Writing Fiction Is Hard

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 4 Comments

by Gale Albright

Writing fiction is hard.

That’s a very subjective statement. Do I mean it is just plain hard, all the time, in all kinds of weather? Do I mean it’s hard for me in general? Am I therefore implying that writing non-fiction is easy?

I mean writing fiction is hard compared to writing essays, journalistic pieces, blog posts, and publicity notices.

It’s not that these other forms of writing are easy.

What I’m really talking about are rules.

Yes, rules. There just aren’t that many rules in writing fiction. Fiction is very subjective.

Journalism and essay writing and blogging are, of course, subjective as well, but they have more rules.

You might say that lack of rules should make writing fiction easier. Your mind is free to run riot. There are no fences to block your imagination. You can roam wide and far in your creative mind and do just about anything you darn well please.

Yes. That’s what makes it hard. Hard for me, of course, since I’m creating a blog/essay here without using any rules to speak of. Except length. Length is a key factor in a blog post. As in, don’t make it very long.

Fiction doesn’t have that problem. You can write gigantic tomes like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. However, if you are writing 100-word short, short, short fiction, then length is a consideration. But again, back to rules. When you write a 100-word piece of fiction, the number one rule is, only write 100 words. That will bring you up short (I like puns and word play, which everyone does not).

Despite tendencies to rebellion in general, I don’t do that well with absolute freedom when it comes to writing. Or anything else, for that matter. I’ve always whined about being subjected to structure, but I’m lost without it. That’s why I’m thankful for deadlines. They impose a structure. Instead of feeling oppressed by deadlines, I feel grateful. I have a clear goal. I have a path to follow. I won’t wander off and get lost in the weeds. With a deadline, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. That doesn’t mean I don’t grouse about it. I’m just a grouser (not a bird).

Journalism has rules. There’s word count based on available space. There’s the old “Who, What, When, Where, and Why,” plus maybe a “How.” Journalism, in the classic newspaper sense, forms stories in the shape of inverted pyramids. You get the most important stuff in the first paragraph, if possible, and sort out the details in order of descending importance. I can do that. I get that upside-down pyramid thing.

Of course, there’s more personal, artistic journalism, such as investigative reporting, in-depth interviews, political coverage, travelogues, etc. These articles are fancier than plain reporting, but they are still reporting about facts. With non-fiction, you have facts.

With fiction, you may not have any facts at all. You may have to make up a whole world full of monsters, or aliens, or talking animals, or zombies, or robots, or who knows what.

The sky is the limit with fiction. And too much sky makes me run for cover.

Some writers argue that fiction really does have rules, lots and lots of rules. But can you prove it? Is it a fact? Or is it just wishful thinking? If I follow X, Y, Z rules, will I be successful as a writer (recognition, big paycheck, personal satisfaction)? For every rule about fiction, you can find another rule that disputes the previous rule. That’s because it’s all made up. Fiction rules aren’t facts. They are usually just good ideas based on empirical, anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

You don’t have to tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about. Of course I don’t. If I could locate and apply the magic rule, I would have Stephen King and J.K. Rowling begging me to give them tips. I’d be rich. I’d be famous. Remember, this is a subjective blog post. I was taught long ago that the way to write an essay is: 1) Tell the reader what you are going to tell her; 2) Tell her; 3) Tell the reader what you just told her. I can do that. I can embrace that structure.

But when I write fiction, I’m alone on an unmanned ship on a storm-tossed sea, trying to steer around the jagged rocks. It’s very scary. Fiction rules can only take you so far.

It’s between you and the ocean.

Disclaimer: This is a totally subjective, personal, meandering essay that doesn’t follow any rules and is neither journalism nor fiction. Perhaps it should be a diary entry. To finish off my treatise (diatribe? unfounded rant? incoherent conjecture?), I will tell you what I already told you at the beginning and the middle. Writing fiction is hard.

It’s Not About You

June 29, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 2 Comments

While attending Malice Domestic in Bethesda, MD last month, I overheard a small group of authors gathered in the hotel bar discussing the issue of whether family members or friends thought a character was actually a portrayal of them. It seemed each had a story to share. One author’s sister felt a character was based on her. The author, however, stated the two–the sister and the character in question–had very little in common. The sister had picked up on one particular behavior and, from that point, assumed the entire character was based on her. It caused a bit of a family kerfuffle.

A quick online query about the topic will reveal many writers discussing how someone–a loved one, a friend, a colleague– believes a character is based on her and is unhappy about it, even when the author assures her it just isn’t so.

