Escaping the season... by Cathy Ace

As the days grow shorter, do you find yourself writing more, or less, because of the difference in the season? Do the seasons affect your writing schedule, or ability, in other ways?

The short answer to this question is “Yes”, but maybe not in the way most would think.

In case you haven’t noticed, I travel. A lot. Which means that certain times of the year are better for me to be writing, because I’m at home, at my desk, and able to do the whole plotting, researching, writing, and editing thing. Yes, I have edited books when I’m not at home, and I’ve even done some plotting and lots of research when I'm away (of course!), but I have never – to date – written a book while I am anywhere but at home. So my travel times give my writing a seasonal pattern, though I enjoy time at home.

July evening, at home. Lovely.

And my travel times are tied to various elements: visiting Wales for my birthday, which usually neatly dovetails with attending CrimeFest in Bristol, each year; visiting Wales for Mum’s birthday each year; attending various conventions like Left Coast Crime or Bouchercon; seasonally-sensitive trips like the one I just took from Vancouver to Sydney, via Hawaii, Tahiti, and New Zealand, which depend upon cruising timetables. 

In Papeete, Tahiti October, 2022
(honestly, this was for research purposes!)

I also try to be away in sunny climes to be able to miss at least a part of the winter here in Vancouver.

So my schedule tends to be dictated by my travel plans, rather than the seasons, though the two are connected. Yes, I know I am lucky!

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be in Sydney, Australia on the day that the celebrations were held to mark the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the city’s iconic opera house. 

Passing the Sydney Opera House on October 20th 2023 -
which was its 50th birthday!

This was the latest in half a dozen visits to the city, which features in my forthcoming 13^th Cait Morgan Mystery, The Corpse with the Opal Fingers, which will be published NEXT WEEK on the 13^th November. If you haven’t pre-ordered the book you can still do so, then get stuck into it as soon as possible: https://www.cathyace.com/cait-morgan-mysteries 

Let me tell you a story... by Cathy Ace

Plot, character, setting - how do they fit together in your work? Which do you find the most tricky (if any) and which do you have the most fun with?

Oh heck – complex question, complex answer!

For my Cait Morgan Mysteries: I tend to start with a title. Yes, I know that’s odd, but that’s how it goes for me. I am almost ready to reveal the details of the 13^th book in the series, but not quite yet…so forgive me for talking about book 12, which came out in 2022. The title of this book was THE CORPSE WITH THE TURQUOISE TOES. As soon as I had the title, I saw the titular corpse in my mind’s eye: turquoise means (to me) somewhere where turquoise originates, and I had it…of course, a cult headquarters in the Sonoran Desert, way out beyond Phoenix, Arizona. Yes, I, too, hate it when authors tell me that stories just pop into their heads, so I’ll explain my thought process, I promise. I’d been “fortunate” enough to have encountered an actual cult back in 2020, and a story had been percolating about them…and I’d once got to know a high priestess for a volcano-worshipping cult whose HQ was in Sedona…then the turquoise thing just fitted in, and I was off! Yes, EVERYTHING I encounter in life is story-fodder.

Because Cait Morgan and Bud Anderson are in every book, those characters were in place, as was the setting itself (a fictionalized cult HQ built to be a “spa retreat”) but I wanted to use the framework of a seemingly-innocent cult-like life approach I’d invented back in book 2 in the series, and there was a great character I wanted to bring back from the same book, so I fitted her in (the daughter of an ageing rock star and his ex-groupie wife, who’d also been in book 2). She was a chef ,so I had her as the person setting up the restaurant at the desert retreat…then I built from there.

The plot? Because of my behind-the-scenes experiences with the cult I’d encountered in 2020, many of the storylines (how it operated, and could exploit the weak) were threads I could weave to a more substantial yarn…and I added in an extra layer – which I always do with the Cait books: there’s always some sort of ongoing (even if subtle) reference to other works of art – in this case it was the Oz books. I used every one of the wizard’s names for characters, used emblematic nods (Cait and Bud are transported to the cult’s HQ in a ruby-red vehicle, for example) and followed it all the way through there being characters there who are akin to the lion, the scarecrow, the tin man…and then there’s the “wizard” too, of course. Great fun to write, and all woven into a plot that’s complex and a bit tricky. Is plotting a challenge? Always, but it’s great fun. Yes, I’m a plotter not a pantster, so it’s all worked out ahead of time, as well as red herrings, real clues, and the final denoument.

