Gay Yellen: Writing a novel is like...

How do you describe what writing a novel is like? Here's E.L. Doctorow's version:

Some say writing is similar to riding a bike: you start out slow and wobbly, but then you get the hang of it. I take issue with that one. Writing my first book was a breeze compared to my third. So for me, writing is definitely not like sailing gleefully down the street on a two-wheeler. Another author likened it to making a puzzle: you create the pieces—characters, setting, plot, etc.—then fit them together in a complete story, thus solving the puzzle, too. There's something to that, I suppose. I feel a touch of joy in simply working on a manuscript, even when my own puzzle has me stumped, until the moment when the pieces fall into place.

Here's what one of today's most popular writers says:

I agree with all of the above, except the bike analogy, because even now, on some days, it feels like I have completely forgotten how to write.

 

How about you, Gang? What's writing like for you?

Gay Yellen writes the award-winning

Samantha Newman Mysteries, including:

The Body Business,

The Body Next Door

(available on Amazon)

...and, coming soon in 2022:

Body in the News

Conferences for Writers—Part II, ThrillerFest

By Kay Kendall

Many differences make ThrillerFest stand out from other conferences that are offered to crime authors. This annual conference of International Thriller Writers is held at the same time every year and in the same hotel. It begins right after Independence Day at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City and includes a full six days of activities, each one priced separately. If you attend everything that is offered, then your conference fee will be much higher than any other in your whole year.

Rambo's creator, David Morrell

While ThrillerFest stands out because of its cost, it is also worth every one of your hard-earned dollars. You will see more star power on one stage or at just one of the many cocktail parties than you will ever hope to see in your whole life. The literary energy and brilliance just zing. What’s more, all those big-name authors are helpful and supportive to hopeful writers.

If you are a debut author and get published by a press on the approved list, then you can join the ITW Debut Author program in that year and receive even more support and applause. I was urged to participate in 2013 when my first book Desolation Row launched. I figured I’d go once and be done with such a pricey gathering. I was wrong. I returned in 2014 and again this year. Here are just a few of the reasons why—bestselling authors who participated in this year’s programs.

Spy novelist Gayle Lynds

• 2015 ThrillerMaster Nelson DeMille plus 2015 Silver Bullet Recipient Kathy Reichs
• 2015 Spotlight Guests Mark Billingham, Charlaine Harris, and Greg Iles
• 2014 ThrillerMaster Scott Turow and 2014 Silver Bullet Award recipient Brenda Novak
•  Lee Child interviewed Billingham--they both grew up in Birmingham, England.
• Rambo’s creator David Morrell interviewed DeMille—they both have long and stellar careers.
• Gayle Lynds introduced her newest thriller THE ASSASSINS
• Anne Perry flew over from the UK to talk about her historical mysteries.
• Steve Berry moderated several panels.

Other favorites were Catherine Coulter, Clive Cussler, Jeffery Deaver, Joseph Finder, Heather Graham, Laurie R. King,  CJ Lyons, Daniel Palmer, Chris Pavone, Hank Phillippi Ryan, MJ Rose, Karin Slaughter, and RL Stine. Each has at least one huge bestseller, and most have many more.

This conference is only ten years old. The genesis came from successful authors who wanted to help budding writers learn the ropes and get ahead. Co-founders David Morrell and Gayle Lynds both attended this year as usual and remain always supportive to other writers. The learning opportunities at ThrillerFest are endless. If you are an aspiring or newly published crime writer and have not yet attended this magnificent event, I encourage you to save up so that you too can attend in 2016. I hope to see you there!

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Kay Kendall is a long-time fan of historical novels and writes atmospheric mysteries that capture the spirit and turbulence of the sixties. She is a reformed PR executive who lives in Texas with her husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Terribly allergic to her bunnies, she loves them anyway! Her book titles show she's a Bob Dylan buff too. RAINY DAY WOMEN published on July 7--the second in her Austin Starr Mystery series. The audio-book will be out soon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Rainy-Day-Women-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00W2X5SCS

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The Vampire Lestat’s Mom and Rambo’s Dad

By Kay Kendall

Last week the organization International Thriller Writers (ITW) celebrated its tenth anniversary. The star power of authors present at the celebratory conference, ThrillerFest, ran the gamut from supernova to red dwarf. Last year when I went to my first ThrillerFest as a debut author, I was stunned by the numerous super stars in attendance, and also by how kind and generous they were. This year’s meeting was even more jam-packed with sparkling talent.