That’s not to say that certain authors haven’t based characters on real people–it happens all the time and often the author will reveal that information outright. After all, Anne Lamott once wrote, “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” That said, this topic becomes further complicated when the book is a work of fiction and no intent to base a character on a real person was made. So, what happens when someone in your circle believes a character–one with one or more negative traits– is based on her?

If the character is a benevolent superhero with skills that put all around her to shame, letting your aunt/sister/friend claim that character as a portrayal is no issue. Let her enjoy the idea. However, what if the character is difficult, angry or passive-aggressive? How does an author help those around her understand that it is indeed a work of fiction?

While I can’t speak about the experiences of other authors, as they are as vast and layered as the works in our genre, I can share my general thought process when writing fiction. If this post helps neutralize a heated conversation, I’m happy to help.

I tend to be drawn to the dynamics between people, to specific conversations, to behavior and to moments in time. I might take one particular spark–a discussion, an encounter–and run with it. The result may be a compilation of my own experiences with several people over a long period of time, and I find that my characters take those behaviors and use them for their own purposes. No one in any of my work represents any one person. However, one person may have traits from several people or have experiences from several people all wrapped up in that one person. That’s a pretty wide net. After all, each one of us can be angry, difficult, funny, sarcastic or rude at any given time. Each one of us may have experienced the shattering loss of a parent, the sharp tongue of a hostile work colleague, the exhaustion of a demanding career. It doesn’t mean a character with those traits or experiences is based on a real person.

Each writer brings to her work a culmination of experiences, heartbreaks, conversations and issues and those tiny threads are bound to weave themselves in the story somehow.

But not in the way others might believe.

My primary purpose is to encourage the reader to care about the characters and what happens to them. That is my goal. Creating characters based on real people isn’t part of my process. I may appreciate how one friend handles difficult conversations while another friend’s compassion with animals makes me smile, but that doesn’t mean those same people show up in my work. The particular behavior or personality trait might but that is only because it belongs to the character. That’s where it ends.

Writers study the world around them, taking note of interactions and exchanges, tucking them away in the hopes they might be useful in a story one day. What happens next is complete fiction, and isn’t that one of the best things about being a mystery writer?

–Laura Oles

How To Conduct A Masterful Story

June 15, 2015January 7, 2020 / vpchandler / 6 Comments

by V.P. Chandler

Originally posted June 15, 2015

You know how some songs are more appealing than others? They just seem to have that “something” that people like. I think the same thing is true for books.

I’ve recently tried my hand at writing music, so I’ve been studying the structure of songs. The way the verses and chorus are laid out are comparable to poetry. Then one day I noticed that the music itself is similar to story structure. Even different types of songs can be compared to different genres. (All links provided are from “official” Youtube channels or websites.)

Typically most pop, rock, or standard music that we listen to follows a pattern:

Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3 [Usually a variation of the tune], (Maybe Verse 4) Chorus [Maybe with a variation to change it up a bit.]

For instance, here’s Real Gone by Sheryl Crow

I love that song! The intro does exactly what it’s supposed to do. It sets the tone for the piece. The variations on the theme and the constant fast beat keep it from getting boring.

I think it’s like a lot of popular books out there. It’s got a good beat and the tempo doesn’t let up for the whole song. I think of thrillers that have constant action. A variation on theme helps to keep things interesting. Maybe like James Bond and his extra curricular activities? He’s still James Bond, just a variation on the spy theme.

But what about other songs, like maybe orchestral pieces? How do composers keep them interesting? Do they follow a pattern too? Is it similar to a story arc or story structure?

Breath and Life by Audiomachine.

The intro sets the mood. The pulsing beat keeps it moving. The melody plays then repeats. (Verse 1 and Verse 2) Then after a short change, the music grows and they vary the tune. It grows and grows with intensity, volume, and moves higher. It finally reaches the ultimate point. Then it dies off. The structure is not so much an arc, more like a wedge that just grows then drops off. Personally, I prefer a story to grow to almost the very end.

And here’s the part that absolutely fascinates me. Notice that while the singers and the main melody have long notes, there are always the underlying beats that keep it moving? I like to call this microtension. I believe I first heard the term from Donald Maas. http://absolutewrite.com/maas_fire_excerpt.html

Good writing, no matter what genre, has microtension to keep the story flowing. It’s what keeps your characters growing and interesting.

