The Writing Life Too

Skies the color of pale pewter although the sun is supposed to break through later. I have lilacs sitting next to my computer screen perfuming the whole room. When I went out walking last night I chanced on a bush bent over from rain, kissing the sidewalk. Clearly the blossoms needed liberating.

As I mentioned, Portland is a writer’s town. Last night I had dinner with four local writer/s authors and we heard from April Henry that her latest book has hit The New York Times bestseller’s list. Which means, she said, that this fact will appear in her obituary. Which brought on a laugh from all of us, about how what is written in your obituary is what counts….April is a mystery writer and the best seller is Face of Betrayal (A Triple Threat Novel) co-written with Fox News Legal Analyst Lis Wiel. After I returned home last night I checked out April’s blog

And if you read down her blog page you’ll learn that Dennis Lehane (author best known for Mystic River) is bringing back his series characters Angie Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie in his next book—yee hah. Meanwhile Lehane’s latest book is The Given Day—a historical. Haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my list.

Another writer in the group is Cathy Lamb. I first met Cathy in the mid-90s when she was trying to break in at Harelquin and was attending my classes. I noticed right away that she was smart, funny, talented, and most important for a writer, persistent. She explained last night why writing romance didn’t work out, how at one point she waited two years for a response to a manuscript that she sent them. She now writes women’s fiction and her first book Julia’s Chocolates did well and her fourth novel is Henry’s Sisters will be available July 29.

At her site she describes her upcoming book: “Each of the sisters in the book has, let’s see… what’s a kind way of putting it? They have ISSUES. Major issues. The brother is gentle and dear and has special abilities.

This is a story about a family that’s fallen apart and ends up being put back together again. It’s about a Queen Anne house, a bakery, a motorcycle, a mid life crisis Corvette, flowery smelling pink letters, an amusing divorce, burning bras, a crime writer, love, a kid who studies different religions each week, fear, giant cupcakes, a lost father, and a disastrous childhood partially spent living in a car.”

We also chatted about marketing strategies—the question is how much time do you spend promoting your books when you need to be writing the next one? Plugging books takes a huge commitment of time, money, and energy. Our group was divided on the value of it. I’m still thinking about it all…..The bottom line is that if you’re going to promote your work you need to choose your methods carefully. Some writers I know spend all their time on the road promoting and seem to me more hucksters than authors. Some don’t do a darn thing. The best advice I can give at this stage is write a book that you want to read and then reserve at least 10 percent of your advance for marketing. That way you can at least mail out review copies and have a professional head shot taken.

And I’m happy Allison made it to the top 4 on American Idol—she’s got star splashed all over her raspy-as-whiskey-oh-so-cool voice.