The Years That Were, Are, and Will Be - A final post for RTG by M.L. Buchman

                                                    

Years That Were

It’s funny looking back over the years of my coming to play at RTG. 

My very first post here, December 8, 2012, sounds very positive (https://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2012/12/agile-thinking.html, OMG those early covers were awful…and the next ones were worse!). 

I’m not quite sure how I did that because it was one of those depths-of-despair times that occur in any long writing career. My publishing career was taking off, very slowly. I’d just received my first royalty notice from my trad publisher. They’d bought eight books (four were already written and in the pipeline), but the first one had only just released. 

Imagine, as my wife unfolded that royalty statement while I washed the dinner dishes, how excited we were. I’d been laid off in August [thank you, Mr. Unscrupulous Boss] and we were dead broke [thank you, recession]. Then she read out the amount the represented our great hope for the future. What we’d earned was below the publisher’s minimum threshold for cutting a check ($2.34 against a limit of $10). We lost it! I mean both lying on kitchen floor holding our sides against the laughter that lay dangerously close to hysteria.

Less than six weeks later, I’d given up the corporate job hunt (after a 30-year career), dumped the city apartment for a place half the price out on the Oregon Coast, sold the house we’d built to retire in (but had to rent out) for half its real value (again, thank you, recession), and gambled on my writing career actually taking off. 

You see, it was the year after the Kindle Christmas. I’d written a little Christmas book set in the same world as my traditional books, but I was selling it indie. Curiously, The Night Is Mine and Daniel’s Christmas would continue to be my bestselling books until I launched my Miranda Chase thrillers in 2019.

The Night Stalkers #1 and The Night Stalkers Holidays #1

Years That Are

Did I make breakout success due to indie? Well, yes and no.

I didn’t get any boost by being one of the very first to publish indie back in 2009 when the wisdom was: Publish anything indie and you’ll make a fortune. The $0.99 revolution didn’t touch me. My Amazon and Facebook ads rarely even paid for themselves (even when I got professional help). The Bookbub storm blew in some other sea than mine… 

I did it by writing the best stories that I could as fast as I could. The learning curve was horrendous, challenging, fascinating, and (did I mention?) horrendous. The production rate is something I’ve never achieved since—the power of desperation to grab onto that brass ring of being a full-time writer was immense. I’d been dreaming about that ring since I first started writing in 1993 and had my first book published in 1997.

Curious side note: though I’ve only managed to write one more book in that series, I can’t wait to get back to it. I already have two more already started…now I just need to find time to finish them.

So, a mere 6 weeks after that first RTG post, I’d made the jump. I was now a hybrid author struggling to complete the leap of faith my wife had agreed to take with me.

Curiously, and rather unexpectedly, one of the most important changes to happen that year was announced very quietly in an RTG post. In 2012, while my known world was collapsing around me, an editor forced me (almost literally) to write a short story for a Christmas Ghosts anthology. The fact that I didn’t write short stories, holidays, or ghosts carried no weight with her. So, in 2013, my first short story launched—to rave reviews.

Over the next decade, I’ve written over 200 short stories and they make up a full third of my income. Ghost of Willows Past still sells nicely every Christmas season.

Always remaining flexible is one of the great keys to success in this industry. After seven years, forty-two novels, and seventy short stories in the military romantic suspense of my Emily Beale Universe (https://EmilyBeale.com), I began to worry about keeping myself challenged as a writer. That’s an essential, to always learn and grow. Otherwise creative stagnation becomes closely followed by career stagnation.

Besides, I had discovered a character who I couldn’t wait to hear from. It took me two years to develop and understand Miranda Chase enough to write her. Two years of wondering if my military romance audience would follow me into thrillers. Of wondering if fans of the ultra-competent icon of Major Emily Beale would embrace an autistic air-crash investigator unsure of everything about her.

Fifteen books later? The answer was absolutely! 

But it was only by facing my fears and following my character into story that it happened. Had I failed to embrace Miranda, I expect my career would be having a much smaller arc, rather than still supporting my family as a full-time writer thirteen years after corporate America spit me out.

