The Five Stages of Revision

Some time ago, when the flames of Rewrite Hell were toasting my toes, I jotted down my thoughts on the five stages of revision, which aren't all that different from the stages of grief. Now, as I consider what I've written so far of the first draft of a new book, I find these words as relevant as ever.

DENIAL: This will be a breeze! My manuscript is almost perfect. It will hardly need any rewriting.

ANGER: How the heck could I have written this crap? How could I have been so blind to the plot holes and cliche-ridden prose?

BARGAINING: If I survive this rewrite, I will outline the heck out of the next book before I type a word of Chapter One.

DEPRESSION: This is hopeless. I will never make this book publishable.

ACCEPTANCE: This isn't perfect, but there's a lot of good stuff here and I can make it better. Back to work.

What sells books? Kids and movies

If you think Patterson, Evanovich, Galbraith/Rowling, King and Koontz dominate the U.S. bestseller lists these days, you’re not looking in the right place.

The real action is on the Young Adult/Children’s list.

According to Nielsen BookScan (which counts sales at 80% of retail outlets, including Amazon), Invisible by James Patterson and David Ellis, which sits atop the hardcover fiction bestseller list right now, sold 35,777 copies during the week of June 30-July 6. By contrast, the current number one children’s/teen fiction book, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, sold 75,327 copies the same week — and has sold 1,167,232 copies so far this year. Green’s book came out in 2012, but it was propelled into the stratosphere in 2014 by a hit movie.

YA and children’s books have been outselling adult books all year. Recently Publishers Weekly combined bestsellers across all categories of fiction and nonfiction to show the top 20 sellers in print (as reported by BookScan) and for the Kindle. Books for young people, especially those with movie tie-ins, ruled the print list and took the top slots on the Kindle list. (See the charts here.) 

The number one print seller for January through June : Divergent by Veronica Roth, another YA book that’s been made into a film. The other books in the trilogy, Insurgent and Allegiant, occupied the third and fourth slots. The paperback of The Fault in Our Stars was second, the hardcover was fifth and the movie tie-in edition was sixth. (With a boost in sales since the movie’s June release, Fault has zoomed past Divergent.)

Fault and the Roth books also took the top four slots on the list of bestselling Kindle titles for the first six months of 2014, and The Divergent Series Complete Collection was number 10. The rest of the Amazon Kindle Top 20 list, as reported in Publishers Weekly, was populated by adult books such as Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, Liane Moriarty’s The Husband’s Secret, and John Grisham’s Sycamore Row.  

The print list, though, left little room for adult books — or books of any kind that don’t have movie versions out or in the works. Five print spinoffs of the film Frozen were among the bestselling books for January-June. John Green’s Looking for Alaska, first published in 2005, is now a hit book (number seven for the first half of the year) and will follow The Fault in Our Stars to the big screen and no doubt even greater sales. Both the original Heaven Is for Real by Todd Burpo and the movie tie-in version made the print bestsellers list (11 and 14). The only nonfiction book among the top 20 was a devotional title, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young (number nine), first published a decade ago and still going strong in various editions. Another perennial bestseller is Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss (number 12). Two Scholastic guides to the Minecraft game were the number 16 and 17 bestsellers.

Looking a little lonely on the January-June print bestseller list is Tartt’s The Goldfinch, at number 20. The 2013 release is still high on the hardcover fiction list, and BookScan reported 2014 sales of 304,100 copies as of July 6. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn fell out of the top 20 print sellers at last but held on to number 11 on the Kindle list.

Purists may wince at the heavy cross pollination between books and movies, but honestly, how can anyone complain if movies are inspiring young people to read more? Granted, a lot of  YA fiction is purchased and read by adults, but most is being read by teens — and in the case of the two John Green novels, at least, the subject matter is serious, realistic, and thought-provoking for that age group.

The big question is whether these young readers will continue to buy and enjoy books as they grow older and take on the responsibilities of adulthood. They hold the future of the book business in their hands, so we have to hope that the pleasures of the written word, whether in print or digital form, will keep drawing them back — when they aren’t at the movies.

The Facebook Problem

Authors are constantly told that we must have a “Facebook presence” — it’s as necessary as a website.

But we can’t go on Facebook only to promote our books. Readers find that borrrring. They want to get to know us, to chat with us about personal things that have nothing to do with our books. If they find us interesting as people, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll be moved to take a look at our books.

