The LadyKillers

The Dual Narrative By Vicki Delany

Please welcome our honored guest this week: Vicki Delany. Vicki  is one of Canada’s most varied and prolific crime writers.  Her popular Constable Molly Smith series (including In the Shadow of the Glacier and Among the Departed) have been optioned for TV by Brightlight Pictures.  She also writes standalone novels of psychological suspense, as well as a light-hearted historical series, (Gold Digger, Gold Mountain), set in the raucous heyday of the Klondike Gold Rush.  Vicki’s newest book is More than Sorrow, a modern Gothic thriller published by Poisoned Pen Press.

Having taken early retirement from her job as a systems analyst in the high-pressure financial world, Vicki is settling down to the rural life in bucolic, Prince Edward County, Ontario where she rarely wears a watch. Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, www.facebook.com/vicki.delany, and twitter: @vickidelany. She blogs about the writing life at One Woman Crime Wave (http://klondikeandtrafalgar.blogspot.com) 

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The traditional Gothic novel is making a comeback in very modern form.  As a reader as well as a writer, I’m delighted to see it. The Gothic as I remember it from my youth, of stubbornly independent governesses,  brooding widowed employers, lonely castles on windswept hills,  has been replaced by stories of modern women (and a few men) struggling to overcome events of the past.  The usual isolated location – which can be isolated in metaphysical terms as well as physical – no longer needs to be a castle in Scotland but can be just about any place with a creaky staircase and an old secret.

One of the characteristics of the modern Gothic is the dual narrative format.  Two storylines running though the book that connect in some way at the end. In the modern Gothic the contemporary characters usually have to confront in some way the dangers or secrets of the past in order to be able to more forward, free themselves from danger or some such. 

In books as diverse as Susanna Kearley’s The Winter Sea, Peter Robinson’s Before the Poison, Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden, Katherine Howe’s The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and many others the dual narrative helps to not only slowly reveal the secret at the heart of the book, but also goes a long way toward drawing comparisons between our times and the past.

I have taken a break from my Constable Molly Smith series and written a standalone Modern Gothic thriller for Poisoned Pen Press (fear not, dear reader, Molly et al will be back in A Cold White Sun in August 2013). The book is titled More than Sorrow and is set on a contemporary small scale organic farm in Prince Edward County.   The backstory concerns Maggie Macgregor, a woman widowed by the death of her Loyalist husband during the American Revolution. Maggie comes to Canada with the Loyalist refugees mainly because she has nowhere else to go. She is widowed, her child dead, disowned by her Patriot father and brothers. She’s taken in by her husband’s cousin and slowly comes to realize she’s nothing more in their household than a slave, in reality if not in law. 

In the contemporary narrative, Hannah Manning is an internationally renowned journalist. She’s injured in an IED explosion in Afghanistan and goes to her sister’s farm to recover. The recovery is not going well, and Hannah fears that she will be dependent on her sister and her husband. Her brother-in-law is making it clear what he thinks about that situation. The two story lines are trying to say something about the status of women – one of whom had no choice in her life, and the other who fears losing her independence.   

As Hannah struggles to regain her memory, she fears she is taking on the memories of someone else.  

I lay on my back, eyes wide open. Thoughts jumped around in my head, unbidden.  Memories that were not mine. People I had never known.

Traces of white mist formed patterns in front of my eyes. I blinked. They were still there.  I’d shut my door and the room should have been completely dark. Yet I could see tendrils of white, stirred by the fan, dripping along the walls, curling across the floor.  I shuddered in the cold. 

The women may have lived two hundred years apart, but their lives are about to dramatically intersect.

For a writer who isn’t really a historical writer, but wants to peek into history, and perhaps draw some lessons, the dual narrative and the Modern Gothic suspense format can’t be beat.

Cover Girls...

I remember when I got my very first cover for my very first book. I hadn't seen the art before the flat arrived, but I had chatted with my editor over what I'd like to see. My book is funny, my main character spunky and a little clumsy -- think Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. My Sophie Lawson has flaming red hair and a little extra around the middle thanks to a love of marshmallow chocolate pinwheels and her couch. She looks horrible in black leather (she says so on page 4) and makes her home in San Francisco. I mentioned that it might be nice to see Sophie on the cover, with maybe the SF cityscape in the background. Maybe something in black and hot pink -- urban fantasy meets chick lit?