For the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries: a bit different, though I still start with a title. These books feature a large, and ever-growing, cast of characters…though some come, and some go, with each book. The setting always includes the stately Chellingworth Hall and its Dower House, plus the village of Anwen-by-Wye. Beyond that? Often real local places like Builth Wells, Hay-on-Wye, and Brecon are in play, and I usually have at least one of my four private investigators having to head off to “another place” to do some digging about – which might be London, or the south-west corner of bucolic Scotland, or even the rugged coastline of Wales. In the most recent book it just so happened that all four of them remained within about a thirty-mile radius of their home base…but next time…no, can’t say! I enjoy writing about all these settings because – be they real or fictional – they are real to me, and I like to visit them…and I enjoy spending time with my characters too.

For these books there are always several cases being handled by the PIs, so that’s the hardest part – scheduling all the events that happen to each individual, and making sure they link up with their colleagues in the right way, at the right time. This means I plot these books in a different way than my Cait Morgan books - which are plotted in a linear form, with me starting the plot at the beginning and writing up across a forward-moving timeline. For the WISE women, I work up each case, then weave the whole set of cases together over the timeline, making sure that every person is only in one place at a time, and knows or doesn’t know that which it is imperative they know or don’t know at the right time, too. Post-It notes – I thank you!

I suppose, in summary, I find the setting, the characters, and the main story points to be the easier parts, but spend most time on the detailed plotting to make sure I am able to weave a complex story that hangs together, has the right pace to keep readers wanting to know what happens next, and to (hopefully) deliver a satisfying conclusion.

Then all I have to do is WRITE THE BOOK – which is what I am going to get back to asap!

To be sure you get to see the cover of the 13th Cait Morgan Mystery FIRST, sign up for my newsletters at my website - on the home page: https://www.cathyace.com/

All my own work... by Cathy Ace

Chime in with your thoughts on writers using AI. Is it okay to use it for some tasks? Where do you draw the line?

NB: No AI was used in the creation of this blog post. I will not be using it because I enjoy writing, so why steal that pleasure/terror from myself?

On a more serious note, yes, I do think conversations must be had. I think the current statement from the Authors' Guild is a good place to start. Click through here to read what they are saying: https://authorsguild.org/advocacy/artificial-intelligence/ 

This isn't going away, folks, and we can't stick our heads in the sand...because we all know where that puts our backsides. So if you're a writer, or a creator of any sort, have a bit of a think about it all now. And if you're a reader - which I'm betting we all are - then consider how you're going to have to maybe take a couple of extra steps down the line to establish the true source of the creative output you're reading/seeing/hearing...and, maybe, even sharing.

Now…onto something that really is all my own work, that I'm quite proud of:

I have a new book coming out on the 24^th of this month – so excuse me, please, while I focus on that this week! 

The Case of the Uninvited Undertaker is the 8^th book in the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries series, and it’s been a labor of love...because I adore my recurring characters in this series (and I hope that shows in the books!).

For those of you waiting for the next Cait Morgan book  - yes, it WILL be published this year, with a publication date of Monday 13^th November currently on my calendar.

All of this means that by the end of this year I will have written and published four books within twelve months – hence the slightly stressed situation here in my office. I’ve never done this before, and I have to say I will probably never do it again. However, having worked through the past dozen years to try to build a presence in the market, I owe it to my readers, and myself, to make the most of it. None of this would have been possible without the support on a daily basis that I receive from my husband (who’s doing everything to allow me to write, write, write) and my wonderful editors, who have allowed me to insert myself rather forcefully into their schedules. My thanks to them all. 

Most of all – thanks to everyone who’s pre-ordered THE CASE OF THE UNINVITED UNDERTAKER; I already know it will be the biggest release I've ever had, and that’s a huge boost to my confidence. 

I really hope you enjoy the book…and please understand one critical thing: getting four books written in a year DOES NOT MEAN I have given any of them less time than I would have done if I’d only had one book published this year. What it means is that I’ve been able to schedule the time each book is in MY hands compared with how long it’s in the hands of my editors. That’s the wonderful thing about publishing my own books – I get to set the pace, set the scheduling, and this means that the months my books used to spend in the hands of others have evaporated, so I can work much smarter these days.

Here we go then, folks – I hope you enjoy the book! You can click through to my website for ordering details; the book’s available for your Kindle, Kobo, or Nook e-reader, in paperback and in hardcover. Your local bookstore or library can order it for you – they just need the title, and the ISBN helps, and they are on my website, here: https://www.cathyace.com/wise-enquiries-agency-mysteries 

HAPPY READING!

