Yes, we know who you are! by Catriona

Who are the authors who have inspired you in how you conduct yourself as a professional writer? This is not so much the creative/writerly side of them (but could be) but how they navigate their career, and the publishing industry in general. What do they do that you find inspiring or interesting?

This is out now in the US - buy links

Right, well I'm going to start by recounting an experience that taught me how *not* to be as a professional writer out in public.

I got introduced to this guy - let's call him Firstname Surname - at a publisher's party. I asked - re. Surname - "Is that an U or and I"?

He gave me an extremely waspish look and said, "Don't they have Jews where you come from?"

I blinked a couple of times and said, "They don't have schwa where I come from." Schwa is the name of that very beige little central vowel that pops up in a lot of varieties of English, but not in Scottish, at least not in stressed syllables. It's why no Scottish kid will ever be named "Fleur". Because she'd get called either Flurr or Flooo-ur. Poor wee sausage. Anyway, back to Captain Schwa at that party.  I was trying to work out how to pronounce his name properly in my accent! How was that rude? How the frilly hat was it antisemitic?

Of course, it wasn't. I worked out later - well, my editor told me with a lot of eye-rolling and extra anecdotes from other events - that my transgression had been not already knowing who he was. Not fainting with the honour of finally meeting him in the flesh at last, not coming back to consciousness weeping that I didn't happen to have my enitre well-thumbed collection of his works to be signed if only he was gracious enough to grant such a favour.

I'm not naming him. But, trust me, if I did, some of you would go, "Who?"

(Reminds me of my good friend Alex, who used to be a trolley dolly (his term) for an airline. Whenever he was asked "Don't you know who I am?" - and he was; people are weird - he'd raise his voice and say to the entire cabin, "Need some help here, everyone, please. Gentleman's forgotten who he is.")

Alex- king of sarcasm

Compare this with a similarly small but equally huge incident concerning Charlaine Harris at the Harrogate Crime Festival. Okay so one of the ways a UK literary festival differs from a US convention is that the panels and interviews are individually ticketed. At Harrogte, the deal is that authors can attend them for free but, if an event is sold out, we wait till all the paying customers are seated and then tuck in where there's space, or stand.

I don't remember what the sold-out session was the year that Charlaine Harris was Guest of Honour and I was there too, but we were waiting in the corridor at the door to the ballroom to see if we'd be able to squeeze in, when a member of the publicity team shot across the other end of the passageway and then did a perfect, ambulatory double-take - re-appearing moving backwards, I mean - then changed course like a wee car on a scalextric track and came thundering towards us. Well, towards Charlaine. Well, actually, towards the student volunteer, checking tickets at the door.

That's not me and Charlaine Harris,
but it is Harrogate.

She had just fired up the blowtorch to blast the ticket-taker to a heap of charred regretfulness for the sin of letting Bloody Charlaine HARRIS for God's sake stand in a corridor, when Charlaine put a hand on the publicist's arm and murmured, "Hon? Don't do that."

So. I decided a long time ago that no matter how succesful I might be lucky enough to get, I'd be Charlaine Harris and not Sir Dontyou of Knowwhoiam.

Which is why the story Angela told on Monday of cringing because she asked me, when we first met: "Where are you on your writing journey" is not a story I've even remembered. That and the fact that the answer is same for all of us. "I'm one bad book or a change in tastes away from not getting to do this any more."

Cx

Inspired by Eric Beetner

 Who are the authors who have inspired you in how you conduct yourself as a professional writer? This is not so much the creative/writerly side of them (but could be) but how they navigate their career, and the publishing industry in general. What do they do that you find inspiring or interesting?

I find modeling my career after anyone terribly difficult because so much of being a successful writer happens behind the scenes.

I wish I could follow the path of many writers in finding the perfect agent, getting an early book submitted to the right editor, hitting at the right cultural moment for the subjects I want to write about, but all that is a lot of luck and often out of our control.

There are writers who I’ve seen speak on panels and I’ve been impressed with their sincerity and the shared attitude that writing should be fun and not a torturous slog up the mountain the way some writers would have you believe. Early in my career going to see readings by people like Megan Abbott, John Rector, Christa Faust were all educational in that they didn’t hesitate to engage with a newbie writer with a lot of questions.

I’ve likened the writing world to the music world often. Coming up as a punk rock kid where it was all about “the scene” and building a community, I wanted that same clubhouse feeling with other authors. When I found writers who opened the door to the clubhouse for me, I knew I wanted to model that behavior. 

I’m fairly prolific and I admire someone like Joe R Lansdale who finds a way to get a lot of work out there across multiple genres. Some more mainstream, like his Hap & Leonard novels, and some of it very odd indeed. But he puts it all out there to serve those different audiences. 

I never had a mentor or an ideal career I wanted to emulate, perhaps to my detriment. Mostly in my years writing I’ve wanted to surround myself with writers who are inclusive, helpful, funny, and a good hang. I’ve even learned a lot from writers who have stepped away. Allan Guthrie, the Scottish writer who I adore, hasn’t written a book in many years. He knew when the joy was gone from writing for him. More and more I look to those examples and wonder if my time is up. (It’s been a week of bad news on the writing front so forgive me a little wallowing) 

Seeing the example of when to hang it up has been on my radar more and more. I think I’ll model my exit, if and when it does come, on the good ol’ slow fade away. I wouldn’t want to write a scathing Op-Ed about how the business has forsaken me. I’ll just know when its my time and vanish into the ether. 

Perhaps my trouble has been that the writers I most want to emulate are pulp writers from the 40s and 50s like Gil Brewer, Lionel White, Charles Williams, Cornell Woolrich. Guys who banged out short novels fast and didn’t look back. Prolific writers who worked to a deadline and weren’t going for a Pulitzer.

It might have served me better to note how many of these writers ended up broke, bitter, and virtually unknown by the end of their careers. 