Here’s another song by Audiomachine called Equinox

While you listen to it, think about the pulsing under the long notes and feel how it grows. Now imagine your story or any story. Does it grow like this? Do your secondary characters highlight your antagonist and protagonist, like the chorus and instruments provide harmony? What is height of your story? I like the little tag at the end. It’s an echo of the theme. I think the best stories have a little scene at the end that sums up the journey, whatever it may have been. (I mean good grief! Don’t you want to read the story that fits this music?)

I can’t help myself. Here’s another called The Fire Within

And one last song. This isn’t as dramatic as the others. But I think it’s a perfect example of the relationship between a protagonist and an antagonist. The relationship of the two should mirror and echo each other. This is a relaxing song, like I said, not dramatic. But I love the echo of the piano and the harmony of the flute.

The Gift of Love by The O’Neill Brothers

So I’ll leave you with this. In the first words of your story, write an intro that gives your reader a taste of what’s to come. Set the melody. Support your story and characters with harmonies, and counter melodies. Don’t keep things the same. Grow by changing the key signature and keep the beat pulsing. Grow, grow, grow! Make it bigger! Give it a dramatic finale and end with a reflection, a bit of the original melody to remind the reader of the journey. Good luck. And if you have a favorite song that makes a perfect story, feel free to share with us in the comments! I’m always on the lookout for new music.

Links:

www.audiomachine.com

http://www.pianobrothers.com

2015 Reading Challenge

June 8, 2015August 17, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 2 Comments

Wouldn’t it be great to have a list of every book you’ve ever read? An aunt of mine kept such a list. We found it when she died at ninety. It would be a wonderful gift for a child, to give her a blank, lined notebook along with the idea of keeping such a list.

In January, I started writing down what I’ve read this year, and I’m curious to see whether I will read 100 books in 2015. Along the way, just for fun, I’ve already completed a reading challenge:

Modern Mrs. Darcy’s 2015 Reading Challenge

You’re supposed to read 12 books in each category–that’s a lot! I read one in each. My twelve books:

A BOOK I’VE BEEN MEANING TO READ: The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters. She does not usually write in the murder/crime genre, but here she does. Loved it!

A BOOK PUBLISHED THIS YEAR: YOU, by Caroline Kepnes. I amended this category to “a book published within the last year.”

A BOOK IN A GENRE I DON’T TYPICALLY READ: The Battle for Saigon, a military history by Keith Nolan. I read it because I am writing up a friend’s experience living in Saigon during the 1960s and ‘70s. I glossed over the jargon, hardware and acronyms, of course. When he wrote about an NCOIC and three augmentees in a M113 APC with a .50-cal MG, I took this to be a bunch of guys in a truck with a big gun. I don’t like war, but this was by turns interesting, appalling, and exciting. Well researched, too. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A BOOK FROM MY CHILDHOOD: I couldn’t think of a book from my childhood that I wanted to reread (Nancy Drew doesn’t work for me anymore), so I listed Winterdance, by Gary Paulson, because it’s such a great and perennial favorite of my inner child. It’s about sled dogs and the “fine madness” of running the Iditerod. Charming, wonderful read (especially if you’re foolish over dogs like me) (and out of 295 customer reviews, a whopping 255 are 5 stars–read this book).

A BOOK MY MOTHER LOVES: The Sleep of Reason, by CP Snow. My mother didn’t love this book. I am not even sure she read it. She mentioned it in such a funny way that, fifty years later, I was curious enough to read it. Weird.

A BOOK ORIGINALLY WRITTEN IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE: The Devotion of Suspect X, by Keigo Higashino, a fabulously well-plotted murder mystery.

A BOOK “EVERYONE” BUT ME HAS READ: Ugh, do I have to? I bounced off a few of these—there’s a reason I haven’t read them—and finally settled on The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. This book will mess with your year-end total—it’s 800 pages long! A Pulitzer Prize winner with 21,000 Amazon reviews.

A BOOK I CHOSE BECAUSE OF THE COVER: Malice, also by Keigo Higashino.

A BOOK BY A FAVORITE AUTHOR: Last Train to Zona Verde, by Paul Theroux. This is a reprise of Dark Star Safari, which you should read instead. In fact, if you are not already a fan, start with The Great Railway Bazaar.

A BOOK RECOMMENDED BY SOMEONE WITH GREAT TASTE: Cracking India, by Bapsi Sidhwa. Thanks for the recommendation, O you with great taste, Kathy Waller! I loved it.

A BOOK I SHOULD HAVE READ IN HIGH SCHOOL: Moby Dick. DNF. Once again.

A BOOK THAT IS CURRENTLY A BESTSELLER: The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins. Great read. Inspiring that a mid-list author rolled the dice with a genre shift and hit the big-time!

