Book trailers for Dead Light District - VOTE!

Here you go... Two to choose from.  Which do you prefer?  Vote in the box on the right, above.

OR



Please let me know what you think - feedback helps!  Thanks!

New cover for Dead Light District!

Wheee!  I finally got the new cover today for Dead Light District!  So excited to finally have it!  Tell me what you think...  My friend Jennifer Stellings came up with it.  I gave her some key words re: the novel, a synopsis, plus a few tag lines.  This is what she created and I love it!  It matches what's between the covers which is most important!  Love the style, the colours, etc.  Bingo!

Almost ...

Well, Lisa Daisy Hamid and Greg Ioannou (of Colborne Communications) have done the last round of editing on Dead Light District.


Rick Blechta of Castlefield Media is currently doing the book layout and design.


Jennifer Stellings has created the illustration for the front cover.


Unless there is a major SNAFU in the next couple of days, Dead Light District will be going to the printers on February 1st. 


I will be so damn glad to finally get this book out!  The tidbit of trivia that people do not know about Dead Light District is that I actually finished writing the manuscript on May 2nd, 2009.  Yes, 2009.  So, you can imagine how happy I'll be when the real thing is in my hands.  Countdown begins, and I'm happier than a kid on Christmas Eve.

Update Re: Dead Light District

I am anxiously awaiting the unveiling of a new cover for Dead Light District!  I gave the designer lots of info and ideas about what I want and don't want.  I've seen this guy's work, and I like what he's done for other books.   Cover design is a tricky one... I am not an artist, so visualizing what the cover should be like is tough.  I can come up with lots of key words and ideas and themes, but as to what exactly the image should be, I have NO idea.  Anyhow, I can't wait to see it in about a week or so.


As for other details re: the release of Dead Light District... Well, it will be in about 6-8 weeks.  I'll have details soon regarding the launch party!  I'm looking forward to another blowout, just like I did with the release of Blood and Groom.  You know the launch party will be at The Pilot Tavern (again, on the second floor, of course...)


As far as what is being released:  Well, for now it's only the paperback version of the book.  However, I am looking into e-books (Kindle or similar).  Stay tuned!

Sanitizing Literature

I just read a news story (in the National Post) about a publisher in Alabama (NewSouth Books) that plans to reissue Huckleberry Finn. They will publish a scrubbed and polished version from which offensive language (i.e. the "N" word and other racial epithets) has been removed.


I do not like that word (or certain other words) but I don't agree with changes made, especially so long after the fact, and especially without the author's approval (obviously impossible to get in this case).


A book (or poem or play or ...) captures certain realities and reflects moment(s) in time.  Were "Huck Finn" written today, it would be a different book, with a different audience, and perhaps even a different message. 


I'd love to know what others think about making posthumous edits to a classic.


Here's a link to the article:  Huckleberry Finn News Story

Still getting reviews...

It's kind of neat to get a review so long after the publication date.  Thanks to "Google Alerts", I just came across this one, which was posted a couple of days ago.

Read Review Here

Interesting that the reviewer commented (positively) on grammar/spelling/punctuation.  More interesting is that - despite three rounds of proofreading/editing - not one but three typos slipped through the cracks.  Two of the typos were caught and corrected in the second print run, and the third will be corrected when it goes to another printing.

For the record, the errors are:

• one instance of FORM when it should be FROM
• one missing apostrophe (should say Mother's)
• one missing O from the word chocolate (it's the second O that was skipped)

Funny that no matter how sure you (and the publisher) are about going over the manuscript agaian and again, you just can't catch everything!

Mystery Influences

Readers often ask me who my favourite mystery authors and/or influences are.  It's actually a pretty short list.


Generally, when it comes to crime fiction, I like North American writers.  British detective novels, with a few exceptions, just aren't my cup of tea.


I love the Spenser novels by Robert B. Parker.  I wasn't much of a fan of his others series (Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall). 


I am also a big fan of Lawrence Block, both the Scudder novels and "The Burglar Who..." series.


My overall favourite writer, though, is Janet Evanovich and the "Stephanie Plum" series.  I laugh my head off when I read them, and find them impossible to put down!


Another favourite woman in crime fiction is Sue Grafton.  I've read up to the letter R, I think. 


And that's about it.  Those four are favourites; they grab me with their characters and their plots.  Books by these authors are ones that I keep on my shelf and re-read from time to time.


