Random Jottings by Richard L. Mabry, MD

And The Winner Is...

2012-02-13T12:56:00.000-06:00

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my review of Michael Palmer's latest book, Oath of Office, or my interview with him.

My handy-dandy random number selector has chosen Jackie S to receive a signed copy of Michael's book. Because I wish everyone could win, I've chosen a runner-up, and will send a signed copy of my latest novel, Lethal Remedy, to Jan Marie.

Emails have gone out to the winners. And to everyone who commented, thanks so much.

Interview With Author Dr. Michael Palmer

2012-02-10T01:00:00.006-06:00

Dr. Michael Palmer is a man of many talents. He’s the author of sixteen novels of medical suspense, all of them international bestsellers. He is active in the International Thriller Writers organization and teaches courses for writers.

Michael is a specialty-trained physician who spent twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine. Currently, he’s Associate Director of the Massachusetts Medical Society’s physician health program. He is also a seasoned SCUBA diver and a bronze life master in bridge.

In addition to wearing all these hats, Michael is a devoted father, one of whose sons—Daniel Palmer—is now a multi-published author.

I’ve persuaded Michael to give us a bit of his time to answer a few questions. I think you’ll enjoy getting to meet him.

RM: Michael, you’re Associate Director of the Physician Health Services of the Massachusetts Medical Society. People may be unaware that all states have such committees or groups to assist physicians with mental illness, physical illness, behavioral issues and chemical dependency. It’s apparent through reading your novels that you have a heart for physicians troubled by these problems. How did you get into this work, and exactly what do you do to assist these physicians?

MP: Many years ago, my own dependence on alcohol surfaced. Caring doctors came to my rescue, and soon after I became sober, I began to devote myself to the same cause. Physician Health Services has a number of mandates in addition to educating doctors and the public. (1) Help physicians come to grips with the fact that they are sick and need to get well. (2) Design a treatment program to fit the doctor. If in-patient treatment is necessary, we arrange that. We do not do therapy, but we will match a doc with an appropriate therapist. (3) Where it is necessary, we will sign the doctor to a legally binding monitoring contract, and then supervise the monitoring.

RM: You and Dr. Tess Gerritsen teach a course for physicians who want to write. I first met you in cyberspace in connection with this course and a contest connected to it. What motivates busy professional people to steal the time necessary for writing? And what was your own impetus to tackle medical suspense fiction?

MP: The desire to express oneself in words is a strong one. I love to solve puzzles, and writing fiction, every sentence.....every word, even, is a problem to solve. I often take on challenges such as bridge and SCUBA and music. I decided to try writing after reading Robin Cook's Coma. The first book wasn't nearly as hard as all the ones that have come after it.

RM: You’re a proud father, and I know you always seem to make time for your sons. Daniel is now a multi-published author, and his novels are garnering great reviews. Was his getting into writing something you encouraged?

MP: I have always encouraged and supported anything my three sons want to do. Remaining non-judgmental and supportive is perhaps the most difficult aspect of parenting. I am proud of all the boys and the choices they are making. Daniel's success is absolutely thrilling, but in no means surprising. The kid has talent and drive and the willingness to be fearless..

RM: In a recent interview in Romantic Times Book Reviews, Daniel asked you a very important question for any writer. I liked your answer. Would you share it with my readers?

MP: That joint interview with Daniel was just great fun. Here is his question and my response:

Daniel: You’re working on your 18th book and I’m only on my 3rd. Is the passion to write still there, or is it now all about the money?

Michael: Nicely worded! You of all people know that I have never been able to motivate myself to do anything for money. Lack of money, on the other hand, is a different story. But back in 1978 when I started working on a book I titled The Corey Prescription, I had been in medical practice for five years and was doing okay. Believe it or not, the passion to write came well after I cashed my first royalty check. Before that I had a deep passion for doctoring, as well as for tennis, and SCUBA, and bridge. I went to Wesleyan in Connecticut with Robin Cook, and later trained at Mass General Hospital at the same time as he did. My writing was a hobby, born of reading Robin’s Coma and wondering if I could write a book half as good. Initially, I was driven by my obstinance and supported by the bedrock of my discipline. I never had even the wisp of the dream of being published. The passion to write settled in over a number of years, although it was almost always a pleasure and a diversion.

RM: Your recent novels have managed to combine medicine and politics. In Oath of Office, you add a third element, one that most of us never think about, and frankly—now that I’ve read the book—one that scares me. Would you give my readers a preview of the book, and anything you’d like to share about genetically altered food?

MP: The idea for OoO (as my publishers and I refer to the book) came at my high school reunion in Springfield, MA, where some of my former classmates were discussing the Oscar-winning documentary, Food, Inc., dealing with corporate influences in the food industry and the use of genetically modified seeds and livestock treatments. I watched the film and became fascinated. Alas, it wasn't too difficult to construct a very frightening thriller based on the subject. In the case of OoO, productivity of corn is modified by combining its DNA with that if the highly fecund flesh-eating African termite, Macroterminus bellicosus.

RM: And, as we wind this up, what is the best advice you’ve ever received, and what do you think is the best advice you’ve passed on to your sons?

MP: What I was taught in my early years is the same I try to pass on to my sons, the oldest of whom has written an as-yet unpublished novel, and the youngest who has written several screenplays, Never forget that writing fiction is hard!!! If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. And above all, be fearless when you write. Don't fear criticism or reviews or the feeling that you will never get the story or the words right.

Thanks for inviting me onto your blog, Doctor Richard.

Michael, it's always a pleasure to have you. Let me remind my readers that I'll choose one name at random from the comments left about this interview or the book review of Oath of Office I posted three days ago, and the winner will receive a signed copy of the book.

Oh, and in case my mentions of Michael's son, Daniel, intrigued you, stay tuned. I'll be interviewing him a week from today. You won't want to miss it.

Michael Palmer's New Novel: Oath of Office

2012-02-07T01:00:00.005-06:00

Last week, I gave space to friend and fellow author Mark Young, who has jumped into the self-publishing model. This week, it's a New York Times best-selling author who has made it via the conventional route.

Physican-author Michael Palmer and I became cyber-friends through a chance set of circumstances. Not long thereafter I read my first Palmer novel and immediately became a fan of his writing. I've been fortunate enough to receive an Advance Reading Copy of his latest medical thriller, Oath of Office, set for release on February 14, and I think it's one of his best. I'd like to give my readers a preview of my thoughts on this book.

Michael's last three books have not only featured medicine but have a political bent, and this one goes them one better. It not only has a doctor as a protagonist (two, if you count the President's wife, a no-longer-practicing pediatrician) and is set in Washington DC with a President who has a rather unusual mindset, but it also discusses a social issue that most of us don't even think about: genetic modification of the food we eat. Frankly, I had never considered the implications of this, but after reading Oath of Office, I certainly will.

Michael juggles all these subjects superbly, and keeps the reader turning pages--at least, that's what I did. The action is rapid, the scenario chillingly believable, and the end was unexpected but satisfying. The book occasionally makes use of a few words you didn't hear in Sunday school, but the plotting is excellent and the message of the book makes worthwhile reading. I give it five stars.

I'll be posting an interview with Michael on Friday, and we'll discuss his work with the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services, working with physicians troubled by mental illness, physical illness, behavioral issues and chemical dependency. Michael's son, Daniel, is now a respected novelist himself, and I'll be asking Michael how he feels about that. And you'll want to see what Michael says about the role money plays (or doesn't play) in his writing.

Oh, yes--there's a bonus. Via my trusty random number generator, I'll choose one of the comments responding to this post or the interview on Friday to receive an autographed copy of Oath of Office (courtesy of Michael and his publisher). So be sure to leave a comment, and make sure I can get your email address, either from your blogger profile or by leaving it in the comment body.

Mark Young On Changes In Publishing

2012-02-03T01:00:00.011-06:00

I'm giving author Mark Young more space to expound on his experience and his views of self-publishing and e-publishing. If you missed his earlier interview, I'd encourage you to go back and read it. For those of you who are eagerly awaiting words of wisdom from me, I'm guest blogging today at the ACFW Blog on some research habits that get under my skin. Check it out.

Now, here's Mark.

Because I’ve self-published my books, Richard asks if I’ve encountered prejudice over “short-cutting the traditional process,” I think there will always be a certain amount of prejudice lurking out there in the writing community. I understand where some might think that writers like myself have taken the shortcut to publishing without being ‘vetted’ by the traditional publishing process. However, I believe a lot of writers are finally opening their eyes to publishing possibilities not available just a few years ago. Couple these changes with the reality that the traditional publishing road has drastically changed over the last few years. There are less and less opportunities—particularly for new authors—for writers to carve out their niche in the traditional writing game in a face of a significant economic downturn.

And this is not limited to new writers. Last march, New York Times bestseller Bob Mayer wrote an article titled “I was wrong, Konrath was Right,” referring to indie author Joe Konrath, a self-publishing advocate who has been in the forefront of a movement to confront these prejudices about self-publishing. In the article, Mayer admitted he dug his heels in against Konrath’s assertions that traditional publishing’s view of eBooks continues to be flawed and midlist authors are going to get hammered.

At the time, Mayer had twenty years invested in traditional publishing, with over 40 titles and a major deal with St. Martins for a co-written paperback coming out in a few months. He did not want to change, but he had been through “the midlist wringer several times over” where he got dropped and then picked up again and again. He saw the industry starting to downsize, limiting the number of contracts with midlist authors while choosing to invest their limited capital on proven, big named authors. Konrath’s assertions began to make sense to Mayer. He finally succumbed, creating his own publishing company to begin to take advantage of digital publishing opportunities such as increased royalty rate percentages, plus many marketing, design, and distribution opportunities. Soon, Mayer saw his books posted on Amazon’s coveted Top 100 list on a regular basis. And his books never went out of print.

Mayer is not alone. Another NYT bestseller, Barry Eisler, raised a lot of eyebrows when he turned down a half-million dollar deal with a major publisher to become an indie author. A few months later, Eisler again raised more controversy when he signed with Amazon’s publishing imprint, Thomas & Mercer, once again demonstrating the diversity of opportunities for authors arising in the publishing industry. In the same year, paranormal/romance author Amanda Hockings—a new indie author— drew attention when she began a stellar climb in sales in just a matter of months. She finally signed with a major publisher for a substantial amount of money, stating to some disgruntled readers that she just wanted to concentrate on her writing and let someone else deal with other aspects of publishing.

And the list goes on. There is not just one single road to publishing. The choices range from traditional to self published, and a variety of choices between the two. New services are emerging where authors can team up with others to enter into modified publishing agreements, in a sort of a smorgasbord of options to fit an author’s particular needs.

Yes, I do believe attitudes are changing, among many readers and authors—if not from traditional publishers. However, with this freedom of indie publishing comes a responsibility to make the novel as professional as any of those released by major publishers. Authors need to be prepared to pay the cost for solid editing services, as well as formatting and design expenses, while continuing to push themselves to develop their writing craft.

Thanks, Mark. I think your last sentence is very important for anyone considering self-publishing. Now I'll ask my readers to sound off. What do you think of self-publishing and e-publishing? I'd like to know.

Mark Young: Off The Grid

2012-01-31T01:00:00.006-06:00

In March of last year, fellow author Mark Young visited here to tell us why he e-published. Now he's back to tell us about his experiences, and give us a preview of his next e-book, Off The Grid.

RM: Mark, it’s been almost a year now since you decided to launch out with an e-published book, Revenge. At the time, there seemed to be a bit of prejudice in the writing community against authors who were short-cutting the traditional process and going directly to electronic publishing. Do you think that’s changed now?

MY: First, thanks for having me back to your blog, Richard. I know it is a risk rubbing shoulders with indie authors like myself since I hear we might be considers usurpers by the publishing industry. Seriously, though, it is always a pleasure to meet and interact with your readers.

Regarding your question about prejudice and “short-cutting the traditional process,” I think there will always be a certain amount of prejudice lurking out there in the writing community. But I believe attitudes are changing, among many readers and authors—if not from traditional publishers. However, with this freedom of indie publishing comes a responsibility to make the novel as professional as any of those released by major publishers. Authors need to be prepared to pay the cost for solid editing services, as well as formatting and design expenses, while continuing to push themselves to develop their writing craft.

(Note: Mark provided a lengthy explanation of his views on the subject. I'll have it as a separate guest post on Friday. Stay tuned. RLM)

RM: Is your novel only available in e-Book format?

MY: Actually, my novels are published in both digital and print formats. Since my primary market is eBook sales, I have reversed the publishing order by releasing eBooks before the print books. I hope to have this publishing process fine tuned someday where I simultaneously release eBook, print books, and possibly other formats. Revenge, my first novel, is available in both digital and print format. Off the Grid, released last December 20^thin digital format, will be in print version in about a month. A majority of my readers are acclimated to the eReader, with only a few waiting until the print comes out.

RM: You admitted in that previous post that you had a lot to learn about e-publishing. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned and the things you wish you had done differently?

MY: The eBook publishing industry is constantly changing. I’ve learned that a writer must constantly change with it, particularly those of us who have chosen to follow an indie publishing path. Authors who have had the opportunity to follow a traditional publishing path can rely on in-house sources for marketing, pricing, advertising and sales distribution. Indies must do it all, or pay someone to provide these services. In that vein, I’ve made a few mistakes along the way. For example, getting a completed eBook into the hands of reviewers before the release date has been challenging. I am still working on this process, though I feel at this point it is more important to get my next novel finished and available to readers as quickly as possible, and then work on getting reviewers interested in reading and commenting on this work as time allows.

RM: You worked with an independent editor on this book. How do you think that influenced you as a writer of fiction? What would you tell other writers who are considering using an editor?

MY: My opinion is that working with a good editor makes all the difference in the world. Editors are able to take an objective view of your work, suggest ways to make the novel cleaner and crisper, and catch things that may have slipped your attention. I had the privilege of working with freelance editor Julee Schwarzburg on my latest novel. It was a real delight to have someone of her caliber work alongside me to raise my novel to the next level.

RM: Tell us a bit about Off the Grid.

MY: Murders, bombings and a cryptic message force police detective Gerrit O’Rourke to live Off the Grid for his own survival. At stake—the security of the United States.

Gerrit joined the Seattle police department seven years ago after his parents were killed in a car bomb in that city. The case is still open. The killers still at large. Mysteriously recruited to retrieve information vital to the U.S. interests, Gerrit discovers the murdered body of a scientist in a Vienna, Austria apartment. This discovery—coupled with an intercepted message about a mysterious operation called Project Megiddo—hurls Gerrit into an international conspiracy that forever changes his world.

Facing overwhelming odds, Gerrit and his small band of fighters move within the shadows of a global conflict in which trust becomes a matter of life and death for his team. Gerrit’s past as a former combat U.S. Marine and his special scientific skills are matched up against opponents whose resources seem unlimited. Advanced technologies are the tools; global supremacy the goal. Gerrit must learn to fight and survive in an Orwellian future that begins today.

RM: I notice a change in your blog title and format. Can you explain that to my readers?

MY: I lost my mind and created two blogs. My first blog, titled Hook’em& Book’em “where mystery readers, writers and law enforcement connect” began two years ago, will continue to be a place where readers can interact with mystery writers, cops and those in the publishing industry. Last month, I began a new blog titled “Mark Young:Arresting fiction…one character at a time.” This new blog will be written in a more personal, intimate manner for those who enjoy my novels. For example, my first article last month was titled “What A U.S. Marine Taught My Daughter About Life,” concerning an encounter we had at a local fair, and how it dovetailed with my new novel Off the Grid.

I changed the look of Hook’em & Book’em and updated the design template. The Mark Young: Arresting fiction…is fresh out of the box.

RM: And what’s next for Mark Young?

MY: Once my computer gets back from a repair shop hidden somewhere in New Jersey, I’ll begin firming up the OTG sequel, The Daemon Files, which is scheduled for release later this year. The technology war waged in OTG continues in this sequel as Gerrit and his team try to stay alive long enough to identity the enemy as they watch the future of mankind unfold. After that, I plan on releasing the first of a new series, titled Broken Allegiance: A Tom Kagan Novel, about a California homicide detective thrown into the middle of gang war. It is loosely based upon my experiences working with other cops as we investigated criminal street gangs and prison gangs throughout the U.S.

Mark, thanks for being with us. We'll be watching closely as you continue your journey into the world of e-publishing.

Who Influences You?

2012-01-27T01:00:00.003-06:00

Kay and I often prefer watching movies on DVD, rather than at the movies. We're willing to wait for the buzz to die down and enjoy the entertainment in the comfort of our home. Besides, if we don't like the movie, I just eject the disk and we move on. It costs less than a box of popcorn, and when the movie's over, we're already home.

The problem we've encountered is the same one we would have if we were choosing to go to a movie house. Which movies should we see? There have been so many instances when critics have said a movie was "must see," yet I've known after fifteen minutes that my money has been wasted. On the other hand, we've absolutely loved some movies that critics roundly panned. Recommendations from friends and family? Same thing. The fact is that tastes differ.

Of course, this isn't just true of movies. It holds true of plays, music, books, clothes, and so many other things. We make choices based on our personal preferences, but those are influenced by others. And that brings me to the question of the day: who influences you in choosing a book? What makes you pick a book off the shelf at your favorite local bookstore and shell out your money for it at the cash register? If your tastes run to ebooks, what influences you to click that button that costs you anything from a small amount to a significant one to purchase the book? Do recommendations from others help, or do you prefer to make up your own mind?

Bring it on. I'd like to hear what you have to say on the subject. Thanks for participating.

Previews of coming attractions: Next week I'll have an interview with fellow author Mark Young, who has self-published two books, followed by a guest post in which Mark explains why he chose the self-publishing route.
The week after that, I'll review the latest book from New York Times best-selling author of medical suspense, Michael Palmer, and share an interview. Hope you'll come back for it all.

Interesting Information Along The Journey

2012-01-24T01:00:00.001-06:00

I read widely in the field of mystery, suspense, and thrillers. That's probably why I write what I do. Among my favorite writers are those creating in the noir genre--Lawrence Block, Donald Westlake, and the recent work of James Scott Bell. I recently acquired a copy of Westlake's last novel featuring his anti-hero, Parker. I love it, although if you're thinking of reading it, I have to warn you that it reeks of violence and very few of the characters get out alive.

But I digress. The book, Butcher's Moon, contains a new foreword by Lawrence Block, who was both friend and colleague to Westlake. Block describes Westlake telling him he was writing what he called "narrative push." He sort of got the ball rolling to see where it would take him. Nowadays we call that SOP (seat of the pants) plotting. As further explanation, Block quotes Theodore Sturgeon, who said that if the writer doesn't know what's going to happen next, the reader certainly can't. Since I've written four novels using this technique, I applauded Sturgeon--whoever he was--and decided to look further.

Although Wikipedia isn't always accurate, it's generally fun. And Wikipedia told me that Theodore Sturgeon was a prolific science-fiction writer, including Star Trek episodes, as well as ghost-writing one of the best Ellery Queen mysteries. From there, it took me to Sturgeon's Law, which essentially says that "90% of science fiction is crud--but, then again, 90% of everything is crud."

Is there a moral to this story? I think so. I learned that my writing method isn't "SOP," it's "narrative push." I discovered that Theodore Sturgeon came up with the Vulcan hand sign popularized on Star Trek. And I realized that it's possible to get way off track when doing online research. But it's sure fun.

Have you had any similar experiences of wandering away when doing research? Want to share?

Board Meetings

2012-01-20T01:00:00.000-06:00

This is the week for the meeting of the Board of the American Christian Fiction Writers. This is my second year as Vice-President of the organization, and I must say that I've learned a lot. Unfortunately, just about the time we think things are running smoothly, our ship turns into the Titanic, and we're off again, bailing with one hand and wrestling the tiller with the other.

I've been on a number of Boards. During my years in medicine, I served as President or Vice-President of each of our major professional specialty organizations. I've been Chairman of Deacons at a church. And wherever I've had the opportunity to serve in this capacity, I've come to believe in the truth of the old adage: A camel is a horse put together by a committee. Decisions are tough, and agreement is hard to come by.

Now, I'm writing this before our Board meeting, so I have no axe to grind (yet). But I can assure you that there will be some spirited discussion before decisions are made. And that's not necessarily bad. The only way for an organization to move forward is to consider all the options, some of which are so far out of the box that the lid won't close, then choose what appears to be the right one and don't look back.

And I hope that our organization--make that any organization--will never be guilty of being bound up by the complaint no CEO, President, or other person charged with leadership ever wants to hear: "But we've always done it that way."

Have you ever considered that you're actually the Chairman of the Board for your life? Do you just react to circumstances, or do you think about your actions and make careful decisions (some of them outside the box)? I'd like to know.

So You Think You Know About Publishing

2012-01-17T01:00:00.001-06:00

The following is republished with permission from the blog of Terry Cordingley. Terry is the Associate Marketing Director at Tate Publishing. This information will be interesting for writers, both published and aspiring, but it’s probably going to open a few eyes of readers, who think that writing a book is the hard part. Here’s what Terry says:

There are a lot of misconceptions about the publishing industry. New authors publishing their first book usually have an idea of how things "should" work, but these are ideas that typically are rooted in how the publishing industry used to work, or are based upon things they may have read online that just aren't true.

