Write Away: X is for Xenogamy

Okay, so maybe I am cheating just a tiny little bit with this one, but, hey! Give me a break. Other than “X marks the spot”, what would you do for X and mystery terms? Also, this is another quickie for you! Are we getting tired yet?

Xenogamy is a botany term that means fertilization of a flower by pollen from a flower on a genetically different plant.  I suppose that would create a new species, yes?

Imagine that with mysteries and other crime fiction. We began with traditional mysteries and in the “Golden Age of Mystery” (Agatha Christie and others) defined the modern mystery their way.

Move along the timeline a bit, and we have people creating romantic suspense, culinary mysteries,

police procedurals, private eye mysteries, urban fantasy mysteries ,  steampunk mysteries  , caper mysteries and more. I’ve written about these varieties in multiple blog posts. Just click on the links to go to some of them.

What are those sub-genres but the literary equivalent of xenogamy? Take one genre and modify it with elements from another genre, voila! New sub-genre looking for readers! Do you have any ideas to create a new xenogamous mystery sub-genre? Give it a whirl! Just consummate the relationship of two disparate genres. Xenogamy! (Don’t you love saying that word?)

Frieda figures out where Mort got it wrong! More of “The List”.

        Xanthippe! That’s who Mort had confused her with. The shrewish wife of Socrates. Well, that wasn’t who she was. And for certain, Mort was no Socrates! She’d show him she wasn’t washed up and that she could survive, no thrive without him. One good thing would come of this. She could be totally “Fran” now with no constant reminders of her past identity. She’d never have to hear “Frieda” again.

Fran laced her fingers and stretched them in front of her, arching her bony back in preparation for long hours in her seat. Her column was done for the week. That left her book to work on. Much as she’d like to avoid it, her deadline loomed ominously.

            She opened the folder, removing the sheets of notes she had previously prepared. She began to read through the title and chapter titles arranged Letterman-style as her editor had cutely suggested over her objections. And she knew from long experience with editors that their suggestions were mandates.

Write Away: S is for Sidekick and Subpoena

Welcome back to the April A-Z challenge in which I am posting 26 days of mystery terms for mystery and crime fiction authors.

S is rich with options for today’s post. I rejected sleuth because I already detailed sleuths on D-Day (the other D-Day). I also felt I had covered suspect enough in previous posts.

Suicide-by-cop remained a possibility right up to the writing of this post. There are two kinds of suicide-by-cop: the one you probably think of (a suspect who draws/appears to draw a weapon on the police so they will kill him) and the scenario of the police officer who kills himself. Since I recently wrote this post on suicide-by-cop, I decided not to take it on again so soon.

That left me with the two options in the title.

Sidekicks are really important in certain subgenre mysteries. But even if not intimately involved, almost all mystery and crime fiction has a sidekick, a counterpoint character necessary to the crime solving or involving.

The sidekick character (or sometimes characters) allows the sleuth to discuss the crime, tries to hold the sleuth back from rash actions, and sometimes is the reason the sleuth is involved at all.

We all know our sleuths strengths and limitations. We designed them as specific personalities. When designing sidekicks for my culinary mystery series, I made a list of personality traits and quirks and aspects for my detective. Then, next to each I listed an opposite trait, when possible. That list of opposites is what I mine when creating counterpoint characters, sidekicks, for my heroine, Alli.

The main sidekick for all the books in the series is Gina, best friend since elementary

school and current partner in their personal chef business. Like sisters, these two have an extreme closeness which allows for problems when they are in a significant disagreement or misunderstanding situation. Alli is impulsive; Gina is reflective. Alli is so creative and intuitive she misses steps; Gina is methodical so she sometimes doesn’t see the big picture.

I also use other minor sidekicks to illustrate other aspects, good and bad, of my detective’s personality. Alli has a police officer on-again, off-again boyfriend. She makes friends with an investigative reporter. She colludes with Gina’s mother and best friend behind Gina’s back. Sidekicks allow for the flawed detective to succeed.

I see my sidekicks as completing the detective. They mesh, each satisfying things missing in the other. Together the sidekick and detective are better than each alone.

Subpoena is both a noun and a verb. It is a writ (formal written command) ordering someone/something to court or it summons someone/something to court. You can get a subpoena or be subpoenaed. The term comes from Latin sub poena which means “under penalty.”

