Murder She Writes

No, I’m not in Australia (I wish! It’s summer there!) But I’m down under the weight of a deadline. In fact, I’m writing this on Sunday right before I go off to rework parts of the 40,000 words I do have written.

Last night I was tweaking and editing PLAYING DEAD. No, it’s not done. Yes, it’s due really soon. No, I don’t know what’s going to happen. Yes, I realize this is really cutting it close.

I’ve found that when I keep going back to edit it’s because something is wrong with the story. I’ve been pushing my characters in the wrong direction. Last week, it was my hero and heroine–I kept expecting a certain big revelation to come out at a specific time, but then I realized that it wasn’t the right time. Once I accepted that, I was back into the story letting the characters dictate.

Late last night, I figured out why I couldn’t move forward. It’s a huge change only in that I had always thought that the midpoint would have this specific revelation. This plot twist was actually something I thought of way before I knew much else about the story. So it was so grounded in my mind that I couldn’t deviate.

Now, I’ve freed those shackles. I don’t have to do much, except that it is a major over-arching story change. It changes the villain focus–takes it to a much, much higher level.

So I have to write. I’ll try to check in once or twice today, but . . . well, it might be late

In the meantime, please share a time when you had a major story revelation that changed your focus. What did you do about it?

And if you’re interested, Monica McCarty interviews me today over at the Fog City Divas on KILLING FEAR. Yep, it’s out and on the shelves! Yeah!

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Still being in serious catch up mode, I hadn’t had a chance to read, much less comment, on the last couple of blogs posted on MSW. While doing so this morning, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of them when compared to the topic I had chosen for today….

I had to give a presentation last night at a local writers’ guild regarding goal setting as it relates to writing. Now I rarely, if ever, use notes when presenting anything. I know the topic I’m going to speak on, keep a few pinpoint notes on the subject in my head, then just spout away. I enjoy doing it this way because it gives me the opportunity to feed off the crowd’s energy, change course and tone depending on the body language I see or the comments and questions some folks make. That said, last night was no exception . . . but something odd happened along the way . . .

I started off talking about goals in general, stating things like, “If your goal is to write a book, maybe the first question you should ask yourself is ‘why?’” Why do you want to write a book? Just to say you’ve written one so you can prove something to yourself and family? Of is your objective to get published? Both will require a finished manuscript, but the goals that need to be established to accomplish either might be different due to the established deadline you set for yourself. When do you want the book completed? In a year? Five years? Does a time line even matter to you? If it doesn’t, chance are you’re really not all that serious about writing a book. Without a timeline, vis-à-vis deadline, that doggone book will never get written because you’ll always be able to use an excuse for not writing…..things like, the laundry needs to get done—(although ‘laundry’ at that moment consists of one blouse and a pair of knickers)—the lawn needs to be mowed . . .twice—that closet’s been cluttered way too long . . .”

Anyway, while I’m chatting away, I see sparks of enlightenment flash in the attendees’ eyes. This goal setting thing is making sense to them. They’re taking notes, smiling, nodding . . . Suddenly something dawned on me, and I asked, “How many of you want to write a book because you want to get published?”

95% of the group raised a hand.

Seeing that, I felt an immediate surge of moral obligation to get them down to the nub of things so they’d be prepared for the inevitable. We talked about the challenges that might be awaiting them…publishers and their antiquated business practices, agents, editors, readers, marketing, meeting REAL deadlines, the day job most have to maintain along with writing and why, the critics, the reviewers (often not one in the same, but both able to knock your feet out from under you.), the stalkers, the nay-sayers, etc. With all that said, the nub came down to the original question….WHY do you want to write a book? Most of them, still smiling, nodding, even more pumped up than before, answered, “Because I can’t not write one.” Sigh…..

As writers, how many times have we heard that answer from other writers? Knowing what we know, the struggles, the constant, ever-changing challenges that come with this profession, we still write. Like a one-member nomad tribe, we keep plodding through that desert with a skin-bag half-filled with water. We keep pushing on regardless of illness, injury, insults, or ill-payment. To me, the real nub of it all is…..writers are just a strange lot, and it’s to that end, I’m left to quote Dickens’ infamous Tiny Tim, “God bless us, every one!”