Years That Will Be

In the dozen years since that first post, the publishing world has changed in new ways at a new pace. No, I’m not ignoring the history when Dickens, Twain, and others were self-published. Nor the rise of the big publishers, the catastrophic fall of the pulp magazines in 1959 and 1960, or the nearly overnight collapse of the local distributors in the 1990s. Publishing has long since proven that it is far from done with evolving. 

However, between indie, the rise of direct sales (https://shop.mlbuchman.com), and now AI, the speed of that change is mind-boggling.

They’re not the only thing that is changing in my world either. I’ve been mostly writing Miranda Chase for the last 5 years. But a funny thing happened on Wedgetail, Miranda Chase #15. My first readers asked, “So, what’s your new series?” 

“My new one? I’m still writing Miranda.”

They shook their head sadly at my writerly naiveté. 

My Emily Beale Universe, being in the romance world, had a new hero and heroine in each book. Yes, Emily was a power figure throughout the multiple series that universe became, but it wasn’t all her story.

Miranda Chase led all fifteen titles in her thriller series personally, growing and evolving with each one. And, in Wedgetail, I’d brought all of her emotional curves to closure without realizing it. Well, almost. She has at least one more book coming, probably this fall.

So, while I have many books that have been on hold while I’ve written Miranda, will any of them become such a major, career-altering force as Emily or Miranda? How will direct sales, AI, and whatever comes after that affect my career? How will it affect yours?

We have a few key phrases on our refrigerator to remind us of how to approach the future. And thirteen years coming to play at Romancing the Genres (thank you so much for the support and congratulations on achieving something so wonderful for so long), I think these make the best advice I can offer to myself and to you:

• Semper Gumby – If you’re too young to remember the Gumby character, look it up. This fixture of my childhood is the ultimate reminder to be flexible.

• That was so three days ago. – Don’t stay rooted in the past simply because that’s what has worked before. 

• Violet is Level Six. Start where you stand. – This is a different version of the previous one, coming from a misquote of my second book (thankfully long since out of print). Translates as The past is meaningless. Look ahead. At every disaster along the road (and there will be plenty of those), we remind ourselves to look ahead, not back.

• Have fun! – Seriously. This is the biggest tool I’ve got. If you aren’t having fun, a) your audience can tell, and b) why bother? Life is too short to be wasting your time.

USA Today and Amazon No. 1 bestseller M. L. “Matt” Buchman is the author of 75+ action-adventure thriller and military romance novels, 200 short stories, and lots of read-by-author audiobooks.

PW says: “Tom Clancy fans open to a strong female lead will clamor for more.” Booklist declared his romances were: “3x Top 10 of the Year.” A project manager with a geophysics degree, he’s designed and built houses, flown and jumped out of planes, solo-sailed a 50-foot sailboat, and bicycled solo around the world…and he quilts.

Come visit: https://mlbuchman.com. 

Thrillers, Romance and True Stories

by Diana McCollum

My favorite female authors are Nora Roberts, she is so prolific and in so many genres, Paula Brackston her witch stories have always intriqued me. Both these authors have great dialogue, are very descriptive and have a great understanding of language.

Paula Brackston wrote "The Winter Witch".  In this story the witch who is young Morgana is cursed and lost her voice as a child. No one knows why. She marries and runs the household with a bit of magic. How the author does this is amazing.

Until the curse is broken towards the end of the book, she has never spoken a word. This was a fascinating read. Examining how to keep the reader interested with no dialogue.

I also enjoy thrillers by C.J. Box, William Kent Krueger and Paul Doiron to name a few.

At night I only read romance historical, regency or contemporary. I read for a 1/2 hr to an hour. Then I'm out for the night. If I read more thrilling books I would not be able to go to sleep!

I go to the library twice a month and choose a non-fiction book as I like to read true stories also. I've read Katie Couric, and Jane Goodall recently. Both I highly recommend and so interesting.

I think as writers we all enjoy books to read!

What are some of your favorite books and authors?

Have a great day!

Psychological Thrillers! by Pamela Cowan

THRILLERS!

I read them. I write them. I love them. Why? Because thrillers invade your headspace, bring drama, excitement, suspense and even fear. Emotions I don’t often experience in my day-to-day reality.

