Bouchercon Guest Blogger #9 -- Joanna Campbell Slan

Say hello to Guest Blogger #9 -- (sorry for any musical references that may drum up in your heads.) Joanna Campbell Slan is an author, but she's also a Hoosier and shares this week a great memory about growing up in Indiana.

Back Home Again to a Place I Love

By Joanna Campbell Slan

Every family has its traditions and fond memories. Most of mine go back to living in Indiana. We loved growing up there! In fact, whenever a road trip brought us back home, my sisters and I would be on the look out for the big “Welcome to INDIANA” state sign. The moment we crossed the state line, we’d break out into a chorus of “Back Home Again in Indiana.” (I still do this even today!)

I love Hoosiers. They are hard-scrabble, hard-working folks. They love speed (like at Indy), but they also understand the joy of taking one’s time. They are good neighbors and lifelong friends. They know how to take the simplest of things and create a good time. Hoosiers are good at understanding that complex does not necessarily equal better.

As a kid growing up in Vincennes, none of us had any money. But we never ran out of fun stuff to do. Especially in the summer. We would turn hollyhock blossoms upside down and pretend they were fairy princesses with frilly dresses. (Toothpicks made the arms, and we stuck on paper faces. We would suck the nectar out of honeysuckle flowers. We used wooden clothespins to clip playing cards to our bike spokes so we could pretend to be riding motorcycles. We would flatten heavy cardboard boxes and slide down the levee of the sluggish Wabash.

Best of all, we used to make “boxcars” and pull them behind us and our bicycles after dark. A boxcar is a pretend train car made out of a shoebox and lit from the inside out. On a hot summer night, a parade of “boxcars” moving along a city sidewalk is a moment of surreal beauty. Here’s how to make one:

1. Get a sturdy empty box you can seal shut. A shoe box is ideal, but a small cardstock box also will work. The box must be able to rest on the ground without tipping over, and a big flat bottom is best. (For the box! Not the crafter!)

2. Attach a string by running it through a small hole in one side (about middle of the way up). Tie it to a small stick or tape it down so it won’t pull out.

3. Cut decorative holes in the box. These will be “windows” and your light will shine out. (Think of Jack-O-Lanterns, but remember this is summer. We favored trying to turn our boxes into real train cars.) You can put colored cellophane behind the holes if you wish. That way your windows will be different colors.

4. Get a candle (the shorter the better, votives work well as do old birthday cake candles) and an empty tuna fish can. Adhere the candle to the can by letting the candle wax drip and pushing the unlit end into the gummy mess. Now using double-stick tape, you glue the can to the center bottom of your empty box.

5. SAFER and more modern way: Buy a cheap flashlight or any battery operated light. Even one of those glow sticks will do. Stick it in the box.

6. Close up your box.

7. Pull the string and drag it around behind you as you yell, “Choo! Choo!”

Now, you’re a happening Hoosier!

# # #

Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of Paper, Scissors, Death, an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. Visit her at http://www.joannaslan.com/ She will be attending Bouchercon, where she will be in charge of a session on scrapbooking.

Boucheron Guest Blogger #8 -- Rachel Brady

Please give a warm welcome to the 8th Bouchercon blogger, Rachel Brady. Today she's sharing about coming out from being a closet writer to being an author. For more info about Rachel you can check out her website or her blog.

Closet Writers: Not that there’s anything wrong with that, by Rachel Brady

I’m delighted to visit Word Nerd as part of Bethany’s Bouchercon Authors series. The upcoming Indianapolis event will be my first Bouchercon Convention and I’m wildly excited for the opportunity to go interact with so many other mystery-loving Word Nerds.

Another recent first for me was the release of Final Approach, my debut mystery. When Bethany and I exchanged ideas about this post, she suggested I might describe how I took the manuscript from idea, to draft, to publication. I nearly followed up with that, but then something interesting happened to change my mind. For those interested in the evolution of my book, you can read about the process in abbreviated form here. But today I’m curious to know whether there are any closet writers reading this?

I wrote in the closet for a very long time.

After reading mysteries for several years, it occurred to me that I never, ever, not a single time, figured out whodunit. This bothered me. How did the authors manage to trick me every time? I might simply have a slow wick, I knew, but it was easier on the ego to credit authors with a mastery of misdirection. I started to wonder if maybe I could do it too. I almost didn’t dare think it, and certainly never asked it aloud. But I decided to try. And I wrote in secret because I worried that telling people what I was doing would come across as either arrogant or pitiful. And worst of all, if I failed, everyone would know.

Before I signed the contract for Final Approach, only four people (outside my family and critique group) knew I’d been working on a book. Four! Even once it was assigned a cover and a release date, I remained tight-lipped. By then it felt like I’d been misleading the world. How do you tell somebody you see every day, who doesn’t even know that you like to write, that you have a new book out? I feared it would be perceived as a weird kind of betrayal. Spreading word about the book release in my personal sphere has been oddly uncomfortable although everyone has been totally supportive, excited, and encouraging in all ways I could have hoped and many I’d never imagined.

Another thing happened, the part that inspired the topic for this post. It seemed people everywhere began to confess to me that they, too, enjoy writing. Engineers and scientists at work, social friends, folks from the gym. What? We all write? And we’ve known each other how long and this hasn’t come up yet?

Why do we do this to ourselves? We write in a closet until it’s comfortable to peek out. For me it took publication. Looking back I find that borderline clinical. Certainly, few if any of the people I mentioned would have come forward to tell me about their secret writing lives had they not first known that I was guilty of this pleasure myself. This makes a girl wonder. It’s dark and lonely in the closet and now I ask myself why I stayed in there as long as I did.
So to the closet writers out there, I get you. I really do. Writers like us are scribbling in secret notebooks and opening hidden Word files everywhere. I hope that hearing this will make your private writing world a little bit brighter.

And if you’re a closet writer attending Bouchercon, let’s meet for drinks and talk shop. Your secret’s safe with me.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #7 -- Austin Camacho

The pre-Boucheron guest blog tour rolls on this fine Tuesday with author Austin Camacho. Camacho is the author of five detective novels in the Hannibal Jones series - Blood and Bone, Collateral Damage, The Troubleshooter, Damaged Goods and Russian Roulette.

The Eternal Question – How Do I Get Published? – by Austin S. Camacho

I talk to a lot of authors who ask me to read a sample of their novels, which I almost always do. I see a lot of work that looks well written, heartfelt work by writers who have something important to say. But these days their most frequent question isn’t about craft or concept. More likely I’m asked, “How do I go from here to getting someone interested in perhaps publishing this thing? What’s the next step?”

That’s the question, isn’t it? Especially when often I don't think even the well-written books are particularly commercial. Of course, that's just one opinion. If I was an expert I’d already have that million-dollar advance.But even great manuscripts won't appeal to every publisher, so I strongly recommend they get their book in front of the right publisher as agented submissions. And if the writer is working in my genre, crime fiction, these are books that not every agent will know how to promote. Your novel might not be the kind of thing that would get my agent excited but I’m sure there are people out there who would love to represent it. That leads me to two major recommendations for getting started.First, invest in a copy of the Writer’s Market. That book lists all the best agents, their contact information and what they’re looking for. Go thru those listings and submit to those that are looking for the kind of thing you write. The Writer’s Market will tell you what each agent wants to see (sample chapters, outline, sometimes just a letter with a synopsis.) Second, Google “Writers convention” and “Writers Conference” to find these events in your area. You should attend any public event that offers a chance to speak with and network with authors, agents and editors. These connections make your manuscript more welcome when it turns up on someone’s desk. Sending a book to an agent or editor you’ve met in person is a million times better than sending to a stranger.

And if you’re a mystery writer, Bouchercon is the one writer’s event worth travelling cross country for. This is where you can chat with people writing in your genre to learn how they made it. You can also talk to people who read your genre. They can tell you what they’re looking for in a new novel. And you’ll find that just answering the obvious questions like "what's it about?" and "what makes your book different from all the others?" can help you make your manuscript better.

