Left Coast Leftovers

By Gayle Carline
Mystery Author and Exhausted Gal

Where's Marlyn?

I went to Left Coast Crime last weekend and boy was it fun. It's always great to see my CFC buddies. I live in Orange County (California) which, BTW, is the only place in the universe where you identify yourself as being from a county and not a city. Peg lives in Colorado and LJ lives up in Oregon, so these conventions are practically our only face time, but Marlyn and I can't understand why we live 15-20 minutes from one another and still can't seem to get together, not even for lunch. (Drew would like me to be his personal assistant, but he lives near San Diego. Too far for me to commute.)

Clowning with Drew

We did a fun panel together, where we told lies and truths and had the audience guess which was which. I was prepared to tell nothing but lies. I'm a bit of an imp in that way. But after everyone ahead of me told a lie, I broke down and told the truth, only because I thought everyone was expecting me to lie.

Some of the fun for the weekend included:

Quite a few panels on alternative paths to publication. It was fascinating to see this conference catching up to what writer's conferences have been discussing.

I met August McLaughlin. (Warning: her site has a few NSFW references.) I'm a huge fan, and she was all, "Oh, I'm so happy to meet you! I feel like I've been stalking you!" And here I thought it was the other way 'round.

Tee Burrell and her legal cohorts had a fun mock-trial, each of them portraying their protagonists. It was a very creative panel.

In addition to our CFC's "Lying for a Living," I was on a panel called "Closer to Death: The Older Sleuth." It was a depressing title, but ended up with a huge audience and I met some of the most delightful authors. You can bet I'll be checking their books out!

Beginning with me on the right, there's Cathy Ace, Sandra Brannan, and the inimitable Rita Lakin (standing).

One of the things that made it fun was that my hubby Dale came along. I like having him along because he's not one of those needy spouses who tugs at your sleeve and asks you when you're going to be done because he's bored. He's an independent guy who goes off and finds something to do. For this trip, he had the NCAA tournaments to keep him occupied. And a walk to the bay, from time to time.

I snuck off one morning with him to have breakfast at LouLou's, and had dinner with him every evening. On Friday, we had a fabulous dinner at Domenico's with Peg and her hubby George, and our writer-friend Tim Hallinan, who may be the nicest man on the planet.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a banquet ticket for Dale, so Saturday night we scampered off for drinks at the local bar, then dinner at the Crown and Anchor British Pub. Fish and chips and Newcastle Brown.

Belgian Red, served at Peter's BrewPub. Yum.

How was your weekend? What are you doing this weekend? You can find me at the Ladies of Intrigue event in Huntington Beach. Because the fun never stops when you're a mystery writer.

Editing Nirvana

by Peg Brantley
Evocative Characters. Intriguing Crime. Compelling Stories.




I received my edits back from my editor, Peggy Hageman, Tuesday morning. (Peggy edited the Edgar nominated The Queen of Patpong by Timothy Hallinan. By way of clarification, we've both agreed that I'm not Tim, but that's another topic.) Receiving her edits was the good news. The bad news?

A two hour dental appointment followed by a three hour root canal with an endodontist who happened to have an opening that afternoon. Where is delayed medical attention when you want it?

My post on Facebook indicated that I'd rather be going through my edits. One commenter said:

Somehow the comparison of edits to dental work (i.e., pulling teeth) is rather appropriate.

She was kidding of course, but it made me want to talk about how much I love this part of the process.

Actually, there's not a bit of this writing schtick I hate, including marketing (although marketing is at the very bottom of my Love List). Each piece has elements of excitement and challenge. and each phase demands my attention, and sometimes blind faith.

This professional edit part is where a kind-of-okay story gets bigger and better. Where the flat places are fluffed up and the holes are fixed and the unsatisfactory bits are either made brilliant or they're cut. The incredible skill of one editor is going to bring my sweaty effort, currently wearing dirty and tattered workout clothes, to something ready to walk out on the dance floor wearing the sexiest gown on the planet.

My first book, Red Tide, was edited by Harvey Stanbrough. He was the perfect editor for that book. My second book, The Missings, was edited by blogmate Jodie Renner. She was the perfect editor for that book. I've been blessed to be able to find the right editor at the right time.

