Author Archives: Debbie Burke

About Debbie Burke

Debbie writes the Tawny Lindholm series, Montana thrillers infused with psychological suspense. Her books have won the Kindle Scout contest, the Zebulon Award, and were finalists for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and BestThrillers.com. Her articles received journalism awards in international publications. She is a founding member of Authors of the Flathead and helps to plan the annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell, Montana. Her greatest joy is mentoring young writers. http://www.debbieburkewriter.com

First Page Critique – MURDER, MYSTERY AND MISDIRECTION

Posted on by

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Today let’s welcome a Brave Author who submitted the first page of a humorous cozy mystery with fantasy elements including a talking cat.

Please enjoy the read then we’ll discuss on the flip side.

~~~

“Peekaboo!” I burst through the front door, Ryan in my wake. I stopped in the hallway and looked for any sign of the orange cat who was currently on my sugar (I don’t like to swear) list. It only took a moment before the little creature stepped primly into the hall.

“I was napping,” the grumpy feline said, shooting me a gold-eyed glare. She waited for me to continue.

“I acknowledged them,” I said, deadpan.

“Oh.” Peekaboo’s snooty manor fell away, and she lowered those gold eyes.

“That’s all you have to say?” I stood, arms crossed, my eyes shooting daggers. Ryan, my boyfriend, stood mutely watching. He couldn’t hear Peekaboo.

But I could. Oh, boy, could I. My sweet little inherited orange cat bestowed on me, by way of tripping me on my way down the front porch steps, the “gift” of being able to communicate with her. Oh, and see ghosts. To be fair, her motives were pure. She needed me to have a near-death experience so I’d wake up and be able to listen to her.

Maybe I should back up, so you know what I’m talking about.

I used to live in Los Angeles. When I was twenty-one, I broke up a mugging and saved a dear little old lady. She was so grateful that seven years later she left me her estate in her will.

In addition to a house, an SUV and a large amount of money, I inherited Peekaboo, the talking cat. Of course, I didn’t know she was a talking cat at the time. After glaring at me for a few days, she apparently thought I was hopeless and pushed me down the stairs. So, I woke up in the hospital and saw a doctor with a clipboard walk through a wall. But that’s really immaterial to my story. My neighbor, who found me splattered on the porch steps, had called 911. When I was released from the hospital, Elsie, the neighbor, told me I’d flatlined and it took ten minutes of the paddles to bring me back to life.

As I hobbled into my house after Elsie brought me home from the hospital and made sure I was alright to be left alone, subject cat started talking to me. I thought I must have a brain tumor…somebody get me back to the hospital! I grabbed the fireplace poker and used it to keep her at bay. I think she may have rolled her eyes at me.

Then, before I was comfortable that she was talking…and I could understand her…she trotted out the ghost of Alice, the sweet little old lady who’d left me her house. Apparently, this whole episode was so I could see Alice and solve her murder.

That little task resulted in me, and my best friend Susie, and my boyfriend Ryan, who wasn’t my boyfriend at the time…he was the homicide detective I had to convince to help me solve said murder…and DC, a PI that Peekaboo had led me to…I didn’t mention that she’s psychic, did I? That’s how she knew I wouldn’t die when she tripped me on the stairs. Oh, brother….

~~~

Let me confess upfront: fantasy is not a genre I’m very familiar with. I don’t know the tropes and conventions so I hope more knowledgeable readers will chime in about this piece.

What did strike me immediately was the voice. It was humorous and conversational, which I enjoy. It felt like a friend relating a story after a few drinks…quite a few drinks.

Jumping back and forth in time on the first page is risky. The reader is not yet grounded in the story and can easily be confused. Too many events told out of order with too many characters being introduced all at once may frustrate the reader.

But that herky-jerky conversational tone is important to the humor. So, it’s a tightrope walk between smiles and irritation.

What I do know about fantasy is that world building is an important element. The author introduces an unfamiliar universe governed by its own rules. Those rules are different from the reality most people know. Readers need certain information to understand the imaginary world they’re stepping into. However, not all those elements need to be presented at once. Allow them to unfold during the course of the story.

But this example feels more like being hit with a firehose—too much information too soon. I’d be more interested and engaged if I understood a few ground rules.

My suggestion is to quickly establish a world in which only the narrator can hear a talking cat. Something like:

Peekaboo is a sweet orange cat I inherited from a dear little old lady named Alice I had saved from being mugged when I was 21. Seven years later Alice died, and to my great surprise, she left me a large sum of money, an SUV, a house, and Peekaboo, the talking cat.

You’re probably saying “Oh brother!” and I don’t blame you. I’m the only one who can hear Peekaboo, making it hard to convince people I’m not crazy.

Did I forget to mention the cat is psychic? And she wants me to solve Alice’s murder?

Let me back up a bit to when Peekaboo pushed me down the stairs (on purpose—the little brat) and knocked me out, so you understand how all this happened.

 

Regarding craft and word usage details:

Manor should be manner. The preferred spelling for alright is all right. Otherwise the manuscript didn’t have spelling errors. Good job.

Nice, smooth way to establish the narrator’s age (21 plus seven years later makes her 28).

Splattered sounds like blood or brains, and is not accurate for the scene described.

“I acknowledged them,” I said, deadpan. I have no idea what this sentence means. It  has no relation to the sentences before or after it. Who or what does “them“ refer to?

Run-on sentences are tricky. They can convey humor but can also be confusing.

That little task resulted in me, and my best friend Susie, and my boyfriend Ryan, who wasn’t my boyfriend at the time…he was the homicide detective I had to convince to help me solve said murder…and DC, a PI that Peekaboo had led me to…I didn’t mention that she’s psychic, did I?

In a 55-word-long sentence, the reader is introduced to three characters (Susie, Ryan, DC), two professions (homicide detective and PI), the history of the romance (at first Ryan wasn’t her boyfriend), a problem (how to convince the detective/boyfriend to help the narrator solve a murder), and Peekaboo’s psychic ability.

Please slow down, Brave Author. Introduce the characters and establish their relationships to each other. Layer in the problem of solving a murder. Then add the punchline that Peekaboo is psychic.

The narrator’s disjointed thoughts have a curious logic that’s all her own, rather like listening to someone with early dementia. Obviously, the intelligence is still present, but connections keep shorting out.

