Guidebook to Murder Releases April 17th

And I'm celebrating.

What's it like to be an author? What wild and crazy things do we do when one of our books is finally out into the world?

Wild authors at the Michael Hauge workshop-St. Louis

April 17th is a Thursday. So I'll be getting up at 5am, working out for 30 minutes, playing around on the computer for another 30 minutes, then getting ready for work.

The 30-45 minute drive is made tolerable with an audio book playing in the cd player. Probably a mystery. Or a romance. Maybe I can find a Heather Graham mix up for the week.

Then I do my thing for 8 hours at a local leasing company. And, no, I won't pick you up.

Drive home - more story. Whoever invented the audio book, I'd like to buy you a beer. Or two.

Walk the dogs, make dinner, write 1000 words on my WIP, and play on social media for a few hours, including checking out my blog tour posts.

And, since I'll still be on Lent, I'll dream of chocolate peanut butter eggs and eating bunny ears.

Lynn

How do you celebrate a special day?

In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store--Coffee, Books, and More--open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?

When Jill's elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily's gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill--along with all of her problems. . .and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit--especially if it gets her closer to South Cove's finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she's on the case--and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

Lynn Cahoon’s a multi-published author. An Idaho native, her stories focus around the depth and experience of small town life and love. Lynn’s published in Chicken Soup anthologies, explored controversial stories for the confessional magazines, short stories in Women’s World, and contemporary romantic fiction. Currently, she’s living in a small historic town on the banks of the Mississippi river where her imagination tends to wander. She lives with her husband and four fur babies.

What did you give up for Lent?

Do you participate in the Lent practice of giving up something? I’m not Catholic, but my denomination followed this practice. My first year, I remember giving up Coke. I’m a real Coke addict. (The drink, not the drug.) I was at work, and had just taken a sip of my ritual mid-afternoon treat when I remembered my promise.

I couldn’t believe I’d slipped so fast. First day and I’m a failure.

Yes, I am literal in my interpretations. No grey, just black or white. And that’s something I’m trying to correct in my personal life as well as my writing.

When I first started submitting, if the guidelines said A. I gave them A. If the guidelines were vague, I’d ask questions until I understood the process and what they were looking for. After being in the game for almost five years now, I’m a bit more relaxed in my interpretations. I’ve heard from countless agents and editors they want a good story well told. And if they list off what they’re looking for, they might miss out on a manuscript that will blow them away.

Having faith in your work will move you forward. Knowing that you’ve written the best book you can at the time, should be enough. If all you do is polish, you’ll never be told no. You’ll also never get constructive feedback from the people who could have bought your book.

Last year when I was negotiating my contract with my editor (I don’t have an agent), I fell into that black or white mentality. Kicking myself during the long weekend after asking for a change in the options clause, I drove myself and my friend crazy with second guessing.

This is probably the reason agents earn their 15%.

As the hours passed without a response, I’d gone from confident in my request to convinced I’d phrased the email wrong and had offended her.

When Monday came and the editor agreed to my request, I was over the moon. I’d almost given up faith.

So this year, I’m giving up sugar. I may be a basket case by the time this blog posts. I’m sure I’ll fail at least once. But I know I’ll get back up and try again.

And that’s all that matters.

What are you giving up for Lent?

Lynn

Mission to Murder is up for pre-order (coming July 31st) so I thought I'd share the cover. Don't you just want to go inside and see what's on sale?

The Act of Revision

When you think of what an author does all day, most people think about the creative part. Weaving a story from an idea, or three, into a full fledged book, filled with characters, conflict, and, emotion.

That happens, but not in the first draft.

I've got revisions on the brain. I just finished my final, first draft for a bull rider's book. I had a beta reader who acted like a first editor, read through and help clean up the draft. Then, as I went through my own drafting process, I also incorporated her comments.

Then it went to my publisher. Now that I've sold the project, the book will be back on my desk in a few weeks for copy edits.

By the time the story is done, the book will have gone through five sets of 'edits' including my original changes from my first draft.

Why am I telling you this? This weekend, I gave a talk to a local writer's group. At break, one of the members came to be to ask about a scene in his story where the woman overcomes massive childhood issues with a love scene. The author talked about the symbolism of the act and explained what it all meant.  When I mentioned that he might need to show her healing in other ways then use the scene as a cumulation of the growth in the character's arc, he shook his head. The book, he said, was already done.

I disagree. A book is never done until it's published and in the readers hands. Even if you're shopping what you believe to be a finished product to agents and editors, you may need to tweak and adjust the story to score that contract. And even then, your story may change during the publisher's editing process.

I used to believe that once I wrote 'The End', the book was done.

Now, I realize that is a fairy tale.  It takes a village to write a book. From beta readers, critique partners, to agents, copy, developmental and line editors, many hands touch your baby as it goes through the process.  At the end, you'll have a better product.  Or at least that's the goal.

I'm heading back to the editing cave.
Lynn

New Years Resolutions or Not?

Hey gang....

It’s been six days since the New Year started. How are your goals going? Do you set goals or resolutions?

For me, I’m a goal setter. Resolutions seem too dreamy. A goal is specific and time centered.