Readers, do you know how important an editor is?

Writers, do you love this part as much as I love it?

I swear I can hear the orchestra tuning up...

Paying it Forward With Crime

by Peg Brantley, author of RED TIDE

I'm very proud to belong to a community of writers who are involved and engaged. We care.

I want to take just a moment of your day to begin to outline to what extent.

Colorado has recently suffered some terrifying losses due to fire—horror beyond anything we've ever experienced. Particularly devastating, in terms of proximity to populated areas and the resulting loss, was the Waldo Canyon Fire near Colorado Springs. Terry Odell was the first (that I know of) who came up with the idea of contributing a portion of her royalties over a given period of time to help the victims of that fire. Terry offered to contribute 5% of her royalties over a period of time to the Red Cross. I followed suit. At the end of the period of time, I elected to donate mine to the Pikes Peak United Way, and in the end I opted for 100% of my royalties.

I'm blessed to be part of an anthology put out through the Indie Chicks where a portion of the proceeds (right now it's FREE) goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you're interested, our travel anthology is very aptly titled: Ms. Adventures in Travel.

Tim Hallinan released another anthology, Bangkok Noir, the proceeds from which went to benefit others. Tim also contributes a portion from his Poke Rafferty series (in my opinion one of the best ones out there) to a charity he has researched well and believes in. 

My own tribe here on Crime Fiction Collective joined forces to help a family in Joplin, Missouri after the devastating tornado that leveled that town. That was the first time I was exposed to the idea that as an indie author, I could make some business decisions that were inspired by altruism.

As readers, does it make a difference to you to know that the author you support extends that support to others? Does the concept ever induce you to purchase a book you may not have otherwise?

Who are some other writers you know of who have paid their royalties forward? I know there's more.

A Writer's Best Friend

By Peg Brantley, writer at work, stumbling toward publication

Every time I open the cover of a book (literally or figuratively), I'm filled with anticipation. It's a brand new journey, sometimes with old friends in a familiar setting, and sometimes with brand new characters in a place I've yet to discover. Usually, I'm not disappointed.

I used to give all of the credit for great reads to the writers. That was before I began to write.

About a year ago, I downloaded a free book written by a man who has co-written with other novelists in the past, and I figured on another good read. The plot intrigued me, but the way the story was put together? Not so much. Because this book was published by a big New York publisher, I assume an editor was involved. Well, "involved" might be too strong of a word. The story was a mess.

A few weeks ago, I downloaded another free book written by a woman whose work I've read in the past and enjoyed. I've met the author. She's smart, approachable, and completely prolific. Published by a different big New York publisher, I know she's experienced the edit process. I think, for this one, she decided she was smart enough not to have to pay for an editor. She was wrong. It was a DNF. (Did Not Finish.) An interesting story, but not one I cared enough for to put up with the junk I had to wade through to get to the story. Know what I mean? I guess maybe she isn't as smart as I thought she was. Either that, or she should ask for her money back.

Both of these books are currently available, but no longer free—$7.99 and $4.99 respectively in the Kindle Store. At least one of them sports an entirely different cover than the version I'd downloaded earlier. Maybe they've been edited. Maybe not.

I don't disparage "free" at all. That's how I discovered Joe Finder (Paranoia) and Tim Hallinan (A Nail Through the Heart). Both of these authors have lived up to the anticipation I have for a new book time and time again. I'm quite certain they each have a wonderful editor. An editor who truly cares and takes the time to work with them to turn their pretty good stories into much, much better stories.

The next time you read a book and love it, consider that there is probably one terrific editor in the background who helped nudge the writer to a better story.

Twenty Short Stories: $3.99. Feeling Good: Priceless

From time to time, my world gets extra shiny things. When I find an author who makes me want to read everything he or she has ever written—it's a shiny thing. When I discover an author (who, in this case, I want to be when I grow up) who writes about tough things in a humanitarian and compassionate way, and also walks the walk . . . well, he's not only the pot of shiny things at the end of the rainbow, but the rainbow itself.

I'm very proud to turn my posting day over to my friend, Tim Hallinan. He has something important to share.

