Category Archives: Show Me Series

Show Me Series

Interview Posted on Writers Who Kill

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The upcoming release of Show Me the Deadly Deer prompted E. B. Davis to interview me for a mystery writers’ group blog, Writers Who Kill.

 

Among the questions E. B. posed were the following.

The law enforcement underestimates and undervalues two of your three main characters, which they use to their advantage. If this typical behavior?

When it comes to the political arena, your characters show their acumen. Is politics different than law enforcement?

Your use of internal dialogue reveals the duplicity and complexity of Phoenix’s life. How do you reveal without over justifying her actions?

Do you think women must team together to overcome the odds of prejudice?

E. B. posted my answers today, November 20, at www.writerswhokill.blogspot.com.

 

Kindle Edition of Show Me the Murder Released

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

In February, Five Star released Show Me the Murder in hardback ($25.95). In September, the publisher released the Kindle edition ($3.19).

Buyers save $22.76 on the electronic version! Plus part of a tree. The difference in price amazes me.  I’m tempted to buy the e-book myself.

I prefer to read newspapers, magazines, and (especially) books on paper. When I went to China, I took a Kindle with a small library on it. The Kindle provided entertainment (and language training) on the endless airplane flights. At home I reach for paper first. I hope I’m never desperate enough for reading material to read a novel on my iPhone.

Publishers used to put out the high-priced, sturdy hardback first. A year later they would release a low-priced paperback. Now many skip the paperback in favor of the e-book.

I don’t care which edition people read. I just want them to read my story.

—Carolyn Mulford

Working with Beta Readers

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

While writing a book and rewriting trouble spots, I rely on critique partners. When I finish the penultimate draft, I recruit people who read but don’t write mysteries. I give them the manuscript with ten questions and suggest they look at the questions before and after they read. Some answer all questions; some write comments on the manuscript; some write a book report. If possible, I take my beta readers to dinner to discuss the book.

 

The questions serve two purposes:

They cover the general and a few specific things I need to know;

They guide insecure readers and assure them they can give helpful comments.

 

The questions below, written for Show Me the Murder, follow my typical pattern, touching on such key questions as when the reader identified the killer and such specific ones as whether romantic encounters ring true. The questions never give away the plot. 

  1. Was what happened clear? Did you need more explanation of who did it or what Boom had done? Did the plot seem credible as you read it? 
  1. Were any of the characters unbelievable or inconsistent?
  1. When did you know who did it? Whom did you suspect as you were reading?
  1. Did any part of the book seem slow?  Would you have put it down if you’d taken it from the library? Did the book seem long?
  1. Did Phoenix’s scenes with Neil and Stuart ring true?
  1. Could you visualize the settings of the major scenes?
  1. Did you expect to find out who shot Phoenix in Istanbul?
  1. Were the three main characters appealing and believable throughout? How did you like their relationship?
  1. Were there any characters you couldn’t keep straight?
  1. What did you like the most? The least?
—Carolyn Mulford

Tips for Assessing Your Own Manuscript

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Every writer turns into an editor at some point, but finding the weaknesses in your own manuscript challenges any writer. Years ago I developed a visual assessment system to help freelance writers evaluate short nonfiction work quickly and objectively.

This week I’m serving on a panel at Killer Nashville called Be Your Own Editor. I’ve expanded my assessment system into the handout below to help novelists spot problems and begin solving them.

1. Riffle or scroll through your entire manuscript.

     If pages look gray, expect poor paragraphing, long descriptions, info dumps.

Watch for long sections with lots of dialogue or long sections with no dialogue.

2. Turn through each chapter.

      Do the same visual check as above.

      Summarize the chapter’s action in one sentence.

Read the end of each chapter to see if it propels the reader to the next chapter.

Read the opening to see if the reader who put down the book will be lost.

3. Look at each page.

      If you see only two or three paragraphs, expect to rewrite.

Check the first word or phrase of each paragraph. Openings should vary.

Look for periods. If most sentences are long or the same length, rewrite.