I was excited to see the artist's spin on Sophie. Flaming red hair? Check. San Francisco in the background? Check. Fluffy middle, pink and black, a spunky fun feel? Um, not exactly.

Don't get me wrong -- I think the cover is incredible and I think the artist is nothing short of -- well, an artist. It just doesn't exactly jive up with my image of Sophie. Or my description of Sophie. Or the fact that her sword is only supposed to be 12" long. I got (and still get) a ton of flak for the cover. One star reviews. "How dare you!" reviews. "The old bait and switch" accusations. And then, in the sea of all that... a new fan base. A MALE fan base. Who sent me emails saying "I picked up your book because the cover was hot. Then I started reading and it was chickish. But funny. And cool. When is your next book coming out?" and my personal favorite: "The chick on the cover is SO TIGHT! Do you have her number? Or, is that you?"

Of course it is, Sir. Of course it is.

You CAN judge a book by its cover...

I love book covers.

I hate to admit it, but I’ve bought books based on their covers, like Angels and Demons, where the title is written to be read upside-down as well as rightside-up. The book wasn't so great, but the cover was awesome.

Covers do make a difference.

When my Connor Westphal series first came out, the covers were classic mystery covers—graveyards, skulls, blood, cats. Then, when the books sold to Japan, the covers looked more like “Barbie Does Murder,” with a cute blonde riding on a motor scooter. The German version was just the opposite—dark, gloomy, like “Connor Does Poe.” What a difference.

After deciding to e-publishing my Connor Westphal series, I had to find someone to design new covers for the books. I wanted something different from the originals, something that suggested these were cozy, fun books with a strong female protagonist set in a colorful Gold Country town. That’s about as much as I knew. Luckily I discovered Karen Phillips at Left Coast Crime and I couldn’t be happier with her work. She made Connor and her dog Casper really “come alive.”

The covers for my middle-grade series are completely different. Quirky, modern, fun. They capture the mystery element and spookiness of Alcatraz, while showcasing the four bright kids on a quest.

In my opinion, Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich have boring covers. But then they don’t need to worry. It’s their names that sell their books. They could put a picture of a dead cat on the cover and the book would sell.

I’ve had a lot of favorite book covers over the years—too many to list. But here are a couple of recent ones that show the range of mystery novel covers today.

Ann Parker’s cover for Mercury’s Rise is perfect for her historical western mystery series. I love the black and white images that suggest that time period. The cover instantly transport me.

The cover of Carole Price’s new mystery, Twisted Vines, captures both elements of her story, combining Shakespeare and the wine country. The spirit of the Bard hovers over the vineyard.

Staci McLaughlin’s new mystery, Going Organic Can Kill You, has a classic cozy cover, with a friendly farm, cute little animals, and a pleasant atmosphere. Hard to imagine murder lurks among the corn and tomatoes…

All great book covers that show the range of mysteries. And there are so many more.

Of course, a book cover like this might be the solution to any cover quandary…

Guest Blogger Gigi Pandian: What Makes a Good Book Cover?

I am thrilled to turn over this space to Gigi Pandian, a mystery writer, photographer, and graphic designer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant for her debut mystery novel, Artifact: A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery, which was released August 28, 2012. To find links to buy the book at various retailers, sign up for Gigi’s newsletter, or connect with Gigi on Facebook or Twitter, visit http://gigipandian.com/.

 

 

Thanks, Susan, for inviting me here on the day my debut mystery novel, Artifact, goes on sale! It’s especially fun to be here today because I love the topic of “covers” you’re discussing this week. I’m a graphic designer in my day job, so I think a lot about the type of covers that will make readers pick up a publication.

 

Being a designer means thinking about the meaning an image conveys rather than creating a picture that’s beautiful for its own sake. It’s not about having a good cover, but the right one – something compelling and appropriate for the specific audience you want to reach.

 

I’m not talking about judging a book by its cover, but more specifically about getting the right readers to pick up a book in the first place. I’m serious when I say the RIGHT readers. A cover shouldn’t attract readers who expected to be reading a different genre or sub-genre of book. They’ll end up throwing the book across the room, even at the expense of its beautiful cover. As a life-long mystery fan, I buy a lot of books, and there’s nothing more frustrating than thinking you’re settling in for the evening with one thing only to find out you were terribly mistaken. Yes, I know I could have read the book description and reviews more carefully, but I’m busy, and so are other people.

