I Got My Ticket for the Long Way Round

Do you think a regular writing hiatus would be good for you? (no writing/reading/reviewing/marketing etc.) How long would you like to take and what would you do during it?)

by Paul D. Marks

Before I get to the question at hand, I was researching some things the other day and came across a list of the “Top 50 Crime Novel Blogs For Crime Readers & Authors” at Feedspot. So out of curiosity I had to check and see if we were on there. And we are. At #22. The last update is May 30, 2018, so this is a pretty current list. Not sure how they chose these blogs, but Congratulations fellow Criminal Minds and thank you to Feedspot.

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And now to today’s question:

I don’t know if a writing hiatus would be good for me, but I’m not sure it’s something I could do even if I wanted to. Though it might be good for my marriage, because writing is like having a mistress, who takes up a lot of your time and energy.

Clearly we all take breaks from writing. But no writing? No reading? What kind of torture is this? But okay, maybe no reviewing or marketing. So, what are supposed to do? For example, if we travel, I don’t know about you, but I know whenever I travel I always have good intentions to get some writing in. And I never do, so even that might work. But no reading – we’re supposed to take time off and do what? Watch TV all day, stare at our phones all day texting all the important things that people must text about every minute of every day. Or maybe cure cancer in our free time – yeah maybe. But my chemistry set is notoriously out of date.

I do get asked to do a lot of blurbs and reviews, so much so that I often don’t have time to read for pleasure so I’ve had to put a moratorium on blurbing. So I’d be happy to get a break from that.

The solution is a compromise: Yes, a break or hiatus. A cruise, but not on a cruise ship. That is my idea of H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEY-STICKS: HELL! HELL! HELL ON EARTH! HELL ON THE HIGH SEAS. And, while the food might be good, the idea of being stacked like pancakes or in a multi-layered ant-hill of drunken partying fools would make me want to jump overboard or walk the plank, be hanged—hung?—strung from the yardarm. If I go to sea—and I have been—to enjoy the ocean and peacefulness a cruise ship is not peaceful. It’s like Las Vegas but where you need a Dramamine fix every few hours, not from the rolling waves but from the rolling drunks.

I don’t think today’s cruise ships are the epitome of sedate, luxurious travel like we might see in the old movies on Turner Classics. People have changed. These days they see a cruise ship as the perfect place to get rid of that extraneous wife or superfluous husband. So they might be a good place for an Agatha Christie type story, Death on the Nile or Murder on the Disney Cruise Express.

Many freighters or cargo ships carry passengers, but usually a limited number. As an old salt, I love the sea. I’d bring a laptop and tablet, lots of books and movies. And Amy and the dogs. Now I know in reality you’re not allowed to bring dogs unless you ship them as cargo, but since this is my fantasy I can do whatever I want – and damn it, the dogs are coming!

How long would I take? Forever, as long as I had satellite internet to send my stories out, ’cause I’d cheat and get some writing in after all.  -----  What about you? Hiatus or no hiatus? And what would you do?

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And now for the usual BSP:

Check out my recent interview with Terri Lynn Coop on The Blue Plate Special on Authors on the Air Radio:  http://tobtr.com/s/10821245

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Broken Windows is coming (September, 2018) from Down & Out Books! And you might be able to get an Advanced Reader’s Copy at Net Galley. It’s FREE, you just have to agree to their terms and agree to give a fair and honest review. Their terms are not onerous. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to get a copy.

Broken Windows is the sequel to my Shamus Award-Winning novel White Heat, which Publishers Weekly calls a “…taut crime yarn.” It picks up where WH leaves off: A woman jumps to her death from the Hollywood Sign. A disbarred lawyer places an ad saying “Will do anything for money.” A day laborer is murdered. And Duke and Jack, the P.I.’s from White Heat, have to figure out how it all ties together. – In a nutshell.

https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/139610

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

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All aboard!

"Do you think a regular writing hiatus would be good for you? No writing/reading/reviewing/marketing etc.) How long would you like to take and what would you do during it?"

Catriona writes: Thus week I'm taking a blogging hiatus, well, I'm turning my day over to Linda Lovely, who's on a blog tour to celebrate the launch of PICKED OFF, the second in her South Carolina goat farm mystery series, the follow-up to the giggle-fest that was BONES TO PICK.

Over to Linda:

Here’s how old I am: I recall taking vacations from my full time job and packing only clothes, money, and, if we were driving to the coast, maybe beach towels. What didn’t I pack? Cell phones and laptops. All communication with my employer (early on) and partners (later) ceased. If my firm went bankrupt and I lost my job, I’d learn about it once I returned home. Meanwhile I was on vacation and couldn’t give a hoot.