~Peg Brantley, Writer at Work, Stumbling Toward Publication

Timothy Hallinan is the Edgar-nominated author of the Poke Rafferty Bangkok Thrillers, which Publisher's Weekly called, "razor-sharp, convincing, and heartbreaking." He is also the author of the highly-praised Simeon Grist mysteries and the e-book original "thrillers with a laugh track" featuring L.A. burglar (and private eye) Junior Bender. Junior's debut, Crashed, is available on Amazon now. Hallinan's story, Hansum Man" was recently anthologized in Bangkok Noir, a collection of sotries about The Big Mango by twelve well-known writers. He lives in Santa Monica, Bangkok, and Phnom Penh. He's online at www.timothyhallinan.com.

I've never edited anything in my life.

I've always figured that the editing gene and the writing gene are two completely different things.

And now that I'm officially the editor of the Kindle e-book SHAKEN; STORIES FOR JAPAN—a collection of 20 original short stories by 20 more-than-original mystery writers—I've still never edited anything in my life.

Before I explain that, let me say that the twenty writers who contributed to the collection, the writer who designed the cover, the poet who let us use her internationally-praised translation of haiku, the e-book producer who converted the whole thing into a beautiful e-book and put it online—well, they all got paid exactly the same amount.

Nothing. Zero.

SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN is, I think, the first e-book ever conceived solely as a fund-raiser. One hundred percent of all royalties go directly to the 2011 Japan Relief Fund administered by Japan America Society of Southern California, which has already raised more than $1 million in disaster relief. And they've pledged that every single penny that comes in will go straight to the areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, many of which are also still under threat of nuclear contamination.

So for $3.99, you get twenty great short stories, 21 haiku, and a chance to help people who really need it. SHAKEN: STORIES FOR JAPAN is available now through Amazon. It's never been easier to contribute.

So why haven't I really edited anything?

Because the stories don't need it. The writers are first-rate, and they were all working on tiptoe for this project. In alphabetical order, they are Brett Battles, Cara Black, Vicki Doudera, Dianne Emley, Dale Furutani, Stefan Hammond, Rosemary Harris, Naomi Hirahara, Wendy Hornsby, Ken Kuhlken, Debbi Mack, Adrian McKinty, I.J. Parker, Gary Phillips, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Jeffrey Siger, Kelli Stanley, C.J. West, Jeri Westerson, and me, and I didn't have a single important question about anything any of them wrote.

In fact, they were all so good that I went back and rewrote my own story.

Kelli Stanley's “Coolie,” set in the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake, opens like this: “Alfred woke up coughing, the black, oil-charged smoke searing his throat, smell of burning velvet curtains in Barbary Coast whorehouses, fruit stands and bowler hats, Palace Hotel and the Old Poodle Dog kitchen.”

Wendy Hornsby's “The Emperor's Truck” brings a young Japanese-American woman home to San Pedro for the first time after years spent penned up in World War II relocation camps: “Everything seemed familiar, and not. Tricks of memory, Eunice Toyama thought. How many times during the last four years had she imagined coming home to San Pedro and finding everything exactly the same as she pictured it in her mind's eye?”

And Cara Black's “Mosquito Incense” gives us another homecoming, across the sea, in the present time: “No more, he promised himself, as the bullet train edged into Tokyo Station. The last time had been the last time. He dumped Eddie's letter into the porcelain toilet hole, flushed it down the white tiles, as loudspeakers blared in Japanese.

He left the station, slipped into Tokyo as easily as a rubber glove. “

I mean, what's to edit?

The big problem, sequencing the stories was solved by haiku. Adrian McKinty's nonfiction opener is an elegiac remembrance of how he followed the 17th-century poet Basho up to the Sendai area, now almost completely destroyed. I thought that haiku would be a good way to bridge the stories and also to remind the reader of the rich Japanese cultural tradition. And I got permission—free, again—from Jane Reichhold, whose 2008 volume, Basho: The Complete Haiku, has set a new standard.

Two more gifts—Gar Anthony Haywood, one of my favorite writers in the world, surprised us all by designing what I think is a brilliant cover. And Kimberly Hitchens of booknook.biz donated her services to assemble, convert, and beautify the final product.

And now you get to give—to the effort to help battered communities and broken families – by buying the book. I hope you do.

Peg, here. For a current update from the International Atomic Energy Agency, click here.