There are dozens of writers who I admire for their friendship, their conduct and their writing style. Rachel Howzell Hall, Lou Berney, Duane Swierczynski, Laura McHugh, Stephen Mack Jones, Brett Battles, SA Cosby, Steve Hockensmith. I wouldn’t say I model myself after them, but I’m inspired by them for sure. 

I also try hard to be someone that other writers would look to as a good example. I try to be kind to people, to help other writers when I can. It’s a very small thing, but I like to dress and present myself professionally when I attend conferences and appear at book events. I treat the job with respect. I’ve gotten a hand up from so many writers that I feel I owe it the community to offer my hand to anyone else who needs it.

There’s no template or blueprint for a successful writing career, but we can all take inspiration from those we admire. 

Authors Behaving Beautifully

 

Who are the authors who have inspired you in how you conduct yourself as a professional writer? This is not so much the creative/writerly side of them (but could be) but how they navigate their career, and the publishing industry in general. What do they do that you find inspiring or interesting?

 

Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

A lovely sentiment. And one that presumes a real interaction.

In theory, behavior betrays character. What people say is one thing; what they do is another.

I’m not convinced.

We all wear masks to survive—one for work, one for family, another for fans. These aren’t about hiding who we are; they’re about preserving what’s left. Because people, even well-meaning ones, take and take and take. We’ve all seen what happens to those who give until there’s nothing left. Think of actors who implode under pressure. Think of your Uncle Al, quietly laid off after 30 years. Another casualty in the Ledger of Life.

Writers, by nature, are observers. We live slightly outside the crowd. And even when we read someone’s work, we don’t really know them—not through interviews, not through their Twitter feeds, not through a dazzling debut or a beloved series.

So who inspires me—as a professional in this strange and exhausting business?

It’s not always the prose. It’s how they show up. How they move through the literary world.

Here are a few.

 

Writers Who Lead by Example:

 

Ursula K. Le Guin stood for writers’ rights. She fought for literary integrity over commercial convenience. She reminded us that the soul of the work matters—and that writers are not commodities.

Roxane Gay isn’t just a sharp essayist and cultural critic; she’s generous. She amplifies new voices, offers blunt, real advice, and practices what others only tweet about.

Alexander Chee is open about the machinery of publishing. He demystifies it without discouraging you. That honesty is rare. And it’s a gift.

Carmen Maria Machado doesn’t just write brilliantly—she uses her platform to celebrate queer and BIPOC writers. She pays forward her success with grace and enthusiasm.

Colson Whitehead balances sharpness with sincerity. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but he never forgets the people coming up behind him. His generosity is as deliberate as his sentences.

Brandon Sanderson has built an entire ecosystem for aspiring writers. His BYU lectures are freely available. He talks openly about money. He invests in other writers’ futures—without making it about himself.

 

Kindness Is Contagious (and Career-Saving):

 

Looking back, my own career has been shaped by that same generosity.

I was invited to The Back Room author series by Karen Dionne and Hank Phillippi Ryan, thanks to Cheryl Head and Stephen Mack Jones—two incredible writers—who championed my novel HUSH HUSH. Hank, by the way, is a legend in crime fiction and a tireless supporter of other authors. Whether it’s through Jungle Reds, Career Authors, or First Chapter Fun, or a quiet word of encouragement at conferences—she shows up.

Speaking of which… let’s talk blurbs.

 

Blurbs: The Most Awkward Currency in Publishing:

 

For readers, blurbs might seem like breadcrumbs. A teaser. A sprinkle of praise.

But getting one? That’s another story.

Writing a book is hard enough. But after you’ve poured your soul into it, you’re expected to approach someone—often a stranger—and say, “Would you mind telling the world my book is pretty?”

Not ordinary. Not ‘It’ll do.’

You want Magnificent. Unforgettable—if they’re feeling generous.

But really, you’re Oliver Twist, sending an email into the Void, asking someone to hold your book-baby and say it’s worthy of love. It feels creepy. It feels desperate. And when someone actually does blurb you? You remember it forever.

The late M.J. Rose gave me my very first blurb. I’m convinced it’s because I knew the name of her dog, Winka. (You never know what makes the connection.)

 

Meet Your Heroes—At Least Once:

 

They say don’t meet your heroes. But I did.

Years ago, I met Walter Mosley at Crimebake. I doubt he remembers me, but I started writing crime fiction because of Easy Rawlins and Mouse. He was candid—painfully so, and funny—about hustling to get his non-Easy Rawlins work published. Nobody paid attention to him, he said, until President Clinton name-dropped Devil in a Blue Dress.

The truth of publishing is often quieter than the myth.

 

FINAL WORD:

 

There are no guarantees. You can behave beautifully and still be forgotten.

Or judged unfairly. Or ignored entirely.

But kindness matters.

The writers who’ve impressed me did more than write great books. They behaved well, they showed up, and they gave back.

The world—and the industry—needs more of that.

Thank You for Being A Friend

 

 

 

Who are authors who have inspired you in how you conduct yourself as a professional writer? What do they do that you find inspiring or interesting?

 

What a fantastic question. Or is it my acceptance speech for my first writing award? Until then I will take supreme pleasure in answering this question. When you’re a new writer with no idea how the industry works your head is full of rainbows, sunshine, and a belief that you’re only one story away from becoming a New York Times Bestselling author. You’re absolutely convinced that as soon as you find an agent and sell your first book, Stephen King will be beating down your door; hailing you as the second coming, you’ll quit your job, move to a villa in Tuscany where you’ll stare off your romantic balcony and write the words that will enthrall the world.

So, I got an agent and sold my first book. Yay me. And unceremoniously discovered that writing is a job. Like a real job with deadlines and travel and marketing—so much marketing—and interviews and anxiety. Mostly anxiety, if I’m being honest. And Stephen King has yet to contact me with an invite to dinner, a request to blurb my next book, or even a heartfelt congratulation. I know, weird.

Despite Mr. King’s, continued absence, I have been a very lucky new author, because I have found myself in the best writing community; the crime writing community. Honestly, a writer couldn’t ask for a better place to land. I have been lucky and so grateful to have the best examples of how a writer should conduct themselves, professionally. I’m absolutely ecstatic to tell you about just a few.