The “b” is silent, and the “oe” is pronounced like the long e in “keep”--suhpeenuh. Don’t ask me why as I have no clue. In other sub- words, the “b” is voiced.

A subpoena is used to get someone to court to testify or it is used to compel evidence be produced. The most common types of subpoenas are subpoena ad testificandum and subpoena duces tecum. The first orders a person to testify or be punished. The second requires physical evidence be produced or be punished.

Subpoenas are issued by a clerk of the court (my son is currently clerking, so I know that doesn’t mean a secretary) in the name of the judge. Court rules may also allow attorneys, as officers of the court, to issue subpoenas to compel testimony. You’ve seen the scene dozens of times: A process server posing as a floral delivery guy asks, “Are you Joe Schmoe?” At the yes response, the delivery guy hands him the subpoena, not flowers, and says, “You’ve been served.”

What is Frieda’s response to Mort’s bombshell? 

            She breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no degradation. There was no “other woman”. She hadn’t expected of herself that she would want to hold onto Mort. In fact, she thought of him so rarely that she was frankly surprised she even wanted to figure out what was causing his defection at this late stage. But at least she wouldn’t be humiliated by a replacement woman one-third her age. Still, she had her image to consider. She willed her fingers to relax and cradled one hand in the palm of the other as she considered how to manage the situation. Because she would manage this.

Write Away: N is for Niggle and Notes

While it’s true that both professional detectives and amateurs consider inconsistencies or anomalies, both niggle and notes are both referred to more often by the amateur detectives in our books. It’s probably an attempt on the author’s part to make the cozy mystery amateur detective look more mindful, attentive, and analytic.

Niggle, though not technically a mystery term, is an interesting word. It comes to us through Scandinavian in the early 1600s. It means a persistent anxiety. A suspicion. An annoyance or discomfort. Something you can’t shake off. Niggle can be a noun or a verb.

Just as professional detectives have hunches, so do amateurs, but amateurs seem to comment on them more. And things bother them more. They niggle. A fact doesn’t jibe. A comment niggles as the sleuth tries to recall why it might be important. Or a clue niggles at them as to how it fits with something else.

Niggling is at the root of sleuths figuring out the puzzle. If everything fell into place easily and smoothly and accurately, where would the story be? An author plants the clues in strategic places. Some of those niggle because they don’t seem to fit with other facts. But our amateur sleuth knows to pay attention to the little internal voice, the niggle, that urges further examination.

Notes are another essential part of our amateur’s toolkit. Oh, sure, police detectives take notes, too, and they will have scenes of examining them for patterns. But that happens even more frequently with amateur sleuths. They have a notebook, or a computer file, or backs of envelopes or write on their palms. Or maybe they use all these ways to keep track of the information flow.

Amateur sleuths pore over their notes. They cut them apart and reorganize information. They tie their notes to a timeline of activity. They highlight, circle, and underline things that niggle, things that seem insignificant but are likely of import. Some amateurs categorize notes from the get-go; others have a jumble of notes from clues listed as encountered.

Every amateur detective knows the minutiae of a murder case is overwhelming. Notes help with clarifying thinking as well as acting a central repository for information. The sleuths in cozies, especially, seem to feel the need to write notes for examination and re-examination.

What does Frieda think of her new car in today’s episode of “The List”?

            “Now don’t go getting all pinch-lipped on me, Frieda. I know how much you hate to change things, but it’s time. As to the car, hell, past time! Clyde told me the last time I took the Beemer in for a tune-up that it didn’t have much life expectancy left. He’s the one who advised me to get you another car. You said that’s the only garage you ever trusted, so I thought Clyde’s word would be good enough for you. Trust me, she drives like a dream. You’re gonna love ‘er once you get used to where all the buttons are! Wanna go give it a spin now?”

            “Not really. Though you probably should move it around to those extra parking spaces by the tennis court in back. Was that smart to park it on the road out there? You know how people speed down this dinky little road. I don’t want it wrecked before I even have a chance to drive it.”

PSWA

I heard about the Public Safety Writers Association conference in Las Vegas through other Oak Tree Press authors. Lots of them were going to the conference, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to network with them and meet my Editor, Billie Johnson, and Sunny Frazier, the Acquisitions Editor who signed me.

