Aloha

Q: You’ve won a month-long, all-expenses-paid writing retreat. Where would you go and why?

- from Susan

A: Oh, this is so easy. A specific cottage on the north shore of Kauai, with bare, painted floors, an outdoor shower, and the sounds and sight of the Hanalei River at the edge of the lawn.  The sound of slack key guitar music from the CD, the local farmers market produce and fragrant flowers nourishing me, and the demands of a publisher’s deadline to keep me from simply melting in to the healing atmosphere.

I’ve been there, done that, and finished the first good draft of Love & Death in Burgundy there. Three weeks, but I wouldn’t say no to a full month. In fact, just thinking about it is slowing me down…I can smell the plumaria and taste the papaya.

 Aloha and Mahalo.

Novelizing a popular TV show

Your assignment: You must novelize a popular TV show, past or present. The catch: you must change its genre. What show and what new genre? Give us a taste of the plotline and character arcs. (Example: Turning I Love Lucy into a serialized thriller series similar to 24.)

by Dietrich Kalteis

I don’t watch much TV nowadays, so I’ll look at some shows I loved when I was a kid. Although writing a modern take on the exploits of Maxwell Smart while changing the genre might not work … well, definitely the shoe phone showing up as an iShoe would need some rethinking. And turning Hollywood Squares into a whodunit where one of the squares goes missing isn’t likely to win a Scribes Award. 

While novelizing an existing series seems a little like working backwards, I can see how it would capitalize on its branding. Also, there have been many popular novels that have spun from TV shows like the different CSI series, Monk, Star Trek, Batman, Superman, 24, Monk, Murder She Wrote, the X-Files and a long list of others. 

Since I write about crime, I’ll stick to that and draw from the many cop shows from back in the day, ones that inspired me to write crime stories in the first place. Shows like The Rockford Files, Baretta, Mannix, Hill Street Blues, Police Story, and Hawaii Five-O.

Barney Miller was one of my favorite cop sitcoms that ran from ’75 to ’82 and took place mostly in a detective squad room, with some hilarious characters, bad coffee and a single jail cell. It was a well-written series, and the only existing novelization I could find was Fish Strikes Out by T.J. Hemming. The book was based on the ABC series Fish, which was a spinoff from the original series, and which starred Abe Vigoda. And writing about the interaction between a bunch of oddball cops and the strange characters that wander into the squad room seems right up my alley. 

The Job was another cop sitcom that ran from 2001–2 that I enjoyed. It starred Denis Leary, playing Mike McNeil, a hard-drinking New York detective with his own unique twist on fighting crime who juggles the chaos of married life and a girlfriend on the side. Alongside an interesting squad of characters, this could work as a novel. 

The Avengers series from the early sixties also came to mind, and I found that several novels have spun from it. John Peel who wrote the original TV series also wrote Too Many Targets, based on the series, and he wrote other novels under several pseudonyms based on Doctor Who, Star Trek and James Bond. The popularity of The Avengers led to a French TV commercial for champagne with Macnee and Thorson reprising their roles. The success of the ad led to a remake of the original series in ’76, running in Canada as The New Avengers. If I novelized it I’d leave the genre alone, but I might set it in modern-day Vancouver. Emma Peel was perfect, and Steed had that umbrella (something he’d need here), although his character could use a bit of a makeover. I’d let him keep the saber in the umbrella, but instead of the Savile Row suit, I’d deck him out in something by Brooks Brothers, take away the gas-guzzling Rolls and give him a Tesla. Then I’d have the pair attempting to bust up a smuggling ring at the ports, throw in some dark humor and sexual tension, while trying to keep that cool jazzy air from the original show.

Columbo, yup loved this, and the original character showed up in a number of novels: The Columbo Collection was a series of stories written by the show’s co-creator William Link. There was even a novel based on the show published in Sweden and another in Japan. The show’s star Peter Falk also contributed to The Cop Cookbook — arresting Recipes from the World's Favorite Cops, Good Guys, and Private Eyes. I haven’t checked it out, but Peter Falk’s recipe ran right alongside ones by Clint Eastwood, Dennis Franz, Angie Dickenson, Tom Sellick, Jack Webb, Tommy Lee Jones, Francis McDormand, James Garner, and more.