This doesn't mean I don't read other authors, nor does it mean that I lovelovelove every single thing about every single book by these four.  But, in the end, thses are the writers I'd like to emulate, and these are the books I go back to time and again.

Deadly Letters Guest Blogger

Robin Spano is the guest blogger today over at Deadly Letters. 

We all know that money talks, but does it read as well?

See what Robin has to say about eBooks and pricing. 

Link to Deadly Letters Blog

Guest Blogger: Robin Spano on Motives

I am pleased to have Robin Spano as a guest blogger today!  Robin is a cool chick, a good friend, and the proud author of the Clare Vengel mysteries.  The first book in the series, Dead Politician Society, was published in September by ECW; book two will be out in 2011.  Here's Robin...

Motive – it drives every mystery... 

It drives behind the scenes – a writer has to know it and a reader has to feel it as it pulls the plot along. But it has to be unspoken until the end. Because of this, the moment when the motive is revealed needs to have impact – it's what the reader has been waiting for the whole book. It has to be intense, dramatic, and just right.

So how does a writer create that impact?    

I think it's all in the theme. 

If a murderer is killing for money, the reveal will feel far more “right” if materialism, greed, or financial security have been explored in the book. If the motive is revenge, there could be discussion among the characters about loving someone so much you'd kill to avenge their death, or being so insanely angry that you wait for your moment to retaliate. If the killer is a cold-blooded psycho, the book could explore mental illness – at least in passing. And if they're killing for politics, you need some political debate.

Writing fast, fun fiction, the last thing I want to do is weigh the plot down with heavy discussions that stop the action. But I know this as a reader: When the final reveal includes a motive whose theme has been explored, the read feels more complete. I close the book feeling satisfied.


Writing Dead Politician Society, my goal was to write a book that I would want to read. I tried to give each suspect's motive ample air time. For every prime suspect – from the bitchy editor of the Star to the womanizing U of T professor – I considered the thoughts that might have passed through their heads if they were the killer. Not just so the reader might suspect them – although of course that was also the goal – but so the reader would understand why they might kill.


The real killer, naturally, has to have the biggest motive. At the revelatory moment, the reader should say Of course!, not No, I really think this other person's motive was way stronger.


I also think it's important for a reader to sympathize with the murderer's motive – even if they are a cold-blooded psycho. That's not to say we don't want them locked up and off the streets in most cases. But we have to see the world, however briefly, from behind the killer's eyes. Their motive needs to make sense to us – and we have to believe that, were circumstances different – maybe if we'd been born into the killer's situation – we, too, might contemplate murder.


My original plan for Dead Politician Society was to have the killer pick off politicians I hated – starting with the mayor of Toronto. But as I wrote, I got more into the characters and having fun with them, and the book became pure fiction – which is probably much better for its entertainment value. Still, if you're into Canadian politics and look closely at the victims, you might see some other people you recognize . . . though of course if I was pressed, I'd say any resemblance was coincidental.


Motive – it drives every mystery.

Book Awards and Jurors/Judges

There has been a big kerfuffle in the last few weeks over the winner for the Giller prize.  The Giller is one of Canada's biggies in the book world... the winner gets $50,000!


This year's winner is Johanna Skibsrud for her book The Sentamentalists.  More on the kerfuffle in a moment, but some background is necessary first...


There are many different book awards out there, for literature in general (Man Booker, Trillium, Governor General's, etc.) and several for specific genres (like the Nebula award for Sci-Fi, or the Edgar, the Dagger, or the Arthur Ellis for crime fiction).  In 2006 (or was it 2005?), I was a judge for the "Best Novel" category for the Arthur Ellis awards.


The instructions to the three judges (for some reason they (we) were actually called jurors, not judges, whatever...) were pretty simple and straightforward.  For our category, we were to choose the best book overall (from the ~50 books entered that year).  Criteria for best book included quality of writing, plot, dialogue, etc.  Everything to do with judging was related to the book itself, to what was between the pages.  We were not told to consider any external factors in choosing the shortlist (of five books) or in balancing nominees between male and female, or by region (east coast/west coast) or anything like this.


Johanna Skibsrud's publisher is a small Canadian publisher called Gaspereau Press.  They produce the books the old fashioned way, using a hand press or something, and apparently the books are beautifully bound hardcovers.  Quality takes time, and Gaspereau can only crank out a few hundred a week or so. 


Well, naturally, when Skibsrud won the Giller prize, demand for the book shot through the roof!  Everone wanted it, but no one could get it.  All sorts of comments and articles were written up in newspapers and other media about this unknown small publisher and this great new book that no one could read anytime soon.