Neuroscientists believe our desire for suspense is like an addiction. They say we crave adrenaline and the release of endorphins and dopamine. Feel good chemicals that follow strong emotion and can give us a sense of euphoria.

For myself, there is something cathartic about being safe, seated in the benign glow of my reading lamp while I read (or write), about mayhem and murder.

I never get bored with thrillers. The genre is so broad, with sub-genres such as psychological, action, crime, political, mystery, spy, legal and crossover fiction, that almost anyone can find something to fit their tastes.

The novels I’ve written are considered psychological thrillers. This sub-genre delves into the psychology of the characters, who are often damaged and unstable. My tag line is: Damaged Souls. Dark Justice.

In the Storm Series I created Storm McKenzie, a probation officer, wife, mother, and vigilante. Storm was set on fire as a child and bears scars inside and out. 

Another result of that drunken incident is Storm’s ability to plan and carry out justice killings. Something most of us could not do, even if we wanted to.

My two stand-alone novels, Something In The Dark, and Cold Kill, are a mystery thriller and a suspense thriller respectively. Something In the Dark is also considered a domestic thriller. Domestics are defined as thrillers that focus on interpersonal relationships or—as I like to think of it—trouble with family!

Cold Kill, my most popular book, is a serial killer thriller. The protagonist is a former deputy and amputee intent on proving she is still capable. The antagonist is a man who believes he has every right to seek revenge and commit murder. Most of the characters are deputies, their wives, or girlfriends. Researching police procedure was one of my favorite parts of writing Cold Kill.

Which brings us to research. Most thriller writers have browser histories that would horrify law enforcement. For my own novels I’ve looked at forensic files, studied serial killers, learned how to pick a lock, downloaded plans to make C4 explosives, and learned what local plants are poisonous. Of course that’s just a partial list.

If they do their job, thriller novels are, well, thrilling. Filled with suspenseful, nail-biting moments, they keep us awake at night, worrying about what will happen next. In these times of uncertainty, thrillers offer a safe place. A place where good can triumph over evil, order can be restored, and resolution can be ours. So, pick up a thriller and see where it takes you.

 

 

 

 Pamela Cowan lives in Oregon with her husband. She has two grown children and spent 27 years working in social services. Pamela is best known for her psychological thrillers. Her short fiction has been published in Alien Skin, Argus, Space and Time, numerous anthologies, and radio. She studied writing by attending critique groups and taking classes at OIT and PSU, where she was one of a handful of students selected to attend a class taught by legendary writer, Ursula K. Le Guin. Pamela is former editor of Nanobison Speculative Fiction Magazine and founder of Just Write. She is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association, and a member of Willamette Writers Assoc., Klamath Writers Assoc., Sisters In Crime, and Becoming Fiction. Learn more at: pamelacowan.com

Medical Thrillers by Melissa Yi

CODE BLUES

"Are you going to write about the pandemic? There's so much material!" a few readers asked me.

I smiled. "I will. Later. When it's entertaining instead of scary."

Yes, we're all living through a real-life medical thriller. The most frightening thing, as an emergency doctor, was watching people die in China, Iran, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US, including medical personnel with inadequate equipment and vulnerable members of the population, knowing that SARS-Cov-2 was marching its way to Canada, and only our relative geographic isolation was buying us time. I frantically tried to educate myself, establish rational policies for our hospital, and advocate nationally for protective equipment and other measures (over 200,000 people signed our petition http://change.org/COVID19frontline.

Right now, Canada is cautiously reopening and encouraging people to keep wearing masks, washing their hands, and isolating themselves when possible. We're crossing our fingers to avoid more fatal surges as much as possible.

And I'm trying to write before the second wave hits.

GRAVEYARD SHIFT

In the seventh Hope Sze thriller, GRAVEYARD SHIFT, Hope politely interviews her first patient, who tries to strangle her with her own stethoscope—and it deteriorates from there. So it's not a cuddly read, but a page-turner that offers us some flesh and blood villains that we can see and fight and convict.

"This is the book I wanted you to write! I wanted to know about your work," said Rhonda, the head of our local book club.

"Well, it's not exactly a typical shift," I hedged.