A couple more shows that came to mind: The Saint starring Roger Moore, which originally came from a series of books by Leslie Charteris, published between 1929 to 1963. And The Man from U.N.C.L.E. which ran from ’64 to ’68 also inspired two dozen novels. Real Cold War stuff. And I already mentioned Get Smart, which inspired about a dozen novels. 

Social issues were handled more delicately on TV during the seventies, but All in the Family, while not a cop show, tackled them head on. Nothing was off limits, and its anti-hero Archie Bunker was the poster boy for racism and homophobia. A man who was cynical and politically incorrect at every turn while his wife Edith was his polar opposite, a cross between little miss sunshine and the voice of reason. As far as I can tell, this one was never novelized, but it could work.

In recent times, there have been a number of incredible cable series like Breaking Bad, The Wire, Justified, Deadwood, Better Call Saul, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. Of course, Justified sprang from Elmore Leonard’s stories Fire in the Hole, Pronto, Riding the Rap and Raylan. Some very talented creators and writers like Vince Gilligan, David Simon, Ed Burns, George Pelecanos, Graham Yost, David Milch, Alan Ball have given us some great story lines and characters, and I think any of these would translate well into novel form.  

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe To Which Convention Do I Go?

There’s only so much time, and there’s only so much money, while the opportunities are plentiful. How do you decide which writing conferences and conventions to attend? (ie, what are your criteria?)

by Paul D. Marks

Funny you should ask, since I spent this weekend at the California Crime Writers Conference in Culver City, CA (Los Angeles). In fact, I’m writing this the night I returned home from the conference – so that’s one I decided to attend. It’s put on by the Los Angeles chapters of both Sisters in Crime and the Mystery Writers of America. I’m on the board of the latter and have been on the board of the former (a long time ago). That sort of helps in determining whether or not to go 😉 . However, I would go anyway. This is one hell of a good conference that’s put on every two years by these groups. It’s local – well fairly local for me. And that helps. But one still has to pay for the conference and maybe the hotel.

My Panel at CCWC this past weekend:
The Long and Short of It: Short Stories and Novellas vs. Novels

L to R: S.W. Lauden, Me, William Kent Krueger, Kate Thornton, Travis Richardson

As the question says, there’s only so much time and so much money and tons of conferences and conventions. And, while I might like to attend many conventions/conferences, one necessarily has to limit the ones we go to. If the event is local that certainly makes it easier to decide to attend. No airfare. Though sometimes even for local events I might stay in the hotel where it’s being held. It’s just easier than going back and forth, especially as we live kind of off the beaten path.

Bouchercon, Long Beach

Another thing that might make me want to attend is if I’m nominated for an award. But sometimes you don’t know that by the time you have to register. Sometimes it’s the city where the event is being held that draws you in, besides the event itself. I really wanted to go to Bouchercon in New Orleans. And we’d made reservations but due to the usual “circumstances beyond my control” I had to cancel. It would have been nice to hit Left Coast Crime in Hawaii too. Luckily those are both places I’ve been to a lot so I didn’t feel totally let down not going.

Bouchercon 2015 - Raleigh
L to R: Elaine Helms, Paul D. Marks, Art Taylor, Tara Laskowski, Janet Hutchings, Rick Helms

The Edgar Awards are always in New York and are the Big Kid on the Block of mystery/crime awards, akin to the Oscars in Hollywood. I didn’t know if I’d ever have a chance to go to them, but luckily I did get to go to the last Edgars a few weeks ago since I won the Ellery Queen Readers Award and was EQ’s guest at the Edgars. And I would love to go again…especially if I’m ever nominated 😃.

The quaint house we bought in Albany during the 2013 Bouchercon.
See, you never know what'll come of going to a convention 😉 .

And Bouchercon is the Big Kid of mystery/crime conventions/conferences. I’ve been to a few and really enjoyed them all. Love being able to connect with people I’ve met online, or people I don’t get to see in person that often, and to meet new people. We went to Bouchercons in Raleigh, NC and Albany, NY, two cities we might never have visited if not for the convention. And while we enjoyed Bouchercon we also booked a couple of extra days so we could explore the “neighborhoods,” and enjoyed them both. We’ve been to other Bouchercons as well, but in cities we already “knew.” There’s also the ITW convention, which I’d like to attend someday. And Malice and so many others. It really is hard to choose.

The Food Truck Day Celebration, right outside the Bouchercon hotel in Raleigh.
Who knew?

