Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week.

Hope you’ll enter this month’s WKB giveaway for a chance to win Donald Maass’ excellent Writing the Breakout Novel, from our friends at Writer’s Digest. Enter the drawing by signing up for the WKB newsletter.

Finger Lickin’ Dead released June 7th. Hope you’ll consider it if you enjoy mysteries, or know someone who does.Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N ($6.99)

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to hosting Karen Walker on Mystery Writing is Murder. Hope you’ll come by!

Making Time to Write Despite the Never Ending To Do List: http://bit.ly/rfpixb

Digital lit: How new ways to read mean new ways to write (Globe and Mail): http://bit.ly/nEz6bY

The Kings Speech – Why is this such a Great Bad Movie? http://bit.ly/r49QZc @StoryMeBad

Why So Few Men Join Book Groups: http://bit.ly/oyHqI2

How some famous crime fiction sleuths got into the business: http://bit.ly/n1J2rX @mkinberg

The Writer as Detective (NY Times): http://nyti.ms/pYkGpe

An overlooked form of marketing–volunteerism: http://bit.ly/ot1c1y @MariaZannini

Best practices for the professional writer: http://bit.ly/nSRjhB @JourneytoFree

Writing for the reluctant teen reader: http://bit.ly/ounoG3

Writing urban fantasy vs. steampunk: http://bit.ly/qhLJNB

Stop Procrastinating By Thinking of Your Future Self: http://bit.ly/puZPqP

10 Ways to Keep a Long-Term Character From Being Hated: http://on.io9.com/rsJ7GD

Roving body parts: http://bit.ly/pnXOHw @authorterryo

Why gratitude is vital for writers: http://bit.ly/nQoe25

7 Tips for Writing a Film Review: http://bit.ly/pXr6Df

Why 1 writer/artist loves Google+ & her tips for newbies: http://bit.ly/obIcU5 @inkyelbows

6 tips for helping writers suspend reader disbelief: http://bit.ly/oRLqjv @damesofdialogue

A nice how-to on creating an ebook: http://bit.ly/oEBpVg

Censoring Books for Kids: http://bit.ly/rcb2Pn @jemifraser

Nice link roundup by 2 historical writers: http://bit.ly/o7I6J4 @2nerdyhistgirls

Fluffing up a flat character: http://bit.ly/olUF17

Fast and Easy Guide to Writing Characters of the Opposite Gender: http://bit.ly/r2QpJh @KMWeiland

Why Your Creativity Is Stuck On Shuffle And You’re Not Hearing A Single Song: http://bit.ly/okpcHT

Magical Rooms in Fiction: http://bit.ly/qXfcpR @AwfullyBigBlog

Everything You Wanted to Know About Digital Publishing But Were Afraid to Ask: http://bit.ly/pCKrr8 @DearAuthor

Sex and the Novel: http://bit.ly/oYSkW7 @Sarafurlong

How Much Should an Author’s Ebook Royalty Be? Some number crunching: http://bit.ly/pvfEl9 @kellymcclymer

Metafiction: The Forgotten Transformer: http://bit.ly/nOFFl1 @yaHighway

9 Tips For The Perfect Pitch: http://bit.ly/njpYCp

Lessons from the Movies–Planting and Returning Images to Create a Satisfying Ending: http://bit.ly/nhDO8D

Tips for getting in the writing zone: http://bit.ly/oltcpS @SarahKetley

Improving Creativity: The Connect Brainset: http://bit.ly/qkVl8p @lkblackburne

6 great heroes of epic fantasy: Part 1: http://bit.ly/oUhkZj and 2: http://bit.ly/oXQoba

Things not to do as a writer–the rush to publish: http://bit.ly/o9bOfr @LisaKilian

The truth is out there: sci-fi doesn’t have to be stupid (Brisbane Times): http://bit.ly/p6nFP3 @brisbanetimes