The first professional writers I ever met were Catriona McPherson and Stacy Allen at my very first Killer Nashville. It was my first big conference and I was terrified. I was so inexperienced that I had no idea how professional a writer Catriona was. Imagine talking to this international, award-winning author and asking her, “Where are you in your writing journey? Is this your first book?” I still cringe at the thought. No worries, she wasn’t the only professional writer that witnessed that bit of embarrassing behavior that weekend. Her response? Becoming my cheerleader and friend. And if that wasn’t enough, she introduced me to Kellye Garrett, one of the most inspiring writers and woman I have ever met.

If you’re in the crime writing community, I need not tell you who Kellye Garrett. She’s a boss, an endless well of great advice, a shoulder to lean on and a warrior. She is straightforward, is not afraid to speak her mind, and will never back down from a fight. She inspires me to be a mentor, if I’m ever in the position to be one. She works at building this community like it’s her actual job. She’s kind, professional and takes zero crap from anyone. When new writers arrive on the scene, she’s the one making introductions. And if you have a new project, she’s telling everyone.

The first time I met her in person she tolerated my fangirling with grace and professionalism without ever making me feel bad. As we walked through the hotel, everyone who stopped to talk to her, she introduced me and told them all about my debut novel. I’ll never forget that kindness. Those introductions produced the writers who blurbed my first book.

This is the blueprint I want to follow if I’m ever in this position. I was fortunate to have a chance to meet and talk to the incredible Delia Pitts and I thanked her for her advice and kindness. She said, when you get the chance, pay it forward. That is my exact plan.

 

 

 

 

Musings on Muses from James W. Ziskin

Do you write from the heart, following your muse, not thinking about the reader at all; or do you write with the market in mind, thinking of the reader and how you can make the novel commercially successful; or somewhere in between? How would you advise an emerging author on this?

When I write, I never think about the market or what might sell. One look at my royalty statements will bear that out. And if I knew the secret to commercial success, I wouldn’t be wasting your time with this blog every two weeks. I’d be nose to the grindstone, working on a deadline to earn that seven-figure advance the publisher foolishly agreed to. 

But of course I wouldn’t want that. At least I wouldn’t sell my soul or write something I didn’t believe in to achieve it. And neither should any aspiring writer. Money is the wrong inspiration. Readers have a knack for seeing through such transparent motivation. And do you know why? Because insincerity has a knack for bleeding onto the page despite a writer’s best efforts to conceal it. If you don’t believe what you’re writing, no one else will. No, when I embark on a new project, I’m not thinking of anything beyond the task at hand, viz. squeezing the best story, finest characters, and perfectest words out of my head and onto the page. Like toothpaste from the tube.

But what about my original motivation? Before I began to write? Did I take market conditions—what was hot and selling—into consideration? Long ago I made the decision to write crime/mystery/thriller books and stories. Was that because there was a large audience for those genres? My answer is still no. If all I wanted was the largest pool of potential readers, I would have chosen to write romance novels. I don’t believe my choice of genre was mercenary at all. My dream was to write the kind of books I’d like to read. Creating compelling, entertaining stories was and is my motivation. Financial gain, though welcome, is gravy, not the main protein on my dish.

Okay, I don’t exactly write for the money. But do I have a muse? Sometimes I imagine an ideal reader when I write. It’s nice to have an audience, after all. No one likes to create solely for themselves. And we all need inspiration and encouragement. So for the sake of this week’s question, let’s call my muse Lucy. (She’s a she, since I’m a traditionalist when it comes to muses.) 

I can’t say Lucy is a constant presence as I write; she comes in and out of focus, sometimes when I need her most, other times when I least expect her to shimmer into view. When I’m in the so-called zone, writing fluidly and productively, I don’t have the time or the need to picture an ideal reader. But, just as ear worms and stray thoughts pop into our heads uninvited and unexpected, my Lucy appears when the mood strikes her. She pulls up a chair and reads along with me, breathing her warm breath on my neck just to remind me that I couldn’t possibly do this without her. She loves my work, which means she’s a muse of exquisite taste. I admire and share her opinions of my talents, of course. Did you expect me to have a muse who thought I was anything short of perfect? No way. Lucy reads everything I write with great attention and enthusiasm, gasping at my brilliant turns of phrase and twists of plot. She’s moved by the pathos and poignancy I conjure out of whole cloth as if by alchemy or outright sorcery. And she gushes about my dialogue tags. 

“Oh, Jim,” she gushes. “You write the BEST dialogue tags!”

I think she has a crush on me.

But who is Lucy, you ask. Hah! Dream on. She’s MY muse, and I’m not sharing. Go find your own damn muse and stop trying to steal mine.

And that’s my advice to emerging authors.

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Welcome John Lansing

This week, I’ve invited author John Lansing to write a guest post after having read his latest, Embedded. It’s the start of a new series about jailed Army Ranger Dakota Judd who’s been offered a life-altering deal from the FBI: infiltrate a White Supremacist prison gang while he’s incarcerated, then embed himself into their militia on the outside and become the eyes and ears of the FBI. If successful, his record will be expunged and he can live a normal life. If he fails, he'll wind up dead. It’s a highly-recommended read and one you don’t want to miss.

Do you write from the heart, following your muse, not thinking about the reader at all; or do you write with the market in mind, thinking of the reader and how you can make the novel commercially successful; or somewhere in between? How would you advise an emerging author on this?

I write from the heart, always. And I write the kind of books I like to read. I never worry about what anyone else thinks once I start the process. I don’t want to second guess my work. It’s the reason I stay away from television dramas while I’m engaged writing a new book. 

After spending fifteen years writing network television, where an outline was demanded, I soon found writing from the seat of my pants was more exciting. 

