I like serial killers because I want to know why people do the things they do—specifically the really bad stuff. How can someone be so twisted up in their head they can torture another human being, especially a child? What happened to us in adolescence shapes who we are as people, and that’s definitely the case for some serial killers. But not all serial killers are equal (and not all are psychopaths) but they are all unique. This is essentially the basis for the hit Netflix show MINDHUNTERS, based on John Douglass’s book. The main characters are based on Douglas and another pioneer in the behavioral science unit, Robert Ressler. And please note, there are MANY more key profilers who helped create the BSU, including Robert Keppel and Roy Hazelwood. In the 70s, talking to people like Ed Kemper—having a real conversation with him without showing any disgust for his crimes—was unthinkable. But the profilers pressed on and changed how we catch and study criminals. The show is amazing. Highly encourage you to watch if you haven’t already!

But the crux of the show and their research is this: what are these killers thinking, and why did they do those horrible things? Kemper’s issues go back to his mother—when you hear his stories, it’s not a huge shock he became a killer. Others are wired that way. Gary Ridgway/The Green River Killer told psychiatrists he wanted to see what killing felt like, although he also had a serious lack of confidence around women and saw prostitutes as trash; Bundy wanted to control and frighten, and he wanted private time with the bodies; Jeffrey Dahmer had a substance abuse problem and issues with his sexuality but he had a normal upbringing and no specific triggers in his background. BTK was a family man who deftly compartmentalized his life into specific boxes, keeping careful not to allow his killing box to intersect his personal life, until his ego got the best of him. If you’re interested in Radar, read Katherine Ramsland’s book on him, CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL KILLER. She spent several years interviewing BTK, and the information comes straight from the source.

We know all of these things (and a whole lot more I don’t have space for) because of guys like Douglas, Ressler, Keppel and Hazelwood, and many more. We can never truly understand these people because we don’t know what it’s like to live in their heads. But we can certainly study and try, and that helps law enforcement catch them. And it helps writers come up with seriously scary villains.

Every one of my bad guys—including my Ripper character—is inspired by research into the dark and twisted. I certainly don’t compare what I do to the likes of Douglas and his cohorts, but I do try and understand as much of the bad guy’s psyche as possible before I start writing. The antagonist—and in my case, usually the killer—drives the plot. Everything the protagonist does is really in reaction to whatever the villain is doing, so it’s crucial to understand every little detail about him before I start writing. 99% of that backstory doesn’t make it into a novel. But it still shapes the entire story.

Have you read KILLING JANE? Reviewers are love!

Lucy is a vigilante killer of pedophiles, and her preferred method is cyanide. In the first few pages of ALL GOOD DEEDS, it’s mentioned that she’s taken this idea from Richard Kuklinksi, also known as The Iceman.

Kuklinski, according to the undercover detective who spent 18 months building a case against him, liked to carry a nasal spray bottle filled with cyanide and give his victims a spritz. When I first starting researching for ALL GOOD DEEDS, I had my doubts about this method, so I contacted the writer’s go-to forensic guy, Dr. DP Lyle. He confirmed that cyanide absorbed through the skin would definitely kill in a matter of minutes, and that many times it’s missed at autopsy unless it’s being specifically looked for. So Kuklinksi’s method worked, but his cyanide trick was just one of many. He administered it by injection, putting it on food, by aerosol spray, or with the Lucy Kendall method: spilling it on the person’s skin.

Enjoying his notoriety after his arrest and subsequent conviction, Kuklinksi appeared in two HBO documentaries. He also met with a number of writers, psychiatrists and criminologists. He liked to list his methods of killing: firearms; ice picks; hand grenades; crossbows; chainsaws; and a bomb attached to a  remote control car. The Iceman nickname appeared after his claim that he froze corpses to disguise time of death.

As a contract killer for Newark’s DeCavalacante crime family and NYC’s Five Families of the America Mafia, Kuklinkski claimed to have murdered between 100 and 250 men. The crime families dispute his role in any contract killings.

Kuklinksi told police he dismembered his victims, as well as burying them, placing the body in the trunk of a car and having it crushed at a junkyard, leaving bodies on park benches, and placing them in a 55 gallon drum.

Although Kuklinksi had a flair for the dramatic and claimed to have a role in killing Jimmy Hoffa–a claim with zero evidence–the undercover investigation into his activities resulted in enough evidence for him to be convicted of five murders in 1988. He received consecutive life sentences for these murders.

Kuklinksi died in March 2006 in the prison wing of St. Francis Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey. He was 70 years old.

SOURCE

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1

I’m not a killer. Or a savior. I’m just one person trying to repair the broken scales of justice one jagged crack at a time.

The crack I planned to eliminate tonight sat ten feet away eating nachos. His short, pink tongue darted out to slurp the gooey cheese off the chip before shoving the tortilla into his mouth. He smacked his lips when he ate. Licked his fingers and started over again, like a pig fighting for its mama’s teat. This coward wouldn’t be the dominant piglet. He’s the sort who would be shoved to the end of the hierarchy. The only way for him to feel powerful is to prey on the weak.

I flagged down my favorite waitress. Another drink was essential to the evening’s success. She grinned and started navigating her way between crowded tables.

Famous for its microbrews and restored tin ceiling with golden tiles that cast a warm glow over the entire restaurant, Chetter’s Bar and Grill was a hallmark of the historic Old Kensington area of Philadelphia. If I were in my twenties and still naïve, I’d probably love the place. But it’s too noisy, too full of people who can’t see what’s right in front of them.

A few tables to my left, a pair of middle-aged women tried to corral two hyper boys who were old enough to know that shaking salt on the wood floors was unacceptable. In between telling the boys to quit, the two women competed for shittiest day and sucked down strawberry margaritas. The bigger of the two boys had a red bouncy ball, one of those cheap things bought in any gas station. He took great delight in how the ball sprang back up from the hard floor. I waited for him to toss it at Chetter’s prized ceiling. Instead, he miscalculated his bounce and slammed the ball off his foot. It rolled three booths down and into the foot of the man positioned in the corner.

Nursing his beer, the man picked up the ball and examined it as if it were a rare gem.

One of the women–I could only assume it was the kid’s mother–snapped at the boy and ordered him to fetch the ball. Chin against his chest, he trod down the aisle and muttered something before sticking out a chubby hand.

The man, who looked like any other Joe Schmo off the street, smiled obligingly and gave the ball back. The middle-aged woman waved appreciatively and fluffed her hair. Brat boy shuffled back to his own table. Supposedly kids are more attuned to the things adults don’t want to see. Did the boy sense the evil he’d just encountered? Perhaps not, since the child was the wrong gender. He and his margarita-loving mother would go on about their lives, peacefully oblivious to what might have been.

