The Magic Number Theory, Re-re-run

This theory, which I first wrote about in October 2009 and repeated her in July of 2015, is for writers who want to be traditionally published and are submitting, either to agents or small presses. I stole this from someone and can no longer remember who, but if someone wants to take credit, I'll gladly give it. Any if someone else can state it better, that would be good, too. This is a little long winded.

First, I'm assuming your project is as good as you can make it. It's as good or better than what's on the market and it's ready to be published. You're sending out queries and collecting rejections and wondering if you'll EVER reach your goal.

As a querying writer you have your own, individual magic number. You don't know what it is, but it is written in stone somewhere. It's the number of queries you must send out before you land that elusive agent, the one who "falls in love" with your work and then manages to get it sold for you, or the publisher who eagerly accepts you into the fold. (An agent who can't sell your work, necessitating getting another agent, is a pre-agent, and doesn't count. Only your "real" agent, the one who sells for you.) When you send out the query with the magic number on it, you're set, done, reached your goal. (Until you go on to the rest of the stuff, marketing, promotion, guest blogging, which are just as hard, only different.)

The beauty of this theory is that you can regard each rejection as a step closer to your magic number. Another rejection? Okay, the magic number wasn't 17. A few more? Okay, it wasn't 28, or 52, or 77, or maybe not even 110. Each rejection is PROGRESS. You're getting closer to your magic number. If your number is 455, your 456th query will be The One that gets you published.

You may lose patience and try another route, self-publishing. Keep in mind that it may help to get the big agent and the big publishing house if you publish something with a good small press. That’s what worked for me.

Another writer, Lina Zeldovich, has a similar theory she calls Stairway to Heaven. Every rejection letter builds her stairway and gets her closer.

Either way, don't view rejection letters as marks of failure, but rather as marks of success.

I hung on for 10 years getting hitting my magic number. It turned out to be 468. There's something symmetrical about that for me. I now have had 10 books published.

Guest Jim Jackson on a Road Trip

I'd like to welcome Jim to my Travels again today. He was one of my first Guppy critiquers and, years later, followed me to become the president of that incredibly helpful group. Here he talks about using location in fiction.

First, here's a bit about him and his successful mystery series:

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree mystery series. ANT FARM, BAD POLICY, CABIN FEVER, and DOUBTFUL RELATIONS (8/23/16). Jim splits his time between the deep woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and the open spaces of Georgia’s Lowcountry. He is the current president of the 600+ member Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime. You can find information about Jim and his books at http://jamesmjackson.com.

Taking Fictional Characters on a Road Trip

One of the great divides in the writing community occurs in choosing locations for their stories. Some prefer the freedom of creating their own communities where every street, every business, every stop sign is there because they created it. Some of them do such a great job that I want to visit, if only I could. Those authors are concerned with consistency. Even if they don’t remember there is a left-turn-only lane going from Broad to Main, their readers will, and if it disappears in a later book, the author will hear about it.

Other authors prefer to set their stories in real places, with perhaps a few modifications so bodies don’t turn up in real businesses. Many readers get a charge when they’ve been to a location used in the book. It shares a communal bond between them, the author, and the characters. But woe to the author who has the sun directly in the eyes of a character driving on what locals know is a north-south street. A hot email is about to arrive.

Some authors blend the two. Louise Penny comes to mind as one who created the village of Three Pines that so many want to visit but also uses actual places in cities like Quebec. As an aside, I visited Quebec City this summer with one of our granddaughters, and she chose to tour the Morrin Centre. I walked in having totally forgotten about its role in Penny’s Bury Your Dead and was transported back to the story. That’s the power of real locations.

The Seamus McCree novels use (mostly) real locations and for Doubtful Relations I decided to have Seamus and his mother take a road trip. Some people are happy to research settings using the internet. I prefer visiting the places I use. When you read about Seamus’s home in Cincinnati, or the hotel he stays in Columbia, SC, or Tybee Island near Savannah, or North Carolina’s Outer Bank, or the hills and train stations of New Jersey, (all of which are in Doubtful Relations), I’ve been there, quite possibly with my camera to keep my memory accurate. 