Even if you’re an introvert, you still might want to check some of these out. Most people are friendly and the writing community is very supportive. It might be uncomfortable at first, but eventually you’ll become part of the flow.

Hanging out at the bar -- a Bouchercon tradition.

My wife, Amy, usually comes with me. It gives us a chance to get away and spend time together. And we always have a good time.

Amy, on our way home from Left Coast Crime in Monterey, CA.

Of course, I’d like to attend as many conventions as I could, for the comradery, the networking, fun, adventure, excitement! And the food. But it’s impossible, so it really does come down to where they are, how much they are, how well suited to my writing style they are. Possibly if I have a book coming out that also would motivate me to want to hit the road.

I doubt you’d go wrong attending any of the established conventions/conferences. There’s always something to learn, people to meet and places to explore. Have fun!

###

And now for the usual BSP:

My story Twelve Angry Days is in the May/June issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, on sale at newsstands. Or click here to buy online. If you like food and you like mysteries, I think you might like this story.

***

www.PaulDMarks.com

Click here to: Subscribe to my Newsletter

Practical business decisions R us.

Q: There’s only so much time, and there’s only so much money, while the opportunities are plentiful. How do you decide which writing conferences and conventions to attend? (ie, what are your criteria?)

By Catriona

Well, I don't go to conferences, so that's a time-saving and money-saving start right there. Except it's not true. I sometimes go to conferences - events where writers take classes to become better writers - if someone has asked me to teach a session and for some reason I've failed to say no. 

But, every single time, I feel panicked and fraudulent, sure I'll never be able to think up 40 or even 90 minutes worth of stuff to spout that everyone in the class hasn't heard before, put better, by someone who knows what she or he is talking about. 

(Just as I can't come on here every other Thursday and write "What Cathy Ace said" though, I can't stand up in front of a class and say "read Stephen King's On Writing".)

This isn't false modesty. I know I can write. I just don't know much about how to describe how to write. I've got three fiction workshop sessions up my sleeve now - on character, on dialogue and on synopses - and two science-writing classes as well. But each of them came from me saying yes (being married to the person asking, in the case of the science ones), panicking, racking my brain and deciding to offer myself up warts and all as a shining example / dire warning and let the chips fall where they might.

The relief when people don't walk out in droves is always tremendous. 

In short, I'm not much of a conference-goer. 

In teaching mode

Conventions and festivals are another matter.

So, how to decide about Bouchercon, Malice Domestic, Thrillerfest, Left Coast Crime, KiIler Nashville, New England Crimebake, Crimefest, Sleuthfest, Harrogate, and Bloody Scotland???

If I was solely based in America, I'd go to the Big One, plus the one that fits my sub-genre best, plus the nearest regional one.

So that's Bouchercon - it's our community's AGM; missing it feels unthinkable.

First Bcon, San Francisco 2010, with Clare O'Donohue and Ellen Crosby

And  . . . Thrillerfest or Malice. How can I not know which one?  Well, Thrillerfest isn't just for thriller-writers. And Malice definitely isn't just for cozy writers. Both are much wider in scope than they get credit for and they overlap in the middle of the genre, coming from opposite ends. I got in the habit of going to Malice because I started out over here with a historical traditional series. If I had started with the standalones, I'd maybe be in the habit of going to Thrillerfest, but Malice is in my blood now. It's the mothership, the tribal homeland.  And I make no apology for being so unbusiness-like, so sentimental. Writing is lonely, and publishing can be cruel. Community matters.

Criminal Minds at Malice 2016

And . . . because I'm on the left coast, Left Coast Crime. I went to LCC when it was in Colorado and when it was in Hawaii. so it's not exactly convenient every year, but it's a lot closer than Malice and   . . . community matters. Left Coast Crime is a hugfest. With occasional ukuleles.

Marla Cooper at Left Coast Crime in Hawaii

That takes care of the US. I'm also back in the old country every summer to launch books, see my agent and UK editors and do research. Bloody Scotland is a tantalisingly long stretch after Harrogate so I can't go to both every year. (It's Bloody Scotland this year.) And Crimefest is at completely the wrong time for me, in terms of writing commitments and book launches. (But I've just looked at the Crimefest website for 2018 and now I'm pining.)

Interviewing MC Beaton at Bloody Scotland 2015

So what's the answer? What are the criteria? Time seems to weigh more than money for me. The rhythm of my year is basically: write for two months, Left Coast, write for two months, Malice, write for two months, summer [Edinburgh, London, research, mum, dad, sisters, new babies, old friends], Bloody Scotland, write a wee bit, Bouchercon, write like mad till Christmas, collapse.