With that in mind, I thought I would address the Top 10 things new authors should know about the publishing industry, and explain how things really work. Hopefully, this will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration.

1. Books are not automatically stocked by bookstores. In 2010, more than 3 million ISBN numbers were assigned. That means three million different book titles. The average large bookstore stocks about 110,000 titles. Not every title that is released is going to be stocked by a bookstore.

2. Publishers don't control which books get stocked in bookstores. Bookstores decide for themselves which books they will stock.   The publisher can't make them stock anything. Publishers submit titles, make them available for distribution and in some cases pay for shelf space, but they do not decide which titles you see in a bookstore.

3. Most books are not sold in bookstores. Bookstores sell a lot of books, but most books are sold online or through retailers other than traditional bookstores.

4. If your book doesn't have an ISBN or distribution, it's not going to get sold through a bookstore. If you are looking for wide availability for your book, it has got to have the kind of distribution publishers can provide. There are some titles that are the exception, but that is just what they are: rare exceptions.

5. Ebooks are not replacing printed books…yet.   According to the last figures I saw, ebooks were about 12 percent of the book market.

6. Pricing your ebook at 99 cents doesn't mean you'll sell a million copies. These gimmicky sales strategies work a handful of times. By the time you have heard about it, it has been done and everyone else has gotten the same idea. Only eight authors have sold more than a million copies for the Kindle on Amazon. That's right. Eight.

7. Low book prices don't necessarily translate to higher sales. This past weekend I shopped at a bookstore that was going out of business. Every book on the shelf was one dollar. There were still many books on the shelf that had not sold, not even for a dollar. If a book is too cheap, many readers wonder "what's wrong with it?"

8. For the most part, selling books is a slow process. Many authors expect to sell thousands of books the moment they reach their book's release date. If nobody knows about your or your book before the release date, they aren't going to know on the release date, either. It takes time to build your reputation as an author, and sales. I bought a business book at the $1 sale I mentioned earlier, and after reading it I thought, "this is a pretty good book." I checked the sales ranking on Amazon: it was ranked in the 1 million-plus range, meaning it's not moving many copies through Amazon, if any.

9. The average book title in the U.S. sells about 200 copies. More than 651 million books were sold in the U.S. in 2011, according to Nielsen bookscan. If the 2010 numbers hold up and about 3 million titles were released, that means the average book title sold about 217 copies last year. The number could be lower, because that 3 million titles figure is only taking into account new titles being released, not titles that were released in previous years that sold in 2011. A book by a new unknown author is generally considered a success if it sells 5,000 or more copies, UNLESS it's a book released by a celebrity of some kind, then those numbers would be considered dismal.

10. There is no magic formula for selling books. I often hear from authors who ask me to tell them how to quickly sell thousands and thousands of books, or make their book a bestseller. Here is the secret: write good books, target your niche audience, and work really, really hard to make you and your book known.   You'll sell books, but there is no guarantee you'll become a bestselling author.

Of course, I have covered a lot of this information before in previous blog posts, but I thought it would be helpful to compile a Cliff's Notes version here that would address some common misconceptions. You can have success as an author even if your book isn't in every bookstore in the country, or you aren't featured on a national TV or radio show. The publisher I work for recently had a title on the NY Times Bestseller list for non-fiction, but I work with authors who have sold many more copies than that title has, although they have been at it for a longer period of time. Remember, patience and persistence win the day!

Thanks, Terry for letting me share this information. I found it fascinating (and, as a published author, a bit disturbing). What did Terry say that surprised you?

The Tebow Phenomenon

2012-01-13T01:00:00.001-06:00

One highly talented professional athlete has caused the introduction of a new term this year: Tebowing. According to the "official site" for this phenomenon, to Tebow is to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.

There's no question that Tim Tebow is an accomplished athlete. As I write this, he and his Denver Broncos teammates are preparing to play David to the Goliath of the New England Patriots this weekend. I've watched a few of the Broncos games, and although he has some maturing to do, there's no question that Tebow has the potential to be a standout quarterback. And I'm delighted that he feels comfortable with a public display that underscores his thanks to God for his talent and the opportunity to use it. As memory serves, other professional athletes have done the same.

Even before Tebow hit the spotlight, I was delighted to hear after-game interviews in which players mentioned "being blessed" with talent, and thanking God for what He's done for them. Seeing players from both teams kneeling in prayer at the 50 yard line after a game has gladdened my heart on more than one occasion. And the spectacle of football players joining in prayer when one of their number lies seriously injured on the field brings a lump to my throat every time I see it. I have no problem with any of that.

So, here's my question. Is the publicity (or is it notoriety?) that Tebow's actions have brought about a good thing? What's your opinion about Tebowing? I'd really like to know how you feel.

Oh, and--with apologies to my friends in New England--go, Broncos.

How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall?

2012-01-10T01:00:00.001-06:00

You've probably heard it before--it's an old joke. A tourist stops a young man on the streets of New York and asks, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" The young man shifts his violin case to the other hand, wipes his brow, and says, "Practice, practice, practice."

It borders on the ridiculous, which is why it's funny, I guess. But the story is no more ridiculous than the question published authors get asked all the time. And the answer is pretty much the same.

It's always interesting to talk with readers, whether in a group or singly. And after the usual questions--where do you get your ideas? how do you go about getting a publisher?--there's usually at least one person with a variation of this story. "I have an uncle/friend/golf partner who wants to write a book. What advice would you give them?" And I'll fall back on a variant of the Carnegie Hall story. Practice, practice, practice.

Imagine sitting down and stringing together 60 or 70 or 80 or 100 thousand words. Tough? Yes. But that isn't enough. I minored in English in college. I've written or edited a number of medical textbooks and had more than 100 professional papers published. And when I started trying to write, I found that I knew almost nothing about writing fiction.

The writer must learn to avoid passive voice, to keep point of view consistent, to constantly consider story arc, to maintain the interest of the reader through every scene, to avoid adjectives and adverbs in favor or strong verbs and nouns. And these are just a few of the "rules" of writing. And notice I said "learn." Not just read through and say, "that's nice," but learn, as in make them a part of what you do.

And then comes the practice. When I decided to start back playing golf, I went to a pro, who reminded me that practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. Otherwise, you're just setting bad habits into your muscle memory. The same goes for writing. The writer has to submit his/her work for critique by someone who is expert enough to give good advice. Aunt Gertrude may love your work, and your children may think you're a whiz, but if they don't pick up your tendency to overuse the same word, to sprinkle commas too liberally through the work, and to craft one-dimensional characters, having them read your work isn't going to help you grow.

I may come back to this theme as the year goes by, but my advice for as-yet-unpublished writers for the twelve months we have ahead of us is this: hook up with a good critique group, write, edit, write some more. Lather, rinse, repeat. In other words...practice, practice, practice.

What one bit of advice would you give someone who wants to become a writer?

Blog Comments

2012-01-06T01:00:00.038-06:00

If you're not a football fan or don't live in Dallas, you may not recognize this picture. It's of Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, having a "conversation" with his coach during a recent game. Personally, I (and most sports fans in the area) think he's just showing off his authority before a national TV audience. Of course, there's an old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity. Which leads me to the subject for discussion today.

There was a time when I had no idea what a blog was, and frankly, I didn’t care. I discovered the word was a contraction of “web log,” and apparently people were interested enough to read these and see what was going on with strangers connected to them only by a thin strand of fiberoptic cable. It wasn’t long before people began commenting on blogs, thanking the blogger, agreeing or disagreeing with the points they made, and in general turning what had been a monologue into a dialogue. Utilities like Disqus make commenting even easier and allow people to comment on comments.

My blog is a Christian writer’s thoughts on writing and life in general. My readership is composed of both readers and writers, along with a few people who apparently don’t have anything better to do than to see what that crazy guy in North Texas has to say today. I get a notification when someone leaves a comment. The comments have been civil, appropriate, and I’ve tried to respond to most of them when I can. I enjoy the interchange. It's been fun. Occasionally, there'll be a spam-type comment left, but once I see it, it's easy enough to delete it. In summary, you guys are great. Keep it up.

Unfortunately, some bloggers haven’t been as fortunate. Some of them moderate comments, to weed out objectionable ones. In those cases, a comment must be approved by the blogger before it makes in online. That requires more time and effort than most of us have to spare. One friend and fellow author has decided to close her blog to comments because she no longer has the time to moderate comments, and unmoderated ones had gotten out of hand. I miss the opportunity to dialogue with her, but still read her thoughts because they inspire me.

Recently, I've noticed a few people who seem to want to make a career of leaving multiple comments, especially on blogs with a huge following. It could be that they are really into the subject. Then again, it might be because they feel a need to get their own name “out there,” and figure that commenting on a blog with thousands of followers is a good way to do that. Maybe that's not their motivation, but seeing one person post their own thoughts ten times out of ninety comments (as I saw a couple of days ago on a blog) is sort of suspect. And I wonder if their attempt to get name recognition, if that's what they're after, may not backfire on them.

So, what's your take on blog comments? Do you leave them? Do you read the post but hesitate to put your own feelings out there for others to read? What do you think of people who seem to want to take over another person's blog by excessive comments?

Please leave a comment. I promise I won’t fuss at you.

Recommending Books

2012-01-03T01:00:00.000-06:00

It’s always nice to get emails from readers who enjoy my books. (This is one reason I make my email address easily available. If you haven’t noticed, there’s a clickable link at the top of the right-hand sidebar of this blog).

Recently I’ve received a number of emails asking when my next book will be out. And that presents something of a problem. Because my next book contract is with a different publisher, there’ll be a hiatus of over a year between my most recent novel of medical suspense, Lethal Remedy, and my first novel from Thomas Nelson Company, working title Stress Test. I try to warn readers to keep watch for the book in the spring of 2013, but also want to recommend other books for them to read in the meantime.

When you are asked to recommend a book or author, does that make you feel good, because the questioner respects your judgment? Or does it make you all tingly inside because they might not like your suggestion, and think less of you as a result?

And for those of you who read this blog and like my books (and I hope that’s all of you), what books and authors would you suggest for readers who want to occupy themselves until my next one is out? I’m anxious to hear.

Christmas

2011-12-23T01:00:00.000-06:00

Here's my Christmas post from prior years--I still don't know how to say it any better.

"Do we go to your parents' house or mine?" "Where did you put the extra string of Christmas lights?" "Which stuffing recipe are you going to use?" "What can we give him/her?" "Where is my Christmas tie?" "Why doesn't this sweater fit anymore?"

Have these become the sounds of Christmas at your house? I hope not. As the blessed day sneaks up on us, I've wondered what to say to those of you who read my random jottings from time to time. What can I say that's new and inspirational? Finally, it dawned on me...I don't have to find something new. Better to stick with something written about 2700 years ago by the prophet, Isaiah. The words bring as much hope now as they did then. May it be ever so.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned....For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

May you have God's peace in your heart, not just as you celebrate Christ's birthday, but every day in the year to come. Merry Christmas.

Holiday Hiatus

2011-12-16T01:00:00.000-06:00

My son first acquainted me with this phrase from Stephen Covey: "sharpen the saw." By that he means take time to relax and refresh. The holidays are upon us, and I'll be doing just that for the next two weeks. Unless there is some terribly important development I just have to share with you all, I won't be posting for a bit. I plan to resume my blog posts the first week in January. In the meantime, have a wonderful--and meaningful--Christmas. And hug your family.

(Oh, and if you're looking for a last-minute gift for that hard-to-buy-for person, you might consider a book. And if it's one of mine, I'd be honored.)

Christmas Without Them

2011-12-13T01:00:00.002-06:00

I've posted this in the past, but each year there are new additions to the ranks of those observing the holiday for the first time without a loved one, so I decided to share it once more.

Many of you know that I started writing after the death of my first wife. I used segments from the journaling I did to craft a book with chapters dealing with the situations I faced in the months afterward. I pulled no punches, detailing my failures as well as the victories I eventually won. That book, The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse, is still in print and continues to help thousands of grieving people each year.

Because I know how difficult the holidays can be after the death of a loved one, I decided to post this article which I wrote for a small local paper several years ago. I hope it helps those of you who are facing this situation. If you know of others who need it, please forward it to them.

              THE FIRST CHRISTMAS WITHOUT THEM

    After the death of a loved one, every holiday that follows carries its own load of renewed grief, but there’s little doubt that Christmas—especially that first Christmas without him or her—is the loneliest time of the year.

    After the death of my wife, Cynthia, I was determined to keep things as “normal” as possible for that first Christmas. Since this was an impossible goal, the stress and depression I felt were simply multiplied by my efforts. My initial attempt to prepare the Christmas meal for my family was a disaster, yet I found myself terribly saddened by the sight of my daughter and daughters-in-law in the kitchen doing what Cynthia used to do. Putting the angel on the top of the tree, a job that had always been hers, brought more tears. It just wasn’t right—and it wasn’t ever going to be again.

    Looking back now, I know that the sooner the grieving family can establish a “new normal,” the better things will be. Change the menu of the traditional meal. Get together at a different home. Introduce variety. Don’t strive for the impossible task of recreating Christmases past, but instead take comfort in the eternal meaning of the season.

    The first Christmas will involve tears, but that’s an important part of recovery. Don’t avoid mentioning the loved one you’ve lost. Instead, talk about them freely. Share the good memories. And if you find yourself laughing, consider those smiles a cherished legacy of the person whom you miss so very much.

    For most of us, grieving turns our focus inward. We grieve for ourselves, for what might have been, for what we once had that has been taken from us. The Christmas season offers an opportunity to direct our efforts outward. During this season for giving, do something for others. Make a memorial gift in memory of your loved one to your local Food Bank, the Salvation Army, or your favorite charity. Involve yourself in a project through your church. Take a name from an Angel Tree at one of the malls and shop for a child whose smile you may not see but which will warm your heart nevertheless.

    When you’re grieving, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by Christmas, especially the modern version. The echoes of angel voices are drowned out by music from iPods. The story of Jesus’ birth gives way to reruns of “Frosty, The Snowman.” Gift cards from Best Buy and WalMart replace the offerings of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. If you find the season getting you down, the burden of your loss too great to bear, read once more the Christmas story in Luke, chapter 2. Even when you celebrate it alone, this is the true meaning of Christmas.

Pam Meyers Tells Us It’s Always Thyme for Love

2011-12-09T01:00:00.002-06:00

While I'm guest-blogging today at Cathy West's Blog About Books, I’ve asked author Pam Meyers to share some thoughts with us on this space. I think you’ll enjoy getting to know Pam and the story behind her debut novel, Thyme For Love. Before we hear from Pam, here's a little about the novel:

When April Love signs on to be an in-house chef at an old lakeshore mansion in Canoga Lake, Wisconsin, she comes face to face with her long-lost love, the drop-dead gorgeous Marc Thorne. It doesn't take long for their old magnetism to recharge, but how can she trust the guy who left her nearly at the altar eight years earlier? Her gut tells her something happened to Marc in between--something he's reluctant to reveal. When April's boss is murdered, Marc is accused of the crime. Unless April can find out who really killed Ramón Galvez, her chances for love will end up at the county jail.

My writing journey began some years back when I was enrolled at Trinity International University here in Illinois in an accelerated adult bachelor’s program. One creative writing class, and I became hooked on fiction. Little did I realize how long a journey it would be before I signed my first contract.

By the time I began writing Thyme for Love, I’d already written a women’s fiction novel, a romance, and a novella, all of which never made it to publication. I’d always wanted to write a story set in my hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and thought a story that married romance and mystery would be fun to write. The many 20^th Century mansions that dot Geneva Lake’s shoreline, always intrigued me, and I toyed with the idea of setting the story in one of those homes. But I eventually decided to gain more freedom with some of the plot details and its characters, it would be better to create a fictional village and lake just to the east of Lake Geneva. I loved that my characters could go into town for a meal at an actual restaurant located there or hang by the lake. I also gave them backgrounds that involve working on Geneva Lake as many college students do during the summer months.

I hope my readers have as much fun reading my story as I did writing it.

Thanks, Pam. We appreciate your sharing, and look forward to reading Thyme for Love. I understand it’s available at all the major online and brick-and-mortar booksellers.

Books As Gifts

2011-12-06T01:00:00.022-06:00

It's possible that some of you will already have finished your Christmas shopping. But others, myself included, are just getting started. As an author, I find myself wondering how many people will be giving books as gifts this year. And, if so, whether they'll be hard copy or e-books.

If someone on your gift list is joining the Kindle and Nook craze, this would be a great time to buy an e-book for them. If they (or you) are more traditional, a book they can hold in their hand is always a nice touch.And if you're a reader, you might want to drop a hint or two about which books are on your own wish list.

If you want to personalize your gift, check out the site, Signed By The Author. Hundreds of books are available there, all available to be signed and personalized by the authors. For the Kindle owner, Kindlegraph gives you a way to get a page with the author's signature and sentiments to be added to a book on Kindle. (I've already blogged about this recently).

Already own some of my books and want them autographed, either for yourself or as a gift? No problem. I'll send you signed bookplates to put into the books. Just email me at: Dr R L Mabry at yahoo dot com (put address into proper format and put the name of one of my books in the subject line to avoid my spam filter). Tell me 1) how many you need, 2) whether you want them personalized ("to XX"), and your snail mail address. I'll do the rest. I'll even add a gummed "Signed by the Author" sticker for the cover.

And while you're making out your shopping list, don't forget to give to the less fortunate this Christmas. Pick the charitable organization or effort of your choice--there are lots of worthy ones--but share with others. It's something we should do all year long, but especially at this season of the year.

Merry Christmas, and to echo Dickens' words, "God bless us, every one!"

Posting Today at Rachelle Gardner's Blog

2011-12-02T01:00:00.001-06:00

For today, I'd prepared a post about books for Christmas, including a few words about signed books, but you'll have to wait until next week to read those. Instead, I'm guest-posting today over at the blog of my agent, Rachelle Gardner, talking about "If I can touch just one reader.." I hope you'll drop by, see what I have to say, and leave a comment.

"How Do You Sign An E-Book?"

2011-11-29T01:00:00.000-06:00

The question of whether e-books are here to stay seems to have been settled. Print books continue to sell, but e-book sales are on an upward trend, and I suspect that this Christmas they'll rise even more quickly. From an author's standpoint, I don't suppose it really matters, so long as books sell. (This doesn't take into account authors who have decided to bypass the traditional publishing process and self-publish their own e-books. That's a subject for another day--and maybe by another person).

I purchased my own e-reader (a Kindle) after long deliberation, mainly because it makes it very easy to receive and read galleys of books by other authors, in view of an endorsement. And I have to admit, I enjoy some aspects of the experience. Of course, there are still times I reach for a bookmark when I close my Kindle, but I'm learning.

I've sometimes joked, "Well, e-books are okay, but how do you autograph them?" Now that problem has been solved, at least for Kindle books. It's the Kindlegraph. Simple sign up for this free service, and when you download a book to your Kindle you can ask the author to personalize it for you. I'm not sure exactly how they make it work, but then again, I'm not sure why the light goes on when I flip the switch. So long as it works, I'm satisfied.

I'm unaware of similar services for the Nook or other e-readers. If they exist, the information hasn't reached me. But if you have one or more of my books on Kindle, I'd be pleased to sign them for you. Here's the link to my books at Kindlegraph.

If you've used Kindlegraph, what do you think of it? And if not, why not?

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2011-11-24T01:00:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving means different things to different people. To some people, it means turkey, dressing, and Mom's sweet potato casserole. For others it's a day spent in front of the TV set watching football. To many, it's a day to be with family.

Unfortunately, for some it's another day of wondering where they'll sleep, what they'll eat, how they'll stay warm and dry. We have been blessed individually and as a nation. Give thanks today, then tomorrow do something for someone less fortunate. Pay it forward. You'll be glad you did.

Fundraiser for Sandi Rog

2011-11-21T01:00:00.003-06:00

I'm donating signed copies of all four of my novels as part of the current fund-raiser for author Sandi Rog. Sandi's fighting cancer, and she and her family need our support. This isn't tax-deductible, it's just an opportunity to help someone who's having a tough time. Please buy one less coffee at Starbucks next week and pledge that amount of money to this effort. Thanks.

And thanks to Alison Strobel Morrow for her efforts in this endeavor.

A Writer Reads

2011-11-18T01:00:00.001-06:00

As I recover from my back surgery (Doing well--thanks for asking), I've had to take frequent breaks from sitting at the computer. These times, spent lying with ice on my back, have resulted in my re-visiting some of the books I've enjoyed reading in the past.

When we moved three years ago, I got rid of a lot of books, keeping only the ones I thought I'd enjoy reading again. Now I've had the opportunity to do just that, and it's been something of a mixed blessing for me.

I still recall the editor who told me to read Peace Like A River. That was what good Christian fiction was like. I read it, and although I've forgotten a number of the plot points, I still recall my reaction when I finished it: I'll never be able to write this well.