Writers and Doubt: http://bit.ly/p81WwQ

The real Secret Garden (Telegraph): http://tgr.ph/ozKGuh

The writer takes a walk: http://bit.ly/oVSlRz

The Best Way to Embrace a Negative Review: http://bit.ly/qqqpJ5

Write what you know…or not: http://bit.ly/qsZhma

When writing is hard, write in a herd: http://bit.ly/nIjjBP @BWBODRasch

Tips for crime writers for avoiding “Cabot Cove Syndrome”: http://bit.ly/ncGFG4 @authorterryo

5 Steps to Writing a Killer First Chapter – How to Wow Readers: http://bit.ly/nqMNW8

3 protagonists walk into a bar: http://bit.ly/nJGPAI

Tips for writing action well: http://bit.ly/rs165T @Juliemusil @lisagailgreen

Using tarot cards to develop your story: http://bit.ly/qmwgyd @joanswan

The Importance of Knowing & Writing For Our Target Readers: http://bit.ly/poiYUs @JodyHedlund

Identifying the specific reason behind procrastination and making steps to work through it: http://bit.ly/mRqawn

Personalized publishing advice–where to get it? http://bit.ly/q37dES

One writer’s 10 favorite writing lessons: http://bit.ly/nGgPxv @jhansenwrites

Handling Content Edits: http://bit.ly/pyNrIe @KatieGanshert

Hands-on plotting: http://bit.ly/pmDER9

A former D&D gamer offers us 10 types of character quirks: http://bit.ly/r1PX4Q @CherylRWrites

An agent on what to do when you get an offer: http://bit.ly/nSXb5N

How to Write a Non-Fiction Query Letter: http://bit.ly/qAkoyT

5 Tips for Making a YouTube Promo Video: http://bit.ly/phhjSz

Writing Historical Fiction: Daring to Own an Icon: http://bit.ly/pDySEm @BTMargins

Getting started with Google+: http://bit.ly/mWYERp

Basics of writing–keeping it fresh: http://bit.ly/rnAkBP

When artificial intelligences start using contractions: http://bit.ly/ph9Phq

Don’t lie in query letters: http://bit.ly/qKUDKk

How writing is like ironing linen: http://bit.ly/oDo4Cl

Stop talking about writing and write: http://bit.ly/rjz3AH

3 Ways to Sell Yourself as an Online Writer: http://bit.ly/ph5hmY

Legacy Publishing vs Self-Publishing: Can You Do Both? http://bit.ly/qzwi5f @AJackWriting

Union & Guild Resources for Writers: http://bit.ly/nKX8Kh @galleycat

Why You Can’t Buy Creativity: http://bit.ly/qQI0Ka

How *not* to support local bookstores and coffeehouses: http://bit.ly/odNIqF @NinaBadzin

How flexible are you? http://bit.ly/o8PC53 @JodyHedlund

10 Ways to Reach Your Word Count Goals: http://bit.ly/pbpk9e @elspethwrites

How to break your book into chapters: http://bit.ly/oiNSLl @PublishingGuru

A primer on your publishing options: http://bit.ly/r18AkX @HartJohnson

Agents as Publishers: http://bit.ly/nYd7gH @LauraPauling

3 types of mushy book middles: http://bit.ly/q3rutw @FantasyFaction

Dialogue and The Telephone: http://bit.ly/p34RGh

Self-editing checklist–externals: http://bit.ly/rgcc3t

YA vs. Romance Sex Scenes: http://bit.ly/pjJJT5 @yaHighway

3 mistakes 1 writer observed a newbie make at a recent convention: http://bit.ly/pcj7Jz

Why you should become more flexible as a writer: http://bit.ly/pQ717U

How to Throw A Book Party That Rocks: http://bit.ly/o1Uj5o @BTMargins

Editing-Meet the Novel-Killer: http://bit.ly/oog4yk

Taking the “Spookiness” Out of Ghostwriting: http://bit.ly/oMH5p7

Writing A Linked Series – An Agent on Why some work and some don’t: http://bit.ly/qBtpIF