I was clear what kind of protagonist I was after when I started work on Embedded. Although I let my muse have her way with the story, it was my characters who let me know what their next moves should be. At that point I wrote early in the morning and sometimes in the middle of the night. I’d jot down an idea on a yellow pad, scribble a bit, and come up with an answer to a question that had been haunting me, or a scene I wasn’t sold on. It’s not always easy getting into the zone, but once there, writing is a blast.

Trying to keep up with the writing marketplace is a fickle game. The market can change its mind three times before you’re done typing “The End.” I’m not good at giving advice…but when asked…I say read a lot, and write what you love. You’re going to spend a big part of your life with your characters. Stay honest, and let ’er rip.

Don’t stop until you finish a first draft. Then it’s time to corral the troops, call in your beta readers, find a great editor, and start your rewrites. Everyone has ideas, but always remember, it’s your book.

 

Terry here, with our question of the week: 

Do you write from the heart, following your muse, not thinking about the reader at all; or do you write with the market in mind, thinking of the reader and how you can make the novel commercially successful; or somewhere in between? How would you advise an emerging author on this? 

I write from the heart and the head; follow my muse and my whims; think about the reader and about my own enjoyment. And I pretty much never think about how to make a book commercial. For me that would be the kiss of death. I freeze just thinking about what “the market” means. I know there are people who can do it and do it well. They have a hunch what might be “hot” next. They spy a new book that went viral, hit all the bestseller lists because it was a new slant on things…and they think hard about how to capitalize on that fledgling trend. And sometimes they are able to do that. 

I don’t begrudge them at all! I have two writer friends who have segued to fantasy and romantic fantasy. They started more than a year ago getting in on the ground floor of that new trend and they are now hot in the middle of it. I admire the heck out of that. Don’t know how they picked up on the trend before it was a trend, but they did. Even more admirable is that they were able to write a totally different type of book than they had written before. Wow! 

For me, the most “innovative” writing I’ve done was starting my Jessie Madison series. And it wasn’t because I thought the market was calling me. It was because as much as I love writing the Samuel Craddock series, I wanted to try something new. And I’ve loved doing it. The research is fun, the characters and setting completely different, and the action non-stop. BUT the readers of my Craddock series have largely rebelled. They turn their noses up. They like the thoughtfulness of the Craddock books. They like the social justice issues I write about. They like the voice and the setting. 

I have no intention of stopping that series, but I am indulging myself in branching out. And I have attracted new readers—readers who like the action-oriented thriller series. When I first started writing Samuel Craddock, I had one goal—find an agent, then find a publisher. That’s it. Market? Didn't even know what that was.

It’s a good thing that’s not what I was aiming for. Here’s a little awful story to tell you why. I was at a conference and attended a panel of editors about what they were looking for. I asked a question about my freshly written first Craddock book. Set in Texas. Small town police procedural. One of the panelists, a very successful editor, proceeded to unload on me--informing me that books set in Texas would never sell, that I was wasting my time, etc. That I should have studied the market and written something people wanted to read. All in a sneering tone. The stranger sitting next to me grabbed my hand and squeezed. She knew how devastating the diatribe was. 

A Killing at Cotton Hill won the Macavity Award and was on the Baker and Taylor best seller list. Which tells me that even professional editors in the business don’t really have a handle on what’s going to sell (and by the way, how I wanted to neener-neener that guy. And ten years later, with the series still going strong, I still wish I could.) 

 So I don’t care what editors say they want. What they really want is a well-written book. There are no new subjects, just new slants on it. New uses of language. New characters. New character responses. Changes in the world, in the nation, in the states, in the cities that an author makes use of. New voices. 

 My advice to a newbie is write YOUR book. Don’t imitate. Don’t try to write what’s hot right now. By the time you finish the book and find an agent/publisher, chances are the heat will have cooled. Write what you love to read. Write what excites you and interests you.

A love letter to a future reader - Matthew Greene

Do you write from the heart, following your muse, not thinking about the reader at all; or do you write with the market in mind, thinking of the reader and how you can make the novel commercially successful; or somewhere in between? How would you advise an emerging author on this?

Dear Future Reader,

I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Sure, we haven’t technically met, but I know a few things about you. You probably gravitate to the kinds of stories I like to tell. So, we might read some of the same books, watch some of the same movies, spend our time thinking about some of the same things. Or maybe you’re a bit of a surprise, the type of person I wasn’t expecting. Like all great love stories.

Some may say I’m in love with the idea of you. I love thinking that someday someone might care about the words I’m laboring over, about the story that keeps me up at night. Someone might just notice the construction of a sentence I spent the last few minutes dissecting. Just the thought of their eyes—your eyes, maybe—resting for an extra second on a syntactical or grammatical choice I’ve agonized over is enough to keep me working. One more sentence, one more paragraph, one more chapter. Just for you, my love.

Maybe I’m coming on too strong. Some might say I shouldn’t even think about you in the early stages of writing. I should follow my muse, they say, and listen to my heart, paying no mind to the person I hope will pluck my book off the (independent bookseller’s) shelf one day. But I’ve never been good at playing it cool. 

To be honest, I don’t know what I’d do without you. I certainly wouldn’t be sitting hunched over this laptop screen, wondering what comes next in the lives of made-up people in a dreamt-up world. I wouldn’t be talking to myself as I pace the floor of the guest bedroom, index cards at my feet and visions of plot twists dancing in my head. You are my co-conspirator. You are so much more than a customer or a consumer. You are the reason I do what I do.

A story isn’t finished until someone reads it, hears it, experiences it in some way. I learned through years in the theatre that the audience is always the final collaborator, that nothing is complete until they’re brought into the room. I may dance like no one’s watching, but when it comes to writing, I know somebody is. And that makes all the difference.

This writing stuff is hard. Almost not worth it. The exhilaration of the good days barely makes up for the agony of the bad ones. But you know what keeps me going? You know what motivates me when the abyss of the blank page threatens to swallow me whole? You know what helps me feel a little less alone when I’m stuck inside on a Saturday night with nothing but my own outline to keep me company? You do. The thought of you. The prospect of creating something that might just mean something to you.