That wacky voice can endear her to the reader but becomes frustrating and annoying if overdone. Preserve the humor and delete the babbling. 

Brave Author, the concept of a talking, psychic cat is humorous, charming, and intriguing. If you don’t confuse the reader, you have the potential for a delightful mystery. Thanks for sharing this first page with us.

~~~

TKZers: What elements of this first page appealed to you? What turned you off and why?

If you read humorous-cozy-fantasy genre, please educate those of us who are not familiar with it. What are reader expectations? Does this story meet those?

Three Easy Fixes for Common Craft Problems

Posted on by

Photo credit: Public domain

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Author and professor William Kittredge once told me good writing should be like water—invisible. It should flow so smoothly that a reader becomes engaged in the story and forgets that they are reading.

Minor details can disrupt that flow. These small craft issues aren’t usually fatal, but they’re annoying to readers.

Often, the problems are unconscious habits the writer isn’t even aware of. The same habits tend to pop up all the way through a manuscript.

Fortunately, once the writer becomes aware of them, they’re easy fixes.

Today, let’s discuss three issues I run across frequently as a freelance editor.

  1. Attributions – Starting a scene or chapter with dialogue can work well to pull the reader into the story quickly. But often writers neglect to indicate who’s speaking until several lines (or longer) into the paragraph.

“The heist is in three weeks. We need to hack into their computer for the guard schedule, confirm the inventory, and decide which crates to take. The truck has to be rented using a fake ID. But that requires a commercial driver’s license. We also need someone who can operate a forklift,” John said to his teammates, Paul, George, and Ringo, who were gathered around the table.

 

If you begin with dialogue, place the attribution at or near the beginning of the passage. The reader shouldn’t have to wait a half page to find out who’s talking.

Attributions are especially important in scenes with multiple characters. Don’t make the reader guess which character is talking.

Said or asked are quick efficient tags that don’t draw attention to themselves. An action tag also works well to identify the speaker.

But don’t overdo it—use either a dialogue tag or an action tag, but not both.  

“I don’t like this one bit,” George said and shifted in his chair. “A commercial license is harder to fake.”

John stretched his arms over his head and said. “Well, figure it out because that’s how it’s going to be.”

“I can drive a forklift,” Ringo said.

Paul snorted. “You ran it into a wall last time.”

 

  1. Sentence chronology – By chronology, I’m referring to actions that don’t flow in a natural order.

The following example is understandable but far from clear. It requires the reader to jump back and forth in time to follow what’s happening.

Breathless and worried that something weird was going on, Joan flopped in a chair, weary from having climbed three flights of stairs after showing her ID to the security guard when she entered the office building. He had stared at her strangely.

She had asked, “Don’t you recognize my face by now? I’m here every day.”

Because the actions are out of chronological order, the reader must pause to mentally rearrange what happened and when it happened. For a second or two, the reader is distracted and pulled out of the story.

Revision with actions in order:

Joan entered the office building and started to pass the security desk.

“Wait.” The guard rose and blocked her way. “I need to see your ID, please.”

“Don’t you know me by now? I’m here every day.”

He stared at her, one eye squinted, hand extended.

She gave him her badge, but he barely glanced at it before giving it back.

Unsettled, Joan climbed three flights of stairs, growing more breathless with each step. In her cubicle, she flopped into a chair and gasped for air. Did the guard really not recognize her or was something weird going on?

 

  1. Summarize or dramatize.

Years ago in my critique group, a friend was writing her family’s history. She did extensive genealogical research that was interesting but not compelling.

One day, she read an excerpt to us:

My father was buried near the airport where he had crashed the plane.

That was it. No details.

We stared at her open-mouthed. “What crash? When? How?”

“Oh, he didn’t die then. He was on a test flight after an overhaul and a cable pulled loose. The plane went down but he walked away. He died years later from cancer. The cemetery just happened to be near the airport.”

She’d left out the meat of the story by summarizing two major life events into a single sentence.

We all laughed about that bare-bones summation. When she returned with a revision a few weeks later, she had dramatized those incidents into full-fledged scenes.

Recently I read a manuscript about a couple whose 15-year-old daughter has disappeared. The passage is about 20 pages long and I’ve summarized it here:

For years, Marsha and Phil have clashed about how to handle their daughter, who displays peculiar behavior. The girl has run away in the past. But this time, she’s been gone for weeks. They put up posters, contact police, register her with Missing and Exploited Children, etc. Months pass with each parent blaming the other for the daughter’s disappearance. The strain on their marriage becomes unbearable. Then…

When Phil told Marsha that he was moving out, she was relieved.

That’s all the author wrote. She summed up a huge turning point in one declarative sentence.

She had included more details about photocopying posters and the places where they nailed them up than about this sea change in their relationship.

Photo credit: public domain

Writers frequently describe day-to-day minutiae because they believe activities like tooth brushing and making toast bring the character to life. But too many insignificant details are boring. Elmore Leonard’s wise advice is to leave out the parts readers skip over.

The opposite problem is too little detail, like the plane crash example above.

Writers often rush through critical events that radically change the story’s direction.

As we review our stories, we need to identify important events or revelations.  

Dramatize those in scenes.

 We also need to identify unimportant events that fill pages but are only incidental to the story.

 Summarize those.

Summaries work well as transitions to move the story forward to the next turning point. Instead of a blow-by-blow explanation of what happens in the meantime, try summarizing it.

Marsha and Phil spent the next three months searching fruitlessly, making follow-up calls to numerous authorities, and nailing up hundreds of posters around town. They alternated between noisy arguments and silent recriminations. At night, Marsha paced the bedroom while Phil paced downstairs.

One April morning, Phil appeared in the bathroom doorway as Marsha was brushing her teeth.

“I’m moving out,” he said then walked back to the bedroom.

Toothpaste drooled from Marsha’s mouth as she stood frozen and numb, staring at the water-spotted mirror.

A few moments later, Phil reappeared in the reflection, suitcase in hand. “On my way out, I’ll put bread in the toaster for your breakfast.”

Footsteps thudded down the stairs, followed by a brief clattering of dishes. The kitchen door opened then closed.

Marsha was startled to realize her first conscious thought was, Thank God!  

 As you rewrite, keep an eye out for misplaced attributions; sentences that are not in chronological order; scenes that are summarized but should be dramatized, and overwritten scenes that can be reduced to summaries.

These small but significant differences make your writing flow like clear water.