I haven't reached the level of Leif Enger, and realize I never will. I also haven't learned to write like John Grisham, Robert B. Parker, Robert Crais, Lawrence Block, Michael Connolly, James Scott Bell or Michael Palmer. But I enjoy reading their work, and have to admit that from each one of them I learn a little something about catching the reader's attention, drawing them into the plot, making them turn the pages. Alton Gansky told me years ago that, once you start writing, you'll never read the same way again. I've found that true, but it hasn't taken away from my enjoyment.

Writers, do you think you read differently than you did before you dived into the profession? And readers, what traits of your favorite writers do you admire?

Free E-Book Downloads

2011-11-15T01:00:00.000-06:00

I didn't buy an e-reader when they first became available. I made all the usual excuses: too expensive, don't need it, I like printed books. But eventually I bought a Kindle, and have to admit that I like it. It's especially helpful if I need to read another author's galley (pre-print copy of a forthcoming novel) to give an endorsement. Besides, I can often download a book and enjoy it at no cost, thanks to special offers from the publishers.

The idea behind free book downloads, I'm told, is that someone might read your book and then buy others you've written. They may even talk to family and friends about it. So the bread cast upon the waters will bring returns. Seeing my books available free still causes a knot in my stomach as I picture royalties flying out the window, but I have to admit that all this seems to be working.

One negative, which I've mentioned before, is that some people download free books indiscriminately without looking at their content, and then blast my book and me because it's Christian fiction. I've come to expect some one- and two-star reviews as a result of this, but hope that good reviews from people who like the book will sort of cancel these out.

My second novel of medical suspense, Lethal Remedy, is supposed to be available as a free e-book download tomorrow from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and ChristianBook.com. I don't have the links as I write this, but if you open any of those sites and search for Lethal Remedy, it should show up as free. This book was a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and although all authors think each book they write is better than the last, I think this one is pretty good. If you agree, tell your friends. After all, that's the idea behind this.

Do you own an e-reader? If so, do you take advantage of free downloads? Do you often discover an author whose work you like enough that you buy other books by him/her? Let me know.

Veterans Day, 2011

2011-11-11T01:00:00.001-06:00

For hundreds of years, brave men and women have put themselves in harm's way--at home and abroad-- to defend our country and protect our liberty. Please pause for a moment and give thanks for the men and women who have served America in her armed forces. I'm proud to be among their number. May those efforts never be forgotten, nor be in vain, and may God bless America.

Richard L. Mabry, Capt, USAF, MC
1605th USAF Hospital, Lajes Field, Azores, 1962-1964

"Why Do You Write Medical Suspense?"

2011-11-08T01:00:00.001-06:00

When I started writing fiction, I was advised to “write what you know,” so I crafted a novel about a doctor who failed as a professional baseball player before going to medical school (pretty much my story except that it was semi-pro baseball while I was in college). I thought it was interesting, because it had lots of inside information about both the sport and the profession. It had a male protagonist, a strong female lead, and a charming cast of characters. Editors liked it, but their response was always the same: “It won’t sell.”

Fast forward through two more unsuccessful novels. That’s when I was urged to try my hand at writing a cozy mystery. In a cozy mystery, the protagonist is usually female and often an older one. There’s one central story arc, centering on a mystery (generally a crime) that must be solved. These books are typically short, and an “easy read.” I tried writing a cozy mystery. I failed. But, in so doing, I learned some things. (Of course, I also quit writing—but that’s another story for another time).

When I got back to writing again, I revisited the “write what you know” philosophy, but by this time I was a bit wiser about the industry. I knew medicine, but realized it was best to just sprinkle it throughout the manuscript, not make it the focus of the writing. I’d been reading suspense novels for years and knew what I liked about them, so I decided to incorporate that element into my work. And I’d become convinced that there should be a love interest in my novels, in order to appeal to the women who make up 85% of the readership of Christian fiction (so I’d been told). Thus, my next novel was “medical romantic suspense.”

By now I’d also learned more about the craft. The cozy mystery failed experiment taught me about keeping one central theme, without taking too many side trips. And I wrote without trying to conform to a specific genre, simply incorporating the elements that seemed to fall naturally into my stories.

The resulting novel, originally titled Run Away Home, was no overnight success, but it wasn’t long before my agent, Rachelle Gardner, called me with some good news. The book had sold to Abingdon Press, where it was given the title Code Blue. The launch date was April 1, and it was followed at six-month intervals by three other novels in the Prescription For Trouble series: Medical Error, Diagnosis Death, and my latest, Lethal Remedy.

That's my journey. For writers still looking to "find their voice," my advice is to first learn the craft (obviously), but after that, write what you know and/or love, do the best job possible, and worry about assigning a genre afterward. Write on.

Can You Remember?

2011-11-04T01:00:00.000-05:00

I recently underwent surgery, and my last clear memory was as I was being wheeled out of the pre-op holding area. The anesthesiologist had just injected something into my IV, and I said, "You just gave me some 'don't care' medicine didn't you?" She nodded, the double doors opened, and that's all I knew until I woke up in the recovery room. When I was on the other end of the scalpel, doing surgery (which I did for 36 years), I often told the anesthesiologist, "What I want the patient to experience is a lack of pain coupled with retrograde amnesia." In other words, I didn't want their time in the OR getting prepared for surgery to be a traumatic experience that would be the basis for bad memories.

Sometimes I think that a few established writers have had a dose of 'don't care' medicine, giving them retrograde amnesia for the time before they were published, the time when they received rejection after rejection, the time when it seemed as though they'd never make in their chosen field. Fortunately, this is rare. Most of the established writers I encounter work hard to help those still struggling to make their mark. But every once in a while, I'll find one who seems to have forgotten their own times of struggling.

Is there someone you know who's struggling to climb the same hill you have? Don't have retrograde amnesia about how hard it is. Reach out and give them a hand. You won't regret it.

The Simple Things

2011-11-01T01:00:00.000-05:00

My recent back surgery has been an eye-opener. I was told that the recuperation was "simple" and "relatively short." What I didn't realize was how long two weeks can be when I had to avoid "BLT." No, not the sandwich, although it might have been difficult not to lust after one during that time. BLT refers to bending, lifting, and twisting.

At first glance, that might seem simple. But think how many times a day we do something that involves one of those activities. Take tying a shoelace. I'm a relaxed kind of guy. After thirty-six years practicing medicine, wearing a dress shirt and tie to the office every day (except when I changed into surgical scrubs), I easily gravitated during retirement into golf shirts, jeans, and sneakers. But my New Balance shoes require tying shoelaces. So for the past few days I've been wearing loafers. Now I love those shoes, but I'll be ready to put them back in the closet in exchange for sneakers again.

I was told I couldn't drive for two weeks. Before I could open my mouth, the doctor reminded me that a certain amount of twisting went along with that activity--looking behind me, responding to a horn or a screech of tires, actions I performed without thought that might undo some of the good he'd accomplished with the surgery.

Kay has been great. She gently reminds me to take care of myself, and serves as my chauffeur without grumbling. But we're both ready for me to resume some of my normal activities. My next appointment is tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to being turned loose to do some of the things I've missed. I think the first thing I'm going to do when we get home is kick off these loafers and dig out my New Balance shoes. I've missed you, old friends.

Have you ever been denied something you took for granted? Chime in. Misery loves company.

Books As An Escape

2011-10-28T01:00:00.000-05:00

Kay and I love to watch reruns of the sitcom, "Frasier." I was recently reminded of the episode in which Frasier and Niles are discussing the question of what they'd choose if stranded on a desert island: one meal, one bottle of wine, one aria. Incidentally, I'd probably ask for the Mexican plate lunch from El Fenix, iced tea, and something from Josh Grobin. Nevertheless, the question was recently brought into focus in my own life.

If you attended the recent conference of the American Christian Fiction Writers, you probably noticed me walking haltingly with a grimace on my face. As it turns out, I had a ruptured disc in my back. There was no response to aggressive medical treatment, so on October 21, I underwent surgery. It appears that the surgery was successful, and I'm healing nicely, but during the recuperation period I'm spending a lot of time lying down. So what have I been doing? Reading, of course.

During my first wife's time in the ICU after her fatal stroke, I read through all of Robert B. Parker's books. I love his writing style, and for a few minutes I was able to leave behind the problems surrounding me. This time I've found that many of the novels from authors whose work I enjoyed the first time around still hold my attention on second and third readings.

This brings me to the point of this blog. If you were to be given unlimited time to read while recuperating from surgery, recovering from an illness, whatever--what books would you choose? And let's assume that The Bible would be one. Go beyond that and tell me the books you'd choose for comfort, relaxation, and to pass the time.

I look forward to reading your responses.

Interview with Author and "Blog Mama" Therese Walsh

2011-10-25T01:00:00.000-05:00

I've become cyber-friends with Therese Walsh, and today I'd like you to meet her and hear about two blogs that are "must-reads" for writers and for readers.

RM: You and Kathleen Bolton are the “blog-mamas” for the very successful site, Writer Unboxed. Originally, as I understand it, WU was launched when neither of you was published, to provide a place for discussing what made books and movies work. Now you’re both published authors. Has this resulted in a change for WU?

TW: The biggest change came after realizing we no longer had a voice of the unpublished writer on WU. That voice is important, because it provides inspiration and a window into "aha" moments as they’re happening to folks still climbing the publishing mountain. So we ran a search for the new voice of the unpublished writer, someone who’d come aboard as a once-monthly contributor. After asking for and reading nearly two hundred applications and sample posts, we narrowed the field to nine candidates we really loved, then chose one: the incomparable Jan O’Hara. We asked the others if they’d come aboard as Honorary Contributors and blog three times annually with us, and happily they all agreed.

RM: Now you’re launching a new site, Reader Unboxed. What’s that about?

TW: Reader Unboxed has been on our collective backburner for a couple of years. It seemed like there was something there—a way to extend the WU brand, as it were, to possibly connect with readers. It felt like a missing link.

On the backburner it sat until we met with some of our fellow WU’ers this summer for breakfast in New York City. Donald Maass was there with Kath and me, along with Barbara O’Neal, Jael McHenry, Jan O’Hara, and Juliet Marillier. There was a sort of collective sigh when we mentioned Reader Unboxed, and then a surge of excited ideas. I think that fueled us to take the next, real steps forward.

The idea became less nebulous over the following months: Reader Unboxed would be a unique review site structured to encourage interactivity between readers and reviewers, and eventually readers and authors. We invited Larramie, a champion for authors on her site, The Divining Wand, to join us, and she agreed. Larramie became instrumental in building the site with reviewers, and in helping us to brainstorm ideas for Reader Unboxed. What might readers love? How about Reader Roulette—a game of sorts whereby a reader would receive a free book in exchange for their review posted on Reader Unboxed? Or a feature called Undiscovered Treasures, where readers would submit reviews for books that have been on the shelves for a long time but never received the attention they deserved? How about Waiting in the Wings, a column featuring books that have yet to be released but sound fantastic? These are a few of the features we’ve evolved, but our intention is to expand upon them as we settle in and receive reader feedback.

Kath took on the role as head administrator at RU. She established our domain, settled on a designer for our site (Sumy Designs) and directed that work. She helped Larramie coordinate things with our eight reviewers. She also established the soon-to-be-hopping RU Twitter account.

I helped with design and organizational aspects, too, and suggested we lean on our hook: the idea of being “unboxed.” We’ve defined “unboxed” fiction as fiction that feels fresh (re: topic or structure or characterizations or voice…). RU’ers will review each book traditionally but also hone in on a work’s freshness and celebrate that with an “unboxed” rating. It’s our hope that readers who crave books that haven’t been done-to-death check with us first.

RM: Your debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, has been out for over a year. What have you learned about being a published author that surprised you?

TW: Oh, boy, I’ve had plenty of surprises—happy and maddening! One positive surprise was learning authors often experience the same sorts of setbacks, neuroses (!), and challenges, even if they don’t want to broadcast these things over a blog or social media. Very often they’re willing to talk privately, though, to share experiences—both happy and maddening—and offer support if they can. You want to know if it’s common to switch editors, for your house to close, to be promised XYZ promotions and end up with :-o? Just ask a fellow author. Writing is a lonely occupation. It’s important to be with your people. It’s important to realize that if you’re going through something stressful you’re probably not the first to have to cope with that issue. Reach out, gain a support group. It can save your sanity.

RM: What’s next from the pen of Therese Walsh?

TW: A book about two sisters taking what seems a foolish journey to “find the end of their dead mother’s story,” when it fact it’s the most important of all journeys, as they try to come to grips with their mother’s probable suicide and ultimately the meaning of life. (I like to keep it light, ha!)
I’ve had a love-hate relationship with this story, in part because of that dreaded “second-book syndrome” everyone hears about. But things are clicking now, and my confidence is restored daily. That’s the gift of revision, I think.

RM: And, as the warden might say, any last words?

TW: Come on over to check out Reader Unboxed when you can. Help us spread the word if you like what you see. And of course, write on!

Thanks, Therese. I can say from my own experience that both these sites are entertaining and informative, and I hope my readers will check them out.

What's Next?

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

There's a lot of buzz on the Internet recently about blog fatigue. Some fairly prolific bloggers have decided to pack it in, or at least take a hiatus. Others have cut back their schedule.

Long ago, I decided that about two blogs a week was my limit, and I've managed to keep that up for quite a while, but it does get wearing after a while. Which leads me to my question. Since you're a reader of this blog (or you at least are reading this particular post), what would you like to see? Inside information about the writing life? Gossip from the publishing world. Guest posts from other authors? Book giveaways? More about the Texas Rangers (the baseball team, not the law enforcement group). I would include the Dallas Cowboys, but I'm not into tragedy right now.

Let me know what you think? I'm waiting, my fingers poised over the keyboard.

Visiting Today--Come On Over

2011-10-18T01:00:00.004-05:00

I'm visiting today at the Seriously Write blog. Come on over and see what I have to say about "The Call" vs. "The Call."

Just Over The Next Hill

2011-10-14T01:00:00.000-05:00

When our children were smaller, we had a lake house about an hour’s drive from Dallas. In the time-honored tradition of children everywhere, they began asking “How much longer?” and “Are we there yet?” shortly after we left home. I knew the landmarks along the road well enough that I was able predict our arrival before we crested the last hill. Matter of fact, we made a game of it. I’d borrow a line from their favorite Muppet, The Amazing Mumford, and say, “Okay, it’s time. Say it.” And they’d repeat the magic words: “A la peanut butter sandwiches. Make Runaway Bay appear.” And sure enough, it did.

Don’t we writers wish we knew what was over the next hill? We’d like to be able to say, “A la peanut butter sandwiches. Make an agent offer representation.” Or “A la peanut butter sandwiches. Make an editor offer a contract.” But it doesn’t work that way. We don’t know the landmarks of this journey, so we have to wait, crest the next hill, and if nothing positive happens, press on to the next one.

Of course, even if there is a contract over the next hill, that isn’t the end of the journey. There are the edits—macro edits, line edits, galley proofs. There’s cover art, a possible title change, all sorts of things. And along the way, we’re expected to help market our work, starting well before the date of publication.

I've had four novels of medical suspense published, and I've recently signed with Thomas Nelson Company for the publication of three more, so I sort of have an idea what's over the next hill. But even if I were to keep cresting hills and nothing appears, I don’t believe I'd stop writing. Because writers don’t stay on this road just hoping to see a goal fulfilled. We stay on the road because writing is what we do—for many of us it’s what we feel we’ve been called to do. So we keep doing it, no matter what appears over the next hill.

What are you hoping to see over your next hill?

What Next?

2011-10-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

(This post originally appeared on Writer Unboxed, the excellent website for writers hosted by Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton).

Theother day I was in a bookstore and saw my novels on display. You might besurprised to know that, rather than just exhilaration, the experience generatedmixed emotions. Sure, I’m thrilled that I’ve reached this point in my writingjourney. I’ve made it to a place lots of my colleagues would love to occupy.But I’m also wondering, “Now, what?”

The publication of my first novel ledto contracts for three more books with the same publisher. Now the lastcontract has been fulfilled. If I were an actor, I’d be “between engagements.”As an author, I’m “between contracts.” Where do I go from here? How do I (andmy agent) go about moving on? Will the publisher that gave me my start wantmore of my books? Would there be interest from another publishing house in mynext series? And sometimes I ask myself the toughest question of all: willanyone want my work? I’ve made it to this point, but will that be as far as Igo?

You’re probably shaking your head,saying, “You’ve got it made. A published author has a leg up on all the rest ofus.” At one time I thought that was true. Like most of you, I’d heard thatpublished authors had some advantages. Youdon’t need a completed manuscript—the publishers know you can do it. You’re aknown quantity. You have name recognition. You understand the industry. But, as Gershwin so eloquently put it,“It ain’t necessarily so.”

Let’s start with the manuscript.Your published works demonstrate your ability to put the words together. Theyshow that you can finish a book. But you still must produce a sample of yournext book. Along with that, an editor wants to know the story arc you haveplanned. In other words, they want a synopsis, and everyone—even a publishedauthor—has to write one. My best description of a synopsis is a single-spaced,three- to five-page outline of plot that writers hate to write and editors maynot read. But try putting together a proposal that doesn’t contain a synopsis,and see how far you get.

How about being a known quantity asa published author? That’s true, but whether that quantity is good or baddepends on our sales figures. A few authors are an instant success, but most ofus build a readership over time, and if the sales numbers for the first bookare low, there may not be an opportunity for the second or third book to serveas stepping-stones to increasing readership. Good sales numbers are a definiteplus, but bad sales numbers are harder to overcome than a garlic sandwichbefore a first date.

As for name recognition, thathardly ever comes from one published book. There are other factors involved,and they all require work on the author’s part. We must have a presence on theInternet and social media. Nowadays, editors want to know about the traffic ourwebsite and blog generate. They are interested in how many Facebook followers wehave. We must have a “platform,” and publication doesn’t guarantee one.

What about knowing the industry? True,the experience of being published shows us a lot about the publishing industry.But sometimes what we learn makes us even more doubtful that anyone will give usanother contract. The industry is constantly changing, no one really knows whateffect ebooks will have, self-publication continues to sing its siren song. Yes,a published author knows the industry, but sometimes it’s a matter of “the moreyou know, the more unsure you are.”

Despite my misgivings and doubts,I’m continuing to write my next novel, my agent is pitching it to variouseditors, and we’ll hope for the best. If we’re successful, in a few years maybeI’ll again stand in a bookstore, look at my books, and wonder, “Now what?”

Update: As many of you may already know, I just signed with Thomas Nelson Company for three more novels of medical suspense, so the wondering and worrying is over for a bit--except for wondering if I can meet my deadlines and worrying that the quality of the work won't be adequate. But that's a post for another day.

Posting At The ACFW Blog Today

2011-10-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

I'm doing a guest post at the blog of the American Christian Fiction Writers today. I hope you'll drop by and read what I mean when I talk about "Down In The Valley, Valley So Low..."

Hurry back next week for my regular post. Thanks.

Playing "The Flash" Today

2011-10-03T01:00:00.003-05:00

This is a busy time for me. Over the weekend I was featured at The Suspense Zone and had a guest post at Writer Unboxed.

Today I'm being interviewed on the blog of Margaret Daley, fellow author and President of the American Christian Fiction Writers. This week I have several guest posts (and an opportunity for you to win some books) at Medical Edge, the blog of writer Jordyn Redwood. I hope you'll drop by all these places and leave a comment.

Post-Conference Thoughts

2011-09-30T01:00:00.002-05:00

A week ago, the American Christian Fiction Writers held its tenth annual conference, "under the arch" in St. Louis. For those of you who saw me there and wondered why I was less animated than usual, I have to apologize--I battled back and hip pain the entire time, and in retrospect probably should have cancelled, but I wanted to be there. And I'm glad I came.

On a personal level, it was an honor to meet with other members of the ACFW Operating and Advisory Boards to conduct the business of the organization (and there's a lot!) I got to meet my new publishing family, the folks from Thomas Nelson. At the Gala on Saturday evening, it was my privilege to present the Agent of the Year award to my own agent, Rachelle Gardner. And even though my novel, Medical Error, didn't win a Carol Award, the fact that it was a finalist was exciting.

Thanks to the folks at Abingdon and the conference bookstore for making sure that copies of my latest novel, Lethal Remedy, were available. What a thrill to introduce it at this year's ACFW, and to sign copies of all my books for attendees.

I asked a few attendees to give me their reflections on the conference. Next year we'll be in Dallas. I hope to see you there.

Jeff Gerke, Publisher:
"ACFW is always my favorite Christian writers conference every year. The size of it, the high quality of the writing I see there, and the chance to see old friends and meet new ones make it the high point of my conference year. Plus this year I got to sword fight under the Arch and wear a knight's costume to the Carol Awards--where we were blessed to receive an award in our category--so it made this year's conference even more special."

Anne Mateer, Author:
“I always love conference time, and this year proved no different. It was a bit overwhelming, though, with just the number of attendees. I came home having missed connections with some of my favorite people! But in spite of that, God met me there, as usual. I can truly say that the people I did meet up with--friends old and new--were truly God-ordained meetings. And three specific classes, The Moral Premise by Stan Williams, Sometimes It's Better to Tell than Show by Erin Healy and How to Write an Award-winning novel by Deb Raney and Tammy Alexander sent me home inspired to be a better writer. I love getting those few days a year where I can leave behind the other hats I wear and just be a writer.”

