Author Archives: Terry Odell

Why I Suck at Marketing

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Why I Suck at Marketing
Terry Odell

shopping cart of booksBeing an old dog and, as an indie author, being responsible for every aspect of my book publication processes, it’s hard to remember that just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean nobody else does. I’m not talking about the writing. Everyone finds the system that works for them. Plotter, Pantser, or Plantser? Nitty gritty or beautiful words? How much violence? Profanity? Look at any best-selling book’s reviews on Amazon. There will be one and two star ratings along with the fours and fives, so you’ll never please everyone.

No, I’m talking about the other side of the job. The part I dread.

Marketing. Promotion. Getting the book from “uploaded” to “being bought.”

There are so many aspects of marketing, and I haven’t found any I like.

But just because I don’t like them doesn’t mean I shouldn’t at least give some of them a try. Debbie covered some of this in her post yesterday.

I know authors who promote a new release with Facebook “parties.” Or blog tours, some of which they spend bucks on to have a professional set them up.

What I see is people who follow these tours are looking for a chance to win whatever giveaways the author is enticing people with. Most of them aren’t buying the book. But maybe the authors are looking at this as more of a way to connect with readers, which might lead to future sales.

What about posting things on social media? I’ve said it before, and my opinion/advice hasn’t changed. Social media should be at least 80% SOCIAL. Seeing countless variations on “buy my book” doesn’t work for me as a consumer, so I don’t do it as an author.

I’ve never bought a book based on a book trailer. I might have looked at the book after a trailer, but that’s rare. Yet, just because I don’t think book trailers are of much value, some people do. And, because it was very easy to do with Canva, I went ahead and made a trailer for Double Intrigue.

Again, because it was easy, and more fun than a lot of other marketing chores I avoid, I created some graphics as well. Do they send people to my book pages? I don’t know. But they seem a slightly more subtle way to draw attention to my book. (Clicking will enlarge images)

Don’t get me started on ads. When I’m shopping for a book, I usually have a good idea what I’m looking for, and go straight there. I’ve been told that Amazon puts ads on book pages, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed them. Of course, that’s because 97.63% of my book purchases are at Barnes & Noble, not Amazon. Almost all of my Amazon “buys” are the monthly free books because I have a Prime account. B&N probably has ads, too, but there again, I’m there for the book I want.

I haven’t done Amazon ads.

The big reason? Because Amazon ads require all sorts of conniving to reach an audience. You have to bid for placement, target an audience, set budgets, do AB testing … my old brain hurts, and I wonder how much money you have to put out there before you see a return. I was at a workshop once, and the presenter said she had no issues with forking over $200/day just to test her ads. Not me. And having to take courses to learn how to run ads … not my thing. I’d rather spend that time writing. After all, writing the next book is the best marketing ploy.

Now, I have run ads (not talking about Featured Deals) at Bookbub because they’re very easy to set up. Are they as effective as if I’d spent the time learning how to use Amazon and Facebook ads? I don’t know. Can’t compare what I haven’t tried.

A takeaway here is that you shouldn’t be acting based on only your preferences. You’re not your audience. You’re not your peers.

Another aspect of marketing I learned the hard way. Covers. They’re part of your book’s image. Part of your brand. They need to let readers know at a glance what kind of a book they’re being asked to buy. That’s why publishing houses have art and  marketing departments, and they’re separate from the editing side. Deb went into covers in great depth last week, and I shared a post I did about covers there as well.

What about you, TKZers? Do you enjoy the marketing side of publishing? And yes, even traditionally published authors, unless they’re the BIG NAMES, have to do some of their own marketing.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

When your dream assignment turns into more than you bargained for …
Cover of Double Intrigue, an International Romantic Suspense by Terry Odell Shalah Kennedy has dreams of becoming a senior travel advisor—one who actually gets to travel. Her big break comes when the agency’s “Golden Girl” is hospitalized and Shalah is sent on a Danube River cruise in her place. She’s the only advisor in the agency with a knowledge of photography, and she’s determined to get stunning images for the agency’s website.
Aleksy Jakes wants out. He’s been working for an unscrupulous taskmaster in Prague, and he’s had enough. When he spots one of his coworkers in a Prague hotel restaurant, he’s shocked to discover she’s not who he thought she was.
As Shalah and Aleksy cruise along the Danube, the simple excursion soon becomes an adventure neither of them imagined.

Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

It’s Banned Books Week

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Banned Books Week
Terry Odell

display of banned books at Barnes & Noble

We’re smack dab in the middle of Banned Book Week—Sept 22-28.

I think the Kill Zone is a “Banned Free Zone” but it never ceases to amaze—and frustrate—me that people are determining what others can read.

My parents were liberal when it came to my reading choices, although they had a friend who wrote porn under a variety of pseudonyms, and they’d buy his books to support him. Those, I discovered later, they’d kept off the house’s bookshelves. Had I found one and read it, I’m not sure what they’d have said.