~~~

TKZers: What small, annoying details irritate you when you read? What bothersome, unconscious habits pop up in your own writing?

~~~

Cover by Brian Hoffman

 

Clear waters turn murky when a greedy billionaire covets a cherry orchard on pristine Flathead Lake. Can investigator Tawny Lindholm and attorney Tillman Rosenbaum save the orchard owner after he’s accused of arson and murder?

Debbie Burke’s latest thriller Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Link

Who’s Your Daddy?

Posted on by

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

While waiting in line at a Walmart pharmacy a few days ago, I noticed a display rack of at-home DIY tests. It contained tests for Covid; Flu A and B; alcohol (urine strips); handheld breathalyzers (as low as $8); drug kits that test urine for marijuana, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, meth, Oxycodone, PCP, Ecstasy, etc.—results in only five minutes!

Wow, I had no idea consumer test kits had gotten so comprehensive, sophisticated, and cheap.

Waiting in line can be boring…unless you’re a crime writer. My imagination took off with scenarios where drug and alcohol tests could add conflict and suspense to a story.

“You’re too drunk to drive.”

“I’m just fine, honeybunch.”

“Oh yeah? Blow into this.”

“Where the hell did you get that?”

“At Walmart.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. Now blow.”  

But the most surprising kit was a home paternity test.

For only $15, is it really possible to determine whether or not a man is a child’s father?

Yes, but an additional $100 (approx.) must be paid to a DNA testing lab.

The kit includes what’s needed to collect cheek swabs from the alleged father(s) and child, and a mailer to send samples to a DNA lab. Results are ready in 1-2 business days and are available online or by mail. If several men could be the father, some kits allow testing of multiple subjects at the same time.

Home test results are reportedly 99.999999% accurate but are not admissible in court. According to Patermitylab.com:

While the science behind our Home DNA Test Kits are the exact same as the Legal Paternity Tests and Immigration Paternity Tests collected for in a laboratory, they cannot be used in court. This is because the Legal and Immigration Paternity Tests require you to go into a laboratory and have your samples collected. This is to establish what is legally referred to as a “chain of custody.” This is where a third party laboratory technician will verify the identification of the testors and then take their samples before submitting them for genetic testing.

 

Paternity tests can also eliminate a man as the father with the results showing 0% chance of paternity.

Reasons to determine the father’s identity include:

Establish a child’s legal status;

Obligation to pay child support;

Rights of visitation or custody;

A child’s eligibility for insurance benefits;

The right to inherit;

Medical history; genetic markers play a role in health conditions or predisposition to certain diseases.

Celebrities have long been targets in paternity cases.

Michael Jackson wrote the 1981 hit song “Billie Jean” where the narrator describes a brief encounter with a woman who later claims a child is his. Her proof is “a photo of a baby, cryin’, his eyes were like mine.” But the refrain protests, “the kid is not my son.”

Per Wikipedia, Jackson said:

There never was a real Billie Jean. The girl in the song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years. I could never understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone’s child when it wasn’t true.

One particularly ardent fan claimed Jackson fathered her child. She sent him letters, proposing he kill himself at the same time she killed herself and “their” baby so they could all be together. She was later sent to a psychiatric hospital.

When fame and money are involved, even scientific proof does not prevent accusations and sensational trials. More famous cases:

Charlie Chaplin – Public domain

 

Charlie Chaplin was accused of fathering a child with a young starlet. After an arduous trial that featured an adorable toddler playing pattycake at the prosecution table, blood tests confirmed Chaplin was not the father.

 

 

 

Eddie Murphy
Photo credit: Wikimedia CC-BY-3.0

 

 

Eddie Murphy was taken to court by Spice Girl Melanie Brown to establish paternity of her daughter Angel. DNA proved Murphy was the father and therefore financially responsible.

 

 

 

 

Keanu Reeves
Photo credit: Governo do Estado de São Paulo, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

 

Keanu Reeves was sued for millions in spousal and child support by a woman whom he said he’d never met. The case was dismissed when DNA tests proved he was not the father.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All sorts of fictional scenarios spring to mind that deal with questionable paternity including false accusations, blackmail, sexual assault, gang rape, buried family secrets, disputed custody of the child, and more.

What if a child’s immigration status depends on who the father is?

What if character always believed their father was one man but he turns out to be a different man?

What if a stranger shows up claiming a character is his father?

What if an inheritance depends on a person being the benefactor’s natural child? If they’re not, then who inherits?

In real life, a person can refuse to take a DNA test. However, courts may order DNA tests. Since it is illegal to refuse a court order, refusal may subject the person to fines, penalties, and even jail time.

For this crime author, the seemingly mundane act of waiting in line at Walmart led to all sorts of story ideas. By the time I finally got to the service window, I had a list of questions to research when I got home.

The answers became today’s post.

