ALL GOOD DEEDS was chosen as the January Book of the Month for the Goodreads group Psychological Thrillers. It’s a large group, and the members loved Lucy Kendall so much they bought the second book and started a new thread for that. Talk about being humbled! Seeing readers discuss my work and being invited to chime in has been absolutely amazing and very gratifying.

Since the Lucy Kendall Series deals with some dark topics, one of the constant themes of the discussion has been whether or not readers agree with Lucy’s belief that killing child molesters is right. Now, those who know Lucy probably realize her problems go far beyond this vigilante agenda. Killing these horrible people might just be a vehicle for something far more sinister. But you’ll have to read the series to find out.

Like many authors, bits and pieces of my own personality have wormed their way into my characters. To be honest, Lucy is more like me than any other character I’ve created. I promise you I’ve never killed anyone, but her intolerance for child molesters mirrors my own. Our system is broken, and these people are released into the streets way too often. I have no problem with a one strike law for them. Do I agree with Lucy’s choice to kill them? From a mother’s perspective, yes. If it were my child, I don’t know what I would be capable of, and if someone like Lucy took the bastard who hurt my kid out, I’d probably throw a party. From a realistic perspective, I’m not sure. Taking the law into her own hands makes Lucy just as bad as anyone else, even if she’s ridding society of the scum of the earth. But were I to meet Lucy in real life and find out what she’s been doing, I think I’d turn the other cheek and walk away.

What would you do? Would you allow someone to keep taking the law into their own hands if it meant your children were safe? Or would you step up and report them?

Newsflash! DEAD WRONG, book 2 in the Cage Foster series, hits the e-shelves today. Keep an eye out for it!

Happy May Day! Here’s another teaser from TIN GOD. Many thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing the book on Amazon and Goodreads.

Nick dragged his fingernails across his right temple. His thoughts were racing at high speed, and the adrenaline spurred him into clarity. He was good at this. Dig, dig, dig. Dig until he had the truth by the balls.

The silence festered. Nick’s mind swam with new information. Someone wanted Jaymee’s secret kept at all costs. Who had more to lose? Paul Ballard or Royce Newton?

Or the father Jaymee refused to name? “There’s no way the baby’s father could be involved in any of this?”

Jaymee stepped back so quickly she nearly fell. Nick caught her by the elbow just in time, and she jerked her arm away, her eyes once more looking everywhere else but at him.

Cage cleared his throat. “He’s long gone. Jaymee got sucked in by this greedy Davies bitch, Wilcher, and whoever they were working with.”

“Royce Newton,” Nick said.

“Maybe,” Cage said. “We’ll have to talk to Charles–”

“No.” Jaymee’s shout reverberated off the metal walls. “You can’t. We don’t have any proof. I don’t want to get Detective Charles involved until I have to.”

“Why?” Cage asked. “He’s a good cop, Jaymee.”

“He’s not going to do a damned thing without proof except maybe interview my father, which is the last thing I want. Please. Not yet. Let’s figure out what Royce knows–if anything. Nick’s an investigative reporter. He can get something out of him. I’ll help.”

“Jaymee…” Cage began.

“I want to help.”

Nick cocked his head, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Jaymee didn’t flinch as he sized her up.

“You’re too close,” he argued.

“And you’re not?”

He ran his index finger over his bottom lip and then tapped the corner of his mouth. “All right. I wanted to talk to Royce Newton. Now I know what the topic of conversation will be.”

“Goddamnit, Nick,” Cage said. “You’re not a cop. You’re already withholding evidence with that letter. You think Royce Newton’s just going to tell you if he and Debra Davies were involved in illegal adoptions? And how are you going to get by Fat Jonas?”

Nick looked down at Jaymee. She nodded, a silent understanding passing between them, and he faced Cage. “Jaymee here needs to pay her respects, of course.”

“No way.” Cage pulled on Nick’s arm.

Nick yanked out of Cage’s grasp. “I need to talk to Royce Newton. She can get me inside.”

Jaymee glanced at Cage. His expression was unreadable, but pain reflected in his eyes. He missed his sister. The bastard that killed her needed to be brought to justice. And Jaymee owed it to Lana. “Cage, please.”

“Fine.” He shoved the trailer door open. “You’d better be damned careful. But I want to talk to Jaymee in private before we leave.”

Nick nodded and then glanced at Jaymee. “What time can I pick you up tomorrow?”