Barnes and Noble has a Banned Book section on its website, as well as in some stores. Titles include:

Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak
1984, By George Orwell
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Benedict—

And the list goes on.

top ten challenged booksThe American Library Association, ALA, documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023—a 65% surge over 2022 numbers—as well as 1,247 demands to censor library books, materials, and resources. Pressure groups focused on public libraries in addition to targeting school libraries. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023.

According to PEN America:

“This 2022–23 school year, efforts to remove books expanded to sweep up a wide swath of literature and health-related content. Of the 3,362 instances of books banned in the 2022–23 school year, certain themes, formats, and identities recur:

  • 48 percent include themes or instances of violence and abuse (n =1,620). Of note, within this category, 834 instances are books that include episodes of sexual assault, which is 25 percent of all instances of books banned.
  • 42 percent cover topics on health and wellbeing for students (n = 1,402). This includes content on mental health, bullying, suicide, substance abuse, as well as books that discuss sexual wellbeing and puberty.
  • 33 percent detail sexual experiences between characters (n = 1,110).
  • 30 percent include characters of color or discuss race and racism (n = 1,003)
  • 30 percent LGBTQ+ characters or themes (n = 997). Of note, within this category, 205 instances are books that include transgender characters, which is 6 percent of all instances of books banned. 
  • 29 percent include instances or themes of grief and death (n = 980). This includes books that have a character death or a related death that is impactful to the plot or a character’s emotional arc.”

Facebook is full of graphics, or “memes” protesting banning books. Is it doing any good? Judging from the rising numbers of challenged books, I have my doubts. I haven’t seen any reports of actual book burnings, which might be the only positive piece of information I can include today.

Cover of Double Intrigue by Terry OdellIf I may be so bold, I have a new release dropping on October 3rd, and I don’t think anyone will find cause to challenge or ban it. It’s available for preorder now. Read more about it here.

The floor is yours, TKZers.

**New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Significant Events

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Significant Events
Terry Odell

picture of a family arriving in the US in 1938Significant events can be individual, familial, national, or international.

I was at a family reunion last weekend, and seeing so many cousins in one place was a visual lesson in the strength of DNA. No problem knowing we were all related. What was missing was the generation that included some we fondly remember as the crazy old aunts. Looking around, the cousins of my generation realized that to a lot of the others in the room, we were now the old guard and undoubtedly would be thought of as the crazy old cousins.

Many of the maternal side of my family hailed from Danzig (now Gdansk), and were lucky enough that one of the crazy old aunts had the foresight to push the family into selling their goods and getting the hell out of there. Their arrival in New York was on the maiden voyage of the SS Noordam. A reporter was sent to cover the arrival of the ship, and when they saw the passenger manifest with Anker after Anker, they figured there was a story there.

Another branch of the family lived in Berlin, and their patriarch was of the “This too will pass” mindset. Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, opened his eyes, and they began their plans to leave. That’s a significant historical event that might be more significant to their family than others.

September 11 Memorial

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay

For most of us who are old enough to remember, September 11th, 2001 is a date that won’t be forgotten. We remember where we were, what we were doing, when we heard the news.

I was home, working on my part-time day job, which was entering registration data for an upcoming conference. As was typical, most of the attendees waited until the day before the early bird pricing was going to expire, and I was swamped. My husband called, said a plane crashed into the twin towers. My first reaction was, that’s a terrible accident, but I’m busy. He said to turn on the television, which was in his office in the next room. I did, and it took a moment or two to register that it wasn’t an accident at all. I turned up the volume, went back to my data entry, but turned on the ‘real’ television in the living room and bounced back and forth between work and watching for updates.

John F. Kennedy's gravesiteThere are other major historic milestones. Another for me was the assassination of JFK. I was in high school history class, which was being taught by a ‘student teacher.’ I don’t know what they’re called in other regions, but this was part of the required curriculum for anyone wanting a teaching certificate in Los Angeles, and it was late enough in the semester that the teacher himself felt he could leave the room and leave her in charge. I don’t remember their names, but I remember he came into the room and interrupted the lesson and announced the assassination. Everyone’s first reaction was that he was playing up the curse that presidents elected in years with zeroes would come to a bad end. Then we noticed he was crying, and the shock hit us. School was dismissed for the day.

pearl harbor memorial

Image by wojoan from Pixabay

Few of us still remember Pearl Harbor Day, but that was another one where people knew what they were doing when they got the news.

Today, we should take a moment to remember 9-11 and those who lost their lives, and the repercussions throughout the world.