The fact is, you are my muse. You are the reason I do what I do. I could be cool and aloof and claim that I don’t think about you, that the mere suggestion that I owe you anything is a form of selling out. But I don’t know how to operate that way.

I promise not to pander, not to chase trends or lose sight of what made you want to read me in the first place. Your attention is a gift, and I intend to pay you back in kind. I promise to keep writing, to keep trying to surprise you, to keep finding new things to share. For all my complaints, I love what I do. And I don’t think I can (or should) do it alone.

So, future reader, I’ll get back to work. I’ll come up with something you haven’t seen. I won’t take you for granted or make too many guesses about who you might be. I’ll just try and believe you’re still there. And I’ll meet you on the page.

Your friend,

Matthew

Writing Outside Your Experience by Poppy Gee

 

CRAFT What are your thoughts on writing ‘outside your own experience’? What are the potential pitfalls? What are reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

This month was my turn to set the questions, and I planned to share my experience writing a neuro-diverse character, in my novel Vanishing Falls, when I am not neuro-diverse myself.

But recently, I had an interesting conversation at a writing community event, so I want to share that first. I was making writerly small talk with a bunch of strangers when a white woman I’d just met revealed to me that she had given up trying to find a publisher for her novel manuscript.

“I sent it out to a bunch of publishers, and no one wanted to publish it because it was about an Aboriginal character,” she said.

She spoke with frustration, even a touch of anger. She was annoyed that publishers were reluctant to touch it. I got the impression that she felt they were under pressure to be ‘politically correct’; or something like that.

In the past few years, I have spent an increasing amount of time at writing events – book launches, attending or teaching writing classes, networking lunches and literary dinners. I share this to clarify that I talk to lots of writers, and the overwhelming majority understand why ‘own voices’ should be prioritised. However, concerningly, this conversation is not unusual – I’ve had a similar conversation at least three times this year so far.

I asked the writer what happened to the manuscript.

“When no one would publish it, I had to publish it myself,” she said.

What surprised me was her stubbornness, or lack of curiosity, in not interrogating why publishers are reluctant to publish books written by white writers from the perspective of a POC, or people from other groups of which the writer does not identify as belonging to.

When you embark on post graduate study – Masters or PhD programs – one thing you have to do before you begin writing your thesis is to conduct a literature review. What similar things have been published in this field? What does this involve? Why are you the best placed person to carry out this particular project?

It wouldn’t hurt creative fiction writers to consider these questions. (From a marketing POV, it could help during publicity – if you had completed a hiking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail following the death of your mother, for example, or if you once worked in the Secret Service – and your novel portrayed that experience, that’s a great publicity hook.)

For white Australian writers wanting to write a First Nation's character, my writerly advice is this: talk to your closest Aboriginal friends about it. If that’s not an option, think about why, and ask yourself if you are the best placed person to be writing that particular book. Next, talk to Aboriginal elders, leaders or experts who might be relevant to your project: consult, research, discuss, share, consider different perspectives. Be sensitive, empathetic, curious and collaborative. Read more here: https://www.asauthors.org.au/news/what-you-need-to-know-about-indigenous-cultural-and-intellectual-property/

Writing outside your experience/knowledge is not impossible, but it does take more work. White Australian writers who have done this well, in my opinion, include Eleanor Limprecht The Coast, Ben Hobson The Death of John Lacey, Tess Merlin Red Lights Blue Dirt, and Lucy Treloar Salt Creek, among others.

*

Now, regarding my experience writing a neuro-diverse character, Joelle, the protagonist of my last novel Vanishing Falls.

I wrote the character, inspired by a news article about a girl with an intellectual impairment who was inadvertently caught up in a crime. My character’s personality was influenced by several people close to me. I also interviewed doctors and social workers, and carers and close relatives of people who have an intellectual impairment. I loved my character, she was fun to write, she was well loved, had a great marriage and family, and she embraced life. 

I felt I had represented her positively… until, as the novel was being prepared for publication, the editorial team at William Morrow engaged two sensitivity readers.

That’s when things got fraught.

The first sensitivity report was blistering – the reader identified a long list of words and descriptions that could be offensive or problematic. Writing this blog post now, I reread their report, and I’m cringing with embarrassment. The second sensitivity reader was glad to see a character with an intellectual impairment featured as a protagonist, but they misinterpreted some key scenes and motivations, in a way that horrified me.

The searing honest of sensitivity reader reports was confronting, but I was grateful for the chance to fix things. I credit them in my Acknowledgements section - their input improved my work substantially.

As an aside, did you know that in Australia sensitivity readers are only paid about $300 per report? For that small remuneration, they read the manuscript and write a 5-6 page report. It’s not right. Given their main customers are publishing houses trying to be sensitive, you’d think there would be more sensitivity regarding the time, effort and expertise that goes into supporting writers with this invaluable feedback. For me, the sensitivity reports were as good as, if not better than, the editorial support I have received from inhouse editors.

Celtic Vibe, by Catriona

What are your thoughts on writing ‘outside your own experience’? What are the potential pitfalls? What are the reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

The blog title is why I can't watch Outlander. If you're from Sheridan, Wyoming, I'm sure the carnival of accents with a general Celtic vibe seem like Scottish authenticity second to none. Me? Made it through half an episode. But I've got no problem with the blanket "Northern" in my beloved Coronation Street. (I bet people from Salford have to watch with a large gin.)

But that's not writing.

Similar things happen when people write wayyyyy outside their own experience too though. If - and this is crucial, kind of if with two Fs - they don't ask someone to check for bloopers. I've given up on countless US-written, UK-set books where the author didn't know and didn't check. In fact, couldn't check. Because they didn't know what they didn't know, Donald Rumsfeld style. 

For instance, there was a scene set at an out-door fundraiser for an English MP. The writer knew that a senator/congressperson was called an MP - cool. But didn't know that electoral finance law in the UK is such that fundraising kind of doesn't happen. And if it did, it wouldn't happen outside. Because it's raining.