I saw a few articles that claimed it was irresponsible of the judges to choose a book that was so limited in demand.  This is the real point of my post.  Although I understand the frustration of a hot new book getting this prestigious award and all the attendant publicity... and then not being able to go out and buy it, but still, it seemed ludicrous to me that judges should take heat for choosing a book from a small, independent publisher, and I certainly wouldn't have considered it irresponsible.  As well, I don't think judges should have to do research on who the publishers are of the books that have been entered in the Giller or other awards.  When I was judging the Arthus Ellis awards, I can't recall checking up on any of the publishers, even those publishers with whom I was not familiar.  That wasn't the point in choosing the best book. 


By the way, Gaspereau has since signed an agreement with a larger publisher to produce paperback copies of The Sentimentalists, and it's now readily available in stores.

PWELGAS and 7 Deadly Motives

All right, so you know from my last post that PWELGAS is an acronym for the Seven Deadly Sins (or Cardinal Sins).


When it comes to writing mysteries, there are only so many motives... there has to be a good reason for the victim to be killed, or readers will put the book down and not pick it up again.


Reasons for murder in mystery fiction can fall to some of the following:
-serial killer - psychological
-blackmail or some form of self-preservation or to prevent a secret from getting out
-revenge
-heat of the moment - crime of passion


It strikes me that most of the above - plus the other motives for murder that I have not mentioned here - fall under the Seven Deadly Sins list, or PWELGAS if you will.  Just a reminder, the Seven Deadly Sins are:


Pride
Wrath
Envy
Lust
Gluttony
Avarice
Sloth


I cannot imagine sloth being a motive for murder (but who knows?); however, the remaining six sins all strike me as good motives in one way or another.


My question to you is: do you have a favourite murder motive in crime fiction?  Does murder for one reason over another elicit sympathy for the villain, turn you off, is one motive harder to believe than others?


Let me know your thoughts on motives and the Seven Deadly Sins.

Riggerfrutch and Pwelgas

Years and years ago, I read a neat book called the Canadian Book of Lists.  They've printed several editions over the years, and I cannot recall which year had the entry I'm about to refer to.

The Book of Lists had all kinds of Canadian trivia and top ten this and that.  One that stuck with me was a list called "Ten Uniquely Canadian Words".  One of the words was "riggerfrutch" which - according to the list - was a Canadian swear word, derived from God knows where.  It doesn't seem to have caught on, damn it.

Another word on that list was "pwelgas," and this word is the real topic of this post.  According to the book, PWELGAS is an acronym that has become a word itself (much like "scuba" and "laser" are common words now, but originally came on the scene as acronyms).

PWELGAS is the acronym for the seven deadly sins:
Pride
Wrath
Envy
Lust
Gluttony
Avarice
Sloth

I have never heard of anyone using the word PWELGAS but it strikes me as a handy word for mystery writers.

More on PWELGAS in my next post...

True Crime

Hey all you crime writers out there!


Do you ever get inspired by real life?  Has a true crime story ever served as a background to one of your mysteries?  I ask this because of a recent story in the local press.  Canadian papers and news programs have had a lot of coverage lately of the Colonel Russell Williams story.  He has confessed to two murders, plus a number of other crimes, including several break-ins.


The story is tuly horrible and some of the newspaper articles this week made my stomach lurch.


I don't think I could ever make up something as vile as this case.  It would be disturbing to write about such heinous crimes.


On the other hand, I have read at least three mysteries in the last while that are clearly based (however loosely) on real stories in the local news.  In one case, the story was great and felt original.  The connection to the real story was loose, and overall it worked. 


In another case, though, the real story was horrible, and was so thinly disguised in this novel, that I had a hard time finishing the book.


What about you?  How do you feel when art imitates life?

Wondering about Weapons

When it comes to writing mysteries, do you have a preferred murder weapon?  Do you think readers are turned off by some weapons?  Certainly, some weapons require more research (guns & ballistics for instance), might this dissuade you or will you roll up your sleeves and start researching how to use this weapon convincingly in your book.  Certain weapons yield a bloodier or more gory scene of the crime, such as a stabbing  - would that make the writing more difficult to you?  Do you think some methods are more "female" than "male"? 

Bouchercon

I'd love to hear from people who attended Bouchercon 2010.  I've never been, but hope to go next year (or the year after or ...)


