sacrifices, desperate battles, and magical transformations haunt Sirona, a young seeress struggling to save her people from the ravages of the Roman invaders. Driven from her beloved home, she shares her destiny with Cruthin, a childhood friend obsessed with seeking out the mysteries of the Otherworld, and Bryn, a warrior graced with unexpected wisdom who loves her with all his generous heart.

Sirona’s journey takes her through forested glens and treacherous bogs to the land of the northern tribes and the court of the warrior queen Boudica. As she risks her life and her immortal spirit to change the course of history, Sirona discovers it is not warfare that will defeat the invaders, but magic and the intense connection of her people to the mystical forces of their homeland.

Blending history, romance, magic and mysticism, The Silver Wheel tells the story of the Celtic Britons and the triumph of the eternal forces that guide all our destinies."

For more information about her books, visit Mary’s website. She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

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The Tainted City
by Courtney Schafer
Night Shade Books 10/12
ISBN: 978-1597804035
Paperback $15.99 e-book $9.99

"Dev is a desperate man. After narrowly surviving a smuggling job gone wrong, he’s now a prisoner of the Alathian Council, held hostage to ensure his friend Kiran — former apprentice to one of the most ruthless mages alive — does their bidding.

But Kiran isn’t Dev’s only concern. Back in his home city of Ninavel, the child he once swore to protect faces a terrible fate if he can’t reach her in time, and the days are fast slipping away. So when the Council offers Dev freedom in exchange for his and Kiran’s assistance in a clandestine mission to Ninavel, he can’t refuse, no matter how much he distrusts their motives.

Once in Ninavel the mission proves more treacherous than even Dev could have imagined. Betrayed by allies, forced to aid their enemies, he and Kiran must confront the darkest truths of their pasts if they hope to save those they love and survive their return to The Tainted City."

You can learn more about Courtney and her books at her website and her blog.  She can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

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The Simple Truth: BP's Macondo Blowout
By J.A. (John) Turley
The Brier Patch, LLC 9/13/2012
ISBN: 978-0-9858772-1-7
Paperback $25.00 e-book $5.00

"On a quiet Tuesday evening in April 2010, leaders aboard Transocean's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig ran tests and declared BP's deep oil well to be secure. They were wrong. The resulting blowout and fire later that night killed 11, sank the rig in the mile-deep Gulf of Mexico, and left behind mourning families, an epic environmental oil spill, and questions that needed answers: Who, how, and what caused BP's blowout?

The Simple Truth dramatizes the drilling of BP's 3-1/2-mile-deep Macondo exploration well, albeit at the hands of fictional characters—surrogates for survivors and the eleven perfect witnesses who died that terrible night. You are invited to join the crew on the rig and share their lives as they drill ever deeper and the clock ticks down. But remember the rule: Zero tolerance for failure, because offshore there's nowhere to run."

For more information about John and his debut nonfiction novel, visit his website.

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Book information collected and formatted by Pat Stoltey.

Three Authors, Three Questions: August 2012

Our guests for August are urban fantasy novelist Jeanne C. Stein, mystery/thriller/mainstream author Michael Murphy, and sci fi author Nathan Lowell.

Welcome to Three Authors, Three Questions.

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Jeanne C. Stein is the national bestselling author of the Urban Fantasy series, The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. Her character, Anna Strong, received a RT Reviewers Choice Award for Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist in 2008 and was nominated again for the 2011 book, Crossroads. She was named RMFW Writer of the Year for 2008 and nominated again in 2012.

Jeanne also has numerous short story credits, including the novella, Blood Debt, from the New York Times bestselling anthology, Hexed (2011). Her series has been picked up in three foreign countries and her short stories published in collections here in the US and the UK. The eighth in the Anna Strong series, Haunted, debuts August 28th.

You can find her on Facebook, Twitter (sporadically), and on the blog she shares with Mario Acevedo: The Biting Edge. Her website address is: http://www.jeannestein.com/


1.  Jeanne, please tell us about the first novel you ever wrote (what was it about, what inspired you to write it, how long did it take, and did it get published?).

My first novels were all mysteries, usually with a female cop or ex-cop as protagonist and set in southern California. I still have them kicking around somewhere (on those computer print-outs with the holes on the side) and I have used bits and pieces from them in other books, but they are all unpublished. I started writing in the '70s, after joining a mystery reading club sponsored by a wonderful book store in San Diego, Grounds for Murder. Through that club I met emerging mystery authors like Sue Grafton, Robert B. Parker, Carolyn Hart, Charlaine Harris and Sarah Paretsky. All influenced me to try my hand at writing. Later I joined Sisters in Crime, one of the founding members in fact, and my first critique group.

It took moving to Denver, though, and attending an RMFW conference to introduce me to the influences that would lead to my finally being published—a critique group of serious, professional writers—and we’ve been together ever since.

2.  What techniques do you use to bring your novel’s setting alive, whether that setting is real or fictional?

My series is set in San Diego and I try to make it as familiar and recognizable to those who live there as I can. I can take you on a walk in Mission Beach and show you Anna’s cottage. We could have breakfast at Mission Café and lunch at Luigi’s. In fact, a fan of mine actually put together a walking tour of some of the locations in the book. It was the greatest compliment I could have been paid.


3.  Where do you write and what is your writing schedule like?

I try to write every day, 2000 words or more. Now that I have a new series starting and a couple of other projects in the works, it’s more important than ever that I keep a schedule. I normally start the day at 5 or so with email and whatever promotional obligations I have to finish (like this piece—it’s 5:30 am and I’m on my second cup of coffee). Then I hit the computer in earnest and work until lunchtime. The rest of the day is spent finishing my word count, then exercising, running errands…the minutiae of life.

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Michael Murphy has spent most of his life in Arizona. He lives with his wife of forty years, his four dogs, a feral cat and four urban chickens.

He’s working on his ninth novel, a mystery set in the 1930s called The Yankee Club. His return to Woodstock love story, Goodbye Emily, will be released in January 2013.

You can find more information about Michael and his books at his website and blog.  He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.


1.  Michael, please tell us about the first novel you ever wrote (what was it about, what inspired you to write it, how long did it take, and did it get published?).

My first novel, Class of ’68, takes place during the most formative year of my life, 1968. The year is one of the tragic years of the twentieth century—of course the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, and student unrest on campus. All of these are in the novel, yet my first novel is also a touching coming-of-age story. Once I told that story that I had to tell, I moved on to writing the kind of novels I enjoy reading, mystery and suspense, although my upcoming novel, Goodbye Emily, revisits the sixties with a look back at Woodstock.

