A New Week

It’s a new week and I have some new thoughts, which is actually a dual-edged sword. On one side I’m glad I’m still sharp enough to have new thoughts, and on the other side I never know in which direction they’ll head.

I have a new book coming out soon, titled “People Lookin’ Half Dead.” It’s part of the Bogey Man series. In the past I’ve included a gaggle of Church Ladies, but for this one they’re out of town. Yes, even Church Ladies enjoy becoming involved in a good mystery, and they’ll be sorry they missed this one.

That’s enough self-promotion for now.

Occasionally I include guest authors on my blog. I’m an author, but I’m also a reader. What better way to find out about authors and their books than to have them as a guest? We can learn what motivates them and where some of their stories come from. Just when I think I’ve got writers figured out, they come along and tell stories which surprise me. Dorothy Bodoin, Marilyn Meredith, Patricia Gligor and Evelyn Cullet are just a few authors who’ve visited.

I surprised a few people when I told a story on someone else’s blog about having to search a women’s restroom for a bomb without any training back in the 1970s, and I’ve repeated the story here. Things were very, very different at that time. When I worked in Personnel for a civil law enforcement agency, a job applicant threatened to kill me because she didn’t get the job she’d applied for. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t made the decision not to hire her and I didn’t have any input. She told me to watch my back because she’d get me when I least expected it. Okay, so I’m still here and she never went to work for the agency she’d applied to, but good grief! All I did was administer a typing test. I’ve got a lifetime of stories, and people wonder why I became a mystery writer.

Authors have lots of stories and if you’ll give them the chance, they’re more than happy to share. Some of the stories are sad, and some are quite funny. All you have to do is sit down and ask questions – and listen.

As Chris Cross (a Humphrey Bogart look-alike) would say, I want the skinny about mystery writers and the capers they’ve been involved in. Give me the lowdown – all the background behind the writer. Tell me where you’ve been and where you’re going. I want it all.

Ever hear of reciprocity? I sincerely believe that what goes around, comes around. So if I give someone a chance to discuss themselves and their books, then on occasion someone else will allow me to do the same, or they’ll pay it forward. It’s a win-win situation.

In the process, I find new books to read and make new friends. How much better can it get? Well, maybe my books could become bestsellers appearing on a bestseller list, but if not, I’m still have a great time and meeting some outstanding people.

So I’ll continue to have guest authors visit from time to time and I’ll promote my books, too. And on occasion I’ll do a blog about writing issues. I almost did one about overused words this week, but I have to admit that I was bored with it. Oh, well…

If you’d like to be a guest here, please let me know in your comments or email me at mystery@marjamcgraw.com. I can’t guarantee a spot, but I’ll do my best. Please remember this space is a mystery site.

Until next time, do for others and just maybe they’ll pass it on and do for someone else.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

By the way, here’s the completed new book cover:

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I'm taking the week off, so check out Patricia Gligor's post at http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ . If you hurry, you might get a free ebook out of it.

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 I often hear people say authors need to create a buzz to gain followers and sell books. That’s a lot easier said than done. How do we create a buzz? Maybe if your new book has something to do with a current event or issue, people will talk about it. But what if your new book is for entertainment and not enlightenment?

Most of my books have been for entertainment, but my current Bogey Man Work-in-Progress (WIP) has to do with homeless people. It covers a current issue, but I’m hoping it will also be entertaining. Yes, you can include both in a story. I’m not an expert on the homeless population, but I pay attention. I’m a people watcher – always have been. I pay attention to stories in the newspaper and on the news.

Okay, what could I do to create a buzz about this story? I could play up the Bogey Man’s eccentric grandmother, Tillie, who’s just moved to town. I could play up the dreaded heatwave that’s plaguing Los Angeles in this story and its effect on the homeless. I could do both. While Chris Cross (the Bogey Man) and his wife Pamela prepare to open their new supper club, Tillie invites some homeless people in to get them out of the heat. While the Crosses provide drinks, food and respite from the heat, the also learn that homeless people are disappearing.

You won’t see me on any national talk shows because my story is fictional, not a presentation on the plight of the homeless.

So again, how do you create a buzz? You can try to obtain some earthshaking reviews, but that doesn’t happen often. They help, but not enough. You can blog about it, go on talk radio shows, or yell from the rooftops. Do presentations at libraries or book stores. Talk to people in line at the grocery store. My bank and doctor’s office know me well because I’m always talking about books and/or passing out promotional pens.

