Murder She Writes

To chat about something that is near and dear to me: Karin’s First Line Contest.

Before I explain, let me just say real quick, I don’t normally blatantly promote myself here, but this contest isn’t about me, at least not anymore. It’s about opening a door to New York. Let me explain: Back in the day when only two people ever heard of this new author Karin Tabke, I wanted to come up with a gimmick to drive traffic to my website. I percolated several ideas, but alas, while I can be a selfish girl, I kept coming back to something that while it might drive traffic to my website, I knew more than myself, it could benefit an aspiring author. Hence the First Line Contest, which has been quite a success. And if imitation is any indication I had something here, lot’s of other sites have followed my lead and launched their own version of a First Line Contest, but mine is the bestest. So what began as a gimmick to drive traffic to my site has turned in to a personal mission to open a door for an author to sell to New York.

This will be the fourth First Line Contest. My first final judge was Editor Hilary Sares at Kensington, second Executive Editor Lauren McKenna at Pocket, third Editor Hilary Teeman at St.Martin’s, and I am very happy to report that Sr Grand Central Editor, Amy Pierpont, who is one of the top working editors in New York, has agreed to be my final judge this year.

Here’s how it works, on Monday December 8th, at 6 p.m Pacific time, I’m going to give the go ahead on my blog to post your first line. The first 100 people who post a first line in the comment section will be entered, those not getting in in time don’t get to play. Last time it took less then 30 minutes to get 100 + first lines!

During the first week, I’ll ask one of my judges (all of my judges are anonymous, New York published authors) to cull 20 lines. The 80 lines that remain will be posted sometime the following Monday. Each person who made it through will have until midnight that Friday to post their original first line and a second line. I’ll have another judge cull another 20 lines, the 60 who make it go up on my blog Monday. From there we’ll cull 5 lines each week. Each week those who make it will add another line, and 5 will be culled, until I get down to the final 10. Then I will have all of the judges who judged pick their favorite 5, the 5 with the most votes then get two weeks to polish up the first 10 pages of the story that finaled in the First Line Contest, than off they go to Amy. She will read and rank them and hopefully ask for more!

It’s a huge amount of fun! I have had agents contact participants asking for material and a few requests from the final judges. Many of the finalists have gone on to sell. I love doing this. As we all know New York is a tough gig right now, and anything I can do to help get someone in the door I am more than happy to do.

So, check back at my blog this coming week for details and instructions and even if you are not going to participate, it’s a lot of fun to read the lines as they progress!

My question for the day is: Do you like writing contests? And what has it gotten you?

Okay, not an original title, but heck, I’ve been on multiple deadlines and right now all my creative energy is going to my WIP.

Have you noticed the depressing blogs and posts over the last few weeks? Sure, we know why. The economy is in the pits and the book business is struggling. Borders is on the verge of bankruptcy, a publisher put a temporary freeze on the acquisition of books (they were overextended as it was, according to reports) and Random House froze pensions. This is a crazy time and because of the uncertainty of the economy, the volatile markets, the low-margin publishing business, and the great unknown, people are nervous. The retailers are bracing for a slow Christmas season and Black Friday is looking kind of gray right now.

But as we all know, the economy goes up and down just like book trends. This will pass. While the big question is what will happen once we reach the upswing, we can be confident in knowing that we have no control over it. What we have control over is in fact very little, but what we can be thankful for is great.

I’m thankful for many things, first and foremost my family. We have a home, we have food, we have our health. We are safe. I am thankful my husband is beginning to understand and tolerate the quirkiness of marrying a writer, and my kids are patient when I forget it’s dinnertime or make spaghetti for the third night in a row.

I am thankful for America and our soldiers who defend freedom and through extension, uphold our Constitution. I am thankful for the right to speak on this blog, the right to go to church, the right to meet with friends and discuss controversial topics without fear of being imprisoned or silenced.

I am thankful for my friends. There are so many I have been blessed with, including some who have in many ways become sisters I never had. I am privileged to be part of this great group of crime-writing women of all genre stripes here at Murder She Writes.