The waitress finally reached my table. She wore stone washed denim shorts with carefully constructed rips in them–the kind I wore in my youth because we were too poor to buy new ones. She had the Betty Page vibe right down to her jet-black hair and the pin curl in her bangs. The men loved her too. Their eyes glazed over whenever she walked by, and I didn’t blame them. She never messed up a drink order, and her tables constantly smiled, even if the women who watched her strut away did so with wistful jealousy in their eyes. I liked her because she didn’t ask me how I was doing every four minutes. “What can I get you?”

“Martini, dry, please.”

“Your fingers cold?” She squinted at my hands.

“Circulation problems.” I flexed my fingers. Beneath the wool, the latex clung to my sweating hand. “Plus I’m a bit of a germaphobe. Gloves solve both issues.” Not to mention they were an essential part of my toolkit.

Tipping the glass made the liquid swirl beneath the bar lights. It sparkled. Dry. Two olives. Boisterous laughter came from several tables down. Twenty-somethings on a date, chowing down on potato skins chased with one of Chetter’s microbrews. I envied their youthful ignorance as much as I detested them for it. I wondered what they would do if they knew a monster was sitting just a few red booths down from them.

If they were like most people, the young couple wouldn’t believe it. Neither would the middle-aged women with the rowdy boys. A mistake, they would say. Wrong identity. Because surely that sort of person wouldn’t slither among them without their taking notice.

Living in the dark is a lot easier than facing the truth.

My gaze strayed back to the man in the corner–the man I’d come here for. Steve Simon sat alone. Facing the crowd, he casually tipped back his beer. Like me, his clothes were understated. He probably chose them as carefully as I did. For all I knew, he justified his behaviors. Perhaps he felt he was born this way, or that he was entitled. But I doubted he spent hours agonizing over his choices. That’s not how his mind was geared. There is no cure for the sickness he harbors.

A group of laughing young women strode into Chetter’s, and for a moment, I was painfully aware I was becoming invisible. At thirty-three, I’m nowhere near old, but the sight of them reminded me how quickly time races forward. Tan and toned, every one of them still had the glorious firmness of their early twenties instead of the creeping softness of the thirties. The women commanded the attention of all the straight men in the bar. Except for Steve. He never noticed the hot women.

Why would he? He has a fetish for adolescent females. The younger the better. Anything over the age of fourteen is too old for his particular kind of sick.

His file was burned into my brain. Molested his kid sister when he was fifteen, released at eighteen. A bid for possessing child pornography a year later, and then our well-oiled system sent him back to the streets. That’s when he got smart and started trolling online with the other cyber creeps. The Internet is the biggest double-edged sword in our technological history, but it’s not going anywhere. The sickos get sicker and more numerous. The Internet gives them a hidden playground, and privacy laws actually protect them.

Behind the group of beautiful women and waiting to be seated were a mother and her pre-teen daughter. Her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail and clutching her daughter’s hand, the women had the slightly frazzled look I associated with motherhood. Working mom or stay-at-home-mom, the results were the same: never enough time in the day accompanied by random bouts of sheer exhaustion.

The little girl was probably around ten, all legs and impatience. Shifting from foot to foot, her gaze never strayed from the pink phone clutched in her hand. She’d already taken off her coat and given it to her mom. The girl’s almost too tight shirt revealed budding breasts and the smallest curve of the hips.

My Betty Page server greeted the mother and daughter and began to escort them to their table. The nerves I’d managed to contain for the past twenty minutes rippled through me. The bottle hidden deep in my bag felt as heavy as a brick. They were going to walk right by Steve.

I knew his trick. I’d seen him do it repeatedly over the past two weeks.

Just as the mother and daughter passed, Steve started to cough. He quickly shoved his head into his right elbow, discreetly twisting so that he could watch the girl pass by. He didn’t blink, didn’t move. Just watched until the girl sat down. Then Slimy Steve returned to his beer.

The first time I saw him do it, I almost attacked him.

But all good things come to those who wait. My computer specialist–who is the main reason my turn as a private investigator paid the bills–spent the last few weeks trolling online to make sure Steve was still molesting girls. That’s my number one rule. I won’t touch them unless they’re active. That probably made me a hypocrite since I believed sex offenders couldn’t be cured, but I figured I should have some sort of code in this operation. My girl found him in an online chat room recently soliciting a meeting with a twelve-year-old. Normally I took more time to act, but Steve’s living with a girlfriend who’s got a ten-year-old daughter, so he was escalated to Enemy Number One. His sentence came when I had a former colleague check the system at Child Protective Services and found out someone at the daughter’s school had reported her sudden behavioral change. The revolting drawings from art class depicting an older man and young girl in positions they should never be in is what did the trick. While my CPS friend started her investigation, I began my own.

Family members of a pedophile pray for change. The truth is, it won’t happen. The experts argue whether it’s brought on by nature or nurture. I really don’t care what they think. I know what I’ve seen in a decade of working at Child Protective Services, and as far as I was concerned, the only thing that mattered is this indisputable fact: pedophiles can’t be cured.

So I’ve come for Steve.

Steve finished his drink. I needed to get ready. I liked a good routine, so I quickly ran through my mental checklist. Fifteen years ago when I was a nervous yet hopeful college freshman, I attended a seminar about success. The professor resembled the Gandalf of my imagination, and much of what he said was lost on me because I’d been busy dreaming about my freshman formal and of hopefully losing my virginity. But three sentences caught my attention.

“See yourself creating goals. Think of what you need to do to achieve those goals. And then, imagine the reward of hitting those goals.”

I still lived by those words.

Time ticked by. I needed to act now, or I’d have to wait another night, and I was ready to be done with this filthy business. Every night like this drained a part of my spirit, and the recovery time got longer. But I believed in my decision. At this point in my life, nights like these were the only way I could make any kind of a difference in this world. I tipped my glass, making sure to drain it to the last drop. I stood and swayed just enough to look tipsy, like my night was just getting started. Making my way to the restroom, I made sure to keep my eyes hooded and my smile inviting. Several men smiled back. Steve ignored me.

The ladies’ room had two stalls and both were empty, but a woman wearing too much makeup stood at the counter freshening up her lipstick.

I slipped into the first stall and waited. If the woman even noticed me, she probably thought I was either sick or doing what every woman does in a public restroom: waiting until the place was empty so I could relieve my bowels in peace.

Heels clicked across the floor. The bathroom door swung shut. I took a deep breath and steadied my hands. I didn’t enjoy any of this process, but the next few minutes were the most dangerous. Since I’m not a livin’ on the edge kind of girl, sometimes it was all I could do not to pee my pants when I started.