Elizabeth Buhmann is the author of Lay Death at Her Door. An old murder comes unsolved when the man who was convicted of it is exonerated.

Wine-Dark Sea or Purple Ocean?

June 1, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 7 Comments

By Gale Albright

Are translators poets? In the séance of life, are they the disembodied spirits who speak not beyond the grave, but beyond the language barrier?

I’ve always had a problem reading translated works. The problem being I wouldn’t read them. I figured I just wouldn’t get anything worth while. To coin a phrase, I thought everything would be lost in translation.

I was wrong.

To begin with, think how much knowledge, beauty, and experience I was missing. If Europeans followed my example, I assume no German or Frenchman would have ever heard of Shakespeare. They would say “Who’s Hamlet?”

See, I was so wrong.

Without talented, inspired translator Robert Fitzgerald, how could we thrill to phrases such as “rosy-fingered dawn” or the “wine-dark sea” in Homer’s Odyssey?

Someone else might have said “the ocean which has a purple shade somewhat like Chianti,” or the “sun rose with little pink things reaching out like tentacles to the sky,” or some such.

And there’s another point. Just any old translator won’t do. Surely the translator, to capture the essence, the heart and soul, the very being of the language and feeling and evoke the right responses in readers in a totally different language and cultural context, must be an artist himself.

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-fitzgerald

And then there’s the slang, for heaven’s sake. Supposedly, Americans speak the same language as do the folk in the United Kingdom. But I had to stop watching Red Riding with one of my favorite actors, Sean Bean, because they might as well have been speaking Urdu, and I lost about 75 percent of the story. The same holds true for novels. They are full of local slang and colloquialisms. For example, Tana French writes in English and is a great writer, but her characters in the Dublin Murder Squad are always “taking the piss.” It’s not what it sounds like. From what I could gather, it means being teased or set up for a joke. So, suppose Tana French were not writing in English. Say, she was writing in Norwegian. And wrote down whatever the Norwegian police jargon for “taking the piss” is. Now you need a translator who is expert in English and Norwegian who can find a way to take local slang and make it accessible to English-speaking readers.

Take being separated by an uncommon language, trying to show English-speaking readers the heart and troubled soul of Harry Hole, Norwegian off-and-on-again reformed alcoholic, opium head, investigative genius, and jazz enthusiast and getting it right. Hitting my heart with the right arrow, where the words on the page take me on a flowing ride and where I care about these people named Oleg and Rakel. I get the humor that people who play tennis in Norway are regarded as dangerous because they’re not skiing.

Harry Hole has a friend, a genius forensic officer, a homegrown “hillbilly” who wears handmade suits ordered from Nashville, collects rockabilly records, and wears Rastafarian hats. I love this character.

Who makes it possible for me to love Harry Hole? Don Bartlett.

http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/translating-norways-love-literature#.VWsyepVFCic

Yes, Don Bartlett, a denizen of the UK who has obviously been everywhere, examined everyone in every language, taught everyone, and translated everything. He translated all ten of Norwegian crime fiction writer Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole novels into English. How does a British non-native Norwegian speaker manage to show me the tortured people of Oslo, which seems to be rife with serial killers, damaged detectives, and messed up relationships? He puts me inside the head of a crooked detective known as “Beavis” from boyhood because he has an under bite and a horrible laugh like the cartoon character. Or Harry, who is lovable, horrible, crazy, brilliant, funny, and out of control. The novels are scary, sometimes grisly, funny, and full of wry observations about Norwegian culture.

So, how much is Don Bartlett and how much is Jo Nesbø?

I don’t read Norwegian, so how do I know that whatever I read on the page is what Jo Nesbø means to say?

Is the translated crime novel a baby being ushered into daylight by a midwife translator, or is the translator more of a surrogate parent than a mere midwife?

I don’t know the answer. I just know I love these books. Maybe it’s magic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Nesb%C3%B8

That Would Make a Pretty Good Story

May 19, 2015September 21, 2016 / Austin Mystery Writers / 4 Comments

When Howard was four, he and his baby sister were playing in the living room, while his mother and his grandmother sat at the kitchen table just around the corner. A few days before, while staying with his grandmother, Howard had said something cute–he did that a lot–and today, over coffee, his grandmother told her daughter about it.

Immediately after Grandma finished the anecdote, Howard piped up from the other room, “That makes a pretty good story, doesn’t it?”

