Category Archives: #writerslife

Post-Mortem on the Flathead River Writers Conference – Part 1

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Attendees at Debbie Burke’s Villain’s Journey workshop

by Debbie Burke

Al Solum and Kathy Dunnehoff wearing a hoodie with her book cover

Last weekend, the 35th annual Flathead River Writers Conference in Kalispell, Montana, was like an exuberant family reunion…except there were no drunken squabbles!

With many repeat attendees, emcee Kathy Dunnehoff compared the gathering of 100 writers to the dog park: we’re off the leash of ordinary life, happy to see each other, and eager to play.

Keynote Shelley Read glowed with warmth and enthusiasm, radiating encouragement as she talked about the Cinderella story of her debut novel Go as a River. Published in 2023 when she was 56, the novel became a mega-bestseller worldwide with translations into many languages. Shelley was stunned and thrilled with how the book’s theme of deep connection to the land resonates with readers around the globe. So far, she’s toured 19 states and 11 countries.

She relates the story of her proud mother creating what she laughingly calls a “shrine” in the living room, featuring her awards and reviews. Also displayed is Shelley’s first novel, written at age nine, entitled Peter the Porcupine, a two-page school assignment that grew to 66 pages and includes a hand-scrawled copyright symbol.

During her decades as an educator, wife, and mom, Shelley describes writing her book “in the margins of my life.” The story “marinated and percolated” inside her head, taking 13 years to finish.

Shelley believes grief and sorrow in the heart are universal, spanning across all cultures. Tapping those emotions could be the “great unifier” for humanity. She urged the audience to “write as a witness” to chronicle and preserve life’s experiences for others to read and learn from.

Cindy Spiegel, Spiegel and Grau publisher, and author Shelley Read, keynote speaker

Another guest speaker was Cindy Spiegel, CEO of Spiegel and Grau, the respected independent press that published Shelley’s book and numerous groundbreaking bestsellers. Cindy shepherds books and authors in the grand tradition of Maxwell Perkins.

She spent decades in the industry leading imprints and building a reputation for high-quality books. When multiple mergers of publishing companies changed the industry’s focus solely to quick profits, in 2020 she and Julie Grau struck out on their own. Their mission is to publish books that earn money but also change the world.

Cindy chooses books with enduring themes and helps them build lasting momentum rather than publishing ones that make a brief splash on social media then quickly disappear.

She understands most authors are introverts and believes part of her job is to help them with platforms. She clearly values a strong rapport with her authors and says, “I won’t publish someone if we don’t have the same vision.”

Agent Abby Saul and publisher Cindy Spiegel.
Photo credit David Snyder

Literary agent Abby Saul is celebrating 10 years of The Lark Group, the agency she founded to represent commercial adult fiction.

She recommends before submitting to an agent that the writer “takes the manuscript as far as you can” and perfects the first 50 pages. “Make the best first impression because that is often the only impression.” She usually only reads two pages of a submission but, if she gets engrossed and finds she’s read 20 pages, “Oh my gosh!”

After Abby and a client agree to representation, she puts together a list of editors she thinks will be interested in the project. Unlike agents who only make contact when the book is sold, she keeps the author fully informed throughout the submission process. If an editor gives reasons for rejection, she lets the author know so they can make changes if warranted. She also advises them to start writing their next book while waiting for an answer. “I’ve sold books in two days or in two years.”

In a query, she likes comps but advises writers not to brag about “being the next Dan Brown.” Rather use phrases like “In the vein of…” or “For fans of…”

When asked about AI, she isn’t concerned because there is “an art to writing and AI can’t compare. Readers are smart and they’re here for real books.”

YA novelist Jess Owen, romantasy author J.D. Evans, and Debbie Burke

The conference highlights are too many to fit into today’s post. Come back in two weeks for the next installment featuring more terrific speakers including Robert Petrone talking about memoir; Jake Arrowtop, Native-American poet; Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, artist and author of graphic novels and graphic nonfiction; a panel with YA novelist Jess Owen, romantasy author J.D. Evans, and me about our traditional and indie publishing paths.

~~~

TKZers: Have you attended a recent writing conference? Which speakers impressed you?

~~~

At the conference, I gave a day-long workshop. If you missed it, you can find the same information in The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate.

Reader Friday-I Saw What You Did

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Tell us something cool about yourself that no one else knows…or, very few people know.

I’ll start.

My car wasn’t as cool as this one… 🙂

I once drove in a stock car race. It was fun! I got to go really, really fast around our local race track and I didn’t even crash. My three young kiddos watched from the bleachers with my parents. My drag-racing, desert truck-racing Dad was the instigator. In the blood, I guess.

 

Would I do it again? No sirree Bob! (Well, maybe…)

Your turn! Do tell, and have you written about it?

 

The Villain Goes on a Journey

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by Debbie Burke

As writers, we send our characters on long, convoluted journeys to solve mysteries and create exciting compelling stories.