“How’s 10:00 a.m.?”

“Perfect.”

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/Zkn9KH
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/10yWUmH

You started out in Business Education and spent many years helping people develop various marketing skills. What made you decide to become a writer? Was it something you always dabbled in, or did you one day just decide to pursue your dream?

I was sitting on the shores of Owasco Lake watching my children frolic in the water. They were at the ages that they still needed a constant eye, but I could sit and read a book while they played. This one summer I read a lot. I think I read and re-read every book that Sandra Brown and Nora Roberts ever wrote and I thought I could write a book. We didn’t have a laptop or computer at the cottage, so I pulled out pen and paper and wrote In Two Weeks. When I had it all typed into my computer at home, I started looking up how to get published. I joined the Central NY Romance chapter of RWA and began to learn publishing. A few short years later I signed my first contract.

What was your path to publication? Did you pursue traditional publishing at all before partnering with Bob Mayer to create Who Dares Win Publishing?

I pursued traditional publishing, but got my start with an ePublisher. Unfortunately, they went bankrupt. My second contract was with The Wild Rose Press, another ePublisher. I published 4 novels and 2 short stories with them. I also have worked with two agents. I have a stack of rejection letters a mile high.

I met Bob at a conference many years ago. I took a few of his workshops and struck up a friendship after I took one of his day-long retreats. He was interested in my experience with ePublishing and I was still looking to break into traditional publishing. He had just gotten the rights back to some of his books and wasn’t sure what, if anything, he could do. The partnership developed when I made a mock-cover for one of his Atlantis books and told him how he could get an eBook edition on Amazon. At the time, our plan was to re-release his backlist while we both pursued contracts in New York. Things changed very quickly when we realized where digital was heading and what that meant for our individual careers as well as our business partnership.

You grew up in Rochester, New York, a city with a very high murder rate. What stories inspired your fascination with crime and suspense?

The first story that caught my attention was that of Arthur Shawcross, better known as the Genesee River Killer. Shawcross was in prison twice. First for arson and burglary. He was paroled in 1971. He was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 25 years, but was paroled in 1987 after serving 14 years. I did not know this until much later, but he lived only a block away from one of my first apartments off of Alexander Street. He started murdering prostitutes in 1988. He was caught in Spencerport (another place I lived) on January 3, 1990.

I remember the reports on the news about the murders and I remember the day they captured him. I never thought anything like that could happen in my town…then someone told me about the Alphabet Murders. There was a movie called The Alphabet Killer that came out in 2008 that was loosely based on the Alphabet Murders.

The most disturbing to me was the murder of Kali Ann Poulton. Kali disappeared on May 23, 1994 and she was just 4 years old. It struck so deep because my little girl was about the same age. Kali had been missing for 27 months before they found her body submerged in a 30,000 gallon water tank. Mark Christie was eventually convicted of murdering Kali.

These stories, in many ways, broke my heart. The last one made me want to make sure all killers got what they deserved. In my books they usually are punished pretty badly. A little sweet revenge is always justified when loved ones are taken from us.

However, these stories and others like them lead me to ask one simple question: why would any human being kill another? Which lead to: what would it take for a seemingly normal person to be pushed to such an extreme? They started my fascination in crime stories and understanding characters. It is important to understand the antagonist of your story, even if you never show his point of view. In order to have him/her be real in the readers mind, they have to be real to you, so I dug pretty deep to try to understand something that is uncomprehendable to the “normal” person.

There is one story that led me to write a book (not published yet) called the Harvester. This book is based on a story that broke out a few years ago about local funeral homes harvesting body parts (such as bones for marrow) and replacing them with PVC piping. I’m hoping to release this story by the end of the year.

My books are romances, or at the very least, have a romance subplot, but my bad guys are about as bad as they can be, but the good guys always win.

How do you come up with your ideas? Do you write about experiences based on someone you know/news, or about events in your own life?

Mark Twain said, “write what you know.” Bob Mayer said, “write what you want to know or feel passionate about.” 

There is a little bit of my life in every book. For example, the hero Jared Blake in my novel In Two Weeks is a controlling freak. My husband is a controlling freak. In my book Jane Doe’s Return the heroine is terrified to fly. I’m terrified to fly. My current work in progress, I hate to admit, the hero has a couple of Bob’s traits and mannerisms and another character is based on someone I used know in high school that drove me absolutely bonkers. Are these characters based on the people in my life, but they aren’t these people at all. I use their language, their hobbies and their idiosyncrasies to develop rich three-dimensional characters, but they are far from “real”.