6 tips for growing characters: http://bit.ly/qSFsyp @WriteAngleBlog

A Guide to Colloquial Contractions: http://bit.ly/qtnkeI

Why Small Ebook Presses are Thriving And How You Could Join Them: http://bit.ly/ng4YEa @thecreativepenn

Performing plot CPR: http://bit.ly/nitE59 @JulieMusil

Do authors have to be attractive in this business? And mine their personal history for promo? http://bit.ly/ocWQpo @nicolamorgan

How writing and driving are similar: http://bit.ly/osQdvt @LesaHolstine @ThomasKaufman,

5 simple math skills every writer should know: http://bit.ly/qIcO7K @

Cross-marketing your books–locating alternative markets: http://bit.ly/qY4BhP

12 Ways to Turn Your Old, Dusty Blog Archive into Cold, Hard Cash: http://bit.ly/pqCAer

Article Revision Using the Pointings System: http://bit.ly/qC2bTz

How authors can benefit from using YouTube: http://bit.ly/n8IFVn

WordPress Plugins that Make Your Blog Comments Social: http://bit.ly/oLPYJA

Book writing is agony, with little reward. Why is it still pursued? NY Times: http://ow.ly/5DO9y RT @JaneFriedman

Agents are no longer relevant to authors? An agent says no: http://bit.ly/pSNkje

Tyranny of “The Numbers”: http://bit.ly/nnEOnK

Dear Young Writer: Advice to Your Younger Self: http://bit.ly/q0ZRXL

The Death of the Publishing IT Department? http://bit.ly/pjspJS @pubperspectives

Google+ Hangouts for Writing Groups: http://bit.ly/q5JdMb @galleycat

4 Elements of a Great Book Signing: http://bit.ly/nHxZno @PimpMyNovel

The 7 Stages of Writing a Sequel: http://bit.ly/nZGbos

How To Sell Songs Inside Your eBook: http://bit.ly/rgm59B @GalleyCat

7 Sound Techniques for Effective Writing: http://bit.ly/oS0bpp

Twitter tools for authors–Twellow and Grader: http://bit.ly/qU2Q6e

Why your reader is your co-writer and 6 tips for letting readers fill in the blanks: http://bit.ly/nWJw4x @KMWeiland

A deep editing analysis that demonstrates the power of cadence and specificity in writing: http://bit.ly/neyG9z @jhansenwrites

16 Ways Fiction is Usually Different than Reality: http://bit.ly/qT7kuu

2 PIs explain white collar crime to crime writers and give tips for writing it: http://bit.ly/nshtCX

How to work theme into your novels: http://bit.ly/qbjrfQ @DirtyWhiteCandy

Making Critical Character Traits Part of Your Plot: http://bit.ly/qVL6AW

What Readers WON’T Miss about Corporate Book Publishers When They’re Gone: http://bit.ly/ot0uVm @AnneRAllen

Tips for writing your 1st scenes: http://bit.ly/n7msBR

The dreaded flashback: http://bit.ly/noGjYG

How to speak publisher – C is for Cover: http://bit.ly/nccNZs

Managing Your Time as a Writer: http://bit.ly/qqYeqj

The art of rocking out your identity crisis so you can go on to rule the world: http://bit.ly/oAOY2a

How much description? http://bit.ly/p11bQL @JulietteWade

Tips for providing value on Twitter: http://bit.ly/pv1dsQ

World Building-Part 2: Social and Cultural Aspects: http://bit.ly/nrUPAb

5 must-do publicity tips: http://bit.ly/qpQ0no

The Surprising Key to Becoming an Authority: http://bit.ly/q0mOEX

7 Reasons Creative People Don’t Talk about Money: http://bit.ly/qNWNnv

Tips for bringing scenes to life: http://bit.ly/qE1F0J @4kidlit

Have white-board, will plot: http://bit.ly/px9XJT @yaHighway

The Lies Screenwriters Tell (Themselves): http://bit.ly/p4wdzQ

10 public speaking tips: http://bit.ly/pDL9yx @katiewardwriter

Who has authority online? @JaneFriedman with answers: http://bit.ly/qaHqRQ

Is your book’s middle saggy? Losing motivation halfway through? Don’t give up! Some tips: http://bit.ly/o425Ct @jhansenwrites

