Writing Porch Author Q&A with Harley Jane Kozak

About Harley Jane Kozak:

A sometimes actress, and full time author, Harley Jane Kozak lives with her family in California’s Conejo Valley. Her debut novel, "Dating Dead Men," won the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Its sequel was "Dating is Murder," followed by "Dead Ex" (coming out in trade paperback at the end of June, 2009) and "A DATE YOU CAN’T REFUSE." her short prose has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, The Sun, The Santa Monica Review, and the anthologies Mystery Muses, "This is Chick Lit" and "A HELL OF A WOMAN."

What made you decide to write this book?

Well, the contract was a big factor! "A Date You Can't Refuse" was the 4th book in a series, and nothing helps a book get written like a deadline. On a more artistic level, I wanted to give my heroine an espionage-like adventure, because I've been a lifelong fan of James Bond and the books of John Le Carré, the Cold War era spy genre, so this was my homage to that. It was a lot of fun for me to stretch the classic cozy boundaries and make Wollie, my protagonist, a spy.

What challenges did you face with this book?

For Wollie, a greeting card artist, to go undercover and deal in a world of international political intrigue, required some mental footwork, to keep it credible. I try in all my books to make the plots absolutely possible, if not entirely . . . normal. What I aim for is for the reader to be nodding, reading along, thinking, "okay, I'll buy that, I'll go along with that," and only later think, "Wow. This is really wacky."

How did you get your start in writing?

I began taking courses at Santa Monica Community College, and later at UCLA -- too many courses to count. I was working at my day job -- acting -- while writing my first book, "Dating Dead Men." I took 10 years from the time I began writing until I saw it published. Along the way I had essays published here and there, and a play I wrote was workshopped, but my first novel was really my big break.

What does your writing routine look like?

It varies from year to year, following the schedules of my 3 kids. When I sold my first book, I had a 2-year old and infant twins, so I wrote when they napped. Now they're in school (whew!) and so my writing day is their school day. Although summer is coming up, and summer camp has shorter hours, so I'm already nervous.

Tell us some writers whose work you admire and why.

I loved John D. MacDonald, for his hero Travis McGee . . . I love Nelson DeMille, for his laugh-out-loud humor in the midst of his thrillers . . . and Robert Ferrigno . . . yes, I realize I'm talking about men. I'm reading a lot of tough guys right now; I don't know why. I go in spurts. My old favorites, the books I reread when I have the flu, or need comfort, or miss my mom, are Georgette Heyer and Mary Stewart. I never grow tired of rereading them. The combination of romance and humor in the case of Heyer, and romance and gothic suspense, in the case of Stewart, are incomparable.

What advice would you have for other writers/would-be writers?

Write, write, write. Whatever keeps you going back to the computer keyboard (or paper, if you're really old school) long enough to finish the project, do it. For me it's a combination of a writers group, coffee, chocolate. Earlier in my career it was those classes. And books on writing. Anne LaMott's "BIRD BY BIRD," for instance. Anything that's inspiring. Perseverance can be the toughest piece of the puzzle. I've seen talented writers give up because the rejection is so hard to take, when lesser talents with thicker skins or more stubbornness simply hang in, and get published.

Links:

http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/the_lipstick_chronicles/

http://www.harleyjanekozak.com/

EDITOR'S NOTE: J. Louise Larson, blogmistress for The Writing Porch, interviews published authors. To be considered, email her at jackielarsonwrites (at) gmail (dot) com. Larson's work has been published in a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Dallas Morning News and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the managing editor of the Ennis Journal and a contributor at the Waxahachie Daily Light, and she has received the top award for series writing in Texas, the Texas APME, as well as a silver from the Parenting Publications of America. She co-authored a nonfiction career guide for FabJob Publishing in 2006, and is seeking representation for her new novel, 'At High Tide.'

Writing Porch Author Q&A with Carola Dunn, author of 'Manna From Hades'

Author Carola Dunn was born and raised in England, where all her books are set - although she lives in Oregon.