As far as ideas its usually breed from books, movies or things I see. I love the ‘what if’ concept for ideas. For my book, Jane Doe’s Return the idea was: What if the one person who could unlock the mystery of who killed your sister showed up in the most unlikely of places; in your office as your knew partner but you had no idea she was Jane Doe. My current work in progress the idea is: What if, while searching for the daughter you gave up, your patients were being killed one by one and your daughter is next? Once I have an idea, I have to really dig for characters. Character is key. There are times I wish I could start with character, but the plot idea always comes first for me.

Tell us about your latest book, IN TWO WEEKS.  What’s your favorite thing about the book? Is it based on a true story or incident?

In Two Weeks is the first book I ever wrote, so that right there makes it special. My favorite part is the setting: Lake George, NY. I spent all my summers there as little girl and to me, its the most peaceful place on earth. There is nothing factual about the story, but the imagery is real. The house and carriage house that Jared owns in the story is the house my family rented when I was a child. We rented what I describe as the carriage house. The opening scene at the bar is a bar that was right down the road. The hotel that the heroine works at is a very famous hotel on Lake George, although I changed the names of all these places.

Is this ever-changing publishing world, what advice can you offer a new author about marketing?

An author has to have a marketing plan, but the key to that marketing plan is CONTENT. More books. I have three books out right now and I have not done a lot of marketing for myself until now because what does a reader do when they like your book? They buy everything you’ve ever written. But if you have nothing, they have nothing to go buy.

Another thing to consider with marketing is that it’s not always about “sales”. It’s more about building community and finding your readership. The hard part is making the connections. It’s easy to convers with other writers, but where do the readers hang out? I believe the best thing a writer can do is be consistent in their efforts. Bob and found that once we fully committed to what we were doing AND we were consistent in all our efforts (social media and other forms of marketing and advertising) things began to happen. I call it having an internet presence and that is part of the Write It Forward Author Branding Plan, which in a nut shell develops over time as you figure out who you are as a writer and how you interact best with the world.

Learn from those who are succeeding. Watch what they do and figure out what works for you. No need to reinvent the wheel.

There are so many options out there for marketing. I always recommend building a foundation based on what you do well and expand outward. For example, Bob is great on Twitter, Kindleboards and all the blogging he does. If he is consistent in those areas, he can then expand it out simply by posting information on Facebook and Pinterest, but those two things are not his strong suit, so its simply an extension. I’m good at Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. I use Timbre, Pinterest and LinkedIn as an extension of what I’m good at by simply putting the information out there. Once I get more comfortable, I can expand and create more real social circles, but remember, you can’t be everywhere all the time. Pick and choose and whatever you decide to do, do it well.

With so many social media forums out there, which ones do you feel are the most effective?

I sort of touched on that above. The first thing to consider is where you as a writer feel comfortable. Start there and then expand. Most social media sites don’t “sell”, but most have an effect in the long run.

I’d say pick 3 to really work and explore others when you have time. I use Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. Bob uses Twitter, Kindleboards and Blogging. I’ve expanded to Pinterest (love it!), Digg, Timbre and Google+ while Bob has expanded to Pinterest, other forums and trying to work Facebook.

What do you think the best strategy is for writers to reach READERS, meaning the ones outside our writing blogosphere?

This is the hardest question to answer. In any of the social media sites I participate in, most of the conversations are with other writers. The interaction I have with readers are through those that take the time to write reviews or email me. We make a connection with our readers through our books. This is one reason why I caution writers about spending too much time blogging etc before the book comes out. Content is king and it is the first interaction we have with our readers.

I’d say the best way to engage is to offer free books when possible. Do an author Q&A at Goodreads. Do blog tours, this gives you exposure to other authors’ fans.

The biggest thing you can do is write more books.

You’re offering several workshops through Write It Forward – what’s one you recommend everyone take?

I recommend them all, but it depends on what your goals are and what you need currently. If you want to work on craft, take the Conflict workshop. If you want to learn about ePublishing, take our workshop on Digital Publishing. If you want work on you Internet Presence, we have a workshop for that. We also offer workshops on Time Management and Historical Research.

Let’s get a little personal now. You’re a hockey mom, right? What’s that like?