      Read the verbs. If they don’t tell you what happens on that page, rewrite.

4. Look at each paragraph.

      If a paragraph is more than ten lines long, it may contain an info dump, etc.

If you have many short paragraphs of dialogue, you may need more tags.

      Read the end of one paragraph and the opening of the next to check the flow.

5. Check the sentences.

      Be sure the strongest structure (subject-verb-object) dominates.

Rewrite most sentences beginning with  it’s or there’s.

If a sentence contains more than three prepositional phrases, rewrite it.

6. Study the words.

Look for excessive to be verbs and modified verbs (watch for ly).

     Ferret out verbs hidden in nouns, such as make a decision, give a recommendation, reach a conclusion, do an analysis.

Look again at nouns modified with more than one adjective.

Trace all pronouns back to the intended antecedent.

Check all it’s/its, there’s (are), there/their, your/you’re.

Use your computer to find overused words, such as shrug, nod, just, smile.

7. Read aloud to check sound, rhythm, and pace.

—Carolyn Mulford

Moving Book 4 to Phase 2

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The writing of Show Me the Ashes, the fourth book in my mystery series, has been going slowly.

Opening chapters always take me roughly a third longer than the middle ones and twice as long as the last ones. In the beginning, I’m creating new characters and settings, struggling to drop in essential backstory for new readers without boring old ones or slowing the narrative, and revealing just enough about the crime that will be solved in the next-to-last chapter.

Rewriting Chapter 6 a week ago, I realized I had to shift gears. I had been working from a one-page plot outline that covered mostly the beginning and the end, a list of characters, and general research on the plausibility of my plot. With Phoenix leaving the familiar streets of Laycock to study the key crime scene, I had to get down to the nitty-gritty.

To do that, I spent

  • two days researching arson and applying that to the crime scene,
  • half a day writing a timeline tracing suspects’ movements that night,
  • half a day visualizing and sketching the crime scene and the small town where Phoenix investigates.

Then I rewrote Chapter 6 and started thinking ahead. Time to go to the next phase, to figure out the pacing of the book—not just what happens but when. I do that by outlining scene by scene, chapter by chapter. Yesterday I outlined the first six chapters, all well beyond first draft but not polished, and then the next 18 unwritten chapters. That outline will change regularly, guiding yet allowing surprises.

My books run 32 to 36 chapters. By the time I write Chapter 24, l expect to know what happens in the final chapters.

Tomorrow I begin writing Chapter 7.

—Carolyn Mulford

Starting My New Mystery

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

When I turned in Show Me the Gold, the third book in my series, last January, I planned to send Phoenix, Annalynn, and Connie out of town in the next book rather than plague Vandiver County with a new murder. Busy preparing for the February release of Show Me the Murder and going over the editor’s queries for Show Me the Deadly Deer, I stewed about the time and expense of researching that new setting and its subculture.

I woke up one morning with the seed of a new idea: Let Phoenix work on a cold case, one that would put her in conflict with Annalynn. Over two or three weeks I built on this until I was ready to start the prewriting work on my next manuscript, Show Me the Ashes.

Before I write Chapter 1, I do a lot of conceptualizing and research. That doesn’t stop when I put the first scene on the screen. Here’s my basic process.

Step 1: Develop a nebulous idea enough to figure out the major things I’ll need to know and, the big question, what I’ll need to learn to make sure my idea is feasible. I usually end up with about 10 pages of notes on plot, themes, victims, villains, kill methods, and settings.

Step 2: Find key sources, human or written, to give me an overview and, if necessary, direct me to other sources. Often a manuscript requires repeating this step several times.

Usually I begin by searching for information on the Web or in reference books, including those in my own library. As in doing research for articles or other nonfiction material, I prefer to grasp the basics before I question experts. Doing my homework allows me to ask better questions and elicits better answers. That saves time for everyone.

If I know people with vital expertise, I contact them and ask to chat. Maybe I invite them for lunch or a coffee. (Friends tend to tense up if I use the word interview.) I end a chat/interview by asking if I can come back if I have other questions.