Only 4 ½ hours drive from our summer place. Take in a show. Yeah. That was the plan. Attend. Talk and stalk. You know--normal conference behavior.

OMG!

Who knew I would learn so much? Well, I guess my fellow authors did, but at this stage of my life, after dozens and dozens of conferences, I didn’t expect much.

The PSWA may be the best-kept secret in the writing of mysteries. I had never heard of it. Shame on me. The better known organizations/conferences like Boucheron, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Left Coast Crime, and so on attract large crowds of various flavors of mystery and thriller writers.

Not so PSWA. This small, intimate conference was packed with information and expertise. Almost all the presenters have backgrounds in law enforcement and public safety fields. Oh, and they write books, too!

Seriously. I sat next to Pete Klismet one day. He had been on a panel and had moderated another one. He was with the FBI for 25 years and was in the first group of psychological profilers trained. Yeah, he writes books, too.

Guy Painter, who was on a Homeland Security panel, does airport security, so I hit him up for help with my paranormal book’s airport security bid problem. He gave me his personal e-mail for future questions.

Sue Vondrak is an Illinois CSI who had me clinging on with fingernails during her fabulous DNA presentation. She also helped with the accuracy of a plot point for an upcoming culinary mystery book. Oh, did I mention she writes books, too?

Joe Haggerty presented jaw-dropping information about prostitution and the prosecution thereof based on his years dealing with the streets in D.C. He was more than generous on more than one occasion to help me with my Streetwalker series questions. He has a great book about a pimp.

Oh, and there were so many more. Thanks to all the unnamed from whom I learned as well!

Additionally, PSWA hosts a listserv so if you have a question like “Where could an ordinary person buy a body bag?” or “What is an undetectable poison during a normal tox screen?”, pose it and people will jump in to help. Wow! Just, wow!

The goal of all these sessions and informal conversations was to help me and other authors portray public safety workers and procedures accurately. Membership is the best $55 you’ll spend if you are writing mysteries or thrillers. Check it out at http://policewriter.com/wordpress/

Getting Down to Business--Part IV

Today is the final installment of my blog series on how I developed a business plan for being a professional writer. I’ve taken you from figuring out what a business plan is to what components I’ve included in mine.

I stress again: This is MY business plan. Yours could look very different. This final section contains the beginning plans for Target Audiences, Marketing/Promotion, Web Presence, Long-term Goals, and a Summary. These sections are the least developed as I feel my way to their realization, but I think I have a good start.

I hope my thinking-in-writing is helpful as you plan your own business plan. It is truly a wonderful experience to go through for establishing clarity and focus for this career you have chosen.

7. Target Audiences

Here’s my attempt to identify readers and where to find them for each of my completed and future series and stand-alone books. One way is to go on blog tours like the A-Z April Blog Challenge I did. I found new blogs to contact and new readers found me. I continue to find audience-contact ideas, so this is a really fluid section right now.

“Dinner is Served” Culinary Mysteries (Sharon Arthur Moore):

In Book One, Alli and Gina’s personal chef business has a rocky launch when their first customer ends up dead of food poisoning and they are the first suspects. Alli, a free-spirit looking for stability, takes on the job of solving the crime, clearing their names, and learning the true meaning of family along the way. Mission Impastable is the first book in a culinary mystery series set in Glendale, AZ. Each book in the series (Mission Impastable, Prime Rib and Punishment, Peas Porridge Pot, Cooks in the Can, and The Taming of the Stew) includes recipes, most of which relate to the title of the book.

Rating: PG13
Number of books planned: Currently five, series left open for more.
Target Audience: Women who enjoy mysteries and cooking/recipes, some male cross over possible.
Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB cooking groups; GoodReads mystery groups; GoodReads cooking groups; Twitter account for Sharon Arthur Moore; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; AZ gift shops and cooking stores; B&B’s in Glendale, AZ; Chamber of Commerce Gift shop for Glendale.

“Sex Sells” Erotic Romance series (Angelica French):

In Book One, Streetwalker, we meet Carrie a tough yet vulnerable abuse survivor who is a natural business woman. With support and encouragement from Harlan, her partner in the upscale brothel they run, she learns her own worth and what love is all about. Sex for Sale and Sex Sells, succeeding books, show Carrie and Harlan’s relationship, foibles, and coming to realizations of what they truly want in life.