 

Personal visits do not solve all problems. For example, a beta reader sent me an urgent note that a Cincinnati restaurant I used for a scene no longer exists—in fact the building has been torn down. I actually knew that, and fortunately Doubtful Relations is set a few years in the past, when the restaurant did exist.

So readers, what about you? Do you prefer real locations or a well-crafted fictional locale? And how do you respond when you find a factual error in a novel?

Jim's latest!

Financial crimes investigator Seamus McCree has wife problems, and Lizzie’s not even his wife anymore. Her current husband disappeared while traveling, and Lizzie turns to Seamus for help.

Equal parts road trip, who done what, and domestic thriller, Doubtful Relations takes psychological suspense to a new level. Seamus McCree fans and newcomers alike will delight in this fast-paced novel that leaves no one in the family unchanged and keeps you guessing until the very end.

Guest Today! Judy Penz Sheluk on Mystery Conventions

I'm pleased to welcome Judy Penz Sheluk to my travels today. She has some of her own travels to tell you about! I'd known her online for some time, but was able to meet her at Malice Domestic this year.

One of the perks of being an author is that it provides an excuse to attend writers’ conventions in cities that I might not otherwise visit. When I signed the contract for my first mystery novel, THE HANGED MAN’S NOOSE in 2014 (published July 2015), I made a commitment to myself to attend at least one conference a year.

In the mystery genre, the selection is plentiful. Some conventions move to a different city each year, such as Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime. There are also many that stay in the same city. Examples of these include Killer Nashville, New England Crime Bake, Thrillerfest in New York City, and Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland.

For my first conference as a debut author (The Hanged Man’s Noose, July 2015), I selected Bouchercon 2015, which was held in Raleigh, North Carolina. An annual four-day world mystery convention, what I liked was that Bouchercon had a Debut Author breakfast, and the location was an easy flight from Toronto.

I arrived in Raleigh the day before the convention to do a bit of sightseeing and loved the city. Lots of historic buildings, great people, and the weather was fantastic. As for Bouchercon, it did not disappoint. I met so many great authors (I was quite star-struck for much of the time), attended some terrific panels, and was even on my first panel as a published author, with Donna Andrews (Moderator), Maya Corrigan, LynDee Walker, and Tom Franklin, who was the American Guest of Honor. Talk about pressure! Fortunately, Tom and the rest of the panel were ultra-kind to me.

In 2016, I selected Malice Domestic. I’d never been to Washington before, and they also have a Debut Author breakfast. Furthermore, I knew that many other members of Sisters In Crime were going to attend. Once again I arrived a day early, navigated the Metro system (which is fantastic), and saw the White House, the War Memorial and other monuments. Unfortunately, it was cool and rainy, but the city is amazing. I’d love to return and see Arlington and the Smithsonian museums.

As far as the convention itself, Malice is much more low-key than Bouchercon, with fewer attendees. Think of Bouchercon as the big wedding with hundreds of guests, and Malice as immediate family only.

But smaller doesn’t mean not as good. Malice had great author panels, and an Awards banquet second to none. I was fortunate to sit at Ellen Byron’s table; her book, Plantation Shudders, was up for the Agatha for Best First Novel.

What’s in store for 2017? For sure Bouchercon, since it’s in Toronto and I only live a couple of hours away (in fact, I’m on the volunteer committee). If time and money permit, I’ll look for another place to travel. I’ve always wanted to go to Nashville…

Judy’s latest release is Skeletons in the Attic, the first book in the Marketville Mysteries:

What goes on behind closed doors doesn’t always stay there…

Calamity (Callie) Barnstable isn’t surprised to learn she’s the sole beneficiary of her late father’s estate, though she is shocked to discover she has inherited a house in the town of Marketville—a house she didn’t know existed. However, there are conditions attached to Callie’s inheritance: she must move to Marketville, live in the house, and solve her mother’s murder.

Callie’s not keen on dredging up a thirty-year-old mystery, but if she doesn’t do it, there’s a scheming psychic named Misty Rivers who is more than happy to expose the Barnstable family secrets. Determined to thwart Misty and fulfill her father’s wishes, Callie accepts the challenge. But is she ready to face the skeletons hidden in the attic?