That same book had a passage where a person with a medical problem asked a doctor if they "took NHS". That's when I shut the covers and passed the copy along to someone whose teeth wouldn't grind so hard that American dentistry couldn't save them.

It was such a fundamental misunderstanding of what the National Health Service is and how it functions. Oh, my beloved NHS!

It's in my mind for two reasons. One, the second book in my new 1940s series, set in Edinburgh at the birth of the service, comes out later this month in the US. Yay!

Buy links

But also I clattered over and broke my kneecap on Friday. Less yay! 

It wasn't my first brush with US health norms in all their glory since I got here. (I broke my wrist ten years ago.) But I'd forgotten. It was when one of the ambulance paramedics who strapped me to the gurney said "Which hospital do you want to go to?" that I remembered. 

Which hospital did I want to go to? I. Don't. Care. I. Don't. Want (can't keep this up!) to have to care. I don't want to live somewhere where all the hospitals aren't exactly the same, i.e. just fine. Last time round, when a bone doc said he'd be happy to let the surgeon he was sending me to, operate on him, he probably thought he was being reassuring. What I heard was "There are surgeons around that I wouldn't let operate on me". Eek!

It's hard to explain this to people here. My best attempt is to say: imagine your house was on fire and you were scrabbling around for the paperwork to show that you were approved for firefighters to put it out, and the 911 operator asked you which fire station you wanted to use, and your friends recommended Sizzling Puddle Firehouse and warned you against Blackened Ashes Firehouse, because they haven't got any buckets. Then the red truck came up your drive and someone in a yellow hat and big boots jumped down . . . and asked you for your credit card.

But then trying to explain to people back home why people here don't understand the NHS, the best I've come up with is: you go to what looks like a supermarket and stroll around - fresh produce, bakery, fish counter (ooh the salmon looks nice), some teabags, milk, yoghurt, cat food, any new jigsaw puzzles in that bin - yes!, shampoo, bag of posh bagels . . . and you start to look for the check-out. You ask a nice lady in a uniform. She says "Sorry? Check-out? What do you mean?" You explain that you want to pay. "Pay for what?" she asks, looking around, puzzled. "Well, this," you say, pointing at the pile of salmon and bagels and all that. "Why would you pay me for your food?" she asks, hoping you're okay because it's nearly the end of her shift and she wants to go home.

Then you stroll right out into the car park to leave, wondering what on earth just happened and how this society functions and where the catch is because surely if this was possible everywhere would do it.

It was forty-four years of that system that I missed on Friday teatime. I just wanted a free ambulance to take me to the nearest ER where all my medical records since the day I was born were available to anyone who looked. Then, after some free x-rays, a free ER doc would call a free ortho doc and I'd be given a free knee-immobilising brace, quite possibly a free wheelchair, definitely some free painkillers and sent home, with an appointment for some free surgery in the next couple of days at the nearest free hospital, more than likely the same one I was in on Friday, where I'd also be going for free physiotherapy in six weeks' time. And I'd have got a cup of tea.

Does that seem like much to ask? Don't answer!

Cx

 

 

Write what you (don't) know by Eric Beetner

 CRAFT What are your thoughts on writing ‘outside your own experience’? What are the potential pitfalls? What are the reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

I’ve long been a critic of “write what you know” as writing advice. I’m a fan of write what you want to know.

Of course you will bring a unique, lived-in reality to your writing if you write from your own experience, but I also think personal experience can lie below any story you write. If you create real people doing real things, then you can add the details and observations from your own life to fully round out a story.

I’ve certainly used verbal tics and personality traits from people I know in my real life. I use my own opinions and moral views to build my characters. I also like to write people who are far away from my own experience. 

Let’s face it, I write crime novels but I have lived a crime-free life. I’ve never even been drunk or taken drugs. Never been arrested. That doesn’t mean I can’t write about those things. Writing outside my own experience is the most entertaining part of the writing process for me.

My for novel There and Back, I had a group of junior executives at a tech company get stranded in the woods after a bonding retreat went wrong. I started doing research on survival techniques and bushcraft so I could learn how to keep them alive out in the wilderness. But I quickly realized that my characters would not have the knowledge I was learning, so I stopped. Instead, I asked myself “what would I do in that situation”? I may not have had the right answer, but neither would the characters. I used my lack of experience as a way to reflect the truth of what the characters were experiencing.

I’ve also written first-person female. I live with three women, have three sisters and have worked with women my whole life. I like to think I learned a little bit about them enough to be able to write them as three-dimensional people. I also knew well enough to hedge my bets and give my female lead in Two In The Head, for example, an upbringing where her father treated her as a son he always wanted. I intentionally masculinized her a little bit so I would have an excuse for when I inevitably got accused of getting it wrong about the female mind. (which hasn’t happened so far, I’m happy to say)

But writing from her perspective was a really fun exercise. An unpublished novel of mine, written in first-person female, is, I think, my best work. I guess I’ll see if I can ever sell it.

To write is to explore and I just feel that exploring destinations you’ve visited before isn’t as interesting as new territory. Inevitably your own experience will creep in. It will be there to solve the difficult problems with a plot or a character. Use that. But with each book, I want to learn something new. About myself, my characters, the world around me. 

No Shake and Bake for You

 

What are your thoughts on writing ‘outside your own experience’? What are the potential pitfalls? What are the reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

 

There are Two Easy Outs to answer this question.

Research.

Imagination.

But you didn’t come here for Simple and Easy. No Shake and Bake for you.

I’ve never been one to shy away from uncomfortable truths, and any writer worth their salt will eventually face the choice: play it safe, or take a risk. I didn’t say take a permanent position. I said take a stance. However temporary, however flawed.

The pitfall? Anything you create invites criticism.

I’m certain the cave painter in Lascaux had a critic pee on his drawings.

And let’s be honest: a one-star Amazon review is one thing.

Surviving an assassination attempt, like Naguib Mahfouz or Salman Rushdie is writing with real stakes.