And the other criteria are: family, tribe, mothership, hugs, laughter, love. You're a long time dead.

So Many Choices

Q: There’s only so much time, and there’s only so much money, while the opportunities are plentiful. How do you decide which writing conferences and conventions to attend? (ie, what are your criteria?)

- from Susan

A: This is a good question. Attending an out-of-town event is always pricey, commands time and attention, and might mean you have to skip a day or more of real, paying work. Everyone’s going to have a somewhat different, nuanced answer based on their own circumstances, so filter what Minds say through the lens of your own goals, ambitions, and personal needs.

When I was getting underway, had taken a wonderful class with Judy Greber, aka Gillian Roberts, and had the beginning of what would be the first book in my first series, I went to two annual Book Passage Mystery Writers Conferences in Marin County. Pricey, yes. A serious time commitment, yes. But this was a writers’ event, full of talks, seminar-style classes, craft instruction, and immersion networking opportunities. There were somewhere around 100 students, a faculty with various kinds of expertise, and a lot of serious, pre-published writers. Each time I went, I made three professional goals and stuck with them. The first time, Rhys Bowen read my twenty pages and gave me an invaluable piece of advice and I found a handful of local writers and started a crit group.. The second time, I found an agent. In both cases, I paid a bit extra to have them read my first twenty pages – worth every penny and more!

It was there that I learned about Bouchercon, which is the international, large convention. While a writers; conference is for our kind and is aimed at providing us with tools, a convention includes readers and is pitched to expose our published work to them, as well as being an amazing professional schmoosing opportunity. At the first Bouchercon I attended, before I was published, I felt like a kindergartener on the first day of school. But Judy Greber was there, and she introduced me to Deborah Crombie. The next one I went to was in San Francisco and it helped that I didn’t have to pay for a hotel or airfare – I might have been too shy to go otherwise. But I met some Sisters in Crimes members there, met and chatted with Lee Child and Hank Phillippi Ryan (she was new to the crime fiction community then), and began some new professional friendships.

Someone from the West Coast told me I had to go to Left Coast Crime, another convention, which was terrific but not as intimidating as the size of Bouchercon. There are regional conventions like this all over the country, and I have heard great things about them, too. LCC is my “home” convention, as friendly and mutually supportive as it’s possible to be.

Since my new series is being marketed as a cozy, I am committed to going to “cozy central” Malice Domestic, another convention but aimed primarily at people who read mysteries, vs. thrillers.

 To answer this week’s question as specifically as possible, I recommend deciding first what you want to get from an event. Set some specific goals, not just ‘have fun and meet Louise Penny.” Are you in it to polish your writing with faculty like David Corbett, pick up FBI techniques from George Fong, or be a total fan girl or boy with Charlene Harris? Check the event web sites for past events, see if what they offer is going to get you to your goals. If you’re extroverted, the big cons will be fun. If you’re shy or exposing your writing for close to the first time, think of something small and aimed at writers. Then, go for it and good luck!

Never quit

What lessons did you learn from your first (perhaps, failed) attempt at a novel?

by Dietrich Kalteis

The main thing I learned from that first attempt was to just keep going. 

And I’m still learning and fine tuning the way I write. What I didn’t realize at first is it’s not about getting a story finished and published, it’s about finding a voice, a rhythm to the words. That’s what makes each writer sound distinct, and that didn’t come until I put quite a few more words on paper. Most of what I wrote early on just made for hoop practice, the balled paper I tossed at the trash can. I’m not sure who wrote it first, but I heard about ‘the million word’ rule, how you have to write that many just to get into the foothills of being a writer, and hearing that helped.

Other things I learned: coffee is like writers’ rocket fuel. One cup of dark roast can propel me through hours of writing. And that didn’t take nearly as long to learn.

After that first attempt at a novel, I tried writing some short stories, and that allowed me to play around with different genres and writing approaches and to find out where my writing fit. While I was playing around, I submitted some of the stories. Getting one accepted does a lot for a writer’s confidence, and it sure taught me to deal with NO THANKS when the stories weren’t accepted. From the rejections, I learned which stories were worth reworking and which ones to use for hoop practice. And occasionally, I’d get some constructive feedback from an editor or publisher, and their words were like gold, even if they weren’t what I wanted to hear at the time.

Reading while I’m working on a novel can be inspiring, so I always have a stack of good books waiting to be read, usually reserved for the opposite end of the day from my writing time. I like just about anything well written, and a lot of what I read is in the genre I write. If I do start a book that isn’t lighting me up, I’m quick to put it down. As Annie Dillard says in her book The Writing Life, “He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know.”

While I haven’t read a lot of books on the craft of writing, there were a couple more that I got a lot from: Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft; and Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules of Writing. His best advice, “If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” Keep what works, adapt it and make it your own.

I also learned that my best time to write is in the morning, so I start early and I write until noon. And I learned to avoid distractions and set certain things aside until I finished writing: phone calls, opening mail, social media, catching the latest news, and any other business relating to writing like: blogs, marketing, promoting, and arranging events and tours. 

And since I mentioned promoting: my next one is Zero Avenue, and it will be out on October 3^rd. It’s being called a crime novel set to the cranking beat and amphetamine buzz of Vancouver’s early punk scene. You can check it out at www.ecwpress.com/products/zero-avenue. Also, there are advance copy giveaways in June at netGallery and Edelweiss. 

The links are:

www.netgalley.com/pub/ecwpress

https://edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com/ProductDetailPage.aspx?sequence=21&group=catalog&mailingID=0&mailingGroupID=0&catalogID=4165833&org=&sku=1770413650

Golden Handcuffs

Does marketing your book feel oppressive or liberating?

by Paul D. Marks

So a guy walks into a store and buys a dozen pairs of handcuffs. Maybe he’s a cop. Maybe he’s kinky. Or maybe he has something else up his sleeve. We’ll find out later in this piece.

But the answer to this week’s question is neither really, marketing is not oppressive or liberating. It’s just something that has to be done. And knowing it will help sales helps motivate me. That said, the amount of time spent on marketing can sometimes seem draining or at least frustrating. Yes, I’d rather be writing. But part of writing, especially these days, is doing one’s own marketing or doing it in conjunction with the publisher.

It’s hard to go out there and toot your own horn. It seems inappropriate. On the other hand, as the saying goes, if you or I don’t do it who will? Still, I remember the old saw, “Fools names and faces are often seen in public places.” But isn’t that what we want to do – get our names and our books out in public places?

But now as I'm writing this, the more I think about it, the more I think that in a sense it’s actually liberating to do marketing. Why? Because you get to be in control. And while it would be nice to have enough money to buy a full page ad in the New York Review of Books there’s a lot you can do for a hell of a lot less money. And unless you’re one of the Chosen Few your publisher is probably pushing a dozen (or more) books at the same time they’re pushing you and yours…if they’re pushing you at all. So if you want to get noticed you gotta do it yourself in whole or in part, especially if you’re with a smaller publisher. But even if you’re with a big publisher you could end up being the little fish in the big pond and most likely it’ll be the big fish who get all their attention while you flounder.

Case in Point:

When I wrote White Heat I’d had a bunch of short stories published in various places but I certainly wasn’t a “name” writer and no one really knew who I was. So White Heat was an unknown novel by an unknown writer and an unknown quantity. It literally came out of nowhere. But it did pretty well, both in terms of sales and recognition. It got to #2 on Amazon’s paid Noir chart, did pretty good on other paid charts, and hit #5,892 overall for Kindle. And stuck around for a while. Paperback sales were good too, but admittedly not as good as the Kindle. And I think I owe its success to marketing of various kinds as we tried all kinds of things.

We also sent it out for reviews to as many places as we could think of. And overall, it got good reviews, including from Publishers Weekly and other respectable publications and reviewers. Word of mouth also helped. And ultimately it came in second place in the SouthWest Writers Annual Writing Contest and won a Shamus Award.

I’ve talked in other posts about different ways of promoting, so you can find those here: http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-tweet-meet-and-greet.html and here http://7criminalminds.blogspot.com/2017/02/face-to-facebook.html. But one thing I don’t think I talked about in those other pieces are some of the gimmicks I tried in the early days in order to get noticed. When I was trying to break into Hollywood I was young and eager and pretty much willing to try anything. Hell, I would have baked myself into a cake and had it delivered to Barry Diller if I could have. But what I did do was try to get the attention of producers and other Hollywood types creatively. For example, I remember going to a toy store once and buying a bunch of plastic toy handcuffs and sending them to producers and others with my pitch letter for a thriller/crime story, hoping to grab their attention. And it worked. I got in to see some pretty big people. Marketing! But I wouldn’t try this today – today you’d probably get arrested. It’s a different world.