I am thankful for my agent who believes in me, who supports my decisions, and who tells me when I’m right . . . and when I’m wrong. I am thankful for my editor who shows me my story flaws but lets me fix them my own way. I am thankful for my publisher who has supported my books from the beginning. I could not have asked for a better team. I am thankful because I know that talent is only one part of the equation; luck is out of our control.

I am thankful for my mother for showing me her love of books and letting me have my own love affair with stories. I am thankful for Stephen King and his generosity, who wrote back a 13 year old fan and gave words of wisdom I remember daily: Writers write.

I can’t possibly remember all that I am and should be thankful for. But there’s some things I am particularly thankful for . . .

. . . rain, coffee, cats, computers, music, rainbows, oceans, wine, laughter . . .

I’ve been thinking lately of people who have been an influence in my life, that I may not have recognized at the time and probably never thanked. People often give of themselves without expecting anything in return, and sometimes we forget to thank them. There are authors I’ve read who greatly influenced me, movies that have inspired me, people I’ve met who have made me a better human being, mentors who have selflessly guided me. Most of us have had a teacher who made a huge difference in our lives, even if we didn’t know it then. We all have a favorite teacher (Mr. Aragon, fourth grade) and a despised teacher (fifth grade) and a lot of a mediocre, good, and okay teachers.

There were three high school teachers who I liked but never thought they had any influence over who I became. I’ve come to realize that without them in my educational life, I don’t think I would have turned out quite the same. Dwight Perkins, my junior year American History teacher who taught me to see all sides of an issue; Bob Jones, my freshman and senior English teacher, and my creative writing teacher for two years, who introduced me to more books than I can remember and shared his love of stories to the point that I was willing to go on any literary journey with him, no questions asked; and especially Russ Kubiak, my sophomore English teacher, who never let me slack off. It’s amazing when I think back to my high school years, I rarely think about my peers, but I always remember these teachers.

Thanks.

Who’s someone you never thanked that you want to thank for doing or saying something that changed or affected you in a way you’ve never forgotten?

Have a blessed and thankful day.

When I wrote, “Which Genre Am I?,” I delved into the idea of whether or not readers preferred a certain genre from a certain author. What’s behind the cover of a book is, of course, the most important part of any book. But, how important is the cover? Recently I was confronted with a dilemma that made me stop and wonder how much difference the “look” or “branding” of a book made in sales.  My first three releases in the single title arena carried what I consider romantic suspense covers.  Nameless is an example of the look.  All three books were a variation of this cover, but with different colors (blue, red, then purple).  A very nice look, in my opinion.

I write romantic suspense, heavy on the suspense. So this seemed like the perfect covers.  However, rather than being labeled romantic suspense on the spine, the books were marked as “A Novel”.  This was very flattering to me in a way since it felt as if I was being labeled something that embraced more than one genre. This particular label, “A Novel”, put a large number of my books in the fiction aisles–also very flattering. But did that decision make a difference in overall sales? Did the titles, Traceless, Nameless, and Faceless, cause any confusions or disappointments since the books weren’t actually related other than by setting? The last two did have one character in common. Were the romance readers who look for my name going to be perusing the fiction aisles looking for me or would they assume, when they didn’t find me in romance, that I didn’t have a book out or that the book was sold out? These were questions I had not considered before. It’s a bookstore, my book is there…does anything else really matter?

My upcoming release, Find Me (December 30th), has a bolder, more upscale cover and is still marked as “A Novel” on the spine which brings me to the recent dilemma I spoke of.  My roots are in romance.  Shouldn’t my books, which are romantic suspense, be shelved solely in the romance aisles? Will the thirty or thirty-five percent shelved in fiction languish there or will they serve to broaden my reading audience?  In surveying the bookstores to determine how they decided where a book should be shelved, most reported that the book was shelved according to where the author had been placed before. If they had carried you before and you were in romance, that’s where you went the next time. Some said their decision was based on the cover, how it looked, how it was labeled and the reviews posted on front and back. So, I asked a bookstore manager, who didn’t know me, to look at one of my books (Faceless) and tell me where he would place it in his bookstore. This was a chain store, by the way. He said that his intial look at the cover told him to put the book in romance, but, on further inspection, the spine indicated it belonged in fiction. But the reviews seemed to say it should go in suspense or mystery. I asked him how he would make his ultimate decision and he said he would look at the data system to see where I had been shelved before.  Hmm, this was a bit unsettling. Would the stockers in every bookstore go to so much bother?  Also troubling were the many emails I received from readers saying they couldn’t find my books, which ultimately led to my survey of nearly 400 bookstores across the nation.