The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing: http://bit.ly/pH42sy

Self-Publishing is Like Playing Baseball: http://bit.ly/pNjO82

5 Reasons Why Your Writing Matters (Even if No-One Will Take You Seriously): http://bit.ly/ofMVip

A Google+ cheat sheet: http://bit.ly/npVzr6

12 Easy Steps to The Making of a Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/kP5jpk

Fixing Problem Pacing: http://bit.ly/qHO7Fb

Genre Interruptus: http://bit.ly/ofT0Io

Why copywriting is the secret to building a popular blog: http://bit.ly/pA6m8Y

How to Delete Half Your Facebook “Friends”: http://bit.ly/qfdRkb

10 Greatest Unintentionally Hilarious Lines from SF&F: http://on.io9.com/q8cnA9

10 Fantasy and Science Fiction Copycats that Actually Improved on the Original: http://on.io9.com/nHam8t

Getting ISBNs in Canada: http://bit.ly/oUblTz @JustusRStone

Keeping Your Promises To Readers: http://bit.ly/pTnwq6 @ajackwriting

An Agent Answers a Writer’s Question on Collaborative Writing: http://bit.ly/nST1u1

How to Cure Writer’s Block and Stay Productive: http://bit.ly/nHX6rb

A Writer’s Must-Read List: http://bit.ly/nh2uSk @on_creativity

Tips for formatting your manuscript: http://bit.ly/oPlX6i

On rejections: http://bit.ly/nCaoc1

That book was edited? http://bit.ly/qHeIBm

Keeping the Vision in Revision: http://bit.ly/owbtIy @BTMargins

Creating Cover Art: Down & Dirty Tips: http://bit.ly/pnYzC1

Making Marketing More About Them & Less About Us: http://bit.ly/npT2Ha @JodyHedlund

Manipulating Your Reader for Better Plots: http://bit.ly/q1HNP4

An e-publisher says not to query them if you won’t blog or tweet: http://bit.ly/nFcXAa

I mentioned last week that I was preparing two books to e-publish. I wrote one of the books three years ago. The other is a book I wrote five years ago.

The book that I wrote three years ago was definitely easier for me to edit. I did remove some ‘telling’ references and created a deeper POV for the story.

The book that I wrote five years ago? It’s taking me forever to edit it.

The problem with the book I wrote five years ago isn’t a mechanical problem or grammatical problem.

It’s definitely that it’s just not a very mature book. I’ll read along a little bit and think, “Why would this character do that?” or “Why did I spell out that this character was getting into their car and driving across town? Why not just start the scene across town?”

There’s something on every page that I’m deleting, adding, or completely rewording. The only thing that seems really solid is my voice. I’m thankful that’s intact or else I’d have to write the book over from scratch.

I’m lucky that I’ve got a few weeks where I’m not really under any pressing deadlines (except to read my pass pages for the next Memphis book…coming out in November.) So I think I’ll just spend some time updating this book and hopefully raising the writing bar to at least my current level of ability.

Sometimes I wonder if showing up every day to write is doing anything for me. Am I actually getting better?

But then, looking back over stuff I’ve written 3-5 years ago, there’s no question of the improvement. Every day you open up that laptop or notebook…..no matter what your goal is—a weekly goal, a monthly goal, whatever…you’re improving your craft.

Have you got any old manuscripts? Can you see a difference in your writing from long ago?

Today I’m at the Writers in the Storm blog (a great resource for writers, if you haven’t visited), talking a little about book middles.

Middles can be tough—not only is it where our plots might start getting a little saggy, they’re also where we might lose motivation to finish our book…and when Shiny New Idea syndrome is most likely to strike.

Hope you’ll join me there!