I checked to make sure the latex gloves hidden beneath the thin cloth ones were still in place and then put on the sweater I’d wrapped around my waist. Making sure my wrists were covered and all the buttons on the sweater fastened except for the top one–I didn’t want to look like an uptight drunk–I pulled the clean martini glass and the black vial from my purse.

I carefully poured the contents of the vial into the glass and then put the empty container in a Ziploc bag and into my purse. My pulse beat at my temples, and the sweater felt hot. Or maybe that was just the adrenaline. I took a moment to collect my spinning thoughts. Steve sat two tables to the right of the restroom, against the wall. He’d been sitting hunched over his beer just like he does every other night. Almost recoiled, as if he were ready to run from a beating. Probably a habit picked up in prison.

Now was the time for the inevitable doubts. What if I miss my mark? What if the reaction starts before I’m out of here? What if I get caught this time? I simply couldn’t allow them to creep in. Too many children hurt, too many kids lost, my own sister, gone. Because of men like Steve.

I left the stall, took a deep breath, and sauntered out of the restroom. My gait was again tipsy, head down far enough not to make eye contact while still allowing me to see the room.

Steve’s table was empty.

Experience was the only thing that kept me from stopping in my tracks. Getting bumped into wouldn’t be good for my health.

Damnit. He always finished his beers, and he’d just ordered another. Why had he left?

I couldn’t stand there looking confused. A cough, a slight stumble to the left, and I quickly hurried to the bathroom. The place remained blessedly empty. I slowly poured the glass’s contents down the toilet, making sure the liquid only trickled and left no splash on the seat. Just in case, I wiped it off with a cleansing wipe. I ran the martini glass under the hot water and then stuck it back into the plastic zipper bag in my purse.

So much for wrapping up this case tonight.

The crowd seemed to have doubled in the last few minutes. Steve’s table was already taken. I chalked up my bitter defeat and headed for the door. The waitress would probably remember me after tonight, which meant I needed a new approach to Steve.

“Excuse me, miss.” The man now sitting at Steve’s table spoke to me. “Can I buy you a drink?”

I sized him up. Nice clothes, the casually preppy type, with strong cheekbones matching his full lips. An attractive man looking for a bar hookup. “No, thanks. I’ve got to call it a night.”

He grinned, his smile listing somewhere between charming and arrogant. He stood to his full height–at least six feet, with broad shoulders and lean muscles beneath his long-sleeved shirt. Certainly easy on the eyes, and apparently not willing to take no for an answer. I was in no mood for a hookup, but my skin warmed with egocentric pride. It felt good to be noticed.

I moved toward the crowd, but he was faster, closing the small distance between us. Standing less than an inch away from him, I smelled the pleasant scent of his cologne and caught a glimpse of bright blue eyes.

“Please.” He stood close enough he didn’t have to shout. “I’d really love to talk to you about something.”

Anxiety licked at my veins. I plastered a sweet smile on my face and twisted to meet his eyes. They were really blue. And calculating. “About what?”

He leaned down until I thought he might try to kiss me. “About that cyanide you just got rid of.”

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Lucy Kendall lived her life in a strange mixture of carefully calculated moves and impulse decisions. Cracking the skull of the man who molested her sister and attacking her was impulse. Spending half her teenage years drinking and acting out were calculated cries for attention from her narcissistic mother followed by impulsive rages at her lack of concern.

The decade spent working in Child Protective Services before becoming a private investigator taught her two truths. One, CPS failed miserably in protecting children. Two, Lucy was more than willing to do it for them, meting out her brand of dark justice in spite of her own fear of death. But Lucy’s crusade is compromised when a self-proclaimed sociopath offers to help—and leaves her no choice but to accept it.

When eight-year old Kailey Richardson is abducted, it sets off a chain of events linked to Justin Beckett, a suspect in a life-changing case in Lucy’s past. The path she’s chosen since dealing with Beckett has been dark and terrifying—but she has no idea just how deep she will go or where the twisted road will take her.

She’s about to find out.

If you liked Dexter, you’ll love Lucy! The first book in my new thriller series will be available at all vendors on September 15th, but Kindle readers can PRE-ORDER NOW! This means the book will automatically load onto your device at 12:01 a.m. September 15th. How’s that for the early bird getting the worm?

CLICK HERE to PRE-ORDER

An excerpt from ALL GOOD DEEDS

“The Iceman.” Chris ignored the bait. “That’s your inspiration, right? The mob hit man who lost count at 200 murders. His method was easy and anonymous. He spilled the bad stuff, his mark got angry about it but didn’t do anything about the wet shirt or pants. The goods seeped through his the mark’s skin and twenty to thirty minutes later, into the bloodstream, and the Iceman was long gone. It’s brilliant, really. Great choice, for cold weather anyway, considering the health hazards. I just hope you’re more than a hit man. Woman, excuse me.”

My chest tightened into an iron cast, and my jaw ached from the hard set. If this guy knew the routine, he no doubt had proof. “Seriously, have you ever thought about seeking professional help?”

He ignored me and kept rambling. “Like I said, I’m a paramedic. And I’m observant. I saw you at a scene a few months back. You were standing to the side, in the middle of the onlookers. But something on your face gave you away–to me, at least. Guess I’m good at spotting my own kind.” He rested his chin on his hand and gazed at me with obvious admiration. To anyone else, we probably looked like we were on a first date and still stuck in the awkward getting-to-know-you stage.

“I’m not your kind.” He was nothing like me. I was just sick and tired of seeing a broken justice system routinely fail children who’ve already been treated like disposable playthings. So I did everything I could to balance the creaking scales of justice–the same scales many people want to believe are designed to protect the vulnerable in society. But those scales don’t shield anyone, even our most innocent victims. Their function is to balance the lines of bureaucracy.

Sometimes I have to fill the void.

He probably picked his victims at random and took them somewhere to torture them before finally killing them. If he was actually a serial killer.

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Let’s get something out of the way first, and that’s the fact that I am nuts. You don’t have to go on book tour for 7 months. Nobody goes on tour for that long. Heck, you don’t have to go on book tour at all.

But you might want to consider it. If not for 7 months, or 7 weeks, then how about 7 days? After all, 60-70% of readers like to buy books by browsing in bookstores. That’s a lot of potential fans for your work. Recent figures have digital book sales flattening while sales of hard covers are up, and trade paperbacks are holding steady. It’s really not clear which horse we should bet on.

Why not bet on them all?

Incorporating a real time, face-to-face dimension to your word-spreading efforts isn’t as difficult as you might think. And it adds something unique. As wonderful as the virtual world is—as much as it’s allowed us to spread our wings and “meet” people in places we could never reach—nothing quite duplicates the experience of hearing an audience member quote one of your own lines back to you. Or show you the page that got crinkled because what you wrote made her cry.

