My newsroom mysteries kill off editors .. but corporations are killing off journalists far faster

Sometimes I miss working at a newspaper. I miss the interviews.  I miss finding the stories. I miss the writing. I even miss the burned coffee and the crazy hours.

One day, I missed it so much I made up my own newsroom. I staffed it with a bunch of quirky creative types, and then I developed my hero - a reporter who was extra nosy and particularly vigilant about covering the news.

Then I ... well, I knocked off an editor. Fictionally speaking, of course. I wrapped it all up into a murder mystery, and readers seemed to enjoy it, which I very much appreciated. So I'm writing a sequel.

They're a little far-fetched, of course. But writing them makes me feel good. I actually feel in touch with the industry - to write my stories, I have to stay abreast with what's happening in real life.

Then I read stories like the one I read this week - about so many hard-working, dedicated journalists at the Times-Picayune who've been cast aside like yesterday's news. And I realize you don't really need my mysteries to read about murder in the newsroom.

Corporations  - working in the name of progress - are killing off newspapers far faster in real life.

Give that guy a gun - or maybe a phone - for some added drama

Raymond Chandler once said, "When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."

He was talking about adding tension to a story, of course. I would never doubt Chandler. It worked for him.  And I agree, guys and guns most definitely liven up a scene.

But there are other ways to add dramatic elements, too. My personal favorite? The midnight call.

You write what you know, and in real life, I find few things creepier than being woken from a sound sleep by the chirp of a cell phone or worse, the loud ringing of a little-used landline telephone.

You just know there's something bad on the other end. Your stomach knots, your heart starts pounding. But you have to answer it.

I hate when it happens to me.

But I love to do it to my characters. Because anything, or anyone, can be on the other end of that line.

Even a guy with a gun.

Sprinkling details throughout a story can be devilishly tricky

I always found the phrase "the devil is the details" somewhat charming.

It's sounds very dramatic. Sinister, even. In reality, it's hardly that. It's simply a way of describing a situation that's time-consuming and, well, devilishly tricky to finesse.

I'm coming across it now as I try to add some realistic details to Paper Cut, my sequel to Death on Deadline. They're both newspaper mysteries, but in Paper Cut, there's a scene that takes place next to a printing press that's running at full speed.

It's important to me that the reader understand how immense and loud these contraptions are - a traditional newspaper press, after all, is huge - it stands nearly three stories tall. It's impressive-looking, too; a solid strip of paper is woven through rollers in a complex web. Once the press gets up to speed, an offset press can put ink on that paper and assemble the pages in the correct sequence to the tune of up to 70,000 copies an hour

It can be a dangerous piece of equipment. And if someone yells "Stop the presses!" it's a big deal.

I think the tricky part is balance - I want to add enough detail to capture the reader's interest, not lead a  tour. I want drama and ambience ... but there's not a test at the end.

I once read that details are like spices - if you can recognize them and point them out, there are too many. Right now, I'm striving for that perfect blend.

What, finish a novel? How can I focus with Facebook, YouTube and the guy with the exploding meth lab in his pants?

When I was a newspaper reporter, I wrote very fast. I didn't have a choice. As one of my cranky editors used to tell me, "This page is going out at 8, and it can't go out blank."

(He also had a habit of coming up behind me every 10 minutes, rubbing his hands together and saying in a fake-happy voice, "How's it coming, Majeske??" It was very motivating.)

So you would think that writing fast would be drilled into my DNA. But for some reason, I'm down for the word count - quite literally.

It feels like it's taking me a long time to move forward on my current work-in-progress. Every week, it seems, it's two steps forward and one step back. Oh sure, I've changed the plotline a couple of times and replaced some good ideas with what I think are better ones. I've even added a few red herrings.

But the real slowdown?  I think I have to blame that on my friends and family. Yes, that's right. They're just too interesting - far too distracting. And Facebook? It's deadly. I mean, I have friends who post news articles about criminals who have portable meth labs blowing up in their pants, and a few who send me multiple photos from their latest shopping excursions. Others send me comics, clips from YouTube, new sites to check out and new titles I should be reading. Somebody signed me up for Pinterest.

Seriously? My concentration level can't compete with that. I'm doomed. I obviously need to go away for a week (or two) in a remote cabin with no WiFi.

