Living in a bubble

Who, or what, is keeping you relatively sane these days? Are you able to stay motivated? How?

by Dietrich

I live in uninformed bliss, in a bubble you might say. I don’t read or watch the news. Let’s face it, there’s never much that’s uplifting in those headlines, and there’s just not much that I need to know. Besides, there’s always somebody around that’s willing to bring me up to speed on all the doom and gloom. “Hey, did you hear about …”

I stay motivated by keeping my head down and writing more than ever these days. When I do come up for air, I make it fresh air, and it’s amazing how good I feel after going for a long walk through the woods or along the water’s edge.

I read a lot and I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately; great words are such a motivation for a writer. And it doesn’t matter if it’s fiction or non-fiction, as long as I think it’s good. And I love taking in art that feels uplifting. I could spend a week at the McMichael Gallery north of Toronto and just stare at those amazing works by The Group of Seven. And music puts a bounce in my step, like the new albums by Neil Young and Billy Gibbons – stuff that makes the toes start tapping – ever see a writer dance? God, what a sight – cover the mirrors.

I try not to take anything too seriously. I accept that sometimes stuff happens. And I try to roll with it, and not in it. Laughing is a good way to keep sane, and I like to catch shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I grew up laughing along with National Lampoon, Mad Magazine, Monty Python, the Goons, and French and Saunders. And I always love catching some good stand-up. Lately it’s been Brits like Josh Widdicombe, Sarah Millican, Greg Davies, Joe Lycett, Gina Yashere, Alan Carr, James Acaster – God, what do they put in their water over there?

Oh, and I’m pretty thrilled about the new book too, Cradle of the Deep, coming out this fall, November 3rd to be exact. You can check it out here. And the audiobook for it is being recorded this week, and I was given a chance to listen to the auditions, and I’m really looking forward to hearing what Vancouver actor Keith McKecknie does with the telling; he’s got the perfect voice for the story, and he just nails the rhythm of the words. 

With this COVID thing, it doesn’t look like I’ll be traveling down the coast to California this fall, and it looks like most of the promotion for the new book will likely end up on line. But, that’s okay, it’ll give me more time to start working on the next one.

That Black Hole We Call Writing

Writing isn’t all that we do, is it? What’s your second favorite activity?

by Paul D. Marks

You mean there is one? Who has time for secondary activities? Writing is like a black hole, sucking in everything around it. Housecleaning, socializing, hobbies and fun, get skimped on. And even when we’re doing those things the mind is always thinking of that next plot twist. Even when I’m relaxing doing brain surgery hobby in my spare time I’m thinking about scalpel twists and plot twists.

But when I have time to do other things, you know like sleep, there are several things that I like doing, can’t just name one second fave. Like others have mentioned, reading is one of my fave activities, but lately I get so many requests to read for blurbs that I have virtually no time to read for myself. In fact, I’m so overextended in that area that I’ve had to put a moratorium on accepting new material to read. When I do read for pleasure of course I enjoy reading mystery/crime fiction of various sorts, though usually not in the cozy area (no offense cozy-ites). I like reading works from the classic era of crime fiction, Chandler, David Goodis, Jim Thompson and others, as well as current crime fiction. I also enjoy reading mainstream, the classics and non-fiction. My favorite book is Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge. But when people ask what I’m reading I’m always hesitant to mention current authors for fear of the hurt feelings of those not mentioned.

I like music, both listening and playing. My first dream was always to be a rock star, whose isn’t? But I knew I didn’t have the chops. Still, I enjoyed being in bands when I was younger. And I still have acoustic, electric and bass guitars that I noodle on, though not as often as I’d like. I like listening to (and playing) a variety of music genres. My faves are the Beatles, hands down. And I enjoy 60s music, New Wave and punk. And today’s alternative. Have been listening to Rodney (no longer on the Roq but now on Sirius) forever. I also like swing music (and got to see a bunch of swing bands and singers that were still around when I was younger when my friend Linda and I would seek them out, I feel very lucky about that), cowboy music (not to be confused with country music). I like a lot of classical, especially baroque. Peruvian and other things.