Writing is dangerous because it’s paradoxical, in that it’s anarchistic and democratic.

Anyone can do it. And while doing it well is subjective, I’d argue it boils down to three things:

Curiosity.

Education.

Empathy.

History has shown that oppression often fuels resistance and creativity. That’s the human spirit in action. But it’s also shown that domination starts by controlling education, sowing disinformation, and making people forget their own histories.

I said earlier that research is an Easy Out. It is—but it’s also vital.

The sheer amount of knowledge available at the click of a mouse is staggering.

To sound like Andy Rooney for a moment: “Back in my day…” I had to drag myself to the Big Brown Box that came before Google and fish out an index card. Then it was off into the wilds of the Dewey Decimal jungle at the local library.

I was a voracious omnivore—Pac-Man with a library card. I ate books like snacks. I say this without humblebrag (okay, maybe a light humblebrag): by the time I was twelve, I had read over a thousand books. Classics. Trash. Shakespeare and Harold Robbins. I read it all.

I even kept a list. Probably the most OCD thing I’ve ever done.

I didn’t know it then, but my future English teacher was the one who interviewed me for admission into a competitive high school. Picture the nerdy kid from The Breakfast Club. That was me: the ‘neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie’ with a booklist.

She flipped through the pages and asked, ‘You really read all this?’

I said, ‘I did. Doesn’t mean I understood it.’

That’s where curiosity meets humility—and confrontation: with yourself, with the loud and often contradictory universe. The cliché holds up: the more you read, the less you know. It’s easy to spiral into despair from that. Why even bother?

But then comes the point.

Curiosity doesn’t care what’s ‘In’ or ‘Out’ of the canon. I read Huckleberry Finn. I wasn’t offended by the N-word—I was curious about it. I wanted to know: were Black people always slaves? (Spoiler: no. The ugly truth? Some African tribes sold their rivals into slavery.) That line of questioning led me to a deeper understanding of how race has been used as a manufactured justification for oppression and colonialism.

Curiosity is asking why you see certain books on the shelf—and why others are missing.

I write crime fiction and mystery. But I’m not a criminal. I’ve never robbed a bank, buried a body, or impersonated a detective, unless you count binge-watching Netflix as field research.

I’m constantly writing outside my own experience. To do it well, I rely on the three things I mentioned earlier: Curiosity, Education, and Empathy. Also, a slightly incriminating browser history.

There’s a meme: a guy in a dark suit reviewing someone’s browser history.

He sighs, ‘Writer.’ And moves on.

That’s me.

Writing crime fiction means diving into the mess of human motives—grief, guilt, revenge, desperation. I don’t need to be a murderer to explore those emotions. No more than I need to be a prince to understand Hamlet.

I imagine it. I walk with it. I talk to it. I find a truth.

I’ve written multitudes: African American characters. Gay. Female. Nonhuman. I’ve tried to meet each one with care, research, and imagination—not performance.

Which brings me to Education.

It’s systematic, and political. There’s a reason geography is left out of the contemporary curriculum in the US. If you can’t find a country on a map, it’s easier to ignore its history or bomb it without a second thought. Teach thyself. Read like an Omnivore.

Intellectual curiosity is nonlinear. It connects dots that causation can’t explain. It asks the awkward questions. It leads you into unfamiliar territory and dares you to stay there long enough to learn something.

And then there’s Empathy. That’s the game-changer.

Empathy is what lets you manifest grief, joy, or injustice in a form that feels alien at first, but turns out to be human. It also opens your eyes to uncomfortable truths and acts as a gateway to compassion and wisdom.

That’s why History matters. That’s why Education matters.

I always tell people read U.S. labor history because it isn’t taught in school. Ask yourself, Why not? Then, for a global counterpoint, read Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. See how the same story unfolds.

Which brings me to my final thought:

Want to really write outside your experience?

Read outside your native language. In the original.

I taught myself French because this sentence from Flaubert’s Legend of St. Julien stunned me:

Quelquefois, dans un rêve, il se voyait comme notre père Adam au milieu du Paradis, entre toutes les bêtes; en allongeant le bras, il les faisait mourir.

[Sometimes, in dreams, he saw himself as our father Adam in the middle of Paradise, surrounded by all the beasts; and by merely stretching out his arm, he killed them.]

You can read what you know and reinforce what you think you understand—or you can go looking elsewhere to understand how much you don’t know.

Your choice.

I write because I think and I feel.

And because the world’s a mess.

And someone has to try making sense of it—with a pen, a keyboard, not a Molotov.

Write what you know?

 

What are your thoughts on writing outside your own experience? What are the potential pitfalls? What are the reasons to do it? Can you give a personal example of how you navigated this potentially problematic terrain?

 

One of the first rules of writing that I learned was right what you know. I couldn’t agree less. So, I ignore it all the time. Personally, I think that should be a rule strictly for non-fiction. I mean, considering that someone always dies, normally not well, in my novels, my family and friends, probably co-workers too, or maybe mostly co-workers, are probably very grateful that I decided to pitch that rule in the trash.

To label it a rule is probably a bit of an exaggeration, but still, in my mind, fiction writers should, as the great Janet Evanovich once told me, “Write whatever you want!” And now, that is exactly what I do. But that was not always the case. Despite my dark heart crying out for murder and mayhem, my first books were squarely in the women’s fiction genre. They were all about the everyday struggles of trying to navigate the drama of family, friendship, and love, because that is what I knew.

I still love those books, more importantly, I love how well received they were by readers, who found that they could relate to the struggles and strength of those characters, because those were their struggles too. And that is the beauty of writing what you know, the authenticity shines through in a way that is never quite the same when you’re writing outside your own experience.

 I can’t tell you how many times readers have approached me to tell me which girl they thought they were from my first books. Still, there is nothing more exciting than letting your mind wander into new streams of thought, building new worlds, and dare I say, learning all kinds of things you didn’t know. And that’s the tradeoff folks, the learning of brand-new ideas, new worlds being created at the tips of your fingertips. And unlike with doctors, when writers play God, no one dies, in real life, that is.