No,no,no...yes! by Cathy Ace

Give us your writer’s manifesto.

Easy: I don’t have one. (At least, I didn’t have one until I wrote this blog post! Be sure to read to the end…)

In 1999, with Mum and Dad, when I was made a 
Freeman of the City of London, 
in recognition of my services to marketing

Why? My pre-fiction-writing background is in management and marketing, where my life was full of helping clients craft their corporate mission statements, so I now absolutely avoid anything of the sort.

Again, why? I found that most mission statements were developed to appease various stakeholders and then became an albatross (which is possibly unfair to albatrosses)…so, no, not for me.

Thus, I’m going to answer this question instead: why do I write, and what do I hope to gain and give by it? (Which is exactly what a manifesto is, but if I don’t call it that it doesn’t count, right?)

The simple truth is that I love to tell stories: throughout the non-academic part of my pre-fiction-writing life I told stories that were crafted in such a way that they, essentially, helped non marketing managers to become marketing managers; then, during the academic portion of my life I told stories to university students to help them prepare for the world of marketing and communications when they left the comforting confines of academia; now I tell stories to entertain those who enjoy a bit of murder and mystery when they’re relaxing. And…because I love to tell stories – I write stories; no longer do I write textbooks for managers or students, now I write novels for “readers like me”.

Thus, I gain the satisfaction of being able to spin a yarn to entangle then release my readers, which is the best feeling in the world…so it’s both a get and a give for me, simultaneously, and I currently apply that to two series of books.

If I were advising myself, as a client, I would suggest this:

“Cathy Ace is an author who seeks to create relatable characters and spin yarns to entangle, entertain, and satisfy readers who enjoy a puzzling murder mystery that’s thought-provoking and has depth, but not too much grit.”

Rats! I ended up with a manifesto after all.

PS: if you fancy reading a book by the author with the abovementioned manifesto, check out her website for full details of all her books: https://www.cathyace.com/ 

COMING ON 24th JULY

If at first you don't succeed... by Cathy Ace

Craft: How rough or polished are your first drafts? Do you dare show us?

What I call “my first draft” is not necessarily what others would call their first draft.

What’s mine?

Before I even sit down to type a first draft:

I have the plot sorted from start to finish, all my research is done, everyone is named and their backstories sorted. Also I have an outline, and I have notes for every chapter containing about who is where, when, what happens, why it happens, what I want the reader to know, and feel, by the end of the chapter.

My goal for the first draft:

Tell the story from beginning to end.

Approach for first draft:

Put in really long hours typing as fast as I can, working my way through the notes for each chapter, without worrying about if it will all work out (I hope to have ironed out any missteps in plotting during my outlining and chapter planning stages). In the case of my Cait Morgan Mysteries, make sure the voice, tone, and style match Cait’s, and the series so far. For my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries, make sure ALL the voices, tones, and interwoven plot lines make sense.

I print out chunks of chapters as I go – often about a quarter of the book at a time, which I read and mark up for as many literals, or poor use of language/expression as I go – I enter those into the digital document then, refreshed, I push ahead again.

I always have a tight deadline, so it’s not unusual for me to not have the chance to even read through the last quarter/fifth of the book before I send it to my editor for the manuscript’s first, structural pass. Also, I will already have made my own notes along the lines of “develop X’s character in chapters y and z”, or “pick up untied end of subplot B” etc. My editor and I seem to always agree on these points…but leaving them until after the first pass (by her) allows me to keep on schedule.

That’s my first draft.

My editor tells me I that I send in “unusually clean” first drafts, with few literals. I’m pleased about that; the difference between the part of the manuscript that’s had one pass by me and the part that hasn’t shows I do tend to pick up a lot of literals/quirks and other problems along the way. But by no means all!

I went back to my second Cait Morgan Mystery “master folder” (The Corpse with the Golden Nose pub 2013) to find something useful to illustrate the input of an editor on an early part of a book, so there is context (it’s how the book opens) and no spoilers (perish the thought!).

You’ll see that the challenge around which the book revolves is introduced without any lead-up in the final version, when compared with what I sent to the publisher as my first draft. Being edited allows one to learn – and then all you have to do is absorb every learning point as you go along…LOL! I try!

How it was in my first draft:

(Note for context: each chapter in this book is titled for what Cait drinks within it…it’s set in British Columbia’s wine country, so there’s quite a variety of beverages!)

