MYSTERY ENDING

By Cynthia Ruchti

"Welcome back to the show Rudy's Reflections. I'm your host, Rudy Rudman. We're speaking with our guest, noted mystery writer, Claire Logenthall. Have you read her latest offering, Don't Answer the Phone After Dark, listeners? You won't want to miss this one. Or maybe you will."

"Excuse me?"

"Ah, Ms. Logenthall. Your book has been said to have the most intensely unsatisfying ending, according to reviews and those who have posted comments on our program website."

"I worked very hard on that ending."

"You must admit that a reader has certain expectations."

"Yes. And a good author will stretch the limit of those expectations." 

"Would you not admit, Ms. Logenthall, that when a person picks up a mystery novel, it is expected that the mystery will be solved by the end of the story? Isn't that the whole point? What made you think you could pull off a mystery novel in which the mystery is not eventually resolved? The attraction of a mystery lies in the hope of its resolution. How could you not tell us whodunit?"

"It got me a spot on your show, didn't it, Rudy? My plan worked, then."

"This was a plot? A gimmick? You intended to disappoint your readers?"

"I intended to shock them, not disappoint them."

"As a publicity stunt?"

"As a calculated risk. An opportunity-maker. A conversation-starter. Conversation about God."

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Cover Art Development for the Indie Author

by: Heather Day Gilbert

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Seventeen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling. Heather is a monthly contributor to Novel Rocket, and she's committed to bringing relevant and helpful information to indie authors.

You can find Heather at her website, Heather Day Gilbert--Author, and at her Facebook Author Page, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Goodreads. Her Viking novel, God's Daughter, is an Amazon bestseller. You can find it on Amazon and Audible.com. Her upcoming mystery, Miranda Warning, releases June 20, 2014.

Highlights of my Cover Art Process for MIRANDA WARNING

by: Heather Day Gilbert

Today, I want to take you "behind the scenes" tour of how cover art develops for the indie author. I'm using visuals from my upcoming mystery, Miranda Warning, releasing in just a few days (June 20th). 

Before I start, I'd just like to say that if you don't love the final cover as much as the other ones, please don't tell me. I know most of you wouldn't THINK of doing that. But when authors open up and share about how they choose their cover art (a very subjective thing), they have put hours into it and really don't want to hear "Oh, I liked that ________ picture/font/whatever MUCH better than the one you finally went with!"

Most indies can't afford to hire models and rent costumes that fit their book specifications. Therefore, we have to spend hours trolling through stock photo sites such as istock or shutterstock for just the right look. We might not know WHAT look we're going for until we see it.

In my case, I started with several pictures that embodied different elements of my storyline. I pinned these pics to a secret Pinterest board for my brother-slash-cover designer, Jon Day (who, as an aside, is also one of the most patient guys in the world, and the designer of my God's Daughter cover art, as well). Here are a few initial pics I pinned and thoughts on why we didn't use them. I'll link to each of their sites if you click them:

My initial direction with the cover was to go for a retro, Nancy Drew feel. However, there was only one stock image of this chick and I knew this was going to be a series. Also, it's hard NOT to make this girl look bodiless...

Since the title character, Miranda, is in a wheelchair in an assisted living home, I thought this pic could be made to look ominous. However, we veered away from objects on the covers of this series, since I'm personally drawn to people's faces on the covers. I figured my reader demographic would think much as I do.

Also toyed with adding these poisonous plants to the bottom of the cover. However...some things just give too much of the book away. That's all I'll say on that...

SO...I loved this pic, YEA--ADORED it. However...my bro and I both agreed it was waaaaay too reminiscent of the TWILIGHT cover pic:

So...we continued looking. And then I found this:

And I knew we were heading the right direction. PART of a woman's face would make it possible for us to change models on future covers. However, we couldn't seem to get this part of the face to work with the rest. At this point, we'd kind of decided to incorporate a face at the top, title in the middle, and mountains at the bottom (since this entire series is set in the mountains and it's a key element in all of them--thus, A Murder in the Mountains series title). The setup was a bit like this:

Somewhere around this time, I got cold feet. This is the juncture your cover artist probably wants to pull his/her hair out and you yourself feel like a small raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The thing is, most MYSTERY covers in the ABA world have an object or words...people on the cover--not so much. So I thought maybe we should retrench and go for a more recognizable mystery "look." Something more like this:

Those were some tough days for the author and her intrepid cover designer brother. And THEN! One night, while trolling endlessly through pictures of women and flowers, I found THIS!