Old fogey that I am I look back on this era as the good old days. Now when friends and family come to visit (often since we live on a very pretty lake), most never entirely escape work and worries. Colleagues call with questions. They answer texts. They check social media and websites several times a day. They never unplug.

That means they miss the joy of a total sabbatical—a timeout to do absolutely nothing or to lose oneself in a fantasy adventure. A chance to recharge our minds and bodies, give free reign to our imaginations. The real world calls us back soon enough.

So do I think a regular writing hiatus would be good for me (and others)? Absolutely. However, I can’t include reading in my potential list of retreat-from-authorhood prohibitions. I was reading for pleasure and escape long before I started writing fiction, and I’ll still be devouring books if I ever quit. Reading is part of the bedtime ritual for my husband and me. We always read for an hour or so before it’s lights out.

How long a hiatus makes sense? Depends on the individual. Some folks are so addicted to their cell phones that I doubt they could spend a day unplugged without psychotherapy. It would be torture, not vacation. For me, I’m a fan of the traditional two-week vacation. One week isn’t long enough. I’m usually worn out at the start of a vacation due to frantic efforts to put out any fires and get ready—even if my trip doesn’t involve leaving home. Three weeks is too long since playing catch up on my return to author responsibilities would just rekindle whatever stress I felt pre-vacation.

What is my ideal escape? Perhaps a train trip across Canada with my husband, if we had the freedom to disembark whenever and for as long as we chose. It’s been too long since we’ve visited with out niece in Saskatchewan who lives on a wheat farm. I’d love to revisit Quebec City, Toronto, and Nova Scotia. And I’ve always wanted to see Banff National Park, Calgary, and Vancouver. (Note to self, you do need to renew your passport for Canada.)

I think fear is the biggest reason we don’t unplug for any length of time. Some folks with nine-to-five jobs may fear their employers will realize they CAN function without them. For authors, it’s fear that should we abandon social media, our fans will move on or our publishers will decide we’re poor team players and undependable or poor communicators.

What I fear more is that if I don’t disconnect from the writing world at least once a year I’ll miss out on experiences and emotions that are what the good life’s all about. And those experience might just provide the inspiration for the best book I’ll ever write.

Linda's Bio: Over the past five years, hundreds of mystery/thriller writers have met Linda Lovely at check-in for the annual Writers’ Police Academy, which she helps organize. Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent penning PR and ad copy. She writes a blend of mystery and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of characters who most annoy her. Quite satisfying plus there’s no need to pester relatives for bail. Henery Press just released PICKED OFF on June 5. It’s the second humorous installment in her new Brie Hooker Mystery series set on a goat farm in Upstate South Carolina. An active member of Sisters in Crime, Lovely served as her local chapter’s president for five years. She also belongs to International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America.

www.lindalovely.com

Breaking up is hard to do....by Cathy Ace

LIFE: Do you think a regular writing hiatus would be good for you? (no writing/reading/reviewing/marketing etc) How long would you like to take and what would you do during it?

In three words - yes and no. 

Let me try again - I'll break down the different functions listed, so I can give a fuller answer. 

I do already take a sort-of hiatus from writing during March-May, because I attend Left Coast Crime, Malice Domestic and CrimeFest UK during those months (adding in a couple of weeks with Mum in Wales when I go to the UK) and therefore find it impossible to get a lot of writing done, so I’d rather do none at all. 

Interviewing Guests of Honor William Kent Kreuger, Naomi Hirahara and Todd Borg at Left Coast Crime 2018

I also fit in a vacation during those months (by which I mean lolling about in the sun on the deck of a cruise ship) so these are my months when I take “down time” from writing. However, I’m still plotting like a fiend, making notes and plans, and even carrying out research all that time. 

One of my favorite spots on a cruise ship - the library!

Reading? I only stop reading when I’m writing – not because I’m afraid I’ll pick up another author’s “voice” in my own work, but purely because I am so immersed in my own make-believe world that I don’t have room for anyone else’s…so I read most during the three months I’m not actively writing. I read on paper, Kindle and Kobo…yes, all three!

My rather splendid new Kindle cover!

I don’t do much reviewing – I have discovered I’m pretty poor at it, and few people ask me for blurbs simply because I’m not well-enough known for my opinion to count for much. Those requests I do get seem to mostly come from publishers/authors who have clearly never read what I write, because there’s little/no connection between my readers and theirs, so I (politely, I hope) decline.

Marketing’s a different thing – I NEVER take a break from it. Never. Ever. Even when I’m on vacation. Why? Because I've invested six years into building a presence, and I think it’s best to not stop now! 

So...here it comes...please, consider reading one of my books? Thanks! 