Some writers have revolted and dropped off Facebook or refused to join in the first place. Others do the forbidden: they have only professional author pages, not personal pages, and they post about nothing but books, usually their own and sometimes upcoming books from other writers on their publishers’ lists. And some find genuine friends, old and new, on Facebook and enjoy chatting with them about myriad topics.

I’ve been in that last group, but I’m increasingly tempted to join the first and abandon Facebook altogether. That it’s a time-waster is undeniable. And if you care at all about the world around you, it’s not good for your blood pressure and peace of mind. Scrolling through the newsfeed brings up countless posts about politics, guns, and all manner of horrific happenings in every part of the world. It’s worse than 24-hour news. If you’re female, you also have to contend with the obnoxious trolls who send out private messages to women (dozens at a time, apparently) in the hope of starting some sort of relationship.

When I started my personal Facebook page, I “friended” the writers and other people I already knew, such as the panda fanciers, then I pretty much stopped soliciting friends. But I approved almost everyone who sent me a friend request, and I’ve ended up close to the limit of 5,000. Some of those people, I’ve discovered to my regret, have nothing to say that I am interested in hearing. Their politics appall me, their rants on social issues disgust me, their lack of compassion and kindness toward the less fortunate saddens me. I see these people’s posts because, for whatever reason, they sent me friend requests and I allowed them onto my friends list. I have generally refrained from commenting on their posts because I know better than to jump into a pool full of sharks. But if I post something political on my own page, such as a positive statement about the president, I can count on people I’ve never interacted with before popping out of the cyber woodwork to denounce me. I unfriend them and wonder why I bother with Facebook.

I’ve been online, in various groups of writers and readers, for many years, but I’ve never experienced anything like Facebook before. Every day I see the ramblings and rants of a multitude of strangers, mixed in with posts from people I like and want to stay in contact with. There’s a panda group I do not want to give up, and personal friends whose posts and photos I would miss terribly if I left. I’ve tightened my settings to allow only people on my friends list to see my personal page, and lately I’ve started culling that list, but I’ll admit the newsfeed drives me crazy.

Have I sold any books by being on Facebook? Some, I’m sure. A few people have told me they learned about my books on Facebook. But I’ve probably offended plenty of people too by letting my liberal political leanings show.

What’s a writer to do? We’re expected to be on Facebook to promote our books, but we’re not supposed to spend our Facebook time relentlessly promoting our books. We’re supposed to let our personal selves come through, but when we do we’re just as likely to make enemies as friends. And that could (gasp!) hurt book sales.

Writers in the pre-internet age had no idea how fortunate they were.

You Are a Writer: Finding inspiration when the going gets tough

The joy of creation, the exhilaration of knowing that others are reading and loving your work, the satisfaction of a story well told—that’s all part of being a writer.

So is self-doubt. Fear of failure. The gnawing feeling that you’re wasting your life. The surge of hope slapped down by the cold hand of rejection. The certainty that you’re alone, that no one else understands what you’re going through.

But you’re not alone. Whether you’re just beginning to explore the possibilities of a writing career, or you’re trudging along the submission-and-rejection trail, or you’re wondering if you’re in a rut and need to change direction, or you’re working up the courage to plunge into indie publishing—you are not alone. Every writer has felt the same way at one time or another. And sometimes all it takes to restore our spirits and keep us going is a reminder that we are members of a tribe with shared dreams and experiences.

A new publication from Sisters in Crime called Writes of Passage: Adventures on the Writer’s Journey offers inspiration on every page. In brief essays that cover all aspects of the writing life, dozens of Sisters in Crime members share their personal stories. Contributors include such longtime bestsellers as Margaret Maron, Barbara D’Amato, Laurie R. King, Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, along with many other familiar names.

Readers who enjoy learning about the writing process and how authors get published will also enjoy this book.

Writes of Passage, in trade paperback format, is available to anyone for $10 plus shipping and handling from this website: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/SistersinCrime.

My own contribution to Writes of Passage is this inspirational piece.

You Are a Writer

by Sandra Parshall

Years of rejection can warp a writer’s thinking in dangerous ways and cast a shadow over future success.

