Location, Location, Location

To promote his upcoming book Afraid, which hits shelves tomorrow, author Joe Konrath (aka JA Konrath and Jack Kilborn), has been guesting on various blogs talking about such things as landing an agent, self promotion, blogging and other random things. Today he stops by to discuss setting and its role in a story. So please join me in welcoming Joe Konrath to Out in WriteField. And make sure you check out Joe's entertaining and very informative blog A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.

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My name is Joe Konrath. I write a thriller series set in Chicago under the name JA Konrath, and I recently wrote two horror novels under the name Jack Kilborn.

The first is called Afraid, and is being released on March 31. It is set in a small, Wisconsin town. The second is called Trapped, and it is set on a tiny island in Lake Huron.

So lets talk about setting.

My series character, a Homicide cop named Jack Daniels, works out of Chicago. You may have heard it said (possibly by me) that when choosing the setting for your novel, the setting should be integral to the plot. If you're writing a book set in Chicago that could easily be set in Sheboygan, you aren't paying enough attention to your location.

I chose Chicago for Jack Daniels for several reasons, including:

Chicago has the second largest police force in the country, and it's still very much an old boys network, sexist and chauvinistic. Since Jack is a woman, this setting speaks to her character. She has to be tougher, smarter, and more determined than the cops she works with.

Chicago has one of the highest murder rates in the country, making it perfect for a busy Homicide cop.

Chicago is a city made up of diverse, distinct neighborhoods, which means I never have to travel far for a change of scenery.

Setting is also a place to make your story come alive in the readers mind. Reading is a mental trip to a new place. This is your chance, as a writer, to take readers to a world you've created. If it's based in the real world, make sure you get your facts straight. Research shouldn't take the place of writing, but it is certainly required if you want to paint an accurate picture in your reader's mind.

Though I chose Chicago--a place that really exists--the personality I give the setting comes from me. Many writers use Chicago as a back drop for their stories. But my Chicago isn't Libby Fischer Hellman's Chicago, or Marcus Sakey's Chicago, or Robert W. Walker's Chicago.

The feeling, or tone, you bring to your setting should enhance your story. Chicago can be scary, desperate, fun, exciting, sexy, moody, romantic, or deadly, depending on your personal voice.

In Afraid, the Wisconsin town of Safe Haven, population 904, is a small, easy-going community where everyone knows each other. Normally, an idyllic place to live. It's so small and quiet it doesn't even need a full time sheriff.

Then something horrifying comes to town and begins to wipe out the population. Everything that made Safe Haven a perfect place to live now makes it a perfect target.

The hometown feel it normally has quickly turns threatening, and the local hubs of the community, like the diner and the Junior High School, are perverted into places of our darkest fears.

In Trapped, I take a normally pleasurable event--camping in the woods--and turn it into the ultimate nightmare. What should be a night of campfire songs and roasting marshmallows becomes a fight for survival.

Weather plays a part in setting. The temperature and humidity can effect the mood of both the character and the reader. It also effects a character's actions. I've set books during all four seasons, in varying weather extremes, to enhance the story.

If done properly, your setting is almost like an extra character in your story, providing additional conflict and incentive for your protagonist. The things that exist within the setting become obstacles to overcome.

Have you picked the right setting for your story? Here's a quick checklist:

* Why is this setting the only setting that works for your story? You should have several reasons why it is interesting, unique, and essential.

* What research is needed to make this setting come alive for the reader? Do you have to visit it? Live there? Or is the Internet enough?

* What mood and tone do you want your setting to express? The background enhances the foreground.

* What conflicts does your setting add to the story? Physical and environmental, emotional and psychological?

* What's the weather like? Why are you choosing to make the weather that way?

As I'm found of saying, I'm a storyteller. I'm not a characterteller, or a settingteller.

But even with the greatest plot in the world, if you have lame characters and an unmemorable setting, you're going to lose readers.

Choose your setting wisely, and be able to justify why you've chosen it.

Of course, if you really want to learn about setting, you should learn by example. As Salvador Dali said, "Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing." So go buy all of my books and study how I use setting. They're conveniently available in print, as ebook downloads, and on audio.

See you on the road...

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There you have it. Setting and story, going hand in hand. Thanks to Joe Konrath (and/or Jack Kilborn) for stopping in and offering his valuable insight. And don't forget to pick up your copy of Afraid tomorrow.