After much discussion and hard word by my publishing team, it was decided that with the next book (summer 2009) the spine would read: Romantic Suspense. I haven’t seen the cover yet but the title is Everywhere She Turns, which I have come to like very much and feel it is indicative of the story. I am extremely pleased to be a part of a team who works so hard to determine the best course of action for my career. But the whole dilemma made me wonder how much difference the look of a book made. So, please, share your thoughts with me. How important is the look of a book in your decision to pick it up? Is location in a bookstore relevant or will you look until you find what you’re looking for?

A bit of news: You all know the first book in my paranormal series, BLOOD MAGIC comes out February 24th, but now I have a title and release for the second book. The title is SOUL MAGIC and it will be out November 2009. Pretty cool!

SOUL MAGIC is due in a week. One week from today. I have it fully drafted and I’m editing and polishing until my eyes bleed and my brain cramps. (Do you think my editor will notice if I’m a little over my word count? Just a few thousand words? Okay ten thousand?)

Naturally, I’m a little bit distracted. For example:

1) I lost a week. A whole week. I discovered this quite by accident when my agent e-mailed me and closed by saying, “Have a nice Thanksgiving.” I read that and got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thanksgiving wasn’t for two weeks so why was she saying that? I grabbed my calendar and realized that Thanksgiving was THE NEXT WEEK. I lost a whole week and my book is due December 1st. Crap.

2) I walked around for five minutes after taking a shower looking for my towel and discovered it ON MY HEAD.

3) I noticed that a box of rice was in my cupboard upside down. I fixed that by turning the box over and dumped out half the contents on the floor and all inside the cupboard. Some moron opened the BOTTOM of the box. Sadly, that moron was me.

4) I bruised the heel of my palm. Don’t ask. I’m just brain dead. Note to self—next time, use a mallet and not your hand. Idiot.

5) I had a nightmare that I told my editor I get the new proposal in at the same time as my book. I woke up in a cold sweat and almost threw up before I realized it was a dream. I couldn’t go back to sleep.

To clear my mind, I sometimes visit Distraction Sites like: http://www.thequeerofallmedia.com/shirtlesshotdudes/index9.htm

GRRR, For some reason I couldn’t get a hot fireman picture here!

Or this http://icanhascheezburger.com/

more animals

Okay your turn! Do you do dumb things when you’re distracted? Or is it just me? Do you have any Distraction Sites you’d like to share?

As I am writing this blog, my 14-year-old daughter, who has professed her desire to move to Forks, Washington, and find Edward and marry him, is headed to the movie theater for the long-awaited debut of Twilight.

If you have never heard of Forks, Washington, have no idea who Edward is, and think Twilight is that time between sunset and nightfall, I am not sure you will find this blog terribly interesting. Except for the fact it deals with the phenomenal success of an author and an idea.

I have mentioned Stephenie Meyer before, in past blogs, mostly because I find it fascinating that she has achieved the kind of success formerly reserved for folks like Stephen King and JK Rowling.

And all with a series about teenage vampires and the girl who loves one of them. Throw in a werewolf, or two or a pack, and you have a New York Times bestselling saga that has made one whole hell of a lotta money.

Tonight, all across America, sold out shows will begin after midnight, and my daughter will be in one of those shows. She and her BFF from birth have both read all the books, and anxiously await more, should they come.

And tonight? They are BEYOND excited. All good students, with excellent grades, they are being allowed to go to this late night movie, and miss school tomorrow.

My sister is also taking her 13-year-old daughter, another rabid fan, although they live about an hour from us, so they are obviously not going to the same theater.

Now I wonder a few things.

1. Will the movie live up to their expectations?
2. Will it make them want to read MORE books in this series, or turn them off vampires for good? (You know, the whole blood, guts, gore, etc….)