Today I’m going to tell the story about the journey of a book that traveled from point A to point B to point Q to point G to point X to point D to…you get the idea.

In July, my book The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate was published.

My custom is to send print copies by snail mail to people who helped develop my books. They may have contributed research, beta read, or otherwise supported the growth from a teeny-weeny seed of an idea to a finished product. Without their help, my books wouldn’t exist. So I’m grateful and want to say “thank you” in a small way.

Let’s back up to 2022. The teeny-weeny seed for The Villain’s Journey came from a comment made by TKZ regular Marilynn Byerly. In response to a post I’d written about villains, she mentioned the hero’s journey was well known but was there a corresponding book about villains?

That sent me down the rabbit hole.

Amazingly, I only found one book devoted to the villain’s journey and it focused on sci-fi and fantasy.

During a conversation with TKZ emeritus Steve Hooley, he said, “Why don’t you write that book?”

Sounded like a great suggestion since there did appear to be a gap in the crime reference library that I could fill.

I wrote a proposal and sent it to TKZ’s wise guru Jim Bell to see what he thought of the idea. He encouraged me to go for it.

Fast forward to summer 2025. I finished the book. Jim wrote a wonderful blurb for it, as did Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.

These two respected powerhouses gave my book invaluable credibility in the writing craft world. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude to Jim and Chris for their support.

When the print books arrived, of course, I wanted the first two copies to go to Jim and Chris. I inscribed them, packaged them in padded envelopes, and took them to the post office. The clerk double-checked the addresses in the computer, printed out labels with bar codes, and off they went. Easy-peasy.

More than a month later, the post office returned Jim’s copy to me. A label said: “Return to Sender, address unknown, no such number, no such zone—” Oh, wait, that was Elvis.

This label claimed insufficient address, unable to forward, return to sender. Someone had written in red marker “Wrong address” above the printed post office label.

I double-checked the mailing address with Jim. Yup, I’d used the correct one and the post office label was indeed correct.

So why did the book come back to me?

I typed the tracking number into the search box for usps.com. The shipping history showed a long and winding road.

On August 13, the book began its journey from Kalispell, MT where I mailed it. It then travelled to distribution centers in Missoula, MT, Spokane, WA, Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, and landed at Jim’s neighborhood post office on August 18. So far so good.

Then the journey started twisting.

On August 18, the book was delivered to an address with a notation in the tracking history “delivered, front door/porch.”

On August 27, the next notation said, “insufficient address” followed by a notation “return to sender processed.”

Huh?

It then traveled back to the Santa Clarita distribution center and arrived August 29 in Aurora, CO. The same day, it was sent on to the Billings distribution center.

Okay, Billings is in Montana.

Two days later, it apparently took the wrong freeway off ramp, headed south, and arrived at the Phoenix, AZ distribution center.

Uh, Phoenix is not in Montana.

It sat in Phoenix for two days then was sent back to Aurora, CO distribution center. It sat there for two more days.

Then it went to Billings again.

Okay, at least it’s now back in the right state.

Then it took another wrong freeway exit. Whoops.

A day later, it shows up at the Denver, CO distribution center.

Three days later, it’s at the Missoula, MT distribution center. Then it’s sent 120 miles north to Kalispell and arrives there to be processed.

Whoops, U-turn back to Missoula for another day.

Another U-turn from Missoula back to Kalispell.

Finally, more than a month after the book began its journey, it was returned to me in Kalispell as “undeliverable, insufficient address.”

This poor villain had been on a journey that was a cross between Where’s Waldo and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

 

Cyril Thomas, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Common

Putting on my Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker hat, I’m guessing a mail carrier delivered the package to someone else’s house in Jim’s neighborhood. That resident probably wrote “wrong address” on it. If the carrier had rechecked the address, they should have realized, “Oh, shoot, that’s the house down the street” and delivered it. Instead, they dumped the package into the system.

This Villain’s Journey should have been 1350 miles. Instead, it turned into an epic road trip of 7700 miles.

I wish the lost, wandering package qualified for frequent flyer miles—I’d have enough miles for a plane ticket from Montana to California to personally deliver Jim’s book. After all the years of following TKZ, I would have finally enjoyed the pleasure of meeting Jim in person.

The villain is now on its second journey. I hope by the time this post goes live, Jim will have received his book.

In our stories, we send our characters on long, convoluted journeys to solve mysteries. 

The mystery of why the post office sent this book on a 7700-mile journey may never be solved. If only the book could talk…

~~~

TKZers, do you have a story about unexpected detours courtesy of the post office? Please share.

~~~

This blurb makes me very proud:

“Debbie Burke has filled a critical gap in writing craft instruction…authors of any genre will benefit by using The Villain’s Journey to take a deeper dive into the antagonist of their story.” – James Scott Bell, International Thriller Writers award winner, author of more than 30 bestselling craft of writing books.

 

If you’d like a print copy of The Villain’s Journey, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have good track records of delivering books without unexpected side trips.

