Follow-up Questions and Stuff

Happy Friday, BGs. And it is happy. Today I’ll be e-mailing off my rewrite of Violet Dawn. Yippee-yay! By this time I am thoroughly sick of the book. This is normal. Also by this time I no longer think it’s any good. Also normal. I’ve been over the thing so many times now that the chapter hooks fail to move me and the story’s lost all its punch.

I shall now need the editors’ wows to start building me back up and tell me I’ve done a good job. Let’s hope that happens. So far it ain’t failed to yet. Then give me a few more months beyond that, and I’ll actually feel good about the book again.

Last book I finished was, of course, Web of Lies (releases January). By the time I was done with that book—same thing. I e-mailed it off, thinking, “Well, that’s one boring read.” Then my husband read it and went absolutely nutso over it. Like he hasn’t done with any of my other books. And the editor really thought it rocked. So now, a few months before it’s ready to come out, I like the thing again. In fact, I think the plot downright zings, and it’s gonna give Dead of Night a run for its money.

Same book, completely different outlooks on it. Only difference is the passage of time. See why we authors can’t listen to those fickle voices in our heads while we're writing? They just aren’t reliable.

Speaking of Web of Lies, today is the drawing for the winners of those 25 ARCs (advanced reading copies). I’ll post the winners’ names on Monday. Those ARCS will be going in the mail soon. Only two things the winners will have to pledge. (1) No giving away the story twists. (2) No giving away the book dedication. Which is going to come as a complete surprise to some folks.

Some questions from yesterday. Bonnie wanted to know what “red herrings” mean. Bonnie, they’re false clues. Woven into the story to fool the reader into thinking X is guilty when he’s not, or Y happened, when it didn’t, etc. We suspense and mystery writers are basically a deceitful, conniving lot.

Regarding my tendency to misuse transitive and intransitive verbs ,and turn nouns into verbs, Becky asked, “Do you think that ever becomes a distraction to the story? Or does it seem like the only 'right' way of saying what you're thinking?” Yes, I think anything like this can be overused. That’s why my good ol’ eds will let me get away with some of it—enough not to quash my voice—but not all of it. But bottom line, I always strive for the tightest, punchiest sentence. Whatever I have to do to get that—I’m there.

Before I sign off for the week, it’s my turn to pose a marketing question. What would y’all like to see happen for you as the months approach toward a new book release of mine? What would you like to receive as a BG, and what would you do in response to receiving it? Be as creative as you like. (Except for you, Stuart. Your creativity is downright scary. Just regular ol’ thinking from you is about all I can handle.) Whether your ideas are affordable is another issue, but money aside for the moment, I’d like to see what you come up with.

Signing off for the weekend. When we gather again on Monday, I doggone better have a good idea about the next book I’m writing.