 

Champagne and orange juice

 

Bud and I had happily devoured the delicious brunch of creamy scrambled eggs draped across golden buttered toast that I’d prepared in my little kitchen, then we watched indulgently as Marty, Bud’s slightly tubby black lab, had licked our plates clean—something that saved me at least a dozen calories, I reckoned. I was just finishing off the glass of Bucks Fizz that Bud had fixed for us when he handed me the photograph.

            “What can you read in this photo, Cait?” he asked, smiling. He looks great when he smiles.

            “You know I don’t like to assess photographs, they’re unreliable sources of insight,” I snapped, possibly too sharply.

            “Well, you might not like to,” Bud spoke slowly, “but you’re good at it. You were good at it when I hired you to consult for my Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, and, even though I’m retired now, I reckon you’re still good at it. So treat this as a challenge if you must, oh dear, sweet, Caitlin,” he was grinning wickedly, a sight that always makes my heart flutter and stutter, “and tell me what you can?” He phrased it as a question, but I knew that the gauntlet lay at my feet.

            “Before I tell you anything, can I ask one question?” I used my most coquettish voice and mock-batted my lashes at him. I knew that the sarcasm wouldn’t be lost on Bud.

            “Sure,” he chuckled, “ask away.”

            “Is just one of them dead? Or both of them?” I thought I’d get right to it.

            Bud smiled. “You know me too well, Cait.” His voice warmed, and he looked pleased about something. Then his smile faded. “The taller of the two is dead.  About a year ago. The other one’s her older sister. But that’s all you get.”

            “So there’s no point my asking if it was an accident, a suicide or homicide?” I punted.

            Bud paused, refreshed our glasses and took a sip from the champagne flute that looked almost too delicate in his large hand. “I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know, Cait. That’s the truth. I can only be certain it wasn’t an accident. The whole local community, the cops, and the coroner’s inquest say suicide. The sister says murder. I have no idea. But there was a note, and the sister says the cops won’t look into it as there are no grounds to suspect that anyone else was involved.”

            Ah—so that was it. Bud had found a damsel in distress and he wanted to help her. Immediately I wondered why he felt he owed this unknown woman anything, then I mentally kicked myself for allowing a pang of jealousy to clutch at my satisfyingly full tummy. I swallowed deeply from my glass, and decided to play nice.

How it was published:

(NOTE: this is taken from the galley pdf, so the layout’s a bit iffy -sorry!)

 

Champagne and Orange Juice

 

Bud slapped the photograph onto the table in front of me as though it

were a gauntlet.

“This photo showed up in my email a few days ago. From someone

I . . . know. What do you read in it, Cait?” He looked grim.

I held the photo at arm’s length and squinted at the blurry image.

I could make out two women, both with dark, curly hair. They were

smiling.

I felt my multi-purpose right eyebrow shoot up as I asked, “Is just

one of them dead, or both of them?”

“How’d you guess?” Bud asked, grinning.

“Oh, let me see, now . . . maybe it’s something to do with me being

a criminologist who specializes in victim profiling and you being an

ex-homicide detective. And the hope, on my part, that you’re unlikely

to show me a photo of a woman, especially two women, in whom you

have anything other than a professional interest. Those facts, when

taken together with my amazing powers of deduction, have helped me

reach the conclusion that I’m looking at either one or two victims, or,

if not victims, then at least people who are now dead.” I hurled a bright

smile toward Bud and waited for him to tell me off for my cheekiness.

Bud shrugged. “You know me too well, Cait.” His voice warmed,

and he looked pleased about something. Then his smile faded. “The

taller of the two died about a year ago. The other one’s her older sister.

But that’s all you get.”

“So there’s no point my asking if it was an accident, a suicide, or a

homicide?” I asked.

Bud paused, refreshed our glasses, and took a sip from the champagne

flute that looked almost too delicate in his large hand. “I can’t

tell you that, because I don’t know, Cait, I can only be certain it wasn’t

an accident. The whole local community, the cops, and the coroner,

all say suicide. The sister says no way. I have no idea. There was a note,

and the sister says the cops won’t look into it any further as there are

no grounds to suspect anyone else was involved.”

Ah—so that was it. Bud had found a damsel in distress and he

wanted to help her. Immediately, I wondered why he felt he owed this

unknown woman anything. I mentally kicked myself for allowing a

pang of jealousy to clutch at my satisfyingly full tummy. I swallowed

deeply from my glass, and decided to play nice.

If you want to find out how all the final versions of all my books ended up – you just have to read them! Links at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/

 THE 8^TH WISE ENQUIRIES Agency Mystery will be published on 24^th July. Click through for more information, and purchase links: https://www.cathyace.com/wise-enquiries-agency-mysteries

And now that it's all over... by Cathy Ace

What advice would you have for emerging writers about writing satisfying endings? Pitfalls? Things to avoid? Tips?