And in case you’re wondering – I met the editor who eventually published Blood and Bone at a writer’s conference. I didn’t meet my agent at a con, but I did meet the author who introduced me to her at Book Expo America. I hope I meet YOU at this year’s Bouchercon.

Book Banter -- Trunk Music

Title: Trunk Music (Harry Bosch #5)

Author: Michael Connelly

Length: 464 pages

Genre: Mystery

Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is back on the job after being suspended and is ready to close a big case. When a small time movie producer shows up dead in the trunk of his Rolls Royce, it looks like the kind of case Bosch wants, complete with ties to the Mafia. Bosch follows a set of clues to Las Vegas where he reconnects with his former girlfriend, disgraced FBI agent Eleanor Wish. Eleanor reveals a key piece of information about the case that makes Bosch realize that who murdered the movie producer could be much closer to home.

Banter Points: This was a great, solid procedural type mystery with a great misdirection built into the story. Also, given the events that Harry takes on in "The Last Coyote" it was good to see him reconnect with Eleanor Wish and have a bit more emotion still than in some of the early Bosch books. Harry's new lieutenant also seems like a neat character and Word Nerd's hoping that she shows up in a few more of the Bosch books.

Bummer Points: Not a true bummer, but Word Nerd feels like she's never going to get through Connelly's backlist and get caught up to the point where she's reading the new ones as they come out!

Word Nerd Recommendation: Not the strongest Bosch book she's read, but a good entry in a series that continues to deliver.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #6 -- Vicki Lane

Bouchercon being a national event, draws attendees from all over. Today's author-- Vicki Lane -- will leave the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in October to come to Indianapolis. And today she reflects on her earlier experiences with Bouchercon.

My First Bouchercon, by Vicki Lane

“You’ll want to sign up for Bouchercon . . .”

“What’s Bouchercon?”

I came to writing late – I was 62 when my first book was published. And though I’d read mysteries all my life, beginning, of course, with Nancy Drew, I’d never known about mystery conferences. But after being told by Those Who Knew that this was important, I signed up for Bouchercon 2005 – in Chicago.

A big city. Yikes. Taxis. Tall buildings. Maybe even gangsters. I am so very much not a big city sort of a person. Since 1975 I’ve lived on a farm in the mountains of North Carolina and the idea of Chicago kind of scared me. But I went and it was glorious.

The thriller writer John Ramsey Miller (whom I’d met earlier at a local book fair) and his wife– aware of how lost this country mouse was feeling – took me under their wing and whisked me off to the Bantam Dell cocktail party, to the Art Museum, out to dinner.

For the first time I met in person my editor, the redoubtable Kate Miciak who shaped the careers of legends like Sue Grafton and Elizabeth George . . . saw my first Blackberry . . . and at the Bantam Dell cocktail party goggled at biggies like Lee Child, Laurie King, Karin Slaughter . . .

I was on a panel of other newbies – it went by in a pleasant blur – and I went to as many other presentations as I could. I think the most memorable was watching Jonathon King interview Harlan Coben -- the funniest and best interview I’ve ever heard. I bought some Coben books, stood in line in the bookroom to get them signed . . . and lost my heart to him when he wrote in one “You rock!” (I know, I know, -- he says that to everyone. But just for the moment it felt . . . kind of special.)

Since then I’ve been to two more Bcons, feeling a little less uneasy each time, a little more as if I belong. And this time – oh this time – my fourth book, In a Dark Season, is an Anthony Nominee for Best Paperback Original! Maybe I really do belong.

That first Bouchercon changed my mind about big cities and opened up a whole new world to me. I’m getting better at talking to people I don’t know, introducing myself to strangers, walking up to authors I’ve admired for years and telling them so. It’s what these cons are for – readers and writers connecting with one another -- and I’m delighted I’ll be there, wearing both hats.

I’ll be wearing my Southern writer’s hat (a tractor cap?) for my panel assignment on Thursday, at 1:30. The panel is “SOUTHERN VOICES: What’s special about Southern mysteries? “ Our moderator, the always funny Cathy Pickens , will attempt to keep T. Lynn Ocean, A. Scott Pearson, Deborah Sharp, and me in line.

You all come say hi, okay?

For more about Vicki Lane, check out her website and her blog.

Book Banter -- On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

Title: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (Wingfeather Saga, bk 1)

Author: Andrew Peterson

Genre: fantasy

Length: 279 pages

Plot Basics: In the town of Glipwood, the Igiby family -- one-legged, ex-pirate grandfather Podo, his calm and collected daughter Nia and her three children, Janner, Tink and Leeli -- live a simple life under the shadow of the rule of the Fangs of Dang. But when the famous Dragon Day festival rolls around again, the three children are granted a chance to explore the town alone and enjoy the day. Leeli goes missing (after her trusty dog Tink) setting off a series of encounters between the Igiby children and the Fangs and starting them down a path that will change their lives forever.

Banter Points: Word Nerd first picked this book up back when it came out. And she never read it... it seemed too silly, too much for kids at the time. But then she got herself lined up for the blog tour about Andrew Peterson's second book, the sequel to Dark Sea (Come back on Sept. 14!) and she figured she'd better read the first one.

And she's really glad she did. Peterson, in addition to being one of Word Nerd's favorite singer/songwriters, has an ear for storytelling and creating an engaging world and endearing characters. The Igiby children are resourceful and emotional and creative and still ring true to being children. Moreover, Peterson infuses the book with tongue-twister names, side-splitting footnotes and a litany of strange creatures (from toothy cows to cave blats) that make the book endearing.

Bummer Points: This is Word Nerd's pet peeve, but she was really bummed when suddenly, in the middle of the book, there were a couple of chapters from the POV of the commander of the Fangs. While it helped set up some of the big reveal at the end, Word Nerd bets there would have been another way to do that without breaking away from the POVs of the Igiby children.

Word Nerd Recommendation: This is a great read-aloud book for parents and kids. After reading the Chronicles of Narnia and before Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings, the Wingfeather Saga should get a place in the list of "great fantasy books that capture kids' imagination." And for grown-up kids, it's a heart-warming read that makes you remember what make believing is all about.

Bouchecon Guest Blogger #5 -- Mike Befeler

This week's guest blogger -- Mike Befeler -- shows us that murder and mysteries aren't just for the young...

I want to thank Bethany for inviting me to participate in this guest blog in preparation for the Bouchercon conference in October. I write the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery series which includes two published novels, Retirement Homes Are Murder and Living With Your Kids Is Murder.

I write about older characters—what I refer to as POWs, not “prisoners of war” but “persons of wisdom.” This is the fastest growing part of our populations and rather than ignoring older people, I encourage everyone to find the wisdom that exists within the ranks of our older citizens.

My novels were inspired by people I met when my mom and stepfather lived in a retirement home. My main character, Paul Jacobson, is a crotchety gentleman in his mid-eighties who suffers from short-term memory loss. Even though he can’t remember yesterday, he becomes an amateur sleuth and has a romance with a young chick in her seventies.

Paul is a crime magnet as well as being an older-chick magnet and gets in all sorts of trouble with the law, first in Hawaii and then in Colorado. With the assistance of his granddaughter, Jennifer, he solves a number of mysteries, and after first being a suspect, helps the police bring the perpetrators to justice.

Under Paul’s gruff exterior beats a heart of gold. He overcomes the effects of his short-term memory loss and continues to lead a successful and exciting life.

After retiring from the computer data storage industry in 2007, I’m now writing full time and also volunteering in organizations helping seniors. In Boulder County, Colorado, where I live, I’m on a Countywide Leadership Council and on the Aging Advisory Council that reviews funding requests from organizations providing services to seniors. I also attended a citizens’ police academy and volunteer for police training role-playing exercises. I have been giving a presentation at retirement communities and service organizations titled, “Aging and Other Minor Inconveniences,” that promotes a positive image of aging through humor and examples from my writing.

Writing about older characters presents the challenge of overcoming typical stereotypes. I enjoy portraying quirky characters who provide models for what we all can become as we grow older—vital, involved, humorous, alive people.