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I knew when I wrote the book WIVES AND SISTERS that I was breaking into sacred ground, and that I would not be popular for it. No one had ever really written suspense fiction set in the closed Mormon world, and fiction that spotlighted the good and the bad surrounding a young, controversial religion.

Since I grew up in this young, controversial religion, I know it well, and document it accurately. That is not considered a plus to many faithful Mormons. The only acceptable fiction to them is FAITH PROMOTING fiction. I’m not sure this is something that is solely owned by Mormons, but it is reality. Mormons who murder are not FAITH PROMOTING, and therefore, should NOT be written about. If these things ARE written about, it is seen as a blanket indictment of the entire system.

As a former Mormon, or at least a person who has tried to become a former Mormon, my take on life living in Utah is not one the missionaries would offer as a spiel when trying to convert people. I have always believed, and continue to believe, that there are good Mormons, bad Mormons, weird Mormons and normal Mormons. I don’t understand or accept their belief system or tenets, although I know both the tenets and beliefs, and the history of the church, quite well.

That said, I do not spread a blanket across and indict them all. They are generally good people. With a few bad seeds, of course. It happens everywhere and in every religion. This one just happens to be the one I know.

As my book made its way to the market, and reviews began coming in, I started to receive a LOT of hate mail. Some death threats. A few indecent proposals. And some harassment and a few stalking problems. I found that if I ignored the emails, or spoke nicely to the people who sent the angriest ones, it just got WORSE. They saw it as weakness. And so, they would harass me more.

Now, at this point, I figured I had only a few options. I could be honest but direct, asking them to respect my beliefs and my right to express myself, as they did. I could shut down my blog, recall my books from the market and go hide in the mountains. Or I could find humor in the entire situation.

I chose one and three. I don’t mind the mountains for short periods of time, but I am NOT fond of snow and the cold, and a survivalist kinda girl I ain’t.

Now, this has made me rather unpopular at times, but some very esteemed and learned Mormons have given me some respect, and I have handed it back to them in spades.

Of course, not all have reacted that way. I have on regular poster who always tries to refer people back to the official LDS.org Web site, and I almost feel a little bad for him. I finally pointed out that I refer to this Web site ALL the time. I’m sure he thought he was doing the church this big service by steering people in the “right” direction, except I don’t really mind steering people there myself.

I’m not recruiting for the Church of Natalie. I don’t claim to have the only truth. I just write about what it is like to be an outsider in Mormon Utah. And I’m not afraid of the dirtier parts of this unique culture, either.

All of the best suspense writers tackle murder, some of it heartwrenching and set in systems designed to enrich. These systems often turn on themselves, most often because of human mental vagaries, as is the case in my books. The father in WIVES AND SISTERS is a tyrannical fanatic. This is not the case in most Mormon households, but it does happen.

I read one of Tess Gerritsen’s books a few years back, and part of it was set in a convent. I know that there have been murder mysteries set in the Amish society, although those people generally don’t have computers or read popular fiction, so the writers of that fiction are fairly safe from angry Amish people.

Do Amish people get angry? I’m not sure. I don’t know that much about them.

But I know this culture, where I live, and I write about it all the time. I also find much of it humorous, and I spotlight THAT, too, including the good parts. But that gets overlooked.

Sunday night, LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. He was 97 years old, and his near-death status had been kept from the media and Mormon faithful, so his passing was a bit of a shock–as much of a shock as the death of a 97-year-old can be. I heard of his passing, and posted a brief message on my blog offering condolences to his family and those who loved him.

And a firestorm commenced. Apparently, CNN linked to my blog, and for a while, Google listed me as the only reference to his passing, and I had thousands of people coming to my site, many to assault me and attack me.

I was taken aback. However, after a while, I took heart. Others came, many faithful Mormons, to tell me they respected my right to believe differently from them, and some thanked me for my offer of condolences. A few apologized for the first few “angry” messages they posted. And literally thousands of people came to my site and did not comment at all.