How do you handle historical and significant events in your writing? If your characters are boarding a plane, do you consider the security hoops they have to deal with? Do they even know what it was like before the inspections were put in place? Do you include mention of the pandemic? I read books obviously written during the pandemic by authors who assumed it would be long gone before their books came out, and they got it wrong. Or elections? Do you mention current administrations? The floor is yours.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Expectations and Mediocrity

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Expectations and Mediocrity
Terry Odell

Light brown dog peering through a fenceRecently, James Scott Bell posted an article about whether writers should write mediocre books. Having just completed a book that’s on the fringes of my normal writing genre, I’d been struggling with the “is it good enough?” question. Given my primary goal in writing this book was to be able to use my recent trip to the Faroe Islands as a tax write-off, I had to resist the urge to crank something out quickly, just to have something to wave at an IRS auditor should they question the validity of my deductions.

I couldn’t. I needed to write something I’d be proud to have my name on. Not something that might have a reader crossing me off their reading list.

JSB’s post reminded me of frequent discussions I have with my son, who’s a photographer.

Our trip to the Faroes, wonderful as it was (There were Puffins! And waterfalls! And striking landscapes! and sheep!), led to discussions with both my son and the organizer of the tour.

Now, I’m no spring chicken, but I think (or thought) I was in decent physical shape. The description of the photography tour/workshop said most days would be “easy walks, gentle hikes.” There was one day, they said, that would be longer and more strenuous, but the views would be worth it. My expectations were nothing like the actual efforts required for almost every shooting venue.

Granted, the weather increased the efforts required. We had rain, which made the uneven terrain muddy and slippery. Add schlepping camera gear, and those of us in the over 70 group were challenged.

My “solution” was to minimize the gear I carried. Never mind that the tour organizer said, “Bring everything” almost every time we got out of the van, I opted to leave almost all of my gear behind. Not once did I use my tripod to get wonderful long-exposure shots. Only once did I bother with a polarizing filter. It was damp, drizzly, and sometimes the drizzles were more like light rain. I didn’t want to go to the trouble of changing lenses, or adding and then removing filters when everything was getting wet. My main lens was water sealed, but raindrops on the lens mess up one’s shots. Most of the dedicated photographers in the group, however, did make these extra efforts.

Getting back to the point I made with my son, and also the tour operator who seemed surprised when I told him my favorite site (other than the puffins, of course) was a stop at a lighthouse. The van parked maybe a five minute walk away. The ground was relatively level. And there was more to photograph than waves crashing against sea stack.

Of course, had I been a serious photographer, I’d have been content to have my camera set on its tripod, and sit around waiting for the light to change for the better. But I’m a writer with a photography hobby. Not a serious photographer. I belong to a book club, not a camera club. He was also surprised when I told him that on day 3, I had under 300 images on my memory card. He probably had 3000.

Although I had much of the suggested equipment, I decided it wasn’t worth dealing with given the effort required to get to the designated shooting area. Yes, I hiked the 7 kilometer round trip to get to the top for the “hanging lake” iconic shot. Uphill. Through mud. Slippery grass.

Terry Odell standing atop a cliff in Vagar, Faroe Islands

Photo by Jason P. Odell

"Hanging Lake" Faroe Islands

Lake Leitisvatn, Sørvágsvatn, Faroe Islands

No, I didn’t climb even further for a ‘better’ view. Most of those ended up being one shot. Nor, after that day, had I any desire to go on yet another hike to get a sunset shot. (Note: this time of year, sunset is around 10 PM). Did I feel guilty? Did I regret it? Nope.

My son and the tour organizer are photographers. Their reputations and their business depends on people seeing photos that say, “If you come on one of my tours, you, too, will be able to get photos like this one.” Putting out a mediocre shot will do more harm than good.

How does this relate to writing? Ah—maybe she’s getting to the point! Putting out a mediocre book isn’t going to help my career or my reputation. Taking photographs that are acceptable to me to put on my website’s photography section is my goal. Heck, the odds are the vast majority of people looking at them are seeing them on their phones.

It all boils down to audience and expectations.

If you’re going to a photography website, you want to be impressed with the images. You’re probably interested in photography as much as looking at striking pictures.

My audience is readers more than anything else. Do they like my photos? Feedback says they do.

But … think about how many mediocre books get stellar reviews. Do readers really know what makes an outstanding book? If I had decided to crank out a down-and-dirty novel based on a trip I took, would my readers know?

Some would, of course. But how many would praise the book for any number of reasons that had little to do with the quality of the writing? My guess (assuming they take the time to write a ‘review’—but that’s another story) is quite a few. People are praising the schlock put out by AI.

Something that can help a book rise above the mediocre level is editing. As authors, we have a myriad tools available: critique partners, beta readers, professional editors, and a variety of software options. How far we choose to go is up to us.

Did you like the photos I shared above? I worked on them to a small degree. Nothing fancy when taking the pictures, and minor tweaks using Lightroom software. In the context of writing, these would be chapters I asked my critique partners to look at. I used my writing skills to create the chapters (taking the picture) and then applied my parnters’ feedback (where I agreed with it) to enhance the words.

