Appreciating the Season

I read and review books about crime and murder on a regular basis, but I don't recall ever being directly affected by violence.  (I'm knocking on wood, right now.)  And one of the differences between crime fiction and real life is that most of the fiction has a happy ending. 

Christmas is generally a cheerful time of year, but the incident in Connecticut just ten days ago adds some poignancy to the atmosphere.  It was deeply troubling, and as a result many of us are making a point of appreciating our loved ones more than usual.

I read one statement that really struck me, and I'm sorry I don't remember who wrote it.
The writer expressed regret that what's remembered after incidents like this is the name of the perpetrator, and not the victims'.

That this is undoubtedly true made me very, very sad, so I'm going to  pay my respects to everyone who suffered due to the violence in Newtown by listing the names of the twenty children and six seven women whose lives were ended so abruptly.

- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female
- Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female
- Nancy Lanza, 52, female


(And many thanks to NBC and THE VOICE for providing the perfect video to accompany this post.)

Cover Design Calypso--Part I

By:  Kimberly Hitchens is the founder and owner of Booknook.biz, an ebook production company that has produced books for over 750 authors and imprints.

T'was the Night Before Christmas....this week, co-blogger Marlyn Beebe is taking my usual Tuesday spot, as she wants to say something more "Christmas-y," and me, being the Scrooge that I am, (pre-ghosts), intend to rerun a post from my own website (www.Booknook.biz), dealing with cover design.  I'll be back in two weeks on my regular Tuesday!  In the meantime, here is the original Cover Design Calypso, from April of 2011.  I've added some new bits at the end--and have a link to a little-known gem for those of you on a budget with regard to your cover design. 

Everything I ever needed to know about Book Cover Design, I learned in the frozen food aisle of the supermarket...

What makes a great book cover?

Is it color? Is it blurbs from famous authors? Is it just luck? I wish I knew.
Like pornography, I know a great book cover design when I see it, but I can't tell you why it is fantastic, particularly, other than WOW! What a great book cover . It's something that grabs me when I see it. Sadly, it's not like a Chinese menu...one from column A, one from column B, when it comes to cover design.

I do know, though, that I have learned a shocking lesson in this business. Being an avid reader, I of course always assumed that it was what was inside the covers that sold books. But I've learnt otherwise; great covers do sell books, even those with less-than-stellar stories inside of them. And in thinking about it, I realized that I already knew why these books were selling; it's something I learned years ago, when I was ill and had to cruise the aisles of the dreaded "TV Dinner" section of the supermarket. And here's the horrible truth:

People buy frozen dinners based not upon the actual content of the bag or box or TV-Dinner-Tray, but, rather, based upon which company has put the best picture on the cover of the box.

Let me say that again, in case you missed it: When you go to the supermarket frozen-food aisle, and get ready to try something you haven't had before, you will almost always buy the brand with the best-looking image of the food. The brand with the prettiest picture, in other words.

We humans are visual creatures. We're sight-hounds on two legs. This works on television; it works in movies; it works in advertising...and it works for book covers. So keep this in mind when you are preparing your next cover--think of crows, and bright, pretty things.

That was the end of the original post.  In the 20 months since I wrote it, there have been a ton of books through Booknook.biz, and that fact is truer now than ever before--if you have very little money to spend, if you must, forgo the formatting (DIY) and pay for a great cover designer.  I've also learned this lesson:  a great cover is not a busy cover.  There are, in fact, no "great" busy covers.  As I said in my sequel to this post--the first post I ever made here at Crime Fiction Collective, authors frequently err on the side of attempting to tell the entire story on the cover, and end up with a muddled mess. 

Your book cover is not an IMAX screen.  Your saga should not roll across the cover as if it is.  The best and most glorious covers have one single, strong graphic element. Your color selections should be powerful and vivid.  The cover doesn't even necessarily have to do anything with your actual story--it simply needs to evoke a strong emotion, and a desire to OPEN IT and see what's inside. 

But I'm on a Budget!

Many authors are scraping by, and can't afford the $150-$200 (average price) for a custom-designed cover.  What to do?  One of the little-known trade secrets are "pre-made covers."  Yes, I said "pre-made."  Unlike used cars, someone else didn't use this before you; what  a pre-made cover represents is a cover designer that was bored, and made some up on a weekend!  His boredom is your gain--you can buy the cover, have the text changed to match your title, and your author name, and VOILA!  For as little as $30, you have a professionally-designed cover that does not look like the dog's breakfast.  Now, of course, you need to peruse these pre-made covers carefully; some places that offer them are, well, let's say you'd do better with a crayon.  But one such place does exist, that I've Pinned on Pinterest and even Tweeted about, and that's Go On Write, at http://www.goonwrite.com.  If you're pinching those pennies--and every publisher should--cruise on over there and check 'em out!  Save some shekels!