Words of Wisdom: About Control

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For us writers, knowing what is outside of our control, and what lies within, can help with stress and anxiety when it comes to publication. Writing lies within our control, but over controlling our writing process can cause stress and anxiety as well.

Today’s Words of Wisdom tackles the issue of control. Michelle Gagnon shares a few of the many things outside of your control when it comes traditional publication. James Scott Bell looks at more things in publishing outside of our control, including whether we become “A-list” writers, and offers a crucial piece of advice. Finally Sue Coletta looks at a powerful part of our mind that is outside of our conscious control, but which we can work with in flow state, and shows how to create that state.

All three posts are well-worth reading in their entireties and can be found linked to the original publication date at the bottom of their respective excerpts.

Typos: I’m not saying I’m perfect, but occasionally glaring typos appear in the text that were in no draft of the manuscript I submitted. My book club read The Tunnels, and when I walked in for our meeting three people shouted out, “Page 67! What happened there?” Half of the night was consumed by a discussion of some of the typos in the book. Somewhere between my final edits and the typesetting process, new typos appeared. Again, beyond my control (also the reason why I never crack the spine to read the final product. I have never once read one of my books after mailing off the line edits, because if I spot a typo it drives me nuts).  

Missing Pages: I received emails from a few people who purchased Boneyard, only to discover that fifty pages were missing from the middle of the book. After talking to other authors, I learned that this is not that unusual. A glitch at the printing plant can ruin a whole batch of books. Fortunately, publishers are wonderful about shipping out a replacement copy, if it ever happens to you.

Print Runs: This can be make or break for an author. Say your initial print run was 20,000 books. Sell 15,000, and your book is a success story. But if the publisher printed 100,000 copies, and you sold 15,000, your book would be considered a dismal failure and you would be facing an uphill battle to get the next one published. Not fair, right? But as an author, you have no say in whether your print run is five thousand books or five million. You have to just keep your fingers crossed that your publisher’s sales projections are right.

I will say that in book publishing, I still have far more control than I ever did as a magazine writer. Back then, I’d hand in an article and six months later, something came out with my name on it that was virtually unrecognizable. Not always, but frequently enough to be depressing. In book publishing you are definitely allowed a firmer hold on the reins.

Michelle Gagnon—May 6, 2009

 

Not every writer who is good enough to be on the A List makes it to the A List. There’s an element built into nature that leaves some things to pure chance.

The trick in life is not to stress about those things.

That is the essence of the Stoic philosophy. Epictetus put it best: “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

You got that right, Epic. Most writers worry about every single aspect of every single book release.

Will it sell? Will it be seen in bookstores? Will the critics/reviewers hate it? Will it land on a major bestseller list? Will I get that literary award I’m lusting after? Does Oprah have my phone number?

None of these things can you control.

Thus, the writer determines to do everything within his power: bookmarks, swag, panels, bookstore signings, blog tour, Facebook ads, Amazon ads, Bookbub ads, tweets, ’grams, howling at the moon—all the while stressing over the results.

But when the dust settles down, down to the lower depths of the Amazon rankings, what then? If the author has too much emotional investment in great expectations, he will suffer needless inner turmoil. It can hamper or even end a writing career. Many a writer has called it quits after a third or fourth book got remaindered within a month and the publisher did not offer another contract.

To repeat: Not everyone who should be a star becomes a star.

Not every writer who should be on the A List makes it to the A List.

But anyone who keeps writing is a writer. And that very act—the writing, falling deeply into a scene, getting into “the zone”—turns out to be the only real antidote for writerly anxiety.

So put this on a sign or sticky note on your desk:

James Scott Bell—March 15, 2020

 

The conscious you, or conscious awareness, makes up the smallest part of your brain. The conscious brain believes it’s in full control of the body, when nothing could be farther from the truth…

When our conscious awareness relinquishes control to our unconscious brain, we enter the flow state—a form of brain activity experienced by different kinds of people, from elite athletes and meditation experts to professional writers and musicians. Many of whom call this state “the zone,” which arrives during total emersion in a task. In flow states, neural circuits run without conscious mind interference. Our perception clears, our unconscious awareness heightens, and feel-good chemicals flood the brain, which allows for intense focus and gratification…

Tips to Achieving Flow

  1. Balance challenge and skill.

If you’ve never written nonfiction, for example, you may find it difficult to enter the zone because your conscious awareness is stressed out. You’re too afraid of making a mistake to enter flow.

If something isn’t challenging enough, you’ll get bored easily. In turn, so will your reader. Not only will adding plenty of conflict improve your plot, but you’ll enter the zone quicker while writing.

1. Establish clear goals.

I will write for three hours. I will write at least 1000 words today. I will write two scenes or one chapter. By establishing a daily writing goal, it relieves the pressure of having to finish the entire first draft by a certain date. How you choose to establish those goals is up to you.

2. Reduce distraction.

You will never enter the zone if you’re checking for social media notifications or email every ten minutes. When it’s time to write, write. Save play time and the inbox for later.

