Keeping an open mind...

Gee, E.T. did it, why can't I?

One of the things I enjoy about writing and reading is the ability to suspend disbelief. If a story can do that for the reader successfully then the author has done a good job. The pictures that have been painted with their words must be vivid and "realistic." Ah, so you ask, what about fantasy or paranormal? Vampires? Werewolves? Aliens?

Good questions. Some readers don't like those genre's, but I challenge authors out there to write a really great story so that even the "non-fantasy" type reader will enjoy it. How? You build a world that seems absolutely realistic or so intriguing that the reader wants to visit it. You create characters that are 3-dimensional and interesting. You sprinkle in some tension that everyone or anyone can relate to - good vs evil; family dynamics; growing up; discovering self; survival - whatever it may be and make the reader see that even vampires want loving. Even evil characters had parents and maybe their home life was really bad, so they took the easy way to deal with life. The dark side, for those Star Wars folks out there. Doing what is right or good, isn't always the easy path, right?

I'm a very visual person with an active imagination, that's why I love stories, movies, plays - all forms of story telling. I want to "feel" what the characters feel, whether it's joy, sadness, confusion - I want to be a part of the story. That makes a good writer - as well as a good story - if the reader sees it and feels it with every page.

I read all types of genres and the ones I've truly love had the most vivid worlds and characters. Look at The Lord of the Rings. I mean, Hobbits - come on?! And Star Wars Jabba the Hut, what ugly slug is going to be head of the galactic mob? Did I love these characters that pushed the envelope of what is "real" and what is "fantasy"? Absolutely. It's what makes the stories so interesting - the melding of what is and what could be - here or in a galaxy far, far away.

Cowboys & Aliens

Have you ever read a Louis L'Amour western? Oh Man. He transports me back to the days of six guns and wild Indians. I love them. And there's always a reluctant hero, a fair damsel, and something bad that happens. Throw in some historical references and I'm hooked! Coupled with the fact that Sam Elliot and Tom Selleck will always be two of my favorite Sacketts, what's not to like?

Some of my favorite authors write about the south and make me smell Jasmine and Honeysuckle, and feel the humidity in the air. They make me want to visit Tybee or Sullivan's Island and take a tour of the low-country. Do you know who I'm talking about? Dorothea Benton Frank, C. Hope Clark, Fern Michaels, Pat Conroy - there's a bunch of them. Give them a try.

My point is that I recommend stepping out of your "comfort genre" and explore the possibilities. There are a plethora of authors out there who present their stories with flare and touch our hearts. Keep an open mind. Try new things. And if you find something you like, write a review for the next reader to find your new discovery. 

Oh, and writers - this applies to you as well. If you've always written mysteries but you have a burning desire to write a children's novel - go for it. And, enjoy the journey!

Interview with Author Maggie Toussaint by Jacqueline Seewald

Formerly a contract scientist for the U.S. Army and currently a freelance reporter, Southern author Maggie Toussaint has ten published books. Maggie lives in coastal Georgia, where secrets, heritage, and ancient oaks cast long shadows. Yoga, beachcombing, and music are a few of her favorite things. You can visit her at http://www.maggietoussaint.com.

Question: What is the title and genre of your novel?  Why did you select them?

Answer:  My latest release is Dime If I Know, and it’s a cozy mystery from Five Star/Cengage. My amateur sleuth, Cleopatra Jones, is an accountant, so each book has money in the title. Book 1 was In for a Penny. Book 2 was On the Nickel. Since Book 3 in the series is about doubts, I liked the play on words of Dime If I Know.

Question:   What inspired this novel? How did it come about?

Answer:  To ramp up the stakes in my series, I make sure that the person charged with committing a crime is someone close to Cleo. In the first book, the spotlight was on her best friend. Book 2 put her mother in the cop’s crosshairs.

Throughout the series, Cleo struggles with not being part of a couple and with living in the moment. Now that she’s been dating Rafe for several months, she longs for a more lasting commitment. Shining the limelight on her boyfriend in Dime forces her to look at what she wants and makes her realize how little she knows about the man she’s in love with.

