Seriously -- It's Real

Over the past few weeks I’ve written about including reality in fictional stories. What happens when the reality, well, doesn’t seem real?

 This is the real house, bullet hole in the screen and all

In What Are the Odds? I wrote about a house. A lot happened in and around this particular house. While the story is fictional, the house is real and so were most of the things that happened there.

Imagine one single house with a history that boggles the mind. There really was a murder committed in this house, although it’s not the murder in the story. There was actually a bullet hole in the screen door, but it was too small to show up on the cover of the book, so I had to use a graphic.

The place had remained empty for a number of years, and the condition of the house was the same as in the book. I have friends who bought the house and had to put a lot of work into making it functional again.

I don’t really want to give the story away, but all of the carpets had been removed and there was something on the living room floor that had to do with the real life crime.

And it goes way beyond that. Thieves had broken into the vacant house and stolen sinks, wiring and all kinds of things.

Let me back up a little. We’re not talking about your average house. This one was two stories with an attached apartment on a third level and a huge basement. The fireplace opened into two rooms. There was a barn and there were odd rooms included, along with a hired man’s apartment attached to the aforementioned barn. At one time the place was an ostrich ranch.

Okay, back to why the realities of this house might make a reader wonder about how all of this could possibly be true.

Something fell in the garage and punched a hole in the wall. I won’t tell you what we found behind the wall because it’s a part of the fictional story, too. However, let me just say that we found something behind it that went into the book. It just took a few twists and turns.

There was a hole in the first floor ceiling where a thief fell through while trying to steal wiring. He left his tools behind, and I have a feeling he was in a lot of pain when he made his getaway.

How about an odd water stain that ran from the first floor all the way to the basement floor? It was interesting that there was no leak in the ceiling of the room where the stain started, or in the floor above it.

Spiders? How about a tarantula migration across the property? Lots of the little critters, and most of them were young. You could barely touch them with your shoe and they’d roll over on their backs and curl into little balls. Who’d have thought a tarantula could be cute?

Snakes? You bet. There was a rattle snake in one of the rooms attached to the barn. I’ll never forget someone flying out of that room like lightning was chasing him.

This house was located out in the desert, near a town, but far enough away for privacy. And, yes, there were some odd neighbors.

Most of the things we found in the house and on the property could be explained away, but not all of them.

It was an interesting house and inspired an unusual story.

So sometimes reality isn’t always believable. You just never know. Something might seem outrageous, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. And what you've read above isn't nearly everything that happened or that we saw on the property.

Just thought I’d mention it. I’m sure you’ve run into some oddities along the paths of your own life.

Until next time, remember that what you read might be fiction, and then again, maybe not all of it.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Coming Soon: Black Butterfly - A Bogey Man Mystery

 

Lessons Learned - Part II

Last week I wrote about how I got into self-publishing. Is it for you or not? Keep reading and make your decision after you give it a lot of thought.

First, let me repeat what I said about trying to find a traditional publisher. Not only will it look good on your Writer’s Resume, but you’ll learn a lot about the publishing business. If you’re serious about a writing career, you need to know as much as possible. Research done with books will teach you, too, but having a traditional publisher will introduce you to the real world of, well, publishing.

Let’s say that you’ve decided self-publishing is right for you. Search the Internet for self-publishers. Read everything about the company, their requirements, fees (?), and contracts. Study all of the information they provide you. Read carefully and compare one to the other. Remember, they’re a business, but so are you.

Prepare yourself and your book. When the story is finished, go through it again. If need be, hire a professional editor to look at your work. Make sure everything is as perfect as it can be, from the writing to each period, comma and question mark. Do you have a lot of exclamation points in your book? Get rid of most of them. When the book is as good as it can be, prepare to move on.

Let me break the momentum for a moment. If you write a book and it’s published, who’s going to buy it if they’ve never heard of you? Start now, not after the book is published. Get your name out there. A website and a blog are always a good start. Read the blogs of others and leave comments. People will begin to recognize your name. Start a Facebook page or use whatever social media you think will benefit you. Do whatever it takes, without being obnoxious, to make your name recognizable. You’re not a joiner? Do it anyway. Name recognition is important.

Okay, back to business. Well, that last paragraph is an important part of business. Don’t take it lightly. Now back to business.

