Chatting with Thriller Authors Joe Moore and Lynn Sholes, Pt. II

Interview by Jodie Renner of the co-authors of The Blade and other thrillers.

See yesterday's Part I – The Challenges and Rewards of Co-Authoring a Novel.                                  

Part II – HONING YOUR CRAFT and INDIE PUBLISHING

JR: Learning to write compelling fiction of the caliber you two accomplish must take years of study and practice – as well as talent, of course! Do either of you ever go back and read your earliest writings?  What’s your reaction?

Lynn: Yuck. Yes. When I first decided to take writing seriously, I wrote a book called TALISMAN ROSE, mostly to see if I could sustain about 100,000 words. I wrote it on a typewriter, which convinced me to get a computer and printer. Well, I discovered that I could write my way through 100,000 words. But that manuscript rests in a box I never intend to show anyone, high in the closet. Every time I write a book, I learn something new. Sometimes I look back in horror and slap my forehead asking myself, Did you really do that?

JR: Did you have any mentors who helped you learn your craft?

Lynn: Hundreds.  Let me explain. One day my husband commented on how many books I have on shelves and suggested I get rid of some of them.  I asked him to follow me, and I led him out to the garage and asked him to look at all the stuff (probably called it junk) he had—all the drills and wrenches, saws, screwdrivers, etc. and politely suggested that he clear out some of that. He was mortified. “But those are my tools,” he said. I answered, “Exactly. That’s what my books are to me. My tools.” There are tons of times I have had a scene in my head but have had no personal experience related to what I wanted to write—like a fistfight, or a car chase, or holding someone I loved in my arms as they bled out and died.  That’s when I go to my shelves and see how other authors handled that kind of scene.  I study the passages for sentence structure, rhythm, word choice, punctuation—all things related to the craft the author used.  I read as many as I can find.  That builds my repertoire that I pick and choose from when I write that scene I had in my head.  Essentially, I have the cream of the crop writers as my mentors and they are available 24/7.

JR: Back to your most recent thriller, THE BLADE – as I was editing it, I could really visualize it as a box-office hit movie. As I mentioned in Part I, I really loved your characters Maxine Decker and Kenny Gates. And Reverend Applewhite was so creepy! If it was made into a movie, who would you choose to play Maxine, Kenny and Applewhite?

Joe: I see Naomi Watts as Maxine, Jude Law as Kenny, and Brian Cox as Applewhite.
Lynn: Maxine –Julianna Moore, Kenny – Hugh Jackman, Applewhite – Tommy Lee Jones or William H. Macy?

JR: You two have published a lot of novels! And they’re selling very well. Do you have any advice you’d give to writers trying to break into the industry?

Joe: There are no shortcuts. No silver bullets. No secret handshakes. Just write the best book you can and once you’re done, find an experienced freelance editor who specializes in your genre, like Jodie Renner, to go over it with a fine-toothed comb while you start planning the next one.

JR: Thanks, Joe! And I agree about the importance of finding an editor who specializes in your genre. A nonfiction editor or someone who doesn’t even read your genre for pleasure is not a good choice to help you fine-tune and polish your novel to captivate readers and garner great reviews.

JR: Joe, as you mentioned in your recent post on The Kill Zone blog, this is your first venture into indie publishing. Joe and Lynn, what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of going the indie route? Do you find that authors are doing more and more of the work that publishers used to do?

Joe: With the advent of indie publishing, writers have become a self-contained business and must handle most or all of the facets of sales and marketing. It takes away from writing time, but it’s also liberating and fulfilling. And with publishing The Blade ourselves, we enjoyed the direct contact and ongoing back-and-forth communication with you as our editor.

Lynn: I have found that more is expected from writers now than when my first book came out in 1991, especially in the marketing and promotion arenas. But the entire publishing industry has gone through tremendous change.

JR: And it’s continuing to change. I find more and more of my clients are choosing to publish their novels themselves, and are enjoying the control they have over the process – not to mention more frequent payments! Personally, I love that I can go in and update my e-books on Amazon-Kindle, and in 12 hours or less, the new version is up there for sale!

Thanks for dropping by Crime Fiction Collective, Lynn and Joe. Readers are in for a real treat with this fast-paced roller-coaster ride! Kudos to you both on collaborating together to create a stellar novel! I enjoyed playing a small part in the final editing.

And I can’t wait to see what you two come up with next…

Readers and writers - Do you have any questions for Lynn and Joe?
 

Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore are the international bestselling authors of THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY (#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller), THE LAST SECRET, THE HADES PROJECT, THE 731 LEGACY, THE PHOENIX APOSTLES (#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller), and their latest, THE BLADE. Their thrillers have been translated into 24 languages including Chinese, Russian and Greek. Visit them at: http://www.sholesmoore.com.

 

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor specializing in thrillers and other crime fiction, and she also writes craft-of-fiction articles and books. Jodie’s website: www.JodieRennerEditing.com. Jodie’s books: Writing a Killer Thriller and Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power.