Bio: Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery novel, The Hanged Man’s Noose, was published in July 2015. Skeletons in the Attic, the first book in her Marketville Mystery Series, was published in August 2016.

Judy’s short crime fiction appears in World Enough and Crime, The Whole She-Bang 2, Flash and Bang and Live Free or Tri.

Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Canada, International Thriller Writers and the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Find Judy on her website/blog at www.judypenzsheluk.com, where she interviews other authors and blogs about the writing life.

Find Skeletons in the Attic: http://www.imajinbooks.com/skeletons-in-the-attic

Traveling to Sumatra with Nancy Raven Smith!

I'm delighted to welcome Nancy Raven Smith to my Travels today and visit...Sumatra! I don't believe I've ever read a book set there. Read on to see how she delved into some fascinating research.

Writing About an Unvisited Location

  

So you want to set your new writing project in a foreign location you’ve never visited?

Not an unusual occurrence for a writer, and one that happened to me with my debut novel, Land Sharks – A Swindle in Sumatra.

 

The area around Sumatra was important to my story for it’s history of identity theft and counterfeit identity via forged passports and identity papers. A recent example of this was when two passengers (not involved with its loss) on the Malaysia Airline that disappeared tragically a few years ago, were discovered to be traveling under fake passports bought in adjacent Thailand. Since my new series is all about scams, cons, and frauds, Sumatra was a perfect place to locate my first book.

Then there was the actual island itself. Sumatra is the third largest of the 13,677 islands that make up Indonesia and is the sixth largest island in the world. Physically, it is about the same size, shape, and population as California and full of wild beauty. It’s a rich environment, filled with possibilities that fill the imagination.

What more can a fiction writer want than an island whose western side is lined with ninety-three volcanoes - fifteen of them active. Imagine California with fifteen active volcanoes. On a tiny island just off the southern tip of Sumatra is Krakatoa, one of the most infamous volcanoes in the world. You may have heard of the latest eruptions of Sumatra’s Mount Sinabung. It’s in the northern third of the island and a stratovolcano, as is Krakatoa and Mount Saint Helens in the US. Mount Sinabung has been spewing gas and ash clouds as well as lava for the last two plus years with no sign of stopping. It’s located to the North of Lake Toba, which is a super volcano like Yellowstone.

 Rainforests, marsh, and shallow rivers cover a third of the entire island and dominate the topography on the eastern side. 

The flora is as fascinating as the topography. There are over 35,000 known plant species in Indonesia. It’s the home of the infamous corpse plant, which smells like purification, and Rafflesia which produces the world’s largest bloom. Hibiscus, jasmine, bougainvillea, lotus, and frangipani are common. Sumatra’s rainforest trees grow over sixty meters tall.

The animals are unique too – 176 different mammals, including orangutans, Sumatran tigers, rhinoceros, elephants, sun bears, clouded leopards, and tapirs as large as ponies. The orangutan exists only in Sumatra and neighboring Borneo.

Reptiles, insects, and aquatic life are just as varied as the mammals. Luckily the fierce Komodo dragons live a fair distance away on a different island. The rare and colorful bird species number 523 including Birds of Paradise, Black Ibis, Sunbirds, pheasants, owls, nightjars, parrots, hornbills, cuckoos, and hawks. The bird population alone fills volumes of books.

The people of the island are as diversified as everything else. Although there are a large number of ethnicities, more than eighty-six percent of the population is Muslim. Christians are the next largest group at a distant second. They are followed by Buddhists and Hindus. Local tribes still exist such as the Batak people in the north.

But sadly, I’ve never been there. So I researched. Researching is definitely a wonderful part of writing. Here’s how I went about it. First, I bought several current travel books on Sumatra. In the front of travel books is always a section on the abbreviated history on an area, a section on flora and fauna, and a section on the people, culture, government, and food as well as descriptions about travel and money. I read these carefully and took notes. Then I bought a large wall map. From it, I got a sense of topography and distances. I picked where I thought the story might take place and zeroed on that specific location. The location changed as I learned more, and I repeated this process several times before finalizing my choice. At the same time, I was still taking notes, searching on the internet, and following things about Sumatra in the news. 