Cathy Ace writes the Cait Morgan Mysteries and the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries. Find out more about Cathy and her work here: http://www.cathyace.com/

Will Work for Success

Q: Do you think a regular writing hiatus would be good for you? (no writing/ reading/ reviewing/marketing etc.) How long would you like to take and what would you do during it?)

- from Susan

A: No! In fact, I just did it, not so much by design as by the necessity when you’re traveling and doing tourist-y things all day, and I am currently trying to get my mojo back. A couple of distractions:

Maybe if I had written 8, 10, 15 books in a series, a hiatus might be good to refresh my brain and make sure the next one wouldn’t be merely a rehash. But I’m nowhere near productive enough, popular enough, or successful enough to deserve a vacation from writing. Not only that, but writing can be its own vacation, or at least a soul-nourishing, exciting, energizing activity when it’s going well. When that happens, the last thing I want is to close the laptop and go out to ski or hike, or shop on Portobello Road.

As to marketing, taking a vacation from it is dangerous these days. I’m thrilled that I was offered (and instantly accepted) a handful of event and blog opportunities while I was in England and that will help me stay somewhat visible with the new French village book that came out only on May 1. It garnered some good professional reviews, some nice out-the-gate publicity, but now I have to get out there and give it a push.

COMMERCIAL BREAK:

DRESSED FOR DEATH IN BURGUNDY is out in hardcover, e-book, and audio book formats now! LOVE & DEATH IN BURGUNDY is now available at a reduced price on Amazon and is also an e-book and an audio book!

Kirkus: “: "A comedy of errors full of amusing characters, a fine feeling for life in small-town France, and a suitably twisty mystery."

So, as you see, a hiatus isn’t what I need or relish so much as inspiration, motivation, book sales (please) and the collegial support of my writer friends.

And Now This

From Jim

Sorry, I’m free-stylin’ again this week, and this time I have good reason to do so. My sixth Ellie Stone mystery, A STONE’S THROW, bowed this past Tuesday, June 5, 2018.

It’s not that often that one gets a book published, so it’s cause to celebrate each time. In fact, it’s important to mark these milestones in our careers, which otherwise consist of months on end of sitting alone in front of a blinking cursor. I tend to find any and all reasons to celebrate my writing accomplishments, and I have jars full of corks inscribed with dates and events to prove it. A good review? Champagne. A new contract signed and executed? Champagne. An award nomination? Two bottles of Champagne! And, of course, it goes without saying that following the Champagne there’s Dewar’s White Label in surfeit. (The bubbly is more of an excuse to prime the pump for the Dewar’s.)

In the latest installment of Ellie Stone’s 1960s adventures, she’s hot on the trail of whoever murdered a man and a woman found burned beyond recognition on an abandoned stud farm near Saratoga Springs, NY.

And I’ve been lucky to have a few wonderful reviews of the new book.

 

But enough celebrating. It’s time to get to work on the next Ellie Stone mystery. This time, Ellie finds herself in Florence, Italy, to accept a posthumous award for her father. What happens when ten people are quarantined in a Tuscan villa for ten days? With a wink and a nod to Boccaccio, I submit for your consideration TURN TO STONE, the seventh Ellie Stone mystery. June 2019.

Heard any good books lately?

If you listen to audiobooks, how do you find they compare to old-fashioned reading, as far as absorbing the content? What are the pros and cons of each? If you don’t listen to audiobooks, why not?

by Dietrich Kalteis

Comprehension between reading and listening to a novel seems to be on a par. The story comes to life either way, but given a choice, I’d rather settle down in a favorite chair and read the novel. I’m not as likely to sit at home and listen to an audiobook, but they are great when I’m on the road or doing something where I can’t physically read a book. 

There was that time I was driving on the 401 and passing another car on a straightaway. My fellow motorist had the cruise control set, doing the speed limit while holding a novel open against the steering wheel. It must have been one of those books you just can’t put down. For me, listening to an audiobook while traveling at highway speeds would be the better way to go. Maybe I suck at multitasking, but to my mind playing an audiobook rather than reading while in motion means I’ll get more enjoyment out of the novel, and I’m far more likely to arrive at my destination.

Choosing between an audiobook or a book also depends on the type of book and the subject matter. If it’s heavy reading, I might want to reread parts or even take notes, which makes sitting with the book and giving it my full attention a better choice.

I heard somebody say audiobooks were a kind of cheat, figuring the listener gets some undeserved reward for listening instead of putting in the work of reading the book. I’ve never thought of reading as work, and I don’t think I deserve a gold star because there’s some extra step in decoding the written word.

When I’m on a flight or train trip, sitting back and listening to an audiobook or reading an ebook are better choices than lugging along printed copies, which tend to make the suitcase feel like it’s filled with cinderblocks.