~~~

TKZers: Have you written a story featuring a paternity theme? If so, what inspired the idea? What books have you read where paternity plays a role?

~~~

When a rapist is set free because of contaminated DNA evidence, investigator Tawny Lindholm is outraged. How could her husband, attorney Tillman Rosenbaum, defend an obviously guilty man? Tawny’s world is further shaken when a stranger shows up, claiming to be the son of her beloved late husband. As cherished memories shatter, can her new marriage survive?

Bestthrillers.com calls Until Proven Guilty: “One of the year’s top crime thrillers.”

Sales link

Auld Lang Syne and Taking Stock

Posted on by

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

 

Happy New Year, TKZ friends!

Tonight, all over the world, millions of people will sing “Auld Lang Syne.”

So what the heck does “Auld Lang Syne” mean?

The literal translation from Scottish is “old long since.” In 1788, Robert Burns wrote down a Scottish folk poem that he claimed came “from an old man’s singing.” The poem wasn’t published until after Bobby’s death in 1796.

The melody was from a 1782 opera but had different lyrics.

In 1799, the tune was combined with the Burns poem to celebrate Scottish Hogmanay (New Year’s celebration):

“Hogmanay celebrants traditionally sing the song while they stand in a circle holding hands.” (source: Britannica.com)

The last verses from Bobby’s original poem read as if a cat scampered across a keyboard:

“We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
Frae mornin’ sun till dine;”

“we’ll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.”

Here’s the English version of the later verses:

We two have run about the slopes,
And picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
Since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
For auld lang syne.

The last day of 2024 seems like a good time to take stock of writing progress during the past year.

My 2024 goal list was seven items. I can check off four as completed or making substantial progress. Those are:

  1. Publish the ninth novel in the Tawny Lindholm Thriller series. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree launched October 1, 2024. Checked off.
  2. Start an editing business. For years, writer friends urged me to go pro with editing services. Last January, I hung out a shingle. Through word-of-mouth recommendations, I earned more in the first two weeks of editing than I did the entire previous year in book sales. Check that off as a big success.
  3. Do more teaching and personal appearances. I talked with book clubs, taught workshops, participated on panels, and sold books at festivals. These are fun activities because I love to meet readers and writers. Check this off as a success with plans to continue in 2025.
  4. Work on my nonfiction craft book The Villain’s Journey. This is a long-term project. In 2024, I made substantial progress with research, writing, obtaining permission to quote sources, and refining the structure. This project rolls over into 2025 with a goal to finish and publish The Villain’s Journey by summer 2025.

What items on my list were fails?

  1. Do more marketing, advertising, and promotion. For years, this goal remains my perennial failure. Will I do better next year? We’ll see.
  2. Create box sets of my Tawny Lindholm Thriller series. I didn’t get around to this project and will roll it over into 2025.
  3. Start a Substack. Another project I didn’t get around to. Rolled over into 2025.

Goals are important for writers because we’re often working toward a nebulous, uncertain future where progress is hard to quantify.

Unless you have a set deadline, it’s easy to fall back on Someday. Someday I’ll finish my novel, or learn Scrivener, or run Amazon/Facebook ads, or [fill in the blank].

At the start of each year, members of my critique group submit a list of goals we want to accomplish. At the end of the year, we review the lists to see how we did. We’re usually pleasantly surprised by how many items we checked off.

When you write down specific goals AND show them to others, that’s a small but effective step to make you more accountable for your progress.

TKZers, want to try an experiment? Write down your 2025 goals and share them in the comment section. Next year at this time, we’ll review the comments and see how we did.

While Rod Stewart sings “Auld Lang Syne,” I’m raising a toast to The Kill Zone community.

Wishing you a happy and creative 2025!

~~~

Start the New Year with new reading at a bargain price. 

Tawny Lindholm Thrillers – select titles are 50% off !!! Today is the last day of the sale. 

Sales link

Zoom Accountability

Posted on by

Photo credit: Deror avi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Accountability.

Without an editor’s deadline hanging over us, our imaginations can come up with a thousand other things to do…except write.

Enlisting support from other writers works wonders. For years, critique groups kept me accountable and producing words because I had to turn in pages every week or month…

…or kick myself if I didn’t.

Another way to be accountable is by group writing. Several people designate an evening a month where they gather in a classroom or coffeeshop and write together for an hour or two. Because I’m used to writing alone without distractions like coughs and chairs scraping the floor, that practice always sounded a little difficult.

But my mantra is if it works, do it! Although I haven’t tried group writing, I’m always open to new tricks to be more productive.

Dr. Sarah Rugheimer – photo credit: Ben Gebo

Several months ago, my good friend Sarah Rugheimer (whom I’ve talked about on TKZ) proposed we do a weekly zoom meeting to write together. She’s in Toronto and I’m in Montana so we don’t get to see each other often. Zooming is the next best thing.

The format she proposed was to meet for an hour. For the first five to 10 minutes, we catch up, discuss what we’re working on, and state a goal for that session. Then we turn off the audio but leave the video on. She sets a timer for 50 minutes and we write. The last five minutes we report what we accomplished then say goodbye until next week.

Having a regular appointment means you have to show up. If you don’t, you let the other person down. We don’t want to disappoint our friends or colleagues. That’s accountability.

I mentioned we turn off audio but leave the video on. The first meeting, it felt kind of odd. It wasn’t meant to be a security camera watching to make sure we were writing. But it changed my normal concentration. When Sarah moved her laptop to a different spot or got up to make a cup of tea, I was aware of what she did.

Then I noticed her frowns and expressions of puzzlement. That was interesting because I suspect I make similar faces when I’m struggling to find the right word or frustrated if a sentence isn’t working.

I empathized because I was going through the same thing. In a weird way, 2000 miles apart, we were sharing our solitary experience.

I’m glad to report Sarah’s system works. We’ve been zooming weekly for few months. There’s a sense of satisfaction in telling a fellow writer when you accomplish a set goal. Family and non-writing friends smile and nod politely but only another writer truly gets it. 

“Hey, I edited Chapter 14.”

“Great!” she says. “I finished the grant application that’s due tomorrow.”

“Cool! That’s a load off your mind.”

At our last session, I told Sarah I planned to write a post for TKZ about our zoom meetings. She grinned then told me about how she’d used zoom accountability with another friend, Dr. Sarah Ballard. Both were working on a self-care podcast. Sarah B. talked about using the zoom sessions for “SBT,” which Sarah R. initially thought referred to “Sarah Ballard Time.”

Turns out SBT means “Shame Based Tasks.”

You know, those projects you dread, the ones that cause you the greatest anxiety, and make you feel guilty for not doing them. The ones you worry over at 2 a.m. when you can’t sleep.

Because SBTs make us uncomfortable, we tend to put them off…and off…and off…

But zoom accountability sessions are the perfect time to complete SBTs.

At the beginning of the meeting, you state the goal out loud to your partner: “Today I’m going to email that agent who’s had my manuscript for nine months.”

Now you’re committed.

Your friend encourages you and may offer ways to tackle the problem you hadn’t thought of.

They reassure you and give you confidence that you actually can do it.

Your self-doubt lessens.

You dig in.

In the next 50 minutes, by golly, you actually do it.

You report to your partner who congratulates you.

You gleefully cross that shame-based task off your list.

Whew!

But what if you don’t have a friend to zoom with?

You can join an online group like the London Writers Salon that sponsors Monday through Friday writers’ hours. They offer hour-long zoom meetings at various times of the day for different time zones around the planet.

Two women started the program during the pandemic when they couldn’t have in-person meetings. The format was so successful that it continued and grew. Currently the program helps more than 800 writers be accountable and productive.

Zoom accountability works in ways I didn’t expect, especially with SBTs.