3. Stop multitasking.

Have you ever turned down the radio while searching for a specific house number or highway exit? You’re instinctively helping your brain to concentrate on a visual task. For more on why multitasking is so difficult and why we should avoid it before a writing session, see my 2021 post entitled Can Multitasking Harm the Brain?

4. Don’t force it.

Some days, you’ll enter the zone. Other days, you won’t. It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. You’ll still produce words and make progress.

5. Enjoy the process.

You won’t enter flow unless you’re enjoying yourself. Simple as that. If you view writing as a chore, it may be time to step away from the WIP for a while. Yes, penning a novel is hard work, but it also should be enjoyable. If it’s not, you may want to ask yourself why you do it.

Sue Coletta—January 8, 2024

***

  1. What are some things you see as outside of your control in writing/publishing?
  2. How do you deal with these?
  3. Do you work with your unconscious to help get into flow state? Any tips?

I’ll be on the road for much of today, and will check in when I can. In the meantime, please feel free to comment.

Fear of Failure

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* * *

Babe Ruth played professional baseball for 22 years (1914-1935) and is considered one of the greatest players who ever lived. He had almost 3,000 hits in his career, averaging more than one hit per game. For many years, he held the record for the number of home runs hit during a single season (60 in 1927). His total number of home runs over his professional career was 714, a record which stood until 1974.

But there’s another statistic you may not have known: Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times. Apparently, he never let the fear of failure keep him from playing the game.

* * *

Fear is part of being human. It goes along with the DNA, and it can be healthy because it instills the instinct for survival we all need. But fears can be unhealthy if we give in to them and become more cautious than we need to be.

Once we let our fears control us, things can get out of hand. A phobia is defined as an irrational fear of something that causes anxiety when a person is exposed to that particular thing.

We all know about fear of heights (acrophobia) and fear of spiders (arachnophobia), but when I searched around for a complete list, I found more than one hundred things on healthline.com to be afraid of! Here are a few I found interesting.

 

Fear of flowers (anthophobia) – Better not go for a walk in my neighborhood.

Fear of numbers (arithmophobia) – I have a friend who insists she “can’t do numbers”

Fear of books (bibliophobia) – Oh no!

 

Fear of failure (atychiphobia) – Ah, now here’s one we can relate to.

* * *

Failure is something we all experience, but I suspect the fear of failure is more acute in disciplines that require creativity than in other areas. The very word “create” implies something new, and that means it may not work.

I’ve read research that shows high achievers are very likely to experience fear of failure. (I imagine some of us here at TKZ fall into this category.) Having achieved success in their professional lives, these folks see anything less than a fabulous accomplishment as inadequacy.

Many high achievers will work hard to avoid that stigma, but others would rather drop out of the race than risk what they perceive as failure.

So how do authors stay in the game and handle that scary thought that they won’t be able to write another book as good as the last one?  There are ways to minimize those concerns. According to an article on betterhealth.vic.gov.au, the same things that enhance creativity can be used to fight the fear of failure.

“There are several ways you can try to fight your fears.… Simple changes, like exercising regularly, can reduce your stress levels. So can eating healthy meals, getting enough sleep, and reducing or avoiding stimulants like caffeine and alcohol.”

And don’t forget the Babe. You can’t hit a home run if you don’t step up to the plate.

 

So TKZers: Do you experience a fear of failure in your writing? How do you fight it?

* * *

The saga continues with Knights in Manhattan, the second novel in the Reen & Joanie Detective Agency middle grade mystery series.

  • Joanie is afraid of flying.
  • Reen is afraid she might not catch the thieves.
  • Mrs. Toussaint isn’t afraid of anything.

Join the fun with the R&J Detective Agency as they track down nefarious crooks in Manhattan. New York will never be the same.

$1.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Google Play

Revisited: Can Writers Lose Their Fingerprints?

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This subject arose again when I was trying to log into a device with fingerprint technology. I hadn’t used the device for a few years, so I had no clue of the password. And since the technology couldn’t get a good scan of my fingerprints, it remains locked.

Ah, well.

Thankfully, my iPhone uses facial recognition software. There may be a way to break into the locked device through my phone… if I recall why I wanted into it in the first place. Sigh.

If it sounds like I need some R&R, you’re right. Hence why I plan to head south and unplug till Wednesday. Still might work on my passion project WIP in between play dates with chickens, crows, and fur-babies.

In a recent chat with Jordan, she mentioned that when she went for her TSA pre-check ID for her trip, they couldn’t detect her digital fingerprints.

They said, since she spent so much time at a computer keyboard as a writer, she’s deteriorated her ridge detail.

Could this be true of all professional writers?

As you might have guessed, this question sent me down a rabbit hole of research, because I’ve had trouble with my iPhone’s digital fingerprint scan. It only recognizes my thumbprint, not any other finger. Which I figured was just a glitch with the phone. Now, I’m not so sure.

Before we can prove or disprove TSA’s conclusion, we first need to know the basics.

What is a fingerprint?