In 1939 sociologist Edwin Sutherland coined the term “white collar crime.” He wrote, “White collar crime is crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” It was a radical redefinition in criminal law as Sutherland was making distinctions not on the basis of an act or intent, but according to the status of the accused.

Unlike Edwin Sutherland’s definition, the U.S. Department of Justice’s formal definition of white-collar crime disregards class or economic status. However, government prosecutors are far more likely to indict the “upper-class” businessman who works for a major corporation than the middle-class grandmother who buys counterfeit medications from Canada.

The general components of white-collar crime:

• It is a non-violent, illegal act that principally involves deception, deceit, concealment, manipulation, breach of trust, subterfuge or illegal circumvention.

• It is typically committed by a business person or public official

• Its evidence usually involves a “paper trail” that investigators use to prosecute the case.

There are numerous types of white-collar crime, including antitrust violations, bankruptcy fraud, cell phone fraud, credit card fraud, counterfeiting, credit card fraud, environment schemes, healthcare fraud and insider trading.

PIs Who Specialize in White-Collar Crime

As with any crime, there are investigative procedures, then there’s the creativity, experience, tenacity and intellect of the investigator. That last one – intellect – is key for an investigator who specializes in white-collar crimes. A homicide detective we know claims that all homicides are easy. He claims that unless they’re strategized by organized crime (for example), they’re typically cases whose clues are easily followed.

Alternatively, criminals who practice white-collar crime are smart. They are usually highly educated, savvy and familiar with how to manipulate the inner workings of business. A PI who investigates a white-collar crime case has to match wits with these criminals to uncover the crime. Plus, the practice of private investigations is just as much an art as it is a science, so a successful investigator always thinks outside of the box while also applying concepts and procedures.

Next, let’s analyze one of our white-collar crime cases by looking at our investigation goals, tasks, unforeseen glitches and end result.

Case Example: The Case of the Disappearing Money

Investigation Goal

An attorney who specializes in probate, elder law, and estate planning/administration asked our investigations agency to investigate what had happened to the money that disappeared from a family’s trust fund. The family already suspected a specific member.

Investigation Tasks

Our investigations on the suspected family member included the following tasks:

• Researching public records for significant purchases for land, cars and other high-price-tag items.

• Researching purchases made by the suspect’s daughter and son-in-law. Our investigation revealed that the son-in-law had come unexpectedly into large amounts of money that he had used to fund large purchases, one being a new home.

• Checking records in the assessor’s and clerk of recorder’s offices. We learned the suspected family member had acquired an interest in a pricey downtown condo.

• Surveilling the suspected family member. Although she claimed to be unemployed, we discovered she suddenly had sufficient amounts of money to attend a university full time.

• Investigating suspected family’s member’s claim that she occasionally babysat for another family member to earn some money. Our investigations, including surveillance, showed she never conducted any babysitting, and that the children in question were enrolled in a daycare that the suspected family member had no ties to.

Unforeseen Glitches

The object of our investigations learned from another family member that private investigators were watching. Therefore, the suspect became cautious, and spent a lot of time looking around the corner whenever they left the house. Too bad that they left so much evidence in public records regarding their acquisitions using family money.

End Result
The lawyer applied for a court order forfeiting the ill-gotten property back to the deceased person’s estate. In other words, the pricey downtown condo was taken over by the family members who had been ripped off.

Writing a Sleuth Who Specializes in White-Collar Crime?

If so, think about these character attributes:

• Does she have a background in business or accounting? Is he a former nurse or health care professional? In other words, does your sleuth have training or expertise ancillary to the white-collar crime?

• How identity theft often dovetails with other white-collar crimes. For example, criminals conducting health care fraud often also need to know how to obtain, or buy, personal information such as people’s SSNs. Therefore, it’s beneficial for a sleuth to have contacts/informants in the identify-theft community.

• Does your fictional sleuth have inside contacts in hospitals, insurance companies, doctors’ offices who can provide intelligence?