2.  What techniques do you use to bring your novel’s setting alive, whether that setting is real or fictional?

If at all possible, I try to visit locations I plan to write about. My second novel, Try and Catch the Wind, is the first in a four-book series, originally set here in Arizona. In 2000 I attended a work-related seminar in upstate New York. It was October, the farms were lush and green, barns were often painted red and everywhere pumpkins seemed to be set near front doors, even though it was weeks until Halloween. I recall little about the seminar, but the imagery was so vivid that on the plane back to Phoenix, my novel became set in upstate New York.

Setting can be so important in enhancing a novel’s theme and characterization. In Try and Catch the Wind, my main character is a retired NYPD homicide detective trying to adjust to small town life. He’s oblivious to the beauty around him, until he gets to know the people. The setting was one of the principal reasons I was able to make the novel into a series.

I also teach novel writing workshops and talk about setting to those in attendance. A tip I provide deals with improving the manuscript by changing the setting. I encourage them to reflect on how their novel would be if the setting went back fifty or a hundred years in the past, or even if it was set in a rural environment instead of urban. Setting is truly important and often overlooked by inexperienced novelists.

3.  Where do you write and what is your writing schedule like?

I’ve spent most of my writing time glued to my computer, but during the past year, technology has freed me. With a wireless keyboard, I take my tablet to my gazebo, the pool, Starbucks, the lake. Anywhere now. It’s truly liberating and more portable and as functional as a laptop computer.

I don’t have a schedule. My “writing”, the truly creative part, occurs while tapping into my subconscious while on the treadmill, or driving. “Yikes.” I know it’s not the best thing, focusing on writing while I’m driving, but the point is one needs to reach into one’s subconscious. That’s where my characters develop, conflicts arise and plot grows. Once the idea or scene has nurtured sufficiently, I’m ready to boot up the computer. The rest is just mechanics.

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Nathan Lowell started his “golden age of science fiction” when he was ten in 1962. He rapidly exhausted all the sci-fi titles at his school library. To feed his reading obsession, an aunt who was a voracious reader dropped off a paper grocery bag full of Ace Doubles every month.

Nathan’s inspiration comes from all the greats: Asimov, Bujold, Cherryh … through Lackey, Modesitt, Moon … all the way through Weber, Willis, and Zelazny. He always had a desire to write fiction and when he started listening to books on podcasts, he knew he had found a medium to tell the stories bottled up inside. His most recent release is Double Share, Vol. 4 of the Solar Clipper Trader Tales.

For more information about Nathan and his novels, visit his website and blog.  You may also keep up with his posts on Facebook and Twitter.

1.  Nathan, please tell us about the first novel you ever wrote (what was it about, what inspired you to write it, how long did it take, and did it get published?).

The first novel I completed was Quarter Share in 2007. I was tired of the "blow something up every fifteen pages and save the universe every fifty" story. I wanted to see if I could tell a compelling story without having blood in the scuppers and ichor on the bulkheads. It took about three weeks from first word to final draft. I published it in audio starting in February 2007, and it saw its first print/ebook publication in 2010.

2.  What techniques do you use to bring your novel’s setting alive, whether that setting is real or fictional?

For me, a setting isn't real unless a character experiences it. Descriptions are just words but when a character smells something ugly, or tastes something delicious (or vice versa), that vicarious experience helps the reader understand the setting better than seeing what amounts to a photo painted with words.

3.  Where do you write and what is your writing schedule like?

I write at a stand up desk built onto an operational treadmill in a windowless room in my basement. I write from 9am to noon, seven days a week, with occasional days off. I sometimes use the treadmill while I'm writing and have no trouble typing and walking at the same time.

I used to be a binge writer. I would only write a few days a year but would write 10,000 words a day for a couple weeks in a row. My last novel, Owner's Share, took about a month of those binge days and came in at 225,000 words in first draft. I cut it down to 195k in revision. My editor isn't pleased with the size.

Since becoming a full time author, I've discovered that I need to be a bit more methodical in my production so this daily schedule is something new. I've been at it since early June and am very pleased with the results.

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Mini-interviews were conducted via e-mail and compiled by Pat Stoltey. Chiseled in Rock thanks Nathan Lowell, Michael Murphy, and Jeanne C. Stein for graciously agreeing to participate in the Three Authors, Three Questions series.

Q & A with Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers President Mark Stevens

Mark Stevens has been a journalist, producer of field documentaries, bartender, and now works in public relations while he writes mysteries set in Colorado. His first published mystery, Antler Dust, introduced hunting guide Allison Coil. Buried by the Roan, the second book in the series, focuses on fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a controversial technique for extracting oil or natural gas from certain types of rock.

Pat:  Mark, how did you first hear about Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and when did you join?

Mark:  I wish I knew. I wish I could go back in time and remember who first pulled me in and what year it was because I know I didn’t appreciate it at the time—the first interaction with RMFW. (If anyone out there remembers, drop me a line.) Eight years? 10? I started going to a few workshops around town—the coolest free deal out there—and finally decided to attend a conference. This was years before I was published. I remember realizing the wealth of talent and everyone was so willing to offer ideas, discuss, chat, or share a coffee or adult beverage. And then something really profound dawned on me. All these people had the same questions I did about putting together quality prose, about constructing tight plots, about making dialogue work, whatever. I soon realized you get more out of RMFW than you put in and I thought, well, I’d found my people. I’m not much of a “joiner” in general but it felt easy and fun to hang out with my pals in RMFW. And joining put a bit of discipline into my writing so when people asked “what are you working on?” I didn’t just have a blank look on my face.


Pat:  How many members does the organization have at this time? Are they all from Colorado?

Mark:  We have 450 members representing 18 states from Washington to Florida and 1 in British Columbia. 90 percent are in Colorado.


Pat:  What does the organization offer for beginning fiction writers?

Mark:  Plenty! If I were advising a beginning fiction writer, I’d say go to the monthly workshops and sample the wide variety of coaching, information and inspiration available there. Did I already mention they are free? I think so. It’s such an easy way to meet fellow writers and pick up on some good, regular coaching. Once you see how darn friendly everyone is, join RMFW for a mere $45 and check out the monthly newsletter for other opportunities, book signings, more events and articles and insights about all aspects of the business. Then, check out a critique group. Bring some of your work to share and listen to the feedback—see if the group would be a good fit for your style. Next, submit an entry to the contest (watch the website for when the contest opens in the spring) and see how you stack up. You’ll get some worthwhile comments and maybe a high score. And who knows? (Finalists for this year’s awards were just announced). The next thing you know, you’re having a conversation with a nationally-known editor or agent.


Pat:  Are there additional benefits for published authors?