Person Joe Konrath

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Story Not Included

Before I get to this, I just need to do bit of housekeeping. I just remembered that I never picked a winner for the chap book for Nox Dormienda, that I was giving away to a commenter from my post Hodie Ego sum Centum (Today I am 100). So, without further ado, the winner of the chap book is Stephen D. Rogers. Congratulations Stephen. Could you please e-mail me at rj@rjmangahas.com with your snail mail so I can get your prize off to you? Now, that that's taken care of, on with the post.
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There are certainly a lot of changes going on in the publishing industry, not just with the reorganizing, but also with the technology involved. Today there are e-readers, such as the Kindle from Amazon and print on demand services where anybody with a credit card can pay some money and call themselves published. But there is another thing that has changed in the publishing industy and that's HOW people write. In olden times, it was carvings on a cave wall. In Shakespeare's day it was a feather quill and parchement. Later, pencils and pens, then typewriters and finally word processors. But that too has evolved.

There are now a variety of programs used to assist in writing: From Final Draft for screenplays and stage plays to New Novelist for, well, novels. Many of these programs have features such as automatic formating, character databases, virtual index cards complete with corkboard and push pins and outline modes. Yes, sir. These are loaded with all sorts of neat things. Plus according to the ads, they will help the user write the next big blockbuster or Great American Novel. But you know what? Despite all the bells and whistles these programs have, there's one thing that none of them can do: and that's write the actual story. Listen, it doesn't matter how fancy these wriitng programs are. The story has to come from you. As I said, long before all this fancy technology, books and screenplays were being written. People just used real index cards and corkboards.

As for myself, I do a majority of my writing on a laptop. But when it comes to certain scenes and editing (on hard copy mind you) I rely on the Faber Castell 9000 3B Drawing pencil.

So, how about you all? What do you prefer to write with? Whether you're a writer or not, I'm interested to know.

Cracking the Block

I'm sure this has happened to you. You're breezing along through your current WIP and all is right with your writing world. Then it happens. Your fingers hover over your keyboard and won't go back down. You've been blocked. You rack your brain, but the words just won't come fast enough (or even at all). Now what? Fortunately, today, we have award winning-author Ken Bruen to offer some advice as to what he does:

......................Blocked?
There's an old joke about if you are blocked, picture your bank manager and the words will flow. Then there is Chandler's advice, bring a man through the window with a gun
I'm a little more radical when I'm blocked
I kill someone
Usually a loved character, the impact of that will really get you moving
Or if not that, something to shock the hell out of yer own self, and if it shocks you, it will definitely shock the reader
take a real reckless chance, come out of left field, do something you never dreamed you'd do and watch the block dissipate

There you have it folks. Kill someone {on paper of course ;)} or shock your reader. So how about you all? What do you do to get past your block?

Everyone who comments in the next few days or so will be entered in a drawing to receive a copy of Ken Bruen's latest book Once Were Cops.

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Ken Bruen was a finalist for the Edgar, Barry, and Macavity Awards, and the Private Eye Writers of America presented him with the Shamus Award for the Best Novel of 2003 for The Guards, the book that introduced Jack Taylor. He lives in Galway, Ireland.

He is also a former regular at the grog Murderati. If you've never read his posts, you can do so here. They are well worth the read.

Bouchercon: A look back

I arrived home yesterday from my very first Bouchercon. My head is still doing a bit of spinning. It was a rather large conference of about 1400 people. I could go on about the panels, of which there were quite some good ones, including one on Edgar Allan Poe (this year's con was held in Baltimore), and one on TV and it's place in the crime fiction world. Instead, much like author Louise Ure did today over at Murderati, I would like to talk about the moments that meant more to me (as an unpublished writer among some of the published). Let me just say that, I really felt so welcome among the crowds of readers and writers. Many have told me that there is such a sense of family among the crime writing community. That is certainly true.

Here are just some of the things that made my first Bouchercon such a wonderful experience.

* Meeting Ken Bruen on Wednesday night as I showed up for registration. I also got to meet his lovely fiancee Lisa. You could really see the spark in Ken's eyes when he was with her. And if you haven't read any of Ken Bruen's books yet, you're REALLY missing out on superb writing.

* Getting to hang out with Kelli Stanley. Kelli is the author of the book Nox Dormienda a brilliantly written crime novel written in what she calls "roman noir." It's basically done in the hard boiled noir style but just happens to be set around the time of Rome's conquest of Britain. Better than that though, she is probably one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

* Being invited to the Murderati get-together at the bar on Saturday and meeting the authors of the blog as well as two of the other regulars Will Bereswill and B.G. Ritts. I felt very welcomed among this group. Sadly, there were members who were not there: J.T. Ellison, Toni McGee Causey, Allison Brennan and Tess Gerritsen.

* Having a couple of drinks with J.A. Konrath. He may be loud and obnoxious (hey, he's told me this himself), but he is very generous with advice. Just check out his blog and you'll see.

