Close to home

 

If you could set a book you haven’t written yet anywhere in the world, at any time in history, among societies other than your own, where would you choose and why?

by Dietrich

I come up with an idea for a story, then I dream up the characters. After that comes place and time, and that boils down to what suits that particular story. 

There are times in history that are of interest to me, and I’d likely lean that way. I’ve set a couple of stories on the Great Plains during the dustbowl era back in the 1930s. The isolation and hard times suited Call Down the Thunder and a new one I’ve got coming from ECW Press later this year. 

House of Blazes was set during the earthquake and fire that ravaged San Francisco after the turn of the last century. And the force of nature added both an unexpected pace and character-feel to the story. 

There was Zero Avenue, about an up-and-coming female guitar player. She has the chops, along with an edge, and to match the attitude I set it during the heyday of Vancouver’s early punk scene in the late 70s. 

Poughkeepsie Shuffle was set between New York state and Toronto in the mid-80s, a time when I called the latter city home.

When choosing a setting, I ask myself if I can I work the dialogue for that particular time and place. I rely heavily on dialogue, using patois and local parlance, and if I came up with a story where my characters had to say something like “Dash my wig, that’s a fly-ass stagecoach,” I might feel headed for trouble. Having been around a while, I’ve heard plenty of slang expressions come and go, so if I’m setting a story at a time when folks were burning rubber, flipping their wigs, busting a gut or talking to the hand, then I’m good to go. Outside of my own experiences, I do as much research as needed. The aim is always to be accurate, but I have to keep the modern-day reader in mind too, so sometimes a bit of word-bending is involved, a mix of the old and new.

There’s that old bit of advice, “Write what you know.” What that means to me is if I’m writing about something that I haven’t experienced firsthand, then I dig up facts until all the senses are in line and I feel like I’ve been there. It also means a lot of on-line research, and triple-checking facts. And it means traveling, flipping through reference books, making calls and reaching out. After all that, I’ll be compiling and sifting, then whittling it all down, dropping in enough of what I researched so the reader hardly notices the facts and just slips into the story like they’re living it.

Back to the question, I do have a couple of ideas for a western in the back of my mind. I haven’t tried that genre yet, and I’ve always been fascinated by those times. I’m also playing with a story set during a time when I was growing up, when Cronkite was bringing the Vietnam War into our living rooms in glorious black and white. And I’ve got another idea for one about a struggling blues musician. At this point, the ideas keep coming and I’m getting them written down, and for me, that’s the greatest place of all to be. 

High Points

What moment of personal accomplishment within the writing realm made you most proud?

by Dietrich

I don’t like to think of it as pride, because that means a fall could come next. Let’s call it a high point. And as far as writing goes, the first of these came when I found myself in a position to leave the nine-to-five grind behind and finally follow a dream – to write full-time. It took a long time to get there, but it felt pretty good when it did.

I strapped myself in and started writing every day, and after a while there came the next high point; a screenplay I co-wrote with my talented wife ended up as a finalist in a writing contest. And that sure charged up the confidence. Then I tried some short stories and I was thrilled when the first was accepted for publication. And so, I just kept cranking them out, one short after another. I was doing what I loved, and I was thrilled with each one that found a home. 

Eventually I felt ready and I started working on what became my first novel, Ride the Lightning. And I enjoyed every inch of the way: writing, rewriting and editing. Finally I sent it off to a handful of agents and publishers, and I sat back and crossed my fingers. 

Maybe the biggest ‘writing moment’ came when I got that first YES from my publisher, ECW Press. Signing that deal took care of any self doubt that might have been left in the shadows, and more than ever I felt I was on the right track. That same novel won an IPPY award a few months after its pub date, and that felt pretty amazing as well.

Now I’m working on my tenth novel, and I still enjoy every step of the process. I enjoy working with my publisher, editors, copy editors, designers and publicity people. And I’m always thrilled seeing the cover comps and finally holding an ARC. 

And getting positive reviews after a book comes out can be right up there among the high points too. And so is getting positive feedback from fellow writers and comments from readers. And what author doesn’t like when someone comes up with a copy of their book at a reading event and asks them to sign it.