Question:  Could you tell us a little bit about the heroine and/or hero of your novel?

Answer:  Cleo is a divorced mother of active teenage daughters. She also rides herd on her free-spirited mother who lives under her roof. Her loyalty runs bone deep. Most nights she shares her bed with a Saint Bernard she inherited from the victim in the first book, but she’d rather share it with Rafe. Cleo’s the kind of person that likes problems solved and neatly filed away. Trouble is, her life is messy and a little broken. Her ex has seen the light and wants her back, but she’s having none of that. Her affection lies in the direction of the sexy golf pro, Rafe Golden.

Rafe is an enigma to Cleo. He doesn’t want to be tied down, though he is keenly interested in his hot affair with Cleo. In Dime, the reasons for his behaviors come out, and they aren’t pretty. His estrangement from his family drives Cleo crazy. She can’t imagine not being surrounded by family. As an aside, Rafe looks like a young Ernie Els, who is a professional golfer. Be still my heart.

Question:   Can you tell us about some of your other published novels or work?

Answer:  In addition to writing mysteries, I also publish romantic suspense novels. Hot Water is my latest romantic suspense, and it’s the story of Laurie Ann the cop and Wyatt North the arson investigator. Together they chase a serial arsonist around South Georgia, hoping to stop him before he kills again. On Amazon, Hot Water is highly rated at 4.7 stars out of 5, with a total of 37 reviews.

Question:   What are you working on now?

Answer:  I’m editing the sequel to Hot Water right now: Rough Waters. It’s another romantic suspense set in the small coastal town of Mossy Bog, featuring a florist and a shipwreck hunter searching for stolen gold sovereigns.

Question:   What made you start writing?

Answer:  I’ve had a lifelong affair with stories and the written word. My earliest memories are of sitting around and listening to family members share stories, and, oh, the places I could go in books! After college, career, marriage, and children, I decided to try my hand at writing a book. It was much harder than I thought it would be! Many years later, I was lucky enough to land two book contracts within a three-month span.

Question:   What advice would you offer to those who are currently writing novels?

Answer:  Don’t hold back. Write at “wide open” all the time. Write about people and places and issues you care about. Do your best every time you sit down to write. Learn the craft of writing and the business of writing. Develop thick skin. Rejection is an occupational hazard for writers at all levels of this business.

Question:  Where and when will readers be able to obtain your novel?

Answer: Dime If I Know is available in hardcover right now from most online bookstores. Sometime in early 2014, it should release in digital format. Hardcover at Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/qcx8cth and at Barnes and Noble http://tinyurl.com/neutdbg

Thanks, Maggie, for a great interview! Readers, leave comments for Maggie and she will respond.

Horror Fiction: Not Just for Halloween! by Jacqueline Seewald

The horror genre of fiction continues to fascinate readers. Why do readers love what terrifies them? It appears that vampires  never die. Zombies can be found in movie theatres, TV shows, commercials, books, and short stories. In the month of October, three of my own speculative short stories, combining horror and mystery, are being published in new anthologies.  They are:

Between There, Vol 2

http://www.amazon.com/Between-There-Anthony-S-Buoni/dp/1888146028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380665088&sr=8-1&keywords=between+there+vol.+2

Spirits of St. Louis: Missouri Ghost Stories
http://www.rockinghorsepublishing.com/new-release.html

Dying to Live: Stories of the Undead

http://www.diabolicpublications.com/soon

When people talk about horror fiction, they might let out an involuntary shudder. However, horror fiction isn’t just about the gruesome. It’s not only about such supernatural creations as: ghosts, goblins, ghouls, gremlins, etc. No, it’s really about what we fear, what we dread most, what strikes terror into our hearts and souls. These things may be ordinary, like a pit bull off the leash running toward us, or extraordinary, like meeting a vampire in a neighborhood bar at midnight. Our fears are both usual and unusual.