A fingerprint is a pattern of friction ridge details, comprised of ridges and valleys. A ridge is a high point, a valley is a depression or low point. Friction ridges are also found on our palms, feet, and toes. “Pattern” equals the unique characteristics of the ridges and valleys that make up the print, defined by the spatial relationship of multiple lines, their beginning and terminating points, and the unique pattern they create.

Each ridge contains tiny pores connected to sweat glands beneath the skin. When we touch an object, sweat and oils release from these pores and leave behind a print, latent or visible. The genes from our parents determine the general characteristics of the pattern.

 

Fun fact: Like human fingerprints, a dog’s nose has a unique identifiable pattern. In fact, many dog clubs now keep nose prints on file.

If you’d like to learn how to print your dog’s nose, see this post. 🙂

 

 

Sir Francis Galton was the first person to classify fingerprints into different types based on the three basic features: loops, arches, and whorls. Learn more about points, types, and classifications HERE.

Fingerprints form before birth and remain unchanged until the body decomposes after death.

There are two exceptions to “remain unchanged”…

If, say, someone sliced the tip of their finger with a knife, it may leave behind a scar. But then, their fingerprint would be even more distinguishable because of that scar.

Along similar lines, severe burns can also damage the deep layers of skin and obliterate the ridge detail. However, much like the knife injury, the scars that form would become the injured party’s unique identifiers.

The other exception has to do with the elderly. As we age, we lose skin elasticity, which may affect ridge detail. The fingerprints become wider; the spaces between the ridges narrower. Even though the fingerprint still exists, fingerprint technology may find it more difficult to detect.

Can someone be born without fingerprints?

In a few rare cases, yes. One condition called adermatoglyphia — also known as “immigration delay disease” — can result in a child being born without fingerprints. In some cases, these infants have almost no other health issues. In other cases, this condition could cause skin abnormalities, including tiny white bumps on the face, blistering of the skin, and/or a lack of sweat glands. Adermatoglyphia has only been documented in four families worldwide.

Naegeli Syndrome is another rare condition that halts the production of fingerprints in utero. Said syndrome is characterized by reticular skin pigmentation (meaning, mottled, purplish, and lace-like splotches), diminished function of the sweat glands, and the absence of teeth. Individuals with Naegeli Syndrome have sweat gland abnormalities. Not only do they lack fingerprints but they also suffer from heat intolerance due to a decrease or total inability to sweat.

Do Twins Have the Same Fingerprints?

No. Twins do not have identical fingerprints. Our prints are as unique as snowflakes. Actually, we have a 1 in 64 billion chance of having the same fingerprints as someone else.

Sci-fi writers could potentially take advantage of these odds, but it’d be tricky to pull off.

Who’s most at risk for losing their fingerprints?

Patients undergoing chemotherapy — such as capecitabine (Xeloda), for example — are most at risk. With prolonged use of this medication, the finger-pad skin can become inflamed, swollen, and damaged to the point of erasing the ridge detail, according to DP Lyle, MD, author of Forensics for Dummies. Chemotherapy may also cause severe peeling of the palms and soles of the feet. The medical term for this condition is called Hand-Foot Syndrome.

Skin diseases like scleroderma, psoriasis, and eczema also have the potential to obliterate the ridge pattern.

Which professions cause the most damage to fingerprints?

Bricklayers and other heavy manual laborers can wear down their fingerprint ridges to the point where no pattern is visible. Secretaries and file clerks who handle paper all day can have a similar thing occur. Typists (Writers!) and piano players can suffer the same alterations. Hairstylists, dry cleaning workers, and those who work with lime (calcium oxide) are often exposed to chemicals that dissolve the upper layers of the skin, thereby flattening the ridge detail.

So, to answer our initial question, was TSA correct?

Yes! Pounding on the keyboard can wear away a writer’s fingerprints.

How might the lack of fingerprints cause problems?

Losing one’s prints can cause issues with crossing international borders and even logging on to certain computer systems.

Fortunately, fingerprint technology is always evolving and improving.

As more and more careers require hours of keyboard time, someday retinal scanners, facial recognition, and voice prints will replace the current technology.

Have you ever been told you have no digital fingerprints? Have you experienced any problems with fingerprint technology?

Happy Labor Day! Can you believe it’s September already? Where’d that summer go?

ARGGH! Words We Love to Hate

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By Elaine Viets

You know, some words and phrases are getting on my nerves. Most people would say it is what it is and at the end of the day, let it go. I know, right? But I’ve been doing some online research. There are certain sayings that tick people off. And readers are people, too. You don’t want to turn off your readers with annoying phrases. Just sayin’.
These outstandingly irritating phrases are garnered from various corners of the web.
Think carefully before you use them in your writing. You may want to save them for your most hateful characters.

Just sayin’. The winner! Nearly everyone hates this redundant phrase. I mean, you’ve already said what you were going to say, right?

Literally. I confess I’ve used this one and thought it was pretty clever – the first time. Then I noticed that word in every novel I picked up – literally.