* Going along with editors Gary Phillips and Chris Chambers as well as some of the authors of The Darker Mask anthology (a great book from what I've heard) to their signing at Red Emma's coffee shop and bookstore.

* Chatting with author Zoe Sharp and getting some good advice about some of my writing techniques (thanks so much Zoe). I also had the pleasure of getting to know her husband Andy. I even got to have dinner with them along with other U.K. writers Stuart MacBride, Sophie Hannah and Meg Chittenden.

* Meeting Karen Syed, president and publisher of Echelon Press.

* Discussing things supernatural with Alexandra Sokoloff, whose book The Price is a great read. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Alex in person, you can feel a certain energy when you talk with her.

* Being mentioned in some other Bouchercon blog posts. It's truly an honor to named in some of the blogs that I read and comment on on a regular basis.

* Once again seeing writer and fellow TV nut Lee Lofland. For those of you who don't know, Lee is a great source of information on all things law enforcement. His book Police Procedure and Investigation should be a standard in every crime writer's reference library.

* Though not part of the actual conference, I got to see Edgar Allan Poe's grave. There was however a great panel about Poe as part of B'Con.

These are only some of the things that will really make me remember this Bouchercon. I also got to meet a whole host of other writers including Jason Pinter, Eric Stone, Bill Cameron. Marcus Sakey, Michelle Gagnon, Jason Starr, Christa Faust and Troy Cook as well as agent Janet Reid.

If I have not mentioned someone that I've met (and I know I'm missing plenty) please forgive me. Just know that I enjoyed meeting you.

And finally, there are two sets of very special thanks that need to go out. The first is to Ruth and Jon Jordan and Judy Bobalik for organizing this wonderful event.

The second goes out to the staff of The Sheraton that hosted Bouchercon. Despite your troubles with Labor dispute, you all provided such wonderful and friendly service and for that you deserve much thanks. Know that your efforts were appreciated

Well kids, that's it. I had a great time and I'm looking forward to next year's Bouchercon in Indianapolis.

Perhaps one of the best (and biggest) Book on All Things Publishing

With all the books on writing and publishing, how do you decide which one to pick? There so many factors to consider here: Cost, Who Wrote it, What aspects are covered. Well, to help you navigate though it, let me throw in this suggestion. J.A. Konrath, author of the Jack Daniel's Mystery Series, has recently released Newbie's Guide to Publishing. It may be the name of his blog, but now it's in book form. Covering everything from writing, to querying, to self-promotion (I can't think of another author who does so much in the way of self promotion), it's your one-stop shopping guide to questions you may have about publishing. And the best part? This book is ABSOLUTELY, 100% FREE. Just hop on over to J.A.'s website and download it for free.

Are you a writer?

Much like Jeff Foxworthy came up with ways to tell if you're a redneck (ie. you do your Christmas shopping at a truck stop), Adair Lara, who founded an on-line writing community called Matchwriters.com, compiled a book with signs to tell if you're a writer. It's titled, funny enough, You Know You're a Writer When...
So what are some of the signs?

You know you're a writer when...

• You drink coffee black because Balzac did
• You accidentally sign a check with your pen name
• The cafe won't lend you pens anymore
• Not writing makes you depressed
• You keep a notebook under your pillow

Any of this sound familiar?

In the beginning. . . .

Who ever said that coming up with the perfect opening was easy?

Odds and Ends

All in the family
This month, two second generation writers will all have new offerings.

• The Genius by Jesse Kellerman
• Zapped by Carol Higgins Clark

Novel Writing
There are numerous books on how to write a novel, so why aren't there any books that tell you how NOT to write a novel? Good news. Now there is. You can check it out here.

Happy Birthday Converse!
I'm sure at some point in their life, many people owned at least one pair of Chuck Taylor canvas sneakers. Today, there are a multitude of colors and patterns. It may be hard to believe, but it's been 100 years since Marquis Mills Converse began making simple, rubber-sole work shoes in a factory outside Boston that would eventually lead to one of the most popular shoes of all time. Shoes have always come and gone, but those Chucks were always there.

Odds and Ends: Movies about writing/writers

There are so many movies involving writers out there. Listed below are some of my favorites in no particular order.

1. Citizen Kane
2. Deathtrap
3. Misery
   
4. Adaptation
5. Throw Momma from the Train
6. Stranger than Fiction
7. Kafka
8. Barton Fink
9. Secret Window
10. Capote

If you have any favorites, please feel free to add them.