That’s a four-year-old thinking like a writer. Thinking, in fact, like James Thurber, who filled entire books with cute things. Thurber said this about his works in progress:

“I often tell them at parties and places. And I write them there too….I never quite know when I’m not writing. Sometimes my wife comes up to me at a party and says, ‘Dammit, Thurber, stop writing.’ She usually catches me in the middle of a paragraph. Or my daughter will look up from the dinner table and ask, ‘Is he sick?’ ‘No,’ my wife says, ‘he’s writing something.'”

Writers never stop writing. We may be immersed in experience and emotion, and at the same time be standing outside ourselves, thinking, That would make a pretty good story.

For the purposes of this post, I’m now going to tell a brief story. When you finish reading it, there will be a test:

A couple of weeks ago, I was riding the Washington, D. C. Metro, going from Reagan International Airport to Bethesda, Maryland, for Malice Domestic, a convention at which fans and authors celebrate the traditional mystery.

My plane had arrived late. Darkness had fallen and seeped into the rail tunnels. Signage was… lacking. I couldn’t see names of the stops, nor could I understand the voice announcing them.

I’d already wasted time by taking the YELLOW LINE instead of the BLUE LINE, because, on impulse, I decided my way would get me to the RED LINE just as easily as the BLUE LINE would. And it would have, if the YELLOW LINE I boarded hadn’t been going the wrong way. If I missed my stop now, there was a distinct possibility I would have to sleep on the Metro, which is considered taboo.

Now, each Metro car has one map beside one of the doors. At a stop near mine, I decided to move to the front seat so I could see and count the stops preceding mine. I rose, pushed my humongous suitcase into the aisle, and somehow managed to position it between me and the front of the car. So I pulled up the handle and tried to turn the case so I could roll it behind me. At the same time, I tried to exchange places with it. I think.

That is when the suitcase attacked me. Rocking back and forth, it threw me off balance, and I fell backward, full length, into the aisle. On the way down, I thought, I’ve never fallen this direction before. Then my bottom hit, and after that, my head.

When I realized my head would hit the floor, I had a nanosecond of worry, but I hardly felt the impact. That surprised me, because my head is protected by far less padding than is my bottom. It was such an easy fall, very much like lying down in the aisle, without knowing you’re going to.

End of story, almost.

Here’s test question #1: How does this not-so-pretty-good tale about a train ride relate to thinking like a writer?

Because when no one ran to help me up, and I realized I was alone, surrounded by dark, unfamiliar territory far from home, where anybody and his mean dog could enter the car at any time… I lay in the aisle, smiling, gazing at the ceiling, and thinking, This will make a pretty good story, won’t it?

Unfortunately, this obsession–the word is an exaggeration, but sometimes it feels like obsession–with story isn’t necessarily welcome… because we can’t switch it off. It follows us into the sickroom and stands with us at the graveside and makes us feel ashamed, because one small corner of our minds is nearly always detached, removed from real life, observing, remembering, writing.

We speak about the subject among ourselves. But when we speak about it to non-writers, we concentrate on the lighter side. The other part we prefer to leave in darkness.

Only the relative anonymity of the blogger allows me to write about it here.

Test question #2: Do you write all the time? Do you know when you’re not writing? Have you had an experience that would make a pretty good story?

*******

Note: Imagine the child in the portrait above with blond hair… That would be Howard.

Note: Metro riders who knew where they were going were so very helpful in assuring me that, yes, the YELLOW LINE would stop at Gallery Place. I think I asked at least a dozen of them over the course of the evening. A transit worker carrying a broom yelled at me, but I’m sure he was doing the best he could, bless his heart. I am sorry to say I raised my voice a couple of decibels in return (righteous indignation), but, bless my heart, I was doing the best I could, too. It’ll probably make a pretty good story.

*******

You can read Kathy Waller’s personal blog here, and once or twice a month she posts at Writing Wranglers and Warriors.

Kathy

Two of her stories appear in AMW’s MURDER ON WHEELS, published by Wildside Press and available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Our anthology!

Faith Amid Doubt

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 / vpchandler / 7 Comments

Ever have doubts about your capabilities? I think we all have. (Except for maybe a few oblivious people out there.) But doubt and fear are normal reactions when it comes to how we feel about our own artistic expression, including writing.

The older I get, the more I see how things are connected. We draw upon previous experiences to prepare us for new ones. In this case, since I’m fairly new to writing, I often find myself comparing writing to making music. I’ve been singing since I was eight, playing piano since the age of nine, and playing in band since junior high. So I have a lot of experiences to draw from. (I won’t tell you how many years. Let’s just say it’s many decades!)