The first thing that hooks me when I’m reading a novel is the author’s voice, and when I’m listening to an audiobook it’s the narrator’s voice reading the author’s words. If the narrator’s voice matches the rhythm of the author’s written words then it’s fantastic. Over the years I’ve listened to most of Elmore Leonard’s audiobooks, and nobody did a better job narrating them than Frank Muller. His voice was perfect for the rhythm of Elmore’s stories. And I loved Robert Forster reading Mr. Paradise. Just another perfect match.

When I read a novel I imagine the characters, I get transported somewhere else, the story builds in my mind, and the whole thing comes to life. Getting lost in a good book is like watching the film in my head. So, when somebody narrates the story, his or her voice replaces my own, so they have be the right articulator and nail the story’s pace and cadence.

Actors tend to make great audiobook narrators — all that voice training and getting into character — they just knows what to bring to the party. Just listen to Samuel L. Jackson reading Adam Mansbach’s children’s book for adults Go the Fuck to Sleep, or check out William Golding’s The Spire, read by Benedict Cumberbatch. Or Kathryn Stockett’s The Help narrated by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spenser and Cassandra Campbell. Or Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman read by Reese Witherspoon. 

And comedians reading their own books make a great argument for the audiobook. Just check out Kevin Hart reading I Can’t Make This Up. Or if you’re a Lewis Black fan, check out the audiobook of Me of Little Faith. Then there’s George Carlin reading his book Brain Droppings, or Joan Rivers reading Diary of a Mad Diva. All hilarious and all well done.

So, it’s not so much about choosing between reading the book or listening to the audiobook. It depends on when and where and who’s doing the narrating. For me, there’s definitely a time and place for both.

A Hot Time in the Old Town

A Hot Night in Texas

Quote from A Killing at Cotton Hill:

“The Two Dog is about as low a dive as you’ll find. Fifteen feet outside the city limits, it looks like it was built out of rotten lumber that someone discarded after tearing down the oldest house in town, which is exactly what happened. The interior is strung with blue lights behind the bar. It has a dance floor big enough for two couples and an old-fashioned jukebox with tunes that represent the worst of 50’s and 60’s country and rock. I don’t know whether Oscar can’t afford to update the music or if he’s just stuck in time.”

This description comes from the first Samuel Craddock book, A Killing at Cotton Hill. Just as series books are set in the town where my grandparents lived when I was a child, the Two Dog Bar is based on an actual place right outside of town.

My grandparents owned a small general store and bar (of sorts) on the edge of town, and they lived above it. I stayed there many times as a child. That two-story structure figures in many of my early memories. I had about a dozen first cousins, and we were always up to something. We would climb onto the roof of the substantial doghouse and torment the dog, and push each other off into the dog’s pen, to be soundly licked. It was the scene of chinaberry fights in the back yard. For the uninitiated, chinaberries are hard little non-edible ocher-colored berries that, if thrown hard enough, leave a bruise on a child’s skin. My cousins and I didn’t care. We built forts out of old bricks that were lying around from some project or other, hid behind the forts, and pelted each other with berries. The only rule was not to aim for anyone’s eyes. Somebody usually ended up squalling and complaining to a grown-up. The remedy? “You’re fine. Go back outside.”

Photo of me as a one-year-old outside the old place.:

Photo of me at 3 years old, so you can see more of what I looked like. I had a happy childhood.

            As for the bar adjoining the grocery store, it was countertop with a few stools where people either drank Cokes (we called any fizzy drink a Coke) or beer—Lone Star or Pearl. There was a radio sitting on the counter, and on summer afternoon, there was always a baseball game on.

Photo of my grandparents at the "bar."

But that isn’t where the Two Dog Bar comes from. It is based on a bar that sat across the highway from my grandparents’ place,  about fifty yards farther from town and frequented only by black folks. During the day, it looked like a run-down shack. Weekend nights were a different matter. It was lit up from lights strung across the front, and old cars and trucks were parked haphazardly in the front. On hot summer nights, my cousins and I would play outside and hear the rhythm and blues music coming from the place. We would make up dances to go with the music. One of my cousins bragged that he knew how the people who went there danced. He said they did a dance called the airplane, with their arms held out to their sides. And he would soar around the yard, pretending to be dancing. Oh, that place seemed exotic! To this day blues music is in my blood.

Eventually the night club fell into ruin and my grandparents sold the grocery store and moved to the house that I base Samuel’s house on. The grocery store has changed hands many times, eventually becoming a rustic steakhouse. But every time I roll through town, I stop and take a look at it. If I listen hard enough, I can almost hear the music coming from across the highway, and I am full of wonder that such a simple structure could feed a lifetime of imagination.