I’m published through Amazon. I can only tell you of my experiences, and I’m certainly no expert.

My books are available in ebook format through Kindle Direct Publishing, but I wanted them to be released in paperback, too. I opted for CreateSpace, which is affiliated with Amazon. I’ve been very pleased with my experiences. Even so, be sure to read everything on their sites. What’s right for me might not be for you.

 

 A Techie Might Just Be Your Best Friend

Are you a techie? I’m not. I know very little about technical things. I’ve learned through trial and error, and often I’ve had to fight with frustration. Frustration is not my friend. I had no one to show me how to do things, either. Try going in with a good attitude. Leave frustration out of the equation. Trust me on this one. Patience is your friend.

The programs they use to “check” your manuscript when you download it are great. They helped me a lot. One of the first things I learned is to use “automatic indents” while creating my manuscript. It saves a lot of time and heartache. Things like that can make getting started a lot easier.

I can’t speak for other self-publishers, but Kindle Direct Publishing and CreateSpace provided me with step-by-step instructions when I was ready to download my books. You can’t simply skim the directions. You really need to understand the process.

Remember, you’re your own boss now and if there’s an error, it’s probably your own. Yes, as much as I don’t want to say it, it’s easy to make a mistake.

Be patient, take your time, and read everything carefully.

Do I sound repetitive? There’s a reason. If you’re going to self-publish, you need to get it right from the beginning. The little things matter as much as the big ones.

What do you need to do initially?

Make sure your manuscript is as perfect as possible.

Start working on name recognition.

Create a website (optional), a blog (optional), and set up a page or two in social media.

Research self-publishers and don’t rush into the process.

Research the site of the one you choose and study their requirements.

Be ready to become at least a bit of a Techie.

I gave you some general information about self-publishing and I’ll go into a little more detail next week. At least you have some idea of what you’ll be facing if you self-publish.

Time to stop “talking”. I can get carried away. If any of you have self-published and you have something you’d like to add at this point, please do, but don’t get ahead of me.

Until next time, if you’re a writer, think things over carefully. If you’re a reader, I hope this helps you to understand there’s quite a process involved, even if the author is self-published.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Lessons Learned - Part I

This week I did a guest post about self-publishing on Patricia Gligor’s blog at

 http://pat-writersforum.blogspot.com/ . Is it for your or not? One of the people who commented was Sunny Frazier of “The Posse” and she asked me to write a series about the steps and trials and errors of self-publishing.

Initially I wrote a long, boring post about how I started out and how I reached the point of changing my publishing strategy. I hit the Delete button after rereading it.

I honestly believe an author is better off if they try to find a traditional publisher before self-publishing. It may turn out to be right for you, but if it isn’t, it can’t hurt for your “resume” to include traditional publishers in your background.

My start was not an auspicious one. Often times we tend to jump in with both feet without knowing what we’re doing. I had no contact with other authors, authors’ groups or anyone with publishing knowledge, and I didn’t understand researching on the Internet. I was new to computers, too.

Long story short, someone told me about a self-publishing company at a time when self-publishing was frowned on. I didn’t know about The Big Frowning Face and tried it.

I submitted a manuscript and I was thrilled when I received an email telling me I was the best thing since sliced bread, even comparing me to some big name authors. I was elated, printed the email and taped it to my wall. I was in heaven. It took a while for me to realize that they probably sent this type of email to all of their writers.

Then the real work began. I tried marketing and promoting, but to no avail. There was that frowny face looking mean and nasty, and looking me straight in the eye.

There were issues with the self-publisher that made me sit back and take a long, hard look at what I was doing. After some work, I cancelled my contracts with the intent of going elsewhere. Was I naïve? Uh, yes.

It seems no one wanted to deal with a self-published author. Things have changed today, but that was then and this is now.

I started submitting a rewritten novel and found a taker, an epublisher. I was thrilled, and in all honestly I still feel that way. They were willing to take a chance on me and the Sandi Webster series. The first royalty check I received wasn’t for very much, but I began to feel like I’d made it. What a rush!

I started writing a second series, The Bogey Man Mysteries, which was a spinoff from the Sandi Webster series.

A long period of time had passed since I first self-published, but at that point I was feeling pretty full of myself. I decided to try to find a different publisher for the new series, and I did.