Now I’m not an excellent musician. I’m good at sight-reading choral music and the technical aspects of music. (That was the only way I made it to Area in the state competition in choir in high school. I beat out singers with better voices because of smarts instead of talent.) I’ve sung solos and played instrumental solos. I’m okay, not great. I know my limitations.

Me on the right.

But there are some people, the happy oblivious ones previously mentioned, who have absolutely no idea that they are bad. God bless them, they often are the most dedicated and enthusiastic participants, but they have no idea they stink. (I know that’s rude, but it’s true and we all know it.) So here’s the doubt mentioned in the title–Sometimes I think, “Am I one of those people?” I honestly have to ask myself that question from time to time. I don’t think I am, but I think it’s a healthy question to keep myself in check.

So since writing is a lot like music, there are those who stink and those who are good. (Don’t get yourself in a kerfluffle. We all know there are writers who stink.) So as I’m going down this path of choosing writing as a career, I’m wondering how am I doing? I know there is a lot of room for improvement, but am I one of the oblivious? Do I stink and no one is willing to tell me? I think my true friends are honest with me. I hope so, because I can’t improve if I don’t know!

Got to have rocking hair if you’re a drummer!

On the other side of this coin, there are people who, no matter how much they practice, no matter how good they are, they’re still afraid of not measuring up. Boy, do I fall into this category. I get tremendous stage fright. It’s not uncommon for me to get sick to my stomach, sweat, or get heart palpitations. I used to cry and I’ve even blacked out before. Thank goodness I’ve at least got that under control! I’ve had people ask me, “If all of these things happen to you? Then why do you subject yourself to such torture?” The answer is, I’m compelled to. I have to. If you’ve ever been a part of something wonderful, that’s bigger than the sum of the participants, you’ll know what I mean. It’s a bit addictive but I think of it as a spiritual. It’s like you’re making magic, honestly. And who doesn’t want to make magic?

And speaking of performing with others, have you ever performed with outstanding musicians? They make the experience a joy. And of course they you make better because you usually perform better to match them. Well we, at Austin Mystery Writers, have put together an anthology and invited some of our friends to contribute. I think they raised the

Our anthology!

bar for us and we delivered. Sometimes I have my doubts about the quality of my story, but I also have faith it’s pretty good and I’m getting better. So I have faith amid my doubts and I’m moving forward, enjoying the experience, and making magic. And as always, practice, practice, practice, practice.

Murder On Wheels is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The ebook version should be available soon.

Murder in the Far East

May 4, 2015August 17, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 2 Comments

By Elizabeth Buhmann

Continuing the series, Murder in Exotic Places.

The digital image below hardly does justice to the exquisite jacket on Keigo Higashino’s most recent murder mystery, Malice. I paid top dollar for the hardcover because it was just so beautiful. Loved the book, too, a murder mystery set in modern-day Japan.

I liked Malice enough that I also read The Devotion of Suspect X, a major bestseller in Japan a couple of years ago. And WOW!!! The best, most ingenious murder plot EVER. Sorry to shout, but seriously, this plot is one in a million. Move over, Agatha. Really. What a murder!

Shinju, by Laura Joh Rowland, is first in a series of more than a dozen detective mystery/thrillers set in 17^th century Japan, in the days of Samurai and the corrupt, cutthroat, intrigue-ridden court of the Shogun Tokugawa. Rowland’s detective, Sano Ichiro, is one of the most admirable and lovable protagonists ever. Shinju, about an apparent ritual suicide between two star-crossed lovers, was almost too unbearably suspenseful for me!

ooka I cut my teeth as a mystery lover on the Tales of Ooka, Solomon in Kimono. The books I read as a child in the 1950s, by IG Edmonds, are hard-to-find collector’s items now. The character of the wise Judge Ooka is based on a real 17^th century magistrate, Ooka Tadasuke, who rose to fame and high position with his famously wise and fair administration of justice as well as his incorruptible character.

A favorite Ooka story: the case of the stolen smell. A rich, miserly restaurant owner complains that a poor student is stealing the smell of his food. He wants to be paid! Ooka hears the case and demands that the student produce all the money he has. It’s only a couple of coins. Ooka tells him to drop the money from one hand to the other, then rules that the merchant has been paid for the smell of his food by the sound of clinking coins.

Shamini Flint is an attorney who lives in Singapore and has traveled extensively in Asia. Her mysteries are set in India, China, Singapore, Bali and Malaysia. I loved them all! I will suggest starting (as I did) with the one set in China: A Calamitous Chinese Killing.