Taylor Swift says that one of her dreams was to stand on a stage and hear people singing her own lines. Here are ten tips that may lead you to your own Taylor Swift moment. And, if you’re not a fan of Taylor, no worries. Go out there and create your own dream.

1. Even if your book comes out from a major house, it may very well not wind up in a particular bookstore. Going to the store ups the chances that your work will be read—and hand sold for months or even years to come.
2. If you are self-published or published by a small press, learn the basics of the economics of bookselling. This won’t take long (I can even try and tell you). And it will allow you to offset some of the difficulties of having your book carried.
3. Just because they call them readings doesn’t mean you have to read. I have a suspicion that no one except our own children really likes to be read to for more than five minutes. If you do read, find a choice excerpt that shows your writing in its best light. A stylistically beautiful or suspenseful and grabby passage. But keep it brief. Audiences are more interested in the story of how you got published, or the Q&A portion of the night. If you have an interesting day job, hobby, or pursuit, tie it into your talk.
4. Consider pairing with another author. Joint events work double duty. Authors can combine their outreach efforts, and more than one author is often more fun for the audience. There’s a zing to an author give and take. Plus, if no one comes to your event, you can always buy each other’s books.
5. Book events don’t have to take place at bookstores. Consider libraries, schools, and book clubs, then get really creative. Have you written a historical or family saga? Genealogical societies are proliferating these days. Do you write a cozy mystery series? Craft shops and cooking classes might offer a great venue. Religiously-themed books may lend themselves to events at houses of worship. I’ve heard of writers planning events at quilting bees—or political protests.
6. Don’t forget that writers are readers. Writing organizations such as SinC, MWA, ITW, and SCBWI, as well as smaller, local writers groups and societies may be interested in helping to promote your event and in sending members to it.
7. Consider hiring an independent publicity firm. Although this will require some financial investment on your part, it can maximize the impact of in-person events. The right firm can get you dates at places you couldn’t get into on your own and garner local media coverage to bolster your time in any given area.
8. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all feature ways to determine where your connections live. Why not let them know you’ll be coming to town—or even plan an event based on where some of them live? One of the most joyous experiences for me on the road was seeing virtual friends become real ones as well.
9. Don’t underestimate the legs that simply doing events will give you and your book. Blog about your experiences, use them to connect to another interest of yours that your readers might like to know about. Take photographs of scenery, explore hidden road food joints. Getting away from our computers can open up a literal world of possibilities connecting us to readers.
10. Finally, be a good guest. Bring a small gift for whoever is hosting you. Be lively, engage with your audience. Remember that you’re not just making fans out there—you’re making friends.

Jenny Milchman’s journey to publication took thirteen years, after which she hit the road for seven months with her family on what Shelf Awareness called “the world’s longest book tour”. Her debut novel, Cover of Snow, was chosen as an Indie Next and Target Pick, reviewed in the New York Times and San Francisco Journal of Books, won the Mary Higgins Clark award, and is nominated for a Barry. Jenny is also the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day and chair of International Thriller Writers’ Debut Authors Program. Jenny’s second novel, Ruin Falls, just came out and she and her family are back on the road.

To purchase Jenny’s books (highly recommended), visit her website!

It’s almost Christmas, and I’ve decided to give readers a special treat! My sampler that includes excerpts of all my books, including an EXCLUSIVE PASSAGE of the final book in the Delta Crossroads Trilogy, Ashes and Bone, is available for free download via my website. I’ll be submitting to vendors soon, but I wanted my followers to have first crack. You can download the PDF below or from the link in the navigation bar. The sampler will always be free, as a gift to my readers!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Download Stacy Green: A Twisted Minds Sampler for FREE Now!

I never expected to be a success out of the gate–that’s a rarity and usually happens to someone with major house backing. My goal was to put out the best books I could and continue to improve my craft. After hiring a freelance editor who worked with Penguin NAL, I know I’ve done that. And every day I focus on putting out better stories. That said, there are those days when I wish for the big numbers of my more established peers. I do believe the key to building an audience lies in writing more books, and that much of the time and money new authors spend toward marketing is a waste, but that doesn’t stop me from sometimes feeling like I’m still on the outside of the ballroom, hoping to be allowed into the exclusive dance. That said, I believe in my writing 100%, and I have big plans for 2014.

So after a year in this business (and don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much a newbie), what would I tell someone getting ready to publish their first novel?

• If you’re independently publishing, put your money into editing. Do your research and hire a developmental editor – one with experience editing the genre you write. A critique partner is NOT the same as an editor, especially for a newer writer.
• Hire a separate line editor. This is different from developmental editor. This is about sentence structure, grammar, etc. A good line editor is worth the investment because they can prevent a lot of the grammar issues that seem to be a major issue with independently published books.
• If you’re going with a small press, make sure their editing is top notch. Read their books and look for quality of plot and grammar.
• If you’re going with a small press, stop and think about that decision. In this digital world, unless you go with a small press that has some pull with bookstores or marketing, it might not be the best investment of your money. Depending on the press, you won’t have much control over pricing and sales, and that makes a big difference. A huge part of the success of many independently published authors is working their prices and staggering their sales.
• Understand cover art and hire an artist who gets the differences between genres. This was a major mistake with my Delta Crossroads Series. The original covers were beautiful and professional, but they didn’t fit in with the suspense genre. My new cover artist finally told me that my books resemble Lisa Gardners, and asked if my covers looked like hers. When I realized that huge difference, the genre thing finally clicked.
• Don’t spend a bunch of money in marketing. I’ve learned the hard way that there isn’t much point in investing a lot until you’ve got at least three books out and if possible, an entire series. Readers are so inundated with options many don’t want to invest their time and money in an author until they have more books, and an entire series is available to them. I don’t read like that, so it was hard for me to get that mentality. But after taking a step back and listening to established (and successful) indie authors, I had to admit this was absolutely true.
• Write the next book. Invest your time in coming up with great plots and characters.
• Read a lot. It really does make a difference.
• Study what your peers are doing. Look at authors who’ve had successful book launches and see what they are doing on Facebook.
• Be accessible, and be grateful for every reader. Most of us are starting from the ground up, building an audience reader by reader. Embrace that. Get to know your readers and make sure they understand how important they are to you.
• Start a mailing list. Give those readers something special. You may have to play around and figure out what that something special needs to be, but a mailing list is a great way to build loyal readers.
• Keep writing. Don’t get boiled down in numbers. Don’t check them half a dozen times a day. Keep writing.
• Whether you have an agent and are seeking traditional publishing or publishing independently, you are a brand and a business. Don’t make decisions based on emotion. Do what is best for the long term career you’re after.
• This is a business. Most success stories don’t come overnight. WORK HARD. Be a student of craft and of the industry. Realize this is an all hours a day job.
• Stay positive. You are lucky to be following your dream and brave to be embarking down this road. Good luck!