As Paul says, he may have been dealt a crapola hand that includes a memory that resets like the clock on a microwave when the power goes out, but he still gets up every morning to live his life to the fullest.

Mike Befeler Author of Retirement Homes Are Murder and Living With Your Kids Is Murder "It's hard to beat a team that includes a wisecracking old fart and a straight-talking young sprout, and Befeler's second geezer-lit entry delivers"-Kirkus Review

Book Banter -- The Amateurs

Title: The Amateurs

Author: Marcus Sakey

Genre: mystery/thriller

Length: 378 pages

Plot Basics: Four friends -- Alex, Mitch, Jenn and Ian -- all feel like their lives are stuck in a rut, save for their Thursday nights when they meet for drinks at the bar where Alex works and dream and play games like Ready Go (For example: What would you do if you won the lottery? Ready? Go.) When Alex is asked by his criminally-connected boss to serve as muscle during some kind of shady deal, the four hatch a plan that will shake up their lives. Rather than see the money turned over for a drug deal, they will rob the boss and use the money to move beyond their current circumstances. Of course, the foursome knows nothing about how to be criminals and the people on the other end of the robbery are quite good at it, forcing them out of their humdrum lives in ways they would never have imagined.

Banter Points: There are few other authors that Word Nerd reads who have the same keen sense of pacing as Marcus Sakey does. It's more than just a plot that keeps the reader turning pages to find out what happens next, but when to kick the story up a notch, when to give the reader the briefest respite from the intensity of the story, when to shock them. And that's all while writing darn believable people with stories of their own that make them feel like people you know. Sakey delivers another all-around winner with The Amateurs.

Bummer Points: This isn't necessarily a bummer, but Word Nerd really wants to see Sakey try something really different. All of his books so far have been great, hard to put down stories. But at their core, they all feature regular people going up against savvy criminals. Sakey's clearly found a niche that works and that he does well, but Word Nerd wonders what would happen if the formula was shaken a bit.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Great crime fiction. Sakey's other books have all ended up in Word Nerd's Top 10 books for the year list and it's a strong, strong possibility that this one will be there as well.

Book Banter -- The Intuitionist

Title: The Intuitionist

Author: Colson Whitehead

Genre: literary fiction

Length: ~250 pages

Plot Basics: Lila Mae Watson is the first black woman elevator inspector in the City. She also belongs to a new school of elevator inspection -- Intuitionism, a spooky ability to step into an elevator and know what's wrong with it. But when an elevator she recently expected goes into free fall, Lila Mae has to enter a shadowy world of politics, mobsters and missing journals to clear her name.

Banter Points: Word Nerd read this one because it was her book club pick for the month, and it turned out to be a good one. The elevator inspection theme gives the book a little bit of a "Brave New World" type sci-fi feel, but it's not so heavy-handed that non-sci-fi readers would be overwhelmed by it. Also, while the concept of elevator inspectors sounds a little bizarre, the book is about elevators the same way Watership Down is about rabbit -- they are a well-used vehicle for telling a story about a person and progress and politics and class.

Bummer Points: The copy of this book that Word Nerd checked out from her library had an "African American" sticker slapped on the spine and she found this somewhat odd. The story was great... no bummers there...but she didn't know what to make of this sticker. Was it a warning so that she knew it was written by a black man and featured black characters? Was it so that black readers could find it? She just found it sad that a piece of literature was so labeled when the points Whitehead made about race and class were valid for any reader.

Word Nerd Recommendation: It's not a new book, but it's a great book for book clubs or reports for high school/college students. Or anyone looking for something thought-provoking.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #4 -- Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace

It's one woman with two names -- and while she deals in miniatures, she's sharing her big thoughts on Bouchercon with us today. Take it away Camille. Or Margaret.

Elementary in Indianapolis
By Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace

Only about 2 months and I'll be in Indianapolis! There are so many attractions to be excited about. The famous Motorway. The impressive Monument. The Indianapolis Museum of Art, the fifth largest in the country. And I'm picturing myself navigating that amazing network of skywalks I've seen photos of. (Can you say, "shopping?")

Let's not forget the seventeen hundred or so readers and authors I'll meet at Bouchercon. And all the book dealers. And walking around talking about Rex Stout's "Some Buried Caesar," feeling very literary.

This year's program promises many new and interesting features. I'm looking forward to sessions designed around group discussions and conversations, an author's bazaar with free books for attendees, and (my favorite) a crafts room.

I'll have a chance to demonstrate the craft I write about: miniatures. "Mourning in Miniature," the 4th in my miniature mystery series will be out by then (released date October 6). If you've ever wondered what could go wrong at a 30-year high school reunion, it's all here!

In the crafts room we'll have a "make it and take it" session where attendees can make a simple mini or two on the spot and take them home. Here's a sample of what I'm planning: mini vases (beads) of flowers (colored foam). The photo shows the scale, with many mini vases surrounding a life size vase that's about 3 inches in diameter.

I've donated a miniature scene to the Charity Auction, always a very satisfying endeavor. A preview is shown: a reading corner with mini versions of some of our favorite books!

There are a lot of parallels between making a miniature scene and writing a novel. In each case I'm creating a model of reality, a fictional world where things can be easier and often make more sense than in the life-size world. In the world of dollhouses, the bathrooms never need cleaning, and the whole house can be recarpeted in less than an hour. In my (cozy) mystery novels, the sleuth and her loved ones always survive and justice is always served.

What could be more satisfying?

I'll also be sneaking away from the conference for 2 other Indianapolis attractions, but the IRS need not worry, since they're "work" related. First, I'm eager to see the Dillinger exhibit at the Indiana State Library. (What? He didn't look like Johnny Depp?)

And I can't miss the Museum of Miniature Houses in nearby Carmel. I hope a native will tell me how to pronounce this. CarMEL, as the town in California? Or CARmel, as with camel or (almost) the chewy candy? The museum has more than 50 miniature houses and room boxes. The website displays some of them at http://www.museumofminiatures.org/photogallery.html. I know I'll leave with a camera and notebook full of ideas, for books in the miniature mystery series and for mini projects at my home crafts table.

My passions for crime fiction and miniatures will come together in the Hoosier State. I can hardly wait!

By the way, Camille/Margaret, it's CARmel, just like the candy.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #3 -- Julie Kramer

This pre-Bouchercon mystery author bloggers thing has gotten such a great response, Word Nerd is moving this feature from one day a week to two days a week! Twice the pre-convention fun! Twice the inside look at writing from a slew of authors! So, Thursday will be another author, but kicking off the Tuesday schedule is Julie Kramer, who you can also catch this Thursday at the Mystery Company in Carmel.

Not only am I going to Bouchercon in Indianapolis this fall, but I'm coming to the Mystery Company in Carmel on August 20 at 7 pm to speak, sign and rub elbows with owner Jim Huang. Though I'm a Minnesota author, I'm going to get to know Indiana pretty well over the next four years because this Friday I'm dropping my son off at Notre Dame.

But instead of maternal gushing, let me tell you about myself and my books.

I'm a career television news producer recently turned novelist. Often, when I was writing news, I found myself thinking life would be easier I wasn't bound by facts. But when I tried to write fiction, I found myself wishing I had some facts. Because making things up felt like cheating. But once I worked through that quandary, I found news to be an excellent background for writing novels.

For example, I've interviewed hundreds of people, many on the best or worst day of their lives. And I think that helped give me an ear for dialogue.

And of course, every day of our working lives, journalists have rubbed in our faces the fact that truth is stranger than fiction. And I think that gives us the chutzpah to press farther in character and plot development than might initially feel believable. For those of you who insist fiction is stranger...well, let's take a woman out to kill a rival for her lover's affection. Say she has to drive across the country for the deed, so to save time let's put diapers on her. And why not make her an astronaut while we're at it? See what I mean?