 But make no mistake the pitfalls are there lying in wait. The biggest one of them being the reader who knows everything about that thing that you wrote and thought you could bluff your way through, and they are ready and waiting to tell you everything single thing you got wrong, be it by email, your socials, or, gasp, a handwritten letter delivered the old-fashioned way. They will point out every mistake, no matter how small in 4k, baby. And you’ll have no choice but to live with in for eternity. Because as we know, the internet is forever. The very thought of it gives me the shivers.

As scary as that may sound, or did, to me in the beginning. The reward far outweighs the risk. Because for every super attentive reader that will find your mistakes and beat you over the head with them for all eternity. There is that reader who will walk up to you and tell you, “I hate you for making me cry so hard over someone who isn’t even real.” Or my all-time favorite, “You’re going to get me fired because I stayed up all night reading your book and was late for work.” Thank you, dear reader. My job is done here.

So, write what you know, sure. But never be afraid to branch out and build that brand-spanking new world. But first, research, research, and research again, because Mr. Know-It-All is waiting and he is ravenous.

To Share, or Not to Share - A Writer's Dilemma, by Harini Nagendra

Here's the question of the week: How much should a writer share about their personal life? 

Sally Rooney has refused, in interviews, to talk about her private life. Author Debbie Urbanski recently wrote a piece for Literary Hub titled: If I tell you secrets about my personal life, will you look at my new book? The point Debbie made was, most of us are desperate for publicity, we need our books to sell, so we feel compelled to participate in the sharing of personal information. What are your thoughts on how much writers should share?

I'm not comfortable with putting details of my private life out for public consumption. But even if I was, the basic premise doesn't make sense to me. Sure, many readers are eager to know even the smallest details of celebrities - their sleep and work routines, what they like to eat for breakfast, the names of their pets, salacious details of their romantic lives, what their kids wore to go on a play date - but that's celebrities. I don't see why anyone would be interested in the daily life of a regular writer. Just like my fellow Minds writers this week have described this week, I don't think I have done anything terrifically adventurous - nor do I live a life that is glamorous and full of parties, fine clothing and late nights. 

If a reader wants to hear about a regular day in my life, I'd be happy to share it with them on a podcast - one of those podcasts you play at night when you want to go to sleep.      

I really think it's a myth, that sharing the tiniest little details of your personal information with readers will make them buy your books. Many of my favorite authors, whom I follow on social media, post very little about themselves - I read their posts for any details they may reveal about their writing life, their processes of writing, and the books they are working on now. Especially if they're writing a series, and I want to know when I can expect the next book that tells me what my favorite characters have been up to since the last time I read about their shenanigans.

I do know a number of writers that work assiduously to post at least 3-4 times a week, trying to increase their follower count, because that's what their editors and agents asked them to do. Has it increased their sales? Hard to say for sure, but it seems unlikely. From my own experience - and I do post a lot, and have a decent number of followers on some platforms like LinkedIn, but that's mostly on ecology and sustainability (my day job) - I don't see my social media posts on books moving the needle on sales. In-person events do make a difference, and the independent bookstores that I visit often in Bangalore move close to half the books I sell in India - the lovely people at these stores hand sell my books, and are absolutely the best friends a writer can have. 

Do they know about my personal life? No, and I think they would be horrified if I began to overshare. I don't know much about their life either, which is fine with me. I am very touched and honored to have faithful readers who turn up at these events and chat with me, and line up to get books personalized and signed for friends. I can recognize several by face now, and some by name as well, and we chat a bit about this and that - but it's mostly about the books, or the traffic and the weather, or sometimes about plans they have to write a book themselves - which is always lovely to chat about. 

When we don't exchange personal information about ourselves with readers when we chat with them in person, why would it be any different on social media?

But let's move from discussions of personal life to something better - new books! Into the Leopard's Den, Book 4 in The Bangalore Detectives Club series, released on 1 July in the US and other parts of the world - the India release date is July 18.

Here's the gorgeous US/world cover

 And the stunning India cover - it's hard to say which one I prefer, both are so different but I love them equally.

And now, about the book. 

Amateur detective Kaveri Murthy returns with her most complex case yet: investigating a series of murders that take her from the bungalows of Bangalore to the mist-enshrouded mountains of Coorg.

Bangalore, 1922: Pregnant and confined to the house by her protective mother-in-law, Kaveri Murthy has resolved to take a break from detection. But when an elderly woman is murdered at night and dies clutching a photograph of Kaveri while asking for her help—how can she refuse? Missing the assistance of her husband Ramu, who is working in Coorg, Kaveri investigates her new case with her able assistants, milk boy Venu and housemaid Anandi. They find a trail of secrets that lead them to suspect the killer may be in Coorg.

Eager to be reunited with her husband, Kaveri sets off to Coorg to investigate. When she arrives, she encounters a thorny thicket of cases. Why does a ghost leopard prowl the forests at night, terrorizing the plantation workers? And who is trying to kill Colonel Boyd, the Coffee King of Coorg? She finds suspects in every coffee bush and estate—from Boyd’s surly plantation manager and security guard to the feuding brothers who own the neighboring plantation—and the many women the Coffee King has pursued and abandoned.

When two vulnerable children appeal for her help, Kaveri is drawn deeper into the case, becoming emotionally involved in finding the killer. Soon, one murder turns into two—and then a few days later into three. Now the killer has tasted blood and needs to be stopped. Racing against time, Kaveri must take on her most complex challenge so far, with the assistance of Anandi and Venu in Bangalore, and with Ramu and Inspector Ismail in Coorg. In this stunning new novel by an acclaimed master of the form, the Bangalore Detectives Club must find and expose a brutally intelligent killer before they strike again.

Get the book at your favourite local bookstore, or

https://bookshop.org/p/books/into-the-leopard-s-den-a-bangalore-detectives-club-mystery/RGgUs59vWC29VzRS?ean=9781639368976&next=t&

or your online platform of choice!