Grand Encampment Cowboy Gathering

I rarely do book signings any more but because I've written some western-based books, including one titled Wyoming's Cowboy Poets and Their Poetry, I decided to attend a three-day festival in Encampment, Wyoming, near the Colorado border. Yep, that's me behind the oversized sunglasses and hat. Although my husband and I only stayed one day, it was an enjoyable experience meeting the nice people of the small community as well as cowboy poets, musicians and artists from the area as well as out of state. I wish we could have stayed longer.

I sold some books and talked to people who love not only cowboy poetry but ranching and anything western. I've been a member of Western Writers of America since 1979, so I sat under the WWA tent, which came in handy because rain and a thunder storm burst upon the scene in early afternoon. Fortunately, the audience was also seated under a tent, so few people left during the afternoon performances of cowboy poets, singers, guitar pickers, banjo players and fiddlers, which included Jon Chandler, John Nesbitt, Rhonda Sedgewick Steanrs, Chuck Larsen and Andy Nelson to name a few.

Other activities were a chuck wagon breakfast, stick horse rodeo for the kids, historic building tours, campfire jam session and cowboy song workshop.

Yee haw! A good time was had by all.

A Visit with Bette Golden Lamb

Bette Golden Lamb and her husband, J.J. Lamb, are the co-authors of four crime novels: Sin and Bone, a medical thriller that brings back RN Gina Mazzio, who gets caught up in the illicit trade in human body parts and murder; Sisters in Silence, a medical thriller about a fertility counselor who goes on a mercy-killing spree of barren women; Heir Today, a fast-paced suspence-adventure featuring a husband-wife team that combines fraud, mayhem, high-seas piracy, murder, and a touchof romance; and Bone Dry, a high-tension medical thriller about theft and ransom of critical bone marrow featuring RN Gina Mazzio; described as “not for the squeamish.”

Bette, how did a nurse from the Bronx meet and marry a journalist from the Hoosier state?

On a summer break from my nursing program, I drove from New York to Albuquerque to see my brother. He and J.J. (I didn’t know him then) were journalists in the Associated Press office there. People talk about time standing still, and it sounds romantic, even poetic to talk about love-at-first-sight. But that’s how it happened. It was a beautiful summer night at an impossibly crowded, raucous party when the two of us found each other in a single glance. That was the moment a girl from the Bronx and a boy from Fort Wayne became one.

P.S. Our first date lasted a full 24 hours, and J.J. asked me to marry him on our second date.

Your name suggests a Native American background. How did it come about?

Actually, my parents emigrated from Russia when they were in their teens. I’m first generation American. But it’s funny you bring that up because an uncle of mine looked exactly like a picture of Chief Joseph; I mean a dead-on image.

When did you and J.J. decide to collaborate on crime novels?

I had this greatidea for a novel, so I passed in on to J.J., the writer. He seemed to like the idea, but he sure as heck wasn’t going to do anything about it. I brought it up now and then, like every week for two years. One day he dropped a ream of paper on my drafting table. “You like it, youwriter it.” You don’t need to hear the rest of that conversation. But his challenge did start me on the road to writing. Several years later I had the idea for Bone Dry, and the RN Gina Mazzio series was born, along with our collaboration.

How do you resolve differences while co-authoring a book?

Well, we duke it out, of course :-) Truthfully, it was very hard in the beginning. There were many, many, many conversations about everything. And I mean everything! When I think back to our early collaboration, I have to admit that J.J. was a saint. Some of things I came up with were really off the wall. In fact, they were so weird, I refuse to remember any of them. J.J. must have laughed himself to sleep every night. Now, when we have a disagreement about an in-progress book, the answer always lies within the characters and the story. That resolves most issues. Any ego trip, by either of us, always defeats the work and the collaboration.

Your job as an RN is obviously great background for your medical thrillers. Have you based any of your plots on true life experiences?