Method to the Madness

In a creative writing course I took years ago, a student asked, "What's the best way to write?" I don't remember the answer, but I remember the instructor telling us that their particular method was the correct way to do it. I thought that that sounded rather absurd.

Writing can be a very individual thing. Everyone has their own writing habits and routines. I almost always have to write my first draft in long hand (or at least on my typewriter). I think that there's something so satisfying about seeing the words on the page as opposed to a monitor. As far as where, I usually work best in a café, bookstore or anywhere where there is some daily activity going on, although other times I need the peace and quiet.

Here are some of the writing habits of some well known writers:

Stephen King:

• Writes approximately 10 pages a day
• Writes first in long-hand

Truman Capote

• Wrote lying down
• Drafts were written on yellow paper
  

Emily Dickinson

• After she died, most of her work was found on the back of envelopes, grocery bills, or scraps of paper.

Dennis Lehane

• Said that he sometimes gets his ideas when walking his dogs
  
• Writes either early in the morning and/or late at night

Danielle Steele

• Puts in 18-hour days
• Uses a 1946 Olympia manual typewriter

As you can see from just the small sampling, everyone has their own method to their madness, so to speak. What writing habits do you have? Do you write with a particular pen? Where and when do you like to write? And remember, despite what that writing teacher said, there is no wrong answer.

Based on a TRUE story

Remember James Frey? He's the author of the memoir "A Million Little Pieces," that became a bestseller as well a selection in Oprah's Book Club. In it Frey tells about his life of addiction and recovery and how he was wanted in three different states. Great story, right? The only problem here is that this memoir was fabricated. Later, Frey went back on Oprah to defend himself in the controversy about his book.

Following in that tradition, this week The Associated Press revealed two more memoirs that turned out to made up.

The first book was Misha Defonseca's “Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years.” It is a recounting of how, as a young a girl, she lived with a pack of wolves to escape The Nazis, killed a German soldier in self-defense, and traveled 1900 miles across Europe to find her deported parents. It now turns out that Defonseca, now 71, made the events up.

The second fabricated memoir exposed was "Love and Consequences: A Memoir of Hope and Survival," by Margaret B. Jones. Jones shares with the reader her experience of growing as a half-white, half Native American with a black foster mother in a rough Los Angeles neighborhood. Jones also said that she sold drugs for a gang. The truth came out when Jones's sister saw an article on the up-coming memoir in The New York Times. In reality, Margaret B. Jones, a pseudonym for Margaret Seltzer, is white and grew up in a very well off neighborhood in The San Fernando Valley in California. She lived with her biological family and never sold drugs for a gang. She also admitted that the recollections in the book were based on the experiences of people she had met while working at an anti-gang outreach program in Los Angeles. So why did Jones claim the experiences as hers? "For whatever reason, I was really torn, and I thought it was my opportunity to put a voice to people who people don't listen to." That's all good and well, but telling someone else's story as your own is not helping them find a voice.

It is a fact that among readers non-fiction still sells more than fiction and one of the most popular kinds of non-fiction is the memoir. In today's market some of the memoirs that are selling extremely well are written by celebrities, because let's face it: it's a highly voyeuristic society when it comes to the lives of people in the public eye.

The other type of memoir that sells very well are those of people who have interesting stories to tell, particularly if it involves a hardship and the triumph over it, which is the case of Frey, Defonseca, and Jones. The problem with those three though is that their memoirs turned out to be fiction. And their fabrications go beyond the old "I caught a fish at least seven feet long" stories. These stories talked about true hardships and survival in life. In a lot of people's eyes, there is an unwritten understanding between them and the author of the memoir that the events are true and accurate as possible. Now, I concede that it's not easy to remember things exactly as they happened, but it's another thing all together to make up a story and pass it off as fact.

So, I would like to hear from all of you out there. What's your feeling on this whole fake memoir thing? No big deal or something that can be construed as a betrayal of trust between reader and author?

And the Edgar goes to...

That's right, it's that time of year again. The Mystery Writers of America have officially announced the nominees for this year's Edgar Awards. The nominations were actually announced yesterday, but I thought it would be fitting that I list them on Edgar Allan Poe's birthday. Below is the complete list of nominees. Read more about the Edgar Award (the MWA's equivalent to the Oscar) here.