Plus, it’s always a pleasure to “see” my friend.

Thanks for suggesting this trick, Sarah!

~~~

TKZers: Have you ever tried zoom accountability with another writer? How do you keep yourself accountable and producing words? Please share your tips.

~~~

TKZ goes on our annual two-week break soon. Warm holiday wishes to TKZ friends and see you on the other side.

~~~

Debbie Burke holds villains accountable in Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. 

Cover by Brian Hoffman

 

Please check out the latest thriller at this link. 

True Crime Thursday – Thanksgiving Reading

Posted on by

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Thanksgiving turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to Kill Zone friends!

While you’re waiting for the bird to roast, how about reading a book with Thanksgiving as the centerpiece?

After all, it’s a True Crime not to read!

Here’s a list of holiday-themed books compiled by the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. Some are mysteries, some are histories. Some are older, some more recent.

Thanksgiving Night-A Novel, Richard Bausch, Harper Perennial, 2007. The tagline sounds promising: “Will Butterfield can’t believe it. His 75-year-old mother is threatening to jump off the roof. Again.” But reviews are mixed.

Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk, Ben Fountain, Ecco, 2012. This book juxtaposes war, sports, and social commentary. It won the National Book Critic’s Award and became a film in 2016.

This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiiving, David J. Silverman, Bloosmbury, 2019. Historian Silverman reexamines Thanksgiving from the Native perspective.

Turkey Trot Murder, Leslie Meier, Kensington Cozies, 2017. The 24th book in the long running Lucy Stone mystery series, featuring a small-town newspaper reporter.

Strangers at the Feast, Jennifer Vanderbes, Scribner, 2010. A novel about the colliding worlds of suburban privilege and urban poverty.

Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience, Martine J. Whittock, Pegasus Books, 2019. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing.

Thanksgiving, Janet Evanovich, Harper Collins, 2009. A romantic classic originally published in the 1980s.

The Cat Who Talked Turkey, Lilian Jackson Braun, Berkley Reprint, 2004. From the venerable cozy series featuring felines that solve murders.

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, Roxanne Dungar-Ortiz, Beacon Press, 2014. Recipient of the National Book Award. A “bottoms up history” describing effects of colonization on the Native population.

The Ghost at the Table, Suzanne Berne, Algonquin, 2007. A novel about conflict among siblings over their mother’s suspicious death 25 years before.

The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler, Vintage Reprints, 2002. A classic originally published in 1985 and made into a 1988 Oscar-winning film with Geena Davis.

A Great and Godly Adventure, Godfrey Hodgson, Lume Books, 2017 (original publication PublicAffairs, 2006). History focused on the pilgrims’ mission to spread religion to the new world.

The Ice Storm, Rick Moody, Back Bay Books, 2002. A grim satiric novel about two affluent suburban families whose dysfunction comes to a head during the turbulent era of Watergate and the Vietnam war. Later made into a 1997 film.

A Catered Thanksgiving (Mystery with Recipes), Isis Crawford, Kensington, 2010. A turkey blows up, killing a wealthy patriarch whose heirs are worried about being cut out of his will.

Thanksgiving-The Biography of an American Holiday, James W. Baker, University of New Hampshire Press, 2009. A cultural, historical analysis of Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Visitor, Truman Capote, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996. An illustrated, read-aloud story for ages 6-12.

~~~

Photo credit: Dennis Wilkinson on Flickr

Today I give thanks to the fascinating folks I’ve met here at TKZ. I’m grateful to share thoughts and experiences, and appreciate the ongoing writing education generously offered by my smart, insightful TKZ colleagues!