Just like that, we both agreed we had a winner. Jon knows what will show up in a thumbnail on Amazon, and this girl would show up. However, my main character, Tess, has blue eyes, and a red rose is a sign of love. I wanted a symbol of death. So we changed Tess' eyes to blue and the rose to white, as you'll see in the finished cover.

NOW we moved on to the problem of font. After finding a mountain image to use at the bottom, we needed to find the perfect font to capture the mood of the book. Here are a few early tries:

Here, we had too much going on: foxglove around the words, curliques, and the font just didn't strike me right.

We both really liked this "Motor Oil" retro font, but with Tess' bob, it might indicate the book was set in the twenties, which it's not. So we continued moving along (note how the mountains are changing!).

I finally found this Optimus Princeps font (which I affectionately refer to as "Optimus Prime" font). THIS, we agreed, was THE BOMB. As you can see we tried some funky color combos on the words, trying to land on something that would show up in thumbnail images of the book.

AND FINALLY!!!

Possibly three months after we started all our cover art machinations, my brother and I decided on the final cover art. I couldn't be happier with it and when I saw it in softcover, I was blown away. 

.

(For a higher-resolution pic of this cover, please check it out on my website here: http://heatherdaygilbert.com/books-in-the-works/).

Me with my first proof of Miranda Warning! We decided to go with this matte cover versus the glossy. We've since lightened the background behind Tess' head.

And that, my friends, is just a bit of our brainstorming/cover art process. This doesn't really begin to cover what went into it. I know each indie author has a different process, be it going with a pre-made cover, making your own cover, or hiring someone to do it for you.

(Jon, I promise I am going to pay you back someday for all this...I OWE YOU!)

--Heather

Miranda Warning (A Murder in the Mountains, Book #1):

Child of the Appalachian mountains, Tess Spencer has experienced more than her share of heartache. The Glock-wielding, knife-carrying housewife knows how to survive whatever life throws at her. 

But when an anonymous warning note shows up in her best friend Miranda’s mailbox—a note written in a dead woman’s handwriting—Tess quickly discovers that ghosts are alive and well in Buckneck, West Virginia. Hot on a cold trail, she must use limited clues and her keen insight into human nature to unmask the killer...or the next victim might be Tess herself.

Tinged with the supernatural and overshadowed by the mountains' lush, protective presence, this twisting psychological mystery is the first in A Murder in the Mountains series. You can find it here on Goodreads. 

You can also read a four-chapter sample of Miranda Warning here on Scribd. Enjoy!

****Share your cover art thoughts here! Have you ever contributed to a cover art process? What are aspects you think you'd enjoy/dislike? And I'd love it if you put Miranda Warning on your To-Read list if it looks like something you'd enjoy!****

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Let Mystery Do Its Work

By Marcia Lee Laycock

“Let mystery do its work – encourage the listener (or reader) to participate.” Jeffery Overstreet

“Awaken the questions. Tease the mind into active thought.” – C. H. Dodd

Jesus was the master of mystery. He spoke in parables and hyperbole and metaphor. He rarely, if ever, gave a direct answer to a question. Often he answered a question with another one.

I imagine his disciples were often wandering around with quizzical looks on their faces as they tried to figure out what it was he was teaching them. And I imagine they found that very frustrating. But I’m sure, after wandering the landscape of Palestine with their teacher for three years, they came to an understanding that it was as they searched and pondered and struggled to understand, that they learned more and more about Him and His kingdom.

As writers I believe this is something we should emulate in our work. I believe, as C. H. Dodd said, that we should “awaken the questions” more than seek to provide the answers. It is when we leave our readers asking questions that they become completely engaged in our stories. They want to find the answers and it is oh so much more satisfying when they are led to discover them on their own.

