Category: Uncategorized

by Jerry Last

As we try to create the imaginary worlds of our books, to be believable we have to rely on reality for inspiration. I use the places I’ve lived in and visited in South America as settings in my South American Mystery novels.

These novels have to be populated with people, both the central characters like my detectives Roger Bowman and Suzanne Foster, and all of the rest of the people they will meet as they investigate the murder or murders. We quickly encounter a problem of how to make these other characters into distinct individuals rather than just 20 clones named Pedro or Jose.

To solve this problem I try to use real people I’ve met in South America as models for fictional characters in these books by visualizing someone I actually met for a physical description or taking part of their personas to start building my fictional characters. Let me introduce you to the path from reality to book pages of a few of the suspects in the murders being investigated and a couple of the minor characters from my last two novels.

First up is Bernardo Colletti, the head of the Uruguayan Nazi Party from The Ambivalent Corpse and a suspect in the murder. He has his roots in reality. I first visited Montevideo in 1982 as a Fulbright Professor teaching courses in toxicology and in protein biochemistry during the waning days of an ultraconservative military dictatorship.

One of my hosts turned out to be married to a physician who worked in the Emergency Room (think of George Clooney’s role in ER) and was the head of the Uruguayan Nazi Party. Despite his politics, he was a charming and well-educated (Uruguay and Chicago, USA) physician with whom I was expected to interact professionally and socially while I was there.

To create Bernardo’s character in the book, I merely aged his role model from 1982 to 2011 and grafted the real Nazi’s looks and personality onto the fictional one. Despite the obvious reasons one should not like a virulent fascist, I tried to portray Bernardo as I recalled the real person: extremely charming and intelligent in social settings where he deemphasized the more odious of his political views.

Next up is another character (actually a couple) from The Ambivalent Corpse, Gerardo and Andrea, who act as hosts for Suzanne at the University de la Republica and become good friends of our heroes as the story evolves. The couple is modeled after my best friends and scientific colleagues in Montevideo. They are, in fact, named after their two children. Now there’s a switch, naming the parents after their children. You can get a real sense of power when you write fiction! The scene at the Feria (open air market) in the park that I described in the book is based on the actual Saturday morning Feria in the park across the street from our apartment we rented when we lived in Montevideo. Andrea’s research with algal toxins that she described at dinner in the book is pretty close to what the real “Andrea and Gerardo” do in Montevideo, and is part of the basis for our collaborative research and teaching.

In The Surreal Killer Suzanne and Roger are taken for a flight over the Atacama Desert in a small two-engine plane by two of their suspects, Pedro and Romero. Along the way, Pedro gives both of them lessons in how to fly the plane. Pedro’s character is a composite based upon a couple of real scientists I’ve known, one of them a North American originally from New Jersey who actually taught me how to fly a single-engine Cessna many years ago while we were both research scientists at The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

The other, more extroverted, half of Pedro’s character is based upon a real Chilean scientist who hosted me during several visits to Santiago as we tried to build a collaborative program at The University of Chile similar to those we had already developed in Montevideo and Salta, Argentina.

In this brief blog entry I’ve tried to describe how a small part of the creative process works for fiction authors. Our life experiences are the source and our books and their characters are the product.

If you’d like to meet Bernardo, Andrea, and Gerardo, they can be found hanging out in The Ambivalent Corpse, available from Amazon , Smashwords , Apple, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble (Nook). You can meet Pedro, Romero, and their Beechcraft Baron airplane in The Surreal Killer, available only from Amazon.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Thursday, my daughter reminded me that she has a particular book assigned to read for a summer reading project for school.

My children now usually read books on ereaders, but I’ve found they have a tougher time using ebooks for school projects. They like to underline important passages and flip through the book looking for specific parts. Although they can do that on an ereader, they haven’t gotten used to doing it.

So yesterday, I went to the bookstore in search of Hoot by Carl Hiaasen.

I’ll admit—I haven’t been in a bookstore for a long time. In fact, considering how much we all read in our family—it’s been a very long time. We’re downloading everything we read.

Sure enough, the staff in the bookstore had changed since the last time I’d been in. My heart was beating fast. I had a new book out—it released June 5. Penguin always arranges excellent shelf-placement. I knew there would be plenty of copies. And I knew I should sign them while I was in the store. I knew that an “Autographed Copy” sticker on the outside of a book will sell books.