Best Novel

• Christine Falls by Benjamin Black (Henry Holt and Company)
• Priest by Ken Bruen (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
• Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman (Bleak House Books)
• Down River by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel by an American Author

• Missing Witness by Gordon Campbell (HarperCollins - William Morrow)
• In the Woods by Tana French (Penguin Group - Viking)
• Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard (The Rookery Press)
• Head Games by Craig McDonald (Bleak House Books)
• Pyres by Derek Nikitas (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original

• Queenpin by Megan Abbott (Simon & Schuster)
• Blood of Paradise by David Corbett (Random House - Mortalis)
• Cruel Poetry by Vicki Hendricks (Serpent's Tail)
• Robbie's Wife by Russell Hill (Hard Case Crime)
• Who is Conrad Hirst? by Kevin Wignall (Simon & Schuster)

Best Critical/Biographical

• The Triumph of the Thriller: How Cops, Crooks and Cannibals Captured Popular Fiction by Patrick Anderson (Random House)
• A Counter-History of Crime Fiction: Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational by Maurizio Ascari (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Deviance in Contemporary Crime Fiction by Christiana Gregoriou (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley (The Penguin Press)
• Chester Gould: A Daughter's Biography of the Creator of Dick Tracy by Jean Gould O'Connell (McFarland & Company)

Best Fact Crime

• The Birthday Party by Stanley Alpert (Penguin Group - G.P. Putnam's Sons)
• Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by Vincent Bugliosi (W.W. Norton and Company)
• Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit by Kerry Max Cook (HarperCollins - William Morrow)
• Relentless Pursuit: A True Story of Family, Murder, and the Prosecutor Who Wouldn't Quit by Kevin Flynn (Penguin Group - G.P. Putnam's Sons)
• Sacco & Vanzetti: The Men, The Murders and the Judgment of Mankind by Bruce Watson (Penguin Group - Viking)

Best Short Story

• "The Catch" - Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)
• "Blue Note" - Chicago Blues by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Bleak House Books)
• "Hardly Knew Her" - Dead Man's Hand by Laura Lippman (Harcourt Trade Publishers)
• "The Golden Gopher" - Los Angeles Noir by Susan Straight (Akashic Books
• "Uncle" - A Hell of a Woman by Daniel Woodrell (Busted Flush Press)

Best Young Adult

• Rat Life by Tedd Arnold (Penguin - Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Diamonds in the Shadow by Caroline B. Cooney (Random House Children's Books - Delacorte Press)
• Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing - Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
• Blood Brothers by S.A. Harazin (Random House Children's Books - Delacorte Press)
• Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing - Simon Pulse)

Best Juvenile

• The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Shadows on Society Hill by Evelyn Coleman (American Girl Publications)
• Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn (Clarion Books)
• The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion Books for Young Readers)
• Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things by Wendelin Van Draanen (Random House Children's Books - Alfred A. Knopf)

Best Play

• If/Then by David Foley (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
• Panic by Joseph Goodrich (International Mystery Writers' Festival)
• Books by Stuart M. Kaminsky (International Mystery Writers' Festival)

Best Television Episode Teleplay

• "It's Alive" - Dexter, Teleplay by Daniel Cerone (Showtime)
• "Yahrzeit" - Waking the Dead, Teleplay by Declan Croghan & Barbara Machin (BBC America)
• "Pie-Lette" - Pushing Daisies, Teleplay by Bryan Fuller (ABC/Warner Bros Television
• "Senseless" - Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Teleplay by Julie Martin & Siobhan Byrne O'Connor (Wolf Films/NBC Universal)
• "Pilot" - Burn Notice, Teleplay by Matt Nix (USA Network/Fox Television Studios)

Best Motion Picture Screen Play

• Eastern Promises, Screenplay by Steven Knight (Focus Features)
• The Lookout, Screenplay by Scott Frank (Miramax)
• Michael Clayton, Screenplay by Tony Gilroy (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• No Country for Old Men, Screenplay by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (Miramax)
• Zodiac, Screenplay by James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Robert L. Fish Memorial Award

• "The Catch" - Still Waters by Mark Ammons (Level Best Books)

Mary Higgins Clark Award

• In Cold Pursuit by Sarah Andrews (St. Martin's Minotaur)
• Wild Indigo by Sandi Ault (Penguin Group - Berkley Prime Crime)
• Inferno by Karen Harper (Harlequin - MIRA Books)
• The First Stone by Judith Kelman (Penguin Group - Berkley Prime Crime)
• Deadman's Switch by Barbara Seranella (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Congratulations to all who were nominated.

A Writer and his Agent hard at work

I thought this was really funny.

NaNoWriMo is upon us

So what exactly is NaNoWriMo? No, it's not some secret organization bent on world dominance (but it could be).

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. What happens (in November) is this: a bunch of us crazy writers sign up at www.nanowrimo.org and try to bang out 50,000 words in one month.
Personally, this will be a first. I think I must be a little warped to try it. I usually write short stories, so a novel in a month may present a challenge. But I'm determined to have my 50k come Nov. 30