Becky Monds, Editor:
"What a fun conference! I so enjoyed meeting some of our new authors and seeing old friends. And, of course, the enthusiasm for using story to spread the Gospel cannot be equaled."

Les Stobbe, Literary Agent:
"Congratulations on a really well orchestrated ACFW event! The volunteers were first class, the food outstanding, and the Awards Banquet beautifully choreographed. I was impressed by the quality of proposals I saw during the appointment times. And it is always fun to meet my ACFW conference friends."

Katie Ganshert, Author:
"I left feeling completely invigorated and completely exhausted, if that's possible. God spoke to me in big ways through the speakers and workshop presenters. I was able to meet and reconnect with a plethora of amazingly talented writers. I got to whoop it up when my agent, Rachelle Gardner, won Agent of the Year at the award's banquet. And I got to see a sneak peek of my debut novel's cover during dinner with my editor and other Waterbrook Multnomah authors."

Steve Laube, Literary Agent:
"It is always invigorating to be with so many highly creative people and to be a part of the discovery and development of tomorrow’s bestselling authors. I had over 30 one-on-one appointments and editor meetings, taught three classes, and had dozens of “hallway” meetings of all kinds. …
In my opinion, if you are a novelist writing for the Christian market, you owe it to yourself to consider attending next year’s event, which will be held in Dallas. Check the ACFW website for more information."

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

2011-09-27T01:00:00.002-05:00

When I was practicing medicine, I got used to being asked the occasional question outside the office. "What do you recommend for allergy?" "Take a look at this and tell me what you think." After I retired, I was prepared for those questions to tail off, but then God intervened in my life--there's no other way to put it--and I started writing. That didn't create much of a stir in my circle of friends and acquaintances, but once I had a couple of novels published, the questions started.

Now I'm asked "How did you get your agent?" and "How much money do you make from this?" The answers, by the way, are "Dumb luck" and "Not nearly enough." But the question I'm asked most often is "Where do you get your ideas?"

In one of my first classes at the writer's conference where God re-directed my life, author and teacher Alton Gansky told us he would never run out of ideas. As I recall, he had a file box almost full of 3x5 cards with ideas on them. His constant question as he goes through life is "What if...?" For instance, what if there were a secret underground military installation, and it suddenly disappeared? That turned into the hook for a story.

As for me, I'm not as curious as Al Gansky, but I do keep my eyes out for possible scenarios that could be turned into books. My Carol-Award nominee book, Medical Error, came about as I read about two situations: identity theft and a patient almost dying from receiving the wrong medication. I wondered what would happen if the two scenarios were combined. I fiddled around with it, and Medical Error was born.

Each of my novels is rooted in something I've either experienced, read about, or heard about. But I can't begin to explain the exact way I turn those into a novel. It's an interesting question, and maybe some of the authors who read this blog will chime in. In the meantime, I just had an idea for a book and need to jot down a note before I forget it.

How Do Writers Learn?

2011-09-23T01:00:00.000-05:00

This week, a number of writers, both published and aspiring, will be attending the annual conference of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Those who are at the meeting will hear talks, participate in workshops, meet with editors and agents, and network among other authors. Will those unable to attend, for whatever reason, simply stagnate in their writing ability? Not at all.

Writers learn and grow in many ways. A man who has mentored and encouraged me, James Scott Bell, maintains that writers are made, not born, and his story (and, to a certain extent, mine) prove that. He's the author of a number of excellent books on writing, and anyone wishing to get started writing fiction would do well to read his book, Plot and Structure, and apply its principles. This is by no means the only book that will help the aspiring writer. My own bookshelf has almost three dozen of them, and every one of them has something to teach.

Writers must also read the work of other authors--the good and the bad. Read the good books and notice what the author did that gripped and held you. Read the bad books and notice what areas turned you off and made you anxious to hurry on. Read in your genre and in others. Learn to recognize, appreciate, and emulate good writing. Learn to avoid bad stuff.

And writers should...write! My cyber-friend, author and independent editor Ray Rhamey, says that his colleagues agree that it takes completing at least three books before writers begin to "get it." That assumes that they don't just write the same thing over and over again. A writer must find someone with knowledge of the field and be prepared to have them read and critique his/her work. Sometimes we disagree with those comments, and that's okay. But if you keep hearing the same thing, pretty soon you figure out that needs to be changed in your future writing.

There are many other ways a writer learns the craft. Notice I didn't say "the trade." That's a subject for another post. So if you're disappointed that you won't be attending a writer's conference in the near future, cheer up. That just gives you more time to work on your writing.

And for those who will be attending ACFW, find me and say "Hi." I love to meet my readers.

Don't Be A Typhoid Mary

2011-09-20T01:00:00.003-05:00

I originally prepared this article for Christian Fiction Online magazine. My thanks to Bonnie Calhoun for permission to reprint it here.

Mary Mallon worked as a cook in the early 1900s. In 1906, although she had no symptoms of the disease, she was the unwitting carrier of the dread disease typhoid fever. Since that time, the appellation Typhoid Mary is given to persons who spread infections to those around them, often quite innocently.

The annual conference of the American Christian Fiction Writers in September will bring together a huge group of people from all over the United States and other parts of the world. And it’s a certainty that some of them will either be ill when they leave home or become ill while at the conference. None of us wants to be a Typhoid Mary. Can we do anything to keep from spreading our germs?

Most respiratory illnesses are spread by droplet contamination. Droplets of saliva from a cough or sneeze that are transferred to hands can live from two to eight hours—plenty long enough to be passed on to another person. Years ago most of us formed the habit of covering our mouths with our hands when we cough and sneeze. Now that’s changed. Ideally, we should sneeze into a tissue, which we should dispose of as soon as possible. If we can’t do that, we should cover our mouths and noses with our sleeves.

Having said that, it becomes pretty obvious that a major part of prevention is hand washing. Here’s the Centers for Disease Control suggestion:  • Wet your hands with clean running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.   • Rub your hands together to make a lather, and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.   • Continue rubbing your hands for at least twenty seconds. Need a timer? Hum the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice.   • Rinse your hands well under running water. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry.

Can’t wash your hands? Use a commercial hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol. These can kill most—but not all—commonly encountered germs.

Would taking the flu vaccine help? Definitely. Although flu season supposedly doesn’t start until winter, significant outbreaks occur every fall, and for years I’ve taken my flu vaccine in early September. Matter of fact, Kay and I had our shots this past week. What if you get sick anyway? Unfortunately, patients with flu are still infectious up to ten days after the onset of symptoms, although Tamiflu, one of the new anti-viral medications, can shorten this (and the course of the illness) slightly.

Just so you don't decide to cancel your attendance at the ACFW conference and hibernate in a plastic bubble, realize that these common sense precautions can go a long way in keeping you well. Can they get you an appointment with an agent or editor? Sorry, I can’t provide a prescription for that. You’re on your own there.

Pleased To Announce...

2011-09-16T01:00:00.000-05:00

Readers have been asking me if there would be more of my novels after the release in October of Lethal Remedy. I can now answer that question: YES.

I have reached agreement with Thomas Nelson Publishers for a three-book contract for books offering my unique brand of "medical suspense with heart." The exact date of publication of the next novel hasn't been determined, but I'll let you know when we have that information.

I appreciate the opportunity I've had to partner with Abingdon Press in the publication of my first four novels, and look forward to a great relationship with Thomas Nelson, one of the premier names in Christian publishing.

Author Panels

2011-09-13T01:00:00.003-05:00

On September 15, at 6:00 PM, I'll be joining authors Lena Nelson Dooley and Ronie Kendig at the Public Library in Wylie, Texas, just northeast of Dallas, on Lake Ray Hubbard.

I've done solo talks and signings at public libraries before, but this is my first participation in a panel like this. What's heartening is that this panel is composed of authors of inspirational fiction. We'll discuss how we write, how we got published, and read excerpts from our work. In addition to the two ladies and me, representing adult fiction, there will be authors who write teen and young adult inspirational fiction.

I'm interested that a public library is sponsoring an activity devoted to inspirational fiction. Of course, as with most events such as this, it's hard to predict how things will develop. Tune in for my report. And if you're in the area, please come by. I think you'll enjoy it.

September 11, 2001: In Remembrance

2011-09-11T01:00:00.001-05:00

In commemoration of that terrible day:

-Fly your flag.

-Thank a First Responder.

-Pray for our nation.

Interview With Author and ACFW President Margaret Daley

2011-09-09T01:00:00.001-05:00

My neighbor to the north (Oklahoma), Margaret Daley, is a busy lady. Not only is she an award-winning multi-published author, she currently serves as the President of the 2400+ member American Christian Fiction Writers. Since I’m a Board member, I’ve gotten to know Margaret a bit better this year, and I’d like to give my readers that same opportunity.

RM: Margaret, welcome to Random Jottings. Would you tell us a little about yourself?

MD: I’m foremost a wife to a wonderful husband of forty years, mother to a son and grandmother to four granddaughters. I write inspirational romance and romantic suspense. And I am President of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).

RM: Before retiring from teaching after twenty-seven years, you taught students with special needs. How has that shaped your thinking?

MD: I loved working with children with special needs. I have often written about people who have a disability. They say write what you know and I guess that’s true.

RM: What set you on the road to writing?

MD: I loved to read romances (still do) and decided to try and write one. That was all it took to put me on the road to writing.

RM: As I read through the list of the books you’ve had published, the dates prove that you’re a prolific writer, able to produce several books a year. How in the world do you manage that?

MD: Sometimes I’m not sure. I am organized and try to write most every day. I’ve been able to write more now that I’m retired from teaching.

RM: You’ve been President of ACFW for less than a year, but you’re already working to carry out a number of projects to improve the organization. Can you tell my readers a bit about ACFW and its importance to writers of Christian fiction?

MD: ACFW is an organization of Christian fiction writers (2400+). It is an online group who helps to promote Christian fiction and educate Christian fiction writers. We have an annual conference every September with wonderful classes and a chance to meet with publishers and agents in the industry. You can check it all out at our website.

    RM: Would you give us a sneak preview of your latest book, From This Day Forward?

    MD: Rachel Gordon is stranded in South Carolina, pregnant, a recent widow after her husband fell overboard on the voyage to America. Nathan Stuart, a physician who came home from serving in the American army during the War of 1812, disenchanted with his life and the Lord, rescues Rachel and saves her life. Feeling responsible for her, Nathan tries to discourage her from living at a rundown farm her husband bought to start a new future in America. He wants her to return to England.

Rachel refuses to go back to England where her father disowned her for marrying against his wishes. The farm is all she has, and she is determined to make it on her own. But Nathan has other ideas and becomes her farmhand to discourage her from staying in America. Instead he ends up protecting her and being challenged by her. Can two wounded people heal each other?

RM: Any last words of advice for my readers?

MD: I hope if you get a chance to read my book that you enjoy it.

Thanks, Margaret. To learn more about her, visit her website, where you'll see that Margaret's tagline is "Heartwarming to heart-pounding...an electrifying read."

Visiting Author Jennifer AlLee

2011-09-08T01:00:00.001-05:00

I'm posting today at the blog of fellow Abingdon author, Jennifer AlLee. I hope you'll click on over and visit. And check back tomorrow for an interview with novelist and ACFW President Margaret Daley.

Time Management and Other Myths

2011-09-06T01:00:00.000-05:00

I've read a lot recently about how important time management is for writers (as well as most other folks). Of course, since I've retired from medicine, everyone assumes that I have the whole day before me every day, full of opportunities to kick back and relax. I, too, had that dream once. But no more!

Let me give you an example. When we moved to our current home, I gave away lots of my tools. "I'm not going to do that stuff anymore. I'll just call someone and write a check for it." Yeah, right. There are two things wrong with that philosophy: It's hard to find someone who's reputable and does good work, and those checks I talked about writing ended up lowering my bank balance. (Imagine that!)

I won't detail all the other things that pop up and demand the attention of the "at leisure" retiree. Suffice it to say that sometimes Kay and I look at each other and ask, "How did we ever get anything done and still work?"

Right now I'm working on a few new blog posts. I've spent a significant amount of time already on Facebook and Twitter (an activity I justify by calling it "marketing" and "establishing my platform.") Later I'll do a bit of business for the American Christian Fiction Writers. And then it will be time to get down to serious writing. Today and tomorrow and the next day, I'll try to carve out an hour or two to work on my novel. And that, my friend, constitutes the best this retiree can do about time management.

How about you?

Labor Day

2011-09-02T01:00:00.003-05:00

The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, in Boston, by the Central Labor Union of New York. It became a federal holiday in 1894. The September date was originally chosen by the CLU of New York and has continued to be observed since. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the territories have made Labor Day a statutory holiday.

Labor Day means different things to different people. Kids who are tired of school already rejoice at a three-day weekend (and their parents groan). Football fans start thinking about that sport, and baseball fans look forward to the World Series with a variety of emotions, depending on how their particular team is doing. Community swimming pools prepare to close. Stores start putting out their Christmas goods (if they haven't done so already).

This weekend I hope you'll pause and give thanks for the people whose work makes our lives more tolerable. Remember to voice a prayer that those currently out of work will find employment soon. While you're at it, express your gratitude for your freedom, and pray for this country and its leaders. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

Important Note: I've been interviewed by ChristianBook.com, and if you read it you'll learn--among other things--which character in my new book I most closely identify with and why. Here's the link. They also just posted my segment on "When Life Hands You Lemons...Write About It." You can read it here. And finally, there's a very nice review of Diagnosis Death (currently discounted at Cokesbury) in this month's Afictionado magazine from ACFW.

End of Summer

2011-08-30T01:00:00.002-05:00

The painting shown at the left is by Claude Monet, and carries the title, "Wheatstacks, End of Summer 1890." I decided to use it today because we're either reaching or have reached the end of this summer, depending on whether summer ends for you when school starts or the Labor Day holiday rolls around.

Summer is a busy time for everyone. It's a time when things seem to move at double-time for lots of us. We look back and think about all the things we were planning to accomplish during the summer, and wonder "Where did the time go?"

For writers in the genre of Christian fiction, the end of summer signals the approach of the annual conference of the American Christian Fiction Writers. This conference provides great opportunities for meeting with editors and agents, so it's time to get that manuscript finished, that proposal sharpened, that one-sheet prepared. And that's where I find myself right now.

What does the end of summer signal for you?

The Writer's Eye

2011-08-26T01:00:00.045-05:00

At the first writing conference I attended, author Alton Gansky told our class, "Once you begin writing, you'll never read the same way again." I have to admit that I couldn't see the truth shining through in this statement at the time...but I do, now. Heaven help me, the longer I write, the more finely developed my "writer's eye" becomes. And sometimes spotting these errors interferes with my enjoyment of the book. This isn't to say I don't make mistakes myself--I do. But some of the errors I see in the writing of other authors, especially those with huge name recognition, are hard to swallow.

What are some of the things my writer's eye catches? Let me start with POV (point of view). Imagine that you can put a camera and microphone in the head of the POV character. The reader sees what they see, hears what they hear. If suddenly the writer jumps from the POV of one character to another, it's called "head-hopping." And it can slow things down while the reader processes the change.

I also look for the research the author has done. Most errors here are of two types. The first is simply a failure to adequately check out facts before writing about them. I encountered this not too long ago when an author--a well-respected one whose work I admire--had his lead character in the hospital after an injury, receiving IV Vicodin for pain. Vicodin is a good pain-reliever, but it's not available for IV or IM use, only oral. Most people wouldn't notice that, but some will. And it would only take a few keystrokes on a search engine to get the right information.

The other end of the spectrum on research is what author Randy Ingermanson calls the "Look how much research I did" syndrome. Hitchcock believed movies should be life with the dull parts removed, and so far as I'm concerned, books should hold to that same philosophy. I read a book recently, one co-written by a well-known author and an expert in a certain field. There were parts of the book I was sure were written by the expert. Why? Because they sounded like a lecture to a college class. The writer was obviously proud of his knowledge, but it was one of the dull parts, one that was easy for me to skip.

There are more things that bother me--things like a publisher allowing someone else to write books that carry the name of a deceased author. I saw one just the other day, with the well-known name in large letters and the actual writer's name less prominently displayed. To me, that's just wrong. Then again, maybe that's just a writer's perspective--the same thing that turns me off when a public figure has a book published under his or her name when those of us in the writing community know that a writer-for-hire did the actual work with not even a credit in the acknowledgements. Again, my writer's eye at work.

Alton Gansky was right. Writers notice things they would probably let slide before they took up the calling. As my favorite TV detective, Adrian Monk, used to say: "It's a blessing...and a curse."

Writers, do you have a writer's eye? What does it stumble over?

NOTE: Just discovered that my Carol-finalist novel of medical suspense, Medical Error, is a free Kindle download today. Medical Error is also a free Nook download and ebook download right now.

Interview With A Special Guest

2011-08-23T01:00:00.004-05:00

In response to a desire for a change, I've altered the template of this blog a bit. Let me know your reaction to it. It was cheaper and easier than buying a new car or dying my hair.

As I considered the subject of my next interview, I thought it might be fun to do something different. So, here is an interview with an author whom I know as well as I know myself. Matter of fact…

RM: Richard, welcome to Random Jottings.

RM: What do you mean, “welcome?” I’m here every Tuesday and Friday. Enough of that. How about some questions?

RM: Okay. First, tell our readers a bit about yourself.

RM: I’m a physician, retired after 26 years in solo private practice, 10 years as a Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. That’s the school where I got my medical degree, and my office was in one of the two buildings that were on the campus when I went to med school there. Funny how things come full circle.

My first wife passed away in 1999, and my reflections and journaling after that event got me started on my road to writing. My book, The Tender Scar: LifeAfter The Death Of A Spouse, has been out for five years and still ministers to thousands each year. God has blessed me again with the love of a wonderful woman, and Kay is a great encourager in my writing journey. Together we have five children, one of whom is with the Lord, and five grandchildren.

Kay and I are members of Stonebriar Community Church, where our pastor is Chuck Swindoll. My hobbies are golf and reading mysteries. She paints (when she has time), reads a broad range of fiction and non-fiction, and spends a fair amount of time defending her title as world's greatest grandmother.

RM: You describe your writing as “Medical Suspense With Heart.” How did you decide to write in that vein?

RM: When I started, I had no idea how to write, much less what to write. One thing I knew, however, was that medicine would be a part of my stories. After a blessedly short stint writing other things, including cozy mysteries (which I quickly found are not for me), I settled on what has become my voice, and I've tried to reflect that in my tag line.

I want to emphasize that it took the work of four years spent learning the craft, the experience gained by writing four novels, and the patience to endure forty rejections before I got my first writing contract. But in the meantime, I had a number of short pieces published in The Upper Room devotional guide, in addition to In Touch and The Christian Communicator. Writers should write, and not just books. It all goes to deepen our experience.

RM: Your fourth novel of medical suspense, Lethal Remedy, will be published this fall. What’s it about?

RM: It’s about a “miracle drug” that can apparently kill more than bacteria. Here’s an excerpt from the back cover copy:

Dr. Sara Miles’ patient is on the threshold of death from an overwhelming, highly resistant infection with a bacterium that doctors call “the killer.” Only an experimental antibiotic can save the girl’s life. When potentially lethal late effects from the drug start showing up, they send Sara on a hunt for critical data that’s been hidden.

What is the missing puzzle piece? Who is hiding it? And can Sara find the answer in time?

RM: You serve as Vice-President of the American Christian Fiction Writers. What have you learned in your nine months in office?

RM: I've learned a great deal about all the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep this 2400+ member organization going. As elections for half the Operating Board come up this fall, I'm encouraging our membership to look carefully at the qualifications and duties of those officers, and prayerfully consider running. There's no better way to see how the organization functions.

And if there are writers reading this post who are not members, I hope they'll consider the benefits of membership.

RM: Where can readers find out more about you?

RM: Assuming they don’t already know more than they want to, they can check out my web page. They can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook.

RM: Thanks, Richard, for dropping by.

RM: No problem. I was going to be here anyway.

Meet Debut Author Anne Mateer

2011-08-19T01:00:00.002-05:00

I met Anne Mateer when we were both in Gayle Roper's mentoring class at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference in 2005. We've been friends since then, although connecting mainly via the Internet and at meetings. Now I'd like you to have the opportunity to meet Anne, whose debut novel, Wings Of A Dream, is slated for release on September 1.

I’m not sure, exactly, what event to peg as the beginning of my writing journey. Was it my first creative writing class during my senior year of high school? Or the encouragement from my sophomore English teacher after a short story writing assignment? Perhaps it goes back to middle school, when I sat on my bed bawling over a work of historical fiction and wishing one day I could write one. Or the two-week summer enrichment class on poetry before my 5^th grade year. Maybe it began in kindergarten, when I learned to read and began to devour books.

The starting place really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have been on this journey for a very long time. But the funny thing about long journeys: sometimes you forget the milestone memories along the way. The children of Israel did that on their forty year trudge through the wilderness. I didn’t want to follow in their footsteps. So several years ago I sat down, opened a new document on my computer, and titled it My Writing Journey. Beneath that I wrote: How God Managed to Orchestrate My Writing Career.