###

And to all the kind people who drop by and read me, from time to time....Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!--Hitch

When Cops Are Crazy

by L.J. Sellers, author of provocative mysteries & thrillers

Two recent new stories stuck in my brain, and I filed them both away for potential novel ideas. But I know I'll never use them because when the truth is stranger than fiction, you can't use it as fiction. Readers just won't buy it. But it's still fascinating, so I'll share these freaky cases involving police officers.

This first one happened in my home state of Oregon. Female police sergeant Lynne Benton had a longtime partner, a beautician named Deborah Higbee Benton. After many years together, Lynne underwent a gender change and became Lynn Edward Benton. The gender change caused problems in their relationship, but once they could legally get married, they did. Within a year, Lynn had lost his/her job as a police officer and Debbie had been murdered.

The case is still pending, but charges had been filed and detectives believe that Lynn hired Susan Campbell to murder Debbie. Susan Campbell has pleaded guilty, and in addition, her son, Jason Jay Jaynes, has been charged with murder. Debbie, who was horribly beaten to death, didn't do down easy, so Susan allegedly called her son to finish the job. All three—the transgendered cop, the hit woman he hired, and her son—will likely be convicted of murder.

Speculation is that Debbie wanted out of the relationship after her partner switched from female to male, and Lynn decided to kill her instead. My personal speculation is that Lynn was taking way too many male hormones.

The other case is just as strange. Gilberto Valle, a 28-year-old officer with the New York Police Department, created a document called a blueprint for “Abducting and Cooking.” His estranged wife reported the oddities she'd seen on his computer, the FBI got a warrant to search, and they uncovered several plots to kidnap, rape, torture, cook, and eat women. Yes, you read that correctly.

“I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus,” Valle wrote to a co-conspirator in one email recovered by law enforcement. “Cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible.”

The investigators discovered files for more than 100 women on Valle's computer, with details such as the woman’s date of birth, height, weight, and bra size. Valle also made note of certain materials, such as chloroform and rope. Some of the women were his classmates from high school, and at least ten women confirmed that they knew Valle personally. A few had even dated him.

As yet, they have no evidence the officer acted on any of his plans... but I know I would feel better if they locked him away.

What real life crimes have you read about that are too strange for fiction?

PS: If you're a fan of my Detective Jackson novels, you can request an advanced review e-book copy of Rules of Crime at Net Galley.

The evil we devise and the good we desire

By Gayle Carline

"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating."

--Simone Weil

 

I actually discovered this quote on Facebook last week, from one of those pages like “I Heart Libraries” or “I’m Too Literate for You” or something. At first, I was intrigued by the notion, but not keen on the adjectives used for real evil. Monotonous, barren, or boring is not how I would consider evil. It’s more like, well, evil. Horrible, devastating and definitely not romantic.

 

Then Newtown, Connecticut made the news and I understood. Everyday evil is the same. No one steals the moon or covers the earth in melted cheese or points a laser beam at Los Angeles to demand One-BILLION-Dollars. They kill. They kill one person or twenty-six, but it is all death, just death. Monotonous in real life. Barren of ideas. Boring in its sameness as we try to take in the tragedy and fight the numbness that comes with sensory overload.

 

But when we write about evil, it must be romantic and devious in the most horribly delicious way. Our villains are fun to write. The character studies of their brutish actions and evil schemes are often more fascinating than our heroes. We feel the thrill of getting into their skin and learning what makes them tick.

 

By contrast, our heroes cannot be Goody-Goodies. (Jesus need not apply.) They must have a weakness, a fatal flaw. They must be damaged and must rise above their situation to vanquish the evil we have invented. Those early good guys — the ones in the white hats — are laughable these days. Clayton Moore and Armie Hammer may have both played the Lone Ranger, but only one of them would even try to walk on water.

 

In real life, we don’t want our heroes broken. We want Clayton Moore. In real life, we don’t want to know that the pilot who saved everyone’s life by landing the plane safely was too drunk to know his own name at the time. We want Mr. Rogers, who is eternally good and true. He will lead us safely home.

 

Of course, if we were writing this story, our damaged hero would have fought his demons long enough to thwart the madman before an elementary school was attacked. The children would live. All would be well. It’s one of our basic instincts in storytelling, from the campfire to the paperback, to vanquish evil, to chase away the darkness. We defeat the boogeyman and let in the light, because mankind must survive.