Think about a book you love. What was it about those words that drew you in? The poetry of language perhaps, the lovely flow of words that seemed to sing? Or was it a deeper understanding of something that had eluded you before, the epiphany, the discovery of that which had been hidden? In most cases our favorites are books that were a blend of these things, books that made us think, made us ask questions, books that led us deeper into the mystery of life and the spiritual realm.

When our readers are caught up with the mystery of our stories they can’t let them go. The characters linger because there is a bit of a puzzle in their personality. Their motivations are deep and complex, their fears and foibles real yet still something to make the reader wonder. And then, when the mystery becomes clear, the reader understands more about the world, more about himself and more about the One who created both.

As  David Weinberger has said, "We don't need more information. We don't need better information ... We need understanding ... And understanding is not more or higher information. If you want understanding, you have to reenter the human world of stories. If you don't have a story, you don't have understanding."
 

So let’s follow Christ. Ask the questions, spin the tales, tease the mind and awaken the soul. It’s what He taught us to do. It’s what good writing is all about.
****

Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel, One Smooth Stone and also has two devotional books in print. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan. Marcia's second novel, A Tumbled Stone was recently short listed in the contemporary fiction category of The Word Awards. Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can be downloaded here. Visit Marcia’s website

 


Abundant Rain, a devotional for writers of faith, available on Amazon or on Smashwords.

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Meet Bonnie Calhoun ~ the writing world's busiest author

As the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Bonnie has helped use the 220+ blogs of the Alliance to promote many titles on the Christian bestseller list. She owns and publishes the Christian Fiction Online magazine, which is devoted to readers and writers of Christian fiction. She is the Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). At ACFW she was named the ‘Mentor of the Year’ for 2011, and she is the current President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network. Bonnie is also the Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference. In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations.

Bonnie, you've been at this gig for a long time. While writing, you started a successful blog tour company and the best online Christian magazine out there. How do you do it all?

Well…to tell you the truth, sleep is really over-rated *snort-giggle* I think it’s because if my hands aren’t busy being productive, they are busy being destructive (getting me in all sorts of trouble…for which I’ve learned over the years…run very fast.)

Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind? (Be as specific as possible)

Oh…so you want me to relive the puking and falling down thing all over again? Okay…start from the beginning. This is all a God journey. Seriously! I really had no plan. I decided I wanted to become an author after reading the Left Behind series…that’s a whole other story. But I started writing, joined a few Christian writing loops, and went to my first conference. The following year, I went back to the conference and met my agent Terry Burns at dinner…I had an appointment with a totally different agent. Then for my first publishing contract, it came about after I made a totally random remark to an acq. Editor at Abingdon. From actively writing for publication to first contract was two years.

Now finding out was another story…I yelled, screamed, hyperventilated…fell down, got up and puked…and then repeated the process numerous times. *shaking head* not a prety sight…nope! Not a pretty sight!

Was there a specific 'what if' moment to spark the story of Cooking the Books, your debut novel?

Nope…a lot of that is autobiographical 

Did anything strange or funny happen while researching or writing your book?

Uhmmm…strange or funny. Well truthfully just the fact that the Lord let’s me wake up in the morning is extremely funny to me. But with this book…no. Now there was a manuscript I was working on that was a disaster book…not disaster as in bad writing, but disaster as in volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, tsunamis…and every time I wrote a scene, a disaster would happen in real life. I figured if I didn’t stick that puppy in a drawer, there’d be no United States left to read it!

Do you ever bang your head against the wall from writer's block? If so, how did you overcome it?

Huh? Whatcha sayin’? Oh, yea…hi! No I never bang my head against the wall. The bump has now become a newer improved part of me with an elegantly raised and calloused surface. I refuse to call it part of my head, so no…I never bang my head against the wall.

Actually my “writers block” is never for a whole book because I’ve already got the plot playing in my head. It’s usually just a block on a particular scene…so I skip that scene and go on and write one that is percolating in the bump on the front of my cranium.

Do you consider yourself a visual writer? If so, what visuals do you use?

Nope…not at all. I’m a mental writer…er, uh…that didn’t come out right…well it did, but that’s another story too. The story is playing in my head like a movie. I write in scenes like a script writer, so I don’t really need visuals. Usually my characters gel in what they’re going to look like AS I write, so I may actually be all done writing before I pick out the people representation images.