Horror fiction will not be going away any time soon because it is human nature to feel fear as an emotion. Horror fiction helps us handle these feelings, helps us cope with and confront our terrors, those within us and those in the environment around us. Writers like Stephen King and Dean Koontz have recognized this. They reach into their worst fears and nightmares to help us come to terms with our own.

In my co-authored novel, THE THIRD: A PINE BARRENS MYSTERY, a boy and his mother, writing alternating viewpoint chapters, come to terms with their own greatest fears while solving several murders. The novel’s setting is real but eerie. Legends of the Jersey Devil prevail. Fans of both mystery and horror will relate to this novel. You can check out some of the reviews on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Third-Eye-Pine-Barrens-Mystery/dp/1432826980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380463378&sr=1-1&keywords=the+third+eye+seewald

or Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17720868-the-third-eye

What frightens you? What sort of horror story would you read? Drop by and leave a comment. Include an e-mail address if you wish to be entered to win a copy of THE THIRD EYE—or simply place a request for the novel at your local library.

Happy hauntings!

Goodreads and the New Policies

The change in the publishing world has pushed writers and readers onto the Internet faster than the offer of a free trip to the Bahamas, but we have adopted the new way of life without thinking much about it except how to manage the technology. Goodreads has recently stepped in to tighten up its policies, deleting reviews it deems unsuitable and shelves in a reviewer’s page, and Amazon is deleting certain books in a certain category (hint: think porn).

All this change has some readers and reviewers reacting loudly and angrily because they have come to regard these sites as public spaces where individual rights applh. The reactions are to (1) Goodreads making the changes without announcing them directly to all members of GR and (2) deletion of reviews and shelves without an explanation first.

I understand the emotional reactions from reviewers who have lost reviews without warning. Some have put time and effort into their reviews, stating clearly what they dislike and why. They take reviewing very seriously, and strive to present a thorough understanding of the book under review. But I also understand the decision of GR to delete the negative reviews. Writers who have received mean-spirited reviews that seem to attack the writer for writing rather than discussing the book have had no recourse to this kind of cyber bullying and will be relieved at the new policies.

The truth is, most reviews now are written by people who have little or no experience in the world of journalism; they are not professionals, trained and vetted by any independent organization. As reviewers, many do no more than react. They do not think first and write second. They do not give time or thought to why they dislike a particular book. And they blur the line between disliking the book and disliking the author. Personal feelings about the writer have no place in a review, and shouldn’t motivate a negative review either. A review is supposed to be about the book, to guide readers who are interested in finding books that will be entertaining, interesting, and rewarding in insight and experience as well as within the type they most prefer.

We have become a nation of individuals with short attention spans. The book that requires the reader to “dawdle” through the first chapter to get to know characters and ways of seeing the world is sure to get a negative review. A book with a terse style that is meant to mimic a particular group of people will certainly turn off some readers. But many readers are not going to understand that the fault, to paraphrase Shakespeare inventing a quote by Caesar, “is not in the stars but in ourselves,” that we are untrained readers telling the world what we dislike.

Reviews of self-published books are useful as feedback from unsolicited beta readers, and negative reviews of commercially published books can also be useful. But reviews that are snide and mean are of no use to anyone. They are often a brief one or two lines, which suggests that the reviewer didn’t read the whole book, didn’t begin reading with a willingness to give the book a fair hearing, and didn’t try to understand how the book fit in the genre or contributed to the topic. If you only enjoy modern spy thrillers, why are you reading for review a romance novel set in nineteenth century France?

The controversy will continue, and the new gatekeepers, Goodreads and Amazon among others, will have to continue making decisions about what will be allowable on their sites. Some people will agree with their decisions and others will not. But all of us will learn more about the kinds of people who are out in the world looking for an opportunity to tell the world what they think.