 

Unless we’re writing horror, which is what December 14th turned out to be.

 

I cannot rewrite this story to make it end correctly. I can only try to give words of peace and songs of healing, which is why I’m going to end on this song. Yes, Marvin Gaye was the original and the master. However, I love this guy’s voice and I love the fact that every time he opens his mouth, I am happily surprised. Be honest, he looks like he should be following the Grateful Dead around.

 

 

And we could all use a happy surprise right about now.

The Book v The Movie

by Jenny Hilborne
Author of mysteries and thrillers


After I've read a book and become vested in the characters, I'm often curious to see how they are portrayed in the movie, and how the story plays out on the screen. Do the characters look how I imagined them to look? Is the setting how I saw it in my mind? I hate it when the movie fails to do the book justice, and this is often the case. It's one of the reasons I rarely watch a movie first and then get the book. For me, some of the mystery and intrigue found in a book is lost on the big screen.

When I read The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which took me 2 attempts (the first 100 pages are a brutal slog) I loved it and wanted to watch the movie. I watched the Swedish version with English subtitles, and the movie jumps about, especially at the beginning. Without knowing the story first, I'd have been lost. The parts about Millennium magazine and the libel case against Mikael Blomkvist, which the books labors over painfully for the first 100 pages, are skimped on in the movie, yet without it, the story is hard to follow. The story has a huge cast, which I found complicating in the movie, but less so because I'd read the book first and knew who they were.

Anne Frank's diary is a gripping read and a heartbreaking film. Nothing is lost in either. However,  often there are key elements in a book that are dropped in a movie, or adapted for the audience enjoyment, and it spoils the experience. I'm so focused on the missing bits, I lose interest.

Occasionally, the movie/book works in reverse. I'm not into fantasy, but I once bought a box set of Lord Of The Rings for a gift, and then borrowed it out of curiosity. What a fantastic story. I know I'll never read the book, but I loved the movie. The visual effects were a large part of the enjoyment - they don't exist in the book, and I couldn't even begin to imagine them. The same with Jane Eyre. I enjoyed the film, and the romance (surprisingly), but I'll never read the book. This is one of the films where the movie omits part of the story found in the book (I'm told). In this case, it was okay - I can only take so much romance.

Sometimes, neither the book or the movie works. I might be one of a few people who haven't read Harry Potter. I can't get into it at all. I tried to watch one of the movies - no idea which one, but it involved broomsticks. I gave up after ten minutes. Hated it.

Then there's this nonsense of Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher. I loved Jack Reacher. Tom Cruise will spoil my image and my enjoyment of the books, so I won't bother with the movie.

We'd all love to see our own books on the big screen...wouldn't we? Or are the pictures in our heads better? What are your thoughts?

Does Social Media Sell Books?

Tom Schreck, author of Getting Dunn and The Vegas Knockout

Michael Alvear says it doesn't.

Making a Killing on Kindle describes how even with thousands and thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter and blogs, social media is a waste of time when it comes to selling ebooks on Amazon--especially fiction.

Citing studies by the Yale business school on click through and buy rates, he points out that, with a few exceptions, the numbers for even the most successful social marketers just don't hold up when it comes to efficiently and effectively selling our product.

Uh, yeah, I know.

So what have I been doing for the last seven years?

What have I been obsessing on, worrying about and trying to strategize?

I've made friends, probably honed important connections and practiced writing. Did I sell any books?

Yesterday Amazon featured my stand alone, Getting Dunn in a local.amazon.com voucher promo. On Sunday it was ranked 160,000. On Monday it was 1,100 and 13 in the Hard Boiled Mystery best seller list.

Sure, I posted on Facebook and Twitter but the real action came from Amazon.

Is social marketing fun? Do we do it to feel like we're doing something? Do we do it because everyone else does?

What do you think?

Goal Setting Without Fear

By Peg Brantley

One of my favorite sayings is "It doesn't matter where you start out. What matters is where you end up."

Are you ready to plan your route to the finish line? Do you know what that looks like for you?

And what happens if you fail?

That's the simple question. Here's the simple (though not always easy) answer. You start over. You pick up where you left off. You change the idea of failure to one of education. You understand you're that much further ahead.

But what about setting goals in the first place?

Before I throw out some strategies to think about, think about this first: carefully consider that the goals you are setting are what you want to accomplish, not what someone else thinks you should accomplish. Do not set your goals based on the expectations of others, or just because they sound good.

Man, it took me forever to figure that one out. (I'm such an approval seeker—or at least I used to be.) Sheeshkabobalino.