Movies, of course, both watching and working on them. I spent many years doing script doctoring, no screen credit, no glory. But it sure was fun…much of the time. Except that time that a producer threatened to send his friends in the Mossad after me… As for watching them, a lot of newer movies leave me cold. I used to have broader tastes in what I liked to watch. I’d see almost everything, big films, little films, art films, foreign films. Today I prefer thrillers, though lately again I’ve started watching a little broader range. And I love old movies from the 30s and 40s and some 50s and 60s. Though the 70s was also a true renaissance for American films—lots of good stuff there.

Speaking of Hollywood, I love researching the history of Hollywood, LA, and history in general. And when I’m working on a writing project if there’s research to do I can get lost for hours going from link to link. It’s a “legit” way to play hooky from the actual writing.

I also collect toys, you know that plastic “crap” you threw out when you grew up. Army men, cowboys and the accessories that went with them. Well, my parents threw out (actually gave to the Salvation Army I believe) my toys when I went overseas but eventually I started collecting them again. When I started going to toy shows, I felt a little funny, but when I met other guys my age, including vets, bouncers and other assorted tough guys, and there’s a whole subculture of us out there, still playing with our army men, I felt like it was okay :–) . And I like photographing the little guys, as well as other things. In fact, I love taking pix in general, so that would be another second favorite thing, along with all the other second favorite things.

In the olden days, I liked to SCUBA dive, but haven’t been able to do that in some time. Travel’s also in there. And I always wanted a boat—well maybe someday.

But my two favorite things, corny as it sounds, are walking the dogs and hanging with them and Amy—and when we had cats hanging with them too. We live in a semi-rural area and I enjoy walking the dogs almost as much as they enjoy it. Yeah, corny but true, what can I say?

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And now for the usual BSP:

My story “Blood Moon” appears in “Day of the Dark, Stories of the Eclipse” from Wildside Press, edited by Kaye George. Stories about the eclipse – just in time for the real eclipse on August 21st. Twenty-four stories in all. Available on Amazon.

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Writing Tics: The ‘Comfort Food’ of Writing

Do you have any writing tics (habits or problems which you repeat in your prose)? How do you deal with them?

by Paul D. Marks

“Go to hell,” I said with a Jack Nicholson grin. I jammed outta there, jumping in the car, slamming my foot down on the gas. The blood spread across my shirt like a Rorschach blot. I smiled. Shot out of there like a bat out of hell (hey, I made that one up, didn’t I?).

The above graph is from nothing I’ve written before today. But it could be a taken-to-extreme example of my writing tics. I do have certain words or expressions I fall back on, the “comfort food” of writing.

My characters tend to grin and smile. Not only guns shoot, but people shoot out of places, shoot here or there. They jam here and slam there and jump all over the place. So I definitely repeat certain words or phrases. Sometimes intentionally (hey, that’s my style, man), sometimes not so intentionally. And I do use Word’s Navigation feature (I think that’s what it’s called) to see how many times I might use a particular word or phrase. And I often cut them or rephrase them. And I also often start sentences with ‘and’ and ‘but’ but that is a stylistic choice. A voice choice, if you will, as I think it makes my narrators sound more natural and casual, which I like.

I also tend to use the word just maybe just a little too much. But it’s just because I just like the justness of it. Now, even I think that’s just too much of a good thing.

Even Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl fame, says “I'm trying to wean myself off my very Gen X abuse of the word 'literally. Gone Girl contains at least 33 uses of the word, which is 32 more times than any single novel needs.” This is where using Word’s Navigation feature can really come in handy and help you weed out those overused words.

And sometimes my characters use clichés—like ‘bat out of hell’—but that’s the way people talk. I also set things off in dashes a lot, so sometimes I try to cut down on that. If you read something of mine with a lot of that—well, you should see the earlier drafts. I use run on sentences, so I sometimes change them to two shorter sentences. And from the opposite side, I sometimes combine two short, choppy sentences into one sentence.

But I try to do better. I really do. I try to change things so they’re not so repetitive. I look things up in the thesaurus. Uh oh!