Or maybe I'll just call my old editor and have him yell at me for awhile. It might be good for both of us.

If you don't use the correct words, no one will take you seriously ... for all "intensive purposes," at least

A long time ago, at a newspaper far, far away, a manager decided to try an experiment.

When my section editor left for another job, the boss decided to hire someone from a non-traditional field to fill her spot. You know - not a journalist, not a word person.

"Let's get someone who thinks differently," he said to the other managers. "Let's shake things up."

He found someone with an advanced degree from a top film school with a lot of interesting ideas. His idea could have been a good one. Only the new editor didn't quite have a keen grasp of the English language.

For example:

"We just need to conversate (converse) and we'll get along, " the new guy told the team.

"Good idea," he told me one day. "It's passed mustard (passed muster) with the boss."

And my favorite: ..."For all intensive purposes, (intents and purposes) this project is done."

I guess I'd never realized before how incredibly important the right words can be. But now I'm hyper-vigilant. I know the mayor is "eager" to return to his job - not "anxious." I know there's been a "slaying" downtown - not a "murder" (at least not yet).

I also know now there are experiments, procedures and um, failed attempts. And I've realized that if you're not using the correct words, it doesn't matter how many degrees you have. No one will listen to anything you say - or write.

You have the right to remain silent ... don't you?

I thought writing mysteries would be a piece of cake. I mean, all you need is a good guy, a bad guy and an intriguing puzzle, right? Oh, and a motive and a few red herrings. And of course, some basic knowledge of the criminal justice system.

Wait, wait, wait - what was that last one? Yep, that's right. I mean, when exactly should that villain be arrested? Or that good guy who's being framed -  how long, exactly, can you keep him at home before he should logically be sitting in the county jail?

Those are just a few of the unexpected questions I've run up against writing my latest mystery. Because - confession time - I'm not a criminal. I've never even gotten a parking ticket. Well, one time, I parallel parked really badly and someone left a note on my windshield that showed a cartoon Mickey Mouse flipping me off, but I don't think that counts. So when it came to writing about arraignments and bail and murder charges, I was a little lost.

I wanted a main character to have evidence against him, but not too much evidence. I wanted things to look bad - but not too bad. I was wading in pretty deep.

Luckily, I have friends and relatives who are attorneys. I have an author friend who took pity on me and sent me a Police Enforcement Code book. And I've been reading articles like "How the Wheels of Justice Turn" and doing lots of research.

It's been slowing things down a bit, but I don't mind. It's helping the plot immensely, and besides, I feel like Columbo. But you know, there's just one more thing . . .

I want your opinion on this story - and I want your opinion to be that you love it...

I asked my husband to take a look at my Work in Progress the other day and to offer his honest opinion. He did.

"It's too slow here," he said, pointing to a specific chapter. "I think you need to go back to thinking like a journalist."

What?! I was mortified. Offended. Miffed. Disappointed. How could he not see my genius? How could he not realize how wonderful  my words were, see the beauty in my prose?! What was he, crazy?!

Then I took a few minutes to cool off, and read over the chapter in question. I reviewed his comments in my head and realized, that, well,  he was right. That chapter was indeed moving too slow. It didn't have a journalist's edge. It needed work.

I also realized that I'd fallen into an age-old writer's trap. I hadn't really wanted his review, I'd wanted his validation.

 Critiques can be hard to hear. But they're necessary. Vital, even, to move a story forward. Sigh. Type, type, type. Back to the drawing board.

Old boyfriends and dead editors - how much information is TMI?

Should I tell you about the old boyfriends, the hometown, the murdered editor? Or wait a minute - how much information is TMI?

That's a quandary I'm wrestling with as I work on the sequel to Death on Deadline. In a sequel, much background information is too much? How much will help, and how much will hinder?

How much does the reader really need to know about protagonist America Miles to understand the mystery she's embroiled in now?

I want the sequel to stand on its own. For me, there's nothing more annoying than picking up a book and finding out you don't know what the heck is going on because it's not the first book in the series.

But like with any relationship, the more you know about someone, the better you understand their actions. Does it make a difference that the "someone" is fictional?

So I'm treading lightly, with carefully placed transitions, a few remembrances and a trip or two down memory lane.

I feel like I'm walking a tightrope between the past and the present. I just hope I can keep my balance.

