Last weekend, I participated in a local author program called Food for Thought. Put on by the local business district in partnership with a local literary group, CreativeColloquy, the program hosts different authors each week at a farmer’s market for a minimal fee ($5). These type of events are great ways to connect with readers, brush up on my “elevator pitch” for books, and see what’s resonating with the public. The elevator pitch is essentially a one to two sentence synopsis of a book. And with that many people visiting the booth, I can try out different versions and wording to see what pitch makes people look interested in a book. For my Carrie Mae Mysteries, slightly older ladies resonate with “It’s the story of what would happen if Mary Kay ran an international espionage organization.” But the younger women and men do better with “If James Bond was a woman.” Even if I didn’t end up selling a good amount of books, that kind of market research is pretty invaluable. But, of course, being out in the public is also a way to connect with the… um… unique individuals that walk among us.
My favorite unique person this last weekend was the gentlemen who told us a series of stories about his experiences with ghosts including some “Indians” because he had been staying at a house built on an “Indian Burial Ground.” The problem was that as he meandered on about his experiences, the Native Americans he described
sounded straight on out of the movies, and lacked any resemblance to the actual tribes that populate the area. Not all tribes wear “leathers” crazy face. Our tribes used capes woven from cedar bark and a type of fabric woven from the hair of a now extinct type of dog. <LEARN MORE HERE> So… try being more educated before doing drugs. Also, and not for nothing, if a housing developer were to find human remains, archaeologists and police would have to be called and the local tribes would claim the bodies. Nobody wants to build on top of human remains – they disintegrate, leaving cavities in the ground and make foundations unstable. It’s unsound construction, OK, nut job? And also, also, you’re scaring people away from my booth.
But he’s just the tiny fly in the ointment. The majority of people at such events are at minimum polite and usually excited about talking to an actual author. And in the end, talking to such enthusiastic readers and writers are what keep me coming back to these type of events. So if you see me out and about, stop by to say hi. Just
don’t tell me about your ghost experience… unless it’s historically accurate.
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/BlueZephyr-booth082017.jpg480360Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2017-08-23 09:30:072017-08-22 18:38:52Food for Thought
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/CM-Facebook-Ads_desktop.jpg470470Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2017-07-27 05:30:392017-07-25 22:00:11Nikki Lanier in the Hot Seat
Recently, I’ve been working on the sequel to my murder mystery An Unseen Current. While thematically not that different from my other books (a young person struggles with unusual circumstances while navigating the choppy waters of family, love, and friends), mysteries bring a special level of challenge to the mix. For one thing, people expect clues. Oh, there’s a dead body? Well, writer, where are the clues? Chop, chop! Produce the clues!
However, it’s not just about clues; it’s about when to reveal those clues. Too early and readers are bored because they already solved it. Too late and it seems like the author is cheating and wedging information to justify who the killer is at the last second. Then, even if the writer does pop a clue in the right place, she can’t be too precious about it. The author can’t present it on a silver platter with a neon arrow stating: Clue Here!! To accomplish the correct where and when of clue placement requires a stronger outline than other genres. And that means that I must do what every writer hates doing—not writing.
Outlining and the synopsis are vital to a successful book. But they aren’t the FUN part of writing. The fun part is churning out scenes and spending time with the made up people who populate my brain. Outlining requires problem solving and all the leg work of deciding back stories and motivations and the literal who, what, when, where and why of who was murdered. (It was Professor Plumb in the Library with the Candlestick, in case you were wondering.) But mostly it leaves me thinking: Are we there yet? What about now? Can I start writing now?
So wish me luck as I work out the kinks of how the dead body ended up behind a bar in Anacortes.
You never know what’s beneath the surface.
When Seattle native Tish Yearly finds herself fired and evicted all in one afternoon, she knows she’s in deep water. Unemployed and desperate, the 26 year old ex-actress heads for the one place she knows she’ll be welcome – the house of her cantankerous ex-CIA agent grandfather, Tobias Yearly, in the San Juan Islands. And when she discovers the strangled corpse of Tobias’s best friend, she knows she’s in over her head. Tish is thrown head-long into a mystery that pits her against a handsome but straight-laced Sheriff’s Deputy, a group of eccentric and clannish local residents, and a killer who knows the island far better than she does. Now Tish must swim against the current, depending on her nearly forgotten acting skills and her grandfather’s spy craft, to con a killer and keep them both alive.
I laughed when I read AB Plum’s recent post about unhooking from the virtual world. It has been a long time since I didn’t enhance my RL (real life) experience with some sort of virtual interaction. Photos on Facebook, the occasional witty comment on twitter, blogs and websites, they are all part of my life. Partially this is simply a function of my life and jobs. As a graphic designer and a writer, social networking is part of the must do list. As a designer, it’s important that I be able to design ads for Facebook and other social media platforms and understand how the platforms function. As a writer, it’s important that I use those platforms to reach an audience.