Answer to number one? I have no idea, but the critics aren’t raving about the show.

Vampires and the poor human beings who love them have been a hot onscreen item this season, as evidenced by HBO’s lurid hit series “True Blood” and the marvelous Swedish import “Let the Right One In.” For less discriminating palates, there’s the much-anticipated “Twilight,” a disappointingly anemic tale of forbidden love that should satiate the pre-converted but will bewilder and underwhelm viewers who haven’t devoured Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling juvie chick-lit franchise.

That quote kinda answers my question number two. Those who are already rabid fans will probably STAY rabid fans. Because Meyer’s vampires are, for the most part, quite heroic and admirable. There isn’t going to be much blood and guts, at least as far as I can tell, and the movie is more romantic saga, which is, of course, what the fans want.

They want to BE Bella, who I find rather annoying and whiny, and marry Edward, who I find rather stilted and not terribly charismatic.

But that is just my perception, and going off all the crazy dance moms who have read and LOVED this series, I would guess I am rather alone in it.

I personally find the character Jacob (who is a Native American werewolf. Don’t ask. It would take too long to explain, but to me, that part of the storyline really works) is much more charming, interesting, and intriguing.

The actor who is playing him looks quite young, and yet still fits my mental perception of Jacob. I like this casting.

Now, Edward, that is a different story.

Frankly, he kind of creeps me out. I do not find this an attractive shot, nor do I find this actor particularly handsome. I am voting for Jacob to steal Bella and for them to live happily ever after. She’s so morose, however, that I sincerely doubt this will ever happen. Plus all those rabid fans would revolt, hunt Stephenie Meyer down and pull a Misery on her until she changed the story.

But I guess this actor fits my perception of Edward, since he does creepy things like watch Bella while she is sleeping. ALL THE TIME. She never knows when he is there. Creepy.

Now the casting of Kristen Stewart of Bella seems like a good one, although as I mentioned before, I don’t find her character in the book terribly compelling.

We shall see what my daughter has to say about the movie, and I will report back.

So, do any of you have children who are going to the midnight showings, or are you going yourself? Would you ever do this for a movie? Have you ever done this?

The phone rang and even though I saw that it was an 800 number and even though most 800 number phone callers are OF THE DEVIL, I was expecting a return call about an order I had placed and so I answered it. [I will give $20 or maybe even a hug to the person who invents the ability to ZAP unwanted callers when they dial your number and you are on the DO NOT CALL list. That is not the 'MAYBE DO NOT CALL BUT OKAY, GO AHEAD, JUST THIS ONCE, WE DIDN'T REALLY MEAN YOU" list. It is also not the BUT DON'T YOU WANT TO SAVE ALL OF THE WHALES IN KANSAS? list, or the WE ARE DOING THIS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT RESEARCH STUDY ABOUT NAVEL LINT AND ITS MANY USES list. I want to be able to connect my phone to a modified taser for these.] [I may be cranky.]

[My publisher's phone number shows up as "unknown" so I can't just ignore them all. Or zap them all. Like I'd really like to.]

So. Anyway, the phone rang and the woman asked me for [relative's name]. She mispronounced the name, but since it is a difficult last name to pronounce, I started to cut her some slack. Because instinctively, I want to be a trusting person. I want to think good of people. I also want world peace and the ability to walk into my closet without it feeling like an archaeological dig. However, as much as my natural instinct–the little part that hasn’t been beaten to death–would like to cut this nice, of-course-she-means-well-lady some slack, the person she’s asking for is a distant relative, so I was immediately suspicious. There’s no reason for someone to be calling me for this person. Strike one. Also, the relative’s name is gender-neutral, and is female, but the caller referred to her as “he” — so strike two.

I used to not be suspicious. Back in the day when I thought, “Ice cream YUM, so GOOD and it’s made with MILK and GOOD STUFF and how can this not be the best thing made for you in the WHOLE WORLD” and, alas, not “Ice cream=sixteen-hundred pounds per thigh. (The all-caps was on sale, three dozen for a dollar. I may have gone overboard.)