At the start, one aspect that was a challenge for me was that first public appearance, and not being sure what to expect from it. As it turned out, I discovered I’m quite the ham, and once I got started I didn’t want to shut up. Since the first time, I’ve jumped at the chance to take part in reading events, selecting an excerpt and sharing it with an audience. And the same goes for speaking on writers’ panels and giving interviews.

Those have been some of the high points along the way. I feel truly fortunate to do what I love every day, and here’s to plenty more high points to come.

Writing crime: easy money the hard way

What made you decide to write crime & mystery fiction? And if you hadn’t been an author, what would you have been doing?

by Dietrich

When I started writing fiction, I wrote short stories and dabbled in different genres, and by the time I found a steady rhythm to my words, I was writing stories inhabited by marginal characters that often ended hip-deep in committing some crime or other. I think my lean toward dark humor had a lot to do with it too, something that I think goes hand in glove with good crime fiction. There’s nothing funny about crime or violence, but there is a certain levity that humor brings to the tension found in that kind of story. And I like writing my characters, some who are desperate, some living by their wits, some lacking wits altogether, but all of them just wanting to make easy money the hard way.

The first three novels were set in present time and close to home on the west coast, surroundings I’m familiar with. Then I tried a period piece because the timeframe suited the story I was working on. At first I wondered about all the research that would be needed to pull it off, writing about a time and place that I hadn’t experienced. But, once I got into it, I found that I really enjoyed doing the digging and sifting. After that novel, I let my settings land in whatever period in time that best suited the story, some in present time, some back in time.

Writing dialogue sure isn’t exclusive to crime fiction, but I enjoy letting the characters tell their story through their own words. The characters that live in my novels always seem to be working some kind of angle, and what they’re not saying often conveys more than the words that they are saying.

When I get a fresh idea for a story, I just start cranking out the pages, letting the first draft take its course. I don’t plan much. I just type away, trying to stay out of the way of the characters, letting them steer their own course and tell their story. 

And I don’t try to guess what readers will be buying. Sure, I’d love to nail a million-seller as much as the next writer, but I don’t believe I’ll get there by guessing what’s going to sell. I just try to stick to what works best for me.

Over the years I read a lot of fiction: Hemingway, Steinbeck, Orwell, Salinger, Thompson, Bukowski, Burroughs, and so on, and I guess the best of it kept that dream alive inside me, inspiring me long before I started writing. And I still read a lot and still draw inspiration by some of the greats writing today.

The second part of the question, about what I’d be if I hadn’t become an author … Well, I had a career in commercial art, and that came long before I finally started writing. Writing was that something that I just always wanted to do going back to when I was in my teens. Yeah, it took a long time before I started doing what I always wanted to do. But, once I finally did make the jump and got serious about it, I’ve never looked back, and I’ve been loving every minute of it. 

A Clean Well-Lighted Place to Read

Where do you normally read? In bed? A favorite chair? Listen to audio when commuting?

by Paul D. Marks

Well, since I basically commute from the bedroom or kitchen to my home office, a distance of about thirty or forty feet, I don’t do much reading on my commute. But if I did – and if I had a self-driving car – I’d be reading a hardcopy book or one on a Kindle app. I find that if I try to listen to an audio book my mind drifts too much. I don’t know why.

These days I do most of my reading at home, because I’m home most of the time – you see, there’s a logic to it. There’s various spots I like, nothing out of the ordinary like sitting in a tree or while hang-gliding. There’s three or four places that I do most of my reading: in bed, a chair in the bedroom that faces out to the view, on the family room couch, a particular chair in the living room and outside on the patio. I don’t take many baths but when I do I like reading in the tub, but I’m very careful not to get anything wet…except me. Most of my books look unread and if I got one wet – or too wet – I’d freak out. Not really, but almost. I guess I’m pretty nitpicky about that, but I like to keep them pristine. So much so that sometimes we buy Amy, the wife, a separate book of the same thing so mine doesn’t get messed up. She’s not as particular as I am. And when we had a pool I liked reading outside on the deck or on a pool lounger. I wish I could say I read at the beach these days, but alas I don’t get there as much as I used to. We do live just outside the national forest and sometimes I think about going up there and reading but it’s pretty nice here and if I don’t have to go anywhere, I pretty much don’t.