Compare this to a professional photographer’s efforts. In this case, the photographer applied his knowledge and skills to set up his shot. These are the ‘tools’ he used:

Camera: OM System OM-1 Mark 2
Lens: Olympus 8-25mm f/4 PRO
Exposure Data
1.6” f/8 ISO 400
Shot at 8mm (16mm full-frame equivalent)
Tripod + Polarizing filter

Seascape at Faroe Islands by Jason P. Odell

Drangarnir, Faroe Islands, Photo by Jason P. Odell

But he wasn’t finished. While he doesn’t use “betas” because he knows what he’s doing, he has his editing toolbox, which includes Lightroom and Nik Color Efex, which he used for this final edited version.

Faroes Seascape by Jason Odell

Makes mine look mediocre, doesn’t it? Did you change your opinion of my images?

**Want to see more of his images? Go to Luminescent Photo.

Bottom line for me: people bring their own expectations and experiences to whatever product they’re looking at. If they’re reading a book by a best-selling author, odds are most of them are predisposed to assume it’s going to be great. And many—probably very many—of them don’t really know how to judge quality. One of the things I’ve noticed in the book clubs I’ve belonged to, is that readers don’t read like writers. When I mention that I found the author’s use of having more than one character in a paragraph with dialogue distracting, none of them were aware there was a “convention” of One Speaker Per Paragraph. It’s always interesting to see what they notice—and what they don’t.

What about you, TKZers? Anything you’ve noticed getting raves when it falls into your definition of mediocrity? Or something you consider fantastic, but then see feedback to the contrary?

Cover of Double Intrigue by Terry Odell(Oh, and if I can take a moment for some BSP. Double Intrigue my international romantic suspense set against the Danube river cruise I took last December is now available for pre-order.)

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.
New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

A Funtime Break

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A Funtime Break
Terry Odell

colored pencils, a smile, and a smiling dog on a blue background

According to my itinerary, I’m still on the Faroe Islands. Our tour/workshop ends tomorrow, and then we’re playing it safe and not trusting a connection from the Faroes to connect with a return via Copenhagen. Too many things can go wrong, as we’ve discovered. So, we’re going to fly to Copenhagen and spend the night, and then return to the states on Friday.

In other words, I’m not going to be around to respond to comments, so I figured why not have a little fun instead. (Don’t let my absence stop you from commenting.)

These made me smile. All taken from Facebook over the years.

And a last one for Sue Coletta

Any of these make you smile?

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.
New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Where Does My Book Belong?

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Where Does My Book Belong?
Terry Odell

a wall of bookshelves full of books with a big question mark

Back in the days before I even gave writing a passing thought, my reading tastes ran to mystery and science fiction. Later, when I was toying with writing an original piece, I headed for the mystery genre. My daughters, who were reading sections as I wrote them, told me it was a romance. What? I’d never read a romance. Later, I learned there were sub-genres of romance, and one, dubbed romantic suspense, was included under the romance umbrella. I’m still irked that they didn’t call it romantic mystery because suspense is a different sub-genre under the mystery umbrella. I asked, and was told that the powers that be had decided to lump all mystery sub-genres together in the romantic suspense category.

For the record, writing a Romantic Suspense, be it mystery, suspense, thriller, police procedural or any other mystery genre, means you’re effectively writing two stories, with two protagonists who are almost equals, each with their own character arc. They can be working together or in competition, but they have their own GMCs. Not easy!

Readers of any romance genre bring their own expectations, and if there’s “romance” anywhere in the book description, they want—at the very least—a promise of a Happily Ever After. Of course, you have to solve the mystery, too. Or, in the case of my Blackthorne, Inc. novels, which are “action adventure romance”, you have to catch the bad guys.

Readers in bookstores—or libraries—gravitate to the shelves that hold the genres they’re looking for. When I was shopping my first true mystery, Deadly Secrets, it was turned down because the publisher wouldn’t know how to categorize it. Yes, it was a police procedural, but it had a “cozy” feel, and I was told to pick one, rewrite, and resubmit, or submit something else that fit their cubbyholes.

I was fortunate with the timing for this one—indie publishing had just become a thing, and I could publish it myself. Which I did.

Of course, all publishers, be they indie or traditional, have to fill out categories and keywords for their books. Something to let readers know what to expect. But ebook publishers can choose more than one category, because the shelves in online bookstores are almost infinite. You no longer have to be a huge best seller to warrant shelf space in two departments (think JD Robb, whose books can be found on both the romance and mystery shelves in brick and mortar stores).

When I returned from my trip through the British Isles, I thought I’d write a simple romance. (Motivation—write off the cost of the trip.) It didn’t take me more than a few chapters to realize I had to include mystery elements. The category romance genre (think Harlequin) wasn’t working for me.