Rating: Adult Only--highly graphic
Number of books planned: Three
Target Audience: Readers of erotic romance and erotica

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; GoodReads erotic romance groups; Twitter account for Angelica French; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews

“Quick and Dedd” Paranormal Series (River Glynn):

The Quick and the Dedd is a paranormal romantic suspense, introduces Isabella and Riley, her dead former employee, back from the grave to help save her company and find his killer.

Rating: Adult--middling sexual encounters with various partners

Number of books planned: At least two

Target Audience: Readers of ghost stories, paranormal romance, and erotic romance

Best way to reach: ghost buster groups on FB and blogs; GoodReads paranormal groups; romance readers groups; Twitter account for River Glynn; Chamber of Commerce gift shop for Phoenix, AZ; B&B’s in Phoenix

Land’s End (Sharon Arthur Moore):

Land’s End is a linked, stand-alone short story anthology by Sharon Arthur Moore. Set on the Rhode Island coast, the 22 stories tell the tales of the renters of a beach condo and the things broken, left behind, or missing after their stay.

Rating: General audiences (with one erotic tale)

Number of books planned: One

Target Audience: beach lovers, New England lovers, short story readers

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB groups; GoodReads anthology groups; Twitter account for Sharon Arthur Moore; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; realtors, B&B’s, and gift shops in Narragansett, RI.

Lucinda (Angelica French):

Lucinda is an historical romance set in two time periods in Southeastern Ohio. The chapters alternate between the time periods with present-day Lucy trying to solve the murder of her missing Great-Aunt Lucinda from the early 20^th century.

Rating: General audience with mild sex scenes and domestic violence

Number of books planned: One

Target Audience: readers of romance, readers of historical fiction, readers who like Ohio and Southeastern Ohio, graduates of Ohio University

Best way to reach: Mommy bloggers; FB groups; GoodReads romance groups; GoodReads historical fiction groups; Twitter account for Angelica French; FB general posting in groups I belong to; guest blogs; invited interviews; realtors, B&B’s, and gift shops in Athens, OH; Alumni Association magazine for OU.

8. Marketing and Promotion Plan

There is a completed year-long, month-by-month Marketing and Promotion Plan for each book completed. Those plans appear behind the business plan pages. The plans are only Sharon Arthur Moore’s and Angelica French’s part of marketing. I am unsure, at this point, what each publisher will contribute to the overall plan.

Promotion for all books:
Subscribe to a Hoot Suite for automatic postings to FB and Twitter. Spend ten hours per week on all marketing and promotions excluding interviews and presentations. Consider a brief newsletter for each genre (culinary mystery, romance, paranormal; others as released); postings on blogs; website lists of books and upcoming releases. Consider approaching a group of authors in a genre and produce a joint blog and newsletter. Contact HARO (Help a Reporter Out--www.helpareporter.com Basic free or $19/49/149 per month) to get coverage. Submit to short story contests for visibility. Enter contests like the Northern Arizona University 10-minute playwriting contest and The Arizona Republic “unknown culinary talent”. Contact www.blogtalkradio.com/itmatters to request an interview. Find other blog radio stations to contact as well. One in Brooklyn addresses foodie issues.

Promotion and Branding of Sharon Arthur Moore/Angelica French/River Glynn:
Sharon Arthur Moore/Angelica French/River Glynn will attend the Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego in February, 2014. She will participate in book signing, as well as attend workshops and panels covering publishing craft and business sessions. Angelica French will participate in the 2014 Chocolate Affaire weekend events including book signing. Angelica French and Sharon Arthur Moore will participate in the Tucson Festival of Books in March, 2014. When travel to family or conferences permits, she will contact local media to offer an interview. She will explore other options and list them as found.

9. Web Presence

I feel pretty good about my presence on the Internet. I have been working on it for several years. My two Klout Scores show that activity. One is in the 40’s, which is above average; another is in the 60’s. I’m on Facebook, YouTube for book trailers and a cooking channel, Twitter accounts, web page, and three blogs.