I’d made excuses twice in the last couple of weeks and passed two bookstores in the car that I should have popped into.

I took a deep breath and I went to the “New Book” tower that was right by Barnes and Nobles’ café, in the middle of the main aisle. Sure enough, there were several copies there in prime location. I gathered them up and waited at the customer service counter.

A young guy came up. “Hi,” I said, clearing my throat. “Do you have any ‘autographed copy’ stickers? I’m—well, I’m running errands and I thought I’d sign my books while I’m in here.”

He looked at the book cover and then at me. “You’re Elizabeth Craig?”

“That’s right.” I fumbled in my pocketbook for my driver’s license (although my picture was in the back of the book…duh) and he said, “Oh, that’s okay.” He pulled up the title on the computer and said, “You’ve got a couple of other copies over in the mystery section. I’ll get them.”

“Thanks.”

He did and I signed the books quickly. I always, always feel like a total fraud. I don’t know what an author looks like, but I’ve always suspected they look more like Ernest Hemingway than I do. And they probably don’t decide to sign stock on the spur of the moment and while sporting disreputable looking tee shirts, shorts, flip flops, and an unacceptable lack of make-up. Heck, maybe he wouldn’t have recognized me from my picture in the book.

And then there’s the fact that sometimes I sign the stock in that store under a couple of different names. The staff in that store that I do know usually call me ‘Riley’ when I walk in.

And–there’s the fact that I’m embarrassed my nearest bookstore doesn’t know me. That’s because I download my books on an eReader…which will likely mean their jobs will eventually evaporate. It doesn’t exactly make me feel good.

He watched me as I signed the books. I failed at the small talk.

“Are they selling well?” I finally asked in a small voice.

He looked at the computer again and the reorders. “Seem to be.”

The thing is, signing stock is easy. It doesn’t get any easier than that. And it still frazzles me.

But when the store suggested that I do a signing there, I smiled. “No thanks. That is—well, I’m just swamped right now. But thank you. I might have to take you up on that another time.”

Because signings are total torture. The only way I’ll do signings now is when I’m with other authors. And I know I’m not supposed to do group signings because they’re not profitable—potential readers are usually reluctant to approach a whole gaggle of writers at a table. They might not want to buy all the books at the authors’ table. They worry that might hurt the feelings of the writers of the books they don’t choose.

So signings are hit and miss. Signing stock all over the place means filling up the car with gas a lot. How can we reach people all over the world—for free? Without feeling like a fraud? Without thinking we should be dressed up?

Social media.

I used to feel guilty about the fact that I don’t make many in-person appearances. But now? I think my time is better-invested in platform building.

As a midlist writer, why would I want to do a signing? Readers aren’t going to come to a bookstore just to see me. Not realistically. That means I’m counting on the chance that random people who have walked through that bookstore door for a SF/F, a romance, a beach book, or a kid’s school summer book project, will want to buy a book just because I’ve signed it. A book in a genre they probably don’t read.

To me—that’s just an inefficient use of my time. If there’s one thing the new world of author promo has taught me, it’s that we have to invest our limited time into what works.

For me, that’s not meeting readers face-to-face. If anything, my decidedly unpolished social skills and introverted nature are more likely to scare off potential readers.

Exceptions—reader conferences (like Malice Domestic or Book ‘Em) and book clubs. Places where the readers want to meet writers. Not just random shoppers in bookshops.

But—I happen to know that several regular commenters here have really nailed in-person appearances and have maximized them to pull in new readers and make sales. I’d love to hear from y’all….maybe it’ll at least get me out of my house to sign stock in the other Charlotte area stores. :)

In person promo? Social media promo? Which do you like and why?

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a good past week and are enjoying the start of your summer.

I’ve had sort of a double-whammy (triple whammy?) recently. During the past week, school was out, I was traveling out of town with my family, and I’ve been working on a book that’s due to my editor in about a week and a half.

Summers are challenging for parent writers who are used to a schedule. Although it’s tempting to just chuck the writing for the summer, I’ve usually got a book due during the summer months…and I’ve found it’s just not a good idea for me to take a break from writing. It makes it that much harder to jump back into.