I told her there was no person by that name at this phone number and because this woman is pretty good, she jumped in before I could hang up the phone and said, “I’m so sorry–[this caught me--most telemarketers would have jumped into a spiel, so the apology made me linger one more second] this is about a court case and the number we have for [relative's name] isn’t working. I’m with [names a law firm] and this is in reference to [gives a court case #]. [Relative] put down [my husband's name] as a relative and an alternate phone number.

For one thing, I didn’t believe her, but then I began wondering who this person was and what she was up to. Which is, frankly, where she wanted me. I realized that, but did not respond to her by giving her information. I asked, “What court case?” and she read off a number, then said “in county court.” Um, STRIKE THREE. [Louisiana has parishes, not counties, so it is a parish court system, and anyone actually calling about a real court case would know that.] I wrote down the court case number and the woman’s phone number and extension and hung up. Without giving her additional information.

Of course, as I suspected, this was a scam. My relative’s attorney contacted these people [there was no court case pending, anywhere] and confirmed that these people were scam artists–he also threatened them with lawsuits. As he explained, they are interested in ID theft–both my relative’s, and mine. A few years ago? I would have felt nice-girl-compelled to “help” these nice people reach my relative. And would have probably given them enough to scam my ID as well. I’m glad I was at least cynical and shut it down, but I shouldn’t have ever answered that call in the first place.

These are smart scammers–they know they’re messing with the primal need that most people have to take care of their own. Most people want to help their relatives, or their friends, and that benevolent instinct kicks into high gear whenever anyone hears the words COURT and CASE side-by-side. People want to avoid the expense and the hassle, not to mention possible wrong-doing going on their record, and they feel protective of family members and friends, and so will take down these messages and, in the process, often inadvertently give out additional information. Like using the pronoun “she” instead of “he.” All the caller has to do is gather up pieces of information from a few calls and voila, they now have enough information to know that this person they’re trying to target is (a) real and (b) who they think they are [i.e., living in our state, not to be confused maybe with someone by the same name that showed up in another state], which narrows down all of their search information to this one person’s data–data which they can get very cheaply only for a small fee. Now they’ve confirmed who she is, they can start hacking away at her ID.

A week later? I got an unknown caller and, thinking it was my editor, answered. Same scam, different name–now the name of a business partner in another venture. I simply said, “wrong number” and “take me off your call list” and hung up.

They have called at least four times today. Which means I either have to mute the phone or listen to the damned thing ring until the machine picks up. Or block the calls, which, for reasons stated, I cannot do.

This time of year is especially fraught with scams–more people are desperate to scam money and more good people are in the mood to be thankful and helpful and full of the holiday spirit. We just need to remember not everyone has good intentions.

I routinely check out snopes.com whenever someone forwards me the latest “OH, WOE, TRAGEDY” type of email, alerting me to some danger or other. The majority of said emails are hoaxes. If the above had not happened directly to me, I’d have assumed it was a hoax and would have checked out Snopes to see–particularly their fraud page. There are a few other self-preservation steps to take:

1. Don’t answer [or block] all unknown and 800 calls. If it is a legitimate caller, they will leave a message and you can always call back. [Also, it turns out that you can block 800 numbers without having to block unknown numbers. There's also a phone number you can call to re-activate reception--and then cancel it again, once you've received a call, if you're expecting one.]
2. Don’t ever give out personal information [including pronouns, contact phone numbers, city of residence] to a caller. Ask them to mail you the request and if they don’t already have YOUR address, then they are phishing–the term for scammers hunting information.
3. Don’t ever click on an email link sent to your mailbox that offers you a discount or a sale price–even if it’s for a big box store. Lots of scammers harvest your information by creating fake websites with legitimate-looking corporate logos. It’s often extremely difficult to tell the real thing from the fake thing. If you want to see if something for that store is on sale, open a new browser window and type in the store name yourself–you’ll go to the legitimate site that way. They should have the sales posted there. [They may not always have them, but really, is it worth the risk?]
4. Never, under any circumstances, give out any password or any account number.
5. Children’s identities can be stolen, too. Make sure your child’s personal web pages (MySpace, Facebook) don’t contain identifying information that will allow someone to use their ID [and fake the age].
6. If a prize appears for a contest you don’t remember entering, you probably didn’t. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE should be a mantra. This includes things like “gas” and”Wal-Mart” coupons / rebates / prizes.
7. If you missed JURY DUTY, they will MAIL YOU AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT. They do not call you, nor do they ever need to get information from you over the phone about who you are. [The real jury duty people ought to know who you are.]
8. Nobody gives out FREE ATM cards. For anything. Not even FEMA.
9. First, don’t open the door up to a stranger, okay? Just don’t. If it’s a delivery, then be sure you were expecting something before you open the door to sign for it. Delivery uniforms can be faked. Most deliveries do not require signatures and are often simply left at the back door with a simple knock or ring to alert you they are there. This includes packages for “a neighbor”–one excuse a con man will use to find out additional information about who lives near you and who’s home or gone. Or if you are home, alone.
10. If someone comes to your door in DISTRESS and needs to use the phone, keep the door closed and ask them for the number. People with legitimate motives will give it to you. People who are obviously hurt and BLEEDING PROFUSELY? Call 911 before opening the door. Unless you’re a trauma expert and you recognize that they have actual, you know, wounds. If someone is calling out “fire” or “rape” — again, call 911 because remember–con men often work with partners. Partners can stay hidden while one person gets you to open the door.
11. Pay attention to your surroundings when you’re shopping–or, hell, going anywhere–if you’re on the cell phone while using your hands to go through a clothes rack, chances are you’re not paying all that much attention to your purse or wallet, and you become an easy mark.
12. Watch your credit card balances and your bank balances and notify the institution the minute you see an invalid charge. [I check mine religiously--as well as our credit reports. On one of my cards, there was a charge for a Dell computer. Which I had not ordered. I called Dell to see what this was, and they confirmed the order--and explained that my sister had used my card. I don't have a sister. I pointed out that they allowed someone not on the card to use my card and their response? "Oh. You're right. Oops." She even, it turned out, had to call back twice because when she tried the first time, she had the wrong zip code. And they let her. Now, my card company didn't pay it and reversed the charge, but how dumb was that? Luckily, because I caught it when I did, the computer was en route and they caught it before it was delivered. Didn't catch the person, though, because it was being delivered to, get this, a hotel. In Florida.]

A few days ago I was sitting in a meeting and felt my cell phone vibrate on my hip, indicating a call. I glanced down at the ID, saw it was a friend of mine from Florida, and made a mental note to call her back as soon as the meeting was over. I should have known better. This particular friend wasn’t one for idle chatter, so when she called six more times in the next ten minutes, I knew something was up and excused myself from the meeting to return her call.

She answered after a half ring, and instead of offering her customary ‘Hey,’ she shouted, “Congratulations!”

I glanced at the phone to make sure I’d dialed the right number.

“Girl, I’m so happy for you!”

“Umm . . . thanks?”

I heard her breath catch. “Oh my God, you mean you don’t know?”

All I knew was a group of people were waiting for me, impatiently I might add, in the boardroom across the hall.

“You hit their list, girl! You hit the list!”

“What are you talking about? Who’s they? What list?”

“The bestsellers list!”

My heart flip-flopped in my chest. “What?” There was no way Water Witch had hit any major list without me knowing. My publisher would have been on the phone in a nanosecond, blasting the news.

“The bestsellers list!” she shouted again. “I swear to God! I’m standing right in front of a sign that says; Number 8 Bestseller- Water Witch – Deborah LeBlanc.”

“Where are you, the Family Dollar Store?”

A loud tsk. “As if! I’m at Publix.”

“You mean the supermarket Publix?”

“Yeah! Hey, I’ll take a picture of it with my camera phone and send it to you.”

And she did.

Of course I was happy to see Water Witch sitting on any bestseller list, but the odd thing is, no one seems to know how it got there. My publisher didn’t know and neither did my agent. When both contacted Publix’s corporate office to find out how their bestseller status was determined, (i.e. how many copies have to be sold before it hits that list) all they said was, “We can’t release that information. It’s proprietary.”

Well, crap!