My debut, STALKING SUSAN (just re-released in paperback and an Anthony nominee for Best First Novel) was inspired by a couple of cold cases I covered a decade ago. Two women, both named Susan were strangled on the same day, two years apart. In my novel, I invented a TV reporter who discovers a serial killer targeting women named Susan. Last summer, as I did book promotion, I always mentioned the victims and reminded folks that the cases remain unsolved 25 years later. You see, journalists like closure in our stories, so I hoped to shake loose a few long buried tips. But instead of calling the police with leads, people called to say, "When are you going to catch that Susan killer?" So the homicides were assigned to the St. Paul Cold Case Unit, which recently announced that new forensics tests on the old evidence have found DNA. That DNA shows that both women had different killers. So instead of a serial killer, two people have gotten away with murder for a quarter of a century. And now the cops are closer to solving the cases then they've ever been.

For my latest book, MISSING MARK, I didn't want to write back to back serial killers (although now I'm told they sell very well.) Because I've covered numerous missing people, I wanted to share with readers how newsrooms decide which cases get publicity and which don't. It can be a provocative discussion. So my TV reporter answers a want ad reading "Wedding Dress For Sale: Never Worn" and finds a jilted bride who doesn't know whether her groom got cold feet or is a cold case himself.

New authors are always insecure, so when People Magazine recently gave MISSING MARK a rave - "Smart dialogue and a fleet pace make this second outing in Kramer's fledgling series a crowd-pleaser" - that gave me a big boost in author confidence. Now I'm looking forward to Bouchercon with a big smile on my face, unless you think crime writers are better off sporting a scowl.

Book Banter -- The Poet

Title: The Poet
Author: Michael Connelly
Genre: Mystery
Length: 598 pages
Plot Basics: Jack McEvoy is an ace reporter for the Rocky Mountain News, crafting his beat around getting the story of murders, the victims and their families. But when his twin brother, Sean, commits suicide, Jack becomes part of his own reporting. His doggedness with the case reveals startling information that lands Jack with the FBI and a nationwide manhunt for a serial killer obsessed with police officers and detectives. As the FBI closes in on the killer, known as the Poet, and Jack gets closer to the story of his career, the danger to him becomes very real.
Banter Points: Word Nerd started reading Connelly a few months ago to gear up for Bouchercon, reading his famous Harry Bosch series. After four of those, she's sold on Harry as a character, but sticking with publication order, picks up the Poet next, even though it jumps characters. And is she glad she did. Word Nerd was blown away by this one -- tight plot, vivid characters, spot-on pacing that kept her turning pages. Given her past career, Word Nerd doesn't normally like books with reporters as main characters, but Jack McEvoy is perfect, owing, no doubt, to Connelly's own background in newspapers.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd wishes more Connelly's backlist that she's still working through was Jack McEvoy instead of Harry Bosch.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Not ready to commit to another long series of mysteries? Skip right to this one. Perfect as a standalone read.

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #2 -- Debbi Mack

Welcome to the second installment of the Bouchercon guest bloggers series. Next up on the tour: Debbi Mack.



How I (Accidentally) Became a (Sort of) Short Story Writer
by Debbi Mack

You know, when I started making serious efforts to write and publish fiction, I intended to be a novelist.

The first novel I wrote was a hardboiled mystery featuring a lawyer-sleuth named Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae. After it was critiqued by another author, who said, "I like it. This is publishable," I sent queries out to every agent I could. Got a few nibbles, even one request for the full manuscript—but no offers. Mostly what I got were rejections.

While I was doing all this, I got an idea for another Sam McRae novel. So I went to work on that. Finished it, sent it round to agents—and got more rejections. Not even nibbles this time.

As for short stories, I'd always heard they were HARD to write, that your story had to be told in the fewest words possible, resonate with readers in a profound, unforgettable way and end with a terribly clever twist. Sounded really hard! Plus how many markets were there for short story crime fiction? Let's see . . . one . . . two . . . (Are you counting the same two magazines I am? Yeah, I thought so.) Not a lot of markets, in any case.

Even so, I dashed off a short story for a contest. Didn't win, but placed third. Not bad, I thought. Maybe even something worth cleaning up and submitting elsewhere.

Then, the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime took blind submissions for its first anthology, CHESAPEAKE CRIMES. So I revised the story a bit and submitted it. And—what do you know—my first acceptance!

So, I started thinking—hey, maybe I should do a few more of these. So (in between novels, which I continued to write and pitch) I worked on several more short stories. I submitted to CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 2, but didn't make the cut that time. Oh, well, can't win them all.

Still there are many benefits to writing short stories, even if you want to be a novelist.

First, they're short. So even though that makes them tougher to write in some respects, it also means it won't take you forever to finish one.

Second, they can be a great way to break into publishing. After CHESAPEAKE CRIMES, I could finally say I was a published crime fiction writer. A big step, in my opinion.

Third, if you publish a few short stories now and then, it's a good way to keep your name out there between books. So even if some time lapses between novels (like, for some of us, several years?), you can claim active status as a fiction author by adding more short stories to your resume.

As a result, when a short story idea would hit me (and that's usually the way it felt—like it came to me in a flash), I'd sit down and start typing. Just get it down, see if it went anywhere. I've done this five or six times now—followed through and finished five. Of this number, three have been chosen to be published. And I'd like to polish up the others and submit those, too.

Meanwhile, I did finally find a publisher who accepted that second Sam McRae story, which was published as my first novel, IDENTITY CRISIS. I've written a third one and have lots more ideas for a series.

Now, three published short stories are, at best, a good start to a short story writing career. Nonetheless, it's occurred to me that my ratio of short stories to novels either published or pending same is 3-to-1 at this point. Which makes me primarily a short story writer—I guess.

And I sort of blundered my way into the whole thing.

I have to say I've learned several things from this. First, I actually enjoy writing short stories. They're fast, they're fun, they're challenging—I feel like I've really accomplished something when I write one.

Second, there's no money in short story writing. The markets are limited—two major crime fiction magazines, perhaps a few other less-obvious publications, some online ezines, the occasional open anthology and other than that, it's invite only, folks. And the pay? Well . . .

Third, I will do anything to be able to say I'm a published crime fiction writer, including writing short stories for a limited market and lousy pay.

And, if that's not devotion, what is?

Debbi Mack's novel, IDENTITY CRISIS, is a hardboiled mystery featuring female lawyer Sam McRae in a complex case of murder and identity theft. The novel was recently reissued in print and as an e-book. She's written other Sam McRae stories and would like to publish a whole series of them—when she finds a new publisher, that is. Her short stories have appeared in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES and BackAlleyWebzine.com. Debbi will have a short story in CHESAPEAKE CRIMES 4 to be published by Wildside Press in March 2010. Meanwhile, she keeps on writing more novels and, of course, short stories.

Book Banter -- Killer Summer

Title: Killer Summer

Author: Ridley Pearson

Genre: suspense/thriller

Length: ~370 pages

Plot Basics: Sun Valley, Idaho -- Sheriff Walt Fleming's on alert because of a prestigious wine auction happening at a high-end resort. As a group of thieves try for the wine, Walt realizes that the wine theft is a cover-up for a more serious crime: kidnapping. Only the plot goes awry and his nephew is caught up in the kidnappers plan. Walt has only a few hours to foil the plot and rescue his nephew before the FBI is called in and Walt doesn't trust them to keep his nephew safe.

Banter Points: Halfway through the book, the action really picked up and reminded Word Nerd of the other Ridley Pearson books she's read. Pearson writes great action sequences that keeps the plot moving and keeps the reader turning pages.

Bummer Points: Overall, Word Nerd found this title disappointing. She was excited for the chance to review a Pearson book because her past experience (The Seizing of Yankee Green Mall, the Peter and Starcatchers books) was good. But, she hadn't read of the other Walt Fleming books, but was figuring that wouldn't matter and she was reading an ARC of this title. Word Nerd felt for the first 100 pages at least that she suffered from character whiplash in Pearson's super-short chapters, bouncing from one to the next and never getting a feel for any of them. Ditto with plot. She gets it that it's supposed to feel unbalanced, but when the wine heist came up out of nowhere, Word Nerd felt really stupid. Also stupid was thinking she could drop in on the middle of the series -- but unlike some series, she has no interest in going back and filling in the gaps. She really has to wonder just how advanced this ARC really was and hopes that perhaps some substantive changes were made between this version and the version now on shelves.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Based on the ARC, skip it. Go back to Pearson's earlier titles.

