Lately, my characters want to make disparaging comments on the state of their 401Ks, the economy in general, and rising gas prices.

I tell my characters to put a sock in it. If I mention the economy in the manuscript, there’s no promise that the crisis will still be happening at the May 2010 publication date. (Wouldn’t it be great if it wasn’t?)

And the crisis should definitely be over in a couple of years. So I could really date my book by mentioning current events.

I’m also careful to make only vague references to the type of technology my characters are using. While it’s fine to say my character is on the computer, I don’t want them to say they’re on Facebook or Twittering. Who knows what the cool social media application will be in five years?

Sometimes I’ll discover a new author and will check out their first book from the library. While I still enjoy books that make references to new-fangled VCRs and 8-tracks, it does pull me out of the novel for a few minutes.

With any luck, people will still be reading my books in libraries for years to come—I just want to make sure readers aren’t getting a blast from the past when they do.

I’m part of a panel of mystery writers that’s teaching a writing course next weekend. I usually don’t have any trouble talking about my assigned topic, but whenever I’m asked for advice on approaching the publishing world, I’m hesitant. There are so many different approaches and no real ‘right way’ to find a publisher.

The topics that I’m usually asked about (and my takes on them) are:

Agents: I was fortunate enough to obtain a nice publishing deal on my own, but that wasn’t for lack of trying to get an agent. Now I’ve got a great agent (Ellen Pepus with Signature Literary Agency) and feel that she’s been a tremendous help to me with my next project.

Conferences: They’re expensive. They’re a great place to network, but there are other, cheaper ways to network with people in the industry (Twitter, blog commenting, etc.)

Queries: I emailed them unless I was told not to in the agent’s/publisher’s guidelines. I never attached a query unless the guidelines said it was okay (lots of folks are worried about viruses.) I simultaneously submitted and mentioned it in the query…the process is just so slow.

Critique groups: Mixed bag. I think it’s like playing tennis: you don’t want a regular partner that blows you off the court with their skills and you don’t want to be the far-better one, either. I always enjoyed the folks in my groups, but had mixed success with them. I no longer belong to any critique groups.

But… everyone should have different opinions on these topics, based on their own personal experiences. Other thoughts?

The other day, my college roommate sent me an email.  She was going to the beach house on Sullivan’s Island, SC (near Charleston)—did I want to come?

Of course, I had no business going at all.  My broken laptop put me  behind on my WIP.  I need to connect my daughter with my parents this afternoon for a week at their house and I needed to do her laundry and pack her suitcases.   I’ve got stuff to do in the house and yard and … “YES!” I said.  “I’m coming!”

So I left my kids at home with my husband yesterday morning at 6:00 A.M. and drove the few hours there.  We had a wonderful day at the beach, wearing floppy straw hats, cackling over old jokes, and getting four and a half straight hours of sun (if my dermatologist is reading this—yes, I did have sunscreen. But no, I didn’t keep from getting burned somehow.)  We stayed up late and ate take-out and had a great time.

So…obviously I didn’t get any work done yesterday on my writing.  But the funny thing is that I woke up this morning and had all these fantastic ideas. And driving home this morning, the ideas kept flowing.

Maybe sometimes we need a little break from the ordinary to get our brains revved up again.  It must have been the stimulation of something different that generated my brainstorming (it sure wasn’t the junky food I ate or the wine I drank, or the late hour I stayed up until.)  I think sometimes it’s good to get out of our ruts, see different people, and get those rusty gears in our heads churning again.

Cool:

• Tell your friends your mother writes books. Have them convinced you’re a liar. Have Mom verify later she actually does write. Maximum impact!
• Your name is in actual, printed books (because Mom can’t resist putting you in the book somehow.)
• You meet other writers sometimes.

Not Cool:

• The teacher will definitely ask Mom to teach a class on writing at some point during the school year. And your mom can be soooo embarrassing.
• If your mom is a writer, you always have to do your reading and English homework.
• Your teacher will write notes on ‘B’-grade essays that say, “I know you can write better than this.”
• Sometimes you have to go to conferences or book signings. These are tedious and even Mom doesn’t look like she’s having fun.
• If you’re at a dental appointment after school, you can’t claim you can’t do your homework because you don’t have a pencil. Mom has at least fifty pencils in her massive pocketbook.

I think most readers agree that one thing that immediately forces them out of a story is when a character does something out of character. Occasionally authors need a plot device to forward the resolution of the story and some poor character will have to do something totally contrived.

“Why,” wonders the reader, “would Kathy go into the clearing alone when she knows there’s a ravenous T-Rex there? She’s always been perfectly rational before…did she have a small stroke?”

Sometimes I can suspend my disbelief and just try to forge on and enjoy a book. But it’s gotten harder to do so. As a writer, I’m determined not to humiliate my characters by making them do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do.

But I still need a plot device. Usually, there comes a point in my story where I need my sleuth to confront the murderer. Naturally, this meeting never happens in the police station. Oh no, it’s got to happen in a scary, deserted location where my detective’s life is at stake.

But my sleuth is a smart woman. How to reasonably get her there? Was she expecting to have a partner present to ensure her safety during the confrontation? Did that partner end up in a car crash or unavoidably detained somehow?

I try to think like my character—what kind of excuses would they give for behaving like this? “I realized I’d seen something odd at the scene of the crime, so I went back to have another look. But the murderer went back too…to collect the evidence that pointed to him.”

I try to think of as many excuses as possible why a character would act out of their normal behavior pattern. Then I pick the most plausible reason, write it, and see if it works.

If none of the excuses seem plausible, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s worth some extra work to make sure I’m not losing a reader’s interest.

I’m thinking most fiction writers have the same problem. Why is the protagonist not using his magic powers to solve the problem? Why is the female protagonist making the same mistakes over and over again for no reason but to provide more plot conflict? I think it’s good to point out what the readers are already thinking and have the character answer their questions: (“Wish my magic powers could be used to stop time, but….” or “I know it seems like I keep making the same mistakes, but…”)