To Newsletter or Not to Newsletter

Okay, after years of saying “I don’t want to!” I’ve taken the plunge and begun self-publishing some of my books— especially my backlist series. That bit of self-revelation, however, is a topic for another post. The thing that makes it relevant is that, in preparation for this momentous step a friend recommended that I read a book about self-publishing written by nine New York Times bestselling authors.

So I did. I’m sure it’s a great book full of better advice than I’ll ever be able to give, but I have to say— those women drove me crazy! Don’t they ever sleep? How can one human being possibly do everything they say you absolutely must do?

But never mind all the other 10,000 things, one major point I read over and over again was: “You must have a newsletter.”

So, I ask my writer friends— “Do you have a newsletter?”

I ask my reader friends— “Do you read newsletters?”

I can answer the second question partially in the affirmative. No, I don’t read newsletters. But, yes, I do read a newsletter.

I read Veronica Heley’s delightful, chatty newsletter every month. And here are a few points I have observed about it which, if— a very big if at the moment— I ever did decide to commit to yet another task, I would hope to emulate:

             1.Voice: Veronica’s own voice comes through as clearly as if she were in the room with me: chatty, friendly, humorous. And, since she is English, Veronica’s humor is always directed at herself. 
             2. Information: Veronica always shares bits about her everyday life, a glimpse of her writing life, and clear information (plot summaries, reviews and ordering info) about her newest releases and re-releases.
           3.Regularity: Veronica never misses. The first day of the month her newsletter arrives in my inbox. 
            4.  Brevity: No hype, no pizzazz, just a page and a half of vignettes and information, ending with a blessing.

Here are some samples from her most recent newsletter:

On this first day of the New Year, I would like my world to be all sweetness and light, but no; I have to report a crime. It’s one I can’t take to the police. My milk is being stolen off my doorstep! Last summer I found someone (something) was ripping the tops off my milk bottles and lowering the level of the liquid inside by an inch or so. Next, I found one bottle had been toppled onto its side, the lid removed, and that the contents had drained away. I concluded that the crows which haunt the nearby park had decided to vary their diet, and a neighbour gave me a plastic bucket to put over my milk carrier.  That worked well . . . until recently I found the bucket had been left on one side and the carrier was – empty. At first I thought Alan, who had been delivering my milk for years, must have taken the empties and forgotten to leave me a new bottle. But after this had happened a couple of times, the horrible truth emerged; he hadn’t forgotten and my milk was being stolen!

Now it is true that my front garden is somewhat exposed, and what is more, I live opposite some park gates. People walking dogs go in and out of the park at all hours; as do teenagers extending a night out by sitting on my garden wall and eating a ready meal; as do men wheeling fractious babies in buggies; as does the man who delivers the papers in the middle of the night. (Between three and four o’clock, to be precise.) So who do you think I should blame? Not the milkman. Otherwise, the field is wide open. For the moment, Alan is hiding my milk in a flower bed and we’re hoping this will stop the thefts. To be continued, no doubt.

. . .

And now – Tarantara! – a fanfare for FALSE WALL, which was officially published yesterday, 31^st December in the UK.  There have been a few good reviews out already on NetGalley, which is open to anyone who is a librarian or has a review blog. If you would like a copy with a view to giving it a review, just email Charlotte@SevernHouse.com and she will do the necessary.    

Finally, a blessing: may the New Year bring you more joy than sorrow, and the strength to deal with whichever comes. 

. . .

NEW . . . .

FALSE  WALL, the 10^th Bea Abbot. December 31^st 2015, 3 months later in the USA and other overseas territories. Bea Abbot watched in horror as her garden wall came crashing down, exposing human bones in a neighbour’s pets’ cemetery. An invitation to Bea and her financier friend Leon from the Admiral and his lady next door leaves both of them in hospital. It also leaves Bea’s home and her agency rooms uninhabitable, while threatening to destroy Leon’s reputation. Bea is distressed when, at this traumatic moment, Leon deserts her to rescue a business deal. Even with the help of her friends, can the agency survive – and what then will become of Bea’s relationship with Leon? Severn House,

ISBN 978-0-7278-8576-0.

. . .

And a PS:

PS. Neighbours have just told me their milk is also being stolen. Half a bottle was taken the other night! Alan is now hiding their milk in a food container outside their front door.

Veronica doesn’t include pictures, but I can’t resist:

So, tell me what you think: Do you have a newsletter for your readers? Do you read others’ newsletters? Are they an essential tool for a writer?