During the past couple of weeks, I’ve seen tweets and blog post comments from parents…wondering how to make their writing happen over the summer.

I think you have to try different approaches. I can tell you what’s worked for me—and different things have worked when my children were different ages. What I didn’t want was for them to see my writing as something that was keeping us from doing fun things together—but I still needed to get it done. I think it’s gone well and that they’ve respected me for carving out time for something that’s important to me. This is how I’ve worked it:

Toddlers:

I won’t say it’s not tough. But this was how I wrote a book with a toddler in the house (and, yes, it’s been a while.)

1. Quiet time (not naptime) for both of you. They “read” books or baby magazines (keep running by the library to get different board books and magazines like Baby Bug.) You write at the same time. Shoot for a page, if you can.

2. Naptime. This is not my favorite option because there is so much else to do during naptime. But sometimes I didn’t have another option.

3. TV (if you’re a TV family.) I’m not proud of this, but TV was honestly the most consistently successful method I had for writing each day. And the 20 minutes of daily TV hasn’t seemed to scar or developmentally-delay my now-10 year old. Every toddler has a favorite show—for mine it was old Teletubby tapes and Sesame Street. In those 20 minutes, I could write a page. It might not have been award-winning writing, but it was a page. And I could fix it after I finished the draft.

4. The timer. Now, you have to work up to this with toddlers and some days it will be a total disaster. Start with 2-3 minutes. Keep your door cracked. See how far you can work your way up. When I was done with my writing, I played a game with my kids.

5. Remember—some days will be better than others. Take advantage of the good days. Don’t let the bad ones bother you.

Older Kids:

This seems like it should be easier than dealing with toddlers, but I’ve found it can be tougher. That’s because older children can make you feel guilty.

1. Timer. I lived by it. And I explained when they could interrupt me.

2. Kid boredom can totally derail your day. Sometimes it’s better to have a friend over at your house. Choose the friend wisely.

3. Bunch errands together or try to schedule a day just to do errands. Or do errands when your partner comes home at night, if you have that luxury. Doing one or two errands every single day can really put a dent in your writing time.

4. Learn to write on location. If you have kids who need a little less supervision, you can write at the skating rink, the bowling alley, or the swimming pool. Again, sometimes this is easier if your child invites a friend.

5. Write early. Or write after everyone turns in.

6. Bring the kids onboard with your writing. Tell them what you’re working on. Sometimes it just looks like you’re on the computer and they don’t really understand what you’re doing.

7. Have the kids help you out. There’s an age when they really want to help you with housework (unfortunately, this blissful era has passed at my house.) You can have more time if you’re not spending as much time cleaning. For some reason, mine especially liked doing laundry. I had a stool in the laundry room so they could reach the washer and a reminder note taped on the wall that explained what went into warm loads and cold ones.

8. Unless you’re under deadline—don’t try to catch up. It’s incredibly frustrating to not only write your goal for that day, but to also try to write the missed goal for a previous day. Just pick up where you left off.

Okay, that’s what’s worked for me, for what it’s worth! Does anyone else have any tips for writing around children/grandchildren? Or, for non-parents, how to fit writing into a chaotic schedule, in general?

I’m also on the Chistled in Rock blog today, with a short interview along with two other authors. Hope you’ll pop over: http://bit.ly/MLwvIe .

Image: Girl on a Red Carpet—Felice Casorati (1883—1963)

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific is a compilation of all the writing links I shared the previous week.

The links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 16,000 free articles on writing-related topics. Sign up for our free newsletter for monthly writing tips and interviews with top contributors to the WKB or like us on Facebook.

It’s looking like tomorrow is going to be a catch-up day for me, so I’ll be back to posting on my usual schedule on Wednesday. Hope everyone will have a great start to their week!

