It has been an incredible journey and a big learning curve for both of us. A desire to write and a story to tell is not always enough. We attend workshops and conferences and read the latest “How to sell a Blockbuster” kind of books as well as the latest from Mystery/ Crime writers we admire. This gives us the much needed insight into the minefield of the publishing world today. Should we self publish, do we need an editor, agent or publisher? How many drafts are good enough? Is it better to send online or through the mail? The questions are endless. Should we try and publish in an eBook format?
When we started out, Liz and I would give up a lunch or coffee break to read our work to each other. It’s still the best way to pick up mistakes in tone and style. When two people are writing the aim is that the writing will be seamless. Fortunately for the book we are on the same page as far as the outline goes and then the fun starts. After agreeing in principal on the characters we let them speak for themselves. Sometimes Liz will be off in a direction I hadn’t thought off. With the same character I will turn a corner and the protagonist is doing something else. When we do come face to face, usually once a month, we iron out any problems.
Saturday was one of our get together days. Liz was coming to Oakville and as well as loads of work to get through we did manage a birthday lunch for Liz (overdue) at Stoney’s and then a cappuccino and a lemon square at Monastery bakery. We both would have preferred a nap after lunch, but we struggled through a short story we are writing for a Scene of the Crime contest in August. We’re looking forward to this festival. More in a later post.
As well as this blog we are on Twitter and LinkedIn. At least Liz is. I am on Facebook and contribute to the blog, and now Liz has set me up with Pinterest. I’ll give it a shot- maybe. Now that I'm retired and home all day, it is tempting to be on social networks all the time. When do we find time to write? When does Liz get on these networks? Oh yeah, she has one of those smart phones.
So, you get the idea. Liz is the technical expert and I’m not, but I do contribute to this partnership.
I hope you have enjoyed the last two interviews; Alison Bruce and Melodie Campbell. If you missed them check the right hand column.
At the end of this month set your calendar for the 29th . I will be interviewing Barbara Fradkin. She has just launched her ninth Inspector Green mystery.
Check back frequently to see who is next for a grilling from Pam.
We’ve found the writing community to be helpful and gracious in showing us the way in our quest for publication. I’m lunching on the 16th with nine fellow writers. Some published, some not. I will be picking their brains for nuggets of information in this process.
Talk soon,
Slainte,
Pam
So, you get the idea. Liz is the technical expert and I’m not, but I do contribute to this partnership.
I hope you have enjoyed the last two interviews; Alison Bruce and Melodie Campbell. If you missed them check the right hand column.
At the end of this month set your calendar for the 29th . I will be interviewing Barbara Fradkin. She has just launched her ninth Inspector Green mystery.
Check back frequently to see who is next for a grilling from Pam.
We’ve found the writing community to be helpful and gracious in showing us the way in our quest for publication. I’m lunching on the 16th with nine fellow writers. Some published, some not. I will be picking their brains for nuggets of information in this process.
Talk soon,
Slainte,
Pam
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