Mark:  Being published doesn’t mean you’re done. Some of the finest writers around (too many to start naming here) are still frequent visitors to the workshops, the conference, and critique groups. And so many published writers give back by putting on workshops or reading at critique groups or putting on major sessions at the conference. I think the “benefits” for published writers is the same as it is for anyone at any stage in the process—support, friendship, kinship and networking. Endless networking. And if you’re the best prose stylist since (fill in the blank, I’m not here to pick fights) then you might need some insights on the fast-changing publishing world or tips on marketing. It’s always something. Writers who manage to stay at home and pound out the novels are far and few between. They all need to get out there and keep up with the changes.


Pat:  What does RMFW have to offer writers who live too far away from Denver to attend the monthly educational events?

Mark:  Many members drive a long way to come to the workshops (an hour or more). Yes, the workshops are that good. And coming to the conference is a given—we have members flying in from across the country so driving in from around the state should be a snap. Members get access to the email loop (lots of good regular chatter about writing issues), access to the online critique group, and a monthly newsletter (you’ll never feel more connected). Plus, you can just say you belong. You’ve got friends. Friends for $45 a year? What a deal.


Pat:  The RMFW Colorado Gold Writers Conference, scheduled for September 7-9 in Denver, is being advertised as its thirty-year anniversary. Tell us why you think this conference has been so successful.

Mark:  The hospitality suite? Two late-night bashes unparalleled in the history of writer fests nationwide? (I’ve actually never gone to one of the parties.) Actually, too many reasons to name. You have to be there to see it and get it. Feel it. There is so much going on—agent and editor pitches (top-notch agents and editors from both coasts), master classes, stellar workshops, a fun banquet with contest winners announced. There’s just this wonderful buzz happening during the whole event. If you come once, you’re coming again and next time you might bring a friend. I’ve never laughed as hard as I did at last year’s keynote speech by Bernard Cornwell. Also last year, I happened to sit down next to an enthusiastic, upbeat young writer who was clearly working so hard at her craft I knew it would pay off. Now, she’s got a fabulous agent and well on her way. That kind of story is repeated over and over. Our conference chairs hear from these agents and editors that the days are very well run—and they are. It’s like the whole Mentos and Pepsi thing, the combinations can be quite explosive. And no, I’m not referring to the hospitality suite.


Pat:  You’re a published mystery author. What specific advice and training did you receive through RMFW that helped you accomplish your writing goals?

Mark:  Good question—and a tough one to answer. I wouldn’t know where to begin. I can’t cite just one. I don’t even have a list of all the advice or workshops. What inspiration you walk away with one year might be different than what you walk away with the next year—because you’re looking for different things, or you’re exposed to a new way of thinking about a specific issue. And some of it isn’t even all that specific—it’s the atmosphere. It’s being around serious writers and serious agents (some of the funniest people you’ll ever meet) who are immersed in the business, and you see how they talk about reviewing a manuscript, and you get a feel for the level of quality you need to produce to get in the door. You feel as if some of the standards they set might actually rub off on you and, well, I think it does. If forced to mention one specific piece of advice it would be the same one you hear everywhere—write and write some more and then write some more. And then keep writing. It’s a war and we’re all just soldiers doing a bit of battle each day—your job is to grab a pen and crank out the stories and keep the words flowing. You don’t get better by reading advice books—or even going to conferences—you get better by writing.


Pat:  How do you schedule your writing time, your RMFW president duties, work, family, and still get everything done?

Mark:  I don’t know. First things first? A “nail it” approach? Deal with the big stuff first and let the little stuff deal with itself? The one guaranteed part of every day is writing fiction. Forty-five minutes to an hour, every morning, at least five or six times a week. Then, the rest of the day, you know, bring it on. Compared to many others, I have an uncomplicated life and very little of it (okay, none) involves manual labor. So it’s just busy. I can’t complain about that.


Pat:  Tell us something about yourself that most of your RMFW friends don’t already know.

Mark:  I dig reality shows like “Flying Wild Alaska,” “Ice Road Truckers,” “Survivor,” “Amazing Race” and, yes, “Project Runway.” And if someone’s cooking on television, I am compelled to watch. Also love podcasts of all flavors and would love to get some new recommendations on cool new shows.


Many thanks to Mark for letting us give him the third degree this month. And I hope you all will be joining us September 7th in Denver for the Colorado Gold Conference. Maybe we'll see you in the Hospitality Suite? 

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You can get to know Mark better on his website, Facebook and on Twitter at @writerstevens He also reviews books on his blog, Don’t Need a Diagram.

For more information on Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, visit the RMFW website. The full schedule for the Colorado Gold Conference and registration form is available along with information about guest agents and editors and all presenters.

Q & A conducted by Pat Stoltey via e-mail.

Sometimes We Just Need Yellow Flowers

A post by Pat Stoltey who sometimes stops to look at the flowers just because...

I can't think of too many things that cheer me up in the same way yellow flowers do. I think it has something to do with the rambling, yellow roses on our farm that used to bloom around my birthday each year when I was a kid. It always seemed as though they bloomed just for me.


A friend gave me three daylilies a few years ago. I'm not good with daylilies, but this one proved hardy enough to tolerate its lack of attention for a couple of years. Sadly, it's gone now.

Hedge roses are also tough enough to survive in their corner of my neglected garden. These keep blooming, in spite of me.

And there are wildflowers.

What does this have to do with writing? Blogging authors ask that a lot, don't they? Well, frankly, this post doesn't have much to do with anything except yellow flowers. I hope you like them.

Ten Cheap Ways to Relax When You Have Too Many To Dos on Your List

By Pat Stoltey (originally published on April 19, 2011 -- but during the holidays, we can use all the de-stressing tips we can get)

1. Stand up. Take four boxing jabs that do not connect with a living creature or anything hard enough to hurt your hand. Sit down. Repeat ten times.

2. Spend exactly one hour on a priority project, then pat yourself on the back for making outstanding progress. Go to the kitchen and get a cup of coffee or a glass of ice water (or whatever), and stand at the window for five minutes to watch the weather. Repeat as needed. You never know what the weather might do if you aren't paying attention.

3. Spend thirty minutes to an hour doing a chore that will raise your heart rate. I took my box cutter to the garage and spent an hour cutting cardboard for the recycle bin. It's harder than you think, but I feel good (and I didn't cut myself, either).

4. Stand with your back against a wall. Make sure your heels, butt, and shoulders touch the wall. Suck in your gut and try to press the small of your back to the wall. If you can actually do this, don't tell me because it will make me feel like a wuss. Hold. Relax. Drop your head to stretch your neck and touch the back of your head to the wall. Hold. Relax. Repeat the lower back and neck stretch five times. Roll your shoulders.