Don’t forget about the Kindle Giveaway to celebrate my one year in publishing! Contest ends December 13th!

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Thanks so much for holding down the fort, Kass. Take it away!

While Stacy’s off gallivanting around the blogosphere talking to folks about her new book coming out on November 30th, she let me squat here asked me to come visit here at Turn the Page and talk about a topic near and dear to both of us at the moment–psychopaths!

Okay, you may be thinking that’s a little sick.

Let me explain. Stacy and I are so fond of psychopaths because they all too often play a very pivotal role in the novels we write. They are our bad guys.

I’m frequently asked, by students and fellow mystery/thriller authors, whether psychopaths are born or made. The answer is “Yes, all of the above.”

Lots of research has been done on this and that research tells us there’s a strong genetic predisposition to antisocial behavior, i.e., behavior that goes against society, that defies the rules, breaks the law.

This predisposition doesn’t usually come to fruition, however, unless that child is placed in a very unhealthy environment. Full-blown psychopaths always come from abusive backgrounds, with harsh and often inconsistent parenting.

Scientists are still trying to tease out some of the inherited components in antisocial personality disorder (the official diagnostic term for psychopaths) and how they interact with the environment. But here’s what we know so far:

• There seems to be something inherently wrong with the wiring of psychopaths’ brains, because they never develop much in the way of a conscience. Most children, by age five, are starting to feel guilty when they break the rules they’ve internalized from their environment. But not budding psychopaths. They intellectually understand what the rules are, but they have no qualms about breaking them. They don’t feel remorse or guilt.
• Another area where the wiring may be lacking to begin with is empathy, our natural ability to feel what others are feeling. Psychopaths lack empathy for others.The smarter ones may become quite skilled at reading other people’s emotions for the purpose of manipulating them, but they feel little or no concern or sympathy for others.This is one of the areas where environment interacts a good bit with genetics. On the mild to moderate end of the genetic predisposition continuum, the child often is capable of feeling empathy. With the guidance of a patient, loving parent, this empathy can be nurtured. I’ve seen a couple real-life examples of this! But in a highly dysfunctional abusive environment, that glimmer of empathy gets snuffed out early on.

• While scientists aren’t sure exactly what goes wrong biologically in the conscience or empathy development arenas, they do know that there are other inherited factors. One is a high tendency to be impulsive. This personality trait is about 60% inherited and 40% influenced by environment. A child who inherits a high tendency for impulsivity is going to be a challenge for the best of parents. If that child grows up in a very dysfunctional, abusive environment where little effort is made to teach self-control, he or she is going to be extremely impulsive!

• Also, the vast majority of people with antisocial personality disorder have learning disabilities, especially attention deficit problems. Seventy-five percent have full-blown ADHD (which we’re pretty darn sure is genetically transmitted). The ADHD child does not make the connection between behavior and consequences nearly as readily as children normally do (Please take my word for this so I can spare you the long, boring brain-malfunction explanation). Children with ADHD often don’t get it that what they just did is the cause of the punishment the parent or teacher is inflicting on them. From their perspective, the adult is just being mean, for some inexplicable reason.

Again, put a child with these learning deficits in an environment where discipline is very inconsistent and often way too harsh, and where out-of-control anger is often exhibited, and you end up with a very confused and pissed-off kid.

• A third genetic piece, and this is the biggie for those of us who write and read mysteries and thrillers, is that people with antisocial personality disorder (i.e., psychopaths) inherit a nervous system that is not easily stimulated. It takes a huge amount of stimulation for them to feel excitement, or any other feeling. Everyday life, that most of us find quite satisfying, bores them and makes them feel “dead inside.”

So psychopaths are constantly looking for a thrill that will make them feel alive! They may find it in a variety of activities–dangerous sports, reckless driving, drinking and drugging, gaining power over others in their family or in the workplace, stealing, pulling off a con or getting away with other criminal behavior, physical violence, sexual aggression… You get the picture.

One myth about psychopaths is that they are often brilliant. Nope, that’s a Hollywood-generated misconception. They run the gamut from stupid to brilliant, just like the rest of us. The dumb ones engage in high risk behaviors and criminal activities early on. They either get killed or get caught and spend a lot of time in jail (although not all criminals are psychopaths).

The smarter ones become politicians, business executives, lawyers, cops, con artists, etc. They may be very successful in their chosen professions because they are quite ruthless; it doesn’t bother them a bit to climb over others to get to the top. (Again, not all politicians and business executives are psychopaths, and definitely this is not most lawyers or police officers!)

Another myth about psychopaths is that they are obvious monsters or highly dysfunctional loners. Most are neither. Most look like everybody else on the surface. They get married, hold down jobs, may even be civic or church leaders! They figure out how to fit in, but behind closed doors they are seeking those thrills.

The BTK killer, Dennis Rader, killed ten victims in and around Wichita, Kansas. He sent sixteen written communications to the news media over a thirty-year period, taunting the police and the public. He was married with two children, was a Boy Scout leader, served honorably in the U.S. Air Force, was employed as a local government official, and was president of his church. –July, 2008, FBI symposium report on Serial Murder.

The degree of antisocial tendencies also exists on a continuum. On the milder end, we have the guys (antisocial personality disorder is twice as common in men as women) who get their thrills through sports, drinking and using recreational drugs on the weekends, and controlling their families. In the moderate range, we have more heavy-duty drug abuse, more violent behavior in the wife battering-barroom brawls category, and more of a tendency to engage in criminal behavior.

Many rapists and a fair number of those more ruthless politicians and business executives are in this group. This is where the bad guy in my latest novel falls (and then my protagonist, Kate, and her private investigator husband discover they have a second psychopath in their midst!)

On the severe end of the continuum, you have the very violent criminals, the totally ruthless business executives and politicians, those who are brutally abusive to their own families, and the serial killers. These are the bad guys that Stacy loves to conjure up in her thrillers.

Unfortunately people with antisocial personality disorder are 3% of males and almost 2% of females in this country. (Yes, you probably know several!) Fortunately, only a very small percentage of people with ASPD become serial killers. What would motivate your average run-of-the-mill psychopath to become a serial killer?

One of the most thrilling things for psychopaths is having power over others. And there is no greater thrill than having power over the life and death of another person.

Most often the serial killer starts out killing for financial gain–robbing people and then killing them to eliminate witnesses, for example–or they kill as part of a gang or drug culture they are immersed in. Then they discover that killing gives them a rush of excitement, and they start to kill for that reason. These are the hardest killers to identify and capture because their victims often have little or nothing in common.