Stephen King says, “Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” I find that sophomoric—and yes I got sophomoric from the thesaurus when I really wanted to say absurd. But it’s not a word I would generally use. The thesaurus is a great help, despite what Mr. King says. And how many of us eschew them? Of course—I also tend to use ‘of course’ a lot—you don’t want to get those hundred dollar words when a two dollar word will do. But the thesaurus is extremely useful in helping you see things a little differently and pick just the right word for the job.

As I said, my characters smile or grin a lot. Sometimes it’s good to break that up with a different way of saying it. The thesaurus helps. And what’s wrong with that? Sometimes you just need something to help you get out of the rut of using the same words all the time. It’s not to use highfalutin words, but to the find the right word to express what you want to say. Sometimes your brain just needs a reminder of what other words are out there, begging to be a star for a moment.

One person’s tic is another person’s style. But you have to be conscious of what you’re doing and don’t overdo favorite things or lean on too many crutches. So, I do try to look for those weaknesses and repetition in my writing. And remember, it can all be fixed in the editing/rewriting.

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I just heard that my story “Ghosts of Bunker Hill” will be coming out in the December issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, last issue of Ellery Queen’s 75th anniversary year. Totally jazzed about that! – Bunker Hill (Los Angeles) was LA’s first wealthy residential neighborhood, right near downtown. Lots of film noirs were shot there (Criss Cross, Cry Danger, Kiss Me, Deadly and many others). It’s where John Fante lived when he wrote “Ask the Dust.” It got run down after WWI and became housing for poor people. And in the late 1960s it was all torn down and redeveloped. The fabulous Victorian houses were either destroyed or moved. They even flattened the hills. You can see the contrast of the old and new in the pic below. The insert is a Newell post that I copped from one of the Victorian homes on Bunker Hill before it was to be moved or torn down. It’s an artifact from Bunker Hill and the logo for my Bunker Hill stories and a prized possession.

"Tic-ked off....by Cathy Ace" said every editor I ever had

Do you have any writing tics (habits or problems which you repeat in your prose)? How do you deal with them?

Yes, I do. And. But. Very. But. That. But. And. Very. That. There you go – out of my system now.

Some things are true writing tics, some I see as habits of speech my characters use – there’s a difference. 

The tics are things I search for – hunting them down and getting rid of them when I can. But I still enjoy starting the odd sentence with “But”. And I reserve the right to do so (and to begin a sentence with the word “And”!)  Beyond that I do seem to develop a couple of tics with each different manuscript, and my editors tend to spot them – thank goodness, because I honestly don’t even know they are there. I read past them as I comb through the manuscript – or else I’m too distracted by all the Ands, Buts, Verys and That’s.

Beyond that, we all have tics when we speak – a turn of phrase, a favourite saying – and they work just fine in real life, but they can grate on the page. Thus, I try to use a character’s speaking tics in a spare manner, though I admit it’s not always easy and I often need an editor to reel me back in.

None of us is perfect – I know I’m not, and I also know I’m always learning. I doubt I’ll ever learn enough to become a totally tic-free writer, though. But I’ll try. And try. Very hard. There, that’s that. (Editor keels over, weeping.)

Cathy Ace writes the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (book #2 THE CASE OF THE MISSING MORRIS DANCER will be available in trade paperback on August 31st in the UK, and in November in the US/Canada, and the Cait Morgan Mysteries (book #7 THE CORPSE WITH THE GARNET FACE was published in paperback in April). Find out more about Cathy and her work, and sign up for her newsletter at http://cathyace.com/   

Kicking and Screaming into the Social Media Mosh Pit

Do you use social media to market your books, and if so, do you think it’s made a difference?

by Paul D. Marks

Yes. And Oh yes.

Facebook:

I went kicking and screaming onto Facebook a few years ago. Publicist and friend Diana James “gently” suggested that I should go on Facebook.

“I don’t want to see pictures of what people had for breakfast…or worse,” I said.

So, after much cajoling from Diana I took the dreaded step and signed onto FB. At first I didn’t know what to do, how to use it. I was an evil lurker. Of course, since I had few FB friends I didn’t have much to lurk at. So I’d check in every few days or so, still not knowing what to do, but gaining a few friends here, a few friends there.