I don't have much experience with Mystery Conventions, but from what I hear, Bouchercon is the best of the best. 


If you've been as either an author or a fan, tell me what it was like, what you learned, who you met and what you enjoyed.

Editing

Here's another hypothetical question for writers:  How much leeway does your editor have with your book?  Does s/he discuss all changes with you?  Do you give your editor carte blanche?  I assume the process can be slightly different from one publishing house to another, but there are also norms and standards within the industry. 

I know that proofreading is a separate thing - catching typos and inserting missing punctuation is a separate thing, a separate skill set, so I'm not wondering about that side of things.

But when it comes to character development, setting, dialogue and so forth, what sorts of changes would you want to have a say in, versus what sorts of changes would you let slide?  Or, would you just let them do what they want and assume that "Father knows best"? 

Finally, how would you feel if - suppose - the editor made changes but didn't tell you or show you what they were (for example, you did not get a blacklined version or a "tracked changes" version)?  Imagine getting the manuscript back and finding out the word count was significantly different but you didn't know what those added or deleted words were.

In your experiences, what is usual and what is unusual? 

I'd love to learn what your experiences have been like.

Misleading Book Covers

Here's another hypothetical topic for discussion:

Suppose your publisher chose a book cover that was incorrect or didn't match the contents of the book.  Let's say, for example, the cover of a mystery novels depicts a bottle of poison (you know, with the skull and crossbones on the label), but the story does not include the use of poison, nor does it hint at poison, nor is poison included in the plot as a "red herring". 

As factually unsuitable as this hypothetical cover may be, the publisher wants to use it (maybe the marketing department said it was a good choice...?).

Should the author be allowed to veto the choice of the book cover or not?

Looking forward to your replies... Jill

Question for (aspiring) authors

What would you do or what would you think if your publisher consistently spelled your name incorrectly?  Let's assume it is spelled correctly on the book cover, but it is wrong in other places, for example on publicity materials. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...

Update

Hey Folks,

I've been away from the blogosphere for a while now.  Self-imposed exile :-)
I will soon get back to posting on a regular basis.

Cheers, Jill

Reviews and Spoilers...

As a first time author, I am thrilled to get reviewed at all (hey! they noticed me!), and I'm even more thrilled about the fact that the reviews have been good!!!  Blood and Groom has been reviewed ten times (that I know of) by various print media (including the Globe & Mail, Quill & Quire, London Free Press, Hamilton Spectator, etc.), and by various online magazines and blogs (Reviewing the Evidence, Bookgasm, etc.)


So what do I have to complain about?  Well...


One or two of the reviews (not on sources listed above) have kind of given away significant clues or spoilers.  Even though the reviews in these instances have been positive, I wonder if a potential reader may be turned off because they've learned too much about whodunit and won't have the sense of suspense one longs for in a mystery.


I have never written a review of a mystery novel.  As I think about it, yes, I imagine that it would be a challenge to write an informative review without giving away key plot points.


For those of you who have written mystery reviews, how do you balance writing an objective and interesting critique without saying too much?


For those of you who read book reviews, has a review ever turned you off by saying too much?

Recent Reads: Ladies Under Choke Rye

Ladies And Gentlemen The Bible! -  by Jonathan Goldstein
 My take on it:  Hilarious, though a tad tedious towards the end.  

 
 

  
Under The Volcano: A Novel - by Malcolm Lowry  
My take on it:  Hard work and heavy duty, but brilliantly written and evocative. 

 

 
 Choke - by Chuck Palahniuk   
My take on it: OMG - I loved it!  Fast & funny; I wolfed it down! 


 

  
Rabbit at Rest - by John Updike   
My take on it:  I love Harry Angstrom.  I've read the whole Rabbit series.   Loved all of them, old friends, neighbours, family.  I know these people.  

The Catcher in the Rye - by JD Salinger
This is a fantastic book and I really enjoyed re-reading it.   Worth another look if you only read it in high school.

Wirting and Confidents and Grammer

I may come off as slightly cranky with this post, but I must comment on something I have seen a lot of lately, especially in Cyber Land.

Poor grammar and spelling. 

Spelling poorly (at least in the writings I've noticed recently) is usually the result of lazily depending on spellcheck.  Spellcheck corrects the wrong word for you, so words like inconvenience become incontinence!  Other frequent occurences include confusion between:

• accept/except
• advise/advice
• effect/affect
• your/you're
• there/their/they're
• ... and so on...