I didn’t try anything like that with White Heat or Vortex, but I did do a fair amount of marketing of one kind or another. And White Heat, in particular, kept bouncing into and out of the top 100 in Noir and other categories for about 3 years.

I’m not saying any of this to brag, I’m sure others have a lot better sales than I do. What I am saying is that for a book that came out of nowhere from a writer nobody’d ever heard of it did pretty well. And I think the reason for that is because we tried various marketing techniques, most of which we did on our own. So, in that sense marketing is very liberating. And it’s just part of the job these days. Marketing is like wearing golden handcuffs. They’re gold but they’re still handcuffs, liberating and oppressive at the same time 😉 .

###

And now for the usual BSP:

My story Twelve Angry Days is in the May/June issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, on sale at newsstands. Or click here to buy online. If you like food and you like mysteries, I think you might like this story.

***

I'll be at the California Crime Writers Conference in Culver City, June 10th and 11th. I'm on a panel called "The Long and Short of It: Short Stories and Novellas vs. Novels" with William Kent Krueger, Kate Thornton and Travis Richardson, moderated by S.W. Lauden. Hope to see you there!
http://www.ccwconference.org/

www.PaulDMarks.com

Click here to: Subscribe to my Newsletter

The old four, four, four, two.

By Catriona

Well, all I can say is thank God for Cathy Ace - see yesterday's entry. After seventeen years as a fiction writer, I now know the difference between marketing and promotion. (Just promotion and publicity to go . . .)

So. Is marketing (or promotion anyway (possibly publicity)) oppressive or liberating?

First, what do I do in the way of marketing?  Yes, I try to write the best book I can. Today I spent twelve hours reading page proofs out loud with a ruler to follow the lines, making sure there were no repetitions, incoherences, typos, glitches or ghosts. Ghosts, you ask. Ghosts, I say. Like how once I cut a character out of a book, except that suddenly on p.234 he still had one line. (We caught it in time.) By coincidence, this was also the book with a spurious shadowy corpse on the jacket. I can never kick the idea that these are one and the same:

Who *is* that lying dead in the snow? The last remains of Pasha Prebrashensky?

I don't (because I can't) do anything about pricing beyond nagging my publishers to drop the cost of ebooks and responding with enthusiastic thanks to any discounts they agree to.

I don't (because I can't) do much about placement either, beyond having books available to lug along to charity events and offer for sale. I cover my costs and donate the profits to the good cause. That works out well for everyone involved: I sell books, the children's home or library or literacy project gets a cheque, the attendees get guilt-free book-shopping.

But what about promotion (possibly publicity)?

Online, I run a website, I've got a Facebook author page, there's a sig on every email I send and I keep up a presence on Twitter, people Facebook, this blog and Femmes Fatales. When a book is coming out I do a blog tour with giveaways. None of those bits of my job oppresses me. I kind of love that I get to scoof about on Twitter and call it working, actually. But liberation? That would be a stretch. It can be uplifting. Right now, I'm running a giveaway of two large print hardbacks of THE CHILD GARDEN for libraries. See here. And it feels pretty good.

In real life, I go to four or five conventions a year between the US and the UK. After each one I'm a physical wreck, hoarse and knackered, not to mention liberated from a decent wedge of cash. I also visit any library, book club, fundraiser or other event I can get to and from in a day's drive (with writing time in a nearby Starbucks). And now we're talking. Library people, book club people, and charitable people are consistently interesting and sometimes downright inspiring.

Librarian Fran Devlin and volunteer Helen Ogawa at Arnold Library last week.

But is any of that marketing a book? No idea.

When a new book is actually coming out, I have a party at either the Avid Reader in Davis, CA, or Waterstone's in Princes Street, Edinburgh. That's marketing, right? I send invitations to an ever-longer list of people, to which I've been adding chance email correspondents in Davis or Edinburgh throughout the year. Booksellers make displays. Publishers buy wine (in Britain.) And there's cake. Cake is definitely marketing.

That's my secret weapon: four ounces of flour, four ounces of sugar, four ounces of butter and two eggs.

  
And yes, it's liberating. Because I get to lick the spoon.