Speaking of China, and if you like characters based on real-life historical figures, Robert Van Gulik’s Judge Dee series is a must-read. Dee was a seventh century Chinese magistrate (read about him in Wikipedia). Here is the Amazon list of the Judge Dee books.

The Celebrated Cases Of Dee Goong An is an honest-to-goodness 18th century Chinese detective novel based on Dee’s legendary career. The book was translated by Van Gulik (who was quite the Sinologist). His foreword about early Chinese detective fiction is fascinating. Many features of these books (the supernatural elements, the torture, their length) make them a tough read for the modern and/or Western reader. And in fact, what I recommend is that you read Van Gulik’s own Judge Dee novels first, rather than this one.

I’ll close with a cheat and a post-script. The cheat: Charlie Chan! A cheat because the books are not set in China, and Earl Derr Biggers had nothing to do with China. The House Without a Key is set in Hawaii, but at least Charlie is Chinese. Charlie Chan is not as well known as he once was (read about the books and films). I say he’s due for a revival.

Finally, a postscript to last month’s Murder in Africa. At the time, I had just picked up a novella by Kwei Quartey. When I finished that I tried his Darko Dawson series, and I must add it to the Murder in Africa list—love this series! The first book is Wife of the Gods. I guarantee that you will go looking for the rest of the series after you finish it. Dr. Quartey, I am anxiously awaiting the next book!

For more murder in the far east:

Top Ten Asian Crime Novels, list by Catherine Sampson.
Japanese Crime Fiction: Five of the Best
Chinese Crime Novels: Amazon

Elizabeth Buhmann is author of Lay Death at Her Door, and Amazon Top 100 Bestselling mystery about an old murder that comes unsolved when the man who was convicted for it is exonerated.

Confessions of a Workshop Junkie

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 1 Comment

by Gale Albright

My name is Gale and I am a workshop junkie.
Yes, I confess it freely. I love to attend workshops and take copious notes. That’s how it started out. But it’s a slippery slope. Now the addiction has escalated to organizing workshops. I’m standing on shadowy street corners, outside book stores, tempting the innocent to “Come hear the authors. Come to the workshops. It won’t cost you a thing…except your soul!!!”
Well, not really. Maybe I’m in denial, but if you love listening to writers talk about how they write, how they got published, and how they create memorable characters, it’s already too late for you. You are lost.
You are a writer. You are a reader. There’s no cure.
So join the other lost souls and come to a fabulous all-day free mystery writing workshop at BookPeople at Sixth Street and Lamar Boulevard on Saturday, May 23. There will be free door prizes, free parking, and free workshops. Who could ask for anything more?

Reavis Wortham, author of the Red River mystery series, is the first workshop speaker. He will discuss “the things an author learns once the manuscript goes into production, including those irritating proofs, writing tips, (cut those adverbs), bad habits, overused words, marketing, and how to up your game once the book is out. Is it a good idea to go to conferences? Do I need to network? Where to pitch a story to an agent (and not in the bathroom), and even where to write and edit.”
Kirkus Reviews listed his first novel, The Rock Hole, as one of “the top mysteries of 2011, written to the hilt and harrowing in its unpredictability.” Burrows, and The Right Side of Wrong have received critical acclaim from Publishers Weekly and The Library Journal.

George Wier presents the second workshop, which will be about editing, or as the author says, “Without Mercy: The alternative to hiring a contract killer—why the author should be his or her own best editor.”
George Wier wrote the Bill Travis Mysteries and co-authored Long Fall From Heaven (2013, Cinco Puntos Press). He writes principally mystery and science fiction. 1889: Journey to the Moon, co-authored with Billy Kring, was his first steampunk novel. The sequel, 1899: Journey to Mars was released in February 2015. His newest standalone mystery, Murder In Elysium, was released in March.

Our third author, Les Edgerton will present a workshop on protagonists and antagonists. He’ll be “introducing what may be a new concept to some writers—that thinking of protagonists and antagonists as heroes/heroines and villains/bad guys may be preventing the writer from creating complex characters and complex novels by viewing characters in moral terms (good vs. evil), resulting in one-dimensional, cardboard, cartoonish characters.”
Les Edgerton is a full-time writer and writing teacher. His eighteenth book, a black comedy crime caper, titled The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping came out in October from Down & Out Books. He has been nominated for or won numerous awards, including the Pushcart Prize, the O. Henry Award, the Derringer Award, Jesse Jones Book Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award (short story category), and the Violet Crown Book Award.