Before I was published, I was timid about identifying myself as a writer. A writer is someone who gets published and paid, after all. For years I accepted the loathsome label of “wannabe.” After a published author informed me that I was “just a housewife who imagines she can write mysteries” I didn’t even feel worthy of the wannabe title.

Then my first book was published–by a small press. I discovered that the inner doubts and the disdain of others don’t vanish with publication. My book’s excellent reviews and award win meant nothing to some people. I was a small press author, not in the same league as real authors. I’ll admit I let it get to me when a reader told me at a bookstore event that he’d never heard of my publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) and assumed it was a vanity imprint–and refused to believe me when I assured him it was an established press. I was published, but did it count for anything? Was I still a wannabe, not a real writer?

I also heard that if you can’t live on your royalties, you’re not a professional. Writing is a hobby, something you do in your spare time for pocket change. I was writing constantly, every day, giving my books all my time and energy, and it certainly didn’t feel like a hobby, but again I allowed negative thinking and other people’s pompous pronouncements to make me feel like less than a real writer.

I’ve finally come to my senses, admittedly a little late in the day. After six well-received books, I’ve earned the right to think of myself as a real writer, to announce it proudly and spell it out in the “profession” blanks on registration and application forms. Only the IRS and the state tax department have the right to ask how much I earn–and believe me, they consider me a professional and tax me accordingly.

The wide-open opportunities in today’s turbulent publishing world should be celebrated for many reasons, but they don’t guarantee bestsellers and financial success, the only achievements some people will respect. Writers still have to find a way around the pitfalls of negative thinking.

I wish someone had told me long ago, before I was published, to ditch the “wannabe” label. I was writing seriously, with the goal of publication. I was constantly studying, learning, improving. I was a writer. I should never have let anyone make me believe otherwise. After I was published, I had no excuse for dismissing my own achievements. Books with my name on them, books that other people were paying to read, were the only validation I should have needed.

Often when authors are asked what advice they would give to aspiring writers, they answer, “Never give up. Keep trying until you break in.”  Good advice, but I would add: Start thinking of yourself as a writer the moment you decide to devote your life to producing stories for an audience.

You’re a writer. That’s your identity. Don’t let anyone take it away from you.

Blog Hop: The Writing Life

Somehow I’ve managed to be a published writer for eight years without participating in a blog hop, but when friend Jeri Westerson asked if she could tag me for this summer’s version – all about The Writing Life – I jumped in at last.

I’ll answer four burning questions about my own writing and tag three other writers, who will answer the same questions on their blogs in the next week.

1. What am I working on now?

My new project is a departure from my Rachel Goddard mystery series. It’s a suspense novel, a story revolving around Those Suspicious People Next Door rather than a police investigation of a murder. My lead character is a wildlife photographer. Beyond that, I don’t want to say too much just yet.

2. How does my work differ from other books in its genre?

In my mystery series, Rachel (a veterinarian in a small mountain community) becomes involved in murder cases in various ways, but she’s not a super-sleuth amateur who outdoes the cops at every turn. Her mate, Tom Bridger, a deputy who becomes sheriff in the last book, Poisoned Ground, is quite capable of solving the murders. But Rachel is essential to the process because she can go places a cop can’t and get information that people might not share with a policeman. There’s nothing cozy about the small community they live in. It’s a rough place where everybody owns a gun and grievances are likely to lead to violence. All the books have a high level of suspense, and they’ve often been called suspense novels or thrillers.

3. Why do I write what I do?

I made Rachel a veterinarian – risking a cozy label for the books – because I love animals and want to include them in my books. But I love darker mysteries and suspense novels, and that’s what I try to write. My first novel, The Heat of the Moon, was pure suspense, and now I want to get back to that. I love writing about people going through an intense experience and coming out of it changed in some fundamental way.

4. How does my writing process work?

It’s messy, often chaotic. Getting into a new book is the most difficult, confusing, even depressing stage. I never believe I have “enough story” for a book. Regardless of how many times I’ve done it, I never believe I can do it again. But I push on, building the story bit by bit, layer by layer. The first draft is skimpy, written without editing. By the end of it, I have a good idea of what the story needs, and I begin the real writing – shaping, filling in gaps, broadening the plot and characters, enhancing the descriptions and interior passages. The first draft is scary. The rest is real writing, and quite satisfying.