5. Get up very early. Brew a pot of Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer herbal tea. Drink it iced or hot. While you drink the tea, sit quietly in a chair and think. Relax your shoulders. Close your eyes. Don't drop the tea in your lap. When you finish the tea (not the whole pot, silly), check the sunrise. Admire it. Take a picture.

6. Examine your To Do List and pick something you don't really have to do. If your personal life and your career will not suffer, cross the item off the list. There. Doesn't that feel better? For best results, do it again.

7. Take a ten minute music break. Put your favorite CD in your boom box. Sit still and listen or sing along. Get up and dance if you want to. A little Friends in Low Places will lift your spirits. Oh, what the heck, make it a thirty minute or more music break and play the whole CD.

8. Yell. Okay, first wait until everyone is out of the house. Then holler as loud as you can. I personally don't care what you say when you yell, but if your neighbors can hear you, you might want to yell song lyrics or something similar that won't offend or alarm. You only need to do this for a minute.

9. Buy a small drum and learn the basic hand positions and rhythms (or not...it works even if you have no idea what you're doing). Take occasional five minute drumming breaks. It feels great. If you're sticking to a strict budget, buy a kid's tambourine. Or use a waste can turned upside down. Be creative. The point is, pound on something and feel the beat (but don't hurt yourself).

10. Stop working. Think. Why are you so stressed? Can't say no to new projects? Your husband is practicing Morse code right across the hall? You left your holiday baking until the last minute and your company arrives tomorrow? Whatever the reason, own it. You got yourself into this mess, you need to work your way out of it. Now go to the bakery and buy goodies. When you get home, pull the plug on hubby's noisy hobby. Take a deep breath. Then another deep breath. Doesn't that feel good?

Editor Chuck Sambuchino Visits with Chiseled in Rock

It’s my pleasure to welcome Chuck Sambuchino, editor for Writer’s Digest Books, Guide to Literary Agents 2012, and Children’s Writers & Illustrator’s Markets 2012, as well as the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript. Chuck is also the author of the 2010 humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack.

Since we last corresponded with Chuck, the film rights have been optioned for How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Chuck has also sold the Japanese rights to the book. Who knew the threat was so severe from those tiny innocent-looking creatures? Check out the October 13th post at Guide to Literary Agents blog for more information.


Originally posted on March 22, 2011

Pat: Chuck, I have to get one question out of the way up front. I read on your website that you are continuously on the lookout for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Have you found it yet?

Chuck: Not yet, but currently my favorite chocolate chip cookies come from Blue Chip and Potbelly Sandwich Shops (the latter of which is actually oatmeal chocolate chip).

Pat: We’re here at Chiseled in Rock blog, which is (sort of, kind of) related to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers based in Denver, Colorado. As a result, our questions will focus on items of interest to novelists…like getting an agent. Why, in this rapidly changing world of publishing, do writers need agents?

Chuck: As writers, we all have certain hopes for our books. We want them to be in every bookstore across America. We want them to be translated and available in Europe. We want a book tour. Essentially, we want the book to have a chance to break out and sell lots of copies. Etc., etc. To do these big things, you need to get published by a large publisher who can make these goals realities. But big publishers won’t take unsolicited submissions from writers; you need an agent to get the attention of the large houses in NYC and elsewhere.

Pat: What are the worst mistakes writers make when submitting to an agent?

Chuck: Submitting before they’re ready. Sometimes you just look at your manuscript and know deep down it’s still flawed and not ready—but you’ve read it so many times that you’re going to snap if you have to do one more revision. So you send it off. And just like you feared, it’s not ready and gets rejected. If you are at this stage, I urge you to set the work down for a few months and start on something new. Return to it later with fresh eyes to start again on revisions.

Pat: You are the editor for the outstanding Guide to Literary Agents Blog and the related newsletter. How and when did GLA launch the blog? Was it your project from the beginning?

Chuck: It launched about 3.5 years ago and I have helmed it ever since. It started off so small. I would get 300 page views in one day and celebrate. Now it’s getting scarily big. I have made so many friends and contacts through the blog—I am forever grateful to WD for making me start it years ago. Now it is a joy.

Pat: Why would it be useful for published or about-to-be published fiction writers to earn a guest post on the GLA Blog or to submit print articles to publications such as Writer’s Digest? May writers submit directly to you?

Chuck: Those who wish to actually pitch Writer’s Digest the magazine should query Zachary.Petit@fwmedia.com and put “Query” in the subject line. Besides that, there are six market books, such as Writer’s Market and Guide to Literary Agents, that accept article queries each year. Beyond that, you have my blog, where guest posts are highly visible but unpaid. The benefit to my blog is that it gets 130,000+ page views a month now, and that is a lot of eyes. People write for me to build their platform, make new writer friends, and, if they have a book to sell, promote their work.

Pat: With so much information available online, why should writers continue to buy books such as Writer’s Market and Guide to Literary Agents? Do you screen the agents and publishers before including them in the guides?

Chuck: Yes, we screen everyone and always have. GLA prides itself on being the biggest database out there, with just about every agent listed. Besides that, we try to include all the info writers need to find agents—recent sales, submission guidelines, which agents are at which agencies, etc. At the same time, I think more info being available online—such as agent interviews and more individual agency websites—always helps to supplement a search. Start with us to compose your master list to give yourself the best chance of casting a wide net. Then start researching each possibility online one by one to filter the list. Also, each WD market book comes with 90-150 pages of instructional articles and interviews on things like queries, synopses, proposals, how to compose a strong beginning to your story, etc. The books are more than just market guides—they’re educational, as well.

Pat: You attend a lot of conferences as speaker/instructor and as editor. Do you recommend conferences for writers at all levels?

Chuck: Heck yes I do. I am a huge fan of writers conferences and think they are great places to meet agents, make writing friends for life, and invest in your craft through education. If you are looking for a good conference or two, sign up for my free GLA newsletter at the Guide to Literary Agents website. In each newsletter, I list a dozen or two dozen upcoming conferences at the bottom. You can also follow us on Twitter (@WritersDigest & @ChuckSambuchino) for conference notices.

Pat: How do you feel about critique groups, especially for beginners? Feel free to give us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Chuck: If you can surround yourself with people who are smart, truthful and encouraging, critique groups are priceless. Yes—it will always sting to hear those first thoughts of criticism. You want to make sure you’re teaming with people who are smart enough to offer worthwhile advice, and truthful enough not to just tell you what you want to hear.

Pat: When authors compare the snail’s pace at which traditional publishing progresses, as opposed to self-publishing or simply e-publishing, there’s a tremendous temptation to take the shortcut. What advice do you have for writers who want to self-publish?