Talk about faith! At the moment of that document’s creation, I had no guarantees this writing thing would ever be more than a frustrating hobby! But that day I sat down and began to comb through my history, working from memory and from a submissions spreadsheet I’d started in 2003. It was as fascinating as placing pins on a map of a cross-country journey, full of interesting twists and turns and out of the way places. Places I knew I had no way of finding on my own. I had to be led there, by invisible fingers of Sovereignty.

I’ve learned so much along that serpentine highway. First from local writers groups, then a critique group. Through two stints at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ conference (during one of which I met my illustrious host!) and four ACFW conferences. Through publications and rejections of articles and short stories, to contest successes and editor and agent rejections of entire novels.

With the release of my debut novel on September 1, I now stand at what was originally my destination: publication. Yet now I see that this pinnacle doesn’t mark the end of the journey. Instead the road climbs a bit steeper, runs a little narrower. It’s more important than ever that I fill in My Writing Journey document and review it on occasion. Seven pages in chronological order so I can see the journey I’ve walked. A map of remembrance instead of a map of direction. But it’s okay that I don’t get to see where I’m headed. Throughout my travels of this long and winding road, I’ve come to more fully trust the One leading the way.

Anne Mateer loves delving into the history of ordinary people and imagining out their stories. Her debut novel, Wings of a Dream, releases Sept. 1. She and her husband live in the Dallas area and are the proud parents of three young adult children.

Five Things I Wish I'd Known...

2011-08-16T01:00:00.001-05:00

Some of you reading this blog are planning to attend the annual conference of the American Christian FictionWriters or one of the other writer’s conferences held each year. As you prepare, let me mention five things I wish I’d known before my first conference. I hope they help you.

1) Talk less and listen more. At meals, editors and agents are generally assigned a table designated by a placard with their name. Decide ahead of time which ones you want to contact, and try to sit at their table. But please don’t bump someone out of a seat to get a place at the table. That might be the agent’s or editor’s assistant or first reader. It’s happened.

The table host will typically ask each attendee to “tell us what you’re writing.” You should have this on the tip of your tongue and be able to provide what would constitute the back-cover copy of your book. Answer any questions asked by the table host, and then listen respectfully to others. Don’t spoil a good impression you’ve made by trying to hog the conversation.

2) Decide you’re going to take home three pearls and five friends. Take classes chosen with your needs in mind, and keep your ears open for an “aha” moment when you discover a pearl of wisdom. I’m betting there will be several of them. But realize that the moment may come in a casual conversation over coffee, not during a formal class. Instruction and enlightenment can come at any time.

Meet lots of people, treat everyone kindly, and take special note of the ones you hit it off with. One of the nicest benefits of this crazy writing business is getting to know other people who understand the frustrations and problems that go along with it. The friends you make at the conference will be a special part of your life for years to come.

3) The appointments you’ve made aren’t the only ones that are important. God has made some for you, as well. A chance meeting with an editor or agent in a social situation may give the final nudge for them to remember you when you contact them in the future. The friend you make here may turn out to be the published author you ask to endorse your own book in the future. We have no idea of the importance of each day’s events. But God does.

4). Your life doesn’t hinge on the outcome of a single encounter. A bad interview isn’t the end of the world. As a matter of fact, most agents and editors tell me that they generally come away from a conference with no more than one good lead for a new author. Make your expectations realistic. Look at your time as a learning process, and use it to grow.

If an agent or editor asks for a proposal, though, be certain to follow up. First, polish it up until it shines. And when you send it, make sure your proposal follows the guidelines for their individual website. Put “requested proposal” and the name of the conference in the subject line. How long should you take? I’ve always figured that four to six weeks is the outside limit. Inside that time frame, they might remember you. Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess.

5). Realize that after the conference, you’ll leave the mountaintop and venture into the valley. If you’re like me, a writing conference leaves you exhausted yet energized, if you can identify with that oxymoron. But the “natural high” will wear off soon, and it may not be long before writing is a chore once more. You may even feel a little depressed. Writers live in a world of rejections, bad reviews, writer’s block, and uncertainty. It’s necessary to develop coping mechanisms to survive, and this is your chance. Remember what gave you the lift at the conference. Read your Bible. Call one of the friends you made. Get on a writer’s loop. And realize that it’s all part of the process called the road to writing. I hope you enjoy it, and that your journey ends in publication.

Book Signing Today

2011-08-13T01:00:00.000-05:00

I'll be meeting readers and signing my books today from noon to 2 PM at the Mardel's Bookstore in Hurst, Texas. Click on the link for a map.

If you're in our part of North Texas, I hope you'll drop by. Authors can die of loneliness at book signings, and you wouldn't want that to happen, would you? Besides, there'll be chocolate. There's always chocolate at my signings.

The store will have available copies of all my books, including my latest, Diagnosis Death, and my "sophomore" novel, Medical Error, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award.

Y'all come.

Books On Writing

2011-08-12T01:00:00.002-05:00

Note: I'm signing my books at the Mardel's in Hurst, TX tomorrow from noon to 2 PM. If you're in the area, please drop by. I'd love to see you there.

I had a professor in medical school who was once asked which textbooks he considered the best in his field. His answer was a classic example of hubris: “I don’t read books, I write ‘em.” Actually, he may have been correct. In medicine, especially in that pre-Internet era, textbooks were out of date almost as soon as they were published. What he read were professional journals, along with attending symposia and conferences to learn the latest in the field.

Fortunately, good writing advice goes out of style much more slowly than medical information. Although attending conferences and symposia remains a great way to receive good instruction from successful writers, studying books on writing is also a necessity for those learning the craft. Most writers are familiar with the classics on writing like James Scott Bell’s Plot and Structure and the style books such as Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Everyone can give you a list of books like that. Today, I’d like to introduce you to some of the less known books. They’ve worked well for me, and maybe they will for the other writers among my readership.

Here they are, in no particular order. And if you have your own favorite, please leave a comment about it.

A Dash of Style, Noah Lukeman—There are lots of books on punctuation, but this one caught my fancy because it was entertaining in addition to being a great reference book. I still use some of the advice to punch up my manuscripts.

The Writer’s Journey, Christopher Vogler—An editor turned me on to this one. It advances the theory that from Beowulf to Stephen King, the mythical “hero’s journey” remains the basis for most fiction. I find myself comparing my novels to the outline presented by Vogler, and if I stray, I try to correct it.

Techniques of the Selling Writer, Dwight Swain—This is an older book, but it still makes some excellent points. It’s worth the price of the book to learn about the motivation-reaction sequence, which makes scenes flow more naturally. Thanks, Randy Ingermanson, for the recommendation.

Telling Lies For Fun And Profit, Lawrence Block—An absolutely fun read about writing fiction. Block is an accomplished novelist who has lots to say to writers, including encouragement if you’re just a “Sunday writer.” And the writer’s prayer at the end is worth reading again and again.

The Flip Dictionary, Barbara Kipfer—When you know what you want to say, but can’t think of the word, this is your source. What’s the other word for dangerous current? The answer’s right there: riptide. As in using the Internet, the secret is learning the key words for searching. Still a handy reference.

I look forward to comments from the writers among us about their own secret favorites.

Interview with Author James Scott Bell

2011-08-09T01:00:00.012-05:00

James Scott Bell deserves the credit or blame—you can decide—for helping set my feet on the path of writing. He’s the successful author of multiple novels of Christian fiction and a number of excellent books for writers. But his latest novel is totally different, to say the least. The protagonist is a lawyer, but she’s also a zombie. One of the “living dead,” in search of the key to her soul.

RM: We’re often advised to “write what we know.” That’s why I write medical fiction, and you’ve written a number of novels featuring lawyers, but your latest takes you in a whole new direction. Give my readers a taste—please excuse the pun—of your novel about a lawyer who eats brains.

JSB: Isn't that what people suspect lawyers of doing anyway? Is that so far out? Ahem. Here's the pitch: In an increasingly hellacious L.A., zombie lawyer Mallory Caine defends a vampire hooker accused of the crime Mallory herself committed, even as a zombie-killer closes in and the love of her former life comes back as the Deputy DA she must oppose. And as Lucifer himself begins setting up L.A. as his headquarters for a new attack on heaven and earth, Mallory slowly discovers she may be the one who has to stop him.

RM: What made you take this plunge in your writing?

JSB: I woke up one day and thought, You know what the world needs? A zombie legal thriller.

Actually, that's almost the way it happened. Zombie fiction was hot and I was just shaking my head about that one day. I couldn't help thinking, What hasn't been done? And why are the poor zombies always the villains? What if we had a zombie as the hero? And made it a legal thriller?

I tossed the idea out to my agent and he loved it, and told me to do up a proposal.

Well, I thought about it and it seemed to me I could tell a story about light and darkness, good versus evil, and someone who is "cursed" into being what they don't want to be. Sort of along Romans 7 lines. The idea just kept growing in my mind.

And there are times when a writer has to try something new, not just repeat what's been done, even if it's working for him. It's risky, but without the occasional risk life gets to be a dull proposition.

I'd been going along as a pretty successful writer in the Christian fiction market when I started thinking I was supposed to take step toward the mainstream, in a salt and light sort of way. I gave it a lot of thought and prayer. So I went out and signed with Donald Maass, one of the great literary agents. Leaving the security of CBA was like taking a high dive into a glass of water. But I knew if I didn't do it, I'd look back with regret.

And then Don went out and sold Pay Me In Flesh.

RM: To Kensington.

JSB: Yes, an ABA house that specializes in just this kind of fiction. The deal was everything I hoped it would be. I wanted the series to come out in mass market, because that seems to me the best option for print these days. I also wanted it to have a reasonable e-book price as well, and that's happened.

RM: You wrote this under a pseudonym. What was your reason for doing that?

JSB: Because it is SO different from what I've done before. I'm not hiding behind the pen name, K. Bennett, but I wanted to make it very clear to everyone this was something really off the wall from my previous work.

I love my readership. They've been loyal and consistent. I know many of them will love this new book. But I didn't want to mislead anyone. Using a pseudonym is just my way of distinguishing the "brand" of these books the way, say, Nora Roberts uses J.D. Robb for her different lines.

There may be some hesitation about the paranormal genre. I hope, though, that readers on the fence will give the book a try and see what I'm doing. I believe it will surprise them in a good way.

RM: But it's about eating brains.

JSB: Um, it's not like I'm advocating that as a life plan. It's a curse on the Lead character! There's a reason for it, and that reason is going to unfold. You know, this genre is one of the best for telling a moral tale. I mean, there are lots of Christians who enjoy reading Stephen King (even with some of his, er, language choices). I think that's because King always writes about good versus evil with good winning out OR with people paying the consequences for messing around on the dark side. That's the very definition of moral fiction. So careful readers will see the very same things in my series. This book is Stephen King meets John Grisham at the intersection of Janet Evanovich and Raymond Chandler.

Plus, I saw a need for a more lighthearted and, dare I say, redemptive type of fiction in this genre as an alternative to the nihilistic trend we've seen over the past decades. I wanted to offer that to the vast marketplace out there for this type of fiction.

RM: If a publisher hadn’t picked this up, would you have considered self-publishing it as an e-book, as you’ve done with some of your recent short collections?

JSB: Yes, because the idea is one of those rare "first of its kind" concepts it would've been negligent not to try it out. I don't think I could have held myself back from this story once I got into it. It's got a great protagonist, the noir world of L.A., hardboiled narrative a la Chandler, and the biggest backstory canvas of all: the war against God and man waged by the fallen angel, Lucifer.

RM: I’ve had the privilege of reading an advance copy of the book. Here’s a part of my review: … “Different doesn't begin to describe this story about a zombie lawyer defending a vampire client. But I read the first page, and then I turned that page and dozens more, and soon I found myself engrossed in the story. In this book, Bell's intimate knowledge of Los Angeles forms a great backdrop for a premise that's miles from the ordinary (and) …despite my initial misgivings about the subject, I found this to be an enjoyable read.” I understand that some of your early reviewers were utterly turned off by this book. How did that hit you?

JSB: I sort of expected it. Some readers of Christian fiction have definite ideas about what it should contain--and not contain. But I have not put in anything I would consider offensive in terms of language or graphic violence. Kind of a neat trick for a zombie legal thriller.

RM: Do you have plans for more novels like this?

JSB: This is a three book series. If it catches on, maybe more.

But one of the nice things about having a pseudonym is that you can write twice as much. I have some stories in mind as K. Bennett which I will be putting out for e-readers. Who knows? KB may overtake JSB. The same thing happened to Evan Hunter, whose nom de plume Ed McBain is the one that skyrocketed. I will try not to be jealous if that happens.

RM: What else is on the radar screen for the prolific James Scott Bell?

JSB: A new collection of suspense fiction to follow Watch Your Back. A new writing book for Writer's Digest Books, Conflict and Suspense. I've got backlist titles to bring out as e-books which I'll get to when I can. I'm on edits for Book #2 in the Mallory Caine, Zombie-at-Law series. It's titled The Year of Eating Dangerously. Donald Maass and I are working on a new thriller idea, too.

RM: Any last words on Pay Me in Flesh?

JSB: Bon appetit.

For more on K. Bennett visit the dedicated website, as well as http://www.jamesscottbell.com

"Just Because We Can..."--Author Austin Boyd on Bioethics

2011-08-05T01:00:00.002-05:00

Austin Boyd is an award-winning author who writes extensively about faith issues related to technology and business. He and I met at the Mount Hermon Christian Writer's Conference, and have remained friends since. The author of six novels, Austin is a Christy Gold Medal finalist (The Proof, 2007) and the winner of the Mount Hermon “Pacesetter Award.” His latest novel, Nobody's Child, is the first of his bioethics series, The Pandora Files (Zondervan). I've invited Austin to tell my readers a bit about why he's chosen to write about this subject.

“Just because we can… should we?”

It’s a question that keeps me up at night. I sleep so little between a full time job and writing that you’d think I’d crash when I hit the pillow. But for some reason, implications of the future nag at me. Brave New World? Welcome to the world of Aldous Huxley, friend. We live in it.

In 2006, while writing my space suspense trilogy Mars Hill Classified, I researched cloning technologies to support a theme in my novels that tied to a belief many people share today. Namely, if we clone ourselves successfully, our “progenitors” from other planets will return and reveal themselves to us. Through that research, based on my background as a spacecraft engineer and physiologist, I discovered why we’ve landed in the middle of the Brave New World. It’s about how we treat the amazing ovum. A woman’s invisible germ of life.

Without a woman’s egg, you can’t clone. You can’t experiment with embryonic stem cells or create life in vitro. Eggs are the essential commodity in biotechnology and fertility treatments. That knowledge led me to the hypothesis that some women, desperate for cash, might sell their eggs to raise their standard of living. Sure enough, college girls, short on cash and short on wisdom, make “donations” of their eggs for $3000-$6000 per “harvest.” Most of them respond to an advertisement promising money to “women with high test scores who are tall, attractive, and physically fit.”

“But is it a donation if you get paid?” I wondered. Some famous beautiful women make tens of thousands of dollars for one hyper-stimulation of their ovaries and subsequent suction of their ovarian follicles. Other women are lowly paid “egg farms,” the source of genetic material to complete biomedical research. The common thread? Very few women understand the short-term health impacts of the ovary stimulation and donation procedure: possible infertility, cancer, stroke, or death. Even fewer, I discovered, consider the long-term consequence of their actions: the impact on their children… their eggs, become human. Our genetic material is precious… and we treat it casually at our peril.

So here’s the novel! What if a woman, desperate for cash, sold her eggs to pay for the medicine to save her father’s life? Would that justify her sacrifice? Is it possible to do the wrong thing, for the right reason?

Nobody’s Child poses tough questions in this, the first of The Pandora Files series of bioethics suspense novels set in the mountains of Appalachia. Just because we can do something, should we? Just because we can turn ova into profitable products, is that a good thing? Does the good that we do with money selling human eggs outweigh the pain we create in the life of a child whose mommy’s name is “donor?”

Ponder this. If eggs and sperm are materials that you can shop for on the Internet, what does that make the baby whom you create through their union? I propose that, if you purchase the gametes to create a baby, a child is reduced to a “commodity.”

Welcome to our Brave New World.

Wow, Austin. I said this would be thought-provoking, and it is. I look forward to reading Nobody's Child. Thanks for dropping by.

Announcements!!!

2011-08-02T01:00:00.006-05:00

Today marks the debut of a new blog. It's the WordServeWater Cooler, a blog written by clients of WordServe Literary Agency. The initial post today will feature each of 40 writers detailing in a few sentences how they got their agent. I hope you'll visit it today and bookmark it for the future. And don't forget to look for my story, of course.

I have some good posts lined up for this blog as well. On Friday, author Austin Boyd talks about bioethics. And a week from today I'll post an interview with friend, mentor, and fantastic author James Scott Bell. Jim will tell us why he chose to jump the genre fence with his new novel about a zombie lawyer, which is published under a pseudonym. Sound interesting? It is. Come back then.

And, finally, my first novel, Code Blue, is a free download this week on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbook. If you haven't read it, now's your chance. Spread the word.

Marketing: Like A Kid In A Candy Store...

2011-07-31T18:54:00.000-05:00

I've been asked, as part of the WordServe blog tour, to post a few thoughts about marketing my novels. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought about the phrase, "Like a kid in a candy store..."

Like a kid in a candy store with a ten-dollar bill, the writer is faced with a myriad of choices when it comes to marketing his or her work. To extend the analogy, trying to have some of everything can lead to a figurative bellyache—or, in this case, migraines and stress ulcers. On the other hand, choosing only a few things from the enticing jars lining the shelves around us can make us think back to what we left unsampled. What if we’ve elected to focus on the chocolate-covered temptations of bookmarks and postcards, but would have been better off with the caramel-centered social networking? And the coconut-flavored blog tours beckon us with a siren song that makes us forget how filling—of our time and efforts—they can be.

I still remember sitting beside another author of Christian fiction at a book signing (another activity that may be pure chocolate or just zucchini in disguise). She confessed that trying to do everything at once to market her book was driving her crazy. I admitted to the same feelings. The ultimate goal of marketing is developing readers. It goes without saying that this involves writing the best work you can produce. Beyond that, how should you go about letting the world know? That author said her agent advised her to look at all the avenues, choose the ones with which you’re most comfortable, and don’t look back. It sounded like good advice, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. It’s worked for me, but might not be right for you. Then again, it could be the cherry-centered bonbon you’ve been seeking as you consider how you’re going to market your writing.

Bookmarks are a low-effort, multi-use tool for me. Mine have a one paragraph summary of the book, three one- or two-sentence endorsements, and a jpg of the book cover, plus my contact information at the bottom. I give them to bookstore managers (when they’ll take them), since a stack at the cash register may lead to an impulse sale. I give them to friends and acquaintances that ask me about my writing or my latest book. And I’m certain to include them in every book I sign or mail out. Do they help? I think so. Some authors prefer postcards. It’s a matter of choice. Remember, the key is “whatever works for you.”

And what if you’re not published? That sort of lets bookmarks and postcards out. But you can still have something to hand out. Carry a supply of cards that feature your picture and something about your writing, as well as contact information. Sure, you can print them on your computer, but it’s a good investment to have them professionally done.

Another thing to do, even before you’re published, is establishing a web presence. Consider both a website and a blog. My website gives information about me and about my books. My blog is about my writing life and life in general. I’ve settled into a twice –weekly blog posting routine, because 1) I didn’t have time for more, and 2) I’m not sure I have that much to say. I’ve established a presence on Twitter and have my “tweets” automatically posted to Facebook as well. (Google “posting tweets to Facebook” for the latest options.) What’s the commonality in these online efforts? They help build a base of people who know a bit about you. Just that much name recognition when encountering a book on a bookstore shelf may mean the difference in buying or passing by.

I arrange to post interviews or guest blogs by my fellow authors when it’s time for their new book to launch, and most return the favor for me. I follow a number of blogs and try to leave a comment from time to time. But I never use a comment on someone else’s blog to promote my own writing. And on Twitter and Facebook I try to follow the 20/80 rule: 80% of my posts are fun, 20% mention my own writing.

I don’t actively seek out signings. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes not. I meet with book clubs when invited. I make an effort to give one of my author’s copies of each new book to my church library and my public library. I speak to writing groups, not so much to sell books as to pay forward what others have done for me on my own road to writing.

These are some of the things I’ve done. Others have been successful with different approaches. Remember, the key is “whatever works for you.” And lose the guilt.

Are you unique if you suffer guilt about not marketing enough? It’s universal, unless your name is Lee Childs or J K Rowling. It happens to us all. Jack Cavanaugh said it best: “When you’re writing, you’re not marketing. And when you’re marketing, you’re not writing.” Aside from human cloning, I don’t have an answer for the problem. But if you’re a published writer, it’s a nice problem to have.