In Sin & Bone, our second Gina Mazzio book, the story is about a killer calling a hospital advice center. I’ve been an advice nurse for many years. But realistically, everything in our medical thrillers has its roots in my career as an RN. The mood, the rhythm, the lingo in medical situations is almost impossible to replicate without having that specific experience. Being there reveals so much about the heart and determination of the people in that special environment. It’s what gives the stories reality, and above all, immediacy. When we wrote Bone Dry, I’d worked with cancer patients but never on an oncology unit. Still, when I spoke to the nurses in that specialized field, I found them generous with their time. They even invited me onto the unit where I was able to see and absorb everything we needed for a tense, scary story.

How do you find time to write when you’re also a ceramist and sculptor as well as a nurse? You must be very organized.

I used to take my laptop to work with me and during my lunch break, I would rush out to my car and write -- every single day. On weekends, I would dive right into my art work. It did take tremendous organization, dedication, and plain old compulsive nuttiness. I don’t know why I’m so driven to create. I just am.

If you had to choose just one of your pursuits, which would it be and why?

I did make that choice a while back -- I left nursing. However, I stay as up to date as I can with what’s happening in the nursing and overall medical fields. I loved nursing -- it was a privilege to help people, to be a vital part of their lives. So even though I was reluctant to give it up, I finally did. But writing and art are passions that I could never give up. They give me the precious freedom of expression, and provide a vision of life that can’t be replicated by anything else. Being able to create something beautiful to behold, or write something exciting, not only nourishes my soul, it makes me feel like one of the luckiest people in the world.

Advice for novice writers.

If writing is your thing, you’ll need a day (or night) job doing something that makes you feel worthwhile, something that gives you satisfaction at the end of a long day. It’s just too difficult, or almost impossible, to survive on what you can earn form creative writing. Sure, sure, some writers immediately make it to the top. And sure, talent is always an issue. But all too often luck is what drives success in the creative arts. In case you’re not one of the ones who strike it rich, or have some of that rare publishers’ fairy dust fall on your brow, be prepared to support yourself and live to write another day. As I said, if writing is your thing, you’re already one of the luckiest people in the world.

Thanks, Bette.

You can learn more about Bette Lamb at: www.bettelamb.com, www.facebook.com/bette.g.lamb
www.linkedin.com/pub/bette-golden-lamb/16/867/505 and

www.goodreads.com/user/show/4094/597-bette-golden-lamb

Jonnie Jacobs is the author of the Kate Austen suburban mysteries and the Kali O’Brien novels of legal suspense. Her newest book, Paradise Falls, is a stand-alone about the disappearance of a teenage girl. Jonnie is a former practicing attorney, a founding member of SinC Norcal, and the mother of two grown sons.

Jonnie, tell us about Paradise Falls.

With Paradise Falls I wanted to write a suspenseful mystery, but I also wanted to explore the effects of crime on families and the doubts and suspicions that ensue. Grace Whittington is married to her second husband with a happily blended family of teenage children. When Grace's daughter disappears and Grace suspects that her teenage stepson is to blame, the fault lines of a seemingly typical family crack. The investigation also takes a toll on the detective as the case becomes increasingly personal for her.

Why did you decide to leave the legal profession to write full time?

It wasn’t so much an actual decision as something that sort of just happened (like so many things in my life.) I was working at a large, high-pressure firm and I had two very young children. I took a leave of absence to spend time with my family, fully expecting to go back, or to at least go back to the practice of law. At the same time, I started writing (something I’d always wanted to do“someday.”) Initially, I was writing for the sheer pleasure of it, but one thing lead to another and I began to take my efforts seriously. My first Kate Austen book was published, followed by a Kali O’Brien book. I never did go back to practicing law.

How do your Kate Austen and Kali O’Brien series differ?

Kate is an amateur sleuth, a single mother with a cop love interest, and the tone is much lighter in this series. When my first Kate book came out, there wasn’t really a category for this type of book. Now, it fits as well into the “mommy lit” or “chick lit” category as it does into mystery. Kali is a lawyer, never married (although she’s had her share of romances and relationships) and her approach to investigation is much more direct and professionally focused (most often on the defense side, but working with the police and DA’s office in Cold Justice.) I do, however, give Kali some personal stake in each case because I think that adds depth to the story (and this is the sort of book I like reading and writing).