When her son was young her part-time and temp jobs ranged from childcare and market research to construction, building design and proof reading and writing definitions for a dictionary of science and technology.

"Thirty years ago I wrote my first book, and I've been at it ever since," she said.

Her latest book - her 50th - is Manna From Hades, the first of a new mystery series set in Cornwall in the 1960s. An IMBA bestseller, its main character is Eleanor Trewynn, a widow in her 60s who has done global work for an international charity. Now she's retired to Cornwall, bought a cottage in a fishing village, and turned the ground floor into a charity shop.

In Manna, she finds the body of a scruffy youth hidden in the back of the stockroom. Other major characters are her niece, Megan Pencarrow, a police detective, and Megan's irrascible superior, DI Scumble; the vicar's wife, Jocelyn Stearns, kind, charitable, efficient, but bossy; and Eleanor's next-door neighbour, an artist, Nick Gresham.

How did you get your start in writing?

After several years of part-time and temporary jobs, I was faced with the prospect of looking for a "proper" job with career prospects. My reaction was to sit down at the kitchen table with a pile of lined paper and a ballpoint and write a Regency. Having to my amazement, completed it, I typed it and shopped it around, and was lucky enough to sell it. I wrote 32 Regencies in all, though now I'm only doing mysteries. I've written 18 books in my Daisy Dalrymple series set in England in the 1920s. The next, Sheer Folly, will be out from St Martin's in September.

What does your writing routine look like?

Writing is my job. It pays all my bills. I work 6 days a week (Sunday is laundry and gardening day), about 6 hours a day at the computer. But it's really a 7/24 job as you can't turn off your brain and stop plotting. Ideas come at 2 in the morning, or when walking by the river, or at the grocery store...

Tell us some writers whose work you admire and why.

The writers I like make you care about their characters, not just about what's going to happen next. I read a lot and can't even begin to start making a list, but two I return to over and over again for sheer pleasure are Jane Austen and JRR Tolkien.

What are you working on next?

I'm presently in the middle of the second in the Cornish mystery series, tentatively titled A Colourful Death.

What made you decide to write this book?

Well, to be practical, I have a contract for a second Cornish mystery ;-) As Eleanor is very good friends with the artist next door, Nick Gresham, I decided to put him in the spotlight with the death of a fellow artist.

What challenges did you face with this book?

I know next to nothing about art--I'm one of those "I know what I like" ignoramuses. Luckily, like Eleanor, I have a good friend who is an artist and can point me in the right direction.

What advice would you have for other writers/would-be writers?

One of my favourite quotations is from Somerset Maugham, the famous British novelist, who said something like this: There are three rules for writing a novel. The trouble is, no one knows what they are. In other words, don't take lists of rules too seriously. One other bit of wisdom: Becoming a published author takes three qualities, Talent, Luck and Persistence. You can get away with just two of the three. The only one you control is Persistence.

Favorite Links:

my website: www.geocities.com/CarolaDunn/

my blog: http://tinyurl.com/66q19u

EDITOR'S NOTE: J. Louise Larson, blogmistress for The Writing Porch, interviews published authors. To be considered, email her at jackielarsonwrites (at) gmail (dot) com. Larson's work has been published in a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Dallas Morning News and Entrepreneur Magazine. She is the managing editor of the Ennis Journal and a contributor at the Waxahachie Daily Light, and she has received the top award for series writing in Texas, the Texas APME, as well as a silver from the Parenting Publications of America. She co-authored a nonfiction career guide for FabJob Publishing in 2006, and is seeking representation for her new novel, 'At High Tide.'

Author Q&A with Jerry Hunsinger, 'Axe of Iron' series

Author Jerry Hunsinger (the Axe of Iron series, Vinland Publishing) spent most of his adult working life as a commercial pilot, and pursued writing novels as an avocation after retirement.