Preparing Your Manuscript

2011-07-29T01:00:00.010-05:00

This is the last in a series of posts on a writer's journey. Not the one that involves learning the craft and writing a novel. That road has been described to death in books, articles, lectures, and conversations over endless cups of coffee. This is about the other journey--the one that involves pitching the finished produce to agents and editors. When I first started on my own road to writing, I figured that I could just step out to the curb and wave my manuscript, hailing an editor like I'd flag down a cab. How wrong can anyone be?!!

We've talked about the elevator pitch, the preparation for a face-to-face interview, the proposal, and now let's suppose that you've been asked for "a full." They want to see your completed manuscript. The first response of any writer is to hurry home and send off what they've written. But this first response is the wrong one. And, like most lessons I've learned in life, I learned it the hard way.

No matter how good your work of fiction looks to you, it can be better. Editors and agents don't expect perfection in a writer. If that were the case, their work would be extremely easy. Just pick a few submissions and set them up for publication. What they're looking for is potential, and they know there'll be some editing along the way. But to adopt the attitude of "they'll correct the errors anyway" is a recipe for disaster. And, as my mother told me, you only have one chance to make a good first impression.

So what should you do before sending off the manuscript? First, read it through---again. Spellcheck is wonderful, but it and Autocomplete can be a writer's worst enemy, since they may insert a different word than the one you meant (although spelled correctly). Look for and correct both word and grammar errors.

Check for what one of my colleagues calls "weasel words"--words that don't contribute, as in "his approach was completely different," where "completely" is unnecessary. By the way, that's a "pleonasm." Avoid those, as well as tautologies and oxymorons. (Those concepts deserve a post all their own, I guess. Maybe later).

Finally, make your writing as tight as possible. Don't say in fifty words what you can say in twelve.

How do you know when it's time to stop editing and re-writing? You really don't. It's been said about many things--works of art, movies, poems, books--they aren't finished, they're abandoned. The best advice I can give is that, as you write, you develop a feel for this.

After you hit "send," what do you do? Why, you begin writing on your next project. After all, you're a writer. Welcome to the club.

Note: I hope you'll come back for my next post, which will be on Monday instead of Tuesday next week. On August 1, clients of my agent, Rachelle Gardner, will all be blogging about marketing their writing. She'll have links on her blog site. Check them all out. I think you'll be glad you did.

Proposals--No, Not That Kind

2011-07-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

In previous blog posts, I've talked about queries and elevator pitches by authors. What happens if the agent or editor likes your idea? Then they ask you to send them a proposal.

The proposal introduces both the book concept and the author. For fiction, it generally includes a 3- to 5-page single-spaced synopsis. (The rest of the proposal is double-spaced, Times New Roman 12 point, but the synopsis is single-spaced. Why? No one knows.) The fiction proposal also includes a sample of the work, maybe 30 pages or so. But with fiction, a proposal should never be sent until the work is completed, unless you've previously had novels published. This is to prevent people from sending proposals but never completing the work when the full manuscript (a "full") is requested.

A non-fiction proposal may include an annotated table of contents--the title of each chapter with two or three sentences about it. It also includes a sample of the book. And, for some reason, it's considered okay to submit a non-fiction proposal without having completed the book. Go figure!

In either case, the proposal also includes information about you, including your "platform," which is a subject for another post. The format for a proposal varies from agent to agent and publishing house to publishing house. For a detailed look, I'll refer you to a post by my own agent, Rachelle Gardner, whose blog is a gold-mine of such information.

Okay, now we've covered approaching an agent (or editor). What happens next? If you're not successful, a long wait followed by either a rejection or total silence, depending on the preferences of the person to whom you're submitting. If things go well, however, you may be on your way to representation, and after that starts the real climb--getting a publisher's interest.

Hurry back. There's more.

What In The World Is A "One-Sheet"?

2011-07-22T01:00:00.006-05:00

The average reader has no idea what an author goes through to eventually acquire representation by an agent and get a contract from a publisher. Even fledgling authors aren't totally sure of the journey that lies ahead of them. That's why I decided to do this series

To continue the discussion about how authors connect with agents and editors at a writing conference, I thought I'd talk a bit about a "one-sheet." If you're preparing for such an appointment, this is something you'll probably need.

These appointments are short--usually ten or fifteen minutes--and a one-sheet helps you make the most of your time. It gives a little bit about your book (think back-cover copy), a little about you, has a picture of you and your contact information. Although editors and agents rarely, if ever, want a proposal to weigh down their suitcase on the way home, if they're really interested in you and your book, a one-sheet will be a nice reminder of your visit. Besides, if you reach the point of publication, it's often the basis for your "tip sheet," about which more later.

Here's the one-sheet I prepared for Abingdon Press editor Barbara Scott for my second novel, Medical Error, that was recently named a Carol Award finalist. It's not perfect, but then again, at that stage of my career I think it's pretty good. At any rate, it gives an idea of what one of these might look like. (I hope this comes out okay--it's the first time I've used this service to embed a Word document into Blogger).

Medical Error.onesheet

Mistakes To Avoid In Your Pitch

2011-07-21T01:00:00.002-05:00

My agent, Rachelle Gardner, posted a tutorial on the so-called "elevator pitch" and invited readers to leave their examples in the comments section. I left a satirical one, and challenged my own readers to identify the mistakes. Here is the pitch, with my comments:

I have the next best-seller (that line doesn't fly...ever), better than anything J K Rowling ever wrote (avoid comparisons at this stage, especially those that are derogatory). And God gave it to me (this may be sincere, but it has no place in a pitch), so it’s got to be a smash (that's for the committee at a publisher to judge much later). Since none of the other agents were interested (don't talk about your failures), I thought you might want a crack at it (sell it, don't offer it in a back-handed fashion). (Ding) Oh, here’s my floor. Want to meet for breakfast to talk about it (Don't ask for another meeting, ask if you can send a proposal)?

And the last error? I never mentioned the title of the book, the genre, or anything else about it.

Hope you had fun with this one, and good luck crafting your own pitches.

Do You Need An "Elevator Pitch?"

2011-07-19T01:00:00.006-05:00

In my last post, I talked about queries, which are the means for initially approaching an agent via the Internet. I also mentioned an "elevator pitch," which is an abbreviated--much abbreviated--query. As time draws near for the annual conference of the American Christian Fiction Writers, lots of aspiring writers are preparing their pitches, so I thought it was appropriate to visit the subject, including how this maneuver got its name.

Two people get on an elevator at a writing convention. One is a top-flight editor. We'll call him "TFE." The other is an aspiring writer. He can be "AW." They glance at each other's name badges. Here's the conversation:

TFE: Enjoying the conference?

AW: Yes, very much.

TFE: What are you writing?

(Here's where the elevator pitch comes in. Contrast these two possibilities.)

It's about...I guess you could say it's action. But with some romance. But not too much. This guy is a detective, and he's divorced. And his ex-wife is working in a big office building. And...

Ding.The elevator doors open and TFE exits.

If AW is prepared, it might go like this:

Terrorists take over an office building, but unknown to them a detective is in the building and his wife is one of the hostages.

TFE: Sounds interesting. (Hands AW a card) Send me a proposal.

Of course, AW is describing Die Hard, and in one sentence he's hooked the editor. This is also what's called "high concept." That amounts to describing a story in a few words that allow the listener to sketch out the general structure of the plot in his mind and captures his imagination.

You may not be a writer, but elevator pitches work for everyone. Salesmen have an elevator pitch prepared in case they only have a few seconds of face time with their prospective buyer. Ever wonder why entertainers do so well in interviews? They generaly know what they'll be asked, and the sound bites they give out are often the equivalent of a prepared elevator pitch. What about you. Do you need to have an elevator pitch prepared? Now is the time to work on it--before the elevator door opens.

And for more on this from my super-agent, Rachelle Gardner, read her post from yesterday.

Late Note: Rachelle continues with a tutorial on the elevator pitch. I left a satirical example on the comments section of her blog. There are a number of errors in it. Let me know what they are in the comments section here. I'll list the answers in a special post on Thursday.

What's This "Query" Thing?

2011-07-15T01:00:00.002-05:00

Many of you who read this blog are writers, either published or aspiring. I generally include some of my own experiences on the road to writing as I go along, but it occurs to me that for the non-writers in the audience, it might be of interest to know a little about the process. Although the finish line is a published book and the path might seem to be simple, nothing could be further from the truth.

The process begins with a query, which is a one-page communication to an agent. Why an agent? Because, unless you've made contact with them at a writer's conference (more on those at a later time), direct submission to editors is no longer a valid option. It's rare that something is submitted "over the transom" (directly to an editor) and rarer still if it gets an editor's attention.

If the query generates interest, it's followed by a proposal, then (if things go your way) a request for a sample of your work (a "partial"), followed in the case of a novel by a full manuscript. Then, if there's continued interest, the agent will contact you and discuss representation.

I just looked at the query I submitted to editors in 2005 (when direct submission was possible) as I began trying to get my book, The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse, published. (In case you're interested, the book is currently #8 on Amazon's list of books on grief and loss). Despite changes in the system, this still has all the basic elements suggested for a non-fiction query, so I'm posting it here.

I am writing to inquire about your interest in my book, The Tender Scar: Life After The Death of a Spouse. Please allow me to briefly introduce it.

Overview: This is a book with which everyone who has ever experienced the loss of a loved one can identify. Covering every emotion and pitfall along that road, excerpts from the journaling of a Christian physician after the unexpected death of his wife are followed by sensible comments and practical advice, based on the experience of one who has coped with all these situations. A relevant scripture passage and a brief prayer conclude each chapter. Although it is true that one may never fully "heal" from the death of a spouse, this book provides help for achieving the best possible closure of that wound, a wound that always leaves a tender scar.

Target Audience: The book is aimed at those who have recently experienced the death of a husband or wife. However, children, siblings, and friends who have suffered such a loss will also benefit from reading it. Moreover, it will be a valuable addition to church libraries, and will be useful to pastors and lay persons alike. It is a potential text for use in church seminars for adults of all ages. Finally, it will provide important insights into the emotions of the grief-stricken for those engaged in Stephen Ministry and similar grief counseling programs.

Unique Character: There are a number of books already available on the subject of "how to get through grief," some secular and some with a Christian viewpoint. Having read dozens of them during my own grieving time, I found it hard to "connect" with them. I believe the emotions revealed in the journalings that introduce each chapter of this book will resonate with those suffering a similar loss. As a Christian physician, I write from a unique perspective on disease and death. The commentary is neither saccharine nor superficial, but rather has a “real-world” ring to it. The chapters are short enough to hold even a distracted reader’s attention.

About The Author: For over thirty-five years, I have been a prolific medical writer, including a number of best-selling medical textbooks, as well as over one hundred professional papers and dozens of editorials. I remain an active speaker and teacher in my medical specialty. The Tender Scar is an outgrowth of my real-time journalings during the first two years after the death of my first wife, and was influenced by several mentors at the Glorieta Christian Writers Conference two years ago. Over the past five years, I have spoken to local and regional church and secular groups about spousal grief, presenting my experiences in the form of a monologue: Navigating The Speed Bumps On The Road Of Life.

Because I have been fortunate enough to have others express an interest in this work, this is a simultaneous submission. I realize that you cannot respond to all queries, but to expedite any further communication, I am enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope. I would be happy to provide an annotated chapter outline, sample chapters, or the full manuscript (113 pages) should you desire. Thank you for taking the time to review this query.

Next time I'll talk about approaching an agent or editor at a conference with an "elevator pitch."

Medical Error Is A Carol Award Finalist

2011-07-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

The American Christian Fiction Writers is a 2300+ member organization dedicated to the furtherance of Christian fiction and those who write it. I've been a member since I began writing, and am privileged to serve as Vice-President this year.

Each year, hundreds of books are submitted for judging for the ACFW's annual Carol Awards (formerly "Book of the Year") in various categories. I'd entered this year, the first year when I had books that were eligible for the contest, but knew I was up against stiff competition. That's why I was floored by the phone call I received a couple of days ago, advising me that my second published novel of medical suspense, Medical Error, was named a finalist. Only three books make it to the finals in each category, so I was (and remain) thrilled, honored, and humbled by all this.

The official announcement is to be made at 3 PM Eastern time today at the International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta. So now I can let everyone know.

Thanks to each of you who've supported me in so many ways along this road to writing.

Will My Social Media Presence Help My Book Proposal?

2011-07-12T01:00:00.003-05:00

Does a presence in social media give a writer a better chance with an agent or editor? I’ve wondered about this, but never seen a satisfactory answer, so I decided to do an informal poll on the subject. I emailed a few editors and agents and asked them: When you see a query or proposal and recognize the name from seeing it on a blog post, blog comment, Twitter, FaceBook, or some other social media site, does it give the person any advantage?

Here’s what they said, starting with responses from the agents.

One agent put it very succinctly: “Yes. Name recognition means a lot in today’s distracted marketplace of ideas.”

Another was even briefer: “Sure, it does.”

A third agent went into a bit more detail: “Yes … Sometimes a person becomes so familiar to me from Twitter and blog comments that I feel like I know them, even though I don't. So it can lead to my giving the submission a bit more attention, perhaps sooner, or perhaps considering more carefully… But I often have to say no, even to those with whom I've become familiar. “

The fourth agent I asked said, “Recognizing a name because of comments on our blog is a big plus. Because it conveys more than name recognition; I've gotten to know the person a little, and I realize that individual has been reading our blog and knows who we are.

“Other social media doesn't carry as much weight, but it does help. I realize you're involved in the social media community.”

Editors also said they paid attention in this area. Here’s one response: “If I… see a proposal from someone I recognize—no matter where I know the name from—it does color my interpretation of that proposal. If I know the person but he/she’s a jerk, I’m negatively predisposed, and vice versa.”

Another editor puts it this way: “Yes, but not because I’m showing any favoritism. It’s because if I’ve gotten to know the person better as a result of FB (I’m not on Twitter or LinkedIn), I better understand who they are and what their goals are. Plus—and it’s a big plus—when I see them post on FB about writing, I know they’re serious about their career. That’s especially true when they post something about writing that intrigues me. When I do a “like” to someone’s FB post, I usually remember the name of the person—especially when it happens more than once.”

Lest all the writers out there immediately “friend” every editor on Facebook, take note of this response: “I have 1000 FB friends now, most of whom I don’t know and after I’ve had them for awhile, if I’ve not interacted with them in some way, I ‘hide’ them. I have to order to keep up with the ones I DO interact with.”

And the responses weren’t unanimous. One editor voiced a different view: “Not really. I’m very selective in the blogs I read, and I don’t follow any authors on Twitter or Facebook.”

Another editor gave advice on the question of including your social media experience in your proposal. “I think you should include any and all information that is pertinent to your book or you as an author and that will help you sell your book. If you have a Facebook page with 10 friends and a blog that gets 3 unique viewers a month, I would leave it out entirely. But if you have 7,000 Twitter followers, by all means include that—and your Twitter name so the publisher/agent can verify your claims.”

What’s the take-home message for writers from all this? Unfortunately, it gets back to that hated word: platform. Make sure that one plank of that platform includes such social media as Twitter and Facebook. And, if you’ve got a good following there, it might not hurt to include that in your query.

One more comment about social media. If you want to add to your fan base, include your Facebook and Twitter contact information in your signature line. You might just pick up an extra reader or two that way.

That’s my two cents worth. Now you can give me yours.

Note to writers in the Austin/Round Rock, TX area: I'll be speaking to the Centex chapter of ACFW this Saturday, 9:30 AM, on Medical Details In Your Fiction. Hope to see you there.

Author Christa Allan Returns

2011-07-08T01:00:00.001-05:00

With the release of her sophomore novel, The Edge of Grace, author Christa Allan returns for an interview at Random Jottings. Christa doesn’t write about the “safe” things in our modern society. In her debut novel, Walking On Broken Glass, she dealt with alcoholism. This time, it’s the trauma experienced by a widowed single mother whose brother cancels his wedding and leaves for a vacation in Mexico…with another man.

RM: Christa, please tell my readers a bit about why you’ve chosen these subjects for your novel.

CA: Both of these subjects originated in personal experiences. I am a recovering alcoholic and, by the grace of God, I’ve been sober for 24 years now. Like Leah in Walking on Broken Glass, I did admit myself to a treatment center. And, like Leah, did so days after being confronted by a friend. So, the reviews that slam me for not understanding alcoholism or recovery crack me up. One of the reasons I wrote the novel was to show that all alcoholics are not strewn over doorsteps or blocking gutters (I live in New Orleans; that’s, unfortunately, typical in the French Quarter). They’re the people we sit next to in church, or stand behind in the grocery check-out line, or cheer with at our children’s games. While the novel is not-as some think-a memoir or thinly veiled autobiography, I did have to reach back into a past that I’ve been blessed not to recreate to channel Leah.

As for The Edge of Grace, over a decade ago, my brother-my only sibling-told me he was gay. The news fractured our relationship, but the truth of it is I was the one with the hammer. It took years, too many years, for me to realize that placing the word “gay” in front of the word “brother” did not change the substance of the person I’d known and loved all my life. He is my brother, and I don’t define him by his sexual orientation. In fact, he doesn’t define me by mine either! When my brother’s partner of over fifteen years was attacked in the French Quarter, that was my motivation for getting serious about the novel. The Edge of Grace grew out of those experiences. I wanted other families to realize that they weren’t alone, and that what God wants most, from all of us, is to love.

RM: I’d imagine that it wasn’t easy finding either an agent or a publisher for novels like yours. Tell us about your writing journey in that regard.

CA: Both Rachelle Gardner, the agent for these two novels, and Barbara Scott, the editor at Abingdon Press acquiring them, championed these works. I truly see God’s hand in bringing us together. Eight or nine publishing houses turned down Walking on Broken Glass and, on the heels of that, Abingdon Press started their fiction line and sought new voices. And-no kidding-just as Rachelle and I were having a phone conversation about the direction of the still unplaced The Edge of Grace, we both received an email from Barbara that it was on its way to committee, and she felt strongly it would pass.

So much of this business is subjective, which is why I believe if your voice is strong and you’ve grasped the essentials of storytelling, your writing will find a home.

RM: In Edge of Grace, the protagonist is a widowed single mother who is eking out a living as a caterer. I gained five pounds just reading about the various foods in the book. Why did you pick that occupation for her, and is there something in your background that contributed to it?

CA: I grew up in New Orleans, still live a half-hour away, and we equate food with love…without apology. Over breakfast, we’re talking about what we want for lunch, during lunch we discuss dinner. We don’t care what a restaurant looks like on the outside as long as the food on the inside rocks our world. And don’t go looking for the holy trinity of New Orleans in church. It’s kept in the refrigerator: equal parts onion, celery, and green pepper.

So, that’s my background. I wanted Caryn to pursue a business that allowed her to be home with her son. Catering allowed her opportunities to move beyond the mundane, to explore and express herself creatively. And, it provided me a legitimate excuse to browse menus!

RM: When you’re not slaving away at the computer, you’re a teacher. Tell us a bit about those experiences, if you would.

CA: Hmmm…I think that’s a book waiting to happen! For 23 years, I’ve taught English in public high schools in Louisiana. Contrary to what some believe, not all public high schools are breeding grounds for future convicts, drug dealers, or minimum wage workers! In fact, I happen to teach in one of the more affluent communities where I live, which-ironically-means many of my students are too unaware of the world beyond their luxury cars and gated homes.

I teach American Literature, both regular and honors, and Advanced Placement English Language and Composition to approximately 125-150 juniors. Four years ago, I received my National Board Certification. In addition to teaching, I’m the English Department Chairperson, I sponsor the National Honor Society, the Gay-Straight Alliance, and co-sponsor the Junior Class.

The pressure, though, for high scores is relentless and exhausting. Imagine being told you have to treat thirty patients at once every hour, and none of them are allowed to die—ever. Then, there are the “helicopter” parents, the ones who persist in hovering over their teens, protecting them from consequences. Many students try to schedule themselves out of my classes because they know I won’t tolerate mediocrity, I insist on their being responsible, and I don’t apologize for challenging them to become better citizens of the universe. The ones who don’t eventually come to realize that I’m passionate about learning, enthusiastic about their futures, and a wee bit on the quirky side!

My students also keep me from being too enamored with myself! When they learn that I’ve written books, their response is generally, “Real books? Like the ones in a bookstore?”

RM: And…hard to say this…you’re a rabid New Orleans Saints fan. Don’t you think that talking trash via Twitter might alienate your readers (not to mention your other author friends who are, for example, Dallas Cowboys fans)?

CA: Ah, Richard, you know I’m just not feeling the football love here. It might amuse you to know that I spend almost every LSU and Saints football game alternately pacing around the den, screaming at the television, and texting my children and my brother about the score (or lack thereof). Twitter trash talk about football is what endears me to you!

RM: What’s next on your writing agenda?

CA: I have a three-book contract with Abingdon for releases in 2012 and 2013. Writing the sequel to WOBG is something I’d like to tackle within the next year. And, soon, I hope to be able to announce more!

RM: And, as I always ask, any last words for readers and writers out there?

CA: Thank you, to all the readers who turn the pages of my books, recommend them, and encourage me. I feel tremendously blessed.

As for writers, I continue to learn so much from those who generously share themselves, their successes and their challenges. Some days I wonder if we’ll be the ones at the second coming asking Jesus if we can just finish “this one sentence” before the final, final deadline!

