Featured Author: M.A. Comley

M.A. Comley, a good friend and fellow New York Times bestselling mystery author, is someone who knows the book business inside out. Her newest novel, Wrong Place, has received rave reviews, and its success has her sitting at the #10 spot in police procedurals on Amazon. 

When asked what advice she had for aspiring authors, here's what she had to say:

Thanks for hosting me, Cheryl, always a pleasure dropping by for a cuppa and a chat with a good friend. :) 

I’ve recently released WRONG PLACE the first book in my DI Sally Parker thriller series set in Norfolk in the UK. I’m hoping it will be as successful as my Justice series, fingers crossed anyway. The second book, NO HIDING PLACE is now with the editor and available for pre-order.

Enough about my books and back to the question in hand. What advice would I give to anyone starting out; well, the most important advice would be to ensure you get your work edited by a professional before putting it out there, you’ll seriously regret it if you don’t. I also think people should just knuckle down and write the next book instead of marketing the hell out of ONLY one book. If people enjoy your work they will be impatient to read more, bear that in mind during this process.

I found this out the hard way, but have made up for it since, in the past three years I have written over 20 novels and accrued a ‘few loyal fans’ along the way. We’re nothing without our fans, another fact to remember if you’re self-publishing or indeed a trad published author.

Thanks for inviting me, Cheryl. Good luck to everyone in their quest to become a successful author.

Here are the links:

Wrong Place

Amazon hyperurl.co/v0bu2g

Kobo http://ow.ly/OrKyB

Xin Xii http://ow.ly/OrLFa

Barnes and Noble http://ow.ly/OEVwC                      

iTunes http://ow.ly/MrcmN 

Google http://ow.ly/OtSDv

Featured Author: Carol Davis Luce

My friend Carol Davis Luce is one of the first authors I got to know when I published in 2011. She's been writing for decades, and her talent shines through in her wonderful body of work. A perfect example of that is her novel, Night Cries, about a thirty-year-old woman named Maddie who has no memory of her adoption, and is haunted by her haunting past. With a 4.9 star rating, this is a perfect example of Carol's impressive talents. 

Carol has a lot of great insight into the writing industry, and she was gracious enough to share her thoughts on the writing biz below with all of you:

If the path of my writing career were a chart, it would resemble a picket fence. Extreme up and downs over a thirty year period. I wasn’t born to write, but when I did take it up later in life, I jumped in with both feet and wrestled the beast to the ground. After the success of five traditionally published novels, my career suddenly stalled. However, I didn’t give up. Just changed direction by becoming a novel writing instructor for the next generation of aspiring authors.      

Fast-forward fifteen years. My good buddy, bestselling author J. Carson Black, encouraged me to join the twenty-first century. I converted those five novels into digital format where they found a whole new audience of modern day e-readers.

The good times didn’t stop there. Last year, with the help of a group of smart and exceptionally talented writers (waving at Cheryl Bradshaw), I became a New York Times bestselling author. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Success Begins Where Others Quit. That was my motto through the years. Take your knocks and move on. Develop a thick skin. Take comfort in those good days of writing where everything falls into place. Associate with people who lift you up. The first check I received for my writing was $10 for 3^rd Place in a magazine writing contest. It wasn’t much, but it validated me as a writer and was a portent of good things to come.

Featured Author: Vincent Zandri

My friend Vincent Zandri is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author of more than nineteen novels. This week he announced he's a Shamus Award finalist this year for his novel Moonlight Weeps. His newest novel, Everything Burns, already has over 400 five-star reviews. 

I asked Vince to share his advice for aspiring writers, and this is what he had to say: 

The Sawmill Period

By Vincent Zandri

Inspiration…where does it come from?

The answer is as complicated as it is simple, since there really is no one answer. I don’t really think of my job in terms of inspiration, since it’s what I do Monday through Friday, eight hours a day (half a day on Saturday), whether I’m inspired or not. For certain, when you are just starting out, you’ll need to feel inspired because more than likely, you’ll be holding a full-time job while trying to find the time to write for free. This takes a lot of effort and sacrifice and those two things require one to be inspired by more than just a cup of Maxwell House.

When I was starting out, I had just gotten married (at 23! Yikes!), and soon we had a child to care for. So that meant I had to put food on the table and figure out a way to develop myself into some kind of a writer. I knew that inevitably I wanted to write fiction full-time, but I was also realistic in that I had to justify the many hours I put in by getting paid for it, no matter how humble the paycheck. That meant taking on all varieties of freelance journalism, reporting, and stringing gigs.

On any given week back in 1991 I might be covering some high school football games for the local Times Union Newspaper, writing a fishing feature for Game & Fish Magazine, and going through the agony of writing a short story for any number of journals like Negative Capability, Fugue, or Maryland Review. I was also working a construction job. Of course, these were the days before the Internet so all submissions had to be sent snail mail along with SASEs to which a half dozen or more stamps would be pasted. During that same week, I would collect maybe a dozen or more rejections (I recall how the manila envelopes would return bent and torn, forced into the mailbox, as if the rejecting editors physically beat the story to a pulp). But that never stopped me from setting my alarm for 5AM, sometimes 4:30AM so I would have time to write before work. 