Book Banter -- The Last Coyote

Title: The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch, bk. 4)

Author: Michael Connelly

Genre: mystery

Length: ~400 pages

Plot Basics: LAPD detective Harry Bosch is on a forced leave from the department after attacking his supervisor. Required to go to counseling, Bosch starts delving into his psych and why he's a cop. What comes to the forefront is the need to solve his own mother's brutal murder. Harry takes on the investigation off the books, endangering his career, his friends and himself. As the case progresses, it becomes clear that the murder was never solved for a reason and Harry stirs up trouble everywhere he goes.

Banter Points: This might be Word Nerd's favorite of the Harry Bosch books so far. Bosch has always been a rich character, but this book takes him to a new level. It's neat to see a character forced into so much introspection with a plot to go along with it. The book is still the high action expected from a Harry Bosch story, but it's got great depth too.

Bummer Points: Word Nerd just didn't like the girl who becomes Harry's new squeeze in this one. There's no good reason for it...other than Word Nerd was still rooting for Sylvia.

Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd wishes she had more time to get more of Connelly's books read before Bouchercon. As it is, she's really glad that the convention got her to pick up this great series of mysteries instead of just keeping them on the someday list. If you like mysteries and haven't read these, the question is, "What are you waiting for?"

Bouchercon Guest Blogger #1 -- Beth Groundwater

Since Bouchercon is coming to Indianapolis in a few months and since Word Nerd is in Indianapoils and attending Bouchercon, she decided to allow some Bouchercon-bound authors to take over her blog in the coming weeks.

Kicking things off this week is Beth Groundwater. Take it away Beth...

Many thanks to Bethany for inviting me to submit a guest article to her blog prior to my appearance at the Bouchercon conference in Indianapolis.

My mystery books feature a Colorado Springs gift basket designer as an amateur sleuth who solves murders that fall in her lap (literally, in the first book!). The first book, A Real Basket Case, was released March, 2007 and was nominated for a 2007 Best First Novel Agatha Award (named for Agatha Christie). To Hell in a Handbasket, the second in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, was released May 15th this year. Claire has a part-time gift basket business in the basement of her home and puts together different types of gift baskets in the books.

I’d love to answer any questions you have about what it’s like to write a craft-based mystery series, so please submit them in a comment here. To whet your appetite, here’s a favorite gift basket recipe that I hope you’ll enjoy and use for someone who adores all things mysterious.

Recipe for a Mystery Lover's Gift Basket
Color scheme: black, red, and either white or gray
Container: black-painted basket, bucket or box, with a lid or handle sticking up, from which you hang fake spider webbing
Stuffing: dried Spanish moss or red-dyed tissue paper, shreds, or wood shavings
Contents:
- A Real Basket Case and/or To Hell in a Handbasket mystery books
- CD of eerie music such as Mystery Movie Scores or Mystery Sound Effects
- Pocket-sized mystery party game or travel Clue game
- Movie DVD: Clue, Mousetrap, an Alfred Hitchcock or Sherlock Holmes movie, or a movie collection (Mystery Classics: 50 Movie Pack)
- Chocolate or bubble gum coins or other mystery-related chocolate shapes such as blood drops, knives, or guns (see http://www.chocolatepen.com/pieces.html for a sample vendor)
- And a selection from the following list:
-- Magnifying glass
-- Pair of play handcuffs and/or sheriff's badge
-- Rubber knife
-- Glasses, nose, mustache disguise
-- Skull-shaped/logo item(s): tea-light candle holder, squeeze ball, notepad, drinking cup (see the Halloween collection at http://www.orientaltrading.com/)
-- Bottle of stage blood from a costume or makeup supply store, or make your own (see chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/fakeblood.htm)

Unlike my amateur sleuth, Claire Hanover, I do not have a gift basket business of my own. My business is writing mystery novels! I live in Colorado Springs, where I defend my garden from marauding mule deer and wild rabbits and try to avoid getting black-and-blue on Colorado’s black and blue ski slopes. I have loved to read since I was a child and savor those monthly meetings with my Book Club, and not just for the gossip and wine. For more information about me and my books, and to sign up for my email newsletter and enter a contest for free mystery books, go to: http://bethgroundwater.com/.

Book Banter -- The Historian

Title: The Historian

Author: Elizabeth Kostova

Length: 676 pages

Genre: Literary horror

Plot Basics: A girl grows up under the shadow of her father's research in Vlad Tepes, the man behind the Vlad the Impaler/Vlad Dracula legends. When her father disappears one night, she takes off after him in a mad-cap pursuit to find him before Dracula does. As she travels, she reads her father's diaries and letters about his hunt for the Dracula years early, through eastern Europe during the height of the Cold War.

Banter Points: This was a refreshing break from the current pop culture vampire fiction. Even though Kostova's tome is only a few years old, it reads like Stoker's Dracula, with letters and diaries and documents providing the foundation for the story. And, like Stoker, Dracula is a bad guy... not the book's love interest. Additionally, Kostova's own historical research figures in prominently and smoothly to this book -- it's hard to tell where the legend leaves off and her imagination begins.

Bummer Points: The only drawback to this book is its length. Because it's so long, it takes the plot a little while to really ramp up and get going. Additionally, there are parts of it that read almost more like a history book than a novel when the background gets really thick.

Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like quiet horror, and history this is a must-read. This is another top contender for Word Nerd's top ten books list this year.

Book Banter -- Fade to Blue

Title: Fade to Blue
Author: Sean Beaudoin
Genre: YA
Length: 190 pages
Plot Basics: Sophie Blue is a hardcore Goth-girl whose paranoia that somebody's out to get her might just be real. Of course, there was that time she got hit by an ice cream truck... Now, a year later, Sophie is trying to find her dad who mysteriously disappeared, motivate her comic-book loving brother and deal with her breakdown suffering mom, all while working on her Suicide-Bunny-esque drawings and nursing her crush for Aaron Agar. Sophie's paranoia isn't misplaced -- that ice cream truck is still out to get her and she got to figure out what's real and what isn't about her town and her life.
Banter Points: Fade to Blue was an interesting premise -- a little bit Matrix, a little bit Veronica Mars, a little bit Quantum Leap. It also had this unique feature of a mini comic book halfway through that was important to the plot and moving the story ahead. Also, while Word Nerd isn't always a fan of chapters leaping between different characters POV (particularly the switch between multiple first person POV), it really worked for this book. She'd say more about this, but it might get into spoiler land, so she'll refrain.
Bummer Points: As a whole though, Fade to Blue just didn't work for Word Nerd. There could be lots of reasons -- she was reading it outside while staffing a golf outing, she was put off by the f-bombs (not expecting those) and the snarkiness of the characters, the cast of high school student characters felt stereotypical, Word Nerd's not a teenager, she was getting sunburned while reading it outside at a golf outing... Whatever the case, Word Nerd was disappointed that she was disappointed. The book looks cool, it's got neat plot twists, but Word Nerd just wasn't captivated by it.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you are a teen reader and you're done with Gossip Girl and over Twilight, Beaudoin's story is original and worth an afternoon if you like sci-fi. Grown-ups, this a YA that doesn't cross over well.

June Bibliometer

June ended a while ago, but Word Nerd finally crunched her bibliometer numbers for the month.

9 books
2,513 pages
83.7 pages/day

YTD
48 books

This is three books fewer that 2008 at the same time, but she's guessing at some point, she'll make that up.

Beach Reads

NPR has compiled a list of the 100 best beach reads. This was quite the process with editors and reviewers first culling a HUGE list down and then putting out the top 200 or so up for a vote to their listeners/website users. Everybody got 10 votes in the poll (Word Nerd voted) and she thinks the results are interesting.

The full list of winners is here.

Word Nerd is sort of surprised to see the Harry Potter books as the top beach read and wonders if that pick was influenced at all by the release of the new movie. (Like say, had the list come out in May before the movie, would HP have still been number 1?)