Christa, thanks for joining us here. You were right in the prior interview when you said that if there’s an elephant in the room, you’ll find it. Thanks for not ignoring the unpopular (and sometimes unlovely) things we encounter every day in our Christian walk.

Any Old Excuse...

2011-07-05T01:00:00.002-05:00

It's been tough to get down to writing this summer. Family obligations have popped up, I've spent a lot of time in my position as Vice-President of a national writers' organization, and the season itself has made it somehow easier to say, "It's too pretty outside. I'll write later."

When I was practicing medicine, I had no such temptations to procrastinate in performing my duties. I had patient appointments, surgery, and (in the last decade of my practice) the added responsibility of academic duties. The same constraints fall on people in other fields. As my friend, Hugh King, says, "You take the man's dollar, you do the man's work."

Now that I'm retired from medicine and pursuing writing full-time, I can see why writers need an extra spark of stick-to-it-iveness to get anything done. The prime rule of writing is to place rear end firmly in chair and write for a specific amount of time or to produce a specific work product each day or week. Mentor and author James Scott Bell taught me this, and although I don't always adhere to it (sorry, Jim), it's excellent advice.

William Faulkner is credited with saying, “I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately, I am inspired at nine o’clock every morning.” When I'm tempted to procrastinate, I think of the story of Murphy and his neighbor. Murphy's neighbor knocked on his door one Saturday and asked to borrow his lawnmower. Murphy thought a bit before replying, "I'm sorry, but my car is in the shop right now."

The neighbor walked away, scratching his head. Murphy's wife heard the whole exchange and asked, "What does your car being in the shop have to do with loaning your lawnmower?"

"Nothing really. But I wasn't going to loan it to him, and that was the first thing that came into my mind."

When my procrastination gene wants to exert itself, I'm like Murphy. Any old excuse will do. Even writing a blog post, instead of trying to figure out the next twist in the plot of Stress Test. But that excuse won't hold anymore, so I guess I'd better get back to writing.

Musings On July 4

2011-07-01T01:00:00.001-05:00

I grew up in an era of patriotism. Two of my uncles fought in World War Two--one of them didn't make it back home. Even in the early 1960's, when I was called upon to serve in the military at a time when unpopular wars and "police actions" were becoming the norm, I wore the uniform proudly. I might not have agreed with all the actions of my Commander-in-Chief, but I'd taken an oath to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," and I took that oath seriously. Today, when I stand for the National Anthem, I stand at attention, wishing at times that I were once more in uniform so I could salute Old Glory instead of simply doffing my hat and holding it over my heart.

Do I believe in the adage, "My country, right or wrong?" Not totally, but neither did the author of that oft-misquoted phrase. Naval hero Stephen Decatur actually said, "Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but right or wrong, our country!" In 1872, Senator Carl Schurz said it even better. "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right." Yes, it's still my country. And this July Fourth I'll fly my flag to celebrate the millions who have sacrificed so much to give us the freedom we enjoy. And I'll pray that, where the United States is right, it's kept right. More important, where it's wrong, my fervent prayer is that it will be set right.

God bless America. Have a wonderful weekend.

Kindle: The First 30 Days

2011-06-28T01:00:00.004-05:00

A month ago, I went over to the dark side...I purchased a Kindle. I'll admit that for a long time I held forth that electronic readers were the work of Satan, that books would never die, etc., etc. But I've discovered that no exorcism was necessary before I used the device, and it's actually been sort of neat.

There are numerous e-readers out there, and I won't get into the merits and demerits of each of them. Suffice it to say, I chose the Kindle, and so far I'm happy. Here are a few comments after using the device for the first 30 days.

1) I wish it came with a printed instruction manual. It has a manual already downloaded into it, but there's something sort of comforting about looking at printed words, keeping a finger on the right spot on the page while looking at the offending instrument and trying to figure out how to do something. And it wasn't easy at first to find what I needed. This may change as I become more familiar with it.

2) The Kindle is just half the purchase. You need to buy a cover--preferably that neat cover with the built-in reading light. There's no back-lighting, and when your wife is about to finish a book on your Kindle and you want to turn out the light, believe me, this is a worthwhile purchase.

3) You'll need to develop a touch to avoid turning pages forward or backward inadvertently. I hold the instrument in one or both hands, with a finger on the "forward" page button, and sometimes I'll push when I don't mean to. Not a problem to turn back a page, and probably something I'll get better at as I use the device more. It's also going to take some practice to learn when to use the "home" button, the "menu" button, and the four-way navigation buttons. But that's my problem, not the device's.

4) Just as there are typos in books (despite numerous copy edits and proofing), there are glitches in e-books. Spacing is off at times, things that I'm presuming are printer's marks creep in, but I've learned to ignore these. I'm told that there's a whole section at some publishers devoted to formatting books for e-book publication. If that's the case, they need a bit more training.

5) It's nice that when you turn the device back on, it opens to the page you left. But I still find myself reaching for a bookmark when I get ready to close the cover on the Kindle after turning it off. Habits are hard to break.

6) I got the Kindle with both 3G and WiFi, and had problems connecting with my home's wireless router at first. To do that requires entering a long code, and to enter numbers via the keyboard requires hitting the "symbol" key and moving the cursor using the four-way navigation buttons. Going back and forth between letters and numbers can get to be pretty tiresome. It's not critical to have the WiFi active, because most of the time I'll use the 3G feature.

Would I do it again? Probably. Will this replace books? I think it'll be an adjunct. But those free or 99 cent downloads are nice when I can spot them.

Your turn now. Do you own an e-reader? Love it or hate it? Think it's the wave of the future?

Killing Your Darlings

2011-06-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

If you get into an elevator with a couple of mystery writers at a writer’s conference , you’re likely to want to call the police when you hear them talking about ways to poison people without getting caught. But writers talk about another sort of killing, and this applies to all genres. We talk about “killing your darlings.” This refers to cutting segments from what you’ve written, even though you may think the words are "heartbreakingly brilliant" (to borrow a phrase from Randy Ingermanson). When would a writer ever want to do that?

Great writers from Anne Lamott to James Scott Bell have advocated the practice of getting a first draft down quickly, then polishing the work in subsequent rewrites. It’s rare to find someone who gets it right the first time, just as there aren’t too many folks who do the New York Times crossword in pen (except maybe my lawyer/golf partner, Jerry). There’s always room for improvement. But sometimes, in the process of getting that first draft down, the muse creeps into our study and perches on our shoulder, resulting in a paragraph or scene with which we fall in love. It's magnificent. We can't believe we wrote it. Unfortunately, often as the story unfolds those deathless words just don’t fit into the total scheme of the work. Then there are two choices. Keep that bit and totally rewrite everything surrounding it or get up your courage and cut it. “Kill your darling.”

When I end up in this situation--and I have, lots of times-- I generally compromise by setting up a desktop folder for the segments I have to remove. I cut them, then paste them into a Word document and save them in that folder for use somewhere else. Once or twice I’ve been able to use one in another novel, on another occasion I found that one of my rejects fitted in very nicely at a different spot in the story, but most of the time these darlings languish in obscurity and eventually I give up and delete them.

Has the effort it took to write these discarded words been wasted? Absolutely not. Is it wasted effort for a baseball player to take batting practice? The balls he hits won’t count in official statistics, but the muscle memory and improved hand-eye coordination will certainly show up later. So will the benefits of the practice involved in writing that brilliant bit that ended up on the cutting room floor. But it still hurts.

Ever have to give up on an idea or a dream that was so wonderful it became your darling? Recently an editor friend of mine reached that point with a book he'd spent two years dreaming about. Events finally made it necessary for him to move on. He'd in effect had to "kill his darling." Were the efforts of the past two years in vain? Absolutely not. He's a better editor and writer for his efforts. Sometimes the product isn't as important as the work. At least that's my opinion. What's yours?

Susan Sleeman: The Voice Of Suspense

2011-06-21T01:00:00.002-05:00

Susan Sleeman is a multi-talented, very busy lady whom I’ve been trying to interview since gasoline was a dollar and a quarter a gallon. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but only a little. Susan is a very successful author of novels that she describes as a blend of suspense and romance. She’s also the host of the website, TheSuspenseZone.com. I think you’ll be interested in getting to know her.

RM: I notice that you had one cozy mystery published before settling into your current niche of romantic suspense. Did this stop along the way influence the way you write novels now?

SS: I don’t know that Nipped in the Bud influenced the way I write, but it created the impetus to change directions in my writing. In 2008, Nipped in the Bud was contracted to be published as part of Barbour’s Heartsong Present’s Mysteries line. The line folded just before Nipped in the Bud was to release. It folded because Cozy mysteries don’t sell well in the Christian market and this line was no exception. So I saw the handwriting on the wall. If I kept writing and trying to get mysteries published in the Christian market, my career wouldn’t last long. So I turned to writing romantic suspense. I had never written much romance before and my editor will tell you it was like pulling teeth to get me to put an equal amount of suspense and romance in a book that the romantic suspense genre requires. But I’m happy to report I seem to have found that balance, and I have been blessed with additional romantic suspense contracts. FYI – Barbour did finally release Nipped in the Bud as a single title book as part of a Hometown Mysteries line. This line has also been cancelled but at least Nipped in the Bud came out before that happened. I’m now considering e-publishing the other books in my Garden Gate Mysteries series.

RM: You’ve moved around quite a bit. Has your familiarity with certain parts of the country affected your choice of a setting for your novels?

SS: Quite a bit is an understatement. We’ve lived in nine states, Texas twice. It’s such a big state that I think to do it justice you have to live there twice. lol Now to answer your question. Each area of the country where we’ve lived has a different culture and way of life. All very interesting to say the least. But I choose to set all my books in Oregon. Part of it has to do with the fact that my children still live there and I feel closer to them when I research the area. Plus I visit that part of the country frequently and that motivates to write about it. But also, Oregon has so many vastly different regions. Mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, it truly is a part of our country where you can see how amazing and powerful our God is.

RM: What was your impetus for setting up The Suspense Zone? And please tell my readers a bit about this excellent site.

SS: I started The Suspense Zone.com before Christian or inspiration suspense was popular. I didn’t even know the genre existed until I discovered Linda Hall’s books. Excited about finding the genre, I started scouring the internet looking for other books, searching site after site, until I’d compiled a list of over 300 books. I was ecstatic with the opportunity to find new authors with riveting novels. I couldn’t keep this wonderful news to myself. I had to share. So I hatched, er, gave birth to The Christian Suspense Zone. The site has grown over the years and now the database of books has expanded to include over 900 Christian Suspense tiles. The books are arranged by author, sub-categories, and alphabetically. I’ve included a section of new releases and upcoming books. I have book reviews, author interviews, contests, everything you could want to know about Christian Suspense. So if you like inspirational suspense, stop by and have a look and sign up for the monthly newsletter to learn more about the new content added and the monthly contest.

RM: You have a couple of books already in print from Love Inspired’s suspense series, with more coming. Having reached this point in your career, what have you learned about publishing that surprised you?

SS: I have learned that you never really arrive and can’t take publication for granted. I once, naively thought that if I ever signed a contract to publish a book, I’d have it made—from that point on, my writing life would be easier. But you know what? That’s when the real work begins. Each book has to be as good as or preferably better than the one before. Each book requires dedication to the craft of writing and dedication to marketing and promoting the book. Each book requires flexibility and willingness to compromise. Each book has very real deadlines and you have to be creative on a schedule. It is a business after all. Sure, it may be a creative business, but in the end, it’s about selling books and if you want to keep publishing, the books have to be selling.

RM: Please tell my readers a bit about your books, the ones already out and the ones to be published next year.

SS: I currently have three books in print. Nipped in the Bud as I mentioned earlier is a light-hearted mystery with a quirky character named Paige Turner. Paige is a landscape designer who has the odd habit of classifying people like the plant they resemble and treating them as such. When the city manager is found dead on her worksite, she has to figure out the killer’s identity before she is charged with his murder.

The other books are romantic suspense titles published by Love Inspired Suspense and are part of a three book series featuring a trio of brothers in rural Logan Lake, Oregon. High-StakesInheritance features Ryan Morgan who is a wilderness counselor helping Mia Culpepper to figure out who wants to scare her away from claiming her inheritance. Behind the Badge, which just released, features Police Chief Russ Morgan as he protects Deputy Sydney Tucker and her sister when a killer claims she has taken something from a crime scene that belongs to him and he’ll kill her if she doesn’t return it. And The Christmas Witness, the last book in this series releases in December and features ex-FBI agent Reid Morgan who must keep a former witness and her critically ill daughter safe when a bank robber is released from prison and threatens to exact revenge.

Also, I am now working on a new romantic suspense series contracted by Love Inspired Suspense. The series is called, The Justice Agency – When all else fails. It’s about five adopted siblings who work in various fields of law enforcement until their adoptive parents are murdered. When the police can’t figure out who killed their beloved parents the Justice siblings come together to solve the case. They discover in the process that they like working together and they form an investigative agency called The Justice Agency. They dedicate the agency to helping people who traditional law enforcement is either unable or unwilling to help. The first two books of this series will release in 2012

RM: And, as I always ask, do you have any words of advice for the writers in my audience?

SS: As I look back on my writing career, albeit a short career thus far, I realized that I have learned the most from failure and rejection. All writers fear rejection, bad news, harsh critiques and bad reviews, but in my case that is where I can see the greatest growth in my writing. I hated the bad news. Hated hearing no again. I still hate it. But when I take the time to reflect on what I did wrong or why something didn’t work, it helps me learn to be a better writer. And most importantly, it’s the time I am reminded that God can change me most and bring me closer to Him. I do not want hardships. I do not ask for them. But I am a better person for going through them. Okay, off my soapbox, but though these rejections on the road to publication are painful, they are also important and can be career changing if we let them.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T07:08:00.000-05:00

My dad, George Mabry, has been gone for eight years now, passing away just days before his ninetieth birthday. This picture was taken at Baltimore's Inner Harbor with my two sons, Brian and Allen, as three generations made the trek to see the Texas Rangers play the Orioles. It wasn't an easy trip, but I'm so glad we made it.

Thanks, Dad, for everything. And thank you, fathers everywhere. I hope you're aware of both the responsibility and privilege your position carries.

Review: Money Secrets of the Amish

2011-06-17T01:00:00.003-05:00

In the world of Christian fiction, Amish books have been a big seller for some time now. Matter of fact, I was kidding with an editor friend of mine, asking why he didn't buy one of my novel proposals, and his answer had a lot of truth in it: "If we can put a bonnet on the cover, I'll take a look at it."

When the folks at Thomas Nelson asked if I'd like a review copy of a book called Money Secrets of the Amish, I thought someone had gone too far in cashing in on this craze. Surely the only "secret" the Amish have about money is their lifestyle as Plain People. But my curiosity got the best of me, and I asked them to send the book. And I'm glad I did.

New York Times best-selling author, Lorilee Craker, has done her homework and done it well. She not only lists principles that are ingrained with the Amish, principles that have kept them on an even economic keel even in these hard times, but illustrates them with abundant stories and examples. (I just wish she'd included the recipes for shoo-fly pie and similar dishes). She covers such obvious things as delayed gratification, avoiding debt, and the time-honored principle of "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." But she also takes a hard look at the way the Amish raise their children, with examples and admonitions that made me think, again and again, "Yes, we need to adopt those tenets."

I got this book for free, with no promise that I'd give it a good review, but I do recommend it, not just for the economic principles it illustrates but the family values it teaches, values that are sorely lacking in our modern society.

Get To Know Author Christa Allan

2011-06-14T01:00:00.002-05:00

Today’s guest is fellow Abingdon author and writing friend, Christa Allan. Other than her deplorable taste in professional football teams—she’s a rabid Saints fan—Christa is a really neat lady, a great friend, and someone you really should get to know.That’s why I asked her to do a guest blog. Here’s Christa.

If there’s an elephant in the room…I’ll find it.

When you’re the once divorced, twice married recovering alcoholic wife of a Jewish husband, mother of twins (one of the two has Down’s Syndrome) plus three other children, a daughter whose husband is black (and she’s not), and sister of a gay brother…well, just where are you going to go with that?

I never intended to write about issues. They found me first. And when I first discovered Christian fiction, I wanted, needed, characters with whom I could identify. Sure, I found some novels with characters that were alcoholics, or gay, or parents of special-needs children. But, generally, they weren’t the protagonists or their situations didn’t mirror life as I saw it.

As someone who came to Jesus in my late 30s, I wondered if I was an anomaly or if the people in the pews around me had equally messy lives. Good grief…I was the one flipping pages furiously in my Bible during sermon time trying to find the scripture passage (could the Spirit have led to an alphabetically organized Bible? and could someone have explained to me sooner that Hebrews is not in the Old Testament?), I surely wasn’t going to start blabbering about my poster-family for dysfunctionality in Sunday School classes.

When I started writing for publication, my first idea was a romance novel. Girl meets boy, they hate each other, then they like each other. Five pages in, and I was done. My husband suggested I write a mystery. I couldn’t even figure out who the killer was, so surely that wasn’t going to work either. The notion to write about a woman alcoholic emerged after sharing with a co-worker that I’ve been a recovering alcoholic for over twenty years. Her surprise that an average teacher-mommy-wife who led an otherwise average life was ever an alcoholic was my epiphany.

We never know just by looking at people what’s going on in their lives. So many people look so bright-faced happy and pretty on the outside that we’re duped into believing they lead charmed lives. Like those families in the picture frames sold in stores (who ARE those people, by the way?!). But turn those pictures over, and what’s there…nothing. That’s not the life God planned for us. He wants our lives to be framed by His love. We called to compassion, and to consider that all those “pretty people” might just be waiting for someone to take them out of their frames.

Too many Christian families suffer in silence. Alcoholism, drug, sex, or food addiction, lifestyles are all the big elephants in the room we don’t talk about. But we all know they exist because they’re stepping on our toes and squeezing the life out of many of us.

And that’s my passion for writing, to expose the elephants. My goal is not for my novels to be labeled as “edgy”; I don’t write for the purpose of sensationalizing. I want to comfort people facing issues in their lives, to let them know that being a Christian doesn’t mean immunity from the world’s problems. But if my words can pierce the façade, then people can see God on the other side.

Christa Allan’s first novel, Walking On Broken Glass, is available now. Here, with her permission, is the prologue. I dare you to read it and remain unmoved.

If I had known children break on the inside and the cracks don’t surface until years later, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known some parents don’t live to watch grandchildren grow, I would have taken more pictures and been more careful with my words.

If I had known couples can be fragile and want what they are unprepared to give or unwilling to take, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known teaching lasts a lifetime, and students don’t speak of their tragic lives, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known my muscles and organs and bones and skin are not lifetime guarantees that when broken, snagged, unstitched or unseemly, can not be returned for replacement, I would have been kinder to the shell that prevents my soul from leaking out.

If I had known I would live over half my life and have to look at photographs to remember my mother adjusting my birthday party hat so that my father could take the picture that sliced the moment out of time- if I had known, if I had known- I would have been more careful with my life.

Watch for Christa's second novel, Edge of Grace, in a couple of months. We’ll have her back at that time to tell us about it.

Thanks, Christa, for your openness and honesty, not just in your writing but in your life.

And The Winner Is...

2011-06-13T01:00:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all of you who left a comment on the interview with Yvonne Anderson. My handy-dandy random number generator (isn't the Internet wonderful?) has chosen the winner of a copy of Yvonne's debut novel, The Story In The Stars.

Congratulations, Jo. I'm sending you an email with instructions on collecting your book.

To those who didn't win, I hope you'll come back again for more interviews and more chances to win books.

Is There A Cure For Curmudgeon-itis?

2011-06-10T01:00:00.002-05:00

Is the world slowly and surely deteriorating into a ball of dirt and water populated by people who just don't care? Or is that just my perception? My father was a hard-working man who never made a fortune but managed to provide for his family while doing one thing that meant more to him than wealth ever could--he was a man of his word. If George Mabry said he'd put up that TV antenna (yes, those were the days when TV reception required antennas that were mounted on roofs or atop towers beside the house), he'd do it, when he promised, for the price he quoted. No written contracts were necessary in my small hometown. A handshake was as good, if not better, than a signature on a piece of paper.

I realize that the world has changed in the last several decades (and let's don't discuss how many decades I've been around to observe the change), but it just seems to me that you can't really depend on many things in life anymore. You want an example? Try this one: We decided before the Memorial Day holiday that it was time to grace our new home with a backyard grill. Our previous dwelling had one in the back yard, piped for natural gas. (It's Texas, folks!) No such situation here at the new Casa Mabry, so off we went to purchase a propane-powered one. We found one for a good price at a well-known store in the area. One swipe of the credit card, and it was mine to take home to put the words, "easy assembly" to the test.

I can wield a screwdriver with the best of them, but the first thing the directions said to attach was the handle. I searched the 28 or so parts that supposedly came with the thing--no handle. Okay, I'll get one from the store, but go ahead and assemble the rest of the unit. Then I found that it was packed without the slides for two of the legs, the wheels for the other two, the grease cup, and--get this--the knobs that turn the gas on and off.