Chuck: Self-publishing can be great if you have a significant means to promote yourself and your work. Do you have a very large blog or newsletter? Do you speak in front of large groups of people? Are you on radio and TV shows often? If so, you are in a position to self-publish and market yourself effectively.

When my humor book came out last fall, it was available in every bookstore across America. Furthermore, the publishing house paid B&N and Borders money to give the book good placement during the holidays. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of stores. If you self-publish, you will never get your book into stores nationwide or this kind of treatment. My publisher made my book better, designed a great title, and got me press in USA Today, the New York Times, Reader’s Digest and AOL News, to name a few. They did that, not me. If you take the quick route, there are advantages, but you are on your own.

It’s a gamble. There are certain ebook and self-pub success stories, but people need to understand they are very rare. I think that if you write a dynamite book, you can take either path and probably find success.

Pat: Methods of promoting and marketing our books have also changed drastically. Are real book tours and face-to-face book signings a thing of the past?

Chuck: It is tough to justify the traveling expenses to do them these days. When you do a signing, you may have 150 people, or you may have 8. If you have 8, you go in the hole for that night money-wise. Book tours still exist, though. Successful novelists still do them, and sometimes you see a group of connected writers do one together (example: three paranormal YA authors) and those can work real well. I myself like to get out to conferences and meet people rather than doing a random signing in Omaha or Boise.

Pat: In addition to your experience as a journalist and editor, you’re a playwright and a humor writer. I’d like to know a little more about How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, which is doing deliciously well with online booksellers. The short synopsis says:

"In 2009 alone, there were 987 attacks recorded by the Gnome Attacks Hotline based out of Berlin, Germany. Don’t bother asking your local authorities about these attacks–they can’t corral the data like we can. The fact is that if the public knew how many gnomeowners are mauled and attacked each year by their own statues, the public would erupt into mass chaos."

Where did you get the idea for gnome attacks, and do you have any more humor books in the works?

Chuck: I was watching the movie The Full Monty and there is a scene with a garden gnome. I started to get really creeped out. Then I thought: Certainly if I am creeped out by gnomes, others are, too. That was the genesis. The book itself is a humorous parody of a survival guide, teaching your average person how to defend themselves from a gnome attack inside and outside the house. Good for some laughs. As far as a follow-up, I recently passed some ideas on to Ten Speed Press. Wish me luck! At the speed the industry moves, I expect I will hear good news about foreign rights or film rights before a follow-up book.

Pat: Thank you so much for answering our questions, Chuck, and we do wish you luck with that second book of humor. I hope you’ll keep an eye on Chiseled in Rock blog and favor us with a link on Twitter or Facebook from time to time.

Chuck Sambuchino can be found on Facebook and Twitter. To find out more about his books and scheduled appearances, please visit his website.

Reposted from March 22, 2011 by Pat Stoltey. Chuck will not be responding to comments.

Pat Stoltey Before She Has Her Morning Coffee

And that's the truth!

Ten Cheap Ways to Relax When You Have Too Many To Dos on Your List

By Pat Stoltey

1. Stand up. Take four boxing jabs that do not connect with a living creature or anything hard enough to hurt your hand. Sit down. Repeat ten times.

2. Spend exactly one hour on a priority project, then pat yourself on the back for making outstanding progress. Go to the kitchen and get a cup of coffee or a glass of ice water (or whatever), and stand at the window for five minutes to watch the weather. Repeat as needed. You never know what the weather might do if you aren't paying attention.

3. Spend thirty minutes to an hour doing a chore that will raise your heart rate. I took my box cutter to the garage and spent an hour cutting cardboard for the recycle bin. It's harder than you think, but I feel good (and I didn't cut myself, either).

4. Stand with your back against a wall. Make sure your heels, butt, and shoulders touch the wall. Suck in your gut and try to press the small of your back to the wall. If you can actually do this, don't tell me. Hold. Relax. Drop your head to stretch your neck and touch the back of your head to the wall. Hold. Relax. Repeat the lower back and neck stretch five times. Roll your shoulders.

5. Get up very early. Brew a pot of Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer herbal tea. Drink it iced or hot. While you drink the tea, sit quietly in a chair and think. Relax your shoulders. Close your eyes. Don't drop the tea in your lap. When you finish the tea (not the whole pot, silly), check the sunrise. Admire it. Take a picture.

6. Examine your To Do List and pick something you don't really have to do. If your personal life and your career will not suffer, cross the item off the list. There. Doesn't that feel better? For best results, do it again.

7. Take a ten minute music break. Put your favorite CD in your boom box. Sit still and listen or sing along. Get up and dance if you want to. Oh, what the heck, make it a thirty minute music break.

8. Yell. Okay, first wait until everyone is out of the house. Then holler as loud as you can. I personally don't care what you say when you yell, but if your neighbors can hear you, you might want to yell song lyrics or something similar that won't offend or alarm. You only need to do this for a minute.

9. Buy a small drum and learn the basic hand positions and rhythms (or not...it works even if you have no idea what you're doing). Take occasional five minute drumming breaks. It feels great. If you're sticking to a strict budget, buy a kid's tambourine. Or use a waste can turned upside down. Be creative. The point is, pound on something and feel the beat (but don't hurt yourself).

10. Stop working. Think. Why are you so stressed? Procrastination? Can't say no to new projects? Your husband is practicing Morse code right across the hall? Whatever the reason, own it. You got yourself into this mess, you need to work your way out of it (or just shut the door so you can't hear the noise). Take a deep breath. Then another deep breath. Doesn't that feel good?

Coffee Break: More About Talking to Dead People

By Pat Stoltey

I read Janet Fogg's post on A Sixth Sense? yesterday and spent a little time thinking about the notion of talking to the dead. I believe some people do just that.

I'm not one of them, at least I don't think I am. There was that one incident with a Ouija Board when I was in my twenties...but I threw the board away and vowed to stick to human communications.

My writer friend Kenneth W. Harmon, however, has had such an intense experience with a ghost in his old house that he wrote a book about it. Ghost Under Foot: The Spirit of Mary Bell (A True Story of One Family's Haunting) will be published by Llewelyn next year. As I fretted about a topic for today's Chiseled in Rock post, I received this e-mail from Ken:

"Well, it looks like our ghost followed us when we moved. I believe I mentioned before that since we moved in, we have experienced things such as, someone knocking on the doors, a door opening on its own, unexplained banging noises etc. I actually made a connection with our ghost using the dowsing rods shortly after we moved in. But I did not pursue an investigation.

One day last week, I was alone in the house during the day when I heard what sounded like someone moving around upstairs.

