Today's Mystery Author Guest: Jess Lourey

As promised yesterday, fellow mystery author Jess Lourey is visiting my blog today. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post.

The photo above is the cover for her recent July release, The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One, which begins her new young adult series. In the book, Aine (pronounced "Aw-nee") believes herself to be a regular teenager in 1930s Alabama, but when a blue-eyed monster named Biblos attacks, she discovers that the reclusive woman raising her isn't really her grandmother, that fairies are real, and that she's been living inside a book for the past five years. With her blind brother, Spenser, she flees the pages of the novel she's called home, one terrifying step ahead of Biblos' black magic. Her only chance at survival lies in beating him to the three objects that he desires more than life.

As she undertakes her strange and dangerous odyssey, Aine must choose between a family she doesn't remember and her growing attraction to a mysterious young man named Gilgamesh. Only through treacherous adventures into The Time Machine, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, A Tale of Two Cities, and the epic Indian saga The Ramayana will she learn her true heritage and restore the balance of the worlds... if she can stay alive.

Wow! That sounds like a pretty amazing story to me! Below is Jess's guest article. I'm sure it will prompt many questions from my readers, and Jess is happy to try to answer them.

WHY I WENT FROM TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHING MYSTERIES TO SELF-PUBLISHING YA

Hello! My name is Jess Lourey, and I write the critically-acclaimed Murder-by-Month Mystery series. Those books have been lucky enough to have earned multiple starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, as well as two nominations for the Lefty Award for best humorous mystery. So why would I take time away from writing successful mysteries to self-publish a young adult novel? The short answer is easy: I had the idea for the YA book in my head, and once I got it written, my agent couldn't find a home for it. The long answer is, well, longer:

1. I'd been wanting to self-publish for a while. I heard the rumors--lots of money to be made, total control over the book, they sell themselves--and I wanted to know if it was true. Turns out it isn't, at least not yet, not for me. My book has been available for two weeks and only sold 47 copies. I just sent out 30 review copies and will soon be taking advantage of Kindle's free promotion, so hopefully I'll see a spike, but this definitely is not money printing itself.

2. I believe in the story I wrote. It combines fantasy, adventure, and classic literature, and there were times when I was writing it that I got completely lost in the story in the best possible way. I think it's a story others will enjoy, and so I invested $3000 in professional editing, $650 in professional cover art, $400 in professional interior design, $100 for an ISBN, $25 for expanded distribution, and another $500 in marketing. Will I see that investment back? Right now, it feels like I spent good money that I didn't have on a couple magic beans, but I have hope they will sprout.

3. Writing is always a gamble. We open ourselves up to criticism of our deepest ideas, our imagination, and our ability when we publish a book, each time. It doesn't get any easier, at least not for me. In some ways, it feels harder because there is more to lose. However, I believe we are all connected by stories, and that the writer's job is an important one.

4. I don't do well with "what-ifs." I would rather regret trying and failing than not try at all. I realize this can be a dangerous game, and it's the reason a lot of self-published books get a bad rap. The writer puts a lot of work into their story, and they don't pay attention to what their agent or the market is telling them, which is that their book isn't quite where it needs to be yet. If self-publishing had been popular when I completed my first book (1997), I would have published that steaming pile quicker than you could have said "you sure?" It would still be haunting me today. Fortunately, I didn't have that option. Also, my agent loves The Toadhouse. Most of the publishers loved The Toadhouse; they just said that classic literature wouldn't sell with teens. I disagree. I think teens are some of the savviest readers out there, and they're smart.

So, yeah. I'm barely a month into my self-publishing experience, and it's scary, and overwhelming, and humbling. It's also a great adventure. I'd be happy to share any of my hard-earned lessons with you, so ask away!

Cheers,
Jess Lourey

Tomorrow's Guest: Jess Lourey

Tomorrow, mystery and YA (young adult) author Jess Lourey will be a guest on my blog. Jess is the author of the critically-acclaimed Murder by Month Mysteries. The eighth, December Dread, will be released October 2012. In a starred review of the seventh, November Hunt, Booklist writes, "It's not easy to make people laugh while they're on the edge of their seats, but Lourey pulls it off!" The Toadhouse Trilogy: Book One, the first in her young adult series that celebrates the power of stories, will be released August 2012. Jess teaches writing and sociology at a Minnesota community college, is a member of The Loft and Sisters in Crime, and serves on the national board of the Mystery Writers of America.

In her guest post tomorrow, Jess talks about why she went from traditionally publishing mysteries to self publishing young adult novels. I'm sure you'll be intrigued by what she has to say. Then, feel free to ask her some questions in the comments.

Today's Mystery Author Guest: Sherry D. Ficklin

As promised yesterday, fellow Colorado mystery author Sherry D. Ficklin is visiting my blog today. To read her bio and see her photo, please page down to yesterday's post.