To this day, I don’t know how I survived those times, but I’m sure they took an enormous amount of inspiration, drive, and energy. They were analogous to the young unknown Hemingway writing in utter poverty above a sawmill in Paris. I think it’s important that all writers experience their “sawmill” period. If you can get through that…the rejections, the poverty, the exhaustion…then nothing will stop you.

Today, I write full-time, and enjoy lots of contracts both major and small. I’ve sold close to a million copies of my books and this year I’m nominated for both a Shamus and an ITW Award for Best Original Paperback Novel (Moonlight Weeps). But that doesn’t mean my work doesn’t get rejected from time to time even at this stage of this impossible game (although now a rejection from one house usually means another will pick it up!).

So is it difficult to find inspiration almost 25 years after my personal version of the “sawmill” period?

Not at all. I’m still a fan of writers and the writing life. I’m still a reader and I still have heroes, some of whom are my contemporaries. One day I hope to write dialogue as perfectly as Charlie Huston, for instance. Writing is a craft that is always developing and as a professional writer that entails growth. Steady growth takes more than sitting at your desk for eight hours a day. It also means getting out of the house sometimes for months at a time. Travelling to new and strange locales, upsetting your comfort zone, getting lost. It’s hard on the love life (I’m twice divorced). But then, writing isn’t a job or a hobby, it’s a calling. A priestly calling. Like God, you devote your life to it. For better or for worse.

So the “sawmill” is long gone, but the sound of the blade tearing through the wood is not silenced. I still hear it every time I sit down at my writing desk on a cold, dark, lonely winter morning, and lock eyes with the blank page.

Vincent Zandri is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of nineteen novels, including Everything Burns, The Remains, The Shroud Key, and Moonlight Weeps, the Finalist for ITW’s 2015 Best Original Paperback Award and the Finalist for The Shamus Best Original PI Novel Award. A freelance photojournalist, he is also the author of the blog The Vincent Zandri Vox. He lives in New York and Florence, Italy. 

Featured Author: Karen Kingsbury

Superb author Karen Kingsbury is a New York Times best selling author and she just announced that two of her books are being made into Hallmark movies. Her newest novel, Chasing Sunsets, released last month to rave reviews. 

In 2011 I asked Karen what advice she would give to new authors, and her mother sent this along: 

"Thanks for asking about writing tips. Karen has put together a list of "Writing Tips" on her web site. We have heard from many writers that these were helpful to them. Click HERE for her tips.

Additionally, if you search the Internet under "Christian writing tips" loads of information comes up from many well known authors. There are also online writer's associations such as the Christian Writer's Guild - which will lead you through a course that helps you write your book. If you're interested in this, that's something Karen recommends. It is run by a good friend of hers - author Jerry Jenkins.

Here's another author's blog with writing tips: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/ by Randy Ingemanson

Here's a website that has very good information on how to submit a manuscript to an agent: http://www.wordserveliterary.com/
Then click on "Submission Guidelines".

Karen didn't struggle to get published like most authors do. A New York agent discovered her because she was a news reporter for the LA Times and was covering a trial. The agent asked her if she could make the story into a book and she did and received a four book contract from a big publisher. The rest is history as they say!

When you get time please stop by Karen's Facebook page. Karen posts there almost every day! There's a link on her website.

"Unlocked" which is Karen's new "stand alone" book released on October 12th. You can also watch her new talk show on her website. Karen interviews those who have inspired this story. She also introduces "Cody Coleman" who is a character in her "Above The Line Series"!

Thanks so much again for your letter, and for taking time to share your thoughts."

Blessings,

Anne Kingsbury
Karen's Mother and Assistant

www.karenkingsbury.com 

Featured Author: Marta Perry

Marta Perry realized she wanted to be a writer at the age of eight. With over fifty romantic fiction books under her belt, her talent shines through in every book she publishes. Her books have won numerous awards, including an Rita Award in 2012. Marta is now penning a new series, the first titled The Forgiven: Keepers of the Promise. 

I wrote to Marta in 2011 and asked what advice she would give to upcoming authors. Here's what she had to say: 

"When I was getting started in writing, the internet didn't exist, I hadn't heard about organizations like RWA, and I'd never even met another oddball person like me! Aspiring writers today have so many wonderful opportunities to network with other writers and to learn from the best, and I would urge them to take full advantage of that. Seek out groups, either in your community or online, who have the same aspirations you do, and who have the same level of commitment. (Beware the group which turns into a coffeeklatch, talking about writing instead of actually doing it!) I think it's also helpful if the other folks in the group are at your skill and experience level or a little farther along. Remember, you need honest critiquing and encouragement, not criticism.

Above all, aspiring writers must read, read, read, especially in the genre in which you want to write. Know what the classics are; know what the bestsellers are; know what's selling now, not what sold last year.

And write, write, write. It's my personal belief that all of us have a certain amount of dreck that we have to write before we can get down to the real stuff--the things that only we can write, the stories only we can tell."