For the next round of the blog hop, I’m tagging three other writers published by Poisoned Pen Press. If you haven’t read their work, you’re in for a treat!
   

Janet Hubbard

Janet worked as an editor, researcher, writing coach, and non-fiction writer, producing over
twenty books for Chelsea House Publishers under the name Janet Hubbard-Brown, before she sold her mystery series, Vengeance in the Vineyard, to Poisoned Pen Press. Bordeaux: The Bitter Finish, (April, 2014) is the second in Janet's series, following Champagne: The Farewell (2012). 

You will find her blog at www.janethubbard.com, where she will post her blog hop answers on June 13.

Donis Casey

 

Donis Casey’s seventh Alafair Tucker Mystery, Hell with the Lid Blown Off, has just been published to rave reviews, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly. It follows The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, Hornswoggled, The Drop Edge of Yonder, The Sky Took Him, Crying Blood, and The Wrong Hill to Die On. The award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma and Arizona during the booming 1910s.

Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at http://www.doniscasey.com. She blogs biweekly about at http://typem4murder.blogspot.com, where you can find her responses to the blog hop questions on June 16.

Michael A. Kahn 

 

A trial lawyer by day and a writer by night, Michael Kahn is the award-winning author of nine Rachel Gold legal mysteries, including Face Value, published June 3. He authored a stand-alone novel, The Mourning Sexton, under the pen name Michael Baron, as well as  several short stories. In addition to his day job, where he represents individuals and companies in the fields of creative arts and media law, Mike is an adjunct professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis, where he teaches a class on censorship and free expression.

Visit his website and blog at http://www.michaelakahn.com and look for his blog hop answers there in the next week. 

Saying Goodbye to Rachel

When I wrote The Heat of the Moon, I never dreamed I would write five more books about Rachel Goddard, a young veterinarian who discovers that everything she believed about her family was a lie.

I thought it was a stand-alone psychological suspense novel. When my agent failed to sell it in New York despite strong interest from editors at two major publishers, I gave up hope that it would ever see print. But Poisoned Pen Press bought it, it won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel of 2006, and I found I had more to say about Rachel. 

Her story continued in Disturbing the Dead, Broken Places, Under the Dog Star, Bleeding Through, and Poisoned Ground. I was able to dramatize Rachel’s evolution from the frightened young woman in The Heat of the Moon to the strong, fulfilled person she is at the end of Poisoned Ground.

Now I feel I’ve told her story and have no more to say. Yes, I could go on finding mysteries for her to get involved in, but the most important part of her story, the arc of her personal development, has been told. Some writers produce one fresh, entertaining book after another in a long series, but I don’t think I could do that. Rachel’s psychological development was always what I cared about most, and mysteries without that element would feel hollow to me. I won’t say I’ll never write about Rachel (and Tom Bridger) again, but for

now I need to move on. 

Japanese edition

 

My great love is psychological suspense, and I want to get back to it and write more books in the vein of The Heat of the Moon. I love stories about individuals caught up in events beyond their control and understanding, struggling to make sense of what’s happening to them and ultimately finding their way to an answer. I’ve learned a lot about suspense from writing the Rachel books — my ability to maintain tension and suspense from beginning to end has always been praised by reviewers and readers alike — and I think I can put what I’ve learned to good use in something new.

I appreciate all my readers, and your praise and encouragement have meant  

the world to me. I hope you’ll be willing to read what I write in the future. Striking out in a new direction is scary, I’ll admit. Even a series with a modest following is a sure thing, and leaving it behind makes me feel as if I’m back at square one, starting over. But I trust that if you liked the Rachel books you’ll also like the next novel I produce.

Mass market paperback

If you haven’t read my Rachel Goddard books, they aren’t going anywhere. They’re all available in print, e-book, and audio formats, and they’re in many libraries. Please visit my website at http://www.sandraparshall.com for more information and reviews of all the books. Start with the first (available for only 99 cents as an e-book download) and read them in order to better understand Rachel and her personal journey. If you enjoy them, please let me know! Nothing bolsters a writer’s spirits while she’s sitting alone at the computer more than a complimentary note from a reader.