So here’s one of my goals – Make healthy choices and increase fruits/veggies in my diet. My hope is to lose 20 pounds by year-end. Now, it’s not going to get done just by adding a few apples and celery sticks. I’m also going to have to work out regularly and keep a log of both food and exercise. One day at a time. Kind of like writing a book. Or eating an elephant. (Although that might be a wrong metaphor to use.)

One way I can do this is using Myfitnesspal.com I love this website. Free and filled with excellent tracking programs. And, you can buddy up with friends and have an online push when you’re not reaching your goals.

Today I found Panera Breads is sponsoring a fitness challenge. Lose five pounds in six weeks. They have a mobile app called Lose It. It’s a lot like MyFitnessPal but it’s on my phone. Although, I think you can do that with MyFitnessPal too. Check out https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html for more information.

Watching hulu plus while I rode my stationary bike I found another program I might like—Daily Burn. Apparently, it brings a variety of exercise programs to you every day – kind of like P90X which is one of my favorite workouts but my doctor banned me from using due to health issues. Right now, I’m playing Biggest Loser on Xbox with Konect. Love the workouts. And the weather warms up and I can get back to walking places like Chain of Rocks bridge, it's indoor work for me.

Technology rules.

One last hint for today – find a farmers market that delivers. Our local farmer’s market in the St. Louis are does a Fruit your Cube program, bringing fruits and veggies to your office for a reasonable cost. I never have to say, I should have gone to the store because the store comes to me. The only guilt is when I don’t use up the veggies before they go bad.

Are you on the health wagon for 2014? Do you like the on line programs, or good, old-fashioned meetings?

Lynn

From Idea to Finished Product

One late night at a McDonalds, a group of writer friends sat chatting after a book signing. As the evening wore on, the subject of how we start a book came up. (Yes, writers are a wild sort. I even had chicken nuggets to snack on while we talked.)

For me, it’s setting. My bull rider series is set in a little fictional town based off a real small mountain town nestled in the Idaho Mountains and the site of the first local rodeo of the season. I wrote a book about a woman who didn't know her witch heritage set in a bar that has an uncanny resemblance of one where I spent many a night playing darts.  And I have a story floating in my head that starts with a lonely dock in a secluded cove on a lake near McCall, Idaho. The place just radiates magic.

It probably won’t surprise you that Guidebook to Murder started with a picture--one I shared with you in my introductory post. I love the way the fence is part wood and part wire.  The cheerful yellow and white paint contrasting against the dead tree and overgrown yard.  The place spurred a question or two - Who would live there? Why is such a cute house in such bad shape?

And when writers have questions, we fill in the blanks with story. 

I took this shot one spring break while I was vacationing at my sister’s house in central coastal California over a decade ago.  This became the touch point for Miss Emily’s house in Guidebook to Murder.  And now, the entire town of South Cove has been built around the idea.

That one picture spurred the series.  But now I have a new picture to share for South Cove.  Guidebook to Murder, Book 1 of the Tourist Trap Series is available for pre-order on fine digital stores everywhere. Can’t wait for April when you all can visit South Cove too.

Which leads me to my question –do you read books because of the setting?  

Lynn

Guidebook to Murder – A Tourist Trap Mystery

Available – April 17^th, 2014

In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store--Coffee, Books, and More--open and running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?

When Jill's elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her dilapidated old house. But Emily's gumption goes for naught when she dies unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill--along with all of her problems. . .and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is determined to uncover the culprit--especially if it gets her closer to South Cove's finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she's on the case--and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

Welcome to the dark side... We have cookies

Well, kind of.

Hi, I'm Lynn Cahoon. I'm so excited to be part of Stiletto Gang. Who am I? Well, let's get started.

I've published 3 romance novels, 3 novellas, and a multitude of short stories. My first writing credit was a story for True Love - I Fell in Love With a Carney. With a off screen sex scene, it was considered hot for the media.  I went on to hone my craft weaving stories with several confessional 'true' stories ranging from dealing with credit card bills to finding a mate through a radio station contest. As I kept writing, I learned of new markets and have sold two shorts to Women's World.

In between the romance, I kept penning stories that didn't fit the happily-ever-after mold.  And after taking and carrying around a photo above for too many years, I finally started telling the story of the woman who lived in the run down house in the picture. But I found it wasn't her story, even though Miss Emily plays a large part of the book. And through the submissions and critiques and rejections, a new town was born, South Cove California. Jill Gardner is my amateur sleuth when she's not running her combination coffee house and bookstore or remodeling her new-to-her house.

Jill's story is being released in April 2014 through eKensington and is titled, Guidebook to Murder - A Tourist Trap Mystery. Book 2, Mission to Murder will release Summer 2014 and the third book, unnamed at this time, Winter 2014.

I've learned a lot about writing cozy mysteries in the last couple years, but once you're contracted, your learning curve shoots upward with new work to be done. Like promotion. And edits. And promotion.

I work a very dull day job that pays the bills. I'm married to my own romance hero who at times can turn into a murder mystery victim depending on my mood. I have two Pomeranians, Demon and Homer, who I adore and walk around the neighborhood. And we've just became the humans for two cats, Thor and Ella.

Check out my website for more about me at : http://lynncahoon.wordpress.com/

I'm looking forward to chatting twice a month.
Lynn