Planning evil deeds in a newsroom is not an easy task

A newspaper is a really hard place to commit a dastardly deed - even fictionally speaking. I discovered this recently as I was writing the sequel to my first book, Death on Deadline.

Death on Deadline is a light-hearted mystery novel that centers on a crime that's committed in a newsroom. I don't want to give it all away, but suffice it to say that there's a nasty editor whose

days of slicing and dicing the copy of reporters is numbered.

Anyway, in the sequel, which I'm working hard to finish and is tentatively titled Paper Cut, I decided to off yet another person in a newsroom. (Apparently I have issues).

But because of the circumstances, I needed someone to find the body. You know, because it's a MYSTERY. In Death on Deadline, the editor was pretty much killed in plain sight - the killer was just that sneaky.

Not so in Paper Cut. Someone needs to actually find the victim - which means the newsroom has to be EMPTY. I never even thought of the difficulty of that scenario when I was plotting my victim's demise.

Because here's the thing: Newsrooms are never empty. If I were a killer, I would never feel confident that I had my victim alone in one. There's always a reporter, editor, photographer or copy editor wandering in, checking a schedule, eating a sandwich, writing some copy or bringing in equipment for repair.

It took some serious rewriting, and a lot of creativity to make it work. I might have to find a new venue for my next foray into fiction.

No good ideas today? Fry up a batch of bacon!

Other people get great ideas in the shower. I get mine frying bacon.

I don't know why. Maybe it's the mesmerizing sizzle. Maybe it's the fact that I'm just a captive audience for so many minutes - watching, flipping and adjusting the slices so they don't scorch - in a peaceful kitchen so early in the morning.

And it's not brain surgery.

So there I stand, sipping coffee, and I can hear the kids giggling downstairs and the dog causing trouble in the other room but here in the kitchen it's nice and quiet.

I start thinking.

My new book will take place in the Bible belt. Wouldn't it be interesting to have a character in my latest book who quoted Scripture constantly?

Should I include "The Cheshire Cat" in my "Great Smiles in Art" presentation that I'm giving to the third graders this week? It's not technically art ... but I bet they'd love it.

I wonder if I could have a book launch party at a real newspaper?

Should I be making cinnamon rolls to go with this bacon?

You get the idea - Pretty soon, I'm pretty motivated for the day. I don't make bacon every morning, of course. But now I'm thinking, maybe I should.

Jim, James, John ... help! I'm suffering from character drift!

So I failed miserably at NaNoWriMo this year - you know, National Novel Writing Month. I barely even made a dent in a new project. But I did do something right - I ordered the book "No Plot? No Problem" by Chris Baty, the original founder of the annual program.

It's a great book - it's funny, motivating, filled with lots of tips and writing tricks. And through it, I found out that I'm not only one who suffers from a little something that Chris refers to as "character drift."

Maybe you suffer from it, too. It occurs when a character starts off as a Tim, then becomes Tom, and finally ends up as Jim. For me, I've found it happens not so much with first names, but with last.

With my latest project, poor Betsy McMichaels in chapters one, two and three became Betsy McWilliams in chapters eight and nine. Of course, as long as you know you do it, it's easy enough to watch for - now I keep a list of my characters posted - easy to see and check.

You know, I should have known I had a tendency toward character drift. After all, in ninth grade science, I was assigned a semester report on codeine and ended up doing a big report on cocaine.

I still got the credit, but it just wasn't the same. The teacher looked at me like I was high on both.

What if you woke up and found you didn't exist (online)?

Being a self-published author most definitely has its ups and downs. When you check your numbers and find out you made a sale - an actual sale, maybe even a few! - that's a fun day. Those are the days you do a little happy dance in your chair.

And when you launch a new book with a beautiful cover, that's a great day, too. My latest book, Magic, Miracles & Mistletoe, has a wonderful cover created by Dreamscape Covers. My first book, Death on Deadline, has a striking cover designed by my uber-talented friend Claire Innes-Wilbur.

(I'm always amazed at what artists can do with my stilted descriptions).

But days aren't always fabulous - take the day I released Magic, Miracles & Mistletoe. I bounded over to goodreads.com - which I think is an absolutely essential web site for authors (and readers, too)- and found I didn't exist.

Nope, no sign of me. My books were gone, my blog was gone, my profile was gone - even my NAME was gone. What the ..?!! When I tried to look it up I got a unfriendly "Page Unavailable" notice.