Remaining true to our own vision, as writers: http://bit.ly/LacwDi @writeitsideways

Is your inspiration holding you back? http://bit.ly/LacBag @fuelyourwriting @SWFICreative

How to Test Market Your Book Idea with a Blog: http://bit.ly/JXzP7o @JFBookman @NinaAmir

A Plot Template to Keep you on Target: http://bit.ly/JXzVMd @Janice_Hardy

What if self-publishing is only a stepping stone? http://bit.ly/MCPNQ3
@Porter_Anderson @Victoria_Noe

Characters need clear-cut goals: http://bit.ly/JXAbLf @karalennox

Dust Off Your Poetry and Get It In a Book: http://bit.ly/JXAvti @magdalenaball

Creating an Emotional Connection With Your Readers: http://bit.ly/JXAzt6 @DianeAlberts

Examples showing how 1 writer engages his reader: http://bit.ly/JXAOEv @KathrynCraft

5 Tips to Endear Readers to Your Story: http://bit.ly/JXB9Hj

How writing is like a 1st date: http://bit.ly/JXBfP5 @NovelRocket

Transfer Your Confidence to Your Writing: http://bit.ly/JXBoSC

13 Theatrical Terms in Popular Usage: http://bit.ly/JXBtpw @writing_tips

Story milestones in the Hunger Games: http://bit.ly/NK26wQ @storyfix

How to join Twitter chats: http://bit.ly/NK2dbJ @michellerafter

Writers Don’t Have to Re-Invent the World: http://bit.ly/NK3yiR via @BretBallou

What makes a children’s book great: http://bit.ly/NK3Fe7 @pubperspectives

How (Not) to Be Awesome on Social Media: http://bit.ly/NK3LCF @ava_jae

Tips for querying your YA manuscript: http://bit.ly/NK3YG1 @howtowriteshop

Grant writing resources for writers: http://bit.ly/NK4bJ7 @sarahrcallender

Lasso your book blurbs, put them on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/NK4jsa @PublicityHound

David Thorne Earned More With Self-Pub Book Than Traditional Publication: http://bit.ly/NK4rbc @mediabistro

Tips for Working through Writer’s Block: http://bit.ly/NK4BPI

Publishing…Welcome to Business 101: http://bit.ly/NK4J1F @behlerpublish

How to Host a Book Giveaway Online: http://bit.ly/NK4OSU @galleycat

Juggling Archetypes: Heroes, Villains and Shapeshifters: http://bit.ly/NK8fJu @PassiveVoiceBlg

3 Keys to Building Platforms: http://bit.ly/NK8kwQ @nickthacker

When Bad Books Happen to Good Writers: http://bit.ly/NK8wvZ @sarahlapolla

Writing horror–past, present, and future: http://bit.ly/NK8ZhK @seanhtaylor

Should you put the price on the cover of your POD books? http://bit.ly/NK9c4t @deanwesleysmith

An Agent on What Editors Have Bought Recently – YA and MG: http://bit.ly/NK9jNB

Get Specific About Your Writing Goals: http://bit.ly/NK9qZh @krissybrady

Self-Editing Tips: Structure: http://bit.ly/NK9B73

A grammar refresher–“between you and I/me”: http://bit.ly/NK9WGJ

10 of the best: dates in titles: http://bit.ly/NKa3lP @guardianbooks

How to Respond to Negative Reviews: http://bit.ly/NKaeNM @bethrevis

3 Writing Exercises in Search of a Character: http://bit.ly/NKcdlm @junglereds

11 ideal times to write: http://bit.ly/NKcWmp @raventools

10 Famous Authors’ Fascinating Alter Egos: http://bit.ly/NKd7y5 @flavorpill

Tips for writing horror: http://bit.ly/NKdjO6 @litreactor

Nonfiction Authors: How Well Do You Know Your Readers? http://bit.ly/NKdpVK @JFBookman @TheCreativePenn

Your Story in Nine Critical Sentences: http://bit.ly/NKdtou @storyfix

What writers can learn from Barry Eisler: http://bit.ly/Nib0nA

The Amazon effect: http://bit.ly/Nib5I1 @PassiveVoiceBlg

Grammar refresher–lay and lie: http://bit.ly/Nibc6h @theresastevens

Platform: ticket to creative freedom: http://bit.ly/NidbHJ @dirtywhitecandy

How front and back matter can stimulate book sales: http://bit.ly/NidfYb @SueCollier