How did you get your start in writing?
My writing was sporadic until 2004. My wife Phyllis made me believe in the story that I had held inside for my entire adult life. Without her support and advocacy, I would not have begun, completed, or published this first novel of my series. It is the most difficult undertaking of my life. She pushes me just enough and I need a push on occasion, to get the job done. Ultimately, this effort led to publishing after I wasted one year seeking a literary agent to pursue publication of my work through a large publishing house. So today, I both write and publish. How long that will continue is impossible to estimate at this point.

What does your writing routine look like?
My day begins not later than 0700, after coffee and the newspaper, and typically continues until the evening hours. I found that I had to factor composition into the day—I have a schedule I try to adhere to--or all I did was promote and socially network for visibility. I do try to write daily, but that is not always possible given the myriad business details that come up that must be attended to. I have written only historical fiction novels. My first novel, Axe of Iron: The Settlers was published August 1, 2008. It is the first in the Axe of Iron series. These books are a continuing tale about a medieval people whose lives are surprisingly like ours. They have the same basic desires for happiness, love, food, and shelter that has dominated the thoughts of generations of cultures the world over. These character-driven, historical fiction books tell the adventures of Greenland Vikings as they struggle to establish a settlement in North America 1000-years ago in the face of hostile native opposition.

Tell us some writers whose work you admire and why.
Historical fiction is my favorite genre. Our bookcases sag under the volumes that we have retained. For pleasure, I read everything that Wilbur Smith and W.E.B. Griffin write. I also own every book written by C. S. Forester, Alexander Kent, and Ayn Rand. Sir Winston Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples is an excellent reference work. Ken Follett is another favorite. His Pillars of the Earth was superlative. The works of the aforementioned authors have been read repeatedly because they are able to spin a tale that is engaging, entertaining, and realistic.

What are you working on next?
Axe of Iron: Confrontation is in the edit process and is scheduled for release in June 2009. The series is five or six books and the release of each volume will follow at the rate of one per year until I have told the tale.

What made you decide to write this novel?
I have had a lifelong interest in the medieval Norse people. That interest is focused on the five hundred year history of the Norse Greenland settlements. The mystery surrounding the abandonment of the two known settlements and the disappearance of every single person living therein has captured my imagination. Years of research has led me to believe that they did not disappear, rather they assimilated with the natives of North America. My series of books tell a plausible tale in support of that contention. No other author has ever treated the subject the way I have. Axe of Iron: The Settlers is my first novel. It is a character-driven, historical fiction book. My characters tell the story and the reader sees the events through their eyes.

What advice would you have for other writers/would-be writers?
The entire process has been a nightmare because of the time and money wasted while I learned the business. I wish I could say that there is lots of help out there for the newbies, but actually, the reverse is true. You are prey swimming in the shark’s pool—take heed. Do your homework, believe nobody, and get everything in writing, research, research, and research.

I have seen many aspiring writers take one class after another in the hopes that this acquired knowledge will pave the way for them. I, too, took many writing classes. If you spend all your time worrying about plot, voice, POV, etc. you will never actually take the plunge. In the final analysis I can say the classes helped, but what I finally found was, ‘In order to learn to write, you must write.’ You must have a story to tell, find someplace where you can do so without interruption, and set down and get at it. You will make mistakes, certainly, but you will learn your craft in the process. Another piece of advice for you: if you do not own a recent edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, buy one; it is the bible of the industry.

We write because we must; we have a story to tell. Now that I have actually gotten the process going with one book published, I derive satisfaction from telling my tale to others. I expect that feeling to continue as the Axe of Iron series unfolds. The entire writing/publication process was difficult and expensive. There are two major downs to writing and both are part of the learning process. With high expectations, I presented my rough draft manuscript to an editor—wrong approach—forget the expectations. I got my masterpiece picked apart, marked up in red, and seriously in need of correction and rewrite. My response? I dropped it in the trash. Phyllis to the rescue! She made me see the error of my ways and pushed me to do what all writers must do at this stage, dig in, and do your job. I cracked up the editor by telling her that she had said that ‘my baby was ugly.’ Actually, it was ugly, so I had to fix it, and I did. Hire professional editors to edit everything that another person will read, especially the final draft of your manuscript. An English teacher is not an editor and you cannot edit your own work, so hire someone. Your professionalism will determine whether you ever make the grade. A shabby cover letter on your submission packet will guarantee its demise.