Here's one of my favorite reading spots with the ubiquitous slip covers because of the dog hair everywhere. I forgot what the upholstery looked like until I took the cover off the ottoman.

When we travel I like to read on planes, as long as there’s no loud or obnoxious flyers, so that does limit plane-reading sometimes. And if we had a boat, ah, but I can dream, can’t I?

Like others have mentioned, I have stacks of TBR books all over the place and a virtual stack on the Kindle app. I have some audio books around that I listen to now and then, but as I said, I tend to lose focus. Amy reads on audio a lot, as she commutes to work on the train. However her brain is wired vs. the way mine is allows her to concentrate on audio books and her mind doesn’t seem to wander. She really enjoys her audio books and I’m envious because I would like to “read” them. It just doesn’t work out.

Buster was enjoying the July/August, 2019, issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, which includes my story Past is Prologue. Then he just zonked out using my leg as a pillow. Hope it wasn’t my story that put him to sleep.

And like Frank, I often have at least one non-fiction (though sometimes more) and one fiction book going. I usually don’t read more than one fiction book at a time, but I might be reading short stories while I have a novel going.

Here's the view at sunset from another of my reading spots.

How about you? Where do you like to enjoy a book? And now excuse me, I gotta go hit the hang glider and get some reading done.

~.~.~

And now for the usual BSP:

Don't forget to check out Broken Windows, the sequel to my Shamus award-winning novel, White Heat. Betty Webb at Mystery Scene magazine says: "Broken Windows is extraordinary."

Please join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/paul.d.marks and check out my website  www.PaulDMarks.com

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Perception versus reality

What one thing do you wish you could write off against tax, that you (legally) can't. Make your case.

by Dietrich

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Accountants likely have all sorts of great stories about people trying to write off all manner of things against their taxes. Since we’re wishing, let’s consider the kind of writer’s income where a major tax write-off would be just the thing, oh yeah, and legal.

Since my stories are set in a variety of locales across North America, I think it’s only reasonable that I should visit each of these places so I can better write about them. I’ve used settings from the west coast, from Los Angeles up to Alaska, and right across Canada, and the Great Plains. 

So, I think it would be within reason to make myself mobile as well as comfortable. I happen to like the look of those big Airstreams, let’s call mine a thirty-foot Flying Cloud. It’s just the thing for the writer who’s looking to do some tapping on the laptop while the miles clip past, on route to some hands-on research, visiting story settings in both comfort and style. This thirty-footer’s got a kitchen, lounge, bedrooms, bathroom, and a closet big enough for my glittery writing ensembles, in case I do a reading event while I’m on the road.

The question asked for one thing, but I’ll need something to haul the Airstream around. So, although I’m not a big SUV guy, I’m kind of partial to the Mercedes G-Class, one matching the Airstream’s silver, please.

And so I can work while I hit the open road, I think a chauffeur would be within reason — somebody to drive while I think up the next scene. And to show the taxman I’m reasonable, I’ll go bare bones and forego the personal trainer, assistant, and sushi chef.

And while we’re at it, let’s remember to stock the pantry and fridge. Writing is hard and thirsty work. And let’s keep all the receipts.

One more thing I’d like to add: there’s nothing worse than that endless road noise while I’m writing, so to avoid it and increase my output, let’s add some high-end audio. I’ve mentioned in past posts that I play my tunes while I write, you’ve all heard me say that. And Bang and Olufsen makes some fine audio gear, and I’m sure the tax man will have no problem with that.

Obviously I’m no accountant, and I understand expenses related to leisure items aren't normally deductible. However, by the taxman’s very definition of a home, meaning anything with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom (which my Airstream has), there should be some legit deductions and perhaps some business-related tax breaks to boot. It’s the kind of logic that likely explains the need for people like me to have accountants in the first place.

Well, let’s start with that list, and I hope I’ve made a reasonable case for some write-offs. Now, where’s that tax form.