Thank you to Elizabeth Craig for hosting us today as guests at “Writing Is Murder”! We’re giving away a gift Kindle version of How to Write a Dick to one of today’s readers who posts a comment/question (name will be randomly picked before midnight today – please be sure to leave your email address for notification). If you don’t have a Kindle, there are free downloadable Kindle apps for PCs and Macs (we use the downloadable app at home, and it’s great).

Colleen Collins and Shaun Kaufman are co-owners of Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado. Their ebook How to Write a Dick: A Guide to Writing Fictional Sleuths from a Couple of Real-Life Sleuths, is available on Kindle and Nook.
Colleen Collins is a co-owner of Highlands Investigations in Denver, Colorado. Her articles on private investigations have appeared on various Internet sites as well as in PI Magazine, Romance Writers Report, Pursuit Magazine, PInow.com and other publications. She is an active member of the Private Eye Writers of America and the Mystery Writers of America. She has written 20 novels for both Harlequin and Dorchester, several of which have placed in the finals for national competitions, including the prestigious Holt Medallion and RITA awards.

My writing friend Jody Hedlund has an interesting post today on being flexible.

Traditionally, I’ve not been the most flexible person, internally What that means is that, if I’m volunteering for you at school, or if you’re a friend that I’ve got a lunch date with, or if my child is coming to your house to play, and your plans change suddenly—I’m extremely pleasant and understanding about it on the outside. “It’s no trouble at all. No, I totally understand. We’ll take a rain check.”

On the inside, though, I’m a big mess. My day has changed in a way I wasn’t prepared for. Now I need to look at all my lists and switch them out. Figure out a new game plan. It stresses me out. Which is ridiculous, but I’m Type A . It’s just the way I am.

Writing, actually was the first place I learned to be flexible.

This, I attribute completely to the fact that even rats in mazes can be trained to recognize rewards for successes. They’ll remember the successful path through the maze to end up with the treat at the end. And every single time I was flexible with my writing, I ended up with some sort of small success or reward.

I responded to stimuli. :)

It started with my first editor. I’d actually hired an independent editor back in 2003ish. He was the kind of editor that took no prisoners and didn’t suffer fools lightly. I’d never, ever shown anyone my fiction, so this was a rough initiation into revision for me. On the one hand, since I grew up with my English teacher dad, my grammar and mechanics were in good shape. But there was all kinds of stuff that needed to be ironed out with showing-not-telling, etc.

I suffered through the process. It irritated me to make changes to a manuscript that I thought was good enough to sell. I made all his suggested changes, but saved an old copy that I didn’t revise. And, was astounded to discover that his suggestions made my book much better.

To this day, 9 times out of 10 I take the suggestion of first readers and my editors.

Then there was the querying process. Which took forever for an impatient person like me. I was absolutely bent on having a particular agent at this particular agency. I’d done the research and this person seemed like the perfect match.

Then came the rejection.

I remember actually thinking that I’d just write another book and try again to hire this particular agent. But I realized that wasn’t an effective Plan B. Instead, I was flexible and started sending out queries to many agents who represented cozy mysteries. And got another flurry of rejections. So I decided to change the plan again and send directly to targeting publishers.

And ended up with a contract. Another little reward for flexibility.

Promo was another area where I needed to learn flexibility. I wasn’t wild about promoting. I wasn’t happy about leaning social media. I don’t enjoy selling things.

Being flexible with marketing means that not only have I sold many more books than I would have if no one knew me, but means that I’ve also developed many online friendships along the way.

Now I’m trying to be flexible again. I’m trying to respond to a changing publishing industry. Which is hard—I worked hard to get published traditionally. But I’m quick to recognize change (even if I never like change), and so I’m preparing a book I wrote several years ago for e-publishing.

This hasn’t been easy for me, either. I’ve been used to having a publisher’s art department come up with concepts, having them to the interior book design, not worrying at all about the actual process of publishing a book. But I’m going with the flow again—why not publish both ways? That way I’ve got all my bases covered. Flexibility.

Now if I can only be flexible when my children’s plans for the day change! I’m working on it.

How flexible are you as a writer? Have you seen a payoff when you are?