Most of us have heard about SMART goals. This is a great tool to keep in mind when you're sitting down to start clarifying what you want to achieve. Make each goal as Specific as possible. Details. Make them Measurable. Quantify what you're going for. Think carefully about whether or not each goal is truly Achievable. Are they Reasonable? And are they Timely?

Here's where I think people can get tripped up—your goals must be consistent with your values—without conflict. Not only must you look at where your heart is, you need to understand what makes it tick. For example, if your heart is set on getting that huge promotion, but you value time with your family, you need to make sure you can accomplish both. If not, which are you willing to sacrifice? Conflict will surely impact both goals, and your quality of life will suffer.

Another piece is to strive for balance in your life. Set goals for all six areas: Family, Spiritual, Social, Career, Physical, Educational. Don't pump up one area at the expense of another—and don't forget to check for conflict.

When you write your goals down (and that in itself is important) write them in the positive rather than the negative. Our subconscious minds focus on the written word. Make it good. Rather than saying, "At the end of the year, I don't want to still be writing my novel", say "At the end of the year, I will have a completed novel ready to be shopped." And of course, be detailed. Even to the point of recording how you will FEEL when that happens.

Take an assessment. Check your heart—your values. And take a chance on writing down some goals for 2013 (assuming we make it past the end of the world). If you fail, you're no further behind, and maybe even a little ahead. But if you succeed? Zowie.


(This post was originally published in Suspense Novelist, updated for the comment referring to the Mayan Calendar.)

Rewire

By Andrew E. Kaufman

I’ve been thinking about doing some rewiring lately. Not in my house, but in my brain: my writer’s brain. It seems to have gone a bit wonky.

Because I’ve realized that being a good writer isn’t just about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Plot arcs are crucial, but they don’t mean a damned thing if your own story is out-of-whack. Writing is about being in the right place emotionally, not just on paper, but in your head.

So in doing my rewiring, I’ve identified some short-circuit issues—places where I seem to be getting in my own way, where a fuse or two got tripped. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Comparing Myself to Other Authors 

I don’t do this as often as I once did (not really), but occasionally, I find myself slipping down that slope. It’s a bad one. Here's me reading a book. It goes something like this:

Me: (First chapter)“Damn, what an awesome passage.”

Me: (Fifth chapter) “Damn, the dude can write.”

Me: (Tenth chapter) “Oh, Damn….”

Me: (Midbook) “Oh Sh#*… I’ll never be this good,”

Me: (End of book) “Ohgoodlord. I seriously suck.”

Coveting thy author: bad move. It’s a prescription for failure. It’s a trap, a self-imposed esteem ambush. Even worse, it’s the fastest way to kill inspiration and creativity. I can’t compare myself to other writers because quite simply, I am not That Writer. 

Worrying About Numbers

I’ve decided to decide that numbers don’t matter—not in the overall scheme of things; or at least in the little one, that worrying about them doesn’t do a damned bit of good. Worry all you want, but whether you do or not, numbers are still going to happen. They’re a unit of measure, not a way of life. Sales rankings, book units, word count, my age, my checking account balance: all unhealthy obsessions. Life matters. Numbers don’t.

Forgetting Why I Write 

I still do this.

Sometimes (he said, grudgingly) .

I get so caught up in deadlines, book deals, sales, and everything else that writing isn’t about, that I forget why I do it in the first place. And then I remember the times when none of those things existed, when it was just  me and the written word, and the more I do, the more I realize, those were the best days of my life. It’s so easy to get caught up in the business of writing instead of the passion that drives it.

Not Trusting My Process

The moment I’m about to give up--when I’m chewing the ends off pencils, throwing things, and doing the primal scream--is always the exact moment before I make my biggest breakthrough, when the most amazing things happen. I’ve come to accept that this is part of my process. It’s how I roll. I can’t change it, so I’m going to learn to live with it and accept that I have to go There before I can get Here (even if it sort of sucks sometimes).
    

All Work and No Play:

That’s me.

I’m the first to admit it.  All do is write. I don’t mind that all I do is write, because I love being a writer—but still, it feels like all I ever do is write. And it feels unbalanced. And unhealthy. And it feels like I have no life outside of writing.  So my goal this year is to make time away from writing (After my deadline, of course--just in case Thomas & Mercer is reading this). To take Caleb to the beach more often and to simply enjoy. To live more.  Writing is my passion, but my passion can’t thrive in a vacuum; I have to feed it with living.

Fear of Failure

'Nuff said.

How about you? Got any bad wires that need fixing? Here’s the place to come clean.

Promise, I won’t tell ;)