Another major element is rage. Abused children grow up harboring a lot of rage about that abuse. The vast majority of them turn that anger inward and it becomes poor self-esteem and depression. A small percentage deal with that rage by becoming abusive themselves. An even smaller percentage, the full-blown psychopaths (i.e., those who have a strong genetic predisposition to ASPD), discover that killing is a great outlet for that rage. These are the serial killers who have a specific victim type. Their victims usually, in some way, shape or form, symbolize the abuser, or sometimes the passive parent who let them be abused, or the lover who jilted them and set off their rage.

A very small percentage of serial killers are not only psychopaths but they also have other mental disorders. They may lose their grip on reality completely and act out truly bizarre fantasies with their victims. These fantasies are usually based in some triggering event in their histories that tipped them over the edge into psychosis. (Note: psychopath and psychotic are two very different things, but they do sometimes coexist in the same person.)

You’re probably checking the locks on your doors and windows about now. Keep in mind that psychopaths are a relatively small percentage of the population and serial killers are a small percentage of that group. And totally psychotic serial killers are a very small percentage of that small percentage.

But… (You didn’t really think I was going to leave you on a cheery note, did you?)

Psychopaths feel little or no fear. That’s part of their high arousal threshold. The situation’s got to be pretty damn terrifying before they feel even a flicker of fear.

So they don’t fear going to jail, or even dying. Indeed, some view dying as the ultimate thrill! And they can pass lie-detector tests with flying colors, while lying through their teeth. Because those tests are based on the premise that people are anxious when they lie. Not psychopaths! They’re not afraid of getting caught in a lie, because they’re not afraid of much of anything.

Which brings me to the last Hollywood myth I’ll debunk before leaving you. Serial killers are not hoping someone will stop them; they are not trying to get caught. They would have to feel remorse in order to want to be stopped. And they are incapable of remorse.

But they will sometimes escalate to contacting the police or newspapers with taunts or even hints as to where they might strike next, or they may intentionally leave clues behind at crime scenes.

They do this to enhance the thrill! Killing is starting to lose its buzz so they have to up the ante.

If you’d like to read more about psychopaths and serial killers, check out this 2008 report by the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit (the real one, not the one portrayed on Criminal Minds, which is, by the way, one of my favorite TV shows).

If you have any questions, I promised Stacy I’d hang around until she stops gallivanting gets back later, so ask away!

Celebrity Status, A Kate Huntington Mystery (Book 4)

KINDLE

NOOK

PAPERBACK

A BLURB FROM CELEBRITY STATUS:

Kate Huntington’s new husband has built up a thriving private investigating agency and he’s attracted his first celebrity client, a pop singer whose anonymous stalker has a twisted concept of love. Before Skip Canfield realizes just how twisted, he involves first his psychotherapist wife and then their lawyer friend, Rob Franklin, in the case. Soon they are being hounded by paparazzi and someone is planting evidence to convince Skip that Kate and Rob are lovers. Struggling to deal with this onslaught of unwanted attention and a stalker who will stop at nothing to remove the obstacles in his path, Kate and Skip must face the reality that you can’t always keep those you love from harm.

WRITING TENSE ACTION SCENES

by Jodie Renner, freelance fiction editor, @JodieRennerEd

Stacy recently asked me how editing thrillers is different from editing other genres. That’s a huge topic, too much for one blog post, and would include differences in plot, characterization, pacing, word choice, and writing style, among many other considerations. For today, I thought I’d just talk about writing effective action scenes, which can also appear in romantic suspense, mysteries, action adventures, fantasies, and any other genre.

When your characters are running for their lives, write tight and leave out a lot of description, especially little insignificant details about their surroundings. Of course, if the details would somehow help them, then definitely include them.

Characters on the run don’t have time to sightsee or have great long discussions. Their adrenaline is pumping and all they’re thinking of is survival.

A few quick tips for writing strong action scenes:

~ Show, don’t tell (of course!). See my blog post on this topic.

~ Stay in the scene with the characters – don’t intrude as the author to explain anything.

~ Avoid lengthy discussions among characters or long, involved thought processes.

~ Cut out any little unneeded words that are cluttering up sentences and slowing down the pace.

~ Use short sentences and paragraphs.

~ Use the most powerful verbs you can find.

~ Show your viewpoint character’s sensory impressions to suck readers in more.

~ Show your POV character’s emotional and physical reactions, starting with visceral responses.

~ Show other characters’ reactions through their words, tone of voice, actions, body language, and facial expressions.

SOME BEFORE AND AFTER EXAMPLES OF ACTION SCENES, WELL-DISGUISED FROM MY EDITING:

(My bold-face so you can find the changes easily.)

Before:

Fortunately for Jennifer, the attacker was far enough away that when he attempted to grab her she sidestepped him and delivered a sharp kick to the outside of his left knee.

He grunted and fell back against the stack of wooden crates. He then got up clumsily, rubbing his arm, showing his anger at how easily Jennifer had dodged and hit him.

After: 

The attacker lunged at Jennifer. She dodged to the side and delivered a sharp kick to his knee.

He grunted and fell against the stack of wooden crates. He scrambled up, rubbing his arm, eyes full of hate. [or sneering at her. Or ….]

Before:

His facial expression changed from one showing loathing to one communicating unrestrained joy. Jennifer realized at that moment that she had made a fatal mistake. She looked to her right. The door leading out of the warehouse was about fifty feet from where she was standing.

After:

His expression changed from loathing to unrestrained joy. Jennifer knew she had made a fatal mistake. She searched for the exit door. It was to her right, about fifty feet away.

Before:Jennifer took the opportunity to step around the closing door and get outside.

After: Jennifer grabbed her chance to run through the closing door and escape.

Before: An inline skater came careening around the corner and skated fast towards them, shouting loudly. Josh shot a look back at Amy as he grabbed her arm and pulled her bodily to the edge of the street out of the path of the oncoming skater.

After: An inline skater came careening around the corner and barreled towards them, yelling. Josh grabbed Amy’s arm and pulled her out of the path of the oncoming skater.

Before: Moments later, another skater was coming at them at breakneck pace. This time it was Amy’s turn to save her companion as she pushed Josh flat against the gray-colored stone wall of the adjacent building.

[At times of stress, sentences need to be shorter. And leave out minor details, as Josh isn’t thinking that the stones are gray-colored right now.]

After: Moments later, another skater came at them at a breakneck pace. Amy shoved Josh against the stone wall of the building beside them.  [or just: against the building.]

Before:

Kate and Lauren ran down the tunnel to an open doorway, then up some stone steps leading to a stone walkway. Kate hesitated for only a moment at the top in order to jam the hand gun she was holding into her waistband and give her time to figure out where to run.

In front of them was a huge stone courtyard, which was too open for them to safely cross before the smugglers would come looking for them. Kate knew she had to find a hiding place quickly. Then it came to her.