Now, I’m writing a novel, Double Intrigue, set on a Danube River cruise. (Same motivation as above). As with Heather’s Chase, the book set in the British Isles, my intention is to subtitle it “An International Mystery Romance,” thus connecting these two books.

Here’s my dilemma. My main characters are not law enforcement by any stretch of the imagination. Not even amateur sleuths. Their relationship begins simply as two people who meet on a cruise. Their goals are completely different. One, Shalah, is a travel agent who’s got her big chance to prove herself and move up in the company she works for by documenting her trip so the agency can sell the itinerary.

The other main character, Aleksy, is from Prague, and he’s involved in some shady doings in the art world.

Because I’ll be including “romance” in the metadata, their attraction must end up fulfilling a romance reader’s expectation, which, in this case, is a promise of that HEA. I don’t wrap up my books with 2 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence.

Aleksy appears to be in line to succeed the current head of the “institute,” but does he want to continue doing what he’s spent his life doing? Is the institute on the verge of being discovered for what it really is? Would he be arrested? Is his best option to get off the cruise ship and disappear?

Oh, and then there’s the “twins separated at birth” trope that shows up, too. Contrary to expectations, Shalah and her newly found sister aren’t getting along well.

What about the “mystery” angle? Can I even call it a mystery? There’s no crime being solved on the page. No cops or detectives as major players. What other shelves could it fit on?

How would you classify this book, TKZers?

One more thing. Speaking of travel, I’m leaving Sunday for a trip to the Faroe Islands. It’s a photography workshop. Maybe I can come up with an idea for another book. And another tax write off. And some more “Wanderings” posts for my new Substack. This week, it’s about my trip to Croatia.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?
Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands. Available now in ebook, paperback, and audio.
Like bang for your buck? I have a new Mapleton Bundle. Books 4, 5, and 6 for one low price.
New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings
Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Editing Tricks of the Trade

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Editing Tricks of the Trade
Terry Odell

Playing Tricks With EditingHitting “The End” on the manuscript doesn’t mean you’re finished. Once I have the full manuscript done, and have let it marinate for a while, it’s time to read it from the beginning. I wrote about my process several years ago, and I hope you don’t mind a repeat performance here. Some of my “Tricks of the Trade” might be helpful, either as a refresher for TKZers who’ve been here a long time, or for those who’ve joined more recently.

I finished my personal edits on the manuscript of my next book, Double Intrigue, and I thought I’d share some of the tips I’ve discovered over the years for that final pass before turning the manuscript in.

We want to submit the cleanest possible manuscript to our editors, agents, or the sales channels. By the time most of us hit “The End”, we’ve been staring at the manuscript on a computer screen for months. We probably know passages by heart, we know what it’s supposed to say, and it’s very easy to miss things.

What we need to do if fool our brain into thinking it’s never seen these words before. My tricks:

Trick #1– Print the manuscript. It’s amazing how much different it will look on paper.

Trick #2 – Use a different font. If you’ve been staring at TNR, choose a sans-serif font. In fact, this is a good time to use the much-maligned Comic Sans.

Trick #3 – Change the format. You want the lines to break in different places. I recommend printing it in 2 columns, or at least changing the margins. That will totally change the line scan, and it’s amazing how many repeated words show up when the words line up differently.

marked up manuscript printed in 2 columns

Trick #4 – Read away from your computer. Another room, or at least the other side of the room.

The above are all “Fool the Brain” tricks. Moving on to my basic process.

Trick #5 – Read from start to finish.

As I read, I have a notepad, highlighters, red pen, and a pad of sticky notes. This pass isn’t where I fix things; it’s where I make notes of things to fix. I don’t want to disrupt the flow of the read by stopping to check out if the character drove a red Toyota or a green Chevy. I have a foam core board by my chair, where I’ll post my sticky notes. Also, because it’s a hard copy, there’s not simple “Find” function.

When repeated words or phrases jump out, I note them on a sticky for a future search-and-destroy mission. I’ll circle or highlight words that could be stronger, or places where I might be able to come up with a metaphor that doesn’t sound writerly.

I’m also critical of “does this move the story?” as I’m reading. The beautiful prose might not be all that beautiful when reading it in the context of the entire novel. Don’t be afraid to use that red pen. On the flip side, you can also note where a scene needs more depth, or something needs foreshadowing. Are characters behaving consistently? Or do their personalities change because the author needs them to do something for the plot.

Another thing I look for is named characters. Naming a character tells the reader “this is an important person.” Do they play enough of a role in the story to earn a name? Can they be deleted, or referred to generically?

Once I’ve reached the end, I’ll go back to the computer and deal with the notes I’ve made.

The last pre-submission editing chore for me—and it’s a tedious one—is to let the computer point out all the clunkers I’ve missed. Because, despite all the ‘trickery,’ the story is still familiar enough that I don’t catch everything.