Posted by Donna Fletcher Crow whose latest release is An All-Consuming Fire, book 5 in her Monastery Murders series. see more at www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com 

Disasters— When NOT to Judge a Book by its Cover

As every writer knows one of the most exciting moments in the process of producing a new book is seeing your new cover. Maybe not quite up to the first look at your newborn child— but in many ways a pretty fair analogy: Excitement, thrill, I-can’t-wait-to-share-this, shout-from-the-housetops!

But what about the times the publisher or cover artist gets it flat-out wrong?

An item in Veronica Heley’s newsletter got me to thinking about this bubble-bursting moment most writers experience sooner or later in their career. Veronica writes:

“The audiobook of THE WILFUL HEIRESS came out in May – and I do hope you enjoy it. ‘The Lady Elizabeth Silverwood states that she may be an heiress, but she is not a fool . . .’ so you can guess the rest. Oh, yes, and she wears some lovely clothes and is being pursued by a fortune-hunter . . . or is he? The cover shows a Victorian costume, but the story is actually set in the reign of George II.  Go figure! It is a beautiful cover, but perhaps a tad misleading."

“‘Don’t get me started on covers!’ Veronica says, and goes on to tell more horror stories:

“My very first book was about a very private, modest, slightly plump girl – who was depicted on the cover as a blonde displaying a great deal of uncovered flesh...

“Then, to return to The Wilful Heiress, the story concluded with a fight in the middle of a ford. A river ford. The cover of the first edition depicted a waterfall. Yes, really! Oh, there was a tiny silhouette of a horse in flight superimposed on the rocks at the top and that was supposed to be the hero racing to the rescue of the heroine.

And recently some of my early crime books have been brought out again as e-books. The cover of a story about a Victorian governess, very strait-laced, showed her as a modern girl with skirts just about brushing her bottom, and her cleavage down to here! In this particular case, we were able to get a different cover, but . . .!”

Veronica, the much-experienced author of some 75 books (that’s including Murder by Suspicion, being published this June) seems to be taking it in her stride and I’m sure the misleading cover won’t be a put-off for Veronica’s devoted fans, of which I am one.

In spite of the old warning not to judge a book by its cover (or as my friend’s grandson says, by its movie), however, readers still rely on covers for important clues to what’s inside.

That’s why I still look back with a sigh at my own cover disaster. Clear back to 1986 when Love Unmerited came out as part of Zondervan’s Serenade Romance line. You see, this was my lush, tropical romance set on the island of Kauai where my husband and I had enjoyed a wonderful, romantic holiday of our own. I spent weeks daydreaming about the cover: A tropical moon behind a palm tree, my heroine’s flowing blond tresses adorned with a hibiscus blossom, an orchid-lined waterfall behind her. . .

Unfortunately, the cover artist got two of my manuscripts mixed up and the book came out with the cover of for my political novel featuring the Idaho State capitol building in a February snowstorm.

Ah, well, the series did well, but even when it was reprinted by Guideposts a few years later, the cover wasn’t replaced. My children insisted it should add to the value of the book— like the stamp with the airplane printed upside down.

Life moves on and I’ve been incredibly fortunate in getting covers I loved for most of my books. But I’d still like to see that waterfall in the moonlight.

Have you had a cover disaster? Please share your story in the comments.

You can read more about Veronica Heley and see all of the excellent covers on her many books here.

And here to see all my covers and latest news.

How Do You Do It? Three Authors Reveal the Seeds of Their Stories

One of the perennial questions authors are asked is, "How do you think up your stories?" Sometimes we even ask ourselves that. There's never any one answer for any writer, but I think each one of us has a favorite way of working or a favorite story source.

I almost always start with background, the historical events I want to portray and the places I want to visit, then I put my characters in that time and place and build a plot around that. Plot elements often come to me when I'm doing my on-site research and a building or bit of landscape suggests a mysterious or even dangerous happening.

I asked three of my favorite mystery writers to tell me  how they 'get' their stories. After you've read their replies, please leave a comment and tell us how you do it. I expect no two answers will be alike. It will be fun to see.

Veronica Heley:

How do I do it? I read the papers, I listen to people, I wonder 'What if . . .' and I pray a bit. Somehow or other, the stories pop into my head. After which the real work of getting them down onto paper begins. Sometimes I think up a character from scratch. That takes a lot of thought; no one person is absolutely good or bad, are they? Suppose they have this flaw, which negates all the good they try to do? Or a talent, which they misuse? Do they have any particular mannerisms? What sort of clothes do they wear/car do they drive? It takes time and thought to create a believable character.

Veronica's latest— Murder in Time— Ellie Quicke has her work cut out when past wrongdoings put the future of a child she loves at stake.