The first thing I want to say here is that the ending of any book needs to be appropriate for the type of book in question; we, as authors, need to understand the expectations of readers.

For example, a thriller needs to have a thrilling ending…so no standing about with cups of tea or cocktails for an explanatory denouement because that’s NOT what the reader expects, nor wants. On the other hand, if the reader’s enjoyed the ride with the characters the author has created, they might also take delight in finding out what’s happened to those characters a few months down the road, rather than the thriller just “stopping” after the high-stakes final chapter’s been read. I find this a wonderful role for an Epilogue; indeed, thrillers that just “stop” drive me nuts, and leave me feeling “Is that it!?” when the author’s written an entire book aimed at making me feel “What happens next?”.  

I write both traditional and cozy books, and they need different types of endings.

I know for a fact that readers who take a journey with me through my “Golden-Age-shaped” Cait Morgan Mysteries expect a denouement scene, and for there to be comeuppances for the unmasked killer/s…so I make sure I give them that by allowing Cait to explain her solution to a gathering of all the main characters – swiftly followed by the intervention of either those who uphold the law in the part of the world where she finds herself, or by the intervention of some form of “natural justice”, as appropriate. The Cait Morgan books are traditional puzzle-plot books, so it’s absolutely critical to tie up all the clues and Red Herrings, as well as truly close the case, allowing order to be restored to the fictional world I’ve created. However, I also need the ongoing relationship arc between Cait and her (now) husband Bud to have developed somewhat; though that’s not the main goal of these books, it’s important to readers to continue to understand how a strong woman and a strong man can, and do, manage to maintain a harmonious relationship where each is able to rely upon, and help, the other.

On the other hand, my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries feature several cases in each book, all of which need solutions to be unearthed by my four private investigators, but where the comeuppances often have to be enacted by the local police…an outcome which the PIs sometimes have to allow to unfold over “future times”. That said, I try to leave the reader in doubt about what those consequences will be, usually by allowing my final wrap-up chapter take place some little time after the final “action” in the penultimate chapter. Also, since these are character-based books, where the reader gets to know (and hopefully feel connections with) a recurring cast throughout all the books, I also need to take the stories of the lives of those characters forward, and allow resolution to any challenges I’ve thrown at them during my storytelling or, maybe, chuck a new challenge into the frame to encourage readers to want to know what will happen to that person in the next book.

A book with an ending that’s not appropriate to the type of book in question is doing a disservice to the reader, so writers really need to understand what those expectations are by getting to know the subgenre they are writing from the readers’ point of view first. Thus, as I find myself saying so often, you can become a better writer by being a better reader first – and by being a better reader I mean being a reader of the subgenre you’re writing, not just relying upon “how To” books, which may, or may not, deal with your chosen sub-genre. 

Want to check to see if my endings match your expectations? You can find out more about all my books at my website: https://www.cathyace.com/

Staying in my lane... by Cathy Ace

Craft: Okay, we write about crime, but if you had to dip a toe into another genre, which would you add to the mix, and why?

Tough question, because I’ve only ever wanted to write crime fiction. That said, I have written nine books that are not fiction…but I dare say that textbooks for managers about marketing, brand building, and promotional planning for e-business are not top of your list of books to read!

Some of the textbooks I have written

So, because I know I really don’t want to write anything but crime fiction, allow me to give you some reasons why I don’t think it’s necessary – for me – to write something other than crime fiction, but to still have the chance to write significantly different types of books…because that’s what authors I know who genre-hop tell me they’re doing – giving themselves the chance to write different types of books, as in “a change is as good as a rest”.

First of all, I write three very different types of books, which – and, again, I can only speak from my personal experience – allow me to work in different ways, with different outcomes, and appeal to different readers…or the same readers who enjoy reading different types of books.

The books I have written most of are the Cait Morgan Mysteries: these are traditional, puzzle-plot mysteries, written in the first person, always set in a different location – with Cait Morgan and Bud Anderson being the only two characters who are in each book. They follow the “Golden Age” shape of book, with a few twists: a murder upfront; a not-so-amateur sleuth with a retired cop who works for secret service agencies allowing access to “insider” information (on occasion, though not always); lots of clues and red herrings dotted about in the “fair play” manner; a crescendo to a final denouement where the perpetrator/s are unmasked and justice (sometimes legal, sometimes natural) is allowed to restore the balance of life. There’s no gratuitous blood/gore on the page, no sex on the page, no foul language.