In the meantime, here are my thoughts on creating a buzz. I’ve always said word-of-mouth is the best advertising, and I believe it’s the best way to create a buzz. So, readers, are you listening? If you’ve read a book you really enjoyed recently, tell everyone you know about it. Buy it as a gift for your best friend. Check out the author’s website to see if they’re offering anything else you might be interested in. Join book clubs and comment about how much a particular book entertained you. Suggest books to the club for reading. Instead of gossiping over the back fence with your neighbor, tell her/him about a book you recently read. Oh, I guess people don’t talk over the back fence much anymore but, again, there’s always the grocery store or the beauty shop or the bank. Shoot! I’ll talk about books everywhere. (You can always text a friend.)

Without mentioning titles, I recently read a Lesley A. Diehl book and really enjoyed it. Someone recommended Angie Fox. I tried her Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries and now I’m hooked. I’ve also read Dorothy Bodoin, F.M. Meredith and Wendell Thomas recently. I very seldom read westerns, but I tried one of Andrew McBride’s books and wasn’t disappointed. These are authors whose books were on my To Be Read list and I finally got to them. I’m currently reading an Amy Reade book and enjoying it. There are so many other authors I’d like to mention, but for now I’ll keep it to recent reads.

Okay, I just started some buzz about seven authors. In previous posts I’ve mentioned authors whose work I’ve enjoyed, and I’ll continue to do so in the future.

By the way, readers can attend many of the writers’ conferences, and many do. They’re a great place for networking and meeting writers and other readers. And they’re another place to create some buzz.

The bottom line is I don’t have any surefire way to create buzz, but hopefully this post will start a few people talking and spreading Word-of-Mouth Disease. I hope no one finds a cure for it.

Spread some of your own buzz. Share the author’s name and the title of a book you’ve read recently and really enjoyed. Who’s got you buzzing?

Until next time, have a great week and start a little buzzing.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Someone recently asked me which of the books I’ve written were my favorites. It was a toss up. Both are Sandi Webster mysteries. My answer? Old Murders Never Die and  

One Adventure Too Many. One takes you to an abandoned ghost town and one will take you on a trip with eccentric relatives and you'll find a body in the forest. Just thought I’d mention it.

The End

In vintage movies, when the story was over you’d see The End on the Screen. You knew without a doubt that the movie was over. It was time to leave the theater. How is it done in books?

I’ve read many articles that tell writers they need to start their story with a hook. You need to grab the reader right away. That’s true. When I wrote Awkward Moments – A Bogey Man Mystery, I started the story with the panicky voice of an eight-year-old boy calling to his mother while digging a hole to bury a dead bird he’d found.

            “Mother? I think you’d better come see this.”

As a mother, I’d go running based on his tone. Most mothers would. Why would a child be upset about digging a hole in the ground? They love doing that kind of stuff. The use of Mother, instead of Mom, was always a dead giveaway for me, too.

But what happens after the reader is hooked? You’ve written a good story and kept the reader entertained, but what about the ending? I’ve read books that leave you hanging so you’ll buy the next book. Sorry, but in most cases I don’t care for that type of ending. It’s fine to leave an opening for another book, but when I read I want a conclusion – a very definite conclusion. Wrap up the story. Make sure all the loose ends are neatly tied up. Let your characters take a deep breath and ready themselves for another day and another dilemma.

Believe it or not, Awkward Moments ended with a short line; “We left quietly.” Sometimes less is better.

Let your reader feel fulfilled when they put down your book. If they enjoyed the story, they’ll look for another book you’ve written. Let the ending be as good as the hook you opened the story with, and you’ll be glad you did.

Which of these two endings would you prefer?

“Okay, we solved the case. Now what? Wanna go to dinner?”

or

            Too bad the authorities didn’t know about Wolf Creek. Annie and the others might have lived to a ripe old age. But what happens in ghost towns, stays in ghost towns. (From Old Murders Never Die – A Sandi Webster Mystery)

Here are a few endings I enjoyed:

The Dark Wind by Tony Hillerman: “I won’t tell,” Horseman said. His voice was loud, rising almost to a scream. And then he turned and ran, ran frantically down the dry wash which drained away from the prairie-dog colony. And behind him he heard the Wolf laughing.

The Snow Queen’s Collie by Dorothy Bodoin: The Snow Queen’s collie. Rejected by her breeder, sold for a pittance, rescued from an unthinkable fate. Her story was just beginning.

The Ghost and the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly: I’ll see you in your dreams, baby, he whispered. Then I felt the cool kiss of his presence temporarily recede, back into the fieldstone walls that had become his tomb.

This post isn’t something earthshaking. It’s just a reminder about closing lines. Make them as interesting as opening lines. I believe the ending can be every bit as important as the beginning, even though the mystery has already been solved.