“Follow me,” Kate commanded, running off to her left.

“Where are we going?” Lauren asked, as she ran beside Kate.

“To the ancient pavilion. It’s halfway down the east wall of the courtyard. From there, we can access other parts of the ruins if we need to escape from the men who I know will soon be looking for us.”

[First paragraph has too much minor, unnecessary detail. In the last paragraph, her language is too correct and formal, especially for someone out of breath and running for her life! And all that detail isn’t necessary, as she’ll be leading the way, anyway.]

After:

Kate and Lauren sprinted down the tunnel, then up some stone steps to a walkway. At the top, Kate stopped to jam the gun into her waistband and figure out where to run.

In front of them was a wide open stone courtyard. They’d never get across without the smugglers spotting them. Kate knew she had to find a hiding place quickly. Then it came to her.

“Follow me,” Kate said, dashing off to her left.

“Where are we going?” Lauren asked as she raced to keep up.

“To the pavilion. We can hide in the ruins behind it.”

Now it’s your turn – you be the editor.

Here are a few for you, readers and writers. How would you make these two unrelated sentences tighter, tenser and more powerful? Give us your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

~ He looked quickly down the narrow street in the direction they had come.

~ As soon as Chris started to rise, Nathan saw it as an indication he was going to follow, and started off back in the direction of the elevator, this time worrying less about his silence and more about haste.

Thanks so much, Jodie! Her newest e-book, Styles That Sizzle, is on sale for only $0.99 for a limited time. And remember, you don’t need to own a Kindle to buy Kindle e-books. You can download them to your computer or tablet and read them that way!

* * *

Jodie Renner is a freelance editor specializing in thrillers, romantic suspense, mysteries, and other crime fiction. Please check out Jodie’s website and blog, as well as her group blog, Crime Fiction Collective.

Jodie’s craft of fiction articles are published regularly on various blogs, and she has published two e-books on writing compelling fiction, with more to follow. Jodie’s two e-books, both in the series An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction, are Writing a Killer Thriller and Style that Sizzles and Pacing for Power.

I’m excited to have award winning author Vicki Hinze for our grand finale. She’s a talented genre-buster, and I wanted to get the inside scoop on how she does it.

Vicki has a great giveaway for you, too: digital or print copy of SURVIVE THE NIGHT (inspirational romantic suspense) or NOT THIS TIME (faith-affirming thriller) or digital copy of DUPLICITY (military romantic thriller) or MIND READER (paranormal romantic suspense).

Vicki is currently bracing for Hurricane Isaac, so she may be slow in answering your comments, but please give her time and keep her in your thoughts. And don’t forget to leave a comment so you’ve got a shot at the giveaway!

Changing Genres and Genre-Blending

Often writers set out on a course for their career and they develop the mindset to stay the course regardless of current market conditions or other career developments until such time as outside factors insist they alter their course.

This is a very human thing to do, but it is also carving a tough path for the writer to walk.

Let’s discuss why in practical, no-frills terms.

You write x type books.  You embark on the path to become a great author of x type books.  You’ve written a few and met with moderate success, and then:

1.  The market for that type of novel collapses.

This happens.  The market cycles.  A few years ago, historical romances were in high demand.  Then suddenly even the historical superstar authors saw sales drop significantly.  Many changed to write romantic suspense and/or small-town contemporary romance.  Why?  The market’s appetite became more favorable for those types of books.  Then still later, historical romance novels again found favor with readers.  Some authors changed back, some didn’t, and new opportunities opened.

Regardless of what type of novel (sub-genre novels, too) an author writes, there are times when outside factors impact readers’ appetites.  Market cycles are driven by reader demand, by interest.  Reader demand and interest are driven by events and all of the usual people, places, things that shape public opinions.

a.  The bottom line is authors can stay the course in what will for a time be a difficult-to-sell type book (a down cycle) and continue writing type x books and wait to sell or publish when conditions improve or

b.  publish anyway, knowing that demand is low and sales will be also or

c.  write something else that has better odds of finding favor with readers at that given point in time or

d.  ignore the market and write what the author wants to write anyway, hoping the market will eventually catch up.

It’s really the author’s call.  The choices are evident and the results of any decision are predictable.  Some authors simply aren’t interested in writing a different type of novel.  That’s their choices and calls, but it makes for a rough career path.

Some authors have broad interests and enjoy variety; they prefer to be flexible and cycle with the market.  That makes for a smoother path in ways yet unless the author prepares his or her readers for the transition, the author can face challenges on not meeting reader expectations.

For example, if your readers know you to be a thriller author and you switch to write cozy mysteries or romantic suspense, you need to prepare your readers for this change or they’ll pick up that first cozy or romantic suspense expecting it to be a thriller.  When it isn’t, they’ll be disappointed.

Even prepared, some readers will make the transition with the author and some won’t, because readers have preferences and they might love thrillers but not care for cozy mysteries or romantic suspense novels.  Now, readers who don’t read thrillers but love cozy mysteries or love romantic suspense can become new-to-the-author readers.  The better foundation the author makes for the transition, the greater the odds of success.  Still, no guarantees.

The thing to keep in mind is that markets cycle and authors should be aware of it and make deliberate choices on their reactions to the cycles.  They can only do that if they assess their careers or reassess them at points in time where reassessment is warranted.

 2.  Some authors are determined to hold on to the bitter end.

Authors often resist change.  They love to write what they love to write and keep writing it regardless of what the market does or where reader demand is at a given time.  There’s nothing wrong with that, provided the author does so deliberately for the reasons given in #1 above.

There is wisdom in writing what you love and if all you love is one type of book, then that pretty much says all that needs saying.  It does mean that the author is in for a career of peaks and valleys, and some would say, those peaks and valleys are coming anyway, so one might as well stick with what one loves. There’s merit in that, to be sure, and some authors have the fiscal luxury of following that path.  Some authors are also astute businesspeople who prepare for famine during periods of feast so that when sales are down, their fiscal needs are met and covered.

I hope you’re seeing the pattern:  whatever you decide to do is great.  Authors aren’t one-size fits all and their careers aren’t either.  The key pattern is to understand the writer and the market, prepare for shifts, and have reasonable expectations of performance at various cycle stages during them.

Too often what I see are authors who hang on to the bitter end when they’re forced to change or can no longer sell because they fear change.  Many don’t dub this as the root cause, but many do.  They feel they’re established in a certain genre or type of novel and they should stick with it.  Perhaps they have had moderate success and wish to build on it.  That’s a good strategy.  But if the author is lacking publisher support, or if indie, a successful marketing strategy, more often than not what happens is the author gets caught in a downward spiral.  Let me explain in a practical example.