INSANE! You know you’re a hockey mom when someone asks how old your children are and you say, “I have a 91, a 93 and a 97.” I think at one point when all were still at home we were averaging about 170 hockey games in five states and two countries. My daughter now plays D3 college hockey and we don’t get to see her often since she is 7 hours from home. My middle boy is graduating HS and going on to play D3 Golf, so his hockey days are officially over (unless he joins his dad in men’s league) and the baby boy is a freshman in HS. We still have 3 years left of watching and traveling with him. He wants to try and play college hockey.

I have written many scenes sitting at an ice rink waiting for practice be over and if you ask any of the hockey dads on the team, they will tell you that they are the hero’s in my books! LOL.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not writing or attending one of the kids games?

I love to read and watch movies or TV shows. I just finished reading a fabulous horrorish book by Laura Benedict called The Devil’s Oven. I loved it. I also went and saw the movie Hunger Games. Very good. My guilty pleasures this season for TV are Dance Moms, Revenge and reruns of Friends. I also am addicted to Southland, Californication, Dexter and Nurse Jackie. I could go on and on. But that is what I do for fun.

Do you have any pet causes? Any charities you support?

I have two nephews with Muscular Dystrophy. Matt Klapp passed away December 29, 2008. His younger brother, Jordan suffers from the same disease. My niece, Shea Holbrook is a racecar driver and she races for a cure. We support her racing because it helps support many children and their families who are touched by this horrible disease. For information on SheaRacing and how Shea helps raise money to find a cure please go to shearacing.com.

What’s the best way for readers to contact you?

Email me at jen@jentalty.com

Thanks so much for speaking with me today, Jen! I’ve learned so much from your blog, and the success you and Bob have had is fantastic. Good luck with IN TWO WEEKS!

Thanks for having me!

Please take a minute to leave Jen some love. She works hard to help other authors, and I’m really excited she took the time to give us such great answers.

Jen’s Books on Amazon:
Rekindled
In Two Weeks
Jane Doe’s Return

Jen’s Books on Barnes and Noble:
In Two Weeks
Jane Doe’s Return

Jen’s Books on Kobo:
In Two Weeks
Jane Doe’s Return

Who Dares Win Publishing:
In Two Weeks
Jane Does Return

We all know social media is vital for today’s writers. We’ve been told by various social media experts that we must have a brand, a network, a footprint. I’m working on it, but most days it feels like a big muddy smear.

We need to reach out and be active on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It’s about connecting, not promoting. And I get that. That’s the easy part. I can jump onto Twitter and visit various #hashtags (#wewrite, #amwriting #row80 #pubwrite, #mywana) to find new and interesting authors to meet at any given time.

But the social media mountain is still slippery for me. Facebook, for instance. I have a Facebook page that combines friends/family/writing stuff. I’m slowly building my friend count and trying to connect. But then I was told to have the author page as well. So I have it. Out of 300-something friends, only 37 follow the author page. And really, what’s the difference between the two? Is it really necessary to have both? What are the benefits? And how do I get more people to “like” the author page, other than just asking? I HATE asking, unless it’s someone I know well.

And Goodreads. It’s a great place to connect with readers. Have lots of friends on there, too. But again, how do I use it effectively? I belong to some groups, but most of the discussions are the daily “how are you” type thing. Those are great, but we’re all pressed for writing time. There’s got to be a better way to socialize on Goodreads. I suppose I just haven’t found the right group yet–or haven’t paid enough attention.

Google+…haven’t even tried it. Worth the time? With a presence on Twitter, FB, and the blog, do I need to continue to stretch myself?

I’d also like to find a way to reach READERS. You know, people who aren’t writers but read the genre I write. Is Goodreads the only place for that? Are there other online groups dedicated to suspense novels? I confess, I haven’t looked for those yet. I’m still stuck on trying to figure out everything else.

Finally, there’s the blog. It’s doing well, and I’m grateful for all the great feedback I receive. And yet, I need to find a way to really put Thriller Thursday out there, to draw in more readers outside our blogosphere. I know the way to do that most likely lies with Goodreads and the outside groups I just rambled about, but I’m not sure of the best way to reach out, so to speak.

How do we promote without PROMOTING? You know, constantly telling people to read this and comment? The only way I know how is to join groups and just chat, connect, as Kristen Lamb says. But I still feel I’m not doing enough. I’m just not sure what the other ingredients are.

What do you guys think? For those of you already published, self 0r traditional, what have been your best strategies for effective social media?