Of the top ten, Word Nerd voted for #'s 7 and 8 (The Great Gatsby and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.) She doesn't think she voted for HP, but honestly, can't remember. (Voting was a few weeks ago.)

She knows she also voted for #20 -- Water for Elephants, #24 -- The World According to Garp and #28 -- The Princess Bride and is a little disappointed to see them that far down in the list. (Not to disparage Gone with the Wind at #16, but who wants to lug that tome with them to the beach...)

What do you think of the NPR listeners rankings? Are there books you would put higher? Lower? Think should be off the list altogether?

Book Banter -- Conspirator

Title: Conspritor (Foreigner #10)
Author: C.J. Cherryh
Length: ~350 pages
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: Word Nerd probably can't do this without spoilers for the first nine. Sorry.

Bren Cameron, translator to the atevi aiji, is back from space and the attempted coup is over. But, internal shufflings at the legislative apartments means Bren is losing his home there, so he retires to his country estate. However, the aiji's precocious son -- Caijeiri -- sneaks away to join Bren at his coastal home. Only the politics in that region aren't as stable as they think, and Caijeiri's escapades puts them all at risk.
Banter Points: A trip back to the Foreigner universe is always welcome; even though it's an alien culture, after 10 books, it sort of feels like a home coming. Great political machinations in this one that reminded Word Nerd more of the first trilogy.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd's not thrilled with half the story being told from Caijeri's POV. Cherryh started that a few books back and it's been a change Word Nerd could have done without.
Word Nerd Recommedation: As she's said before, this is top notch sci-fi. It's not space opera and is more akin to a thoughtful political novel than sci-fi. Nevertheless, it's a must-read series for sci-fi fans.

Book Banter -- Naamah's Kiss

Title: Naamah's Kiss
Author: Jacqueline Carey
Length: 600+
Genre: fantasy
Plot Basics: Carey returns to her alternative Europe for her latest book. This one picks up several generations after the adventures of Phedre and Imri in the Kushiel series. The story follows Moirin, a child of the Maghun Dhonn in Alba with a D'Angeline father. She's set on an adventure that takes her to Terre D'Ange and then lands beyond as she searches for her destiny, and wrestles with her dual nature of have D'Angeline passions and Maghun Dhonn magic.
Banter Points: It was fun to return to this lush world that Carey obviously has lavished much attention on in creating it. Moirin is an interesting protagonist -- very self-assured in ways that Imri wasn't. It was also nice to see Carey again push the boundaries of the known world in the books with taking Moirin to China (Ch'in) and discussing the discovery of Terra Nova.
Bummer Points: This book was really slow to get going. Word Nerd understands that it takes time to maneuver through a complexly built world (she's dealing with this in her own writing...) but, she really didn't engage with the book fully until the second half. Additionally, the romance in this book between Moirin et al. featured a lot of lesbian relationships which Word Nerd just doesn't prefer to read about. (Actually, there's a lot of straight relationships in this book too...Moirin gets around... and unlike Phedre, the sex in this book felt superfluous to the story many times.)
Word Nerd Recommendation: On the whole, not as captivating as the first six, but worth it for Carey fans. Word Nerd will definitely read the next one when it comes out.

Everybody needs an editor

Copy editing is important.

Word Nerd isn't getting political here, but check out this story that Vanity Fair did about Sarah Palin's resignation speech.

They assembled a top-notch team of editor/proofreader types to correct the speech for publication. Look up "proofreader marks" to decipher everything they fixed.

Word Nerd's not saying her pages look like this as she's revising, but it gives you the idea. Taken to the extreme.

Losing another Great

Word Nerd hasn't read any Frank McCourt herself, but they are books that are always on her reading list.

It always makes her sad to learn when authors who have been recognizable pass away.

The full story is here.

New writing schedule

Word Nerd is trying something new....

Lately, she's been lax about writing. Not much word nerd-iness going on here, or at least not much related to the WIP because writing at work has been on full steam since late May. But, she's been feeling the lack of creative work. Many people who are artists and writers can attest to this... how it's an internal feeling of misdirection when not producing material.

In the past, Word Nerd's writing time was about 6-8 p.m. She wrote two novel rough drafts during this general time frame. But as of this spring, that time isn't working... disappearing most of the time into other projects, late evenings at work and no head space left for creative work. This time frame was a holdover from graduate school when those two hours were the ONLY two she had to complete her Creative Fiction class projects. It just took her a while to realize that a schedule that worked six years ago wasn't working anymore.

So, this morning Word Nerd began the process of switching her writing time to the morning before work. The alarm went off at 6 and she got out of bed then, no hitting of the snooze button. The goal is to gradually work that time back to 5, to give her two hours of writing time in the morning when her brain is fresh.

This morning, she managed to carve out a few minutes even in the compressed schedule and it felt good. Word Nerd talked to several other writing contacts about their schedules and found that 5-7 a.m. (or earlier) was popular and productive. She really hopes this solves the lack of productivity problem and makes for some good writing time.

She's curious though --- who else writes in the early morning? Or how did you establish the writing schedule you have?

Guest Blogger -- Sean Beaudoin

Word Nerd is gratefully turning the reins over today to YA author Sean Beaudoin to talk about his new book, Fade to Blue. She's got a lovely copy of the ARC which she's looking forward to reading. In the meantime, as she tries to get her own writing back on track, do her real job and read through a friend's WIP, she's leaving you (for today, at least) in Sean's hands.

Take it away, Sean Beaudoin....

Hey, Fade To Blue is a book about losing it. Your mind, some weight, your best friend, your father, a conception of reality, and a dog. Where did the dog go? Hint: Don’t look in the trunk. There’s zombies. But for only about 10 pages. There’s Sophie Blue, possibly not her high school’s most popular student. There’s Kenny Fade, possibly his school’s owner of the coolest red Jeep. Sophie’s got a brother named O.S., which could stand for any number of things, like Outstanding Student, Original Sin, or Obese Sity. At least according to his cafeteria detractors, of whom there are many. O.S. has a bit of a weight problem, and is overly fond of comic books. He also has a big frizzy perm. Or does he? No, actually that’s another book. O.S. is bald. Shaved right down to the scalp.
Man, it was fun writing Fade To Blue. I hope it’s a lot of fun reading it. But I didn’t want it to be too easy. So, it’s also a puzzle. There’s a mini comic in the center that gives clues as to what’s going on. Or what’s not going on. I keep getting emails from people asking “Wait, so, if Sophie did this, did she do that?”
My answer is usually maybe. Which is guaranteed to annoy 33.4% of the reading public. But, as marketing studies show, the other 66.6% really likes to unravel the knots on their own.

WARNING: There are no vampires in this book. Unless you count wearing black lipstick and staying up late at night by yourself and maybe sitting on the roof while you watch cars zoom down the overpass at the edge of town.

My only piece of advice for potential readers is: BEWARE THE NURSE! You can’t trust a nurse as far as you could kick a lemon pie.

Unless your mom or dad is one, in which case they’re under-appreciated and underpaid.

Just a Note

Book Banter -- Judge

Title: Judge (Wess'har Wars, bk. 6)
Author: Karen Traviss
Genre: sci-fi
Length: 391 pages
Plot Basics --- SPOILER ALERT






The Eqbas Vorhi have arrived at Earth, ready to restore the planet's climate, ecology and reduce the human population to more suitable levels. But it's politics as usual on Earth, and the world's superpowers are not so happy about this plan, even though they had time to prepare for it. Moreover, Shan Frankland and the detachment of Royal Marines who originally went to Cavanaugh's Star, are trying to find the last of the government officials responsible for the cobalt bombing on Bezer'ej -- and trying to keep Shan, Ade and Aras out of the hands of those who would use the c'naatat organism for bad ends. Unbeknownst to them, there is one more carrier of c'naatat on Earth with the power to ruin the entire mission...

Banter Points: Word Nerd really enjoyed this series. The science fiction was great (no moments of super-gadgetry that got our heroes out of a jam...). One of the things that made the science fiction good was that it was easy to imagine the current state of things evolving (devolving?) to the point where they were in the series. The characters were terrific throughout, adapting and changing giving the situations they found themselves in.
Bummer Points: Another spoiler alert here... Word Nerd lost it when one of the characters died. She didn't realize at all how attached she was to this character.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Top-notch sci-fi for fans of the genre.