 

Chatting with Thriller Authors Joe Moore and Lynn Sholes, Pt. I

Interview by Jodie Renner of the co-authors of The Blade and other thrillers    

Part I – The Challenges and Rewards of Co-Authoring a Novel    

A few months ago, I had the privilege of editing The Blade, an excellent thriller by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore. This was my first experience working with two authors simultaneously on one book, and I worried that it might be too complicated, but the collaboration went very smoothly! I can’t imagine co-authoring a book, so I was curious about how the process works for them. – Jodie Renner

JR: Welcome to Crime Fiction Collective, Lynn and Joe. Your new thriller, The Blade, has only been out on Amazon for two weeks and it has already garnered several glowing 5-star reviews. It promises to be a huge hit, and I feel honored to have worked with two such talented authors on the final tweaks and polishing of this riveting international thriller.

So how did you two end up co-writing, anyway?

Lynn: Joe and I belonged to the same writing critique group that met every week.  During the middle of each session we’d take a break and we’d all chat.  Sometimes we’d share ideas about other projects we’d like to do.  I had this idea about a book I wanted to write, but it wasn’t in my comfort range because of the genre.  Joe thought it was a great idea, and after a year or so, he finally threatened me that if I didn’t write the book, then he would.  We decided to give co-writing a whirl.

That produced THE GRAILCONSPIRACY, our first collaboration, which did very well. It was ForeWord Magazine’s book of the year and an international bestseller. So far, it’s been translated into 24 languages.

JR: Really? That’s impressive! Congratulations!

 

JR: What about the logistics of it all? How do two people write fiction together?

Lynn: I can only vouch for what Joe and I do. At first it was very difficult, not because we disagreed on anything, but rather because our styles and voices were so different. Joe wrote male action-adventure with a very bold voice. I wrote historical fiction with a more lyrical voice. So blending took a lot of work, but we stayed with it. As a matter of fact, friends are always guessing which line one of us wrote. They’re usually wrong, but we never tell. As far as the mechanical process, we do outlining and brainstorming so we know the story. Either of us could write it. Then whoever feels they have the best handle on a scene takes on the first draft of that scene. We send it back and forth for revisions. Using Dropbox makes it easier. We drop a file in the shared Dropbox folder and voilà! The other picks it up.

JR: Dropbox – hmmm… I’ll have to find out more about that…

 

JR: For The Blade, I love your main characters, Maxine Decker and Kenny Gates, and their story was fascinating! And multi-faceted! Not to mention whisking readers to all those interesting locations. Where do your ideas come from?

Joe: An idea that sparks a story can come from anywhere, anytime. Movies, newspapers, magazines, other books. What we look for is the seed that grabs our attention. Our first book written together came from an article in Discover Magazine about a cup found by an archeologist in Israel. He believed it was the Holy Grail and subsequently discovered that traces of blood residue were present. Could it have been the blood of Christ? What if someone used the DNA to clone Christ? The result was our first thriller written together, THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY. An article I stumbled across on the Internet about the Germans working on an atomic bomb at the end of WWII prompted our latest thriller, THE BLADE.

JR: Do you revise as you go along or when the novel is complete?

Joe: Because there are two of us and we exchange drafts of each chapter many times, the revision process is ongoing, with the final one after input from our editor. By the way, Jodie, we liked your process of editing in sections as we go along. That way we could change future sections before you got to them, based on suggestions on earlier sections.

 

JR: Some authors write long chapters and some write short ones.  You seem to favor short chapters.  Can you explain why you use that technique?

Joe: Most of our chapters average 1000 words. We do that to keep the reader turning the pages. If they see that the next chapter is only a couple of pages long, they will decide to read just one more. And then one more.

 

JR: Do you ever have writer’s block? If so, how do you handle it?

Lynn: Because Joe and I write together, I don’t think we’ve ever had writer’s block. Having a brainstorming partner tends to prevent that. Of course we have plot issues we have to work out, but not true writer’s block. One thing we have learned is that when you come to a stumbling block and don’t feel you are writing the best that you can, write through it and something will eventually pop up. That’s the beauty of knowing that there comes a time that is devoted to revision.

 

JR: It’s obvious from reading The Blade that you are both not only accomplished writers, but passionate about producing compelling, suspenseful fiction. What do you love most about writing?

Joe: Entering into the “zone” where you lose track of time and place as the words flow freely.

JR: The “zone” – ahh, that coveted place all authors wish for every day…  

Readers and writers - do you have any questions for Lynn and Joe about their process or novels?

Part II of this interview, Learning the Craft and Indie Publishing, appears here tomorrow, March 3. See y’all there!

Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore are the international bestselling authors of THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY (#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller), THE LAST SECRET, THE HADES PROJECT, THE 731 LEGACY, THE PHOENIX APOSTLES (#1 Amazon Kindle bestseller), and their latest, THE BLADE. Their thrillers have been translated into 24 languages including Chinese, Russian and Greek. Visit them at: http://www.sholesmoore.com.

 

Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor specializing in thrillers and other crime fiction,  and she also writes craft-of-fiction articles and books. Jodie’s website: www.JodieRennerEditing.com. Jodie’s books: Writing a Killer Thriller and Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power.