I'd been ... erased. Ouch.

My author friends said not to worry - it was likely a temporary glitch. The support staff said they'd work on it. And still, weeks later ... nothing. Finally, one book showed up - with Author Unknown. I fixed it, and added the other myself. I redid my bio. Added another photo.

I still don't have my author page, so I'm applying for a new one. My blog is still gone, so I'm just importing this one - and I hope if you followed it, you'll follow it again. : )

I'm not exactly doing a happy dance ...but I'm fixing it, piece by piece.

Writing in the third person is so addicting (she exclaimed)

I've never written stories in the third person before. Well, that's not true - exactly. I wrote news stories in the third person for years. But they didn't count, because they were true.

So let me start over. I've never written fiction in the third person before. But about a month ago, long after most sane authors were putting the finishing touches on their Christmas stories, I got a little bug in my ear to start a few holiday tales of my own. Nothing fancy, mind you. Just a few fun stories that would quite literally feature a Christmas spirit or two.

I bounced a few story ideas off my long-suffering husband, then laid in bed plotting out character names, cities and even cars. Then I tentatively started writing. And I started, determinedly, in the third person.

 I expected long moments with my hands on the keyboard, simply waiting for inspiration. I expected clunky dialogue and strange interactions. I expected ... problems. But they didn't happen. On the contrary. I had fun. A lot of  fun. So much fun I found myself thinking in the third person even when I wasn't writing - always dangerous territory.

I just wrapped up my stories, and I'll be publishing them soon in a little novella titled "Magic, Miracles & Mistletoe."

"I hope you'll give it a read," she said, wandering toward the kitchen for yet another cup of coffee.

Dang! See what I mean? Really. So much fun . . . .

Sharing a commute with the undead makes the drive go faster

I've been spending my commute with the undead, and it's sure improving the drive. Well, they're not right there, of course - unless other grim-faced commuters count. I actually ride into work alone. It's boring - a 45-minute straight shot on the highway, past storefronts, apartments, strip malls and even a few strip clubs.

I usually listen to news radio. I think. I plot my books. Plan dinner. Wonder why I work so far from home.

But not anymore. Now I'm listening to Home Improvement: Undead Edition, and I have to tell you - my commute isn't long enough. Last night, I even sat in the driveway for a few minutes, hoping to hear the end of a riveting tale by Heather Graham. (I didn't - but I clicked it on first thing this morning).

I never thought I'd like audio books. I thought I wouldn't be able to keep track of the plot ... after all, I had traffic to watch, right? But it's not that hard, really, no more difficult than focusing on a radio news report. And I can always click back if I need anything repeated.

And listening to an anthology of scary stories by great authors makes the time go soooo much faster.

I've toyed with the idea of making my own book, Death on Deadline, an audio book. I have no idea where to begin, of course. But now that I know how fun they are to listen to, the inspiration to create one just got that much stronger.

Creativity, helpful friends and happiness: For these, I'm thankful

I've been wanting to write a Thanksgiving post for a few days now, and I've had some trouble starting. Not because I have so little, but because I have so much. Now, if you had told me a few years ago I might have this problem, I likely wouldn't have believed you.

Because I was angry. And sad. I had lost my sister, my journalism career had ended, and all my pets died. It wasn't a good year, to say the least.

My creativity, my saving grace, disappeared. Just vanished. I could barely lift my head, much less craft a tantalizing sentence. Oh, I tried. But let's face it, as writers, we know when we suck.

I had a manuscript in my desk, a murder mystery that I had fully intended on sending out to literary agents. But after awhile, I forgot about it. The only thing that got me out of bed was my family. One day, my husband found my novel. "You should do something with this," he said. "After all, you wrote it."

I did, I thought. And I realized I didn't want to spend my time writing queries. So I published it myself. And people actually bought it and liked it. I was incredibly excited and gratified. I started writing some more. I read blogs about writing. I started my own. I met helpful authors, authors I really admired who wrote incredibly helpful blogs like thewritersguidetoepublishing.com and jakonrath.com

I'm not a bestselling author, not by a long shot. But I write every day. And I learn something every week. I'm creating.  I'm happy. For that, I'm very thankful.

Do ads add up to a better blog? I wonder ...