Writer’s Ink maintains a nascent website titled Sharon Arthur Moore: www.sharonamoore.com The website is hosted through iPage. The site will have links to each series with blurbs, future release dates, and buy links to each available book. The site also will have resource pages for authors, a review page listing glowing reviews of all books, frequently asked questions, about the author page, and links to three blogs. Each author will have a domain name for each genre, all linked to the others, to focus on each genre.

Three blogs (www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com; www.angelicafrench.blogspot.com; and www.samwriteaway.blogspot.com ) include posts that are personal, stories about family life, recipes, historical information, book reviews, and writing and publishing industry posts.  Occasional promotion of other authors through interviews will be done on a limited basis.

Two Twitter accounts (@good2tweat and @RomanceRighter) currently post information, retweet others’ information, and work on relationships with potential readers and reviewers of the works of Sharon Arthur Moore and Angelica French. River Glynn will establish a Twitter account (@RiverGlynn) preparatory to the release of The Quick and the Dedd.

On Facebook, Sharon Moore has a base page with three business pages attached: Sharon Arthur Moore Fan Page, Angelica French, and River Glynn-Author. Regular posts and shared posts help build the followers of each.

Writer’s Ink plans to build simple websites for all three authors starting with Sharon Arthur Moore for the “Dinner is Served” series, Angelica French for the “Sex Sells” series, and finally River Glynn for paranormals/sci fi/fantasy of various ilk. Each website will be completed by the release dates for the first books in the series. All websites will have .com domains and will be linked to and from www.sharonamoore.com. Author websites will have book covers, prequels where appropriate, photos of characters, deleted scenes, “extras” not in books, maps, and anything else Writer’s Ink deems necessary.

Build my cooking channel catalog to include several new cooking vids each year. Currently, only “Hermosillo Salsa” is posted.

I have two book trailers posted (Mission Impastable and The Quick and the Dedd) with a third in development (Streetwalker). I plan to make trailers for each title published.

10. Long Term Goals

I intend to be around for a long time. I always take the long view. I have dozens of books started/outlined/germinating! I intend to continue to write in multiple genres even though that makes branding more challenging. I must follow where the story ideas lead.

Writer’s Ink plans to release four books a year through 2016, then reevaluate the production schedule.

Writer’s Ink plans to wrap up the “Sex Sells” series with the release of the third  book in late 2014 or early 2015.

Writer’s Ink plans to release one “Dinner is Served” culinary mystery per year until the series’ character arcs are complete (at least five books).

When “Dinner is Served” has run its course, begin a different culinary mystery series (“For Everything a Season”) set in an herb shop in a small town in Northern Arizona with first titles like Mint to Be, Thyme for Murder, Arsenic and Old Mace, Sage Advice, Broken Out in Chives, Cumin to Me, etc.

Writer’s Ink plans to make a decision about completing sequels to “The Quick and the Dedd” series beyond book two.

Writer’s Ink plans to prepare several workshops to offer on varying topics. The workshops will generate income and/or promote the author’s brand.

Writer’s Ink will produce four YouTube videos yearly for the cooking channel with links from web pages.

Writer’s Ink will produce a book trailer for each title released and post on YouTube and provide links from web pages.

Writer’s Ink will consider the options available for creating a newsletter, either singly or with same-genre authors. The newsletter would be a marketing tool that also included content of interest to readers.

Writer’s Ink plans to work through the backlog tickler files to replace the two series that are ending. A possible new series might replace the two that are ending. It is unclear at this time what genre the series will be in. Sales of existing series, as well as the author’s preference will be factored into the decision.

Writer’s Ink will produce audiobooks and podcasts to accompany each author name. Attempt to sell foreign rights will begin once sales reach 10,000 copies.

11. Summary

No need to summarize the summary!

Writer’s Ink will see continued growth through 2013 and will submit three new books to publishers by the end of the year with two free prequels of 40-80 pages each to promote the releases of Streetwalker and Mission Impastable.  Expenses will increase with the addition of a developmental editor to the cost of preparing a book for submission to the editor or for indie release. However, it is important to Writer’s Ink that the books it releases are considered high quality in every way from the cover, to the story, to formatting, to lack of typos.

Writer’s Ink will push to promote and brand Sharon Arthur Moore, Angelica French, and River Glynn. Name recognition equals sales or futures sales.