Over time I realized the two publishers were on one road, and I wanted to be on another. There was no common ground. I once again cancelled my contracts. That brings up another point. If you find a publisher, read your contract carefully. There are pitfalls and you don’t want those in your contract, but I’m not an attorney so I won’t go into detail.

My intent was to rerelease all of my books on my own. I’d been hearing great things about Amazon’s self-publishing program and had a feeling I was at the beginning of the road I wanted to take.

Jumping in with both feet again, I took my own road and I don’t regret it. However, I had no idea how much work was involved, and that’s what I want to pass on to you. You have to be your own publisher and it’s not a job for sissies.

Next week I’ll talk about where that road has led me, and how I did it. In the meantime, remember that if you’re writing as a career, not just for fun, you’re running a business. Treat what you’re doing as a business and look for the marketing plan that will work best for you.

Have any of you had similar experiences to those I had in the beginning? Were any of you as naïve as I was? I was an avid reader, and heck, since I read so much, how could writing my own book be so difficult? I have to laugh at myself when I think of how I perceived The Business.

Until next week, think long and hard about what you’re doing. Do you really want to be your own boss? Remember, it involves a lot of hard work.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

The History

 I’ve been commenting on the fact that I’m packing and moving to another state. The process has surprisingly made me think about things that relate to writing mysteries.

I’ve run across things that I’d forgotten about. Things that make up my history; things that made me. I can look at something and remember where it came from and how it became a part of me. That is, how it’s effect on me created who I am. I guess I’m kind of talking in circles, but let me explain how it relates to mysteries.

When we create a storyline for a mystery, each part has to have some kind of history. What led the perpetrator to the point of committing a crime? What caused the victim to be in a certain place at a certain time? Was there a witness? Why was the witness there? What was everyone’s motivation?

All good questions. They deserve answers. Yes, sometimes situations are truly based on coincidence, but more often there’s an underlying story.

What about the protagonist? He or she needs a history, too. These characters don’t just pop up out of thin air. Nor do we.

If you want the characters in a story to be believable, they need a background, even if it forms over a number of stories.

Sandi (of the Sandi Webster Mysteries) was a teenager when her father made some disastrous decisions – and then he died. She went from being a happy-go-lucky teen to a proponent of doing the right thing overnight. She didn’t have time for friends or boyfriends and her life changed drastically. What got her through a rough situation? A new found maturity and a sense of humor. Years later, her life is turned around again when she opens an investigative firm and takes on a partner named Pete.

Chris and Pamela Cross (of the Bogey Man Mysteries) met by chance. Chris was a mailman and Pamela was a waitress, each wanting changes in their lives. Chris is a Humphrey Bogart lookalike, which has a huge bearing on where they go on their journey. Pamela was widowed young and has a son she’s raising by herself. They have histories that come together to create two amateur sleuths and an entirely new lifestyle.

There are a few things in my own history that have inspired stories, although those things have taken twists and turns and become something other than what real life handed me. Has anyone read Bubba’s Ghost? The story is based on something that happened to me, involving a drunken bum who harassed me and my young daughter. I’m talking about a total stranger, not someone who knew me. I happened to live in the wrong house at the wrong time, and I knew it would make a good story. The characters in the story are not me and my daughter, but fictional characters who handled things differently than I did.

History. Even a drunken bum needs a background, which I provided in the story, although it’s fiction.

Not all stories are based on true life situations, and yet our characters still need to have come from somewhere where things happened to shape them and their lives. Old Murders Never Die was one of those stories and it is complete fiction. The crimes in the story happened in the late 1800s and the victims’ stories were lost over time. Enter Sandi, who discovers an abandoned ghost town and a mystery that she can’t let go of without solving it. The town and the characters have an unexpected history.

Is there some small thing that’s happened to you in real life that would be fodder for a mystery? I’m not just directing this at writers, but also at readers. We each have a unique background. We have stories we can tell in a book or when we sit and talk to a friend. Some are funny – some are not. However, a story is a story and I, for one, love to hear them.

I especially enjoy the humorous stories. Then, again, I enjoy telling them and making people laugh. The other day one of the dogs… Never mind. I’ll save that for another post.

Until next time, clean out one of your cupboards and see if you find something that triggers a memory that helped turn you into who you are.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com