 

A book cover is the most split-second clue to what you’re getting inside.

 

If you look at best-selling cozy mystery novels (like the ones I pulled off my bookshelf in the photo here), the covers look pretty similar. This isn’t because the design teams at the publishing houses aren’t creative. Quite the opposite. Designers want to strike a balance between sending the correct subtle signals to consumers about what the product is, and creating something unique that will stand out in a crowded marketplace.

 

When I started taking my mystery writing seriously, one of the things I was most anxious about was what the cover of my books would look like. When it worked out for me to design the cover myself (which you can read about here: http://www.pensfatales.com/2011/09/exciting-book-news-gargoyle-girl.html) I was really happy, but also a bit nervous. I’d put so much work into the novel, would I be able to create a cover that lived up to it?

 

In Artifact, the first book in the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series, historian Jaya Jones travels from San Francisco to London to the Highlands of Scotland, piecing together the secrets of a lost Indian treasure that are hidden in a Scottish legend from the days of the British Raj.

 

Before creating the cover for this story, I thought about the series as a whole (in each book, Jaya and friends travel to a different foreign destination to solve a present-day crime linked to a historical treasure). I also looked to mystery novels with similar “voices” to mine, with readers who I thought would also enjoy my book. What I came up with is the cover you see here. I’m really happy with it, and I’m excited to see it out in the world today!

Covers By Michael A. Black

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, which is probably a good thing. Most of the time, as authors, we have very little input regarding what the covers of our books will look like. Maybe this is a good thing too. Usually, after we spend a long period of time writing, rewriting, proofing, editing, revising it again, etc., figuring out a cover design might be spreading ourselves a little thin. Plus, it takes all the fun out of waiting to see what someone else will come up with regarding your book.

I must admit that I’ve been very lucky with my covers. Artist Bruce Timm did a cover for Hardboiled magazine based on my story, “The Bandit Wolves.” I think that was the first time I’d seen my work represented on a cover. I thought he did a magnificent job.

The cover of my first novel, A Killing Frost, has an interesting evolutionary story. The publisher was kind enough to ask for my suggestions. I talked it over with my writing partner, Julie Hyzy, and we came up with an idea for this nourish, blue-black image of a solitary figure running along the darkened street, but as the street extended it becomes the barrel of a gun.  I thought it summed things up pretty well and would attract a lot of attention. I sent the idea to the publisher and they e-mailed me a workup of the cover based on my suggestions. It was a total disaster. The figure was silhouetted against a huge, full moon and seemed to be running through the air, or leaping over a tree top. Now I’ve always been a fan of Ray Bradbury, but this cover looked more suited to a sci-fi novel than a mystery. 

I immediately e-mailed back expressing my concerns and asked them to change it. They did, and came up with a great cover featuring a sinister black liquid leaking out of an overturned oil drum and forming the shape of a skull and crossbones. It fit the theme of illegal toxic dumping perfectly.

 I was ecstatic. I thought it was perfect. Ironically, when I made several subsequent appearances in various places to promote the book, the unused sci-fi cover kept popping up on poster advertisements. I’ve never been able to figure out how that unused cover made it to the Internet since it purportedly was discarded. But I have to admit, it’s kind of grown on my through the years, and I even have the image of it on a mouse pad.

Ideally, a cover should attract a potential reader’s attention and also project a symbolic representation of what the book is about. When I’m thinking about buying a book to read, the cover inevitably enters into it, unless I already know the author. I always enjoy reading the book and coming to the scene that’s pictured on the cover. Sometimes this doesn’t quite work out though. Take the novel, Deliverance, by James Dickey. It’s probably one of my all-time favorite books and is as dynamic and adventurous as they come. But the cover for the edition pictured above makes the story look like an outward bound experience on a nature trail instead of a trip into hell on earth.

Pictures sometimes work well on covers. Lt. Colonel Anthony Herbert, one of the most decorated soldiers of his era, used a photograph of himself on the cover of his riveting autobiography, Solider. And Sebastian Barry’s cover for A Long, Long Way gives us a vivid glimpse of the horror that was in the trenches of World War I.

 I was very happy with both versions of the covers for my novel, The Heist. It features two Marine Corps vets who return from Operation Desert Storm and run afoul of the Outfit trying to get rich quick.  The book was just released as an e-book, with an audio and trade paperback version to follow. 