How do I interpret this? That there are bad seeds in every walk of life, religion, and setting. And there are many, many more good ones.

For me, something good came out of it. Another life lesson that is at times hard to swallow, but still edible. I would like to spotlight more “good Mormons” in my books. This, folks, is a unique, and historied culture, full of a violent but colorful past, lots of stories, and members both good and bad.

I’m not packing my tent just yet.

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I am totally late getting this blog up today. I have a little tendonitis going on in my right elbow, and the cold rain is flaring my arthritis a bit, so I tried to rest my arm yesterday by staying off the computer.

Which reminds me of a story. Several years ago when the doctors were trying to diagnose my Rheumatoid, my specialist sent me to another specialist.

The second specialist said yep, I have Rheumatoid. But it’s not showing up in my blood work as RA because…yada yada yada. All this boring stuff, then, Second Specialist said, “You aren’t going to be able to work on the computer anymore.”

Me, “I have to, I’m an author.”

Second Specialist, “Then you’ll need to get a voice recognition program. You have to accept that you are limited.”

I’m what? Just like that? I’m supposed to just give up? I don’t think so. I’ll deal with this disease but I will not give into it. I will write my books.

I wrote my second book in ten to thirty minute intervals and iced down my wrists and hands in between. In the meantime I went back to my first specialist and we experimented with medications until we found what works. For me, medications are always a work in progress. But THIS doctor never tells me to stop writing. He will tell me to rest for a few days, and then he smirks and amends that to, “At least use some common sense.”

Yeah, he knows me, LOL!

It’s ironic that I got sick right about the time I sold my first book. All those years of struggling and getting rejection after rejection and when I finally sale, I get slammed with RA. But you know what? I’m lucky. Getting RA clarified for me just how much I love writing and what I am willing to endure for the privilege of doing it.

Some days, I literally write through the pain. (Most days, I feel great and have no pain—but I fought to get to that point!)

Getting RA made me fight harder to do the job I love. I’m alive, I am fighting, and for the most part, I control my disease, it doesn’t control me. Most of the time, I feel great with no pain.

Okay you’re turn—how far will you go to do what you love?

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I guess one would have to define normal. According to Merriam Webster normal is:

2 a: according with, constituting, or not deviating from a norm, rule, or principle b: conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern3: occurring naturally 4 a: of, relating to, or characterized by average intelligence or development b: free from mental disorder : SANE

lol, love the sane comment. Which brings me to another question: Is insanity the norm for writers? I mean how many people do you know who talk to people who aren’t there? Or talk about these imaginary people to other people as if they were real, live, breathing entities? Gotta be a wee bit touched in the noggin’ doncha think? Nah, coz, well in my most not so humble opinion, normal is relative. My father-in-law is a nuclear engineer. He talks about atoms, and reactors and stuff I’ve never heard of, and gets more excited then I do talking about a plot break-through. My dad and brother are engineers. They talk about this calc and that calc and this design and that electronic device like I talk GMC’s. What is normal for them is not normal for me.

I do find however that in my chosen field, which is female dominated, there is a lot, of, hmm how to put this nicely without offending anyone…drama? And with that drama comes the latent bitch in a lot of women. Is this normal behavior for women in general? Or female writers specifically? I have to think it’s the former. But I think the publishing business and all it encompasses turns up the heat, and it really brings the uglies out in people. And when the uglies are out then one’s true character is exposed.

In my husband’s business, coaching, which is male dominated, there is excessive ego, and they can be extremely territorial. But the drama? Not so much. Well, there are those pissing matches, which can be quite entertaining, but become boring rather quickly. But I digress. Mostly, guys aren’t really interested in sparing feelings when it comes to airing their opinions. And well, it works. A coach can go off on another coach, then the receiving coach can tell the first coach to get screwed. Now that they have said what they have to say, they go their separate ways. When back on the football field, all is right with the world. Most women would be crying a river while packing their handbags to ultimately stalk off never to be heard from again.