For this, I use a program called “Smart Edit.” (I might do a full post on this software another time.) I use the version that’s a Word add-on, and run its checks. I know I have my standard crutch words, but it seems that every manuscript brings a few new ones that I lean on too heavily.

Once I’m finished with the Smart Edit purges, the manuscript goes off to my editor. My work up front means she should be able to spend more time looking at the story, and less time dealing with clunky prose.

The last step for me, which comes right before I’m ready to publish, is to let Word read the manuscript to me. I’ve talked about that before, and using ears instead of eyes is another way to trick the brain into thinking the story is new. And yes, I still find things to fix.

What about you? How do you deal with whipping your manuscript into shape before submitting it?

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands.
Available now.

New! Find me at Substack with Writings and Wanderings.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Handling a Cast of Thousands

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Handling a Cast of Thousands
Terry Odell

street scene with a crowd of people I recently read—okay, started—a book that I set aside after three chapters. I’d received the book at Left Coast Crime, when one of the publishers hosted an “open house” for its authors in attendance and they had stacks of their books to sign and give away. I accepted almost all of them. It would have been rude to tell them you weren’t interested, especially since the books were free. I have giveaways via my newsletter, and I figured the books would be put to good use, either before or after I read them.

What made me put this book into my giveaway pile? Characters. I’m not talking about unlikeable characters, or cardboard characters, or TSTL (too stupid to live) characters. It was the sheer number of characters that had my eyeballs spinning.

When you give a character a name, it sends a signal to readers that they should pay attention. This character isn’t an “extra” or a spear carrier, or any other term given to those who remain in the background. It says “Remember me. I have a name.”

Opening chapters—opening pages—need to entice the reader. Normally, unless it’s a prologue with characters who might not appear again, the protagonist shows up pretty darn quick. There’s the hint of a question, a problem, something of interest. Something to convince the reader this is someone they’re going to want to spend the next 300 pages with. Which is why you don’t want to start a book with a dream—major regrouping when the character wakes up and the reader realizes they haven’t been in the here and now. Or with a major battle scene. We don’t know who’s fighting, why they’re fighting, who the good guys and bad guys are. These openings are probably manufactured by authors who are told “start with action.” Action doesn’t mean combat.

The book in question started on the right foot. There was a dead body, and the cops show up at the protagonist’s door, ask her if she knows the man in a picture they show her. So far, so good. We get a view of the cops and how they’re connected to the protagonist. The protagonist says “no,” the cops leave, and we’re left with a return to the protagonist’s everyday life. Which happens to be running a hotel, and we see people checking out. Are we going to see them again? I think not. Then there’s the staff, all introduced with descriptions and perhaps a bit of back story.

Now, this is the 8th book in this author’s series, and maybe she feels obligated to bring everyone up to speed, but my brain can’t handle meeting all these people.

How many? I made a list of every named character introduced in the first 2 chapters, which comprised 21 pages. First names only (unless none was given) because I don’t want this to be about this book, or this author.

Here you go:

Amber
Kieran
Poppy
Mitchel
Viola
Mrs. Applegate
Joanne
Mrs. Newman
Aunt Ginny
Victory
Thelma
Dodson
Mother Gibson
Gia
Kim
Teresa
Iggy
Royce
Courtney
Virginia
Josephine
Augie
June
Tildy

At that point, I was past trying to keep track of who was who, and who might actually be important to the story. The fact that the book was over 400 pages long might have helped me decide to put this one away.

You have to consider that this might be the first book your reader has picked up in your series. Long time readers might know many of the cast of regulars, but you have to work them in slowly. Preferably with some connection to the story, another prominent character, something distinctive.

Sometimes, you do need to give these “extras” names. One example. Your POV character is interacting with a worker of some sort. A receptionist, admin, clerk. They’re on the page often enough so repeating “the receptionist” over and over gets annoying, so you name them. Just make sure their names are distinctive enough so readers won’t confuse them with another, more significant, character. (I keep mine on an alphabetical spreadsheet so I can see if I’ve used that or a similar name already.)

When I’m faced with this, I’ve sometimes resorted to “naming” the characters with physical characteristics, or even clothing. In the current WIP, my POV character is being held by two detectives. In her state, she doesn’t want to get personal with them, so she refers to them as “Red Tie” and “Blue Tie.” There’s another character she thinks of as “Green Blobs.” They’re only on screen for two chapters, and it wasn’t worth me thinking up yet three more character names.

Don’t start, as one author did, with a celebratory dinner with the whole darn family—three generations of them—around the table and have it become “let’s catch up with everyone” time. New readers don’t know the back story of these people. They probably won’t care. (That was the first and last book I read by that author, big name though she was.)

What about you, TKZers? How do you handle introducing characters, and making sure you’re not overloading your readers?

Any examples where you think an author handled it well? Or not well?