 

Anne Rice is in center, with her son Christopher the tall man over her shoulder. Others left to right are R.L. Stine, David Morrell, and Scott Turow. 

Anne Rice wrote her first novel about the vampire Lestat in 1985—she was present. David Morrell wrote his first Rambo novel in 1972, followed by 28 more novels of various kinds—he was there. Ditto Lee Child, father of Jack Reacher, who first appeared in 1997, with his nineteenth tale out next month. Scott Turow dropped by to pick up his award, Thriller Master 2014. His novel Presumed Innocent put the legal thriller on the map in 2000, and eleven more novels followed. Other luminaries who spoke at ThrillerFest (whose books you no doubt either read or at least recognize) include David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Michael Connelly, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, M.J. Rose, and John Sandford.

Here I am with T. Jefferson Parker.

When you’re in such company, you can either feel insignificant—or you can choose to be inspired. I picked the latter. The atmosphere was so supportive, of any writer at any level, that it was easy not to be intimidated. One of the main purposes of the ITW organization is to provide a way for successful, bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. Judging from the two conferences I’ve attended, the contacts I’ve made, and the networking that is ongoing, I can only conclude that this goal is being met brilliantly.

Ian Rankin with Steve Berry in background

Helping to put the international in the conference was one of my favorite authors, Ian Rankin. He flew in from his home in Edinburgh, Scotland, to participate on several panels. He has written nineteen installments in his bestselling crime series featuring Inspector John Rebus. Another of my favorites is T. Jefferson Parker. His twenty crime novels are set in southern California, and his next book is due this October, called Full Measure.  

I have met Rankin and Parker at previous book events and corresponded with both of them. They recognize me as both a super fan of their work and an aspiring novelist. It is heartwarming and encouraging to be treated nicely by one’s literary heroes. Now I can’t wait to return to ThrillerFest next year.  (By the way, I participated on a panel but forgot to ask one of my pals to shoot the photographic evidence. Darn.) 

Cheers to ThrillerFest!

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Kay Kendall set her debut novel, Desolation Row—An Austin Starr Mystery, in 1968. The Vietnam War backdrop illuminates reluctant courage and desperate love when a world teeters on chaos. Kay’s next mystery, Rainy Day Women (2015) finds amateur sleuth Austin Starr trying to prove a friend didn’t murder women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver. Kay is an award-winning international PR executive living in Texas with her Canadian husband, three house rabbits, and spaniel Wills. Very allergic to bunnies, she loves them anyway! 

Her book titles show she’s a Bob Dylan buff too.

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In My Mind, I Run Like a Kenyan

Rachel Brady

Lee Child made what I thought was an interesting remark at Left Coast Crime earlier this month. Paraphrasing, it was that the fun part of writing is the daydreaming, and that the hard part is getting the words onto the page.

Ain’t that the blazing truth.

I’ve been thinking about that remark for weeks. Somehow I’ve had the notion all this time that getting words onto the page is easier for everyone else than it is for me. Given a choice, I’d rather visualize scenes hundreds of different ways than actually sit down and write one down. Why? Because the version I choose might not work, and then I’d have to cut all those pages.

I know: “Get over it.”

But still.

It takes a long time to put down thousands of words. Cutting them is hard. Why not decide first how I want the book to go, by daydreaming through dozens of plot lines, and then writing down the version I decide is best? For me, daydreaming is oodles more fun than typing words. Many writers say they have to write, that they are addicted to writing. Not me. I’m addicted to daydreaming.

A few years ago, David Morrell shared an interesting story about daydreaming that I’ll never forget. Coupled with this new statement by Lee Child, I grow hopeful now that my Writer Imposter Complex might possibly be unfounded.

The keyboard does not call me. I don’t get a charge out of putting down the words. My charge is always in the imagining.

In this regard, I fervently hope that my future as a writer will parallel my history as a runner. There was a time I did not enjoy running. The only thing I liked about it was how I felt afterward, and fortunately that feeling was good enough to keep me lacing up and coming back. Writing, the actual act, is a little like that for me now. Making a synopsis, staring at a blinking cursor, struggling for a word, or figuring out the best way to express an emotion is often frustrating. As with my running years ago, writing is frequently painful while I’m doing it. But, like the running, I feel an indescribable sense of accomplishment when it’s over. Huge. It’s the buzz that keeps me coming back.

Twenty years later, I’m still running. Now I actually love the run while I’m doing it. I feel disappointed when I miss a run and I’m always looking forward to the next one.

Today I’m daydreaming about a time when writing will feel like that.