Wishing each of you all the best in your own writing journeys,

Marta Perry
www.martaperry.com
www.booksbymartaperry.blogspot.com

Featured Author: Catherine Coulter

I'd like to bottle the magical anti-aging liquid flowing from the faucet at Catherine Coulter's house. I don't think I've ever known a woman to age so gracefully. Reminds me of those old commercials by Oil of Olay. But enough about that.

Catherine is a talented writer who has the ability to cross genres and still keep you hooked. Her first hardcover was released in 1988, and since then, she's blazed a trail that includes over 70 novels. Her most recent release, Power Play, has stellar reviews on Amazon, as well as all of the online sites.

I previously wrote Catherine in 2011 and asked her to give me a bit of advice to pass along to first-time writers. Her advice was all about being disciplined, which is a must if any writer takes themselves seriously in this crazy business, but I'll let you read it in her own words: 

I will tell you the truth. I plugged along, was blessed, fortunately, with a single very good editor for a very long time, and my numbers grew until finally I hit the NYT bestseller list.

The real key in making a writing career work is discipline. In any endeavor, if you don't have discipline, you're in major trouble. Actually, you won't go anywhere at all without it.

I also strongly recommend Romance Writers of America. It is the largest most professional writing organization in the world. Chapters are all over the U.S. and Canada so it is easy to join your local chapter. And you can do it online. RWA is important because there are lots of beginning writers, so you're no longer alone, plus editors, published writers, agents -- and it's all there waiting for you. When you have a completed manuscript, you attend a regional conference, have an appointment with an editor --

But the very most important thing you can do? BE DISCIPLIINED.

Catherine Coulter

Featured Author: John Lescroart

John Lescroart isn't just a fantastic writer, he's also a fantastic guy. Very smart. Very nice. His newest novel, The Keeper, was released in May 2014, and is book 15 in his bestselling Dismas Hardy series. It made the New York Times bestsellers list soon after its release. To date, Lescroart has written twenty-five novels.

If you haven't ever visited his blog, I recommend you stop by. His site includes an adorable picture of him taking the ice bucket challenge as well as including recipes. Yes, that's right. I said recipes. How cool is that?! 

When I wrote him back in 2011 and asked if he'd agree to give me a short snippet of advice to post for other writers, he replied immediately, and I have to say, his advice is similar to what I'd give. It's very accurate.  

"I probably went through very much the usual travails in trying to get my writing career off the ground. Lots of rejection notices, not much support from anybody aside from my wife. About the only concrete advice I can give is that you've got to keep believing in yourself (all the while understanding that your rejections are not
personal and that you probably need to improve in the craft), and you can't let the bastards get you down. The best way to do that, in turn (and this is admittedly very difficult), is to simply ignore the pain and keep plugging on with your writing. Enjoy the day-to-day exercise of putting down good words and find your joy in the actual work, and not in its success or lack thereof. So much of writing is a mind game, and anyone who wants to get into it had better have tough skin and a true passion for the process itself, because that is really what it's all about. Fame and fortune come to some who are talented and lucky, and is often withdrawn randomly and even unfairly. What remains are the words, and the love of the endeavor itself. If you are writing well, and strive to be happy in your life, good things will happen some or even most of the time. And if they don't, you've led a fulfilling and joyful life in the meanwhile, and that is life's true goal." 

Featured Author: Jeffery Deaver

To date, Jeffery Deaver has written thirty-two novels. He is an international, number-one bestselling author whose novels have made just about every list there is to make. His newest release, The Skin Collector, part of his infamous Lincoln Rhyme series, has over four hundred, five-star reviews on Amazon.

His newest novel, Solitude Creek, is releasing May 2015.

At the beginning of 2011, I emailed several well-known authors to ask for their advice about writing. At the time, I was writing the first novel in my Sloane Monroe series, Black Diamond Death. Since then, I've penned five additional novels in the series, one stand-alone, the first in a paranormal suspense series, and a few novellas here and there. I've also been fortunate enough to make the New York Times bestsellers list myself as part of a collaborative effort with the amazing thriller group, The Twelve.

In my humblest of beginnings, Jeffery Deaver was gracious enough to reply to my blog request. giving his advice for new authors. Here's what he had to say:

"I can tell you that I truly look at writing as a business. That means I get up each day and go to work for eight to ten hours, whether I'm in the mood to write or not. I never wait for inspiration. If I did, I would never write anything.

I'd encourage new writers to read as much as possible and write as much as possible. The more we write, the better we become at the craft of writing. Remember not to be discouraged if your work meets with rejection at first, because all writers--even published ones--have work rejected all the time. You just have to keep trying.

Some readers want to know if I plan my books out or if I just start writing. Because my books are so plot-driven, it's important for me to know exactly where I'm going before I begin writing the book itself, so I spend the better part of a year writing a detailed outline that runs hundreds of pages. Creating the outline is the hardest part of the writing process, but the most necessary.

Good luck to all my fellow writers out there!"

All best wishes,Jeff Deaver