Any comments? Yes? No? Indifferent?

Until next week, think about some of the books that had memorable ending lines you loved.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Need a good laugh? Try One Adventure Too Many – A Sandi Webster Mystery and see if you like the last few lines.

Coming one of these days (only ten chapters done so far): People Lookin’ Half Dead – A Bogey Man Mystery.

Dorothy Bodoin, Guest Author

This week my friend Dorothy Bodoin, mystery author, is visiting and she discusses how her series came about. I’d love to visit her location, Foxglove Corners. It’s an amazing place, and so are the books. Please welcome Dorothy.

I didn’t set out to write a series.  Darkness at Foxglove Corners was intended to be a stand-alone like my first book, Treasure at Trail’s End.  When I was finished however, I missed my characters. 

While researching the setting for Darkness at Foxglove Corners, I’d learned that the sport of fox hunting was a major activity in Metamora, the real place in which all of books in the series are set.  There was even a hunt club.  I could easily see Jennet tangling with the members as an amateur animal activist—and Cry for the Fox was born.  The rest (as they say) is history.

As I added to my series, I developed a set of guidelines for myself.  First, it’s crucial to choose a setting that sparks your imagination.  I live in Royal Oak, Michigan, a city which is quite interesting, having changed dramatically since my family bought their house after the end of World War II.  They wouldn’t recognize the downtown with its restaurants and multi-story buildings today. 

I’ve always had an affinity for the country, however, and when my brother built a house in Lapeer, Michigan, I fell in love with the location.  The fictitious Foxglove Corners is more vivid in my mind than the actual place.  Details help the reader visualize the scenes and feel as if they are there.  They certainly add color.

I’ve read this advice before: Your characters should grow and change.  Readers have told me that Jennet has changed over the course of the twenty-six books in the series.  Her marriage to Deputy Sheriff Crane Ferguson has brought her happiness and taken the edge off her insecurities.  She struggles to maintain control in her high school English classes and has occasional success.  Like her creator, she loves collies and was always saving them from unfortunate situations.  Eventually I had her join a rescue league.

If a character catches my imagination, he or she returns in future books.  When I introduced Lucy Hazen in the first book, I had in mind an unpleasant, witch-like woman.  She accused Jennet of letting her collie destroy her property.  The guilty party was another dog.  Jennet didn’t like Lucy, but Crane did.  I brought Lucy back in Cry for the Fox in which she and Jennet bonded over cruelty to animals.  Eventually Lucy and Jennet became close friends. 

When Brent appeared, also in Cry for the Fox, I pictured an unscrupulous character whose desire to attract a beautiful animal activist led him to proclaim that he, too, was an advocate for the Cause, whereas in truth he was a fox hunter.  Brent is now one of my most popular characters and a good friend to both Jennet and her husband, Crane.

I always anchor my books to a season to give the illusion of time passing, but I avoid dates.  For the same reason, I avoid referring to world events.  There’s no quicker way to date a book than to mention a year or refer to a real life disaster or world happening.

On the other hand, I like to let the reader know that my characters are living in the same world as they are.  When Jennet and Crane were courting, they watched a movie on a VCR.  Now they watch movies on a DVD player and have a flat-screen television set.  Jennet’s life as an amateur detective is much easier now that she has an iPhone.

            Last, it’s important to include what you love in your series.  For me it’s old books in a series, antiques, collies (of course), Gothic novels, music, poetry, and supernatural manifestations.  Jennet has discovered that Foxglove Corners can be a hotbed of psychic activity.

 

These, then, are the rules I follow automatically.  In my May release from Wings ePress, The Deadly Fields of Autumn, the season is fall.  Jennet now has seven collies, her first, Halley, and six rescues.  Brent and Lucy play prominent parts.  Jennet has become more adept at solving mysteries, more intuitive, more able to extricate herself from perilous situations.  The Deadly Fields of Autumn is available at www.amazon.com or your favorite retailer.

 There’s a rule I wish I’d followed—to keep track of what’s going on in characters’ lives: details such as where they live, their pets, and any change in their status.  As it is, when I don’t remember a certain fact, I have to find the relevant book and reread that passage.  When your series starts to grow, this record is essential.  I’m going to start keeping track of these details today.  Better late than never. 

Dorothy Bodoin's website:  http://www.dorothybodoin.com/

Buy Books:  https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dorothy+bodoin&sprefix=Dorothy+Bodoin%2Caps%2C228&crid=1MMYAUDUE42X2

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CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw's website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Newly released: Gin Mill Grill - A Sandi Webster Mystery