If you are interested in the discussion on GR, go http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1507089-new-rules-from-goodreads

And if you are interested in the policy statements, go

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1499741-important-note-regarding-reviews?page=1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=comment_instant

and for the update on the policy statements go

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1517130-faqs-about-reviews-shelves-on-goodreads?utm_medium=email&utm_source=comment_instant#comment_84136827

1,2,3 - Ready, Set ,Go

With suggestions from author friends and the help of an enthusiastic cover designer I have launched Book Three of my trilogy as an Ebook. PROMISE KEEPER had successful hard cover and Large  Print editions and would be  the last of my Maine Shore Chronicle series for me to epublish. I not only wanted it to have a solo publication as the last installment of the series, I hoped it would grace the cover of a Boxed Set of the Trilogy.

Patty G. Henderson, author, 'graphic artist, covers and more' gaurantees perfect satisfaction" on her website Boulevard Photographica.  Emails flew back and forth as she accepted my suggestions and gave her own for all three new covers I needed for eBook publication of my series. One quote as she worked with me for Promise Keeper will give you an idea of her work ethic: 
"No problem, Mary. Don't ever be hesitant to ask questions or anything else regarding your cover. I'm here to make you 100% satisfied"
She worked hard to do just that.

For my readers of Finding Fiona or Moonglade, maybe you will decide the best is last, Promise Keeper. The story brings you from Maine's beautiful coast to Florida's pristine Gulf of Mexico. 1-2-3 -Mystery,suspense and romance enjoy it in The Boxed Set of Trilogy Maine Shore Chronicles or choose it as a solo read. Either way, I shall be happy to have your comments.

 

How to Reach Readers: Publicity and Promotion by Jacqueline Seewald

Many people in the public eye believe that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

(Just ask Donald Trump!) Publicity, positive or negative, promotes a career because it puts that person in the limelight. Of course, writers would like to be recognized for the quality of their work. Bad reviews hurt a writer’s sales and recognition as a serious author. Nevertheless, being ignored by reviewers is not something that authors appreciate either. Readers aren’t going to buy books they’ve never heard of. No reviews? No publicity? No sales.

So how do authors go about reaching readers, building a following among those who buy books? After all, it’s not just the small independent publishers who do little to promote their authors. These days even the major publishers do not put much effort and money into book promotion either. Writers have to think proactive.

How should writers go about reaching and building a readership? I’m going to offer a few suggestions that won’t break your bank account.

l. Use the internet:

a. Create a website (no, I still haven’t done one yet, but I intend to create my own website soon--really).

b. Do social networking such as blogging. Create your own blog and guest blog on other sites. Interview other authors. Offer to do interviews on other sites, not those only for writers. Reach out to a more general, larger audience.

c. Create a presence on such popular internet sites as: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Shelfari, Booktown, etc.

d. Join Yahoo writer groups of authors with common interests. Be an active reader and comment often in group and on their blogs.

e. Be willing to read and review the work of other writers.

f. Ask other authors in your genre to read and review your books as well. You want as many reviews as possible on Amazon. B&N, Goodreads and Library Thing.

g. Send out advance review copies to internet reviewers who read in your genre. Reviews are important and we can’t always get them from the major review publications.

h. Offer ARCs as giveaways both on your site, other sites, and most especially on Goodreads. Example: The novel THE THIRD EYE: A PINE BARRENS MYSTERY, co-authored with my older son Andrew Seewald, was published by Five Star/Gale in hardcover in September. I offered a Giveaway of three copies on Goodreads in the months prior. Many readers see these announcements. So there is publicity value and hopefully at least one of the readers will eventually post a favorable review on Goodreads. I also gave away copies to readers of Author Expressions.

i. Is giving away free books a good method of increasing overall sales and getting publicity for an author’s brand? It appears to do so for ebooks. Many writers are offering free ebooks on Amazon and Nook. Usually this creates awareness of an author who has numerous books to offer. I don’t have the statistics on how well this is working out. If you do, please comment.