Because these books feature a professor of criminal psychology, and characters who tread/have trod some pretty dark paths, the WHY is critical to the solutions…and I plot, plot, plot these books ensuring that every action (past and present) by every character is deeply rooted in their unique psychological profile, so I plot in the timeline of the book, from beginning to end, and only then do I start to write the book. These are very “ordered” books, in terms of writing them, and I have the fun of traveling again to places where I have lived or worked, as I write, AND I bring in a different filmic/literary influence for themes/motifs in each book too, which is fun to do, and readers always seem to find that aspect very satisfying if/when they notice it (I always try to let that aspect be the sprinkles on the topping, rather than being either a driving force or laying it on so thickly that it becomes a “thing”). So I find writing these books to be absorbing, satisfying, and giving my mind lots of opportunities to roam.

The WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries are much cozier – they are quintessentially British, stately home/village mysteries, with four female private investigators who run their business out of a converted barn on a large ducal estate in the rolling Welsh countryside. Writing these books allows me to write in a very different way: there is always more than one mystery in these books (different cases upon which the private investigators are working) so, while I plot the overall arc of the book to start with (usually the title of the book relates to the main case) I also plot the different cases as separate entities, then weave them all together, ensuring the overall time-frame works.

NEW BOOK COMING!!! amazon link

These are much more “procedural” books, too – yes, there are some puzzle plots thrown in, but private investigators work in a different way than a sleuth does, so I enjoy that difference, too. Of course, the challenge when writing books set in a recurring location, with many characters recurring, is to allow all those characters to develop somewhat with each book, but to also allow a couple of the characters to shine in their own way in each book…in the way that daily/weekly daytime/early evening dramas do on television. That’s a different discipline for a writer, but the treat is to return to people and places that are like old friends, with a constantly evolving backstory for players, as well as numerous plots driving the character development forward. It’s fun to do – and quite different to writing the Cait Morgan Mysteries. 

Then there’s the challenge of writing a standalone rather than a series – this is also fun, because the stakes for the main characters are higher: if it’s not a series, not everyone needs to survive, so there’s a chance to increase the danger level for even central characters. And writing a tale of psychological suspense is such a different process than writing mysteries and whodunnits…no need for as many clues or red herrings, though misdirection is the name of the game, and writing about an atmosphere rather than substantive occurrences is quite a challenge.

So, no, I don’t feel the need to write books that aren’t crime fiction, because I manage to meet all my needs as a writer by writing different types of crime fiction. Now, if I had more hours in the day, or months in the year, I might play with writing something else, but, as a full time author, I reckon I am using as much of my life writing as I can /is healthy, so I’ll settle with what I enjoy, thank you very much! If you'd like to catch up with any of my books, you can find out all about them at my website: http://www.cathyace.com/

 

An excellent pairing... by Cathy Ace

In this photo you can see me with my editor, Anna. It was taken back in 2014, it’s the only time we’ve ever met in person, but I’m just about to send her the manuscript of what will be the twelfth book she’ll have edited for me since then. I suspect this might be a bit of an “odd” relationship with an editor…but it is what it is, and it works for us, which I think is fine. 

So, to answer this week's question of  Do you work with a professional editor? Why/why not? What would you look for if you hired a professional editor? the first part of my answer is yes...read on for the rest...

I first met Anna when she was a staff editor employed by Severn House, the publisher of my WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries (Edwin Buckhalter, the owner of Severn House, is between us in the photo). By the time it came to the second book in the series, Anna had moved to become an independent editor, and was having her first child. I think, at that time, that most of the books she edited were still for Severn House, but – being contracted rather than employed – she had more flexibility to be able to balance her professional and family life.

When I decided to start to publish my own work, Anna was the editor I turned to: we already had a good working relationship, and I also knew she was always on-time with her feedback…which means a great deal when you’re planning and scheduling. And that’s why we still work together, I think: I just shot her an email last week to see if she could “fit in” a short-notice structural and full edit, and she told me exactly when she was and wasn’t available over the coming months. Now I have my deadlines, and can work to them, knowing exactly how many days my manuscript will be with her, and when it will get back to me.

Being honest (and I always try to be at least that when I talk to you here) this is one of the most wonderfully liberating aspects of being an Indie publisher of my own work: I get to plan and control the workflow, which allows me to do what I just did.