And eventually I started posting. Don’t remember what those early posts were. But not too long after I started on Facebook I began to find my way. I began to post things that meant something to me or that I related to. Things like pix of my breakfast: cereal can be fun and entertaining pop art. And pix of my scars – want to see them? Just kidding.

Actually, I started posting things about noir and film noir and putting up “Film Noir Alerts” when I knew a noir movie was coming on television. Also stuff about mystery and noir writing, Raymond Chandler, Jim Thompson, et al. And I started posting about Los Angeles and LA history, something I’m very much into on many levels. I began to be known as the LA Guy or the Noir Guy. People I’d never met in person would come up to me at conferences and other events and say, “You’re the Noir Guy”. I had to plead guilty.

And then when White Heat came out I put up some posts about that. And other people shared them. And I think it did help get the book known, get reviews and make sales. But the key is, as everyone says, not to only push your books. People get majorly turned off by that. Be a friend. Be part of the community. Comment and share other people’s posts. Participate.

Twitter:

Twitter’s another ballgame altogether. A ballgame where it’s impossible to see the ball and more impossible to know the rules. Like: Don’t use more than three hashtags. Fine. Uh, now what the hell is a hashtag? And where do I find the hashtags that apply to what I’m posting? Can I make up my own hashtags? Would you like some ketchup with your hashtags?

Twitter, to me, was a mess when I first signed up. Tweets would fly by faster than a speeding bullet. I couldn’t figure out how to use it. How do I make – uh, get – friends? I mean followers. Who/how do I follow someone? How to do I participate in a conversation? And HOW THE HELL do I say anything in 140 characters? And DOUBLE HOW THE HELL do I say anything at all when I’m retweeting and now I have 3 characters left to add my own comment to? It’s enough to make you batty.

And then I heard the bugle. The cavalry was on the way led by Captain Tweetdeck and Colonel Hootsuite. Oh no, more things to worry about. But no, these were good things. And the light shined down.

Hootsuite and Tweetdeck are “social media management systems” – say that five times with a mouth full of cereal. They help you organize Twitter, the tweets, the followers, everything. So I signed up for both and magically Twitter became manageable. And I began to use it.

You can create lists and put different people or groups (like magazines, writers, friends, publishers, etc.) on different lists and then put them in different columns.  These columns allow you to see things more clearly and at a more even and manageable pace. And it makes all the difference in the world (at least to me) in terms of being able to use Twitter (though you can manage other programs on these systems as well).

A small part of my Hootsuite Dashboard.

I find that Tweetdeck is good for some things and Hootsuite for others. So I use both. But it’s too much of a “lesson” to go into here and explain the intricacies of each. Suffice to say, they both make Twitter much more user friendly and once you get the hang of them you’ll be able to use Twitter to much better advantage. But like with FB or any social media, you shouldn’t use it only to promote your books. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do some promotion. Just have fun with it.

In closing – other social media & tying it up:

There’s about 33 million different social media. I’m also on Tumblr, Google+ and Pinterest, and use them to varying degrees. For a while I had been doing a fair amount on Tumbler, but nothing there lately. It’s not that I don’t like it, it just comes down to the time spent and it adds up. Some other social media that I signed up for I really never did much with. There’s just so many to choose from. But you have to pick two or three, maybe a couple more. Because you just can’t focus on all these things. It’s too hard to follow people and too hard to keep up with your own accounts and you’ll never have time to write.

Have FB and Twitter made me a NY Times Bestseller? No. But they have definitely helped get me more readers and connect with people with similar interests, which is more than I could have done by going on a cross country booking signing tour …and it costs a lot less. And I figure now there’s not a state in the country that I couldn’t have lunch with someone if I happened to be passing through – and if I do I’ll be sure to post the photo of the meal. Hell, there’s several countries on different continents that I could have lunch with someone I know from social media.

So yes, in answer to the question today – yes yes yes. Social media is great. I’m a total convert. So, uh, here’s what I had for breakfast.

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