Step 3: Determine priorities and set up a rough research schedule. Decide what has to be learned before I start writing (facts affecting the plot) and what can wait (observations of a setting or activity that comes late in the book).

Step 4: Research small, unanticipated questions as I write. Something pops up in almost every chapter. If I can find the information quickly, I may interrupt the writing to do it. If finding the information requires times, I’ll boldface some x’s or a best-guess draft and come back to it later. (After the second draft of the full manuscript, I ask knowledgeable people to check anything questionable.)

 

From the middle of April until the middle of May, attending conferences and preparing workshops and speeches took all my attention. In late May I wrote rough drafts of the first two chapters.

I usually rewrite the early chapters several times before I’m confident I have the right tone and pace. At this stage I’m figuring out any changes in my four regulars’ lives, meeting new characters who are hiding their personalities and motives, and puzzling over how Phoenix will find evidence and evade the inevitable attacks.

Love it.

—Carolyn Mulford

Back to My Roots in Kirksville

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Can you go home again?

I’m going back to my hometown Saturday, April 13, to talk about the origins of my new mystery, Show Me the Murder, and visit from 2-4 p.m. with old and new friends at the Hastings, 1800 North Baltimore, 2-4 p.m.

More to the point: Can a writer ever really leave home?

Wherever I go, I carry my past with me. An unreliable memory may alter and even delete parts of it, but the essence of life experiences remains. No period affects us as much as our early years when we see things for the first time. That’s one reason the protagonist in my mystery series comes back to her hometown after living most of her adult life in Vienna.

Laycock and Vandiver County don’t appear on any Missouri map, but many people who live in Kirksville will find the setting, and the people, familiar.

—Carolyn Mulford

My Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

Week 32 is my stop on a blog hop set up to help readers discover authors new to them. On each stop, you’ll find an author’s answers to 10 questions about a book or a work in progress and links to three to five other authors. We include behind-the-screen tidbits about why we write and how we choose titles, characters, plots, themes, etc.

My thanks to fellow author Thomas Kaufman for inviting me to participate in this event. To learn more about him and his work, click on this link:  http://thomaskaufman.com.

Here are my answers to the questions of the Next Big Thing.

1: What is the title of your latest book? 

Show Me the Murder, the first in a series, comes out February 15, 2013. The title fits the plot and indicates the Missouri setting, but I arrived at that title only after numerous drafts. I started with a working title of Second Adolescence, an indication of my main characters’ age (mid fifties) and their crises and opportunities. Upheavals in their lives compel the three women to begin again much as they had as teenagers. My critique group hated that title. Several drafts carried the title Phoenix Rises, both an illusion to the protagonist’s first name and to the mythological story of the phoenix rising from the ashes. A lot of other writers liked a similar title. I kept looking.

Show Me is part of the title of each book in the series. The next one is Show Me the Deadly Deer (December 2013).

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

I got the idea from newspaper stories about outed CIA covert operative Valerie Plame during the Bush Administration. Having worked in Vienna during the Cold War, I could imagine the suspicion anyone she knew even casually would face and her anguished desire to protect both CIA contacts and friends. My protagonist, wounded on a post-retirement mission in Istanbul, loses both her day and night careers—and her home in Vienna. I lived in the Washington, D.C., area, but I was preparing to move back to Missouri. That led me to send Phoenix there and to research local problems when I visited there. I was surprised to learn that Missouri ranks at the top in meth use. This easily made, terribly addictive drug ruins many lives and strains the resources of rural law enforcement.

3: What genre does your book come under?