One last thing. I’ve officially launched my “Writings and Wanderings” Substack. I hope you’ll take a look and subscribe if you’re interested.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands.
Available now.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Back From Killer Con

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Back From Killer Con
Terry Odell

Banner for the Writers' Police Academy Killer ConGreetings, TKZers. I’m back from a wonderful, exhausting 4 days at Killer Con. The getting there and back, not so wonderful, but that’s becoming my norm for any travel requiring an airplane. “If you have time to spare, go by air.”

As writers going to conferences, we’re used to panels on aspects of craft, or workshops given by featured authors. Not so Killer Con. I touched a little on this in my last post.

I’ll be recapping many of the sessions I attended on my own blog, but here’s a basic overview. And a few pictures. Again, no tables filled with smiling authors at the front of a room—except for the final Q&A with all the experts.)

What could we learn about? These were the session choices:

Body Trauma and Gunshot Wounds
Crime Writer’s Guide to Murder Investigation
CSI: Processing a Shooting Scene
Evidence Collection, Processing, and CSI Techniques
Homicide Investigation: The Reel to Real Story
Interview and Interrogation
Overdose Death Investigation
Processing and Preservation of Fingerprint Evidence
Reading and Interpreting Bloodstain Patterns and Spatter
TI Training – Interactive Use of Force Simulation
Using Art to Solve Crimes
Virtual Reality – Mental Health Training Simulator

That’s a lot to choose from, and other than the ‘whole group’ sessions, we could attend only six.

To start. The conference sessions were held at the Northwest Wisconsin Technical Institute in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where their own instructors and local first responders, crime scene techs, and medical personnel were there to enlighten us. We did have presentations by authors, because the goal of the conference was to help us bring reality to our books. Retired cop/authors included Dr. Katherine Ramsland (want to know anything about serial killers? She’s  your go-to person.), Michael A. Black, Bruce Robert Coffin.

A few random takeaways.

It’s blood spatter, not splatter.  Detectives don’t lead the way on raids. SWAT goes in first. Unless your book is set before or during WWII, there’s no smelling of cordite. It’s gunpowder. Cordite hasn’t been around since 1945. Gallows humor among cops is real. If they drink whisky, it’s cheap. Everyone inside a crime scene has to sign a log, including their reason for being there, which means they might be subpoenaed to appear in court. (Good way to keep the brass out.) When setting a perimeter, overestimate. You can shrink it but not expand it. (I may have made this mistake in one of my books.) Everything is done with court appearances in mind. Keeping an open mind is critical. And much more.

I had hands-on practice in fingerprinting. Coming from a dry climate and spending lots of hours tapping a keyboard, mine were very hard to collect. We got to do presumptive testing for blood (using synthetic blood). Watched a demonstration (up close) of using Blue Star (cheaper and easier to use than Luminol, preferred by the techs here).

The first evening, we had a presentation by Carrie Stuart Parks who talked about how one determines if someone’s lying. I made an attempt to capture some of the highlights on my blog Monday.

The next morning, we arrived at NWTI and were led to a large lecture hall where they’d staged a shooting scene for us. We watched as the people who would be dealing with the scene came in —patrol officers, EMS, detectives, CSI, and the ME, and they all performed their respective duties.

Another group session was a lecture by Dr. Ramsland who stressed the importance of observation. We all learned a new acronym: WYSIATI: What You See Is All That Is, which is what she referred to as “My Side Bias” or “I wouldn’t do it that way.”

After she finished, we were teamed up in groups of 4 and we walked through a crime scene taking LOTS of pictures. Our objective wasn’t to solve the crime, but rather to prioritize 5 questions we would want answered, and to compare what we saw with the survivor’s narrative of what happened.

The next day, we gathered once again to compare notes, and to discover what really happened, as our scenario was based on a real life crime.

One other highlight. The keynote speaker was Charlaine Harris. Her words were those of thanks and took approximately five minutes. Given how exhausted everyone was (not to mention there was a bar set up in the banquet room), this was a welcome change from typical keynote speakers. Judging from the line at her signing table, she was a popular addition to the conference lineup.

And, on another note, since I’ve been letting my WIP marinate before I dive into my edits/revisions before sending it to my editor, I played around with Substack. I decided it would be a good place for sharing some of my “just for fun” writing. If you’re interested (the first posts are more of an introduction to “me”) you can check it out.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands.
Available now.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”

Off To Killer Con

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Off To Killer Con
Terry Odell

Banner for the Writers' Police Academy Killer Con

I’m winging my way to Wisconsin for the Writers’ Police Academy. This isn’t your typical conference. It’s hands-on-learning about first responders. The founder, Lee Lofland, got tired of reading mistakes about police work in mystery novels, and set out to educate the authors. Here’s a peek at the opening session from 2016. Not a panel of authors talking about their books and the craft, is it?