Last night, we had dinner with my parents and a couple who are their friends. My mom told them about our ghost. I then had to give them the entire story about how we came to find out we had a ghost and what transpired. Later, I was talking to my oldest daughter and she shocked me when she told me that she has seen several orbs flying around the new house during the day. The last time she saw one was about a week ago inside her room. She was doing homework on her computer when an orb appeared and started to fly around her room.

After hearing her story, I decided to get out the dowsing rods and try to contact our ghost. I immediately made a strong connection, and the spirit identified itself more than once as Mary Bell Wilson, our ghost from the old house. I asked Mary Bell if she would let me take her picture and the answer came back as yes.

I turned out the lights downstairs and sat in a chair in the hallway. I decided to film here because my daughter saw one of the orbs inside the laundry room. My camera has a nightshot feature that allows me to film in the darkness. I filmed for a few minutes without recording anything.

I then had my daughter Michelle sit at the end of the hallway and asked Mary Bell telepathically if she would allow me to take her picture with Michelle. Michelle sat at the end of the hall for 3-5 minutes without anything happening. Then she started upstairs to bed. I had the camera aimed at her as she started up the stairs and then swung it back toward the hallway. Within 3 seconds, a small white cloud or orb came flying toward me. As soon as it disappeared from view, two larger white cloud shapes moved very quickly away from me. A couple of minutes passed and then I noticed a fainter white shape near the wall that moved toward the laundry room. Needless to say, I was surprised. I really didn't think she would follow us, but I guess I was wrong."

I've resisted asking to meet Ken's ghost. My fictional character Willie Grisseljon is clairvoyant and also saw a ghost in The Desert Hedge Murders, but Willie resists making contact with the dead. He's afraid that opening that door into another world will change his life, not necessarily for the better. I kind of feel that way.

My so-far-unpublished short story, Oatie's Act of Atonement, features a friendship between a man who has had an accident and needs to be rescued and a ghost who needs to earn his passage into the next world. It's a dilemma, because Oatie the ghost cannot physically lift his friend and carry him to safety, nor can he make contact with any of the other people in his tiny town. I like to imagine stories like this, but am not so sure I'd want to experience one.

There are a couple of revealing comments attached to Janet's post, and that always leads to more questions. Have you had an encounter that mystified, intrigued, or scared you out of your mind? Do you read or write about the paranormal?

The Mass Market Murderers at Left Coast Crime 2011

By Pat Stoltey

An Interview with Chuck Sambuchino

It’s my pleasure to welcome Chuck Sambuchino, editor for Writer’s Digest Books, Guide to Literary Agents, and Children’s Writers & Illustrator’s Markets, as well as the third edition of Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript. Chuck is also the author of the recently released humor book, How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack.

Pat: Chuck, I have to get one question out of the way up front. I read on your website that you are continuously on the lookout for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Have you found it yet?

Chuck: Not yet, but currently my favorite chocolate chip cookies come from Blue Chip and Potbelly Sandwich Shops (the latter of which is actually oatmeal chocolate chip).

Pat: We’re here at Chiseled in Rock blog, which is (sort of, kind of) related to Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers based in Denver, Colorado. As a result, our questions will focus on items of interest to novelists…like getting an agent. Why, in this rapidly changing world of publishing, do writers need agents?

Chuck: As writers, we all have certain hopes for our books. We want them to be in every bookstore across America. We want them to be translated and available in Europe. We want a book tour. Essentially, we want the book to have a chance to break out and sell lots of copies. Etc., etc. To do these big things, you need to get published by a large publisher who can make these goals realities. But big publishers won’t take unsolicited submissions from writers; you need an agent to get the attention of the large houses in NYC and elsewhere.

Pat: What are the worst mistakes writers make when submitting to an agent?

Chuck: Submitting before they’re ready. Sometimes you just look at your manuscript and know deep down it’s still flawed and not ready—but you’ve read it so many times that you’re going to snap if you have to do one more revision. So you send it off. And just like you feared, it’s not ready and gets rejected. If you are at this stage, I urge you to set the work down for a few months and start on something new. Return to it later with fresh eyes to start again on revisions.

Pat: You are the editor for the outstanding Guide to Literary Agents Blog and the related newsletter. How and when did GLA launch the blog? Was it your project from the beginning?

Chuck: It launched about 3.5 years ago and I have helmed it ever since. It started off so small. I would get 300 page views in one day and celebrate. Now it’s getting scarily big. I have made so many friends and contacts through the blog—I am forever grateful to WD for making me start it years ago. Now it is a joy.

Pat: Why would it be useful for published or about-to-be published fiction writers to earn a guest post on the GLA Blog or to submit print articles to publications such as Writer’s Digest? May writers submit directly to you?

Chuck: Those who wish to actually pitch Writer’s Digest the magazine should query Zachary.Petit@fwmedia.com and put “Query” in the subject line. Besides that, there are six market books, such as Writer’s Market and Guide to Literary Agents, that accept article queries each year. Beyond that, you have my blog, where guest posts are highly visible but unpaid. The benefit to my blog is that it gets 130,000+ page views a month now, and that is a lot of eyes. People write for me to build their platform, make new writer friends, and, if they have a book to sell, promote their work.

Pat: With so much information available online, why should writers continue to buy books such as Writer’s Market and Guide to Literary Agents? Do you screen the agents and publishers before including them in the guides?

Chuck: Yes, we screen everyone and always have. GLA prides itself on being the biggest database out there, with just about every agent listed. Besides that, we try to include all the info writers need to find agents—recent sales, submission guidelines, which agents are at which agencies, etc. At the same time, I think more info being available online—such as agent interviews and more individual agency websites—always helps to supplement a search. Start with us to compose your master list to give yourself the best chance of casting a wide net. Then start researching each possibility online one by one to filter the list. Also, each WD market book comes with 90-150 pages of instructional articles and interviews on things like queries, synopses, proposals, how to compose a strong beginning to your story, etc. The books are more than just market guides—they’re educational, as well.

Pat: You attend a lot of conferences as speaker/instructor and as editor. Do you recommend conferences for writers at all levels?

Chuck: Heck yes I do. I am a huge fan of writers conferences and think they are great places to meet agents, make writing friends for life, and invest in your craft through education. If you are looking for a good conference or two, sign up for my free GLA newsletter at the Guide to Literary Agents website. In each newsletter, I list a dozen or two dozen upcoming conferences at the bottom. You can also follow us on Twitter (@WritersDigest & @ChuckSambuchino) for conference notices.

Pat: How do you feel about critique groups, especially for beginners? Feel free to give us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Chuck: If you can surround yourself with people who are smart, truthful and encouraging, critique groups are priceless. Yes—it will always sting to hear those first thoughts of criticism. You want to make sure you’re teaming with people who are smart enough to offer worthwhile advice, and truthful enough not to just tell you what you want to hear.