"I like that Hope was able to solve it on her own, without her men," said my friend Jessica firmly. Although Hope's current boyfriend Tucker shows up in GRAVEYARD SHIFT, her ex-boyfriend, Ryan, has disappeared, and Tucker decides to find him because Hope is tethered to the hospital. So there is a love story, but an unconventional one.

Now I'm working on the eighth Hope Sze crime novel (tentatively titled DEATH STALKER), where Hope and Tucker travel to Egypt. Last year, I took a cruise down the Nile and holidayed on the Red Sea. I'm still learning so much about Egyptian history and culture and trying to pack it into this book.

It's Hope and Tucker's first adventure outside of North America, which Tucker envisions as an idyllic pre-wedding honeymoon. Spoiler: OF COURSE IT IS NOT. First Hope gets sprayed by an airport toilet (this actually happened to me), their travel representative doesn't show up, and then … da da da DAH! Chaos ensues.

NOTORIOUS D.O.C.

Maybe I sound too lighthearted to you.

I know many writers who are blocked and struggling right now. It's hard to write when you are or are close to people who are fighting for their lives, or who've lost their jobs.

I lost at least a month of writing to COVID-19. I concentrated on working at the hospital and speaking to the media about how best to protect our health. But in the end, for my own mental health and well-being, I need to write again. So now I'm back in the saddle, lightly nudging my writing horse to stay on the trail and finish DEATH STALKER before the end of 2020.

I wish the same for you. May we all stay home, wear masks, and wash hands to protect our most vulnerable. May we work on the front lines and behind the lines as best as we can. And may we create and consume stories that buoy our spirits through sacrifice and hardship.

THE ITALIAN SCHOOL
FOR ASSASSINS

Bio: Melissa Yi is an emergency physician and award-winning writer. Her Dr. Hope Sze medical thrillers, written as Melissa Yi, have been recommended by Publishers Weekly, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, the CBC, and The Globe and Mail, and have been transformed into audio books by Kobo Originals. Yi was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for the best crime story in Canada and the Derringer Award for the best short mystery in the English language. 

Under the name Melissa Yuan-Innes, she has also won awards for speculative fiction, poetry, and children’s literature. 

Socials:

http://www.melissayuaninnes.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/dr_sassy

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/melissa.yuaninnes

https://www.facebook.com/MelissaYiYuanInnes/

Instagram: melissa.yuaninnes

Lost in Which Genre?

by Diana McCollum

Diana McCollum-- Life is often chaotic in our home, but when I have a few hours of uninterrupted writing time, I use it, as it is a precious commodity.

A lifetime avid reader, I enjoy creating worlds where anything is possible. I can’t help but include an element of the paranormal in my stories, and always a happily-ever-after.

For me there are different levels of being ‘lost in a book’. 

I read a lot of different genres. Straight romance, Regency’s in particular, I find highly entertaining. However, they are books I can read a chapter and put the book aside. I tend to read these types of stories in the evening, in bed. I’m “lost in the story” enough to enjoy, but not enough to keep me awake.

Paranormal, Romance and Suspense author Nora Roberts’ story lines are fast paced, cover tough topics and are good, because of that I do have a hard time stopping at just one chapter. If I sit with one of her books, I’ll be ‘lost in the book’ and reading for a couple of hours. Her stories come alive, and I have to find out what happens. 

For me most romances and some romantic suspense books are ‘slow paced’. When they are not fast paced I tend to get bored, and can easily put the book aside for a day or two. I usually read this type when I take a break from household tasks.

I don’t know if it is because I’m a mature reader now, but I seem to be pickier about how I spend my time reading.

Now a good thriller, like the one I’m reading right now by Harlan Coben, “Missing You”, will keep me reading straight through to the end. With three interlacing plot lines and fast pacing I’m intrigued to the very end. No reading one chapter at a time with his book!

I know this probably seems strange to enjoy thrillers most of all when I write paranormal romance! Hey, each to his own choices. That’s what entertains me!!

Do you read certain books during the day, night or. .?