SATURDAY, MAY 23 SCHEDULE

10 AM–REAVIS WORTHAM
11:30 AM–LES EDGERTON
2 PM–GEORGE WIER
3:30 PM–PANEL DISCUSSION

BOOKPEOPLE THIRD FLOOR
603 N. LAMAR BLVD., AUSTIN, TX

FREE PARKING
FREE WORKSHOPS
FREE DOORPRIZES
COME FOR AN HOUR OR STAY ALL DAY

CO-SPONSORED BY BOOKPEOPLE AND
SISTERS IN CRIME: HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER

Want a Master Class in Storytelling? Tune In…

April 21, 2015April 21, 2015 / Austin Mystery Writers / 1 Comment

What’s old is new again.

Welcome the new age of the podcast. Many people compare podcasts to online radio, but they are different in that podcasts are recorded in advance and then ready to be listened to at your convenience. Podcasts, which have been around since about 2004, have been quietly plugging along in the background with little growth and not much buzz.

All that changed with Serial. Serial, a podcast produced by This American Life that turned into an obsession for many, chronicled an investigation of a fifteen year-old murder case (you can read my review of Serial here). It quickly became the fastest downloaded podcast on iTunes ever to reach 5 million listeners.

While a compelling listen is always a a good way to spend your time, listening to poorly-executed podcasts can be just as valuable as listening to outstanding ones. You can pinpoint when your attention is captured and when it wanes. By listening to both ends of the storytelling-prowess spectrum, you can learn how to analyze your own project based upon your response to listening to other programs.

I suppose I am a bit nostalgic for that previous radio era, a time that had come and gone before I was even born. That said, this isn’t your granddad’s radio hour. Today’s long form storytelling podcasts are skillfully structured combining current techniques and an understanding of today’s listeners. They cover topics ranging from true crime and current events to the more nebulous but compelling topics. What does it mean to be happy and is chasing happiness really the answer? What happens when people are put in positions that are far out of their expertise? Why do people say such hateful things on the Internet? Each of these topics is tackled with a depth and skill guaranteed to keep you listening until the very end.

The master of this domain, in my opinion, is This American Life, with its substantial catalog of interesting episodes all crafted under Ira Glass’s gifted guidance. And, although I had heard of TAL, I never listened consistently until getting hooked on Serial.

I had no idea what I was missing.

So, storytellers, consider tuning in and downloading an episode or two the next time you go for a walk, a run, or a drive. Apple’s Podcast app is simple to use and there are also several options for listening on Android devices as well. Here are a few podcasts I hope you will consider:

Laura’s Podcast Recommendation List:

Serial:

This is the one that started it all for me. The investigation, handled deftly by Sarah Koenig, will keep you downloading one episode after another, causing you to ignore phone calls, dishes and possibly even your children.

serialpodcast.org

This American Life:

TAL is the wise and skilled parent of Serial, and many agree that they are masters of long form storytelling. Some of my favorite episodes include:

The House on Loon Lake, Episode #199: Described by TAL as a “real life Hardy Boys Mystery,” it’s the tale of what happens when a boy discovers an abandoned house and decides to find out what happened to the people who lived there.

Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde: Episode #492: When Dr. Benjamin Gilmer lands a job working in a small clinic, he discovers he is replacing another doctor…also named Dr. Gilmer. The previous physician was serving time in prison for killing his own father, an act that those who knew the family couldn’t believe. As it turns out, there was far more to the story.

If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS: Episode #545. Act I of this episode broke my heart. What happens when someone hides behind their anonymity on the Internet, bullying you and saying hateful things? One writer decides to confront her attacker–with surprising results. Note: This episode has some explicit language but there is a ‘bleeped’ version on TAL’s site.

Criminal:

This true crime podcast keeps things short and sweet, introducing a 20-30 minute episode monthly. My favorite episode chronicles Raymond Chandler fans–seventy-year-old newlyweds– working diligently to get something extremely important to Chandler back to where it belongs. A must for Chandler and mystery fans:

http://thisiscriminal.com/episode-thirteen-the-big-sleep-12-19-2014/

Startup:

This one caught my attention because it chronicled a man starting an Internet startup. As someone who has been involved with a company going through investment funding and working on pitches and PR during the tech bubble, I found this one hit close to home. In a surprising twist, it also shows the challenges of starting a new tech business while trying to raise young children, giving it a more layered narrative and one that is far more compelling than a simple launch story. Not mystery based but great storytelling in a contemporary and intimate format. Side note–Alex Blumberg was a former TAL producer and left to start this company.

http://gimletmedia.com/show/startup/

–Laura Oles