Pat: When authors compare the snail’s pace at which traditional publishing progresses, as opposed to self-publishing or simply e-publishing, there’s a tremendous temptation to take the shortcut. What advice do you have for writers who want to self-publish?

Chuck: Self-publishing can be great if you have a significant means to promote yourself and your work. Do you have a very large blog or newsletter? Do you speak in front of large groups of people? Are you on radio and TV shows often? If so, you are in a position to self-publish and market yourself effectively.

When my humor book came out last fall, it was available in every bookstore across America. Furthermore, the publishing house paid B&N and Borders money to give the book good placement during the holidays. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of stores. If you self-publish, you will never get your book into stores nationwide or this kind of treatment. My publisher made my book better, designed a great title, and got me press in USA Today, the New York Times, Reader’s Digest and AOL News, to name a few. They did that, not me. If you take the quick route, there are advantages, but you are on your own.

It’s a gamble. There are certain ebook and self-pub success stories, but people need to understand they are very rare. I think that if you write a dynamite book, you can take either path and probably find success.

Pat: Methods of promoting and marketing our books have also changed drastically. Are real book tours and face-to-face book signings a thing of the past?

Chuck: It is tough to justify the traveling expenses to do them these days. When you do a signing, you may have 150 people, or you may have 8. If you have 8, you go in the hole for that night money-wise. Book tours still exist, though. Successful novelists still do them, and sometimes you see a group of connected writers do one together (example: three paranormal YA authors) and those can work real well. I myself like to get out to conferences and meet people rather than doing a random signing in Omaha or Boise.

Pat: In addition to your experience as a journalist and editor, you’re a playwright and a humor writer. I’d like to know a little more about How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack, which is doing deliciously well with online booksellers. The short synopsis says:

"In 2009 alone, there were 987 attacks recorded by the Gnome Attacks Hotline based out of Berlin, Germany. Don’t bother asking your local authorities about these attacks–they can’t corral the data like we can. The fact is that if the public knew how many gnomeowners are mauled and attacked each year by their own statues, the public would erupt into mass chaos."

Where did you get the idea for gnome attacks, and do you have any more humor books in the works?

Chuck: I was watching the movie The Full Monty and there is a scene with a garden gnome. I started to get really creeped out. Then I thought: Certainly if I am creeped out by gnomes, others are, too. That was the genesis. The book itself is a humorous parody of a survival guide, teaching your average person how to defend themselves from a gnome attack inside and outside the house. Good for some laughs. As far as a follow-up, I recently passed some ideas on to Ten Speed Press. Wish me luck! At the speed the industry moves, I expect I will hear good news about foreign rights or film rights before a follow-up book.

Pat: Thank you so much for answering our questions, Chuck, and we do wish you luck with that second book of humor. I hope you’ll keep an eye on Chiseled in Rock blog and favor us with a link on Twitter or Facebook from time to time. We’ll be interviewing many of the agents and editors scheduled to appear at the Colorado Gold Conference in Denver in September.

Chuck: Good luck with the conference. If you are on the fence about going, GO.

Chuck Sambuchino can be found on Facebook and Twitter. To find out more about his books and scheduled appearances, please visit his website.

Interview conducted by e-mail from the Pat Cave

An Interview with Beth Groundwater

It's our pleasure to feature this interview with Beth Groundwater as she travels about the blogging world on her virtual tour for the debut novel in the Mandy Tanner Rocky Mountain Outdoor Adventure series, Deadly Currents.

A member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Beth lives in Colorado and enjoys its many outdoor activities, including skiing, hiking, and whitewater rafting.

-------------------------


An Interview with Beth Groundwater by Pat Stoltey


Welcome, Beth, and thank you so much for adding Chiseled in Rock to your virtual tour. I'm looking forward to experiencing my first whitewater adventure vicariously through Mandy Tanner.


Pat: Your first two Claire Hanover mysteries, A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket were such good reads. Why did you decide to create a second series featuring a white water river ranger?

Beth: I discovered while writing To Hell in a Handbasket that my love of the outdoors and outdoor activities kept creeping into my mystery writing. That book features skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobile riding in various scenes. So, I decided to develop a new series where I could indulge in that love to my heart’s content.

I was an avid “river rat” in the 1980s, running whitewater rivers in the eastern US in an open-boat canoe, and I still enjoy rafting whitewater rivers in Colorado, so that was a natural choice. I'm still fascinated with flowing water. My husband knows that if we drive alongside a whitewater river, I'll be leaning out the car window, reading the water, assessing if it's deep enough to be run, and if so, what line I would take. I’ve enjoyed reacquainting myself with the river rat subculture and its updated boating equipment while researching the RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series.

The new series also solves the amateur sleuth problem I have with the Claire Hanover gift basket designer books of why the amateur gets involved in a murder case. If Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area (AHRA) river rangers like Mandy discover a dead body in or near the river while on patrol, they become part of the investigative team with the detectives in the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office, though the Sheriff's Office retains primary responsibility for solving the case. I'm a fan of the work of C.J. Box and Nevada Barr, and my hope is that my new series will marry the wilderness settings and ranger/warden lifestyles of those series with the thrill of running roiling rapids.

Pat: Will there be more Claire Hanover novels?

Beth: Yes, I'm continuing both series with Midnight Ink. They will first bring out A Real Basket Case and To Hell in a Handbasket in trade paperback and ebook formats, then publish a new third Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery in those formats. I've already written the first draft of that third book, and I'm submitting chapters to my critique group and editing it now. Both Midnight Ink and I plan for more books in both series.

Pat: Are Claire Hanover and Mandy Tanner very much alike? Do you think they would be friends in the real world?

Beth: No, I don't think Claire and Mandy would be friends in the real world. Claire is a 47-year-old, married housewife with two grown children and a part-time gift basket designer business who lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Mandy Tanner is s 27-year-old single woman with a boyfriend who lives in Salida, Colorado and patrols the upper Arkansas River. Claire drinks wine, Mandy drinks beer. Claire is comfortably upper middle class, while Mandy is barely scraping by. And so on.

Mandy is more likely to have something in common with one of Claire's children, who are just a few years younger than her. The only way I could think of that Claire and Mandy would meet is if someone convinced Claire to take a whitewater rafting trip (not very likely!) and she wound up in the water needing rescue. I deliberately made Claire and Mandy very different from each other so I would have variety when moving back and forth between writing books in the two series.

Pat: Is Mandy anything like the river rafting guide played by Meryl Streep in The River Wild (one of my favorite movies)?