It was the same when the hubster was a cop. The guys were for the most part assholes to each other, but it worked for them. It would not work for me. And it doesn’t work for many women. We all know women and men are different and those differences are embedded deeply into our DNA. But all of that aside, I tend to find the artsy peeps in the world, of which I include writers, to be, well, more sensitive, eccentric, emotional, temperamental, dramatic, and well, odd. Now, all of that said, I personally don’t see many of those characteristics in myself. I’m not sure if that is good or if that is bad, I just know, I’m seriously beginning to feel like the abbynormal one in this gig.

How about you? Are you normal? Abbynormal? Or a tweener?

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I’ll admit, I absolutely HATE the question, “Are your books character-driven or plot-driven?”

A good book is both. I hate books where cool stuff happens but you don’t care about the characters–anyone with a gun could fill the bill. And I hate books that’s all about people and emotion and stuff happens, but we only see their reaction or feelings. They spend more time reacting than acting. I love thrillers, and I love romances, but the WORST thrillers are all about the coolness and the WORST romances are all about contrived conflict.

We don’t live in a vacuum, and neither should our characters. Every character should be driving the plot, and every plot should challenge those specific characters. In other word, the characters drive the plot and the plot drives the character. But THAT, my friends, is STORY.

Donald Maass says in WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL that “a character-driven story is one in which the character’s own impulses, desires or needs drive the plot.”

I would argue that depth of character requires the character to have a simpatico relationship with the plot–the character’s choices and actions will affect the plot. Who they are and WHY (backstory) is essential to developing a real, three-dimensional character. Backstory and understanding the choices a character makes invests the reader into the story.

In the end, it’s about the story. In anyone has read or listened to Stephen King’s ON WRITING, he will pound this concept over your head. Whenever I get stuck, it’s because I’m focusing too much on either the plot (what’s happening) or the characters (how they feel/react to what’s happening) and I forget that it’s the connection between the two that keeps the STORY moving forward and keeps the reader interested in turning pages.

Now, you’ve heard me say here many times that character is story, story is character, yada yada. I firmly believe that, except Toni Causey pointed out in a recent post at Murderati, that it’s really Characters IN CONFLICT are story. (Toni, if you’re reading, I couldn’t find the dang post I’m thinking of, so if you want to post the direct link for our readers, please do!!)

This is a much better way to describe driving the plot.

Conflict is the plot. Conflict is what’s happening around the characters, to the characters, within the characters. Without conflict (plot), you have no story. Without internal conflict, you have no character depth.

Sorry to rush off, got a deadline . . . but just as a reminder, KILLER YEAR went on sale this week. It’s already gone into a second printing (yeah!) and has received great reviews. KILLER YEAR is an anthology with 2007 debut thriller/mystery authors and a few others (like me.) So if you like great short stories, check it out!

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When my maternal grandmother was alive and living in a nursing home, I visited her just about every weekend. Although I couldn’t stand the smell of the place, (Lysol and urine) I truly enjoyed going there. Not only because I’d get to see my grandma (whom I adored), of course, but because of some of the other characters who lived in the home with her. There’s one woman in particular I still think about today. I’ll call her Nola for the sake of this story…..

Nola was in her late thirties, very young compared to the other residents, of average height and weight, and had dark brown hair streaked with gray, and no teeth. Aside from the no teeth part and the fact that she lived in a nursing home, she looked like any average woman you’d meet on the street. What really made her stand out, to me, was the one and only thing she always said . . .to everyone.

Every time I walked through those nursing home doors, I’d see Nola shuffling around the lobby. As soon as she’d spot me, she’d hurry over with a huge toothless smile, and say, “I know you!”

The thing was Nola said that to me the very first time I visited the place and every time afterwards. She also said it to any and everyone who walked into the building. The staff actually called her I-Know-You, because the name made her immediately identifiable to everyone in the place. Truth is, Nola didn’t really know me or most visitors who came there. It was just something she said. In fact, those were the only three words she ever spoke, and know one really knew why.

For some reason, Nola always comes to mind when I’m developing characters, especially their speech patterns for dialogue. I guess it’s because Nola’s was so unique. Although the woman was basically nondescript, those three words made her identifiable to everybody. As a writer, how wonderful a gift would that be? To create characters that, by dialogue alone, would remain in a reader’s mind for years.