Fay Sampson:

The well-spring for my books is almost always a sense of place. This is particularly true of my native West Country of Devon and Cornwall and the Celtic fringes of Wales, Scotland and Ireland. I look at these wonderful landscapes and seascapes and think "What could happen here?" It helps that many of them come with their own evocative legends or colourful history from the Celtic past. A bonus is that I get to visit or revisit this soul country, to recreate the experience of my characters in that setting.

Fay's latest— Beneath the Soil— Suzie Fewings is stalked when she investigates a mysterious shooting.

Dolores Gordon-Smith:

How do I get the idea for a book? I like to start with an intriguing situation. There's often an element of mystery, a sort of magic trick about the set-up. For instance, in After The Exhibition poor Betty goes into a supposedly empty cottage in the dark (she's not TSTL or Too Stupid To Live – she has a good reason for being there!) and, by the light of a match, sees the body of a strangled woman. However, when she goes for help, the cottage is corpse-less and seems untouched. I'd thought of that situation ages before the solution of the how, why and who came to me.

That coincided with a background I thought had a lot of richness to it, that of church art. That setting allowed discussion about the difference between supposed piety and genuine devotion. And, of course, the characters take on a life of their own....

Dolores' latest— After the Exhibition—  Jack Haldean investigates when a church art exhibition turns deadly.

Claire Dunn:

It all begins with a good story, something I would want to read and as tempting as fudge. Stories are everywhere - in the news, a half-heard conversation, a memory - but the best are often supplied by history. Even my contemporary novels have a large dose of history, for where would we be without the past? 

It’s less a question of where stories come from, rather the process of sifting through an endless stream of thoughts and images to select the bits that will work as a whole. I’ll be quite happily chopping veg or pulling weeds when an idea drifts out of nowhere and plants itself in my imagination. I might ponder it for a while, turn it over and examine it from all sides, before developing strands of a story like roots that stretch backwards to a beginning and forwards to a conclusion, giving me the plot. In fleshing it out it has to grip, but be more than mere entertainment, and it must have enough depth or risk being as vacuous as cotton candy. 

I enjoy language - words are a writer’s crotchets and minims making prose sing. More than anything, I’m fascinated by individuals and their past. History is largely the result of choices, driven by motivation. Motivation derives from people’s experiences and shapes the future.  Stories are people. I like stories.

Claire's Latest— Rope of Sand Emma unravels Matthew's alarming past and meets his sinister family. Can the lovers have a life together?

Posted by Donna Fletcher Crow— A Newly Crimsoned Reliquary— Murder stalks the shadows of Oxford's hallowed shrines.

Latest News from Veronica Heley in London

As I've said more than once on this blog, Veronica Heley is one of my favorite writers. I recently read the new releases in each of her series and they are excellent.  I'm a long-time Ellie Quicke fan and Murder With Mercy is a great addition to that series. 

I then read False Diamond from Veronica's Abbot Agency series and found it equally gripping.

So I asked Veronica to give us an update on her doings and let us now what books to be looking for next from her.  Here's her report:

London Book Fair has come and gone. Oh, the buzz! The bustle! The search for a decent cup of coffee! (Yes, I know where to get one now.) And ah, the moment of agony when you think you have forgotten your pass for the day!

However, all went well. The first thing I have to tell you is that Severn House want another Bea and another Ellie after I’ve completed my current contract. So I will be delivering False Impression at the end of this month – which is a Bea Abbot, of course – and start straight away on the next Ellie which will be, incredible to relate, her 16^th story! How about that!  And yes, I have thought up a title, but it’s too soon to share that with you.

Meanwhile, Severn House has decided to bring out e-books of four of the historical novels I wrote years ago, starting with the first one on the lst June. This will be

MY LORD, THE HERMIT, in which a wrongly convicted man has to build a church in silence, with his own hands . . . until a feisty heiress crosses his path and a neighbouring lord invades her lands. I enjoyed writing this story, which is set in the baron-bashing, lawless times of the middle ages. It was first published in l980 by Corgi and, because I’d only written crime before, my agent thought there might be confusion in my readers’ minds about the name so I was asked to think up a pseudonym. The book came out as ‘by Victoria Thorne’. I think the publishers are now going to catalogue it as ‘Veronica Heley writing as Victoria Thorne’.

At the end of this month Ellie Quicke’s 15^th story will be published in the UK (three months later for the States, Australia, etc.) This story is called MURDER IN TIME, when Ellie comes face to face with the man who raped the schoolgirl Vera twelve years before. Abdi didn’t want anything to do with her then, but now he finds he’s unable to have any more children and thinks he can give Vera a cheque and take Mikey off into the blue. As you can imagine, that doesn’t go down well with either of them, so there’s trouble ahead. A man also died the night of the rape and solving that old mystery might just help Ellie to work out who did what to whom.  I have a pull of the cover for this already, and Mark will, I hope, be putting it on the website soon. It’s got a frame of jagged glass around the edges, a half moon and a man’s shadow thrown across the lawn. I think it’s nice and scary and I hope you agree.