Wishing you and your family a day of blessings, good food, and good reading!

~~~

P.S. Tomorrow, 11/29/24, I’ll be at an international Zoom Book Launch party, hosted by UK author Yvonne Battle-Felton. Authors from the US and UK will introduce our new books. I’ll read from Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. You’re all invited!

Zoom link: https://bit.ly/booklaunch2024autumnedition

The time is 8-10 pm GMT. Here’s a link to convert to your time zone: https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-gadgets/time-zone-converter/

I’d love to “meet” TKZers if you can attend!.

Small Town Author Finds Success in Paris-Interview with Janet Skeslien Charles

Posted on by

Janet Skeslien Charles
Photo credit: Eddie Charles

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Every time I think I must know or have heard of every Montana author, I meet a new one. This summer, I had the pleasure of attending a talk by Paris-based author Janet Skeslien Charles, who wrote the international bestseller The Paris Library, and her new book, Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade.

Turns out Janet grew up in the little town of Shelby, Montana, population 3200+.

The streets of Shelby must have seemed empty the day of her talk because a number of residents made the three-plus hour trip to Kalispell to see her.

They’re understandably proud of their hometown author who is probably Shelby’s biggest sensation since the heavyweight boxing championship there in 1923 between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons.

Janet and her charming French husband Eddie live in Paris where she immerses herself in history and culture from World War I and II when her books are set. She visits cemeteries where the dead from those wars are buried. Her meticulous research was evident in her slide show with many black and white photos and historic documents from those eras.

Since many TKZers read and write historical fiction, I thought Janet’s insights and experiences would be helpful to learn about and she graciously agreed to be interviewed.

Please welcome Janet to the Zone.

Debbie Burke: Congratulations on the success of your books! Please share how a small-town Montana girl wound up in Paris.

Janet Skeslien Charles: Thank you, Debbie! As you noted, I grew up in a small town near the Canadian border. Glimpses of the outside world came from my neighbor, a war bride from France, as well from my grandmother’s jigsaw puzzles with their images of French castles. Each week, my mother drove my grandmother, who’d never learned to drive, to the grocery store and the library. From these treks, I understood that books were as nourishing as food, and that the library was a window to the world. These influences inspired me to study French in high school and college, then apply for a teaching job in France. I first worked in eastern France, in Mulhouse, then in the suburbs of Paris.

Anne Morgan

DB: Your books are fiction yet are based on real life women who lived in Paris in the early 1900s, notably Anne Morgan, daughter of millionaire banker J.P. Morgan, and Jessie Carson, a NYC librarian. How did you learn about them and their humanitarian missions?

JSC: In 2010, while researching Dorothy Reeder, the librarian who stood up to the Nazis during World War II in The Paris Library, I discovered that during the Great War, an American librarian named Jessie “Kit” Carson traveled to France, where she created something that did not yet exist here – children’s libraries. After the war, she transformed ambulances into bookmobiles. I’d lived in France for over a decade and had never heard of Carson or the organization that hired her – the American Committee for Devastated France. (In French, the group was called Le Comité américain pour les régions dévastées, or CARD. Members called themselves Cards.) Several Cards received the War Cross medal for courage under fire. I knew I had to write the story.

In 2019, I traveled to the Morgan Library and the New York Public Library to learn more about Anne Morgan and Jessie Carson. There is a lot of information about Anne Morgan, but very little about Jessie Carson. Luckily, the Cards wrote many letters and kept journals, so was able to find more material about Carson.

DB: Why do you think your books resonate so much with readers?

JSC: My readers love libraries and know how important reading is to people of all ages. They enjoy learning about women’s war efforts that sadly have been left out of history books. Jessie Carson was a children’s librarian who changed the literary landscape of France by creating libraries with open stacks and children’s sections. She also paved the way for a library school to train the first French female librarians. Yet both in France and the US, she is unknown. I hope that my readers and I will change that.

DB: Please describe some of your research.  How did you blend actual history with the fictional tale?

JSC: I read books about World War I and memoirs by volunteers such as Mary Breckinridge, who went on to create the first comprehensive healthcare system in America. Breckinridge also wrote letters home, and described the situation and her surroundings very well. I read works by French civilians who described the brutal occupation of German soldiers. (Before reaching this book, I had no idea that northern France had been occupied during World War I. According to a CARD report, French children had “skin disease due to malnutrition or practical starvation… and curvature of the spine due to the fact that the Germans made them work in the fields and abandoned trenches.” ) Correspondence between Anne Morgan and her longtime love, Anne Murray Dike, helped me understand the Cards’ personalities.

Bombs destroyed schools and homes. Of course, at that time, there was no radio or television. Books were really the only form of entertainment. So Jessie Carson’s libraries were vital to the community. These children needed to learn how to laugh and play. They needed the enjoyment and escape that only reading could bring. Photos of the children through the years show a progression as they gained weight and learned how to smile again.

Reading the letters and memoirs helped me create the vocabulary and personalities of the volunteers. Documents about how women would be good at library work because they could “type reports and dust the books” underlined the challenges and contemptuous attitudes that the women faced. It is hard to describe the process of blending fact and fiction. Though I invented the dialogue, I used the women’s words from their diaries, letters, and memoirs. I had to tighten timelines and could not write about all the amazing Cards. So perhaps fictionalizing is about making these kinds of choices.

DB: When you visited historic sites, which one made the most meaningful impression on you and why?

Bierancourt
Photo provided by Janet Skeslien Charles

JSC: I was very happy to travel to northern France to visit CARD headquarters in Blérancourt. During the war, the chateau was in ruins. Now, it houses the world’s first and only Franco-American museum, with a large exhibit about the Cards. It was humbling to see how this group of 350 women rebuilt this part of France during and after World War I. Many aid groups left right after the war in 1918, but CARD remained to train French teachers, nurses, and librarians before leaving in 1924. This is the centennial of the Cards handing over the reins to Frenchwomen.

DB: Do you have favorite tips for writers doing historical research?

JSC: Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call people. I called every Breckinridge on the East Coast in order to find the descendants of Mary Breckinridge. We are so lucky to live in an age where information is digitized. The CARD reports were all available on line, as were Anne Morgan’s letters to her mother. It is easy to contact museums, historical societies, and libraries to get the information you need. Don’t wait!

DB: What are you working on now?

JSC: I’m waiting to get the copy editor’s notes on my latest novel, THE PARISIAN CHAPTER. It follows a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she writes her own Parisian chapter.

Lily Jacobsen and her best friend Mary Louise are determined to establish themselves as artists – Lily, a novelist, and Mary Louise, a painter. They share a tiny sixth-floor walkup and survive on brie and baguette.

When Mary Louise abruptly moves out, Lily feels alone in the City of Light for the first time, and is in need of rent money. As the programs manager, Lily is honored to follow in the footsteps of her French neighbor Odile, who infused her childhood with tales of heroic World War II librarians. Here in the storied halls of the ALP, Lily meets an incredible cast of characters – her favorite author, quirky coworkers, broke students, and high society trustees – each with their own stories… and agendas.

The story will come out as an audiobook and features eleven different voices, offering a panoramic view of a real historic institution, and revisiting characters from both of my novels set in France. Lily’s story is a love letter to the artist’s life, the importance of friendship, and leaving home only to find it again. I can’t wait to share it with readers!

Debbie, thank you again for taking the time to interview me!

~~~

Janet, thanks for taking us on a journey to historic Paris. I love your line, “I understood that books were as nourishing as food, and that the library was a window to the world.”

Website: jskesliencharles.com

Sales links for The Paris Library:

Readers in the US: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Books A Million | Kindle | Google Play
Readers in Canada: Amazon | Indigo | Kindle | Kobo | Apple
Audio: Audible | Google Play | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Sales links for Miss Morgan’s Book Brigade:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Bookshop | Kindle | Apple | Google Play | Kobo
Audio: Audible | Audiobooks | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Libro | Spotify | Apple Books

Instagram: jskesliencharles

Substack newsletter: https://jskesliencharles.substack.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jskesliencharles

~~~

TKZers: Did Janet’s experiences spark fresh ideas for your own research? When you read historical fiction, what qualities make it come alive for you?

Greatest Hits from the 2024 Flathead River Writers Conference Part 2

Posted on by

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Late Breaking News: This morning, I’m being interviewed by radio station KGEZ (Kalispell, Montana). To listen live, visit KGEZ.com and click at the top left side of the home page.  Pacific 8:10 a.m., Mountain 9:10 a.m., Central 10:10 a.m., Eastern 11:10 a.m.

Or you can listen later by scrolling down KGEZ’s home page to “In Case You Missed It.” 

~~~

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the inspiring Flathead River Writers Conference.  If you missed Part 1, here’s the link.