9 Delightful Library Cats: http://bit.ly/NidsKN

What Is the Story Behind Your Story? http://bit.ly/NidtOO @andilit

How a Book Blogger Tackles Conferences: http://bit.ly/NidyC2

15 Unfinished Books By Great Authors: http://bit.ly/NidGlg @buzzfeed

How To Nail A Successful Author Reading: http://bit.ly/NidJxo

How Many Unique Identifies does one eBook need? http://bit.ly/MHWEhe @jentalty

Taking Care of Your Creative Self: http://bit.ly/MHWOW1

Tips for deepening your characters: http://bit.ly/MHXxGJ

The Two Conflict-Creating Needs of Every Character: http://bit.ly/MHXJ8N @KMWeiland

8 Reasons Why Slow Blogging Will Help Your Career: http://bit.ly/MHXRoP @annerallen

4 Reasons For Making Time to Read: http://bit.ly/MHYgrp @chucksambuchino @DaynaLorentz

Writing is a Business: http://bit.ly/Lz5J6E @novelrocket

Print on Demand–While You Wait: http://bit.ly/Lz5Mzq @livewritethrive

5 etiquette tips for writers: http://bit.ly/Lz5UPz @sierragodfrey

5 Good Stock Image Sites for Bloggers: http://bit.ly/Lz6tJ6 @catseyewriter

The biggest mistake many writers make: http://bit.ly/Lz6vRj @krissybrady

It’s not necessary to write every day: http://bit.ly/Lz6Bs2 @jaelmchenry

Protecting Your Professional Reputation: http://bit.ly/Lz6Fbi @CMKaufman

Creative Well Running Dry? Try a Writing Prompt: http://bit.ly/Lz6Kfd @writeitsideways

Skip the “suddenlys” in your story: http://bit.ly/Lz6Rr8 @BryanThomasS

Critique Groups: Why, How and Where: http://bit.ly/Lz70e0 @fictionnotes

When to TELL the Story: http://bit.ly/Lz74uu

Query Musts & Query Faux Pas: http://bit.ly/Lz7wIZ @msheatherwebb

Critique vs. artistic vision: how far should we respond to reader reactions? http://bit.ly/Lz7xN9 @juliettewade

Songwriting Tip: Creating Songs That Stand Out: http://bit.ly/Lz7Fw7

5 Ways Writing is Gardening: http://bit.ly/Lz7GQB @victoriamixon

The Secret To Making A Living As A Writer: Work For Free: http://bit.ly/Lz7L6W @woodwardkaren

Do Your Read Like a Reader or a Writer? http://bit.ly/Lz7JMh @janice_hardy

Marketing Your Debut Novel: http://bit.ly/KyrSXx

13 Things You May Not Know About Agents: http://bit.ly/Lz8jcQ @rachellegardner

Hustling: How to Spread the Word About Your Work: http://bit.ly/Lz8sNr @Janefriedman @chrisguillebeau

5 Steps towards Making Peace with Criticism: http://bit.ly/Lz8BAz

A Good Scene Isn’t Written, It’s Dramatized: http://bit.ly/Lz8Dsg @mooderino

How To Develop a Story Idea Into a Book: http://bit.ly/Lz8FjY @writersdigest

Quick info on various MFA programs: http://bit.ly/Lz8Mfo @4kidlit

Common problems of female characters: http://bit.ly/Lz8V28 @mistymassey

The Importance of Staying Flexible in a Changing Industry: http://bit.ly/KysOLm @jodyhedlund

A quick comma quiz: http://bit.ly/Lz90TA @writing_tips

The Author as Publisher, Author as Fraud: http://bit.ly/LevGtE @PassiveVoiceBlg

If you call yourself a writer, how do you label yourself? http://bit.ly/Lew3V7 @AnnieNeugebauer @PatrickRwrites

Things to consider before giving up your day job: http://bit.ly/Lewpes @JudeHardin

Free templates and charts to help writers keep organized: http://bit.ly/LeBJyk @AnnieNeugebauer

The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing: http://bit.ly/LeD3Bt @jamigold

Publishing must become user-focused: http://bit.ly/MCQ8SM @bsandusky @Porter_Anderson

An Agent’s Art: http://bit.ly/MCQJ6L @Porter_Anderson @jasonashlock @RachelleGardner

What publishers should invest in: http://bit.ly/MCR35F @Jane_L @Porter_Anderson

Just a quick note to let y’all know that I’ll be off the grid until my Twitterific post runs on Sunday. I’ve got some family events (all fun stuff) and a deadline I’m juggling, so I figured I’d better take a short blogcation.

Happy Writing! :)