Do your homework on the submission guidelines before you query. All agents will have their own guidelines; adhere to them absolutely. Do not ever send a manuscript unless it is requested. Agents and publishers are busy people and they have no time to waste on people who do not follow their submission guidelines. Dealing with agents is the most disheartening undertaking for a writer. Agents act like the writer exists because of agents, when in fact it is the other way around. I wasted a year trying to find an agent from among those professing to have an interest in my genre only to find that there are not any in existence.

Favorite Links:
http://www.vinlandpublishing.com/,
http://www.vinlandpublishing.blogspot.com/, http://www.atlasbooks.com/marktplc/02175.htm/,
mailto:jahunsinger@vinlandpublishing.com

Author Q&A with Elizabeth Baines, author of 'Balancing on the Edge of the World'

Elizabeth Baines is a writer of prose fiction and prize-winning plays for radio and stage. She has been a teacher and is also an occasional actor. Her collection of short stories, 'Balancing on the Edge of the World,' was nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Prize for the Short Story. She writes the critical-commentary blog Fictionbitch (http://fictionbitch.blogspot.com) and also has her own author blog (http://elizabethbaines.blogspot.com)
Her book, 'Balancing on the Edge of the World' (Salt Modern Fiction, 2007, 108 pages) includes stories about power and powerlessness, and those moments when the balance of power - between a violent father and his daughter, between a doctor and his smug patient, between an unsuspecting teenager and the dangerous world around him - can subtly or dramatically change forever...
Where do you call home? Manchester UK where I live, South Wales where I was born, and my old writing desk in the attic where I work. (Also Ireland, where my dad came from and where, whenever you go there, everyone keeps saying you’ve ‘come home’.)
Where can we find your work? It can be ordered from bookshops (Salt have UK, US, Australian and NZ distributors) and it’s available online from Amazon or The Book Depository, or direct from my publisher http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smf/9781844713943.htm .
How did you get your start in writing? I began writing short stories and was published in literary magazines: I simply wrote one and sent it off and it was accepted. I had lots of stories published in magazines but getting a collection published was much harder. I went on an Arvon course here in the UK at Lumb Bank, Ted Hughes’s Yorkshire home, and my tutor the (now sadly deceased) novelist Martin Booth sent some of my stories off to his own agent, who immediately took me on. However, the agent said short story collections were impossible to sell, and he asked me to write a novel, which I did. I’d published two novels and had broadcast many radio plays before the market for stories opened up with the advent of independent publishers like Salt, and I felt it was worth trying for a collection again.
What does your writing routine look like? Boring from the outside, I guess! If I’m at home all day I just go up there to the attic at nine in the morning and work until about 1.30. I write by hand and if I’m on a deadline, or eager to finish something, or if I’m writing a novel, I’ll go back up after lunch and do some typing up.
Tell us some writers whose work you admire and why. WG Sebald for his unusual take on the world, and his air of getting right to the truth of things. Will Self for his verbal fizz and brilliant ideas. Margaret Atwood for her ironic yet lyrical sensibility and her wonderful vivid prose.
What are you working on next? I have a novel, 'Too Many Magpies,' coming from Salt in October, and I’m working on a new collection of short stories which they will publish next year.
What made you decide to write this book of short stories?
Like most of my writing, the stories in this book are fired by my sense of the need to air those experiences and viewpoints which aren’t always acknowledged – the flip side of things. There’s the homeless man, the Other Woman, the auxiliary nurse who knows what the Professor of Medicine doesn’t, the unheard children and children being made to suffer by adults.
What challenges did you face with this book?
I think there’s always a challenge in putting a collection of stories together – deciding which ones to include, which order to put them in, especially which ones to begin and end with, as I think these are the stories people tend to read when they browse. I chose a comic one for the start about a bunch of drunken pizza-parlour ‘philosophers’, and I hope I got it right…
What advice would you have for other writers/would-be writers?
Be prepared for failure, but don’t accept failure. Keep at it. If your work is rejected, take a good look and if you think it needs it, work on it again. If you honestly think it doesn’t, bang it off again, and quick!