To me, dialogue is like music in many ways. When done well, its rhythm can sweep you along with it and evoke certain emotions. When done poorly, it grates against your ear.

In that same context, consider that each musical artist has his or her own sound/rhythm…one wouldn’t confuse the BeeGees with Barry Manilow or Frank Sinatra with ZZ Top for example. I think main characters should carry that same distinction.

That said, I thought I’d include a few standard ‘tricks-of-the-trade’ for writing dialogue and would love to know what some of yours are……

DIALOGUE AS A WHOLE….

• Adds new information for the reader, be it to plot, characterization, setting, etc.

• Is NOT useless conversation:
- “Hello, John. How are you?”
- “I’m fine, Sam. How are you?”

• Should not be repetitive
- “How’s your new job going, John?”
- “My new job? It’s going well.”

• Should not contain colorful alternatives to he said/she said:
- “Go now!” he shrieked. (or exclaimed.—the exclamation point already tells us he’s exclaimed.)
- “Get over here,” she gesticulated.

• Should not contain excessive taglines.—he said/she said. Use these tags only when it’s absolutely necessary to clarify the speaker.

• Should contain occasional descriptive narrative to give more detail:
- “Yeah,” she said.
- She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “Yeah.”
- She lowered her head. “Yeah.”

• Should not overuse direct address:
- “What are you doing, John?”
- “Well, Sam, I’m fixing my car.”
- “I didn’t know your car was broken, John.”
- “You know my car is always breaking down, Sam.”
UGH!

DISTINCT DIALOGUE . . .

• Slang – use cautiously because it changes very quickly.

- Groovy
- Dig it!

• Make use of region, class, group or profession-specific language. If your character is a computer nerd, think about the terminology he/she might use even in play…

- “Now I’d let her defrag my system anytime!”

• Dialect – avoid phonetic spelling whenever possible. If you must use the phonetic spelling, do so sparingly and consistently.

• Speech patterns and vocabulary:

- “Yep” vs “Yes” vs “Yeah”
- Fragmented sentences
- Verbosity
- Demure/timid

• Mannerisms, posture while speaking

Any points you’d like to add to the list? As a reader, when it comes to dialogue, what makes a character memorable to you?

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So, the “first pass” of POINTE AND SHOOT, the third book in the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery Series is here with me. Right beside me, actually, waiting, perhaps not so patiently, as I type this post. It’s due back at the publisher’s office this week, and it’s proceeding nicely. You always find very WEIRD little typos when something has been typeset, and this one is no exception. Nothing major, but enough that it is necessary to read it closely. But overall, it’s a pretty good typesetting job. I’ve been very happy with this book, all around. I felt a great sense of satisfaction when I finished it. I had fun with it, of course, but it was at times a more realistic picture of life in the dance world. Not that all the CRAZY things I’ve chronicled in other books don’t happen. They do. Dance moms are crazy, dance teachers are even crazier, and that adds up to BIG CRAZAZY.

But this book is set smack dab in the competition world, during competition season, and features some really familiar scenarios of life at these competitions. Since we are headed up on that time of year again, it makes me wonder why I DO this. Dancing Daughter knows, of course. It’s all for her. I’ve encouraged underwater basket weaving but she ain’t buying it.

Back to the book. I’m almost through with the read through and markup, and tomorrow will be mailing it off. I am happy with this book. An unusual situation for me. Usually, I think of a million things I could have done better, and of course, FIRST PASS is not the time to be doing that, because this is the TYPESET copy of your book. They frown on all those extensive changes. Rewriting is better done in the earlier stages of editing and proofing.

But I see no real need to rewrite anything in this book. I like it. And that, in itself, scares me a bit. Where is my obsessive self? Have I lost my edge? Did I ever HAVE it in the first place? Can you lose something you never had?

POINTE AND SHOOT is Jenny’s crowning moment, at least so far. Will there be MORE moments? I don’t know.

But I feel a sense of contentment. That oughta last at least a week.

How about you? When you finish something, be it a book, a project, a paper for school, do you feel content, or do you immediately start second guessing yourself?

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