It is what it is. This meaningless phrase is enough to send me screaming into the night. Please don’t use it.

At this moment in time. What’s wrong with “now”? Can this pretentious phrase.

Everything happens for a reason. Usually said after some meaningless tragedy, and meant as consolation. If you don’t have that comforting belief system, this phrase triggers an urge to slap that person silly. Also avoid this phrase: Whenever God closes a door, he opens a window. I had a roommate like that. Very annoying.

Honestly. Often a trigger word indicating the person using it is lying. Use it carefully.

My bad. A cutesy way of glossing over a mistake. This phrase says, “I know I did something offensive and I don’t care.”

I want 110 percent. Right, boss. Except your math doesn’t add up.

No worries. Some people find this phrase a little passive-aggressive. In other words, when someone says, “No worries,” they’re really telling you that you should be worried.

At the end of day. As in, “At the end of the day, getting a new CEO won’t make any difference. This company is doomed.” This crutch will cripple any sentence.

With all due respect. The warm-up to an insult. “With all due respect, even in your prime you weren’t that good.”

That’s my list, and it’s pretty good, in IMHO (oops, there’s another one.) Now’s your chance. What tired words and phrases would you like to see retired?

Now hear this! SEX AND DEATH ON THE BEACH, my new Florida Beach mystery, is now an audio book. https://tinyurl.com/9amkzaf4

Strawberries, Raspberries, and Book Marketing

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by Debbie Burke

July is the height of berry season in Montana.

With so much bounty ripening at the same time, it’s sometimes hard to remember how long it takes for plants to grow and mature to produce an abundance of succulent, sweet, juicy fruit.

You plant a bed of new strawberry starts and, for a couple of years, not much happens. The plants expend most of their energy sending out runners that turn into more plants. Runners go in all directions, sometimes sprawling beyond the raised bed, hanging  in midair. Those need to be coaxed back to root in the soil. Then about the third year, blossoms appear, followed by pea-size but deliciously sweet berries. By the end of summer, berries are larger, sometimes approaching golf-ball size and bursting with juice.

Raspberry canes are similar. For the first few years, they’re busy growing underground runners that pop through the dirt to become new canes. The new canes are often rebellious, refusing to stay in the designated area where you want them. Instead, they shoot up in the nearby lawn and get mowed down. About the third year, a few berries appear. Then the fourth year, suddenly you can’t keep up. You’re picking raspberries every day, eating handfuls, giving them away, and filling freezer bags to make jam later.

What does this have to do with books and marketing?

We writers may take years to write a book. For so long, nothing visible happens. Our words go out like runners that pop up in unexpected places.

Sometimes, like the rebellious volunteer raspberry canes in the lawn, they get mowed down, and we must start over. We have to coax them into the borders of the book, cultivate them, and wait. And cultivate and wait. And cultivate and wait.

Marketing is similar: send out runners, cultivate, and wait.

In Kay’s terrific post yesterday, she mentions endurance.

Writing is a long game. Those who lack the endurance and who give up will never taste the fruits of their labors.

My new book launched this past weekend. The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate took about two years from conception to publication.

During that time, along with writing the book, I was sending out runners to gauge market interest among various groups like the Authors Guild, International Thriller Writers, Kill Zone followers, my mailing list, etc.

Through more than three decades, I’ve made writing friends via conferences, classes, and online connections. I’ve taught workshops in person and on Zoom, developing more contacts and editing clients. I’ve written guest posts for other blogs.

Some of the runners I sent out hung in midair and never took root. Others bore incredible fruit.

Back in January, I gave a talk to the Authors of the Flathead that was an overview of The Villain’s Journey. That resulted in an invitation to present a day-long workshop (for a nice fee!) at their upcoming conference in October. Another invitation to teach came from the Montana Writers Rodeo conference for 2026.

TKZ’s community came through in a big way. Jim Bell offered me early encouragement about The Villain’s Journey concept and has given me a wonderful endorsement (shown in Amazon’s Editorial Reviews). 

Steve Hooley and Dale Smith kept nudging me in the nicest way possible. Kay DiBianca asked me to guest post on her blog. Sue Coletta provided a chapter on serial killers. Jim and John Gilstrap added words of wisdom that are included in VJ.

TKZ followers reached out to me, supported the book idea, and a number of them became beta readers.

I’ve never met any of these people face to face, yet I consider them good friends.

One author I did meet in person is Christopher Vogler at a Florida writing conference. Chris’s classic bestselling book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers maps the Hero’s Journey and gave me the framework and foundation. My book is the flip side, focused on the villain. We had a memorable conversation, and I sent him an ARC (advanced reading copy). A few weeks later, he sent me his blurb for The Villain’s Journey (shown in Amazon’s Editorial Reviews).

I almost fell off my chair.

Several years ago, I zoomed with the Arizona Mystery Writers about self-editing. They learned about VJ, reached out, and invited me back to talk about the book. Preorders came from them, as well as an invitation to speak to the Tucson Sisters in Crime chapter.