If you like witch stories, modern times with a pinch of paranormal you might try my book: The Witch With the Trident Tattoo.

http://dianamccollum.weebly.com/

https://www.facebook.com/dianamccollumauthor/

https://twitter.com/Dianasuemcc

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DianaMcCollum

Fun With Old Friends

by M. L. Buchman

Okay, I have a real problem with old friends...they cost me an immense amount of time.
Maybe not as much as new friends.
But...sheesh!

Let me give you an example from yesterday.

There I was, happily working along, building a new collection of short stories. Actually, three of them but two aren't out yet.

Hotshots is releasing next week (https://books2read.com/the-complete-hotshots)

So, there I was looking over fifteen different stories about my wildland wildfire firefighters (how's that for an awkward mouthful?). I wrote these from 2015-2018, which wasn't all that long ago.

Six hours later (6!!!) I reemerged from my quick scan. I'd revisited crew leads, betas, alphas, adventurers, ex-military, the damaged, and the whole.

Writing is a real hazard for a writer who likes their own characters.

I don't even have the excuse of the new introductions I wrote for each story...I wrote those six months ago when I lost yet another day or two to revisiting these same old friends.

Another example. Months ago I wrote an origin story for Miranda Chase (one of my newer friends who's taking a lot of my time lately) for a charity anthology. I've long since turned in the story, but I was writing an ad for it last week...

https://books2read.com/origins-of-honor

The ad had nothing to do with the story...but I had to reread the story anyway and lost another hour. SIGH! (Great antho by the way, just saying. Thriller, SF, military... Written by a bunch of friends and some of their friends. Can't wait to read it myself.)

I guess it's kind of a weird view of how a writer thinks. These characters for some brief time were my closest friends. Not that I don't have friends out in the world, but for the brief days or weeks that I was writing their story, I was discovering everything about them--far more than I know of even my closest friends. Hopes, fears, the dream they wouldn't admit to anyone. I got to follow their emotions as the faced fire, and loss, and crushed hopes. And I like to think they'd have liked me for finding a way to tell their story.

My wife has long since learned to be patient. We were watching some show the other night (might have been the Great British Bake Off--might have seen all of the episodes of all ten years...just maybe). And we both love to cook, so we're always chatting about techniques that we see on the show.

So, she asked something, finally having to call out my name to get my attention...we were sitting on the couch with her feet in my lap, so we weren't all that far apart.

"Oh, sorry, I was just wondering how I'd write that baker's accent. It's so distinctive."

There I was, sitting with my wife, and I was off trying to make a new friend: that baker's accent, but maybe a deep sea diver, or a...

BUT, try explaining your "nonexistent" friends that you spent so much intimate time with on the page (and I'm not talking about the sex scenes, [how fast did your mind go there anyway? :) ]), and your "normal" friends think you've totally lost it. I have a group of "normal" friends (real live ones) who we have breakfast with every week. And I was washing dishes with one of them, and tried to explain this. She's curious about the writing process...but now also thinks I'm totally nuts! Double SIGH!

So, the next time you're talking to your invisible friends...
Keep your relationship on the page.
If you're a friend of a writer...approach with caution.
Just a suggestion.

M.L. "Matt" Buchman has 60+ thriller and romance novels, 100 short stories, and lotsa audiobooks. PW says his thrillers will make “Tom Clancy fans open to a strong female lead clamor for more.” Booklist declared three novels “Top-10 Romances of the Year.” A project manager with a geophysics degree, he’s designed and built houses, flown and jumped out of planes, solo-sailed a 50’ sailboat, and bicycled solo around the world…and he quilts. More at: www.mlbuchman.com.

Finding the Voice of Christmas

by M. L. Buchman

It's funny, I've been having some offline discussions about a writer's voice lately and I wanted to share it here. Then I saw that the month's suggested theme was holiday reads and I must say that I found a very appropriate example. :)

THE SEASON
I love Christmas stories. Which is odd as I grew up in a household where Christmas was not the most comfortable time (Dad was not a fan of the season). But my wife and kid taught me what a joy Christmas could be when it is done with heart and soul. And I've now written seven novels and twelve short stories set in the holiday season. (A total surprise to me...and yes, many more to come.)

Here's a collection of all twelve short stories:

Grab a copy here!