I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!

Everyone knows free publicity is invaluable when it's time to promote a book. Magazine and newspaper writers get interviewed occasionally as all the media mix together. There's radio, TV, the internet, newspapers, magazines. And parties! And forums!

So how ready are you for your close-up? (My apologies for botching the classic line written by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder, from the fabulous movie, "Sunset Boulevard.")

I spent a few years in public relations and have become something of a student of promotion. In the book I co-authored, "The FabJob Guide to Become a Party Planner" (FabJob Publishing, 2006) I spent the lion's share of my effort on how to promote a fledgling business.

Additionally, I once spent time in radio and TV while dreaming of a broadcast career like Oprah's, so I spent some time learning how to interview, and have hosted some of television's most lacklustre interviews on record, as my friend and former producer Susan Baker can attest;)

A book, or a writing career, is a business. No matter how much we DON'T like sales and promotions, the publishers are less and less taking the lead on publicity. Take advantage of every shred of help offered, naturally -- but also take responsibility for your own work's success.

That means being ready to answer questions in such a way that your book sounds fascinating, you sound interesting, and both are worth reading.

Here's a few tips on being ready to be interviewed:

1. Talk in sentence form. Have a little story. Be ready with point form outlines that can lead you to paragraphs. Practice on your sister, your mom, your dog.
2. If it's an audio interview, and you want people to like you (this can be helpful), put a smile on your face. It will show in your voice, and make you sound warmer. If your material is serious, there's no need to be jolly, of course.
3. If you're asked questions about facts, give the listener added value by telling what's important about that, or what you love about that, or why that's terrible, or challenging, or surprising, or relevant, or why people should care about that.
4. But don't go on and on and on. Make what you say count, so if they want more, they can ask for more. Look for cues that it's someone else's turn to talk. This can be particularly important in casual conversation.
5. Remember what else you want to promote -- your blog, the stores that have your book, where to find your columns on line, the papers you write for.
6. Make a picture of you available (put some effort into this, but a pic taken by a friend will d0 - natural light helps with amateur photography, so take it outdoors if you need to.)
7. Have a scanned JPG, low and high resolution both, available of your book cover.
8. If you're going to be on TV, don't wear white. Be impeccably groomed. Avoid nervous or unconscious gestures. (Get a friend to do a mock interview and tape it -- find your Achilles heel.)
9. Study other peoples' interviews, so you can see what looks/sounds good and what doesn't. Feel free to use them for practice.
10. Work on a press release, and have it available to tuck in sample books or online and in MS Word format for emailing. With permission of my friend, author Cheryl Moeller, I'll share a before-and-after of one with you soon.
11. Put links to your work/website in the signature of your email. Unbelievable how many people have checked mine out.
12. And that thing about we all stand on the shoulders of giants? I believe it, so remember to thank the giant! Be grateful, out loud, to those who got you where they are.
13. Read something from the Writing Porch list of book promotion books. See the link here: http://writingporch.blogspot.com/2008/06/which-publisher-offers-best-publicity.html
14. Have a cocktail blurb available at any moment: this is two or three sentences about you, your book, your work, in a nutshell.

Here's mine.

The Writing Porch's J. Louise Larson is a Texas-based writer whose work has appeared in major magazines and newspapers. She is the author of The FabJob Guide to Party Planning. She is the editor of The Ennis Journal and a contributor to The Waxahachie Daily Light.