The crimes against grammar usually include:

• run on sentences
• apostrophe plurals (argghhhh!!!)
• vague pronoun references
• misplaced modifiers
• verb conjugations (especially irregular past participals and perfect tenses)
• semi-colons and colons used incorrectly (argghhhh!!!)

Studying grammar is about as much fun as watching paint dry, but it's a must!

When I first started creative writing, I had been teaching grammar and composition for so long, I felt confident in my ability to at least write clearly and correctly.  In some ways, that was half the battle right there. 

I realize that online communications are often informal, and are often done on the fly.  Plus, I must confess I've had my share of typos and grammar goofs, but things are rarely perfect.

However, if you want to get published, and maybe someday quit your day job to be a full time writer, it's a good idea to develop good habits and use them 99% of the time. 

I think the point is that you must know what the rules are before you decide when and where to break them.

Be Your Own Best Customer!

I actually felt like kind of a dork for this... even though it's basically good...

The last week and a half has been exceptionally busy, with life, work and book events.  Three of the book events I had on the coming schedule (for Monday, Wednesday & Thursday nights), were non-retail venues, i.e. not at bookstores.  On Friday and Saturday before this, I was at the Bloody Words Convention, and on Sunday I did a signing at a Chapters store. 

On Saturday the book vendor at Bloody Words sold out of my book Blood and Groom.  I had a few copies at home, so I rushed back to get them, and Don Longmuir sold all my extra copies as well. 

The book sold out - good right?!?  Yes indeed.  Except...

I can order my own book from the publisher and get a discount, but it takes a few says to get them (even though the distributor's warehouse is here in Toronto, it's wayyyyy the hell on the outskirts of the city).  And just as a rule, I always like to have a few copies of my book on hand.

I realized on Sunday morning that - Oh Crap! - even if I ordered books first thing Monday morning, I wouldn't actually receive them in time for my events on Monday,  Wednesday, and Thursday evenings.

So, on Sunday, while I was doing the bookstore signing, I bought a bunch of copies of my own book!!!  I wonder what the bookstore staff thought of this ("Hey, she's buying her own book just to boost sales... what a loser!")

Books and Food and Clubs and Wine!

Last night I did a book 'gig' that was quite a bit different from the bookstores and libraries I've been doing over the last while.


I met  Margaret - an avid bookworm - when I was doing a store event several weeks ago.  She told me she's part of a book club, and asked if I'd be interested in being a guest some time.  Of course I said yes, and the 'some time' was last night.


What a fun evening,  and I'm so lucky to have been invited!


The soiree was potluck dinner at Margaret's home. The girls each brought a yummy a dish to share, plus there was plenty of vino... All the right ingredients for a great evening!


So, while sipping a glass of bold red wine, and eating enough delicious food to feed an army (homemade mac n' cheese, grilled asparagus, spinach and brie salad, mango crepes, etc.) , we had a great  talk about Blood and Groom, and about writing and publishing in general.


It felt so good to interact with people like this - so different from the brief encounters at retail outlets, or from the more formal and one-directional library gigs.  These women were wonderful!  They had all read the book, and had specific questions about it (which means they actually really did read it, and I certainly learned from them (male/female?!)).


It's also cool that this book club is in Toronto, which is where Blood and Groom is set.  So, I gave the girls the background gossip on the real places mentioned in the book (and on real places that I've thinly disguised).   Sasha's office really was my office long ago, and I know they all recognized the real "Chadwick's" and the real "Crystal Cove Spa"! 


We also had a great talk on how I named and developed characters (hee hee hee, especially villains), how I started - and finished - writing the novel, and what the whole first time novelist experience has been like. 


It was a fantastic evening, filled with great food, interesting and intelligent people, and I am so glad they invited me to join them!


Thanks Margaret!

Bloody Words Convention

So, this weekend I'm off to the tenth annual BLOODY WORDS convention.  This will be my first ever book-writing-mystery-literary convention of any sort.  It happens to be held in Toronto, my city, which is why I'm going.

I am really looking forward to it!  It will be great to mingle with other writers and fans and folks from the publishing world.

Also, I'm on a panel discussion Friday evening" "Bad Girls" in crime fiction (hmmmm... wonder why they picked me???)

Then on Saturday, I'm doing "Book Speed Dating" which sounds like a great promo opportunity.  After that, I'll be at the SIsters in Crime signing table.

So, I am excited about the coming weekend and I'm sure I'll have lots to report afterwards.