I was equally happy with the cover of Dead Ringer, the novel I co-wrote with Julie Hyzy. It features my formidable PI, Ron Shade, teamed up with her intrepid reporter, Alex St. James. The publisher was very gracious about the design, and even allowed us some leeway in changing Alex’s hairdo. 

You’ll note how John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee changed his hairstyle too, as the cover illustrations of the hero evolved. I always imagined McGee looking something like that, but I don’t know about the longer hair. All I remember about McGee saying about his hair was that he kept it short and toward the end of the series had less of it. I can relate to both of those. Hair today, gone tomorrow I guess.

I’m particularly proud of the two newest covers featuring my works. One is for the third Leal and Hart novel, Sacrificial Offerings. It’ll be released in September. The other is for The Shaolin Cowboy Adventure Magazine, which features my short story, “Time Factor,” as a back-up piece to “Way of No Way” by the great Andrew Vachss. Artist Geof Darrow did the illustrations for Andrew’s story and Gary Gianni drew the ones for mine. Now is that a great cover, or what?

So like I said, it’s really a matter of pot luck with covers. Sometimes an author’s “great idea” works out great, and other times it doesn’t translate quite so well into a visual representation. So the best we can do is hope for the former rather than the latter. But the anticipation of waiting to see what your cover will look like is always something to relish. Imagining it is half the fun.

News and Next Week: Covers!

NEWS FLASHES!!

• Mystery/suspense author Vicki Delany (http://www.vickidelany.com/) will be our honored guest poster on Friday, August 31.
• This coming week, Michael A. Black will be co-teaching a week-long Road Scholar class on To Kill a Mockingbird in Green Lake, Wisconsin: http://www.roadscholar.org/programs/pd_printFull.asp?DId=1-5MRCI7.
• Camille Minichino heads to Fresno on Saturday, September 1, with LadyKiller alum Simon Wood, to talk to the San Joachin Sisters in Crime Chapter about "Real Science and Fictional Crime:" http://www.sj-sinc.org/
• Mysti Berry finished the penultimate draft of her casino crime novel By The Numbers, and fervently hopes to have the final draft finished by Bouchercon. How else can she start the new one during NaNoWriMo?

Covers

This coming week, the LadyKillers tackle the topic of "Covers." Remember when they protected a book's physical pages from life's vicissitudes? Now they hang in virtual marketplaces, just one of the data points that helps a customer decide which book to download. Or maybe you are a reader who likes to take cover from a hectic day by diving into a book. Or a writer covering up the killer until the very end. Whatever your take, join us for the conversation this week!

 

 

Choose Your Own Adventure

Staci here, on my every other Saturday, reflecting on virtual versus real life. When I think of a virtual world, I imagine the likes of Second Life, the computer game that allows you to log onto the Internet, create an avatar, and mingle with people online. Or I’m reminded of those movies where
a disgruntled office worker or worn-out cop comes home, slips on his headpiece, and enters the world of his imagination (of course, in those  movies, things go horribly awry and the lines between reality and the virtual world become blurred, but we’ll ignore that part).

I think the appeal of virtual reality is that it provides a distraction from the everyday life and opens up a world of limitless possibilities. One minute, you’re Joe Schmoe with a nine-to-five job you’re not crazy about and a mortgage you can’t afford, and the next minute, you’re a super spy or a race car driver or the most popular guy at the party. It’s a lot like putting your feet up and immersing yourself in a good book.

In fact, over the summer, my oldest son reintroduced me to a forgotten part of my childhood reading: the choose-your-own-adventure book. These types of books are even more akin to virtual reality games than a standard story because you are in control of your own destiny. I get such a
kick out of watching my kid weigh the pros and cons of each decision. Is it better to stay in the tree with the green mamba or jump down and face the black rhino (he decided to jump down and make a run for it). He gets completely engrossed in the story and imagines himself as this young adventurer, knowing that one decision could lead to freedom and the other could lead to disaster.

That’s why these virtual reality games are so popular. It allows the player to decide their fate in a world in which they’d never likely find themselves otherwise. And if they discover that they don’t like the set of choices they’ve made, they can always delete their avatar and start over, completely reinventing their online persona. How awesome is that?