Airplane books

Word Nerd taking several trips in the next few weeks involving jet planes, so it's time for some airplane books again.

She's pretty set on her reading list for her first trip. The books she's packing are:
Running Blind, Lee Child
Judge, Karen Traviss
The Last Coyote, Michael Connelly

She's got a second trip in three weeks and she's not as sure for this trip. What she's thinking so far is:
The Masque of the Black Tulip, Lauren Willig
The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde (this would be a second reading)
??
??
??

It's a trip to the west coast which means she'll have PLENTY of reading time on the plane.

Any other suggestions for the second trip?

Book Banter -- Perfect Fifths

Title: Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling, bk 5)
Author: Megan McCafferty
Length: ~250
Genre: chick-lit
Plot Basics: It's been a few years since Jessica turned down Marcus's proposal. Now, she's rushing through the airport to try to catch a flight to the Caribbean for a friend's wedding, when she literally runs into him. Stuck for a while at the airport, they talk about what's gone before and what might be next for them.
Banter Points: This series just makes me (me, yes, me) smile. (if you've read the books, you'll understand why Word Nerd needed to drop the third person for a moment there...) Jessica's voice is so strong and Marcus is such a compelling character. Also -- the haiku section. Wow.
Bummer Points: Part of this book is written from Marcus' perspective which is a departure from the other books in the series which are only from Jessica's POV. It adds something, but on the other hand, it sort of changes the feel of the books.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like romantic comedies, this is a series for you.

Book Banter -- Ally

Title: Ally (Wess'har Wars, book 5)
Author: Karen Traviss
Length: 388 page
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: The wess'har from Eqbas Vorhi are determined to clean up the overpopulation and pollution on Umeh -- as a precursor to their voyage to Earth to fix its environmental problems. But to do that, they bring in yet another alien species, one that Shan Frankland dubs as being eco-jihadists for their radical commitment. Meanwhile, it's getting harder and harder to stop the spread of c'naatat and keeping it from heading back to Earth with the Eqbas.
Banter Points: Traviss continues to deliver in her sci-fi series here. Shan, Ade, Aras and the rest of the gang continue to have to make moral choices about the environment and the spread of c'naatat when those choices become less and less clear cut.
Bummer Points: This isn't the most dynamic book in the series. Some crazy stuff happens (Word Nerd won't spoil it for anyone), but it largely felt like a set up to book six which, since it ends the series, she think will have to be awesome.
Word Nerd Recommendation: This is some top-notch sci-fi. No super scientific gadgets to save the day. Just a bunch of aliens and a crazy virus.

Book Banter -- The Gargoyle

Title: The Gargoyle
Author: Andrew Davidson
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Literary fiction
Plot Basics: This captivating novel tells the story of a former playboy who is burned and disfigured in a fiery car accident. As he struggles to recover in the burn unit of the hospital, he meets a woman named Marianne Engel -- a possible psychiatric patient -- who tells him stories of loves found and lost... and a compelling story of their past lives when she was a nun and he a mercenary in Germany and the exquisite love story that blossomed around them. As she descends farther into her illness, he may just recover and learn what it is to love for real.
Banter Points: Word Nerd remembers reading really good reviews of this book when it first came out and it just took her awhile to get to it. The reviews, it's fair to say, were spot on. The Gargoyle is Davidson's first book, but it reads like a masterpiece. The characters are vivid and lyrical, the writing nimble and poetic as the story moves across time periods, countries and lifetimes.
Bummer Points: At first, Word Nerd really didn't like the fact that the narrator never has a name. By the end of the book, it was clear why he didn't.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Thumbs way up on this one. Definitely a top-ten book of 2009, with plenty of potential to be in the number one or two slot.

Mo*Con

Word Nerd went to her first ever writers conference this past weekend. (And life has been really busy, which is why no blog until now...)

Mo*Con is put on by the Indiana Horror Writers Association. No, Word Nerd is not switching genres. And yes, it was still really fun and valuable.

The panels were good, but the best part was the amount of time left open for just talking to people. Word Nerd met several other burgeoning writers (is it pretentious for her to put herself in that category?), some published authors, a book buyer and a publisher. All in one day.

She's heard for a long time that the cons are the way to make connections and she sort of thought yeah, well, maybe someday. Not anymore. She needs to make time for the conventions now. Really. Even this relatively small one was hugely helpful.

And motivating.

Now, back to chapter 1 of the WIP.

Book Banter -- Deathwish

Title: Deathwish (Cal Leandros bk. 4)
Author: Rob Thurman
Length: ~370 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Plot Basics: Cal and his brother Niko are hired to find out who's stalking an old vampire, Seamus. At the same time, Cal is being watched by Auphe "cousins" and trying to keep ahead of them as well. When another younger vampire shows up, on the run for her thieving activities, Cal and Niko realize they can't keep all the people they care about safe with the Auphe still around and they launch a crazy plan to go up against the Auphe.
Banter Points: Word Nerd got in on the ground floor with this series and is glad she hung on to it. Thurman definitely has something to offer the urban fantasy niche with her wiseacre heros and fast, fast banter and action.
Bummer Points: This series had a note of finality to it, but Word Nerd checked on Thurman's website and the news is this isn't the end of Cal Leandros.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like this sort of thing, these are a worthwhile read.

Book Banter -- Turn Coat

Title: Turn Coat (Dresden Files)
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Plot Basics: When the Warden Morgan shows up at Harry's door claiming he's innocent of a crime he's been accused of, Harry takes him in -- despite Morgan's past persecution of Harry. But harboring a fugitive from the Wizard's Council is no easy task. And Harry decides rather than just to try to keep Morgan safe, he's going to prove the Warden is innocent.
Banter Points: Word Nerd is just a big Harry Dresden fan and this one didn't disappoint.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd's caught up with the series, so now she has to wait like everyone else who's been reading this series for year until the new one comes out.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read them.

Book Banter -- Silk

Title: Silk
Author: Alessandro Baricco
Length: 132 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: In 1861, Herve Joncour undertakes a journey to Japan to get new silkworms to keep his French silk-making town running. While there, he sees a woman who completely captivates him -- although they never speak -- and Joncour changes his life because of it.
Banter Points: Word Nerd stumbled on this book while browsing shelves at the library and is grateful for this happy accident. Silk is beautiful for how short it is and the reader can't help but be swept up in Baricco's powerfully understated writing.
Bummer Points: Over too quickly...
Word Nerd Recommendation: Read it, preferably all in one sitting.

Beta reading

A few months back, you may remember that Word Nerd talked about asking a few trusted readers to read her whole WIP and give feedback.

Well, as has been said, turnabout is fair play and so now Word Nerd is doing this for a writer pal and she's realizing just what hard work she subjected her friends to. This is a different kind of reading than just reading a book for fun. It's harder because you have to pay more attention and figure out how to tactfully explain problems and still give praise where praise is due. (It's so much easier to pick on the negatives.)

What this really brings Word Nerd to is a big THANK YOU for her magnificent seven who have read/are beta reading her WIP. She really didn't know what she was putting you through and you absolutely deserve every ounce of thanks and credit possible for helping make the WIP better.

Book Banter -- Matriarch

Title: Matriarch (Wess'har wars, bk. 4)
Author: Karen Traviss
Length: 381 pages
Genre: Sci-fi
Plot Basics: SPOILER ALERT



Things continue to deteriorate around the planets of Bezer'ej and Wess'ej as the Eqbas Vorhi ship prepares to restore ecological balance to the iseni before moving on to Earth. Meanwhile, as hard as Shan Frankland has tried to keep the c'naatat contained to herself, Aras and Ade, she is furious to learn that Rayat and Lindsey were infected. Shan struggles to keep her own moral compass as the Eqbas contemplate unleashing bioweapons on the iseni and what they will do to Earth when they get there.
Banter Points: The plot basics don't really cover this book very well. As Word Nerd has discovered in the past, writing these for the books well into a series is hard. Nevertheless, the series just keeps bringing it, adding plot twists and forcing characters to grow and adapt to the alien environments they find themselves in.
Bummer Points: Some of this book seemed a little light on action and a bit heavy on the philosophy.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Top-notch sci-fi here. Read it if you are a fan of the genre.