Beth: It's been quite awhile since I saw the movie, but I'll try to remember most of Meryl Streep's character, Gail. That woman was an experienced rafting guide with a husband and son. I would think of her as a grizzled veteran, almost, compared to young Mandy Tanner, who was a whitewater rafting guide for about eight years on the Arkansas River before applying to become a river ranger. Mandy has just been working as a river ranger for a few weeks when the events in Deadly Currents occur, making her a little unsure of herself and her capabilities in the new job. Yes, her rafting skills may be comparable to Gail's, but with less life experience, she'd be less able to think on her feet in response to the deadly situation.

If Mandy were put in Gail's situation of trying to get away from two armed bank robbers making their escape down the river, Mandy would be scared s**tless, but I think she'd ultimately rally and try to escape and get word to the authorities. If she were on the Arkansas River, familiar ground to her, Mandy would find an opportunity to slink off into the woods and make her way to a road versus try to escape down the river on a raft. Also, I don't think Mandy would be confident enough in her hand-to-hand combat skills (she's only had basic defensive moves training) to directly confront the robbers.

Pat: Is it possible Claire and Mandy will join forces in a future novel?

Beth: No, I don't think that's likely, though there is the possibility of a cameo appearance by one of them in a book in the other's series. Along with the characters being different, the series have different voices or tones and are in different mystery subgenres. The Claire Hanover gift basket designer books are cozy mysteries, while the RM Outdoor Adventures books are soft-boiled mysteries.

Pat: You love to travel and have been to so many interesting places. What destinations remain in your bucket list?

Beth: Oh, lots and lots! In South America, I want to explore Machu Picchu in Peru, the Amazon River and cities of Brazil, and the Galapagos Islands. I want to visit China, Japan, and India in Asia, and the Nile River and pyramids of Egypt and Petra in Jordan. In Europe, I'd like to tour the Greek islands, the Danube and Rhine rivers, and Germany and Italy. I could go on and on! Time and money are the major constraints, not desire or imagination for where I'd like to go.

Pat: Your virtual tour schedule includes nineteen stops in twenty-one days, and that’s not counting the Left Coast Crime reports you’ll be doing for Barnes & Noble’s Mystery Book Club. In addition to contacting hosts and creating the schedule, you write the posts and then stand ready to answer blog comments at each stop. How do you manage this kind of intense online promotional tour without suffering from a total brain drain when it’s over?

Beth: Who says I don't suffer a total brain drain when it's over?! I've done a virtual book tour once before, in 2009, for the release of To Hell in a Handbasket. I know from that experience that the only way to manage it is to be super-organized and prepared. As I did for that tour, I finished writing all the blog posts except the LCC conference reports before the tour started. I’m sending them to the hosts at least a week early along with photos. I maintain a list of dates, topics, tour host names and emails, blog names and links, and notes about where I stand with each—is the post written/delivered, etc. Then, I communicate early and often with the hosts to make sure they remember to publish my blog posts, to coordinate who's going to promote the posts where, etc. Of course, glitches can still occur, but I try to just roll with them when they do.

Pat: Now that you’ve developed two series, have an agent and a new publisher, what’s next on your list of writing goals.

Beth: I've turned in the second book in the RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series, currently titled Wicked Eddies, to my editor. The next step is to review the copy-edited manuscript. I've drafted the third book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series and am in the editing phase on that, running chapters through my critique group. I'm starting to develop ideas for the third RM Outdoor Adventures mystery and will begin research and planning for that in a couple of months. And, of course, I'm busy promoting Deadly Currents. There's never a dull moment in the Groundwater household!

Pat, thanks so much for interviewing me. I encourage Chiseled in Rock readers to check out my website and my blog to learn more about me and my books, to befriend me on Facebook or Goodreads, and to invite me to speak to your book club.

--------------------

More about Deadly Currents:

The Arkansas River, heart and soul of Salida, Colorado, fuels the small town’s economy and thrums in the blood of river ranger Mandy Tanner. When a whitewater rafting accident occurs, she deftly executes a rescue, but a man dies anyway. Turns out, it wasn’t the rapids that killed him—it was murder. Tom King was a rich land developer with bitter business rivals, who cheated on his wife, refused to support his kayak-obsessed son, and infuriated environmentalists. Mandy’s world is upended again when tragedy strikes closer to home. Suspicious that the most recent death is connected to Tom King’s murder, she goes on an emotionally turbulent quest for the truth—and ends up in dangerous waters.

If you’d like to visit other stops on Beth's virtual book tour, you can find the full blog book tour schedule on her website. To order an autographed copy of Deadly Currents, go to the website for Black Cat Books and click on "Contact Us”. Either call the phone number or fill out the form with your contact information.

Beth, thanks again for joining us today.

Where's the Buzz?

Posted by Pat Stoltey

The Big Buzz is All About Amanda Hocking

This young lady (age 26) self-published in ebooks and then caught the wave. Everyone is talking about her, including Nathan Bransford at his blog with yesterday’s “Amanda Hocking and the 99-Cent Kindle Millionaires.”

Amanda has a blog called (believe it or not) Amanda Hocking’s Blog. Check out her March 3rd post called “Some Things That Need to Be Said.”


The A to Z April Blog Challenge 2011

If you have a blog, and if you want to build your following and make new friends while bringing a little discipline to your blogging schedule, I dare you to participate in the A to Z Challenge during the month of April. This challenge was created in 2010 by Arlee Bird of tossing it out blog. When he decided to do it again this year, he added blogger helpers to spread the word. To read how I feel about last year’s experience, check this post at Alex J. Cavanaugh’s blog.

You can register at any of the helper blogs, including Alex’s, but the original explanation and blog challenge sign-up is at tossing it out.

Double dare you.


More About Twitter and Those Who Resist

Honestly, writers, Twitter is one of the best tools you’ll ever find to get the word out about your website, blog posts, book giveaways, new releases, and to poll your followers about how to cook a rutabaga.

Author, blogger, and social media guru Alexis Grant (The Traveling Writer) posted “How social media helps us make our own luck” on her blog yesterday. She in turn links to a blog post by Miriam Salpeter called “Why You Should Use Twitter.”

After those two articles, you’ll want to go forth and tweet. I just know it. And while you're on the Twitter site, be sure to follow us at @Chiseledinrock


And finally, a Writer’s Favorite Topics of Conversation

On finding the time to write. For this one, see A. Victoria Mixon, Editor’s blog for the post “9 Ways to Find the Time to Write.”

On procrastination. See The Blood-Red Pencil, one of the best writing/editing blogs on the web, post by Heidi M. Thomas: "How do I Procrastinate?"