Above is the cover photo for her recent mystery release, After Burn, the first book in her YA Military Brats series. In the book, Reece Barnet and her father have just relocated to sunny North Carolina, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Just as Reece is starting to fit in, a rash of bomb threats rocks her father's experimental aircraft squadron. When the authorities track the threats to Reece's school, she decides to do some investigating of her own. Can she uncover the shocking truth of the person behind it all?

Below are Sherry's answers to my interview questions. Please leave a comment for her, and if you have a question of your own for her, ask it! Every comment is an entry into a contest for a free ebook copy of After Burn!

1. Who or what inspired you to start writing and when did you start?

I’ve been writing for about five years, professionally, though I feel like I’ve been telling stories all my life. I was writing some fan fiction one day and my husband said, “you should really write something all your own.” So I did.

2. What tools and process do you use to “get to know” your characters before and while you’re writing the books?

It’s pretty intense. I have a notebook for each novel where I keep my character stuff. Everything from a very in-depth history to pictures of things they might wear and postcards of places they are from. The notebooks for this series have scraps of fabrics, song lyrics, and random things like that. Anything that reminds me of a character gets stuffed inside.

For some of my new characters I am doing something new. I gave my MC a Facebook page where I go on and post as her. It’s been a great way to sort of crawl in her head when I feel disconnected and also a fun way to get plot ideas. Most of her status updates actually end up in the book as chapter headings. So if you follow her posts, you get a glimpse of whatever novel I’m working on in that series. It’s been really fun.

3. How do you construct your plots? Do you outline or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?

That depends on the series. The Gods of Fate, for example, was a complete surprise to me, plot wise. I sort of wound everyone up and let them run loose. Honestly, I didn’t know how it was going to end until I got there myself. They just took me along for the ride. For my other series I’ve had to do varying degrees of plotting. The new YA series I’m working on has gotten the most time on the plot board so far. It’s a time travel novel so I really had to step carefully with the plot so as not to tangle anything up.

4. In the age-old question of character versus plot, which one do you think is most important in and which one do you emphasize in your writing? Why?

Ironically my adult paranormal mystery series, Palmetto Moon, is much more character driven. There’s a murder to be solved (or two or three) but it’s all sort of secondary to my character and her personal entanglements. My GOF books are much more plot driven, and in some ways that’s easier. Murder is easy, personal issues are hard.

5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a writer and what inspires you and keeps you motivated?

The early rejections were hard. Heck, even now getting rejected is hard. It’s a little easier when you can cry into a stack of your paperbacks, though. It’s a tough business and it’s easy to take rejections personally. I’m not so much inspired to keep publishing, I’m just one of those people who is too stubborn to ever quit. If I ever stop writing, it will be because I’ve fallen in love with doing something else. But I doubt that will ever happen.

6. What is a typical workday for you and how many hours a day (or week) do you devote to writing?

I do two full days a week, 9-4pm. I have little children in the house so that’s all I get most weeks. But if I’m on a deadline or editing a draft, I will lock myself in my office and push for days at a time.

7. What advice do you have to offer to an aspiring author?

Relax. Finish your book. Polish your book. And don’t take no for an answer.

8. Now here’s a zinger. Tell us something about yourself that you have not revealed in another interview yet. Something as simple as your favorite TV show or food will do.

I watch really terrible TV. Right now my obsessions are Castle (because of my long standing crush on Nathan Fillion) and The Secret Circle.

9. What are you working on now and what are your future writing plans?

I am currently finishing up the first of my new YA series with my co-author and friend Tyler Jolley. It’s a steampunk/time travel novel. I’m really excited about it. My book launch party for Hindsight is the 8th so I’m gearing up for that. My first YA mystery novel, After Burn, just came out last month so I’ll be working on the next one of those later this year, and I just finished my next Palmetto Moon novel, Grave Secrets, which I’m hoping will be out later this year.

10. Is there anything else you would like to tell my blog readers?

You can check out all my books over on my website and you can follow me on Facebook. I love chatting with readers and writers and speaking at events so if you’d like to have me, there’s a contact page on my website. Thanks so much for having me here today!


Thanks, Sherry! Now, who has a comment or question for her? Remember that every one is an entry into a contest for a free ebook copy of After Burn!

Tomorrow's Guest: Sherry D. Ficklin

Tomorrow, fellow mystery author Sherry D. Ficklin will be a guest on my blog. Sherry is a full time writer from Colorado where she lives with her husband, four kids, two dogs, and a fluctuating number of chickens and house guests. A former military brat, she loves to travel and meet new people. She can often be found browsing her local bookstore with a large white hot chocolate in one hand and a towering stack of books in the other. That is, unless she's on deadline at which time she, like the Loch Ness monster, is often only seen in blurry photographs. Her YA mystery, After Burn, the first in the Military Brats series, was released in December.

In her guest post tomorrow, Sherry answers my interview questions, and I'm sure you'll be intrigued by what she has to say. Then, feel free to ask her some questions of your own in the comments. Sherry will pick a winner from among those who comment for a free ebook copy of After Burn.