Which do you prefer, writing series or standalone novels and why?

They each have their advantages --- and drawbacks. With a series, you’re working within certain, already established, parameters. Many of the character decisions are already made, and that often limits plot possibilities. But since each book is a chapter in the life of the main character, there’s room to reveal more and dig a bit deeper with each book. With a standalone, it’s a fresh slate. Not only can I create characters from scratch and make them into whatever I need for the plot, I also get to decide about voice and tone and point of view and all the other little considerations that go into crafting a novel. As to which I prefer - I’m usually drawn to whichever I’m not working on at the time. I think I suffer from “grass is always greener” syndrome.

Have you based any of your novels on previous legal cases you’ve handled?

None of my novels sprang from my work professionally. I was a business attorney, not a criminal attorney, so the cases I was involved with were hardly the stuff of drama (which may be why writing fiction has such appeal to me.) That said, there is something in each book, usually something key to the impetus in the story, that is personal to me. That doesn’t mean it’s something I experienced firsthand, but rather an experience or problem that involved someone I know or that I read about in a way that touched me.

How do you promote and market your books?

That has changed greatly over the years. When my first books came out, independent and mystery book stores dotted the country, and many were eager to host author events. I did signings and readings and gave talks, and often travelled with other writers covering several states on a tour. My publisher also sent me on tour. What’s more, newspapers had regular book review sections that brought new books to readers attention. Things are different now. Although I do occasionally do presentations, I find I do most of my promotion online or through “human interest” stories in local newspapers and web sites. I’m not nearly as devoted to this as many other authors, or as I probably should be. I don’t have a blog, but I do guest blog now and then. I contribute to interest group sites and lists, maintain a web site, and reach out to readers whenever I have the opportunity.

What’s the most difficult aspect of writing for you?

It’s all difficult on some level. Probably the hardest for me is getting into a book. I might have a vague idea for a story but working it out to sustain 300 or so pages is pretty daunting. Some authors can plot the entire book from the beginning. I can’t, although I wish I could. I’ve tried and tried over the years, but until I am with the characters, experiencing what they’re experiencing, I have no idea what will happen next. So getting through a rough draft can be quite painful. Once the story is down on paper, I do lots and lots of rewriting, but that involves far less hair-pulling and angst.

You have an advice page for beginning writers on your website. Which of your suggestions do you consider most important?

Oh, gosh. They’re all important, but you asked for the most important. I guess I’d have to say actually writing and writing and then rewriting. And doing so critically. Authors don’t write for themselves (that’s a journal), but to communicate to readers. So you have to examine what you’ve written and how you’ve written it in light of that goal.

Your social media links?

I’m one of the last people on earth without a Facebook or Twitter account. I have a website –http://www.jonniejacobs.com, and email –jonnie@jonniejacobs.com. I love to hear from readers and make a real effort to answer every single email (or letter) I receive.

Thanks, Jonnie. You can also visit Jonnie Jacobs at Mysterious Writers: http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/

Free Download of THE MYSTERY WRITERS

The Mystery Writers is a free Kindle download today and Sunday (June 9-10). Sixty writers of twelve subgenres have been interviewed from as far away as South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, England and Canada. Their writing advice is invaluable to not only fledgling writers of any genre but those of us who have been writing for years.

Among those interviewed are Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, Julie Garwood, James Scott Bell, Vickie Hinze and J.A. Jance.

The Mystery Writers may not be offered free again so take advantage of this download: http://amzn.to/KiZKrt

Excerpts from the book include:

"A writer is someone who has written TODAY! Those are words I clung to when I was a pre-published writer and that still resonate with me today." ~ J. A. Jance

"In the past 30 years I've wired myself with hidden cameras, chased down criminals and confronted  corrupt politicians--and had many a door slammed in my face! But the idea that I can change lives and even change laws is so gratifying." ~ Hank Phillipi Ryan

 

"Don't follow the crowd. Today's hot ticket will have gone out of favour by the time you finish your effort." Geraldine Evans (England)