Two years ago, I spoke at Montana Writers Rodeo in Helena and picked up several editing clients. Yesterday an email arrived from a woman whose first page I’d critiqued there. She’d read the VJ ARC on BookSirens and explained the problems she’d had writing her first mystery. She wrote, “Thank you for writing this book. It was serendipity that I learned about it and got a chance to read it. It has given me a new spark to rewrite my mystery. I now have a clearer understanding of what I’ve been missing in my story.”

Gave me chills.

On Amazon, The Villain’s Journey is flagged as “#1 New Release” in Literary Criticism Reference. Not a blockbuster category but still gratifying to see.

I’m far from the world’s best marketer and can’t afford a pro to do it for me. No social media, infrequent newsletters, few ads. I don’t follow many of the conventional routes recommended by successful authors. If I did, there’s no question I’d sell more books.

The detours I’ve taken into teaching and freelance editing are personally rewarding. They also earn more than my books, even with nine published thrillers.

Like strawberries starts and raspberry canes, we writers plant our words. They take a long time to root and become established.  We send out more runners, keep cultivating, and wait, and send out runners, keep cultivating, and wait.

Today I’m celebrating a bountiful harvest and it’s deliciously sweet.

~~~

The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate is for sale at

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Apple

Kobo

The paperback goes on sale in a few weeks.

The Backwards Law for Writers

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I stumbled across the subject of The Backwards Law by accident—a happy accident that led me to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Excellent book that I devoured in two sittings.

The Backwards Law proposes the more we pursue something, the less satisfied we become. For writers, the constant pursuit of “more” causes us to feel horrible about where we are and what we’ve achieved. The harder we try, the less likely we are to succeed.

On the surface, it seems like the opposite of perseverance, doesn’t it? But it’s not. The Backwards Law goes much deeper than that.

Think of it this way:

  • Trying too hard to be creative or write something brilliant often leads to writer’s block, self-doubt, and a feeling of being disconnected from the work.
  • Only focusing on the end result—recognition, success, publication—causes unnecessary anxiety and pressure.
  • The fear of making mistakes or writing poorly will paralyze a writer and often will lead to abandoning the WIP.

“Wanting a positive experience is a negative experience; accepting a negative experience is a positive experience.” Mark Manson – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.

Alan Watts, the philosopher who coined the phrase, describes The Backwards Law as being in a lake. If you relax and put your head back, you’ll float. But the more you struggle and flail to try to stay afloat, the more you will sink.

Often our search for “more” has the opposite effect. It shines a spotlight on what we lack.

Life Examples

  • The more we cling to a loved one, the more they will feel suffocated and in need of space.
  • The more we obsess about accumulating money, the more poor and unworthy we will feel.
  • The more we pursue trying to feel happier all the time, the more we will reinforce this idea that we are fundamentally lacking and irreparable.

Do you even know what you want?

Sure, selling millions of copies of your book sounds great, but is that why you wrote it? Or maybe, you can’t define what you’re chasing. You just want more.

“Two reasons that you don’t really know what you want. Number one: you have it. Number two: you don’t know yourself, because you never can. The Godhead is never an object of its own knowledge, just as a knife doesn’t cut itself, fire doesn’t burn itself, light doesn’t illuminate itself.” ~ Alan Watts

In The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson tells the story of a talented young guitarist who was kicked out of his band in 1983, after they had just been signed by a record label. No warning. No reason given. No discussion. They woke him up and handed him a bus ticket.

After much self-pity on the ride home to LA, the guitarist vowed to start a new group that would be so successful, his old band would seethe with jealously. And so, with only that thought in mind, he worked tirelessly to find the best musicians. He wrote dozens of songs. Practiced day and night. Revenge became his muse.

Within two years, a record label signed his new band. One year later, their first record went gold. The guitarist’s name? Dave Mustaine, lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Megadeath, which went on to sell over 25 million albums and tour the world many times. Mustaine is considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of heavy metal music.

Sounds like the story has a happy ending, right?

Not quite.

The band who kicked him out was Metallica, which has sold over 180 million albums worldwide and is considered by many to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

Because of Metallica’s fame, Mustaine considered himself a failure. Despite all he’d accomplished, in his mind, he would always be the guy who got kicked out of Metallica and nothing more. Whether he realized it or not, Mustaine used Metallica’s success and popularity as his life-defining measuring stick. Even after all of Megadeath’s success, he could never be happy, because he based his self-worth and music career on something he had no control over.

This story perfectly illustrates The Backwards Law in action.

Accept imperfection and you’ll feel perfect. Accept loneliness and you’ll feel content alone. Accepting a negative experience is a positive experience. But fighting a negative experience means you’ll suffer twice.

  • When we stop trying to be happy, we’ll be happy because there’s nothing we need beyond what is.
  • When we stop trying to be rich or massively successful, we’ll live in abundance because we’re content with what we have and anything on top of that is a bonus.