It’s a mystery with a lot of suspense. It cuts across subgenres, with an armed amateur sleuth, a bit of police procedure, and a rural setting often associated with cozies.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Ex-spy Phoenix is brilliant, athletic, and immodest with a well-developed sense of irony and a passion for fairness. She’s a little above average height and wears her black hair short for easy care and quick covering when putting on disguises. One possibility would be Jamie Lee Curtis. Civic leader Annalynn is reserved, aristocratic, and both intimidating and charismatic. She’s tall, wears her long brown hair in a French roll, and remains impeccable at all times. She has the kind of presence that Marcia Cross had on Desperate Housewives but with more warmth. Never-been singer Connie is short, blond, and trim with great warmth and considerable insight. Phoenix complains that Connie is irredeemably perky. Kristin Chenoweth could capture Connie.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A former covert operative returns to her hometown to relax but instead must use her skills to solve a murder—and to survive.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

The publisher, Five Star, is a fiction imprint of Gale, Cengage Learning, a giant in library and education publishing. Five Star distributes through bookstores (including online ones) but emphasizes library sales.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The first draft, roughly 123,000 words, took me about a year. The next dozen or so drafts took several years, including breaks for other projects. I cut the manuscript down to 89,000 words and, after several drafts, changed the point of view from third to first person.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Like every book and every writer, Show Me the Murder is unique. In the decade or so since I became serious about writing mysteries, I have enjoyed reading many mystery writers, among them Barbara D’Amato, Nevada Barr, Robert Crais, Earlene Fowler, Tess Gerritsen, Carolyn Hart, Joan Hess, Tony Hillerman, P. D. James, J. A. Jance, Laura Lippman, Margaret Maron, Grace Miriam Monfredo, Sara Peretsky, Anne Perry, Elizabeth Peters, Nancy Pickard, S. J. Rozen, and Julia Spencer-Fleming.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I’ve wanted to write stories since I learned to read. After decades of earning a living writing and editing articles, a wide variety of documents, and a few nonfiction books, I longed to write a novel, to create and populate a world.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I hope readers will enjoy watching the interactions of three old friends who’ve led very different lives for decades but come together as each faces a crisis. I suspect readers will love the dog, a Belgian Malinois who flunked out of K-9 training. Conceived as a walk-on character, he forced his way into the characters’ lives and my pages. In fiction as in real life, once you name an animal, you belong to it.

On Week 33 of the Next Big Thing, the following four writers will answers these questions on their websites/blogs.

Elaine Douts (writing as E. B. Davis): http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com

Maria Hudgins: http://mariahudgins.com

Karen McCullough: www.kmccullough.com/kblog

Erica Obey: http://ericaobey.net

Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions.

—Carolyn Mulford

The Publishing Process Nears the Final Stage

Carolyn Mulford Posted on by

The Publishing Process Nears the Final Stage

My heart rate jumped last week when I received two boxes of advance readers’ copies, uncorrected page proofs of Show Me the Murder. Nine years after a news story sparked the idea for my protagonist and thirteen months after I submitted the manuscript to the publisher, the final product is only four more months away.

I will read (aloud) one last time for typos and begin sending out copies to local, regional, and special-interest reviewers. The publisher will send out review copies to national publications, correct any typos, and print books for release in late February.

A year and a half is a long time in this age of instant communication, but that’s standard in traditional publishing. Here’s the basic process.

The pitch: I described the book to an editor at Killer Nashville in August 2011. She invited me to submit it. 

Submission: I submitted the manuscript in September 2011. A few weeks later the editor told me she liked it and had sent it up the line.

Acceptance: The publisher offered me a contract in December 2011. The legal department asked for details on what real places, people, and products appeared in the book. My interpretation: The lawyers wanted to be sure I hadn’t libeled anyone.

Contract signed: January 2012.

Developmental editing: This step typically focuses on big-picture issues, but in February 2012 the editor and I spent more time (roughly two weeks) working on style questions. (Most publishers have their own style manual, usually a variation of the Chicago Manual of Style.)

Copyediting: This step focuses on consistency of style, but in May 2012  the editor also caught a couple of content errors (e.g., a person in the wrong room).

Proofing: I read the entire manuscript aloud to catch typos, missing words, and similar errors in July 2012.

Cover: An editor emailed me the image in September 2012.

Final proof/review copies: My copies arrived in October 2012. I hope to find no typos. Why send out uncorrected review copies? Because magazines operate with a three- or four-month lead time.

Release: February 2013.