The Rachel Goddard Mysteries in order

The Heat of the Moon

“Mesmerizing.” —Publishers Weekly

“A captivating tale of suspense.” —Booklist

“Stylish, original, compulsively readable... Sandra Parshall explores the darkest side of family love and longing with pitch-perfect, highly engaging characters and a stunning end-game surprise. ” -- Judith Kelman, bestselling author of psychological suspense

Disturbing the Dead

“Fast-paced, chilling, and compulsively readable.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Edge-of-the-seat suspense.” —Library Journal starred review

“A terrific, tangled skein of unraveling family secrets and hidden murders, beautifully plotted and excitingly told.” —Diana Gabaldon, author of the international bestselling Outlander series

Broken Places

“Grips readers with a suspenseful plot that will leave them breathless.” —Library Journal starred review

“A suspenseful tale distinguished by its sharp prose.” —Publishers Weekly starred review

“Broken Places is a tense exploration of how past acts can come back to haunt the present. It kept me guessing till the very end.” —Margaret Maron, bestselling author of the Judge Deborah Knott mysteries

Under the Dog Star

“Spine-chilling tension from cover to cover.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Tense and compelling…one of the un-put-downable reads of the year.” —Deborah Crombie, author of the bestselling Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid mysteries

Bleeding Through

“Combines nerve-wracking suspense with a twisty mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Marvelous storytelling.” —Julia Spencer-Fleming, author of the bestselling Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries

Poisoned Ground

“Parshall expertly maintains tension until the surprising conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A fast-paced plot with plenty of false leads keeps the reader turning the pages.” —Publishers Weekly

“Parshall perfectly plumbs the well of humanity in a small town, where longstanding feuds and deep-seated jealousies drive dark deeds—from backstabbing and betrayal all the way to bloody murder.” —Erin Hart, author of the Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mysteries

To Catch a Liar

For some reason I'm not sure about, this post, which originally appeared on Poe's Deadly Daughters in September 2011, has been used in two textbooks published by Pearson, and now I've received a request for its use in a third. Since few people read it the first time around, I thought it might find some new readers here.
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Do you think you’re pretty good at spotting a liar?

Sorry, but I’ll bet you’re not as sharp as you think you are.

Researchers have found that most people have a dismally low success rate, even in a lab setting where they know for certain that some of those they’re studying are lying. If we’re especially vigilant, we might spot half of all lies – which means we’ll miss half. Police officers aren’t much better than the rest of us, although they improve with experience. Those super-cops who can always detect a lie, like the fictional Special Agent Gibbs on the TV show NCIS, do exist in reality, but they’re extremely rare and psychologists have yet to determine how they do it.

Since the detective’s ability to spot lies is crucial to crime-solving, some scientists are finding ways to teach the skill to cops. Scientific American Mind magazine’s September/October issue reports on experiments conducted by one of them, social psychologist Aldert Vrij of the University of Portsmouth in England. Vrij’s work is based on the human mind’s inability to think along multiple tracks simultaneously. Lying is more demanding than simply telling the truth, so if the interrogator gives the suspect’s mind too much to process at one time, the person being questioned is likely to slip up if he’s trying to sell a phony story.

Here’s the premise: The liar has to worry about keeping his story consistent and believable, first of all – which means suppressing all thought of the truth so it doesn’t inadvertently slip out – but he also has to “look honest” by controlling his expression and body movements.  And he’s constantly monitoring the cop’s reaction to what he’s saying. All that is exhausting, and if the interrogator adds even a little more pressure, that may be enough to trip up a liar.

Vrij and his colleagues have found several useful strategies for applying that extra pressure.

First, discount sweating and general nervousness. Even an honest person will be nervous under police scrutiny.

One way to trip up a liar is to ask the suspect to tell his or her story backward, beginning at the end. Devising a false story and keeping it straight is hard enough without the burden of having to recount phony events in reverse. In lab tests, this greatly increased mistakes and the likelihood of catching a liar.

Interrogators can also rattle a suspect by insisting that he maintain eye contact. Liars have trouble concentrating on their stories if they’re looking directly into the eyes of the people they’re lying to.

Asking suspects to draw pictures of what they’re describing can also reveal the liars. Their pictures will show fewer details than those drawn by truth-tellers, and often the pictures won’t be consistent with verbal descriptions.

These easy techniques have proven highly effective in the lab and should help police in the real world do their work more efficiently. Best of all, they’re simple enough to be used by fictional cops who aren’t endowed with the special mental powers of Special Agent Gibbs.