Novelists sometimes dig themselves into a hole over implausible plots, flat characters or a host of other problems. What's the most difficult part of writing for you?

That’s a short answer…dragging the story out long enough to fill a full sized book. Since I think like a script writer, I write in short succinct scenes, and need to fill it in with all the visuals and “mentals” that people need as readers.

What's your strength in writing (characterization, setting as character, description, etc)?

My strength is in being able to write a great bloody and suspenseful scene J

Did this book give you any problems? If not, how did you avoid them?

Yes…but they’re not avoidable problems…for example…language. My street

thug characters wouldn’t have been very believable saying “Auh geepers creepers.”

So I had to use my ability as a writer to convey their “attitude” without inappropriate language.

Where do you write: In a cave, a coffeehouse, or a cozy attic nook?

Ack! No pictures please! My jammies are not for public…or private consumption! I do a lot of my writing in my store. I’m a seamstress and clothing designer by day, and I’ve sewed for 50 years (literally) so I don’t need to think to sew. I think of a scene and when the front end of it starts dropping out of my RAM (random access mind) then I stop sewing and write until the scene is all down. Now at home, is when I do editing because I have to sit and stare at pages and contemplate.

Some authors report writing 5-10 thousand words a day. Do scenes flow freely from your veins or do you have to tweeze each word out?

Six of one, half dozen of the other J Some days I’m a wiz…some days I am wiz…Cheese Wiz that is…speaking of cheese…I love taking breaks when words don’t want to come and I write emails to my crit groups about how much I’m not writing. And I have had days when, if I had the ability to count Facebook words, I’d have written a whole novel!

What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?

“Just sit your butt in the seat and write!”

How do you balance your writing time with family and any other work you do?

I haven’t figured that part out yet. It just seems to work on its own.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

Ahhh…parting is such sweet sorrow…uh, oh…I guess not those kind of words.

Yes…parting words…if you want to be a writer, then just keep writing. If you want to be published, learn the craft, write a great book, and pray.

Cooking the Books

After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also "inherits" a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”

A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?

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Author Interview ~ Carolyn Rose

Carolyn lives with her husband in Oregon. Her mysteries are set on the Oregon Coast (the Devil’s Harbor series emerging in 2009/2010 from Krill Press), Portland (the two-book Paladin series), New Mexico (the three-book Casey Brandt series), and New York (Hemlock Lake to be released in July, 2010 from Five Star). Visit her at http://www.deadlyduomysteries.com.

Welcome to Novel Journey, how long did it take you to get published?

I started Hemlock Lake in 1999. It was more than nine years until Five Star accepted it and another 18 months after that before it became a book. It truly was a novel journey—in many ways.

Do you think an author is born or made?

Both. Sometimes characters seem to “find” someone to tell their story. Sometimes it’s the other way around—writers search for characters and story and work hard to bring them together and onto the page. There are probably thousands of would-be authors out there who were born to it but have yet to write. That’s not my case. I sweat out every page.


What is the first book you remember reading?

Aside from the learn-to-read books at school featuring Dick and Jane, Little House in the Big Woods was the first book I remember reading on my own. The first thing I recall having read to me was “The Great Stone Face” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Either there weren’t many books available for kids back then, or my grandmother had a weird sense of humor or a very strange way of getting me to fall asleep.

What common qualities do you find in the personalities of published authors?

I can only speak about the authors I know, and they seem to be far less confident than their characters. They don’t mind spending huge chunks of time alone—or in the company of only fictional friends. And they’re passionate and exuberant about their craft.

How do you know if you have a seemingly “stupid” book premise that is doomed to fail versus one that will fly high?
I don’t think you can ever know that for certain. It’s all subjective and a matter of taste and timing. That being said, I gauge the reaction of my critique group when I pitch the idea to them.

What is the theme of your latest book?

Hemlock Lake deals with love, trust, and betrayal on many levels. Those are core feelings most of us have experienced at least once during our lives and I hope that will allow readers to relate to the characters and feel close to them even if they’ve never been to the Catskill Mountains or lived in a small community.