Today features more highlights from the other excellent speakers.

~~~

Maggie Doherty

Freelance writer Maggie Neal Doherty is a future thinker who knows how to take the initiative. When she realized the local newspaper had no female reporters, she pitched them with her qualifications and scored a regular op-ed column. She also initiated a new book review section at a time when many publications are cutting back on book reviews.

She specializes in finding unusual niches like “Duct Tape Diaries,” a publication by a major raft manufacturer that features articles about river rafting. With two small children, she came up with the quirky angle of waste disposal during family raft trips: “How I Got My Kids to Poop in a Bucket.”

Questions Maggie asks before querying editors:

  • What is the story? It’s not just the topic of the article but a compelling reason behind it.
  • Why is it important now?
  • Why are you the person to write it?

If the topic is “evergreen” (useable at any time), why is the story timely now?

Editors want to know you can deliver the story, meet deadlines, and write within the required word count.

Maggie’s strategy has resulted in credits in The Guardian, Washington Post, High Country News, LA Times, and more.

~~~

Keir Graff

Chicago-based Keir Graff had an enviable former career where he “got paid to read” as the senior editor of Booklist, the primary source for libraries when deciding which books to buy. Now he cowrites middle-grade mysteries with James Patterson, as well as adult and children’s fiction under his own name and with a coauthor under the name “Linda Keir.”

Keir revealed the secrets of a working writer, sharing the hard truth that few authors can survive on book sales alone. He cautions that “writing a book is like buying a lottery ticket that takes a year to fill out.”

He compares writing-related work to an investment portfolio. If you have only one income source and it dries up, you’re out of luck. If you diversify into related fields, like ghostwriting, editing, coaching, teaching, speaking appearances, etc., those other income sources take up the slack if book sales drop. Using a strategy of wearing many hats, Keir has forged a successful career.

While Keir gave straight talk about the challenges, he also offered encouraging, actionable tips to make a living as a writer, including:

  • Be the best writer you can be.
  • Leverage your expertise. Give talks about your areas of expertise, knowledge of a place, specialized abilities, etc.
  • Price yourself accordingly. Start low then increase fees as your experience and reputation expand. Ask clients and speaking venues, “What is your budget?”
  • Ask for help, advice, and introductions. Always be gracious if the answer is no.
  • In addition to writing, do five things every day. “Things” can be querying, promotion, outreach, networking, following up on queries, building platform, etc.
  • Set a goal. Once you achieve that goal, set a new one. Keep setting and achieving goals.

~~~

Zoe Howard

Zoe Howard is an associate literary agent with the Howland Agency and a literary publicist with Pine State Publicity. She walked us through DIY publicity angles for launching a book. She shared sample  questionnaires used by PR firms.

About the author:

  • Who are you?
  • Where are you from? If you moved, why?
  • How do you describe yourself to people?
  • What is your day job/work?
  • What gives you the ability to write this book at this time?
  • What interview questions would you like to be asked?

About the book being publicized:

  • What are one-word topics about this work?
  • What themes are you striving for?
  • What inspired this work?
  • What timely topics intersect with this work?
  • What research did you do?
  • How do you talk about the work with different people, e.g. friends, colleagues, your mom?
  • Who helped this book along the way?

What does publicity look like:

  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Awards
  • Essays/excerpts
  • Momentum

~~~

Joanna MacKenzie

“Keep readers hungry but give them cookies,” advises literary agent Joanna MacKenzie of the Nelson Agency. IOW, make readers eager to find out what happens next but give them snacks in the form of hints that will pay off during the journey.

Joanna gave a shout out to TKZ alumnus Larry Brooks and his book Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves.

She offered a rare peek inside an agent’s head with 16 questions she asks when considering a manuscript.

  1. Is the writing good?
  2. Is there a market?
  3. Am I excited to turn the page?
  4. Am I confused?
  5. Is the premise unique?
  6. Is this the right point of view for the story/scene?
  7. Do I care about the character?
  8. Are there meaningful internalizations? Is there too much “show” and not enough “tell”? (Note: Refreshing to hear an agent break from conventional wisdom)
  9. Are there both internal and external arcs?
  10. Is there a sense of place?
  11. Is there a compelling conflict?
  12. Is the dialogue trying too hard to be realistic?
  13. Is it plausible?
  14. Is there a beginning, middle, and end?
  15. Does every scene move the plot and character forward?
  16. How much work are we going to have to do?

Digging into characters, Joanna says, “If the antagonist has time to lean, they have time to be mean. If they’re not doing anything, put them to work making life more difficult for the hero. Make sure every scene includes a shift in who has the upper hand.”

~~~

The criteria I often use for measuring a conference’s success is the level of interaction among attendees. Sometimes introverted writers are shy about talking with strangers or even admitting they write.

Not at this conference! Conversations were friendly and lively. People freely shared stories about their projects, struggles, successes, interests, and personal lives.

Old friendships were rekindled and new ones made. Business cards and emails were exchanged.

Exhilarating, energizing, and exhausting. You can’t ask for better than that.

~~~

TKZers: In your experience, what makes a successful conference? Want to give a shout out to your favorite?

~~~

Today is election day. Remember to vote.

~~~

For readers who like to hold a physical book in their hands, Debbie Burke’s new thriller Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is now in paperback as well as ebook! Sales link. 

Cover by Brian Hoffman

True Crime Thursday – No Honor Among Thieves

Posted on by

Photo credit: dolldreamer

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Book piracy is a widespread, growing problem that cuts into authors’ already-dwindling incomes. Back in 2020, I wrote about book piracy.

In a recent ironic twist, an ebook piracy site was hacked, per a July, 2024 Scamicide post by attorney Steve Weisman.

Yup, the pirates got pirated.

The site itself Z-Lib didn’t suffer as much as the 10 million users of the site who had their information stolen. Steve’s post reports the theft of:

…usernames, email addresses and passwords, the stolen data also included Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrency wallet addresses for the nearly ten million people affected.

Z-Library was a major site funded by donations that offered free access to copyrighted works including pirated material. In 2022, the FBI temporarily shut down Z-Library.

According to blog.acer.com:

Z-Library, the shadow library project that provided access to millions of textbooks, novels, journal articles, and magazines was shut down in November 2022 when U.S. authorities seized a number of the organization’s domain names. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the project never fully went away. Z-Lib even staged an official comeback in early 2023 by working around the previous domain name issues. However, the project has been disrupted again by further FBI domain seizures.

In other words, if law enforcement seizes pirate domain names, just register new domain names and go underground on the dark web.