Then I went to Amazon and Ebay to see what was available about Sumatra. I ordered and read several first hand accounts of living on the island. I also ordered videos of the area. These actually give you a true visual of the area, especially if you look at the background and not just at what the video focuses on. You also can see how the people sound and look. One video I’ll mention that was absorbing for me was called The Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey filmed by the Blair brothers as they journeyed through the islands of Indonesia for ten years. It’s old and on VHS (1991) as a 4 tape set, but they also kept a diary and published it. Another program I watched was a much more recent Globe Trekker episode, a Nova episode, and several programs on orangutans. (All on DVD). Another thing I’d recommend if you have the opportunity is to interview someone who has been to the location.

Then I wrote my book. 

Thank you Kaye for letting me share how I research a location with your readers.

BIO

Nancy Raven Smith grew up in Virginia where she ran horse sport events. Later in California, she worked in film and studied screenwriting at UCLA. Her scripts have won numerous awards, but she decided to write one idea as a novel. To her surprise, she discovered a passion for writing mysteries. Raven Smith realized that she found her true creative home in writing mysteries/romantic suspense. Land Sharks – A Swindle in Sumatra is her first mystery/romantic suspense novel. She hopes people will enjoy reading it as much as she did writing it. She was thrilled when it was chosen as an Amazon/Kindle Scout Program Winner.

DESCRIPTION

In Land Sharks – A Swindle in Sumatra, a bank fraud investigator goes undercover in Sumatra to find a young heiress who may or may not have been kidnapped. Her job might be easier if she didn't have to deal with her boss's untrained son who has a crush on her and the unexpected appearance of an ex-boyfriend who’s a conman with his own secret agenda.         – Mystery/Romantic Suspense

The ebook for Land Sharks is on sale for the month of August, 2016 for $1.99 on Amazon.

http://www.NancyRavenSmith.com

http://www.Facebook.com/NancyRavenSmith.com

http://www.TheReluctantFarmerofWhimseyHill.com

Land Sharks – A Swindle in Sumatra Amazon Link - http://amzn.to/1JuIHku

The Reluctant Farmer of Whimsey Hill Amazon Link - http://amzn.to/1XoblsP

Short Bit of BSP

BSP=Blatant Self-Promotion

But I'm actually promoting for all eight authors, our independent editor, and our publisher.

Our anthology, which began on a whim and took on a life of its own, has been named a finalist for a Silver Falchion Award at the Killer Nashville conference, taking place this next weekend!

Stories and authors:

A NICE SET OF WHEELS, by Kathy Waller
FAMILY BUSINESS, by Reavis Z. Wortham
ROTA FORTUNAE, by V. P. Chandler
MOME RATH, MY SWEET, by Gale Albright
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND, by Kaye George
BUON VIAGGIO, by Laura Oles
APORKALYPSE NOW, by Gale Albright
HAVE A NICE TRIP, by Kaye George
DEAD MAN ON A SCHOOL BUS, by Earl Staggs
HELL ON WHEELS, by Kathy Waller
RED’S WHITE F-150 BLUES, by Scott Montgomery




Editor: Ramona DeFelice Long

Publisher: Wildside Press

Healthy Eating?

I recently noticed two different articles on somewhat the same subject, both from the same publication, and was struck by them in juxtaposition.

First, there’s this one showing how many people eat fruits and veggies, by state. My present state, Tennessee, looks pretty abysmal. Third for the bottom for vegetables and dead last for fruit! I hope your state does better.

Then there’s this article from last year on the state of the drought in one of our most productive places.  

So, I thought to myself (well, who else would I think to?), maybe Tennessee is ahead of the curve. Maybe we’re trying to preserve what vegetables there are so everyone can have some. Yeah, right.

So, to console myself, I think I’ll heed this article.

Until 2020 when we might not have that consolation any more.

All photos from morguefile.com

Guest Today, Laurel Peterson Around the World

I welcome Laurel Peterson here today. She's a fellow Barking Rain Press author with an unusual book (see below).

WHAT TRAVEL OFFERS US: AROUND THE WORLD IN MY HEAD
by Laurel Peterson

Thanks so much for having here, Kaye. I’m delighted to be part of your blog for the day.