Veronica's breathless pace never ceases to amaze me. And she manages time for church and community events as well. the latest is helping start an afternoon tea club for the over 65s in their area.  She says, "It’s going really well. The only thing is, I have to remember not to have any lunch beforehand."

Posted by Donna Fletcher Crow

 An Unholy Communion, The Monastery Murders
A Jane Austen Encounter, Elizabeth & Richard Literary Suspense
A Tincture of Murder, Lord Danvers Victorian True-Crime
Glastonbury, A Novel of The Holy Grail
www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com

Christian Fiction Icon Veronica Heley

Last week I took my grandsons to the nearby branch of the Boise Public Library which I most often frequent. Standing in the checkout line I looked over the books the staff had selected to feature. And there, on the very top, was FALSE ALARM by Veronica Heley.

Beloved, prolific writer and gracious, Christian lady, Veronica Heley is something of an icon in the world of Christian Mystery writing. And I am privileged to call her a valued friend, even though we’ve only met through the internet. I am so pleased to have Veronica as my guest today to celebrate the release of MURDER WITH MERCY.

Tell us about it, Veronica.

Veronica: MURDER WITH MERCY is the fourteenth (yes really! 14^th!) Ellie Quicke mystery. It is now out in the UK. Allow a couple of months for it to reach Canada, America, Australia, et al.
In this story, Ellie is asked to investigate whether or not some deaths in the community are exactly what they seem, while her pregnant, difficult daughter Diana is struggling to cope at work, and her husband is still in a wheelchair. What’s more, sabotage at the big house nearby is being blamed on young Mikey, who is certainly up to something. Can Ellie track down whoever it is who is killing for mercy, keep Mikey out of the clutches of Social Services, and steer her difficult daughter Diana into calmer waters?

Donna: That sounds wonderful, Veronica! I’m a great Ellie Quick fan and one of the best things about the series is Ellie’s, as you say— difficult— relationship with Diana, so I can’t wait to read it. How many books have you published? Or have you lost count?

Veronica: If I’ve counted correctly, FALSE REPORT was my 68th book to be published, though they haven’t all been gentle crime. Along the way I’ve written a quartet of contemporary romance/suspense stories in the Eden Hall Series, some historical fiction and many books with a Christian background for children of all ages… including STORIES OF EVERYDAY SAINTS, which has proved a useful resource book for people working with children. Some copies of these are still available through Amazon or Abe Books. I also write a short story for the Methodist Recorder now and then. The early Ellie Quicke stories are now being reissued by Ostara, and audiobooks are also available of the books in the detective series. And soon all the crime books will be available for downloading.

Donna: Goodness, "prolific" really doesn’t cover it. What are your other recent releases besides MURDER WITH MERCY?

Veronica: UNSUNG HEROES is now out as an e-book. This is a collection of short stories originally published in the Methodist Recorder, concerning the problems of three retired men and their families. There are also some Ellie Quicke short stories.

CRY FOR KIT, and SCREAM FOR SARAH. First published l970s, have been joined by FEAR FOR FRANCES in large print versions from Chivers. Warning; some sex and violence in the first two! The third is a Victorian romp-cum-whodunit. They are also available to download as e-books.

FALSE ALARM, the 7^th Abbot Agency story, is now available in hardback and also as an e-book. Bea is asked to find the person who laid a booby trap for the powerful tycoon, Sir Lucas Ossett, in his own block of flats. Review for this: Kirkus: ‘The Abbot Agency’s seventh outing will be just the thing for readers who like their cosies with a bit of bite.’ And from Library Journal: ‘Think of the series’ seventh outing as a big old-fashioned country-house case, Agatha Christie-like, but dressed-up smart and chic for today.’

MURDER BY MISTAKE is now available in large print.

FALSE REPORT is available as a paperback and also as an ebook . This is the story in which Bea finds that assisting a vertically challenged musician to get some home help is asking for trouble, especially when a pretty girl has been trafficked into this country by a gang who target wealthy men.

Donna: That’s absolutely amazing, Veronica! Thank you so much for all your hard work, for the joy you give your readers and for being such an inspiring example for all of us.

Donna Fletcher Crow’s latest releases are AN UNHOLY COMMUNION in the Monastery Murders series, A TINCTURE OF MURDER in the Lord Danvers Victorian true-crime series and the ebook version of GLASTONBURY, The Novel of Christian England. You can see more about them at www.DonnaFletcherCrow.com