Of course, I still have to actually write the book…so, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll get back to that now. Yes, yes, I’ll tell you the title blah, blah, blah soon – but if you want to be the FIRST to know all about it, why not sign up for my newsletter? Details are on my website, where you can also find out about my existing work: http://www.cathyace.com/

Wish me luck! This is a rollercoaster of a life, and I’m hoping that this book – the one I’m trying to shoehorn into an already busy year – will be welcomed by readers as much as its predecessors have been (oh…is that a clue???) and will allow the folks who’ve been emailing me about certain characters to finally understand how certain things are going…LOL – that’s all for now, folks!

Oh what a tangled web... by Cathy Ace

How much air time do you give to secondary characters? Have any threatened to take over a book? Choose one of yours that you particularly enjoy and share them with us, including a snippet of text that gives us their flavour.

Oh, this is a good one…and something I was asked about on a panel in which I participated at CrimeFest in Bristol, UK a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I’ve been “on the road again”, and it was a blast! Anyway, I won’t go on and on about how wonderful it was to spend time with my tribe (though there are some photos to show how fun it was!) because I could chatter on all day…so…to the question!

"Long running series" panel: Caro Ramsey, Peter Guttridge, Kate Ellis, Andrew Child, me

I always planned the Cait Morgan books as a series where each story would take place in a different setting, with only Cait Morgan and Bud Anderson being in every book, but, even though I’m writing fiction, I aim for relatable circumstances that allow readers to happily inhabit the worlds I’m creating…so there are folks who pop up more than once.

Jack and Sheila White are a case in point: Jack was something of a mentor to Bud during his early days with the Vancouver Police Department, and the two men built a friendship based upon mutual respect that lasted beyond their retirements. The Whites also have acreage where Marty, Cait and Bud’s tabby black Lab, can stay when they are off on their mystery-solving jaunts (which is handy!). Thus, Jack and Sheila have appeared briefly in several of the books, and they finally took center stage in The Corpse with the Crystal Skull, when they stayed with Cait and Bud at a private resort in Jamaica…which is where we find out a good deal more about their backgrounds.

With Barry Ryan, of  Free@LastTV, the company
producing the Cait Morgan Mysteries TV series

Another recurring character is John Silver. Yes, he’s tall…which leads to the inevitable nickname…and he’s also quite mysterious when we first meet him: he arrives in Amsterdam in The Corpse with the Garnet Face as a “facilitator” with links to international intelligence-gathering services, and his presence allows us to discover more about Bud’s links with similar organizations. But I didn’t want John Silver to end up being no more than a cypher…a cut-out character who allows the plot to move forward by mysteriously revealing key background details about suspects…so I allowed him to also be the person upon whom Bud relied when Cait completely disappeared in Budapest, in The Corpse with the Ruby Lips; this time it’s Bud taking the lead, with John in support. In The Corpse with the Crystal Skull, John joins the house party in Jamaica as a guest, bringing with him his newly-acquired girlfriend, and we discover that maybe his overall judgement isn’t quite what his secret-squirrel job might lead us to believe it should be! Then, in The Corpse with the Granite Heart, I’m sorry to say I left poor John Silver completely undone…and questioning his entire future. I do have a plan for John, but won’t say here what it is…but the fact that he and Jack White are about the only people Bud trusts 100% (as well as Cait, of course) means he’ll be back, but maybe not in the way readers might expect.

I’ve enjoyed illuminating John Silver, and allowing the light cast upon him to reflect onto Bud, allowing his character to be revealed more and more too, which I think adds dimensions to one of my leads it would otherwise be difficult to communicate: judging a person by the friends they choose works well in fiction, as it does in life.

As requested, here’s a passage where John Silver is playing a central role. The set up? Taken from The Corpse with the Crystal Skull, Cait and Bud, Jack and Sheila White, and John Silver are “enjoying breakfast”, when John’s questionably youthful plus-one, Lottie, has openly “accused” John, Bud, and Jack of visiting Jamaica to carry out some sort of secret operation…including investigating the death of the man who owned the resort where they are staying – Freddie Burkinshaw.

Sheila and I exchanged a glance as Lottie’s comments hung in the heavy air, then we looked at our respective husbands. They, in turn, were glaring at John, who’d puffed out his cheeks, snapped his napkin onto the table, and pushed away his plate.