2. Bookstore signings and events are great. However, as we are aware with the demise of Borders among others, as well as the closing of many B&N brick and mortar bookstores, these opportunities, unless you are a famous author, have diminished dramatically. My advice is to see if there are any small, independent bookstores that you can contact. Be prepared to advertise your “event”/signing yourself.

3. Library Events. Offer to do a program at your local library. You can have a book signing and selling afterward if the library approves.

4. Don’t forget to advertise every program you do. Contact the local newspapers and

offer a “news release.”

5. Your college probably has a graduate publication, magazine or newsletter. The publication of your book is certainly a newsworthy item.

6. Consider selling books at various unexpected places. Book fairs sponsored by local libraries are great and so are craft shows, however, you might think of a more creative venue. Try to think outside the box. For example, suppose your novel is about a baker. Is there a local bakery that might display and sell your books on consignment?  Is your novel set in a beauty parlor? Would a beauty shop owner allow your books selling space for a cut of the profits?

7. Attending conferences. Many writers swear by them. It’s a great place for networking and connecting. You can meet editor, agents and other authors. At the very least, you can interact and get interesting feedback and share ideas. Since our work is solitary, this is a good way to know you are not alone.

8. Some writers publish their own newsletters which advertise the release of their new books as they come out.

9. You might also keep friends and relatives in the loop through e-mail announcements.

10. Send out announcements to acquisition librarians, especially if your book has had good reviews which you can quote. This can be done inexpensively via e-mail.

Have I left out anything that I should be mentioning? As a writer, what promotion and or publicity ideas have worked well for you and might work well for other authors?

Readers, what determines the books you will select to purchase or borrow from a library? I would love to share ideas in this forum.

Last month I gave away several ARCs of THE THIRD EYE to readers who left comments on Author Expressions. This mystery novel is now published in hardcover from Five Star/Gale:

http://www.gale.cengage.com/servlet/ItemDetailServlet?region=9&imprint=000&titleCode=TP906&cf=p&type=3&id=15903222

You can buy it at Amazon, B&N online, etc. or request it at your local library.

 This month to celebrate the new Harlequin Worldwide Mystery paperback edition of DEATH LEGACY http://www.harlequin.com/storeitem.html?iid=28798&cid=337

 I again offer copies to those who comment. Just leave an e-mail address between now and September 26, 2013.

What is one thing you can always count on? Change.

Nothing stands still in this world. It revolves and we walk along the surface doing our thing. We  go to work, take care of our homes and families, and find ways to express our creative side. As I age I find just how much I appreciate the fact that things change, it keeps life from being boring. It's not uncommon for us to try and anticipate change, for example, at work they are laying off - so we get some additional training/certification to make our resume look that much more robust. Does it always work to make you more secure in your job? No. But it could improve your chances of getting another position if you are laid off.

In writing, we practice our craft, we attend writers workshops, we study the industry, and we read. We all need input and that feeds our stories. We can find input anywhere - we just have to be open and observant. So, what does that have to do with change? By expanding our writing world and experience we will change our perception and level of skill (hopefully).

Big changes can cause stress, but usually change allows us to find new pathways to live, love and create. Let's keep telling ourselves that as we writers struggle to find the right words, the right publishing venue, and find readers. With regard to the latter, we need to make ourselves visible - available - and interesting. How do we make ourselves interesting? I wish I knew. Perhaps I should change my comfortable fashion sense? Nah. That's not going to happen. Jeans, tee shirts, and tennis shoes suit me.

Perhaps I will change genre's and go from women's fiction to children's? Maybe. But the current novel needs to be finished first. How about changing Point of View? Third person intimate is the easiest for me to write, but the novel I'm currently working on (The Bucket List) is in first person POV. I might try rewriting what I have so far. This could be a very important change to the story.

Some writers ramble, physically as well as mentally. (This blog is a good example.) We take a path, see where it leads, and if we don't like it - we take another. We "change" direction. Let's try an experiment: The next time a big change happens in your life, go with it and see where it leads. Look at it as a new adventure and discover the potential of this new change.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY!