Meeting One of My Writer Rock Stars

Meeting author Elaine Viets for the first time was, for me, like meeting a rock star.

When I was young and growing up in my native St. Louis, my favorite morning activity was reading the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, one of the city's major daily newspapers. (We also had the Globe-Democrat back then—imagine, two daily papers!) I'd sit down at the kitchen table with my coffee (cream and lots of sugar at that age) and ask my dad to pass the "Everyday" section. My dad probably thought I wanted the "Everyday" section for the funnies, but if so, he would have been wrong. Instead, I hoped to find my favorite columnist: Elaine Viets. Elaine was my writing idol. She was funny, she was self-deprecating, she was young and hip and had her own column in a major daily newspaper.

I eventually moved away from St. Louis and began reading other major newspapers wherever I lived–the Boston Globe, the Philadelphia Inquirer and now, the Orlando Sentinel. There were other columnists I enjoyed, but I never found another one who inspired my morning newspaper addiction the way Elaine did.

So imagine my surprise when I learned, sometime around the time my first novel was being released, that Elaine now lived in Florida and was a bestselling novelist! How can that be? I wondered. How did I not know this? My excitement about attending my first SleuthFest writers' conference in South Florida grew even more when I found out Elaine would be there, too.

I sat near the rear of the room in a workshop session for which Elaine was a panelist. At the end, I got up the nerve to introduce myself to her. I don't know what I said, exactly—something along the lines of being from St. Louis and being a huge fan of her column—but I do remember this: Elaine was gracious and funny and everything I imagined she would be in person.

But the coolest thing of all? Since that day, Elaine has treated me as a peer and mentored me more than I think she realizes. She's introduced me to some key people in the book business, she's connected me with promotional and marketing opportunities, and she's recommended me for some high level positions in writing organizations, among other things. More than anything, she's welcomed me into the writing community.

My first real "event" with Elaine - Lake County Festival of Reading

So I was thrilled and honored when Elaine recently asked me to participate in "The Next Big Thing"—a fun blog hop where authors help each other get the word out about their writing and books. It's sort of a promotional "round robin"—I won't bother trying to explain how it works here. The important thing is that we're all helping to get the word out about writers whom readers might not have otherwise known about.

To learn more about Elaine Viets and her hilarious, bestselling and critically-acclaimed novels, check out her "Next Big Thing" post over at the Femme Fatales blog.

A "Must Read" for Writers

'Nuf said . . .

The Business Rusch: Writing Like It's 1999.

*Thanks to the writers over at Novelists, Inc. for pointing me to Kristine's blog.

Torn Between Two Lovers

Joseph Arellano of the San Francisco Book Review asked me to write an essay about the trials and tribulations of being an author. For me, it's the constant pull between my two professional loves -- law and writing. Here's the full essay, in The Back Page section of the San Francisco Book Review. Hope you enjoy!

Why Writers Aren't Always the Best Speakers

Finally, an explanation for why I have no problem putting words to paper (or screen) that make sense, but I become tongue-tied when I try to talk about those same ideas.

Why Writers Aren't Always the Best Speakers

Aspiring Writers, NanoWrimo Starts November 1st!

What's NanoWrimo, you ask?

It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 175 page (50,000 word) novel between November 1 and November 30.

Learn all about it at http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

I participated in 2005 and 2006, and though I didn't finish by the deadline during either year -- it sure kick-started my writing! I've decided to do it this year as a way to start working regularly on my third novel.

Give it a try, and good luck!

Writing at the Beach

Yeah, yeah, I know I promised a Thrillerfest post, but the draft post has become long and unwieldy and I want to make sure I mention everyone and everything, so it just hasn't gotten finished . . . Now I'm at the beach (Daytona Beach Shores) with my laptop and my draft is at home on a Word document on my PC . . . Hopefully, next week.


I had a note from Jennifer Greenhill-Taylor (a wonderful lady and the co-founder, along with Joseph Hayes, of one of my favorite sites, Inked-In), asking me how my week at the beach is going. I quickly rattled off a response because I was so excited by everything I'm getting done on Book 2, and then it dawned on me: Hey, I could blog about this.

Some of you know that I've just begun working on my revisions to my second novel. I'd turned in the manuscript in May, and a few weeks back I received comments from my editors. I spent some time thinking about the comments and then, talking them over with both editors (UK and US). Though I'd already fiddled a bit with a few edits, this week is the first time in a while I've been able to spend long days doing nothing but writing and revising. I love it. THIS is the reason I write.

My girls are here with me around the clock, and Rick drives out each evening after work and then leaves early the next morning to head back to his office. I get up when he leaves, make my coffee, and get to work. I love the silence of the mornings, and the temperature is still nice enough to sit outside for a while. Eventually I wake my younger daughter and get her to surf camp. The older one and her friend (who is here with us, too) sleep in. On Tuesday, I set myself up on the beach near the surfers and made revisions to my manuscript by hand. Except for the campers, the beach is still pretty empty at that time of the morning. Because a large part of my story takes place in Florida, I find the writing just pours out of me when I'm immersed in the setting.

On Wednesday, I did it a bit differently. My skin needed a break from the sun and my writing needed the laptop, so I came back to the house after dropping off my surfer. Spent most of the day writing at the kitchen table.

Thursday was our anniversary -- 21 years married and a few months shy of 26 years together -- so Rick took off work and we played at the beach. Later, when surf camp was done for the day, the whole family went jet-skiing on the river. The jet-skiing was fun, but the best part was the dolphins! We must have seen about 10 of them, swimming right next to our jet-skis and showing off for us. Later, Rick and I drove down to New Smyrna for dinner at a place recommended by my friend and book club buddy Diane, The Garlic. Beautiful setting and the food and service both were excellent.

I also did some reading this week. Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan was first. It was this month's book for my book club. Hard to believe this was the author's first novel. It's beautifully written and even if you've never been interested in Frank Lloyd Wright in the past, this book will get you interested. It's a great love story, and an even better book club pick; LOTS of stuff to talk about.

Next was a completely different type of novel, Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben. This was my first Harlan Coben novel and it was so different from what I expected (though I understand that this book might be a bit of a departure from his other stuff?). Though it's a mystery, it's so much more. It touches on a lot of "big" issues: the parent/teen relationship, how we really don't know our kids (and can't), whether spying on them is (or ever can be) justified, etc. I really enjoyed it, perhaps because my children are at that age (cough, cough). But a warning: it leaves you with more questions than answers . . . This is another one that would generate lots of discussion at a book group.