"Get yourself established in the 'old-fashioned' way by getting an agent who will find you a 'legacy' publisher. Are the odds against you? Sure.They always were. Can you do it? Yes, you can." Leighton Gage (Brazil)

"What's the best way to become a bestselling author? Produce consistently high-quality work for a targeted, established genre and market it as though your life depended on it." ~ Vickie Hinze

A Conversation with Bestselling Author Craig Johnson

An hour-long television program based on Craig Johnson’s Western contemporary series, Longmire, debuted June 3 on the A&E network. And his eighth novel in the series, As the Crow Flies, was released last month by Viking. from Penguin.

Craig, have you always been a writer?

 

Nope, my father says I just come from a long line of bullslingers and I’m the first one to be smart enough to write them down… Honestly, I came from a family of readers and I think it’s a short step from there to writing books. I built my ranch myself and finally settled into the life with the thought that I’d always wanted to write a novel. I guess what basically happened was that I ran out of excuses.

When and where did you make your first sale?

Viking/Penguin picked up the first in my Walt Longmire series six years ago, and it’s been off to the races since then. Kathryn Court, the president of Penguin USA shoved a copy of The Cold Dish (a novel I considered to be a stand-alone) across the lunch table in New York and said, “We’d like some more of these…” Do you believe I argued with her? Thank goodness she won. My agent asked me who I wanted to be with and I thought of all those Steinbeck books I’d read as a child (and still do) and chose Viking/Penguin. It’s been pretty wonderful working with a literary press that gives me a lot of leeway. My last two contracts stated that the books had to be mysteries and have Walt in them… That’s a lot of freedom.

What made you decide to settle in Wyoming to write your first book?

I grew up in the Midwest, but my grandparents lived in Kansas and New Mexico, so I wasn’t completely unaware of the American West. When I was eighteen I loaded up an old Army pack, a thousand bucks and lit out for the territories. I think Louis L’Amour would’ve approved. Anyway, in my journeys I was working for a rancher up in Montana and delivered some horses down to Wyoming where I inevitably built my ranch near Ucross.

Your western contemporary mysteries and articles have received quite a few awards. Which means the most to you?

Getting pulled over by a highway patrolman between Basin and Otto in the Red Desert and being told, “I read you books, Mr. Johnson…” He let me off, so I guess he liked them. I get a lot of emails from law enforcement telling me that they think I get it right, and that means a lot to me.

You latest book tour encompassed quite a few towns and events. Do you enjoy meeting readers and talking about your books, or do you prefer to stay at home on the ranch and promote your work via the Internet? And which methods of promoting your books have been the most effective?

Oh, I like living on the ranch and writing or else I wouldn’t have chosen this as a livelihood. I like meeting people and talking about the books though. They say that print ads, commercials, Internet and all that sells books, but I still think the old hand sale buzz of somebody saying, “Hey, have you read..?” Still works the best. Maybe it’s because the nearest town to my ranch has a population of 25, but I genuinely like people and enjoy talking to them about my books. I also think that the book sellers are the best friends an author can have. I do events in every one-horse book store on the High Plains because those people are important not only in the sense of sales, but their ability to tell me where I got it wrong and where I got it right. It’s an occupational hazard in living in a state with only a half-million occupants, that folks recognize characters in the books.

What do you enjoy most about writing and what chaps your hide?

As stated above, I really enjoy the isolation of writing. Heck, in any right-minded country they’d lock me away for sitting in a room by myself and typing about my imaginary friends. Dislikes..? Oh, people who I meet that proudly proclaim, “I don’t read.” That just worries me… Somehow I bet they find time to sit in front of a television for four hours a night. I think reading is a good habit for your mind, it keeps you alert and engaged unlike a lot of other activities.

What’s life like on your ranch near Ucross, Wyoming, and what’s your writing schedule like?

Well, I have a ranch so I get things sorted out at daybreak, make a big pot of coffee, and sit down to write. Sometimes I break for lunch, sometimes I don’t. I came to this wonderful life in my mid-forties, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them find out I shouldn’t be doing it. I attempt to only work six days a week, but I eventually end up in my writing loft with ideas that can’t wait, or trying to fix up mistakes I’ve made.