Author writes x.  Publisher has a decent track record for selling x type novels.  They agree to terms and form a strategic alliance.  Author publishes three books and sales are less than expected for whatever reason.  So say that bookseller A ordered 20,000 copies of Author’s first novel and sold 12,000.  Book 2, Bookseller isn’t going to order 20,000 copies.  S/he is going to order 12,000.  Let’s say author sells 85% (sell-thru), which is a very respectable sell-thru.  That’s 10,200 copies.  How many books does Bookseller order on book 3?  Exactly.  Simply put, orders are based on sales of the last book, so the downward spiral becomes evident.

Now it isn’t just a lack of publisher support that can toss an author into a downward spiral.  As we saw in #1, it can be reader demand, market conditions, preferences.  All sorts of outside influences impact sales.

What happens often and is extremely difficult for the author is when to say whoa, time to make a change.  Knowing that specific point in time is only clear if the author is watching.  And too often, authors are so tied up with writing, marketing, promoting, social networking and doing the many other tasks that are significant to authors, they don’t notice the beginning of the downward spiral.  Often, they don’t see the spiral until they’re entrenched deep in it.

Publishers hesitate to address the matter until contract time because frankly it is to their benefit to work with an author who has a positive mindset during the writing.  There are other reasons, too, but nothing impacts creativity as much as the author’s mindset.

So you have an author steeped in the work who might ask but is given obscure information on numbers until it’s time to go back to contract.  Many are stunned to discover then that the publisher doesn’t want to go back to contract, or that an offer will be coming but at a greatly reduced rate.  Here again, you see the challenges that come to the author who is unaware of his/her status and support and sales.  I receive notes frequently from authors who are blindsided by the news that the publisher is no longer interested in seeing future works.

That’s business, pure and simple.  It’s about the bottom line.  Before you bash the publisher for that, ask yourself if you really want to form or keep a strategic alliance with a publisher who isn’t fiscally sound.  You want your publisher to be wise and prudent and responsible.  If not, the publisher won’t stay in business.  That’s the real bottom line.

So how do you recognize the downward spiral?  Look at the example.  If you’re seeing shrinking numbers and you’re told that the market is shrinking, that’s a sign.  The market is changing and fast.  But it is reshaping.  A few years ago, digital sales barely impacted overall sales.  Then they exploded.  And in many areas, our collective tipping point has been reached and we’re selling more digital than print books.

The author who willingly remains in the dark on the market and on how his/her books are doing relative to the market risks finding him or herself deep in the spiral.  It takes time and effort, but it’s a good investment in your career to assess and reassess.

3.  Authors, not just their books, grow and change.

You’re not the person you were when you started writing, or the person you were twenty, ten, or five years ago.  You’re not the person you were yesterday.  You are the person you are now, today, and your interests and desires and purpose for writing changes.

If you don’t assess yourself and reassess on a regular basis and not just when necessity gives you no choice, are you best serving yourself?

That might seem like an odd question, but it’s at the very heart of you, the human being, and that makes it critical.  Not important, not a suggestion that would be beneficial to follow (though it is), it’s critical.  Why?

As we experience and age, what most matters to us changes.  If we don’t assess, we miss the opportunities afforded us by the wisdom gained in our personal journey through life.  We might start our career writing x type books but something happens and we feel driven to write about it even though it’s very different than anything we’ve written thus far.

The key word is driven.  That’s a signal that we’re passionate about this new type of book.  And that passion and drive are signals that we’re hitting upon purpose.  While purpose can be physical, emotional or spiritual–and certainly can be all three–we might not make the connection between writing to our purpose and our personal sense of fulfillment and accomplishment–to success.

I’ve known many authors.  Some define success by money.  But for most, money isn’t enough.  It takes more to reach the contentment zone–a sense of purpose and worth in what you’re doing.  The earlier you recognize this and factor it into your decisions, the fewer regrets you have later on.

Some experts recommend you assess your career once a year.  Others suggest you have a five year plan.  I say, assess it as frequently as you must to stay confident you’re doing what you need to be doing to reach your vision of success.

I’ve always had a five-year plan that includes writing goals and publishing goals.  But I have to tell you that the market is changing so quickly, five years ago it was hard to imagine that the market and landscape in publishing would look as it does today.

More changes are on the horizon, and a lot closer.  That makes a five-year plan still valuable and the annual plan valuable, but it also offers the author the insight that even more frequent assessments are in the author’s best interests.

Understand that when I speak of a five-year plan, or an annual plan, I speak of a plan that addresses me on all levels–physical, emotional and spiritual.  While some things change at the speed of light, some remain steadfast, but one’s approach to them requires modification.  Things happen that impact methods and means everyday.

The benefit of staying in touch with yourself and aware of who you are and what you want and how you plan to get it is I hope clear.  Will things always work out as planned?  No.  Actually, rarely.  But because you’re focused and aware, more of what you’re after will be accomplished, and for real life, that’s pretty good.

PRACTICAL TIPS ON SHIFTING GENRES

Genre-Blending.  I’m a huge fan of genre-blending.  Combining common elements from two or three different but compatible genres.  My favorites are suspense, mystery and romance—and in all my novels, regardless of how they’re classified by publishers, you’ll find those three elements.

It all starts at author theme.  Every author has a theme.  The type of story that the author is naturally drawn to write.  Example.  Maybe you like small town, redemption stories.  Other world fantasies where the kingdom, planet, galaxy is spared.  Look at your body of work and you’ll recognize certain common bonds. My common bonds:  suspense, mystery, and a little romance—healing themes.

It takes all of that for me to love a book enough to write it, and that holds true regardless of genre.  I’ve written everything from books classified as science fiction, fantasy, military, suspense, psycho-thrillers, romance, romantic suspense—well, just about everything but horror, and no matter which book is it, those four things are in it.

So first identify your author theme.  Then look at your common elements.

The important thing to remember isn’t that you can’t combine elements from different genres.  You can.  I’ve done it my whole career.  The important thing is to combine the elements from the different genres in the way that best serves the story you want to tell.

You don’t give each element the same story weight.  If you do, you end up with a book that is not.  In my case, that’d be a book that is not a romance, is not a suspense novel, is not a mystery.  Books that are not are hard sells because they give a bit to all and not enough to none.

So look at the story you want to sell, determine which element best serves it, and give that element dominate focus.  Then bring in your other elements (genres) in a subordinate position.  One that mirrors or echoes the main element and reinforces it but doesn’t compete with it for more attention.

That’s the scoop on genre-blending, and the most effective method I know on doing it successfully.

Blessings,

Vicki

VICKI HINZE

Vicki Hinze is the award-winning bestselling author of nearly 30 novels, four nonfiction books, and hundreds of articles published in as many as 63 countries.  She’s recognized by Who’s Who in the World as an author and as an educator.  FMI visit www.vickihinze.com.