He said, “Right-ho, this obviously needs to be addressed. Lottie dear, you don’t know anything about any operations that Bud, Jack, or I may, or may not, have been party to. Cait and Sheila are married to two wonderful men who’ve put in their years for Canadian law enforcement and have both now retired from that life. I, as you know, have a desk job. Yes, I work in Whitehall, and, yes, I have to travel within my role, on occasion. But I can guarantee you that – if I ever had been involved in that sort of undertaking – I would now be well past the age when I would be called upon to carry out any ‘secret squirrel’ work, as you so quaintly described it. I know that Rusty, Sir Roger Rustingham, is professionally involved with a particular branch of British security in a senior role, but he does have friends and acquaintances from other areas of his life too. I got to know him when we worked together on a couple of charity committees. Where I also met your father, I might add. It’s all totally innocent, and above board.”

“Well, that’s a pity,” replied Lottie with a wry smile, “because when I spoke to Daddy on the phone earlier today he said he’d known of Freddie Burkinshaw, and had always wondered if he’d been dispatched to Jamaica to ‘keep an eye on a few local chaps’. Apparently, Freddie arrived here just around the time independence was granted, and was pretty close with Ian Fleming – and we all know what sort of a war he had, and what he got up to after it, don’t we, children?” She rose, and swooshed her chiffon scarf around her firm, young throat. “I’m off for a shower now. It’s so dreadfully humid. The rain’s stopped at last, I see. Thank you for a delicious…egg thingy, Cait, Bud. See you in a bit, John. Maybe someone will be kind enough to let me know what sort of place we’re dining at tonight, when you’ve made the arrangements, so I can dress accordingly. Bye-ee.”

And she was gone. Leaving us all a bit flummoxed, and – in my case anyway – fixated on the fact that I’d just heard several potential reasons why someone might want Freddie Burkinshaw dead. It seemed he might not have been the innocent octogenarian without an enemy in the world we’d all thought him to be, after all.

BSP: find out all about John Silver - and Cait and Bud - here: http://www.cathyace.com/

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes... by Cathy Ace

How has the book industry changed since your first release, and polishing your best crystal ball, where do you see the book industry heading in the next ten years? 

Another question where the timing couldn’t be better. Why? I received the contract for my first published novel in the mail on May 11^th 2011 – eleven years ago to the very day! An exceedingly happy anniversary. The book wasn’t published until March 2012, but eleven years ago today I felt good!!

Eleven years ago!!!
Contract for The Corpse with the Silver Tongue...
the little cast iron snail relates to the book (you'll have to 
read it to find out how!)

So, what’s changed in the past eleven years? If I said “almost everything” I don’t think I’d be overstating the case. The big publishers have gobbled up even more mid-sized publishers; there are more “imprints” and fewer mid-sized houses; there’s been a rash of new independent small houses opening up, some just publishing e-books; as publishers have crashed and burned, many authors have been orphaned; the growth of self publishing has been exponential; the growth in the popularity of listening to books as opposed to reading them has grown tremendously. Oh…and there’s been a pandemic which messed up everything that hadn’t already changed, and now there are other factors hitting the supply chain, which is impacting the availability of paper and ink…so there’s that, too.

But you probably knew all that…

Back then I was delighted to be traditionally published by a small independent Canadian house: TouchWood Editions published my first eight Cait Morgan Mysteries, within that timeframe Severn House published my four WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries…then TouchWood dumped me, Severn House was sold to Canongate  (I didn’t re-sign with them), and I set up Four Tails Publishing Ltd. to indie-publish my own books. I have now published a collection of short stories, another of novellas, and four Cait Morgan novels, so I now live a very different life in terms of “being a full time author” than I ever used to – and I’m happy 😊

We had four Labradors when I set up the company
and I like the play on Four/For and Tails/Tales LOL!!!

As for what might change in the future, well, if I knew, I’d sell that information to the highest bidder! What I think might happen is…more of the same. More love of beautiful, printed books for those who can afford them; more popular 99cents e-books for those who read a lot on e-readers; (hopefully) more use of libraries; more people listening to books; more orphaned authors moving to self publish. But, honestly, if I re-read this blog post in another eleven years’ time, I won’t be surprised to discover I was totally wrong. I don’t even know if I’ll still be writing then – though I hope so 😊

I'm delighted that The Corpse with the Iron Will, the tenth Cait Morgan Mystery, has been shortlisted for The Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, one of the Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence. It's the only self-published book to be shortlisted - which makes me even more proud! 

PS: May 11th is also my late-father's birthday; on the day this blog post is published, I'll be visiting his grave in Wales, with my mum and sister, honouring the memory of the man who helped make me the woman I am. He encouraged me to believe I could become anyone I wanted to become, achieve anything I put my heart and soul into...and I hope he'd be proud of his daughter today.

http://www.cathyace.com/