Which is not to say that I’m an expert. As a designer, I get to create content and simply walk away. The writer half of me definitely has it harder. I have to remember to post (you wouldn’t think this was hard, but…), to come up with valuable and interesting content, and then not waste all of my writing time on marketing and social media. On the other hand, for the last six months I’ve been swinging very much the other way. I have not been doing a lot of marketing. I have in fact been writing. A lot. A ton. Lots of tons. So much so that I’ve planned out my releases for 2018 and 2019.
So, stay tuned for tons of updates later this summer. Crime, sci-fi, a touch of fairy tales, and of course more than a little bit of romance are heading your way. And strangely, I can’t wait to start marketing ALL of it. If you want to get in on early give-aways (print and digital!) and announcements, join my mailing list at: bethanymaines.com/connect/
*** ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE STILETTO GANG 6.14.17
Food for Thought
/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, Life, The Stiletto Gangsounded straight on out of the movies, and lacked any resemblance to the actual tribes that populate the area. Not all tribes wear “leathers” crazy face. Our tribes used capes woven from cedar bark and a type of fabric woven from the hair of a now extinct type of dog. <LEARN MORE HERE> So… try being more educated before doing drugs. Also, and not for nothing, if a housing developer were to find human remains, archaeologists and police would have to be called and the local tribes would claim the bodies. Nobody wants to build on top of human remains – they disintegrate, leaving cavities in the ground and make foundations unstable. It’s unsound construction, OK, nut job? And also, also, you’re scaring people away from my booth.
don’t tell me about your ghost experience… unless it’s historically accurate.
Nikki Lanier in the Hot Seat
/in Carrie MaeGlossed Cause Released!
/in Carrie MaeClues
/in An Unseen Current, General Writing, The Stiletto GangRecently, I’ve been working on the sequel to my murder mystery An Unseen Current. While thematically not that different from my other books (a young person struggles with unusual circumstances while navigating the choppy waters of family, love, and friends), mysteries bring a special level of challenge to the mix. For one thing, people expect clues. Oh, there’s a dead body? Well, writer, where are the clues? Chop, chop! Produce the clues!
However, it’s not just about clues; it’s about when to reveal those clues. Too early and readers are bored because they already solved it. Too late and it seems like the author is cheating and wedging information to justify who the killer is at the last second. Then, even if the writer does pop a clue in the right place, she can’t be too precious about it. The author can’t present it on a silver platter with a neon arrow stating: Clue Here!! To accomplish the correct where and when of clue placement requires a stronger outline than other genres. And that means that I must do what every writer hates doing—not writing.
Outlining and the synopsis are vital to a successful book. But they aren’t the FUN part of writing. The fun part is churning out scenes and spending time with the made up people who populate my brain. Outlining requires problem solving and all the leg work of deciding back stories and motivations and the literal who, what, when, where and why of who was murdered. (It was Professor Plumb in the Library with the Candlestick, in case you were wondering.) But mostly it leaves me thinking: Are we there yet? What about now? Can I start writing now?
So wish me luck as I work out the kinks of how the dead body ended up behind a bar in Anacortes.
Virtually IRL
/in General Writing, Life, Marketing, The Stiletto GangI laughed when I read AB Plum’s recent post about unhooking from the virtual world. It has been a long time since I didn’t enhance my RL (real life) experience with some sort of virtual interaction. Photos on Facebook, the occasional witty comment on twitter, blogs and websites, they are all part of my life. Partially this is simply a function of my life and jobs. As a graphic designer and a writer, social networking is part of the must do list. As a designer, it’s important that I be able to design ads for Facebook and other social media platforms and understand how the platforms function. As a writer, it’s important that I use those platforms to reach an audience.
Which is not to say that I’m an expert. As a designer, I get to create content and simply walk away. The writer half of me definitely has it harder. I have to remember to post (you wouldn’t think this was hard, but…), to come up with valuable and interesting content, and then not waste all of my writing time on marketing and social media. On the other hand, for the last six months I’ve been swinging very much the other way. I have not been doing a lot of marketing. I have in fact been writing. A lot. A ton. Lots of tons. So much so that I’ve planned out my releases for 2018 and 2019.
So, stay tuned for tons of updates later this summer. Crime, sci-fi, a touch of fairy tales, and of course more than a little bit of romance are heading your way. And strangely, I can’t wait to start marketing ALL of it. If you want to get in on early give-aways (print and digital!) and announcements, join my mailing list at: bethanymaines.com/connect/
***
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE STILETTO GANG 6.14.17