THE VOICE
What's funny about this collection is that the twelve tales are actually in ten different series and five distinct genres:

• military romantic suspense (The Night Stalkers, Delta Force, US Coast Guard)
• romantic suspense (Firehawks Hotshots, White House Protection Force)
• science fiction romance (Science Fiction Romance stories)
• contemporary romance (Where Dreams, Henderson's Ranch, and a standalone)
• thriller (Dead Chef)

And yet, if you were to read all the tales, from the angst-filled Relive the Day! to the thriller romp of Christmas Cookied Chef, I think there would be little question that they were all written by the same author.

That's voice!

Not character voice, but the voice of the author. Which leads me back to the discussion I was having with some friends earlier. So, what the heck is an author's voice?

Well, that's the real beauty of it. The one person who can't hear their own voice is, indeed, the author. Why? Because to the author, it sounds like themselves. Which, curiously enough will sound a little dull and flat--but only to the author. (Yep, it's a crazy profession.)

The challenge for the author is to then learn how to stay out of their own way. My theory goes something like this:

1. Do not over edit. That's the writer's intellectual brain trying to correct their natural, emotional one to what they "think" it should be. I'm not saying don't fix broken things in the edit, I'm saying try not to fix the things that aren't broken.
2. Focus on having fun. That's when we're being our truest selves. When we just plunge in and tell story. Sure, this can be wrackingly hard, or everyone would be doing it, but we love it or else authors would find something simpler to do like creating world peace. :)
3. Matching the author voice to the genre.

MY VOICE

This last point has already been a wild adventure for me. My career has spanned 25 years so far. I can't imagine what the next 25 will hold, but here's what I know so far.

Some authors LOVE a particular genre. They eat sleep and breathe: romance, science fiction, high fantasy, cozy mystery... When they go to write in that genre, they've spent decades as a reader training their inner writer's voice to love that genre and they can just climb right in and pull it over them like a warm blanket.

Me? Not so much. I was deep in a career of reading action-adventure (Melville, London, Arctic explorers--I was about 10), when my Dad set down a science fiction book he'd just finished. I picked it up and didn't leave SF (except for a little bit of fantasy) for a decade. Then I spent another decade in thrillers and more years in classics before I stumbled on romance. Except romance already worked for me because Mom had raised me on a steady diet of MGM musicals and albums of Broadway shows.

So, I wrote some SF, a couple romances, and a few thrillers. Then I sold a military romantic suspense (MRS) series to a publishing house. Thirty novels later, I popped my head up.

My career was going very nicely, but I wanted a little more surety and some variety. The next steps looked something like this:

• I plunged into contemporary romance. Fourteen books later, I was getting the same kind of stellar reviews I had in MRS...but about 1/2 the sales. Hmm... I thought. Hmmmm....
• I then looked at all my reviews (did one of those word cloud things where more common ones are bigger). Sure I got: character, romance, heartwarming...but I also got: action, tension, exciting, even thriller.
• Hmmm, I do love a good thriller. In fact, much of my romance and SF reading had been over on the thriller side of the coin. 

THE PLUNGE

So, I'm now making an experiment and plunging into thriller to see if that genre more closely matches my author's voice. Early feedback offers a fairly definitive YES.

• "Tom Clancy fans open to a strong female lead will clamor for more." - Publishers Weekly
• "Superb!" - Booklist
• “The best military thriller I have read in a very long time. Love the female characters.” – Sheldon McArthur, founder of The Mystery Bookstore, LA

As I write this, Drone released yesterday to my strongest launch in two years, despite being in a new genre for most of my dedicated readers. Have I managed to match my voice to a genre? Only time will tell. For now, you can judge for yourself.

Not as Christmasy as the collection above, but way fun!
Click here to grab a copy: e-, print, large print, or audio

M.L. "Matt" Buchman has 60+ novels, 100 short stories, and lotsa audiobooks. Booklist says: 3x “Top-10 Romance of the Year” and among “The 20 Best Romantic Suspense Novels.”  A project manager with a geophysics degree, he’s flown and jumped out of planes and also bicycled solo around the world. More at: www.mlbuchman.com.