Tell us about your protagonist, Walt Longmire? And how much of him is autobiographical?

More than I’d be willing to admit. Walt’s probably who I’d like to be in about ten years, but I’m off to an incredibly slow start. In my experiences with law enforcement, I tried to put together my version of an ideal sheriff. Not that Walt’s perfect by any means, but the kind of guy I’d want pulling his cruiser in behind me; kind, patient, tenacious, intelligent and with a sense of humor. He’s no Captain Marvel, but he’s very good at his job. I think the humor is important, anybody that’s ever done the job knows how important a sense of humor is in getting you through the day.

Advice for fledgling western mystery writers?

Keep it real, do your research, and be honest to the place you love. Don’t have your protagonist running around on a cruise ship. One of the things I try to do is pull the seminal information for my novels from local newspapers, which keeps the books grounded in the social and cultural problems my neighbors and I face. I could just come up with wild plots, but I think that’s a disservice to the modern mystery reader, they tend to be looking for something more than just a ‘who dunnit’. There’s so much out there that needs addressing, I don’t think you have to go off looking very far away. That’s the advice I’d give.

Thanks, Craig.

Craig's website: www.craigallenjohnson.com


© 2010 Jean Henry-Mead

Betty Webb is the author of the popular Lena Jones mystery series: Desert Cut, Desert Run, Desert Shadows, Desert Wives, Desert Noir and Desert Wind. She also shows her softer and more humorous side in a series set in a fictional California zoo. The first book in the Gunn Zoo series, The Anteater of Death, was released in November 2008.

Betty, you’ve received some great reviews for your latest release, Desert Wind, including a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.Why did you decide to write about the uranium mining which led to the deaths of John Wayne, Susan Hayward and many others?

Here in Arizona the newspapers have been full of articles about people protesting the uranium mining at the Grand Canyon. One part of the Canyon is already radioactive, which I consider an outrage – and as you know, the feeling of outrage is what leads to all the Lena Jones novels (as in“Desert Wives,” where the treatment of women and children in the polygamy compounds had me frothing at the mouth). After doing some research, I realized that the uranium mining problem also connected up with the nuclear testing program in Nevada, and then –horribly enough – to the filming of “The Conqueror,” which starred John Wayne. Almost half of the film’s stars, extras (including around 150 Paiute Indians) died of cancer after they’d been exposed to concentrated nuclear fallout during one of those tests.

Tell us about your writing background and the presidents you’ve interviewed.

I wrote my first novel when I was 14. It was called “Desert Mane” and was about a horse. Although it was too amateurish to get published, it taught me that even if you only write one page a day, in a year you’ll have completed 365 pages – an entire book! Many years later I became a reporter, which I absolutely loved, and some of the stories I covered made me want to start writing novels again. Reporters uncover a lot of scandals involving the rich and powerful, and that material is simply too rich to confine to a short newspaper article.

Over the course of my newspaper career I was able to interview many powerful people: actors, rock stars, comedians, and politicians (odd, isn’t it, that I mentioned politicians right after comedians). Among the rich and famous were presidents Richard Nixon (surprisingly genial), Jimmy Carter, and once even (for a brief couple of minutes) Bill Clinton. Other big “gets”were Newt Gingrich (highly articulate), John McCain (the guy’s a hoot, a side of him most people don’t get to see), astronaut Buzz Aldrin (I was so impressed I slobbered all over him), Bob Hope, Charlton Heston (very gallant), Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Walter Cronkite, Patrick Swayze (he kissed me!), Norman Mailer (every bit as irascible as you’d think), Tony Bennett (major charmer), the great Joan Baez, and just about every rock star out there.

You’ve tackled some serious social issues in your desert series. Did the plots originate from stories you covered as a journalist?