At what point did you stop juggling suggestions and critiques and trust yourself (as a writer)?

That’s not a point I’ve reached yet. I trust myself, but I know I have some blind spots. I count on my husband and my critique group to let me know when I’ve created a character without any redeeming traits or one who is too stereotypical. They also let me know when I’ve failed to spot a plot twist that was screaming to be noticed.

Any anecdotes about the research or writing of your books?

Once I came close to sending my husband tumbling down a flight of stairs. I was lying on the floor in the hallway at the top trying to determine if I could exert enough force to throw a killer off balance with a single shove from that position. When I heard him approaching, I acted spontaneously. I got my answer, but I don’t think he’s forgiven me yet.
When I was writing Hemlock Lake, my brother had a cow when I asked him if I could lick the barrel of his pistol so I could attempt to describe the taste and feeling.

How would you pitch this book to your intended audience?

Hemlock Lake is a tale of betrayal, vengeance, justice, and love set against the search for an arsonist and murderer in a remote Catskill Mountain community.

How do you craft a plot?

I start with a character, determine the traits that interest me, decide on a setting, figure out what happened in the back story to cause the hole in the character’s soul, and then decide what I’ll throw him up against to test him.

Do you begin writing with a synopsis in hand, or do you write as the ideas come to you?

I once thought that an outline was confining, but now I think of the key points as tall trees with vines attached. I might write (swing) my way from tree to tree on a straight line through the forest, or I might spot a tree off to the side and write to it, taking the plot in a new direction.
Being a Virgo, I’m prone to buying three-ring binders and making tabs for plot, characters, research to be done, etc. Sometimes I thumb through it every day and make new notes. Sometimes I don’t touch it for weeks.

How do you think reading the work of others helps you as a writer?

Reading good writing is inspiring, energizing, exciting. Fresh images are like truffles unearthed in the forest. I savor them as I read and, as I write, try to create truffles of my own for others to come across.

Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

About once a week. But what else would I do my time? About the only gardening I can do in a Northwest winter is combing the moss and if I spend any more time in the pool doing water aerobics I’ll be known as The Prune Lady.

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Author Interview ~ Nicole Young

Nicole Young has a degree in communications and has earned several awards for speech writing and presentation. In 2004 she won the Noble Theme Award for the Best First Chapter from the American Christian Romance Writers. She is the author of Love Me If You Must and Kill Me If You Can and lives with her family in Michigan.


Caught in the Act

It’s such a pleasure when our kids catch us doing something right. My sixteen-year-old daughter recently cleaned one of the vacation rentals I own as a birthday gift to me. When I checked the property over, it met my high standards.

I asked her how she knew what needed to be done.

“Come on, Mom. I’ve seen you do it a million times!”

The same daughter aced the writing portions of the ACT and SAT. I wanted to shake my head in disbelief at her accomplishment. But why should her success be a surprise? As she was growing up, we would discuss grammar as if it were the weather, plot structure like we were planning the evening meal. She caught my excitement for words and brought it to her own higher level.

Our kids aren’t the only ones who catch our vibes as we chug along toward our personal writing goals. Friends, neighbors, the dishwasher repairman… We inspire them with our fearless exploits as we take a shot at getting published.

Who knows, these secret, aspiring writers might even turn off the television and turn on the computer instead. Suddenly we realize we are transforming the lives of complete strangers simply because as writers, we’re doing what’s right. Writing. May we all be caught in the act.

Kiss Me if You Dare
By Nicole Young

Tish Amble is dead -- or so she's been told. On the run from a backwoods Michigan drug ring that wants her dead, Tish Amble finds herself in sunny California with an assumed identity and a mysterious benefactor. All she wants to do is lay low for awhile, then return to her family -- including her almost-fiance Brad. Instead, she ends up trying to start a normal life, going back to work on the college degree she postponed long ago, and restoring a block of homes.

But her past catches up with her. Someone sabotages her work, and Brad hasn't called in months. Should she return to Michigan to find out what happened? Or would a homecoming be more painful -- and deadly -- than she's ready for?

Full of fast-paced action and nail-biting suspense, Kiss Me If You Dare is the thrilling conclusion to the Patricia Amble Mystery Series.

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