Thus, the only way to have what we want is not to want it. And that’s what The Backwards Law teaches us.

Being aware of the workings of The Backwards Law doesn’t mean that we should never set goals, never have ambitions, or never chase our dreams. Rather, The Backwards Law teaches us not to be fooled by the idea that the pursuit of happiness (whatever that looks like to you) leads to happiness. When in fact, the opposite is true. And with that knowledge, we’re able to enter the blissful state of enjoying the journey.

“The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.” ~ Alan Watts

How do we get what we want without trying?

Depends on what we want. If we strive to write the best damn book we can, the following tips should help.

Mindful Writing: Practice mindfulness while writing. It’ll help you become more aware of your thoughts and feelings without judgment, allowing you to be more present in the moment.

Step Away: It’s okay to step away from the WIP to clear your head. Go for a walk. Take a shower. Read a book. Exercise. I do this all the time when I’m working out a plot issue. Nine times out of ten, the answer reveals itself as soon as I stop thinking about it.

Accept Imperfection: Give yourself permission to make mistakes in early drafts. It’ll allow you to experiment and explore different ideas without fear.

Stay Present: Enjoy the journey of bringing your idea to life. Have fun with your characters. Revel in that perfect sentence or paragraph you wrote yesterday, then continue on.

The Backwards Law for writers is about shifting from a place of striving and pressure to a place of flow and acceptance. 

By letting go of the need to control the outcome and embrace the process, we’ll unlock creativity and produce more authentic and fulfilling work.

Have you heard of The Backwards Law? It’s as true for writing as it is for life.

Moving and Writing

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Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. —Albert Einstein

* * *

I’ve mentioned over the past few weeks that my husband and I have moved to a new home. It’s been a long, hard effort, but now we’re in the new place and trying to regain some sense of normalcy.

One thing getting back to normal means is writing a post for TKZ. So now, I sit at my desk, surrounded by towers of boxes and ponder what I should write about while the aroma of fresh cardboard and packing tape wafts through the house. Since I do so love analogies about writing, there’s my subject: How are moving and writing related.

The Big Adventure

Moving starts as an adventure. Maybe it’s a new job or a better living situation or some other reason to change addresses. There’s a lot of anticipation mixed with a little anxiety. Lists are made, forms are ordered, lots of organization is put in place. Whatever the reason, the excitement builds as moving day nears.

Same with a new novel. A great idea suddenly crystallizes and you realize you have a theme for a new book. The best yet. You begin to draft out character sketches and a general plot line. You set up Scrivener for the new work and put together a project plan with a schedule. You stand at the mountaintop looking over the landscape and imagine the journey ahead.

The Trek Goes On … and On

If you’re lucky, you’ll hire a moving company to pack and move everything. But what’s the adventure in that? To keep the analogy with writing, you’ll have to do your own packing. You go through the house and decide what can be given away, sold, or stored. You order packing materials and spend weeks knee deep in boxes, bubble wrap, and permanent markers. But it’s taking longer than you thought, and the whole task of packing boxes has become hard work. You have to decide what to keep and what to let go. At some point, you ask yourself “Whose idea was this, anyway?”

Writing is a little less physically demanding. Day after day, you pack Scrivener with new scenes, and your creativity is firing on all cylinders. Finally, you’re deep into the story. Then you hit a wall, and you back up to look at what you’ve accomplished so far. It’s just a mess, and you have to decide what to throw away. You can keep everything, but then your new story will be a jumble of scenes rather than a carefully crafted book, so a serious pruning job is in order.

Persistence Pays Off

That’s when it hits you. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. But you’ve already invested heavily in the story or the move, so you keep going forward. Not quite as excited, but shoulder to the wheel. The message in your head is no longer “Woo-hoo,” but more like “Put one foot in front of the other.”

It seems like ages before those boxes are all packed or the chapters are written. The movers come and transfer all the furniture to the new place. You have a fully finished first draft. It still doesn’t look so pretty, but at least you’re beginning to see the story behind the jumble.

Revision

So now you move into unpacking mode, putting things where they belong, discarding boxes, and cleaning up. In a novel, this would be the final draft. Rearranging the chapters and rewriting.

The work is long and sometimes boring. But occasionally you’ll stumble onto some little artifact that makes you realize how nice the finished product will be. It takes forever to unpack, fit things into their new environment, and get the household in order.

Slowly, day by day, the pieces begin to fit together to form a cohesive whole. The house is set, the novel is written, and the job is done.

The End … for now

It’s time to sip champagne, take a short rest, and then get to work on marketing.

* * *

So TKZers: How do you deal with the confusion that surrounds moving or writing? Do you keep plugging away knowing everything will come out well? How do you celebrate when the big move or book release is over?

* * *

 

Spunky 10-year-old Reen and her shy, 9-year-old cousin Joanie never stop moving while they hunt for a treasure left by the mysterious Mr. Shadow. Along the way, they learn the value of persistence, teamwork, and fair play.

Click the image to go to the Amazon book page.