A Year of Writing in Lockdown

How has “Lockdown Life” affected your writing? Have you written more? Developed/honed new writing skills? If so, please tell us about it. Or have you found yourself off-track, lacking motivation, or otherwise sidelining your writing? If the latter, how have you handled that?

Brenda Chapman here.

As we pass the one-year anniversary of the W.H.O. pandemic declaration, this is a good time to reflect on the state of my writing career.

Have I written more? The answer is yes, but whether I've written anything worth reading is another matter. I completed a manuscript last summer that I was hoping would be a thriller, but in the end, it turned out closer to a psychological suspense. I got input from readers and an agent, but in the end, never got any offers to represent or to publish it. I've set the manuscript aside for now and may or may not get back to it. I was experimenting with tense and genre so maybe I'll chalk this one up to growing pains. I went for a walk this week with my friend who'd read through the manuscript twice and said she really likes the story, one positive voice that might have me looking at it again and giving it an overhaul.

Since then, I've been working on another in the police procedural vein and am almost through the first draft. I've been writing more consistently lately and even managed 6,000 words last week. I stalled with the plot for a while but managed to come up with solutions. I'm going to spend the next while editing and pulling it together before running the manuscript past some readers. Still a long way to go.

I've done other work related to writing since the start of the pandemic. I decided it was time to volunteer my time for something and so agreed to be Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) representative for my Ottawa/Eastern Ontario region. This has involved a lot of Zoom meetings since I also joined their marketing working group, and I've been interviewing authors from this region for posting on Youtube.

I've also discovered the fascinating world of webinars. In addition to CWC, I'm a member of Capital Crime Writers and the Writing Union of Canada, and recently joined Sisters in Crime. All of them have lined up some interesting guest speakers with varied subject-matter related to writing. This past week, I sat in on talks about taxes and writing, psychopathic killers, showing and not telling, and an author interview with our very own Catriona McPherson. The presentations originated from all over North America and were there for the cost of a yearly membership. They are a way to stay connected and to stay motivated.

Another aspect of writing is reading, and I've been doing a lot of that. Reading good writing and even not so good writing helps with my own craft. I belong to a book club that chooses widely and we recently read The Push by Ashley Audrain, and are now reading Trevor Noah's Born a Crime. My own list now has me reading a book by another author from this blog, Deitrich Kalteis's Triggerfish, a riveting story in the thriller noir genre in the style of Elmore Leonard. An eclectic variety of subject-matter and writing styles to keep my interest.

They say when a door closes, a window opens somewhere. I'd say the pandemic closed a lot of doors this past year, but we learned to prop open windows and find new ways of doing things (usually involving Zoom)! I'm eager to get back out in the world, but I haven't been bored at home. My writing, the writing community, and all the various learning opportunities have kept me chugging along nicely. 

For those of you new to my Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series, the first is Cold Mourning and a good place to start discovering Officer Kala Stonechild and Staff Sergeant Jacques Rouleau. I recently completed Closing TIme, book seven and last in the series, so you can follow the lives of my main characters from start to finish.

Business as Unusual

 Business: How have you changed the way you promote and support your work, and generally go about the business of being an author, since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Anything you’ve learned that will remain in place as we move forward?

Abir here.

 

So earlier this week Piers Morgan resigned. You know Piers Morgan – loud-mouthed, opinionated, British journalist cum rent-a-gob who got sacked from his job as editor of a newspaper for printing fake photos, and sacked from CNN for nobody watching his show. Well he resigned this week from a British breakfast TV show (shortly before his bosses were probably going to sack him). Anyway, the reason I bring up dear Piers is because his Twitter profile reads:

‘One day you're cock of the walk, the next a feather duster’

Those aren’t Piers’ own words but a quote from Margot Barber, but they do sum up how I feel about this week’s question.

My last novel came out in November 2019. My publishers, god bless ‘em, had pulled out all the stops: lunch at a fancy London restaurant for the distinguished members of the press, radio and newspaper interviews, and a national book tour (seven cities in eight days with a trip to Milan in the middle to launch the Italian version of an earlier book). It seemed as though my career was going places!

 

And then, a few short months later, lockdown hit and the world went into hibernation. Now I should point out, that I and my family have been extremely lucky. None of us have caught covid, not even my mum who insisted on flying back from India two days before all flights were banned. In hindsight it was probably the right decision, but her rationale for taking the risk: ‘I’m Indian. We have so many diseases there that I have natural immunity,’ just  sounded bonkers.

 

But I digress. While the family has been fine, the writing and all things related to it, have suffered. For the first month of lockdown, I didn’t manage to write a word, and it wasn’t until mid-April that I got back into some sort of a routine. Even then, the writing process was slower, more hap-hazard and more bitty. But what really suffered was the marketing side of things.

 

I’m one of those writers who finds the writing less fun than the meeting people at festivals. I love everything about them, from the panels to the pub crawls. I tend to draw energy from them, and in turn, they’ve been a great avenue for me to meet new readers around the world.

 

And then all that stopped. Instead of Barcelona, I was consigned to my basement. Instead of Atlanta, I was stuck writing in my attic. That came as a huge blow, and while a number of events went online and we could reach newer audiences in ever more exotic time zones, it has never felt quite the same to me.

 

What’s more, lockdown has played havoc with the publishing schedules. The paperback of my fourth book, which was launched with such fanfare in November 2019 was pushed back from April 2020 to August and lacked most of the marketing events I was hoping to do. And while I was much luckier than the debut novelists launching their careers in this strange new environment, it still seemed like some of the momentum we’d generated had dissipated.

 

It’s also affected the timing of the launch of my next book, The Shadows of Men. We were hoping to launch this in the spring of this year. The date was then shifted to July, and then shifted again to November of this year. It feels like the right move, especially if life is returning to some semblance of normality by then, but it’ll have meant I’ll have gone 24 months without launching  a new book.

 

I’m trying to make up for it in other ways. There have been the online festivals of course, but I’ve also done events for corporate entities. And I’ve recently hired a team to revamp my social media footprint (their words, not mine. I don’t really know what this means, but they are millennials and I am old, so I am deferring to their younger judgement). I should have a new website by next month, and I shall be issuing my newsletter more regularly than once in two years. They have also tried to explain to me the purpose and benefits of having an Instagram account but as far as I can tell, it’s basically just pictures of cats and peoples’ dinners.

 

So there you have it. Pre lockdown, I was going places. I had class. I could have been a contender. And then, bang, crash, wallop, all the fun things that helped me build a career – such as compromising journalists with alcohol, and ramming my opinions down the throats of a room full of people at festivals, went out the window. I have become the proverbial feather duster.

 

But I’m not too down-hearted. I believe we’re going to get through this and rebound stronger. And when that happens, I’ll have my trusty team of tech-savy, twenty-somethings to tell me exactly which pictures to post on Instagram to guarantee my next book is a best-seller!

 

That might sound like a naïve strategy, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes, even the strangest of notions can prove to be correct. Remember my mum’s justification for why covid wouldn’t touch her? Well it turns out that real scientists think she might have been right. (I hate it when that happens).

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-54730290

 

 

Thank you for reading, and wishing you all a safe and peaceful weekend.

 

PS. Just over a week ago, we lost Paul. I never knew him, other than through his writing and this blog, but from what I’ve read and heard from the others, he must have been a wonderful man. His passing is a loss to all of us.

From Sea to Shining Sea, by Catriona

 Business: How have you changed the way you promote and support your work, and generally go about the business of being an author, since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago?

Cathy, yesterday, was counting Lockdown Life in units of time since she's been handed a boarding pass. For me it's baths. We haven't really got a bath here at home - except for one of those titchy ones with a solid screen all the way across (they're the only thing in America that's not bigger). So whenever I'm in a hotel, I try to get a room with a bath and plan at least one luxurious, tea and biscuits plus a good book, prunifying soak. 

Not this last year though, as one of the foremost "hard work but someone's got to do it" bits of the writing business got booted. No Sleuthfest, no Edgars, no Malice,  no Bloody Scotland, no Bouchercon . . . just a shower I've got to clean myself. Mind you, no magnifying mirror. Silver linings.

Instead, like everyone else I've gone online. And although I miss the hugs (and the baths), there's a huge upside. It's so easy to say yes when all you need to do is get the time right, make sure your top half is camera-ready, and don't leave pages of manuscript face-up in the background. 

Oh and navigate the four time zones. Otherwise you can be looking like this at the start time:

And after a frantic ten minutes, you might do a headline interview looking like this:

(Much more organised interviewer, Kellye Garrett, included for comparison.)

Mind you, when I do have time to get ready I can sometimes end up looking like this:

Guess whether I ever had etiquette and deportment training. Go on. Guess.

That aside, the good thing about Zooming instead of flying is that I didn't hesitate before saying a big "yes, please" to San Diego Sisters in Crime for this coming Saturday. Sign up here

 

Or even Freddy the Flamingo's Noir@theBar in Florida a week on Friday. Sign up here

Next month is even better. On Saturday 1oth April, I'll be at Greenville Library, South Carolina in the morning (pacific morning, SC lunchtime, 4 time zones, it's earlier here, I can do this) giving a talk I'm calling Plenty Deadly: Sisters, Dames and Girl Detectives. Sign up here. 

And yet that same Saturday, a bit later, I'll be in Albuquerque at the Left Coast Crime Unconvention Lefty Awards, where The Turning Tide is up for best historical. 

The next week, on Saturday 17th April, it's not too early a start to get to Chicago for 9.30am central (7.30 am pacific, right?) for Murder and Mayhem. 

Then a hop, skip and a jump back to Florida at lunchtime to talk to the local MWA chapter about killing your inner critic and keeping your story alive (much better than the other way round, if you ask me).

Finally in April, to Texas, Houston, and Murder by the Book, on the 23rd, where Kris Calvin (friend, fellow writer, weekly cinema pal in the before- and after-times, and hugely entertaining speaker) is launching her brand-new series debut ALL THAT FALL. Event details here.

 

Don't mistake this determined cheerfulness to look on the bright side for an actual preference, though. When we get back to budgetary considerations, red-eyes, roller-bags, chatty seatmates and ride-sharing apps, I'll be thrilled to bits. Like almost everyone else.

Out and about...but not in a boat! by Cathy Ace

Business: How have you changed the way you promote and support your work, and generally go about the business of being an author, since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Anything you’ve learned that will remain in place as we move forward?

This month we’re talking about THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM…indeed, we’re examining it in detail. March 13^th will mark my personal one-year anniversary of being at home. I cannot recall a time in the last thirty years of my life when I’ve gone two months without someone handing me a boarding pass, so – yes – my life and way of working has changed significantly over the last twelve months. Just like millions of others.

At least a part of my office is tidy now - because the world gets to see it quite often! (NOTE: the paintings on the far right of this photo were all done by my late father - he's with me as I go out and about around the world!)

However, I’m luckier than most: I have an office in my home, and we live on acreage…so I can continue my writing quite easily. And I’ve been doing that (as well as decorating the house!). But this week’s question is specifically about the BUSINESS of being an author which – to me – is all the bits that aren’t writing/editing.

And I’d say that this has been a year of downs, and ups.

Promoting my work has never been more difficult – nor “easier” at the same time. No face-to-face events in bookstores or libraries, no conventions or festivals, which is a great shame…but access to so many more online opportunities to reach readers/potential readers around the world that just never existed before. (As an aside – as a reader I am LOVING the access I am getting online to authors I admire!)

A fabulous example of NEW channels to reach readers: it's free to join the Facebook group, and you get to hear Hannah and Hank read the first chapter of a possibly-new-to-you book twice a week!

I’ve participated in free-to-view events like panels and more social “noir at the bar” type events, as well as some that have required a payment. Oddly, the not-free ones have been better attended than the free ones – not sure what that says, except that, maybe, if a person commits even a small payment to attend an event they actually attend. I know I’ve intended to watch panels, but something’s come up at the last minute (as things do when we’re all at home all the time!) and I’ve had to watch later. That element – the being able to watch at my own convenience – has been the biggest thing for me. So maybe the “watch later” attendance for the free events is where the numbers have crept up.

I’ve been invited to contribute to more podcasts and radio interviews than in the past, which is great, and I have some wonderful events lined up throughout April and May (check my website for details!) where I can at least “mix” with some old friends. To be honest, it’s been bittersweet watching Zoom sessions with people I wish I could be hugging at conventions, but I also know I’ve seen people more often online than I could have done in real life, so that’s wonderful.

Fellow Criminal Mind Catriona McPherson interviews me at Left Coast Crime 2019
(photo thanks to Dru Ann Love)

I think the inaugural Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival – taking place online from April 26^th to May 3rd – is an excellent example of me grabbing an opportunity that might not have been possible otherwise: I am pinching myself to know I’ll be taking part in the first ever panel for Wales’ first ever international crime writers’ festival. Not something I could have imagined – and you’re invited! Check out the fabulous authors who’ll be taking part here: CLICK TO CONNECT

At Malice Domestic: I interviewed Martin Edwards when he was the recipient of the prestigious Poirot Award in 2017. Here we're being served afternoon tea by our maid - the wonderful Verena Main Rose. Martin and I will be on the inaugural panel of Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival in April this year, with GB Williams

I, personally, would like to see all future conventions and festivals retain the digital access they’ve had to create for their 2020 and 2021 iterations – every author wants to reach their WORLD of potential readers, and these online opportunities are great at doing that.

If you're not familiar with my work, you can check it out BY CLICKING HERE.

Also - please consider signing up for my newsletter - then you'll be the first to see my new cover...Cait Morgan #10 is coming in June 2021! Sign up is on the opening page of my website: CLICK HERE

Business in the Year of Covid

Business: How have you changed the way you promote and support your work, and generally go about the business of being an author, since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Anything you’ve learned that will remain in place as we move forward? 

From Frank

This week's answer is simple:  No, not really to the first question. And to the second, I guess but probably not.

Covid-19's impact on my writing life has been minimal. The biggest thing was that I had a crowded house for much of 2020, so my writing output was less. And I usually did that writing with headphones on. But that has little to do with marketing; rather, the creative side of things.

So what was different, marketing-wise? Well, obviously, I didn't appear at any bookstores. This had become a trend long before Covid, though. I did the occasional bookstore bit, but it wasn't like I was doing tours before the lockdown happened.

We did try to do one online event hosted by Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane to promote the second season of A Grifter's Song. Asa Maria Bradley, who wrote episode #8 (Upgrade) spearheaded the arrangements. I joined in as the creator/editor, as well as Colin Conway (episode #5, Lost in Middle America) and Scott Eubanks (episode #11, Still Life with Suitcase). All of us lived in or are from Spokane.

The event started out wonderfully and was almost immediately zoom-bombed. Things went from someone asking me about the creation of this series to demands to "show us your boobs" (to which Scott promptly asked, "Who, me?").

Total disaster. But fun. No Scott-boobs, though.

So instead of bookstore events (or actual bookstore appearances), I've been on a number of podcasts. I even got to drink wine during one interview, so that rocked. I think that's something I'll continue doing, for sure. And maybe the podcast thing, too.

Speaking of podcasts, my own show (Wrong Place, Write Crime) has been my primary social outlet for the last year. I've enjoyed interviewing other authors and sometimes chatting after the recording stops. It's been even more important since my other major social event (LCC and Bouchercon) were canceled.

I'll keep doing the podcast for at least one more season. And it looks like conferences may be coming back, so there's that.

But how much are those things "marketing"? Some, I suppose. But most of it's social, right? (can you hear Judd Hirsch saying it now - "demented and sad, but social"?).

I've started doing promos and advertising more but that isn't really in response to Covid. It's more a response to trying to move some books.

So anything I've learned that I'll apply moving forward?

Yeah. Don't ask Scott Eubanks to show his boobs. He won't. 

But on the marketing front? Not really. But that might be more an indicator of what a piss-poor marketer I am or being unable to learn something new than anything else.

Just to prove that final point, I'm skipping blatant self-promoting this week. Unless you click on the links in my post, of course. Or go to my website.

"Write the Next Book"

 Q: How have you changed the way you promote and support your work, and generally go about the business of being an author, since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Anything you’ve learned that will remain in place as we move forward? 

-from Susan

 

My most recent book came out in 2018, and I’m not under a contract at the moment, which means I haven’t got any sparkly new book to sell and am sliding away from the front row. Both of my French village mysteries are still available (hint, hint) and got wonderful reviews, so I still hope people will find and love them as much as I loved writing them. 

 

I haven’t done a lot of “business” in 2020. I might be tempted to feel sorry for myself if I hadn’t just submitted a manuscript I like very much to my agent. Of course, the moment I hit Send, I began to feel less confident, to assume she will hate it, and that I may never be published again, doom, doom, doom. I emailed that an extremely successful crime fiction author who is a dear friend and cheerleader and she said, “Oh I always feel that way if she doesn’t get back to me in 24 hours!”

 

And, on Saturday, I attended a Sisters in Crime webinar that was exactly what I needed. Three best-selling, award-winning authors talked candidly about the challenges they have faced when they couldn’t find an agent, lost an agent, lost two agents, lost an acquiring editor, lost three acquiring editors, lost a publisher, had a series abruptly cancelled, got dumped by a publisher…They learned not to let any of that define them, stop them from writing the next book, stop listening to their instincts about good book ideas but be open to listening to what publishers want (without giving in and writing something they don’t enjoy). 

 

Here are the business strategies they ended with, the most important long-term ways to stay in this crazy business we love:

 

* be open to doing things differently

 

* try something that’s a little scary

 

* don’t ever think of yourself as a loser

 

* find a writing friend you can share pages or support with

 

* WRITE THE NEXT BOOK

Remembering Paul D. Marks

 

Eric Campbell,  from Down and Out Books, said yesterday:

"Earlier this week we lost a great talent in the world of crime fiction. Paul D. Marks passed away, but he left us with a legacy of literature that will live on forever. Paul had the ability to create compelling full-length novels, but was equally adept at writing short stories. His work was nominated for numerous awards, and he won several of them.  Down & Out Books was honored to work with Paul on many projects and sends its deepest sympathies to his family and wide network of friends and associates. He will be greatly missed."

No one ever spoke a truer word. Today, some of the Minds who knew Paul are sharing our memories.

Cathy Ace: Paul was quiet, and unassuming; a gentleman, and a gentle man. His passion for the LA of a bygone era, music of a bygone era, and movies of a bygone era was significant, and something he shared whenever he could. He also shared his home with animals who needed a family with big hearts and generous souls – and Paul and Amy definitely possessed those, as well as an obviously deep love and respect for each other. Since Paul’s treatment began, back in November, he, Amy, and I have corresponded rather more than usual; despite everything he was facing, and fighting, his emails never dwelled on that – his natural demeanor was to look ahead. Paul’s latest book, The Blues Don’tCare, is excellent; it richly deserved Suspense Magazine’s award for Best Historical Novel of 2020. If you haven’t read it, I urge you to consider doing so; it evokes 1940s LA in all its glory and grime, while weaving a layered, complex story using pitch-perfect language, which creates an utterly engaging noirish mood from the start. It certainly allowed all of Paul’s passions, and his ability as a writer, to shine. Oh, and by the way, it and Coast to Coast Noir are eligible for the awards for 2020 books, for which many of us are currently considering nominations. I shall not be alone in missing Paul. My heartfelt condolences to Amy.

Susan Shea: 

“Bobby had almost made it. Today was the last day of the year; tomorrow would not only bring a new year but a new millennium, the twenty-first century. How Bobby would have loved to see it. He was always excited about things like birthdays and Christmas and New Year’s. Everyone had to die sooner or later, but she wished he could havelived just a few more days.” -  THE BLUES DON’T CARE

We writers, and music lovers, and film fans, and animal lovers wish our friend, the talented Paul D. Marks, had lived longer. I met him a few times. He was quiet, modest, even shy on those occasions. He always wore a hat. He never bragged about his time in Hollywood, although he told some pretty funny firsthand stories about the dysfunctional but sometimes generous world of movie-making. I always had the sense he was listening, listening to everything and everyone, maybe looking for pieces of our personal stories that might possibly fit into one of his fictional ones.

Frank Zafiro: I never met Paul in person, but I had the pleasure of reading his work and then interviewing him on my podcast last April. I was struck by what a kind man he seemed, and how thoughtful. We covered some thorny ground in that interview, including the issue of race. One of his books takes place against the backdrop of the L.A. riots in 1992. The story most definitely confronts the subject of race and perceptions of it at a very individual level. I was impressed at how he navigated a difficult topic with equal parts compassion and brutal honesty, both in the book and during the interview. 

 

We talked about his newest book, too, The Blues Don't Care, which I hadn't read at the time and sadly still sits in my TBR queue. Paul's obvious passion for it secured a permanent spot in the queue until it gets read, though. His first book showed me what a talented writer he was, and talking to him revealed his kindness, his measured thinking, and his passion. All of that adds up to a near certainty that it'll be a tremendous book. Honestly, I wish I'd read it sooner, just to have been able to fire him a quick note to let him know I'd finished and to share a couple of thoughts. I know how nice it is to get that from a reader, particularly if s/he's also another writer. Paul did it exactly that for me after he read The Last Horseman. I saved my comments for White Heat until we were talking before the interview recording, but I would have liked to have shot him a message about The Blues Don't Care, because I know he was pretty excited about it. Like all of us fools, I thought I had more time.

Jim Ziskin: Paul was a wonderfully talented writer. I enjoyed his novels and short stories immensely. It seemed that every time I turned around, there was another story of his in Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock magazines. Paul’s books and stories won awards and accolades, including the Shamus and Macavity. His short story, “Windward” was included in the 2018 Best American Mystery Short Stories anthology.

But I’ll remember Paul as a kind soul who was always willing to lend a hand to other writers. He loved Los Angeles and its history. That’s why I asked him to fact-check my fifth book, Cast the First Stone, which was set in 1962 Los Angeles. His insights were so important for that book that I thanked him in my acknowledgments. 

My heartfelt condolences go out to Amy, Paul’s loving wife. I’ll miss Paul the writer and Paul the good guy.

At Bouchercon, 2018, St Pete, FL

Terry Shames: It’s strange how you can see people at conferences, exchange a few words, read their books, read their posts on social media, and feel like you know them. But in reality, I hardly knew Paul at all. He always had a good word and a smile. I almost wrote a “quick” word, but Paul never seemed to be in too much of a hurry to stop and say hello. I’ve been reading about how he helped other writers, how he loved dogs, how he adored his wife and his close friends, and I wish I had been able to know him more fully. I just read his latest book, The Blues Don’t Care and most of all I wish I had had the chance to tell him how much I enjoyed it.

Paul's Dogs

Catriona McPherson: I feel incredibly lucky on account of one of those random hang-outs we sometimes get at conferences, where suddenly it’s late and most people have gone to bed, and there’s a comfy corner in the hotel lobby.

This was Left Coast Crime, Monterey, and on the other comfy couch that late night were Paul and Amy Marks. It might have been the first time I met Paul face to face; it was certainly the only time I spent so much time talking to him. What did we talk about? California - well, LA; cats and dogs; books and publishing and awards and awards dinners; blogging and traveling and . . . life.

Since then, I never managed more than a quick-ish check-in as we passed en route to different panels but Paul was one of those people you’re always deeply pleased to see. He was never ragged or hyper, even as the rest of us wore out over the course of a convention weekend; never gushing or bragging in a sea of self-promotion. He was always just listening, smiling, thinking (plotting, probably), self-contained without being reserved, self-assured, apparently without judging anyone else’s insecurities, and utterly genial. An out-and-out good guy. 

Brenda Chapman: While I never met Paul in person, I feel as if I’ve gotten to know him through his posts on 7 Criminal Minds and as friends of Facebook. Paul and I occasionally offered each other kudos and thumbs up on Facebook posts and I enjoyed our interactions, virtual as they might have been. The things I learned about Paul were first and foremost his love for Amy and their dogs; his fascinating screenwriter past in L.A. movie circles (his post about being in Gene Kelly’s house to drop off a screenplay is the stuff of movies); his deep knowledge of movies and the industry; and his enjoyment of being in the outdoors. I was particularly happy for his recent writing success and know this was a boost as he was receiving treatment. In his last posts, Paul stayed positive and strong through what I know was a very difficult time both physically and emotionally. My deepest sympathies go out to Amy and all of Paul’s family and friends, and I hope that all the good memories will help to sustain you through this terribly sad time. 

Dietrich Kalteis: I first met Paul, and his lovely wife Amy, at Bouchercon quite some time ago and we stayed in touch over the years. He was always very supportive and generous, and a friend who I will truly miss.

Here’s a quote from an interview we did together where his depth of spirit shines through:

“They say “write what you know,” but if we did that what we could write about would be from a very small frame of reference. But we all share the human experience and that, both the good and the bad, can be filtered into any character. There’s a lot of division in society today. People want to break you down into this group or that group. But something I find really interesting is how, in my opinion, we have more things in common than we do things that separate us.” — Paul D. Marks   

Journey well, my friend.

Buy links and nominating details:

WHITE HEAT (Shamus Award winner)

BROKEN WINDOWS

VORTEX

L.A. LATE @ NIGHT

COAST TO COAST: Private Eyes From Sea to Shining Sea 

COAST TO COAST: Murder From Sea to Shining Sea 

• (Suspense Magazine's best of 2020)
• eligible for the 2021 Anthony Award for best anthology.
• "Nowhere Man" eligible for the 2021 Anthony Award for best short story

THE BLUES DON'T CARE 

• (Suspense magazine's Best of 2020)
• eligible for the 2021 Anthony Award for best paperback original

2020 Vision by James W. Ziskin

How has your life, and way of living in general, changed since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Are there parts of your life that have changed for the better? Anything that will stick, even when life gets back to “normal”?

Early in the lockdown—in late March of last year—I realized it was “now or never” if I hoped to make anything good of the bad situation. I was working on a new novel—not an Ellie Stone book—with only 2,800 words on the page. I decided to get off my duff and onto my horse.

Over the next nine weeks, I wrote 110,000 words and finished the first draft. I used the summer and fall to polish and revise the manuscript nine times. The book improved with each pass. My beta readers weighed in with feedback, and the novel slowly took shape. I made one significant rewrite of the manuscript before I thought it was ready for my agent to read. Now, I’m glad to say, the book is out on submission.

Another major development occurred during the lockdown. Feeling restless and wanting to do something different, I applied for some teaching jobs. At first, the schools showed zero interest in me. Was it my age or lack of experience? I’d aced the state certification exam for French the year before, but there were no takers. Then one day in October I got a response from a nearby middle school. They were looking for a long-term substitute to fill in for the rest of the school year. I jumped at it, and they gave me a chance.

A month and a half later, just before Christmas, in fact, the school district made my appointment permanent. What were they thinking? So I’m a seventh-grade French teacher now. I sometimes joke that this new gig has saved my life. Well, improved it, at least. Despite the risks of an in-person teaching schedule during a pandemic, I feel energized, mentally sharper, and healthier. I get up every morning at 5:30, which has has forced me to turn in earlier and avoid unhealthy habits. The kids and my fellow teachers are wonderful. Such dedication and goodness in my colleagues, and the students are bravely coping with the terrible burdens of this most unusual and difficult school year. I have nothing to compare it to, so I’m happy despite the way things are.

Today we learned that teachers are finally eligible for the COVID vaccine in Massachusetts. About time. That doesn’t mean it will be easy to get an appointment, though. When I finally do, and when “life gets back to normal,” I hope to build on the gains I’ve achieved during this awful year. And, since I’m a teacher now, I’ll have time during the summer to write another novel. Last year proved to me that I can do it in two months’ time.

The best of it

How has your life, and way of living in general, changed since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Are there parts of your life that have changed for the better? Anything that will stick, even when life gets back to “normal”?

by Dietrich

“Lockdown life” has left many of us feeling isolated and dispirited. Yet the question asks if there are aspects that have changed life for the better? 

I always make time to write, but I’ve also found extra time to put paint on canvas. I’ve learned some new guitar licks and even tried some new recipes.

There’s plenty to do while being housebound, from watching audience-free productions of some of my favorite late-night shows to binge-watching on Netflix, Prime Video and Youtube. And I can fill the house with all the tunes I care to hear on Spotify.

I admire the creativity of others during these times, like the anonymous Stockport, UK person(s), who keep their neighbors smiling by creating scenes using two giant plush bears “The Moor Bears” doing various chores in their front yard. 

Streaming performances keep popping up online, and some major art galleries and museums have digitized their collections. Check out New York’s MoMA, the Louvre, the Guggenheim, or the National Gallery, London. And why not take a digital stroll of the Great Wall of China, or catch the view from the Eiffel Tower?  

Time has allowed me to almost catch up on that stack of books that never seemed to go down. Usually, I add to the stack at a rate faster than I can read them, but during these times, I might just catch up.

With a winter in the Pacific northwest that felt like spring, we’ve been getting out on the many trails around home, often for hours at a time, getting into some green therapy. And we’ve taken the time to explore new trails and places close to home.

Is there anything that will stick when life gets back to normal? Well, the reading and hiking, but like most people, my social life has taken a hit, and I do miss getting together with family and friends. And I miss traveling too, and there’s organizing Noir at the Bar events and getting together with my writer friends. But, everything will be back to “normal” soon enough.

Meantime I’ll count the pluses, like not having to wear a mask while I’m indoors. And there are no bar tabs, fewer cars on the road, more parking spots, and cleaner air.

—

I was very saddened like everybody here to get the news Monday morning that Paul had passed away. A talented writer and a supportive friend, he will be greatly missed. My thoughts are with his family.

Covid B Gone

Terry here. The question this week is: How has your life, and way of living in general, changed since “Lockdown Life” began a year ago? Are there parts of your life that have changed for the better? Anything that will stick, even when life gets back to “normal”? 

 I loved my life before Covid. I loved hunkering down in my office and writing all day, then cooking at the end of the day and reading or watching TV. I loved getting lots of exercise—going to the gym to take my step class; taking walks, or spending a half hour on the elliptical trainer or the stationary bike. I loved having dinner parties or parties in general. And I loved going out sometimes in the evenings—to the theater, musical events, to friends’ houses, or to dinner. I also loved traveling, pretty much anywhere. 

                                            Zion National Park

I liked the experience of seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling new things. I liked hearing foreign languages being spoken. I liked navigating the oddities of cultural differences (and that includes in other states). And I absolutely loved getting together with other writers. At SinC or MWA meetings, with my two writing groups, or at conferences. 

                                            Conference delight

 Since Covid shut us down, I still hunker down in my office and write, cook at the end of the day, read, and watch TV. I still got lots of exercise, but without the gym and all the people I had come to enjoy in step class (Mary, Carol, the other Terry, Shango, to mention a few). But the rest of it is gone. Gone. 

 I suppose I should feel grateful that I had a good life before shutdown, and that I have a husband and close friends that I trust to mingle with—in the backyard. I’m grateful that I have a backyard and live where I can take nice walks. But I’ve become acutely aware of the passage of time, of the days, months, weeks, in which I don’t get to do many of the things I love. 

I hope nothing of these changes stick when life gets back to normal. I’ve been living an attenuated life and I don’t like it. I’ve had some distanced dinner parties with 2-4 friends in the backyard, bundled up and still cold, trying to laugh and enjoy it. 

                                            A cold Thanksgiving meal.

I’ve taken masked and distanced walks with friends whom I trust to be careful not to get exposed to the virus. 

 I resent the hell out of people who refuse to take the virus seriously and who proclaim that they refuse to “live in fear.” I think if they had taken it seriously and been careful, the virus would have taken fewer lives and would have been tamed faster. And I wonder, in my country, when looking out for the health and welfare of others by simply wearing a mask and keeping distance, came to be translated as “living in fear.” I wonder if they ever give a thought to 500,000 people who have died, and whom they refuse to honor by inconveniencing themselves. That’s one thing that may stick—my realization that there are some profoundly self-absorbed people in the world. 

 As for the second part of the question, no, absolutely nothing in my life has changed for the better. Some things are different. I know now that Zoom meetings can be used in place of in-person meetings. And that means that sometimes people who wouldn’t be able to be with each other in person might be able to see each other and talk. But Zoom will never take the place of being together in a room, laughing, hugging, mingling. 

And there are a few things I’ve become more appreciative of—my husband’s sense of humor for sure. My home, my health. The only thing that will “stick” is my understanding of how cruelly capricious life can be…but I already knew that. I won’t miss being unable to forget it for hours or days at a time, though. If life ever does get back to what we carelessly called “normal.” 

                                            

 Update: Monday morning the 7 Criminal Minds Team got the terrible news that one of our members, Paul D. Marks died. Our thoughts are with his family. We will publish a tribute to Paul when we’ve had a chance to reflect. 

 Meanwhile, those of you who have read and enjoyed his books, please consider that he has the following available for Anthony consideration: 

 The Blues Don’t Care, a paperback original, Down and Out Books An anthology Paul co-edited WITH Andrew MacAleer, COAST TO COAST, plus a story in it - "Nowhere Man". Down and Out Books