Book Banter -- Greywalker

Title: Greywalker
Author: Kat Richardson
Length: 341 page
Genre: urban fantasy
Plot Basics: P.I Harper Blaine dies for a whole two minutes after the vicious attack of a small-time crook she's chasing. When she recovers, she discovers that she can see into the Grey, the shadowy realm between life and death. Her Greywalking ability leads her into the territory of vampirs, ghosts and one terrifying antique that could destroy much of Seattle if Harper doesn't figure out how to stop it.
Banter Points: Word Nerd was jonesing for some good urban fantasy and had seen the Greywalker books while browsing at a book store. The concept of the Grey is cool and again, its nice to see a book with vampires in it where they are still scary guys and not the main squeeze of the female protagonist.
Bummer Points: This book sort of screamed first novel. There were lots of info dumps and lots of places where Richardson had to spell out how the Grey worked. Word Nerd felt like she didn't get to know Harper well enough, or that the stakes were never high enough for her personally.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd will tackle the next two books in the series, hoping that Richardson improves with time. There's enough good about these to make it worth it.

March and Literary Year Bibliometer

Word Nerd crunched her reading stats a week ago, but just kept forgetting to post. Here are the salient numbers.

March 2009
8 books
2743 pages
88 pages/day average

2009 YTD
23 books

March also saw the end of the 2008-09 Literary Year. Word Nerd's seventh such LY was right on par with the others. (The Literary Year marks when Word Nerd began keeping her book list during her last year of college).
LY 2008-09
96 books
Seven Year Total = 573

Book Banter -- Illegal

Title: Illegal
Author: Paul Levine
Length: 367 pages
Genre: legal mystery
Plot Basics: Hot-shot lawyer Jimmy "Royal" Payne is watching his career go down the drain after he was set up on a sting operation to bribe a judge. But when he finds a young Mexican boy, Tino, who was separated from his mother during a border crossing, Payne takes it upon himself to reunite the family, amidst a growing wave of anti-immigration sentiment.
Banter Points: This is definitely a book for the times, given the political debates about immigration. Jimmy Payne was reminiscent of Levine's other lawyer hero, Steve Solomon from the "Solomon v. Lord" series, but had his own set of hang-ups that made the two characters different. Tino was a great character, full of a youthful feistiness, that made him a treat to read about.
Bummer Points: This is definitely a book for the times. Levine's cultural references (to things like the flop of the last Indiana Jones movie) were very specific and likely will lose their punch in a few years. The plot is rather predictable as well and while Jimmy Payne is not Steve Solomon, the characters are quite similar. Overall, it seems like Payne is sort of recycled from Solomon.
Word Nerd Recommendation: It's a good airplane read, but if you are looking for a gripping legal thriller, this isn't it.

Book Banter -- The Domino Men

Title: The Domino Men
Author: Jonathan Barnes
Length: 382 pages
Genre: modern fantasy
Plot Basics: Henry Lamb is a file clerk for the national civil service archive. When his grandfather has a stroke, Henry is recruited by a shadowy agency called the Directorate to continue his grandfather's secret work -- which Henry knows nothing about. He ends up on a mad-cap search for a woman named Estella and pursued (or led) to her by the mysterious Domino Men, all in an attempt to stop London from falling victim to the Leviathan, who is owed the whole city from a Faustian bargain made years ago by Queen Victoria.
Banter Points: So, the plot summary sounds weird, that's because the book's weird, but it's AMAZINGLY so. The plot unfolds very naturally, actually, and brings the reader along so gently that you forget just how strange this whole set-up really is.

Word Nerd is amazed at Barnes' sophomore offering after she was less than thrilled with his debut, "The Somnambulist." Henry Lamb is a delightful character, sort of Arthur Dent-ish in his approach to suddenly having to save the world. The whole book has a bit of a feel of Hitchhiker's Guide to it... if you infuse that with a big does of H.P. Lovecraft and a splash of "V for Vendetta."
Bummer Points: Word Nerd can't say what she thinks is a bummer without ruining the book. Sorry. She's staying spoiler free here today.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Two thumbs way up. Fans of quiet horror and modern fantasy, this is a must-read. Watch for The Domino Men on Word Nerd's Top Ten in 2009.

Rewrites

Word Nerd worked this weekend on finishing rewrites to chapters 27 and 28 of the WIP. She was really hoping she was past this point of ripping out sections and adding new, but that wasn't the way of it. In fact, this weekend, she wrote in a new minor character (!) to really bring the scenes to life. A little bit of back work will get this person into some earlier chapters too, until her big scenes in these chapters.

This new character isn't long for this world, but giving her a few scenes and a name keeps her from being a throw-away character. It would be easier to just make her a nobody, but doing that deprives the main character of some actions and reactions to a real character. Giving a minor character a bit of a personality helps to make the story feel less wooden and gives minor characters some bit of purpose and motivation.

Word Nerd knows enough about this character that were she so inclined, she could write a separate short story about her. One of the other minor characters from the WIP may just get her own short story because she won't leave Word Nerd alone.

The editing now is back on track and Word Nerd hopes to be done with this process soon.

Book Banter -- The Black Ice

Title: The Black Ice (Harry Bosch, bk. 2)
Author: Michael Connelly
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: mystery
Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch doesn't get the call about the apparent suicide of another cop, because the department is determined to keep it under wraps. Bosch realizes there is more to the case than what it seems, particularly as it intersects with another murder investigation he's working on. Soon, Harry is tracking drug smugglers running black ice from Mexico into California and the cartel is gunning for him as he tries to figure out who really killed whom.
Banter Points: It was nice to get back to Harry Bosch soon after reading the first one in this series because the bigger plot line about what happened to Harry was fresher. Word Nerd didn't like this one quite as well as the Black Echo, but it was still a good series mystery read.
Bummer Points: See above.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Word Nerd's sticking with the series, largely in preparation for Bouchercon.

Back to the paper and pencil

Word Nerd has barely written anything in the past two weeks because everything has been so busy.

Last night, knowing she needed to get back into revisions, Word Nerd pulled out the paper and pencil to use to rewrite a chapter or two of the WIP. It's a section she's not sure about -- whether it needs a rewrite at all, or just pretty major edit. So far, it's a mix of both, keeping some sections of the chapter and overhauling the boring parts.

It's sort of ironic, that these two chapters were the last one that Word Nerd wrote by hand before switching to writing on the computer to finish off the book, and now she's redoing them by hand. The few pages she wrote last night went well. There's something more visceral about writing by hand than on the computer.

Hopefully this will get her back in the swing of things to finish off this last set of revisions. Somebody tell her that she needs to finish this book again.

Book Banter -- The Black Echo

Title: The Black Echo (Harry Bosch, bk. 1)
Author: Michael Connelly
Length: ~400 pages
Genre: Mystery
Plot Basics: LAPD Detective Harry Bosch gets a call on a weekend afternoon about a dead body in a drainage tunnel. The police believe that the man OD'ed, but Bosch recognizes the man from serving with him in Vietnam and thinks the case is really a murder. The case takes Bosch deep into his past as a 'tunnel rat' during the war and helps the city and FBI solve an bank heist.
Banter Points: Word Nerd picked up the first of the Harry Bosch novels because Connelly is going to be the guest at Bouchercon this fall, which she is really hoping to attend. She thought it was a good idea to read some of his stuff before then. This was a good idea too because it was a good book. Bosch is the classic loner detective character, but Connelly does this well and makes Bosch likeable (sort of) despite his attitude.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd is looking at a long back list to get through all of the Harry Bosch novels.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Mystery fans, this is a well-known series in the genre that's worth exploring at least a little bit. Non-mystery fans, this is a pretty good heist story.