Are Z-Library, Z-Lib, and its clones legal?

In this article, DOIT Software says:

It is illegal in many jurisdictions since it offers pirated content and violates copyright regulations. Users are encouraged to consider the ethical implications of accessing content from platforms like Z-Library, which often involves the distribution of copyrighted materials without proper authorization.

The clone site Z-Lib charged to access its shadow library, meaning users entered their personal and financial information. That valuable cache of info made a tempting target for other thieves who hacked in and stole it.

That raises an interesting philosophical discussion: If thieves steal from other thieves, is it a crime? Or poetic justice?

Are there degrees of guilt? How would you rank these perpetrators?

  1. Pirate sites that steal copyrighted works from authors;
  2. Users who pay pirate sites;
  3. Hackers that stole from the pirate site and its users? 

TKZers, the floor is yours.

I’m traveling today and won’t be able to respond to comments until later.

Greatest Hits from the 2024 Flathead River Writers Conference Part 1

Posted on by

2024 Flathead Writers Conference
Photo credit: David Snyder

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

The 34th Flathead River Writers Conference was October 5-6, 2024. The conference is always good, but this year was stellar with superb speakers and enthusiastic interaction among attendees.

As I drafted this post from my notes, it kept growing with more information that needed to be included. As a result, it ran way too long for a single post. So I’m dividing it into two. Today is Part 1 of the greatest hits from the event. Part 2 will follow in a couple of weeks.

~~~

Debra Magpie Earling

Debra Magpie Earling (Native-American author of The Lost Journals of Sacajawea and Perma Red) gave the moving keynote which set the tone that continued through the entire weekend.

Debra opened with a description of “wonder”, which she defined as “surprise mingled with admiration.” She went on to tell a story of wonder about the last Christmas she spent with her dying mother. On a peaceful Montana night, she described their visit as like “being inside a snow globe.”

Her mother said, “When I die, I’ll send you a sign. A hummingbird.” Debra went along with her mom but had her doubts. After all, hummingbirds are common at her home during summer so how would she ever know which one was the sign?

Nevertheless, after her mother passed, the following spring Debra set up many feeders and waited.

It was a strange summer. Other bird species came and went. Crows sat on the feeders. But not a single hummingbird appeared.

On the evening of her mother’s birthday in July, Debra and her husband were sitting outside and Debra said, “Well, I guess she didn’t send the sign.”

At that moment, the only hummingbird of the year appeared. It flew to Debra’s forehead and hovered for a few minutes then left.

Debra and her husband asked each other, “Did you see that? Is that what I think it was?”

With that anecdote, she summed up the magical wonder of storytelling, the conference theme.

While talking about where inspiration comes from, Debra said, “The muse is a lot of dead people who want their stories told.”

That sentence sent chills through me. Recently I’ve considered writing historical fiction. Did Debra send me a sign that it’s time to explore the past?

~~~

Danica Winters

Million-selling Harlequin romantic suspense novelist Danica Winters told the audience, “This is not your grandmother’s bodice ripper.” Romance sales account for an astounding $1.4 billion each year.

Today’s variations are limitless: contemporary, historical, erotica, Young Adult, thriller/suspense, LGBTQ+, dark romance, paranormal, holiday, fantasy/romantasy. Even serious social issues like human trafficking find their way into romances.

Why are they so popular? Danica believes, “They are everyone’s escape. They bring joy and make people laugh. Romance is a promise. We writers are entertainers.”

Danica sells many more paperbacks than ebooks, unlike other genres where ebooks dominate. She added an interesting market detail: When Walmart changed its shelving to hold 6″ by 9″ books, that prompted publishers to shift book production to that same size because Walmart is such a huge market.

While most romance readers are women, Danica said about 20% are men, often in law enforcement and the military. Turns out even alpha males like escape, too.

~~~

Leslie Budewitz

Three-time Agatha winner Leslie Budewitz focused on crime fiction with an excellent summation of differences within the genre.

  • Mystery is “What Happened?”
  • Suspense is “What’s Happening?”
  • Thriller is “What Might Happen?”

Leslie has her finger on the pulse of the cozy market and talked about shifts within the genre, including a new trend of millennial cozies that include some swearing and adult language.

For a cozy, the semiofficial acceptable body count is three. So far, Leslie has only had two murders in one book.

With 19 published books, Leslie must keep track of two amateur sleuth series and multiple standalone suspense novels. She developed an ingenious system to avoid repetition of plots and characters. For each book, she creates a spreadsheet with the following headings:

Victim              Killer/Method             Suspects          Motive            VGR

What is VGR? The Very Good Reason why the amateur sleuth gets involved in a crime.

~~~

Kathy Dunnehoff

Only a truly gifted writing teacher can make grammar entertaining. That describes longtime college instructor Kathy Dunnehoff, author of bestselling romantic comedies and screenplays.

Kathy offered nuts and bolts hacks to improve writing productivity.

  • Measure your success by what you control, not by factors outside your control. Success is the number of words you produce.
  • Use a writing calendar to track production either by word count or minutes…as long as that time is spent actually writing. Watching goat yoga or doomscrolling doesn’t count.
  • When you don’t write, record your excuse in the calendar. Talk about making yourself accountable!
  • Recognize procrastination in its many disguises: research, reorganizing your office, talking about writing rather that writing, etc.
  • When revising, try the “Frankenstein Method” (from Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat Writes a Novel): Start a new document for the second draft, then copy and paste sections from the first draft.
  • There is no extra credit for suffering!

~~~

On Saturday evening, our local indie shop, the BookShelf, hosted a reception for conference attendees and speakers. Gather a bunch of writers in a bookstore and we’re more excited than dogs at the dog park. Even though people mock-complained their brains were overloaded and they were exhausted, no one wanted to leave. All that creative energy kept us buoyed and eager for the following day.

Come back here in two weeks for Part 2 of the Greatest Hits from the Flathead River Writers Conference. Highlights include freelance article writing, side hustles to supplement income from book sales, anatomy of a publicity campaign, and 16 questions an agent asks when assessing a manuscript.

~~~

TKZers: Do any of the ideas mentioned resonate with you? What is your favorite productivity hack?

~~~

Conferences are also a good venue to sell books and I did!

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, Cover by Brian Hoffman

 

 

Please check out my latest thriller Fruit of the Poisonous Tree at this link.