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For the first time ever, my son asked to go shopping with me on Sunday. This was a real jaw-dropper, since our usual modus operandi has involved my going to the store, buying clothes, and forcing him to try them on later at home. Then I’d return what didn’t fit or what he didn’t like. And this was worth it to me because he was such an unhappy shopper and made the experience miserable for both of us.

But this time he was raring to go. He wanted a new pair of jeans, some new shorts (we’re entering a cold streak, but it’s still pretty warm on normal days), a sweatshirt, and some other things.

That day, he got hungry at 2:00 in the afternoon (two hours after eating a filling lunch of a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, yogurt, chips, and a plum). He ate a barbeque sandwich, edamame, and grapes. Two hours later, he ate a huge plate of alfredo pasta.

He’s thin as a rail.

I’m guessing he’s growing.

This influenced where we were going to shop. He wanted cool clothes. I figured he would outgrow them very, very soon. Old Navy was my pick…no Hollister or Abercrombie and Fitch on this shopping trip.

When I was shopping for a publisher for Pretty is as Pretty Dies (necessary, because my first book from five years ago was with a small publisher that has—as many small publishers have lately—unfortunately gone under), I had a shopping plan, too. I needed a larger publisher with a more substantial print run. I needed to approach a publisher that wouldn’t require me to have an agent–which, at the time, I didn’t have. I needed someone that was currently open to admissions. I needed a publisher that published humorous cozies. I looked to ensure the publisher published regional mysteries, too. I found Midnight Ink and they were a perfect match for my manuscript.

All the writers I’ve ever spoken to have had similar shopping trips. You increase your chances substantially by not sending your YA book to a romance publisher. Or by not sending your 120,000 word mystery to a cozy publisher (who will be looking in the 75,000 word range.)

Publishers are shopping too, of course. Some of the things they’re looking for: conflict, hooks, riveting beginnings, original characters, and a strong voice.

They’re also looking for basic things like correct spelling, good grammar, active voice, showing-not-telling (some of the time, anyway), and some indication you’ve done your homework (their name is on the query, you’ve spelled their name correctly, you know the type of books the house publishes, your manuscript isn’t extremely long or extremely short, your query doesn’t state that your neighbor/child/cat loved your manuscript, etc.)

If I’d been looking for a suit for my son, we wouldn’t have gone to Old Navy.

If a publisher is looking for non-fiction, they’re not going to come to me. If I’m looking for a cozy mystery publisher, I’m not going to submit to Forge.

But if we do our research and have the merchandise publishers are looking for, both sides will get what they want.

Shopping Tools:

Writer’s Market : Online, or in bookstores and libraries (be sure it’s this year’s edition)
Literary Market Place: Same as above

Online searches–Have a publisher you’re interested in? Google the publisher’s name + submission guidelines. Then, look at the publisher’s website and see what their most recent releases are. Check those books out from the library or look for them in a bookstore and compare them to your own.

Have you ever had a day when you felt like Alice?

I had an Alice moment yesterday when everything turned into nonsense. Of course, I was writing at the time that my cell phone rang. It takes me a while to reconnect with real life, so the fact I was writing didn’t help.

The call was from an art studio. Their art teachers had switched days for teaching classes, due to personal conflicts. Would my daughter want to change to Tuesdays to stay with the same art teacher?

My mind whirled. What?

“My daughter took art from you two years ago, but she’s not taking now,” I said, still really inside my manuscript, but attempting to communicate.

“Your daughter is Charlotte.” This in a very matter-of-fact voice.

“No, no. She’s not Charlotte.”

“We have Charlotte down.” The soothing tone of the caller seemed to indicate a general lack of confidence in my sanity.

“We’re in a suburb of Charlotte, the town. No daughters named Charlotte.”

“But your last name is Gregg.”

“Noooo.” She was so certain-sounding that I nearly hesitated on this very basic information. “No….it’s Craig.”

“So,” (she’s now somewhat impatient), ” is Tuesday good for you?”

Arghhhh!

At this point I could only start from the beginning. My daughter had taken art classes from them a couple of years ago. She was no longer taking art, she was taking drama. She is not Charlotte. I’m not Gregg. But then there was the matter of our automatic draft for the class 2 years ago. Were they—God forbid—drafting our account to pay for little Charlotte Gregg’s classes? I never could get a good answer from the rather confused artist on the phone with me, so I’ll have to pick through my account. Sigh.

It got me to thinking about my sleuths. They’re falling over dead bodies all the time. Don’t they feel like they’ve stepped through the looking glass, too?

Mine seem to take it in their stride. They’re concerned. They may even be a little shaken. But they don’t seem nearly as confused as I was yesterday. And they had something much more complicated to digest.

If we have conflict in our book (and by-golly, we should have conflict in our book or the poor manuscript won’t ever leave the nest), then our characters are dealing with big, baffling issues: whether it’s murder, divorce, Alzheimer’s disease, or Armageddon. Are we showing their state of mind? Are they reacting? Can they react or are they too stunned?

Our characters have walked through the looking glass. Their lives are turning upside down. Are we capturing that? Because I’m thinking that maybe my characters are way too blasé about their challenges. Maybe some extra internal turmoil will help to spice things up a bit.

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And now….well, y’all—I’m somewhere else today! :) Yes, I’m the Traveling Elizabeth this week. If you want to check in with me today (and this might be more of a genre-specific thingy, so y’all non-mystery writers are certainly excused), I’m over at Cozy Murder Mysteries today, explaining why I love writing mysteries.

I know I’ve been bopping around from blog to blog lately. And…guess what? I’m doing it again today. :) I’m on A Good Blog is Hard to Find today with a post on the importance of developing a personal writing process, and sharing mine. I think that once we have a routine for approaching a new project, we don’t really have those ‘freak out’ moments with the blank paper (which I definitely used to have a lot more of.)

I also wanted to thank writer and librarian Stacy Post of A Writer’s Point of View for a really generous review and writer and news producer Michele Emrath of Southern City Mysteries for listing me with her ‘Friday Finds.’ I really do appreciate it!

Once again I’m the guest blogger at Poe’s Deadly Daughters, a blog for mystery lovers. I’m covering my “Writing Obsessions.” Is writing taking over your life? If you’re a mystery writer, do you casually bring up murder when talking to non-writers? Find yourself picking your manuscript to death during the revision process? Then pop over to Poe’s Deadly Daughters and tell me I’m not alone!

I’m the guest blogger at Poe’s Deadly Daughters, a blog for mystery lovers. I’m covering my “Writing Obsessions.” Is writing taking over your life? If you’re a mystery writer, do you casually bring up murder when talking to non-writers? Find yourself picking your manuscript to death during the revision process? Then pop over to Poe’s Deadly Daughters and tell me I’m not alone!