Oh, well . . . proprietary information or not, being on that list still made me do the happy dance. And isn’t that what life’s about? Grabbing all the happy dances when and while we can.

I’ve been having a particularly difficult time with the book I’m writing. The sad truth is I always have a difficult time with the book I’m writing because writing is hard. Horrifically, impossibly, sweat-and-tear-inducing hard. When I’m having a particularly tough time like this, I tend to ask myself that soul-searching question that plagues so many of us:

Why, in God’s name, did I give up a perfectly good job in public relations and choose this career that forces me to sit by myself in front of a computer, solving puzzles that I make up, wrestling with fictional characters, and praying that the next scene is the right one for the book? On deadline, no less?

Because, I tell myself as I thrash around, sleep-deprived and miserable, I love to write.

And then I have to look in the mirror and face the truth: I hate to write. But I do love to tell stories, and that’s why this is my job. From the time I learned that I could write a tale that would be passed around the eighth grade and loved by every girl in the class, I wanted to tell stories of romance and danger. When my children were toddlers, I’d just as often ditch the book, rock them in the dark, and create my own adventures (starring them, of course) to put them to sleep. Not that mine were better than GOODNIGHT MOON, but I enjoyed the bedtime ritual more when I controlled the outcome. (But I learned that my stories tended to get them riled up and involved, when I wanted them to go to sleep! So I went back to GOODNIGHT MOON when I really wanted some rest.) So when I have trouble with a book, I try to get back to that pure storytelling joy, and remember that this job is really all about the characters, their journey, the story – and that’s why I worked for nothing and slaved for hours and endured countless confidence-crushing rejections to be a writer. Because I am a storyteller.

Quite simply, the difference between incredible books that can’t be put down for love or money and ones that you forget five minutes after you read them is the storytelling, not the writing.

So what is the difference between “writing” and “storytelling?”

Anyone can write, I contend. All right, not everyone. But a lot of people can. Then why are they not all getting contracts, selling books, and enjoying weeks on the best seller lists? Because not everyone can tell a good story. And, here’s the stunner that it took me a long time to accept — many storytellers are not particularly good writers. Let’s take for example…an over-the-top successful bestseller with the initials S.M, who has penned a wildly popular YA/Vampire series that is opening as a movie this weekend and is the source of a groundswell of tween angst and excitement. Not a particularly fabulous technical writer, but, oh, don’t knock the woman’s storytelling capabilities. Say what you will about TWILIGHT, about the book’s message to young women or its amazing appeal. I won’t comment on the writing, the concept, the subtext, the fact that I just bought a copy for my eleven-year-old daughter because it is the book to read and I completely understand wanting to be part of the in crowd. (Different blog, entirely.) Out of curiosity several months ago, I read TWILIGHT. And I will say this about that: the woman can tell a story. I couldn’t put the book down, from word one to the end, I was captivated. Was it perfect? Did I agree with her character’s choices? Did I love every word written? Absolutely not, but it didn’t matter, and that’s why the book, and the whole series, is a phenomenon.

When I have trouble with a book I’m writing, I tend to focus on the writing. Why is this scene slow? What’s wrong with that line? Who is this character and what is he doing in this book? Did I start at the right place, set up the plot correctly, use the right dialogue?

All of that is writing, and while it’s important, that’s not what makes a book unforgettable. It’s not the “rules” of writing we learn that makes good storytelling, not “show don’t tell” and “come in late and get out early” or “don’t use adverbs and watch the tags.” What makes an extraordinary story is how effectively and furiously (speaking of adverbs) the author can push the envelope in every single scene to astound the reader, how she can twist a premise and make it compelling and original, yet still universal. What makes a good story is the singular and enchanting character traits, the pace that keeps the pages turning, the viciously taut tension between two people who should never, ever be together but must find a way to share eternity.

When I’m struggling, I go back to the basics of storytelling: character, conflict, twists, and tension. It’s not about the writing – that’s merely the tool. Storytelling was an art long before a pen and paper were invented, and will be around when we’ve gone from the computer to something we’ve never even imagined. Humans need stories, they don’t need writing.

What makes a good story for you?

1  1