A writer—too vague, I know, but I can’t remember who said it—said that one can spend a lot of money justifying one’s travel as a tax write-off. He was talking about researching his books, and I know what he means! My husband and I once spent a weekend in Atlantic City so I could research a book that was never published. On the other hand, I have written a collection of poems about art I’ve seen in Sydney, Paris, and Madrid museums that’s coming out from Futurecycle Press next year (http://www.futurecycle.org/index.php/en/).


The protagonist of my mystery novel Shadow Notes, Clara Montague, has spent fifteen years traveling around the world, looking at gardens because she is a landscape architect like her father, and because she and her mother had an (epic) argument after her father’s death. While sending her off into the world solved some narrative problems for me, it also offered an opportunity to use the places I’ve been (and the places I want to go) in my books. And no matter where I travel, I am drawn to the landscapes and the different ways in which people use their patches of earth. Starting locally, above are the rather perfect herb gardens at the Cloisters in New York City, which overlook a wide sweep of the Hudson River.

Last year, we were fortunate enough to be in France, where people garden like this:  

The window box is in Paris. The other is the cutting garden at the Chateau D’Useé or Sleeping Beauty’s castle (where supposedly the story was written) in the Loire Valley. I love the color combination in the window box, and the idea of having an entire row of calla lilies just to cut for flowers for the house? Heaven!

But travel is expensive, so I indulge my obsession by reading books about travel: I’ve just finished Robert MacFarlane’s The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot¸ although I can’t imagine Clara, a luxury hotel kind of girl if there ever was one, trudging through the wilderness and sleeping in sheep shelters. (Where’s the blow-dryer??) But MacFarlane opens up the world on an essential level, a level that makes me think about soil composition (chalk, granite, clay), snow, ice, and the paths formed by generations of walkers across the land. He suggests that “the places we inhabit shape the people we are”—rather than the other way around. Certainly, the places I’ve travelled have shaped me, hopefully making me more tolerant, curious and observant, and reminding me (and Clara) that those people are really my people.

Related to that, I think the greatest charm of travel is that it makes me other; I don’t belong so there’s a sense of disorientation, of discovery, that just around the corner I am going to see something I have never seen before—and how cool is that? If I can communicate that internal emotional journey for my readers, I think I have succeeded. And perhaps, saved myself a bundle of money, tax-write off or no.

Why do you travel? How do your travels relate to your writing—or do they? I’d love to hear from you, and thanks for reading.

www.laurelpeterson.com
Follow me on Twitter: @laurelwriter49 and on Facebook.
Shadow Notes is available on Amazon: http://barkbks.me/1TdRXOA
or from Barking Rain Press: http://barkingrainpress.org/shadow-notes

Meet Laurel and find out a bit about her new book.

SHADOW NOTES

by Laurel S. Peterson

      

Clara Montague’s mother Constance never liked—or listened—to her but now they have to get along or they will both end up dead. Clara suspects she and her mother share intuitive powers, but Constance always denied it. When Clara was twenty, she dreamed her father would have a heart attack. Constance claimed she was hysterical. Then he died.

           

Furious, Clara leaves for fifteen years, but when she dreams Constance is in danger, she returns home. Then, Constance’s therapist is murdered and Constance is arrested.

           

Starting to explore her mother’s past, Clara discovers books on trauma, and then there’s a second murder. Can Clara find the connection between the murders and her mother’s past that will save her mother and finally heal their relationship?   

Laurel S. Peterson is a Professor of English at Norwalk Community College. Her mystery novel,Shadow Notes, was released by Barking Rain Press in May 2016. In addition to writing mysteries, she has published two poetry chapbooks, That’s the Way the Music Sounds, from Finishing Line Press (2009) andTalking to the Mirror from The Last Automat Press (2010), and a full length collection, “Do You Expect Your Art to Answer You?” will be released by Futurecycle Press in 2017. In 2016 – 2017, she is serving as the town of Norwalk’s Poet Laureate. She also co-edited a collection of essays on women’s justice titled(Re)Interpretations: The Shapes of Justice in Women’s Experience (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009).