I’ve gone several times before (including one where I had the pleasure of meeting John Gilstrap in person), but this year it’s focusing on homicide investigations. I thought it would be appropriate to revisit a post from 2010 on my personal blog, written by Mark Hussey, a retired Florida homicide detective, and a man who’s been extremely helpful when I have police procedure questions.

They say that police work is a ringside seat to the greatest show on earth. Truer words were never spoken. It’s hours of sheer boredom, punctuated by seconds of sheer terror. It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love. War is hell. They’re all great clichés and they all apply.

I’ve had more fun and been more miserable being a cop than you can imagine. Mostly though, its been fun and at times, rewarding. Once you’ve put your world into perspective, and realize that all the things you thought you could change when you were a rookie but found out you will never change, life as a cop is easier to take. You realize things don’t matter as much. You just do the best you can, and try to make a difference in a few situations and in a few peoples’ lives. You try to leave this world a little better place than it was when you came, or at least not a worse place.

I’ve got thirty years in this business and it sometimes seems like I’ve seen it all. Of course every time I say that, somebody throws me a curve.

I spent nineteen years as a uniformed patrol officer, but, because of all those years of stress, injuries and just natural aging, I took a desk job. I’m a Homicide detective. That is I work everything DEAD. It’s very interesting work, but my heart is still out there with the guys and girls who work the streets. They are, I believe, the last line of defense. The difference between law and order and anarchy; that thin blue line between societal order and total chaos. These are the people who put their lives on the line everyday, then endure the constant criticism by the public and the news media.

People say they want the “job” done, but they don’t want to see how we do it. Heaven forbid we should hurt someone who raped a small child or murdered a housewife and mother. Shame on us for speaking harshly, or smacking some scumbag who strikes us or spits upon us.

I wanted to be a cop as far back as I can remember. When I was six years old, I had already made friends with a tall, thin Orange County Sheriff’s motorcycle cop named Jonathan. “Big John” stood 6′ 5″ and weighed close to 300 pounds. He was a poster boy for what cops looked like in the South in those days. White, over six feet tall and looking back, I’m sure not terribly well educated. He had something I would learn later was much more valuable…STREET SENSE.

I am sure he grew tired of a small chubby kid asking him questions about the big Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the tank shifter and the “suicide clutch” he rode every day. He packed a six-inch, Colt .357 magnum revolver in a low-slung swivel holster, which hung on a four inch wide, Sam Browne belt. There was also room on the belt for handcuffs, keys, and a wooden nightstick. In a small pocket located on the thigh of his right leg, he carried his slap jack. The slap jack, or blackjack as they were called was as Jonathan explained, “An attention getter”.

If the huge officer was disgusted with me, he never showed it. Jonathan was always friendly and showed up several mornings a week at the school bus stop in what was then very rural Orange County. He would talk to me endlessly, about cops, school, and my family. He made me feel so important. I find it amusing when administrators speak of “new” concepts, such as “Community Oriented Policing”. These guys were practicing and perfecting the techniques years ago.

I had decided that I wanted to be a cop. How difficult could this job be? Just think of all the people I could push around, and the cars I could speed in. I contacted several of the local law enforcement agencies as well as the Florida Highway Patrol. The patrol was considered the elite among agencies and I had befriended and begun riding quite frequently with a state trooper on nights and weekends. I was already hooked on the adrenaline.

Everyplace I went, I was told that I would have to be twenty-one years old. At eighteen I had no experience, no college and a dead-end job. I needed a push. On September 3, 1976 I walked into the Orlando Armed Forces recruiting office, where I met U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Charles “Chuck” Nobles, a dark-haired, “actor” looking guy with a mouthful of teeth and a chest full of ribbons. Good ol’ Chuck showed me a couple of films about the Army’s elite Airborne Divisions. I couldn’t wait to sign a three-year contract to become a military policeman and a paratrooper.

On September 27, I said good-bye to my parents and boarded a Greyhound bus for Fort Jackson, South Carolina. As the bus pulled away, my father, a tear in his eye, snapped to attention and rendered me a hand salute. It didn’t mean much then, but I have come to know the importance and level of respect that that gesture represents. It is one of those moments that has been permanently burned into my memory.

After eight long weeks of basic training, and eight more of military police school and three weeks of jump school I arrived at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I turned nineteen years old the day before I got there. Now, I thought, I was an adult and I was a cop. Looking back, I was wrong on both counts.

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. A murder, followed by several assaults. Are they related to the expansion of the community center? Or could it be the upcoming election? Gordon and mayor wannabe Nelson Manning have never seen eye to eye. Gordon’s frustrations build as the crimes cover numerous jurisdictions, effectively tying his hands.
Available now.

Terry Odell is an award-winning author of Mystery and Romantic Suspense, although she prefers to think of them all as “Mysteries with Relationships.”