I removed the parts I'd assembled, piled the whole thing back into the box, and lugged it to the store, where they expressed their disappointment and provided me with a grill that was assembled. I asked them what they would do with the incomplete one. "Oh, we send those back to the company all the time. Lots of things come without all the parts."

Allow me to be a curmudgeon for a few seconds. When did it become acceptable to send out units without all the parts, leaving it to the customer to play roulette with the boxes, hoping the one they choose would have everything needed for "easy assembly?" It wouldn't have happened in my father's day. But I'm afraid those days are long gone.

Oh, and the new barbecue grill? Works like a charm. Drop by for burgers sometime.

Interview With Author Yvonne Anderson

2011-06-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

For a writer, the journey to publication is often long and arduous, but when “the call” comes, the struggle pales in comparison with the joy. That’s why it’s always a pleasure to introduce you to an author who has reached that point and is about to be published. Today, my guest is Yvonne Anderson, whose debut novel, The Story In The Stars, will release this month. I think you’ll enjoy getting to know her.

RM: How long have you been writing, and what made you choose the genre of speculative Christian fiction as your vehicle?

YA: Like most writers, I played around with putting words together almost from the time I could hold a pencil, but I didn’t get serious about it until about 2002. Until then, life kept getting in the way of any buried aspirations I may have had. But one day, realizing I had a story to tell as well as the motive and opportunity to commit it to words, I felt compelled to take advantage of the situation. So that’s when this journey began.

Four long years later, I got frustrated. Very frustrated. So much so, in fact, that I swore off writing altogether. Drowning my sorrows in some heavy non-fiction reading, I found a little book called The Gospel in the Stars, which premised that God proclaims the Gospel to the world through the constellations. Originally written in 1882, the book’s language was archaic and difficult, and I thought it might be fun to translate it into something more modern. About ten minutes into that endeavor I could see it wasn’t working, so I decided instead to write a fictional story that incorporated the concepts. I never had any intention of showing it to anyone, I just wanted to do it for fun. I’m not sure what possessed me to give the story a setting in space, because until then, that was never my thing.

RM: What was your biggest disappointment along your road to publication? What was the nicest thing you discovered?

YA: At first, the biggest disappointment was realizing how little I knew about writing.

Probably the nicest aspect is the many wonderful, supportive people I’ve met along the way.

RM: Tell us about your experience getting “the call.”

YA: I’d drafted Story in the Stars in 2006 and pitched an early version, rather half-heartedly, at the first writers conference I ever went to, in 2007. I was completely green, had no idea what I was doing, but I made an appointment with Andy Meisenheimer, who was then acquisitions editor for Zondervan. To my surprise, he seemed rather intrigued with everything I told him, asked several questions and nodded with interest at my answers. Then he asked, “Do you see yourself as a sci fi writer, or is this a one-shot deal?” I didn’t even read sci fi then, let alone have a hankering to write it, and being the honest sort, I told him that. And that was all he needed to hear – he was no longer interested.

Fast-forward to December, 2010. By then I’d not only revised Stars a couple of times but had also drafted a sequel, because I’d found so many cool things on the planet Gannah that I couldn’t include them all in one book. I sent a proposal for Stars to Risen Books, they asked for the complete MS, and early in January they contacted me again and asked, among other things, “What is your vision for the series?” Remembering my conversation with Andy, I laughed. Series? I had no vision for a series, I was just having fun. But once I started thinking about it, I came up with six story lines sprouting from Stars. Which, of course, I was happy to share with the people at Risen. A week later, they offered me a three-book contract, “with the possibility for more if the series does well.” Holy heart attack, Batman! I almost didn’t survive the shock.

RM: You’re also a columnist for the blog, Novel Journey. How has that affected your life as a writer?

YA: It’s been huge. In fact, I’m convinced my affiliation with them made the difference between being offered a contract and being bypassed again. Apart from Novel Journey, I had no platform, and I’m grateful to Gina Holmes for asking me to participate in her wonderful blog a few years back. I’ve learned a lot, gained a little professionalism (I hope!), and it’s been a good time.

RM: Tell us a bit about The Story In The Stars.

YA: I call it a space fantasy rather than science fiction, because it’s way more “fi” than “sci.” There are other races of humans on other planets, there’s interaction between them, and it’s all very fanciful, not based on any science that we know today.

Centuries before the story takes place, the inhabitants of the planet Gannah were bloodthirsty warriors intent on taking over the galaxy. Their rampage was stopped when the people of Karkar created a plague virus that killed every star-soldier that was exposed to it. At the same time, Gannah’s king and a small recon team were checking out their next target—Earth—where they heard the Gospel and believed, to the saving of their souls.

When the story opens, the planet is experiencing a resurgence of the plague, and Pik, a doctor from Karkar, is assigned to the task of finding a cure and saving them from annihilation. Because of their violent history, he hates the Gannahans and wishes they were all dead, but his duty to the League of Planets and his professional ambition make him swallow his racial resentment and comply with his orders. By the time he arrives with the rescue team, though, almost everyone is already dead. The only survivor is a young woman, Dassa. Like her forefathers for the past eight centuries, she’s a Christ-follower, but on their planet He’s called the Yasha, which means Redeemer.

The Yasha tells her that she will not only recover from the plague, but He will use her to repopulate the planet with a new race of Gannahans. But she has no idea how He’s going to pull it off, especially with that annoying Karkar doctor always hanging around. Once she regains her health, she and Pik have numerous adventures together, including an attack by space pirates, a crash landing and a treasure hunt. And in the midst of all that excitement, of course, Dassa shares with Pik the story in the stars.

RM: What writing project is next for you?

YA: The second book in the series, Words in the Wind, is already in the hands of the publisher. I’m currently drafting the third, and starting to mentally plot the fourth. I don’t know if the fourth will ever be contracted, but I intend to write it, because I’m addicted to Gannah. And if the Lord tarries, I just might keep going after that.

RM: If an unpublished writer came to you for advice, what would you tell them?

YA: This writing nonsense requires a huge commitment of time, energy and emotion. I wouldn’t advise anyone to even get started unless and until the person is certain it’s what the Lord wants. So first off, I’d advise you to pray about it and ask Him to stop you if this isn’t His plan for you. Once you’re certain it is, jump into it wholeheartedly and don’t look back. Join a knowledgeable critique group, meet people who can walk with you on the journey. Be teachable, and don’t be discouraged. God’s timing is perfect. If you’re not published yet, it’s because you’re not ready yet, so keep working on it. If it’s His work, He’ll accomplish it.

Of course if the writer doesn’t know the Lord, I’d recommend he or she take care of that business first. In the final analysis, that’s all that matters.

Yvonne has kindly offered a signed copy of her book, The Story In The Stars, to one of my blog readers. Leave a comment to be entered, and come back in a week when I'll announce the winner.

Yvonne, thanks for a fascinating interview. You've had quite a journey, and it's truly been novel. Thanks for sharing with us.

D-Day: June 6, 1944

2011-06-06T10:35:00.000-05:00

On June 6, 1944, US troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, as the effort to liberate Europe was officially launched. Thousands of men gave their lives during that invasion, many more were injured.

Please pause today to silently thank those who made that sacrifice, as well as their families. Freedom will always come at a cost.

Are You Going?

2011-06-03T01:00:00.005-05:00

I’ve had a number of people ask me on one of the social networks, “Are you going to conference this year?” Well, yes, since in a moment of weakness I agreed to function as an officer in the American Christian Fiction Writers, I’ll be attending. But here’s a bit of news. If I weren’t an officer, I’d still attend.

Ask an agent who represents authors writing Christian fiction to recommend a writing conference, and they’ll probably say, “ACFW.” Ask an editor from a publisher dealing with Christian fiction which conference they think you should attend, and they’ll most likely say, “ACFW.” Ask an author who is published in Christian fiction to recommend a conference, and they’ll probably tell you, “ACFW.” Why is that?

First, for fiction writers it’s a focused conference. Nothing on non-fiction, no sessions on periodicals. Just fiction. So, if you write fiction, it’s geared just for you. All the classes, from the early bird session to the continuing education classes to the individual seminars to the after hours get-togethers—the focus is fiction.

If you’re looking to get an agent interested in your work, here’s your chance. You can make an individual appointment to pitch your novel. You can sit at their table at a meal and get to know them. You can even meet them around the refreshment table, so they have a face to put with your name the next time it comes up.

The same goes for editors. The publishing houses are well represented, and the editors are pretty accessible. You’ll find them open and supportive (although you’d be well advised not to follow them into the rest room to pitch your work, a story you’ll hear repeated time after time in “don’t do this” speeches).

And there’s the networking. I look forward to seeing friends at ACFW, catching up with old ones and making new ones. Writing is a lonely business, and it’s neat to be around people who understand that special world we live in because they inhabit it, too.

I could go on, but I’ll close by saying this. If you write Christian fiction, please consider attending the ACFW annual meeting. You can click here for more information.

I’ll meet you in the shadow of the arch in St. Louis, September 22-25.

Who Are You?

2011-05-31T01:00:00.004-05:00

I'm a member of a number of email loops, and one thing keeps cropping up. People use an email address that does not indicate who they are, then don't sign their post. It's frustrating to read a post that comes from "cutesylittlename at whatever server," find no signature at the bottom, and thus have no idea who's doing the posting. Maybe I want to send the person an individual email, but if that's the case, do I start off with "Dear To Whom It May Concern?"

Then, of course, there are blog comments by the ubiquitous "Anonymous." I recognize that not everyone wants to create a profile in Blogger or whatever utility is in use. But at least sign your work. Of course, this is most often the case when someone leaves an inflammatory or negative comment on a post. Come on, folks. You're entitled to your opinion, but have the courtesy (if not the courage) to back it up with your identity.

For those of you not familiar with Blogger, which is what I use to publish this blog, the owner has an option to pre-approve every comment before it's posted. I don't go that far, but I do reserve the right (also given me by Blogger) to delete a comment, once posted, when it's inflammatory or derogatory.

To save you going back through the archives of this blog, this hasn't been the case here...yet. But I've seen it in other blogs, sometimes going so far as to make the blog owner decide to stop posting. I hope that has never happened to you.

Okay, I've said my piece. Now it's your turn. Should blog owners pre-approve comments? Do you think it's okay to post an anonymous comment and not sign it? I'm waiting to hear your thoughts.

Note to my readers: I'm being interviewed today on her blog by Joy Hannabass, and you'll have a chance to win a copy of my latest book, Diagnosis Death, if you post a comment there. I'll be dropping by to respond to your comments, as well.

Also you can get a sneak peak at Diagnosis Death today (May 31) on the romance writing site, RomCon. Hope you'll visit.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-27T01:00:00.001-05:00

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, a time to honor those who have given their lives in the service of our country. When I was growing up, we were proud of the fact that our country had never begun a war, nor had we ever lost one. I'm not sure we can say that anymore. But whatever your views about the various police actions, interventions, and battles of the past half century, there can be no debate about one thing: courageous men and women have put themselves in harm's way to make our world and our nation safe from the incursion of forces attempting to take away the freedom we hold so dear. And for this, we can never fully thank them

I'm proud to have served my country. I salute my fellow comrades and honor those who gave the "last full measure of devotion" in that service. God bless America.

Randy Ingermanson's Take On E-Publishing

2011-05-24T01:00:00.001-05:00

Author and publishing guru, Randy Ingermanson, recently published some sage advice on the ACFW loop in answer to a question about self-publishing an e-book. Here’s what Randy had to say:

"Here are the main tasks that you or a publisher must do in order to e-publish a book, once you've written it:

"1) Get it edited. If you want to be successful, I consider this nonnegotiable. I think all authors need a good macro edit, and most (but not all) also need a line editor, copy editor, and proofreader. Expect to pay between $1k and $5k for this, depending on your own skills as an editor.

"2) Get a good cover. If you can do it yourself, then you are an amazingly talented person. Very few authors are. Expect to pay $100 to several thousand dollars for cover art, depending.

"3) Translate the original edited Word document to the e-book formats (.mobi for Kindle, .epub for everything else). This is tricky, and he simple solutions look tacky. You can hire somebody to do this for a few hundred bucks. Not everyone who says they can do this can actually do this well.

"4) You probably need an ISBN. Amazon doesn't require one, but my understanding is that the other online retailers do. Amazon my someday start requiring ISBNs. You need a separate ISBN for each
format (.epub and .mobi). You can get them here. If you buy them one at a time, they cost $125 apiece. They are MUCH cheaper in bulk.

"5) Post the .mobi file to Amazon.com at this site and the .epub file to the various other online retailers (B&N, Sony, Kobo, Apple, etc.). Also post to Smashwords. They will require you to
submit your original Word document and they'll format it, but you have to follow their style guide and I'm not convinced that their output files are all that good quality. I am willing to be convinced. But right now, Amazon is still where most of the money is for most e-pubbers.

"If all of this sounds complicated, it's because it is, somewhat. This is what traditional publishers do for you at no charge. They take the risk; then they take the reward. If you want to do the above, then you take the risk and you take the reward."

Then Randy has some cautionary words for those considering going this route:

"Writers who lack the skills to get published with a traditional publisher are probably not going to do very well by e-pubbing themselves. The reason is that quality sells, and traditional publishers are fairly good at spotting quality.

"If you aren't yet good enough to get published, then you probably aren't yet good enough to do well at e-pubbing. If you are good enough to get published, but you find yourself writing in a niche
market that most gatekeepers don't understand, then you just might be a good candidate for e-pubbing. You must be able to market yourself effectively, but that's not as hard as people try to make it sound.
Most publishers will ask you to do most of the marketing anyway.

"The people who would do best at e-pubbing are the A-list authors, but it's an open question whether they're going to abandon the boatloads of money they're already getting in order to get larger boatloads of money by e-pubbing themselves. Barry Eisler, Seth Godin, and David Morrell have recently gone this route, but it's not clear if or when the really big name authors are going to do that. If one of them
does and make a major killing, that would cause a tsunami in the publishing world."

Now some of you are going to agree, some disagree, and a few may yawn and ignore it. But believe me, the world of publishing is changing rapidly, not only for writers but for readers. So stay tuned for further developments.

My thanks to Randy Ingermanson for permission to publish this. Be sure to check out his writing tips and the services he offers at this website. And stay tuned, because he should be back here soon with an announcement that will interest his fans.

And The Winner Is...

2011-05-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

Thanks to all of you who left a comment on my blog post about Brandilyn Collins' latest novel, Over The Edge. My random number generator has chosen Katie Axelson as the winner of a signed copy of the book.

I wish all of you could have won. And a special thanks goes to those of you who expressed their liking of my own books along with their comments.

Hope you'll all come back tomorrow, when Randy Ingermanson gives his views on e-publishing. If you know anything about Randy, you know he doesn't hold back. Should be interesting.

This Is For All The Lonely People...

2011-05-20T01:00:00.014-05:00

For some reason, recently I've had a song running through my head. I suppose it speaks to my age when I tell you it's a song recorded by the folk rock band, America, in the '70's. It's "This Is For All The Lonely People." Even though this has been sort of a down time for our family, it wasn't for that reason that the song came to me. The melody just stuck in my head, and I let it run around in there because I liked it. But today I decided to look into its background.

It wasn't hard to find the lyrics, but during my search I encountered a link to the "Christian lyrics" for the song. Chasing that down, I found that the song was originally written by Dan and Catherine Peek, and that Dan was one of the members of the group, America. His story can be found at his website, and it's worth reading.

The lyrics I originally learned began, "This is for all the lonely people, thinkin' that life has passed them by. Don't give up..." The Christian version takes a song that is encouraging and makes it one of assurance that, for those who are searching, Jesus is the answer. And I couldn't put it better than Dan Peek does in the last line: "You'll never know until you try."

Dan Peek took his talent and used it to pass on a Christian message to the world, a message they might otherwise never have heard. That's my dream and my vision for my writing. What's yours?

Win Brandilyn Collins' Latest Book: Over The Edge

2011-05-17T01:00:00.002-05:00

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. Her books have garnered multiple awards: ACFW Book of the Year (three times), Inspirational Readers' Choice, and Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice. She's been a friend and encourager to me on my own road to writing.

When she's not writing, Brandilyn can be found teaching the craft of fiction at writers' conferences. I caught up with her when she was in the Dallas area to teach at one of those conferences, and during our visit she graciously provided a signed copy of her latest book, Over The Edge, for me to give to one of my readers. More about that at the end of this post. But first, a preview of the book.

Janessa McNeil's husband, Dr. Brock McNeil, a researcher and professor at Stanford University's Department of Medicine, specializes in tick-borne diseases - especially Lyme. For years he has insisted that Chronic Lyme Disease doesn't exist. Even as patients across the country are getting sicker, the committee Brock chairs is about to announce its latest findings - which will further seal the door shut for Lyme treatment.

One embittered man sets out to prove Dr. McNeil wrong by giving him a close-up view of the very disease he denies. The man infects Janessa with Lyme, then states his demand: convince her husband to publicly reverse his stand on Lyme—or their young daughter will be next.

But Janessa's marriage is already rocky. She's so sick she can hardly move or think. And her husband denies she has Lyme at all.

Brandilyn is serious about the Lyme Wars, because she's been a victim herself. You can read more about her struggle here. May is National Lyme Disease Awareness Month, so it's fitting that this book was released this month. For a chance to win a copy, please comment at the end of this post. (Sorry, but postage costs make me limit this to entrants in the US and Canada). Also, be sure I can contact you, either by providing your email (in this form: Dr R L Mabry at yahoo dot com) or making sure you have a "contact me" tab on your blogger profile.

Book Signing

2011-05-14T01:00:00.002-05:00

I don't expect lines like the ones we've seen here with the opening of the new In N Out Burgers, but there will be events all over the country Saturday, May 14, at Lifeway Christian Stores. A bunch of authors will be signing their books.

Click this link and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the author(s) signing in your area. And for those of you in my vicinity, I'll be signing at the Lifeway in Plano, TX (Preston Road at Park) between 11 and 1. Drop by and say "Hi."

Small Piece Of The Pie

2011-05-13T13:01:00.000-05:00

The debate will probably rage on forever as to whether reading fiction is a waste of time or a great way to broaden your horizons. Of course, that debate isn't of much interest to most people--except writers, agents, publishers, and booksellers.

I haven't read any surveys on this subject lately, although this week I talked with one member of my church's pastoral staff who assured me he would read my novels except he only read non-fiction, another who said he read my first novel despite the fact that he generally only read non-fiction, and a third who had it on his nightstand to read when he got around to it. Hey, don't give me that, "We'll see." I'm a parent. I invented "We'll see."

I think another piece of the puzzle was added today when I received a 100 page catalog from a well-known Christian bookseller. Of that 100 pages, three are devoted to the latest releases in Christian fiction, while the rest feature non-fiction books, numerous Bible translations and commentaries, and all the other things stores like this sell. I used to be pretty good at math before computers made it unnecessary to add and subtract, and I'm pretty sure that's three percent of the space of this catalog devoted to fiction.

Writers of fiction, especially Christian fiction, does that make you want to go off in a corner and bang your head? I hope not. Admittedly, it tells me that the odds of getting a non-fiction book published are better than those of selling your novel to a royalty-paying publisher, but so long as those chances aren't zero, I'm going to continue. Like most writers, I "can't not write."

Readers of this blog, do you read fiction? If so, what type? And if not, why not? No prizes, just the chance to get your opinions off your chest. I'm interested in your responses.

How Do You Celebrate?

2011-05-10T01:00:00.002-05:00

On some of the writers' loops I follow, there are occasional posts that say something like, "Join me in doing a happy dance to celebrate Missy Something-Or-Other's first contract, a three-book deal with Wonderful Publishers." And, having once been in the position of getting that first contract, I find myself dancing with the new author--or at least dancing inside. (You don't want to see me actually dance. Believe me.)

In the writing life, which has gradually replaced the "medical life" in my existence, there are lots of occasions to celebrate. Getting an agent. Signing the first contract for publication. Seeing the cover of your book for the first time. The actual publication of that book. A good review. And once you've had the first book published, celebration follows things like completing a manuscript or finishing an editing assignment. And all this brings up the question: how and when should we celebrate?

Some of you aren't writers, but you still have occasions when you want to celebrate. A promotion. Completion of a particularly odious task. A wedding. A birth. An anniversary. A win by your favorite sports team. You name it, we'll celebrate it. So how do you go about doing that?

Over the course of my ** decades of life (you didn't think I was going to tell, did you?), I've celebrated a number of times in various ways. I've taken my wife out for dinner or a show. We've gone on a much-needed and long-anticipated vacation. I may even have cracked open a bottle of sparkling grape juice as a substitute for champagne. But time changes those things.

Recently two events occurred within a week or two of each other. My third novel was published, and I finished editing my fourth. So how did we celebrate? We had a nice dinner at home (Kay's special recipe of King Ranch chicken, as I recall), settled into our recliners, and watch a baseball game. And you know what? It was just as good as any of the other celebrations I've experienced.

Which brings me to the point of this post. Celebrations don't take place in a five star restaurant or on a cruise ship or Pacific island. They take place in the heart. Don't you have something to celebrate today?