When I was a reporter,  I had a certain feeling about advertisements: Yuck. Advertorials? Even worse. Fill those pages with good, solid news content. Let "other people" worry about bringing in the bucks.

But I'm not a reporter anymore. My personal writing now is for blogs and books - I have two blogs and a book that sells for 99 cents. My book sales are pretty steady - and I'm grateful for every sale - but at that price, I certainly won't get rich. The blogs are all content-based, and I like it that way. I've seen blogs with giveaways, lots of ads, etc., and I think that's fine  - just not for me.

Or so I've always thought. But now I wonder ... am I just being old-fashioned?

After all, a content-based blog doesn't bring in any money. Ads do. And it's hard to pay the bills on your high principles. So now I'm keeping a closer eye on the ads I see on blogs. Are they worth it? I know it's a lot of work, getting sponsors and such, but I've talked to some bloggers who say it's a nice way to make money doing something you like. Am I just being snooty, not working toward that?

I waffle, both ways. And I wonder. What makes a better blog?

Discouraged? Change your publishing perspective

I was skimming through writing blogs the other night when I came upon a post titled, "Keep your expectations low."

It stopped me cold - I had to read more. The post was about self-publishing, and the author, a young writer, was advocating realism. He was disappointed in the sales of his self-published book and in the feedback he had received. He was thinking that perhaps he expected too much from self-publishing.

I understood his point of view. But I just couldn't embrace it. I think I would have gone with, "Alter your strategy," or "Expand your network," or maybe even "Change your point of view."

After all, most of us don't write to sell, even though sales are wonderful. We write because we're writers. We love it. It's what we do. That comes first.

And c'mon - you finished a book! And people are reading it!! Maybe not as many as you like, but still. That's a pretty amazing starting point right there.

So let's not lower our expectations - at least not yet. Let's tweak that perspective first.

Drained of creativity? Maybe it's ... vampires

Do you believe in vampires? No? Okay, then ... what about psychic vampires?

After all, it's that time of year when the skies are getting darker and the leaves are scratching like fingers at the windowpane - it seems a post about a not-so-familiar monster is quite appropriate.

Especially since this creature is one that writers should take special care to avoid.

These aren't vampires in the classic sense - they don't have fangs, they don't turn into bats, they sure don't sparkle in the sunlight and they're not brooding or sexy.

They're leeches, but they don't suck your blood. They're emotional vampires. They steal your life force, your creativity.

I know, I know, it sounds crazy on first read. But think about it: Aren't there those people who just seem to drain you? Who are simply toxic? Who seem to grow stronger even as they drain every ounce of creativity you possess? After an encounter, you feel tired - they walk away smiling and whistling.

I read up on them ... they're actually called psychic vampires. Sure, some versions are more literal than others, but they're all out there.

Truthfully, I thought of this post because I actually think I've met a few lately - in one form or another. After only a few conversations I realized they had completely exhausted me - to the point where I actually felt I needed a nap. It was creepy.

Maybe it's my imagination getting the best of me - after all, the glow of the sun is fainter each day; the wind blows colder each night.

But still, I'm getting a little extra rest, and I'm a little more wary when I share my best ideas.

I need all the energy I can get.

Good night, inner editor - see you soon

I know some writers who put together their stories line by line, winging it, with no idea where their characters will lead them.

Not me. Maybe it comes from years of working on deadline, but I like to have a plan.

In fact, it may sound boring, but I usually know what will happen in my stories, chapter by chapter, until the very end. Oh, I don't know every sentence and every bit of dialogue, of course, but I have my scenes laid out pretty firmly in my head before my fingers ever hit the keyboard.

But not this week. I'm trying something new. I'm putting away that internal planning guide and starting fresh each night. Will I feel more creative if I start that new chapter without an outline in my head? Or will it overwhelm me? I'll soon find out.

Why mess with my process? Well, in my latest project, I've been finding myself stifled - by silly, stupid things. Was this character a boyfriend or a cop, or both? How did this character get out of jail on a Saturday?

The devil was in the details, and the details were overtaking my plot - and my good sense. So I've decided to put my inner editor to bed for awhile and see what happens.

Wish me luck.

Even if the words won't come . . .

On nights like these, I try to remember what one of my favorite editors used to say: "Even if it's crap, just get it on the page."

Because if it's not on the page, you'll never be able to change it.