I either covered those stories or some of my reporter friends did and I went chasing after them for more information. That was the case with “Desert Cut,”which exposed the fact that our goofy immigration policies have brought the horrific practice of female genital amputation to America. One of my friends on another paper let me know about that one, then I followed up with my own research. Same with “Desert Run.” I heard the reporter in the cubicle next to mine interview one of the prison guards at a German Prisoner of War camp that existed here in Arizona. The rest of the books emerged from my own reportage.

Do you ever worry about repercussions from local and federal authorities when you expose crimes they would prefer to keep under wraps?

Let’s put it this way – since “Desert Wind” came out, my computer keeps crashing. And my phone is making clicking noises. Call me paranoid, but…

Something similar happened to me, Betty. Soon after my book, Murder on the Interstate, was released (concerning homegrown terrorists in Arizona), my computer crashed three days in a row, for no apparent reason. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Why did you decide to write a light-hearted series about zoo animals?

I needed the comic relief. Plus, my volunteer work at the Phoenix Zoo was just too interesting not to use. The animals I feature in those books (“The Anteater of Death” and “The Koala of Death” and now “The Llama of Death,” which comes out next January) are animals I have personally known.

Which of your awards means the most to you and why?

I’ll have to go with the Silver Medal for “Desert Wives”which I received from Women Writing the West. The gifted Barbara Seranella and I both shared that one, and since I’ve always greatly respected her work (“No Human Involved,” etc), it was an honor to for one brief moment, to have my book judged equal to hers.

How do you feel about the e-book revolution? Has it helped your own book sales or simply decreased print sales?

I have mixed feelings about it. I love bookstore and libraries, and there’s little doubt that e-books are hurting them. However, I also love to see people get published; everyone has a story to tell – some just tell it better than others. As far as sales go, my hardbacks and paperbacks are still outselling my downloads, but I have noticed from recent royalty statements that sales of downloads are increasing. So we’ll have to wait and see on that.

Advice for fledgling writers.

Write. Every. Day. Creativity is a muscle – and like all muscles, use it or lose it. And whatever you do, don’t wait around for“inspiration.” Inspiration only happens when you’re already hard at work writing.

Thank you, Betty.



You can visit Betty Webb at: her website www.bettywebb-mystery.com
and bettywebb-zoomystery.com Her blog site and writing tips: http://blogglingwebb.blogspot.com

Choosing the Right Critique Group

by Jean Henry Mead

I recently formed a mystery writer's critique group with authors whose work is similar to mine. I hadn’t taken part in one since 1999, when I joined a large online group comprised of novice writers. As a journalist for more than a decade, making the transition to fiction was a real challenge. My years as a police reporter was a plus when I began writing mysteries but my prose was too terse and lacked description. So feedback from the group made the difference. The downside was that there were so many members in the group that my writing time consisted of critiquing their manuscripts. My lesson learned was to find a few like-minded writers whose work I admire.

How do you form a good critique group? If you write mysteries, don’t invite a science fiction writer to critique your work. It’s obviously not a match because the genres are so different. Even someone who writes mysteries may not be compatible. If you write cozies, a crime writer is not a good choice and you run the risk of boring your critique partner(s). Choose a small group of writers who are experienced with your subgenre and who enjoy it. Many books are genre specific, such as commercial romance novels, which have a common structure.

Select critique group members who can be flexible. You need reactions to your work, not what someone else thinks you should have written. And don’t join a critique group if you're sensitive to criticism. Some critique members insist on stark realism while others demand strong female characters and happy endings. Some may think you write too much dialogue and not enough narrative. So you must take criticism with a grain of salt. Toss whatever doesn’t apply over your shoulder.

Above all, choose fellow critiquers who don’t have an axe to grind or envy your publishing successes. Writer Nancy Kress has said that some people are less objective than others, “due to stubborn personality traits. Some people must find fault with everything in order to bolster their own superiority. They’re a bad source of constructive feedback. Conversely, others have such sweet natures that they hate to offend anyone. They will tell you everything in the novel works beautifully, even if it doesn’t.”

It’s your manuscript and you don’t have to accept every tidbit of advice, but at least listen with an open mind. Your fellow critiquers haven’t spent months with your characters and plot, and can be more objective, so take advantage of their expertise.