Slipping through the Veil

By Margaret Lucke

For a writer, where does real life end and virtual life begin? And vice versa?

The high-tech field has taken over the word virtual and made it jargon. But writers were creating virtual realities long before the first computer came along. We create virtual places (settings) and populate them with virtual people (characters) who live virtual lives (the events of which become plots). And frankly, there are times when the boundaries between the real world and our virtual one become blurry.

Take those characters, for instance. We all know that our characters don't actually exist. They're figments of our imagination, expressed as combinations of words that lie inertly on the page or the screen. So what gives them the power to make us love them or hate them or feel afraid for them? What is that gives them minds of their own, so that they can walk into a story and shove it into a new direction that suits them better, or cross their nonexistent arms and refuse to play our silly game at all? I know I'm not the only writer that this happens to.

 Just like I'm not the only one who's been walking down the street, or taking a shower, or digging weeds in a garden—all solid, here-and-now, real-word activities—only to have a character tap me on a shoulder and say, "By the way, did you know this about my story?" Gone is the warm sun on my back or the water coursing over my head. I've just been pulled out of reality and into the world of the story. My awareness shifts, sometimes completely. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself standing in the shower with the shampoo bottle in my hand, unable to remember if I've already lathered and rinsed my hair or was just about to begin.

Yes, the veil between real life and virtual life is sometimes ragged and thin. And if you ask me, that's a good thing.

The novelist Anne Tyler once said, "I write because I want more than one life." To me, that perfectly describes one of the joys of writing fiction—and reading it, too.

My real life, though very satisfying, is short on excitement, adventure, and challenges beyond the ordinary—which is fine with me. I spend a lot of hours simply sitting and staring at a computer screen. All the action is happening inside my head. Though an observer would never know it, I'm busy catching criminals, climbing mountains, exploring far-flung corners of the globe, indulging in love affairs with handsome strangers, and doing all sorts of things that the real me would never dream of doing.

When I slip through the veil into the virtual world, horizons widen; possibilities unfold; an entirely new life awaits. It's a pretty cool place to spend time. Really.

It's (fill in the blank) Life

Ann Parker here, every other Thursday at the LadyKillers. When the topic of virtual vs real life loomed on the horizon, I became aware (or, maybe *more* aware) of the role the virtual world plays within the walls of our humble abode.

In fact, I went on a hunt. A hunt for virtual items. (And no... I don't mean WoW--World of Warcraft--items, etc., although those certain take up significant mental space and energy in the room down the hall from my cozy little office here.) I went hunting for items that promote/enable a virtual life. And I took photos (which you might consider virtual evidence, I suppose).

Here's a sample of what's taking up space around here:

 

Various gaming devices... GameBoy, Nintendo DS, Sony PS2, Wii...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keyboards that look like they belong as part of a jet cockpit... a drawing tablet that lights up and has an electronic pen...

And, let's not forget:

  
We each have our cell phones (smart phones, for the most part) and our own computer stations (which probably tell the world more than we would like about ourselves).

Yes. We are deeply embedded in the virtual world. Mostly, when we are all at home, the house is filled with silence, interrupted only by the click... click... click... of (computer) mice echoing from the various corners of the first floor.

Of course, there are pluses to the virtual world. Our gaming expert regularly plans, strategizes deploys, and manoevers with his wide-flung cohorts, located throughout the North America region, in real-time to beat "the game" (whatever game has captured their interest at that time). Our artist creates magnificent masterpieces with a swipe of a tablet pen and Photoshop, and then displays them for comment and critique on the deviantART online art community.

So yeah, we live in a virtual world. But to be fair, our home also includes other representations of the "real world." Representations such as:

Books... and puzzles...

And aren't these representations or virtual in themselves of something more than ink and paper (or ink and cardboard, for the puzzle).

And what is recorded music (see CDs and a speaker below) if not a "virtual representation" of the real McCoy? Because, after all, recordings captured electronically through iTunes or on metallic CDs (or vinyl records) are the only way I am able to enjoy the sounds of a full orchestra or a musical group within the four walls of my little office.

And hey! Look closely, and you'll see a virtual representation of this post on the righthand side of the photo as well!

So, for better or worse (probably a little of both), I do think the virtual world probably wins out in this household.

Is it Real or is it Right Side Up?

 Physics experiment for the day from Camille.

Equipment: ordinary (somewhat shiny) kitchen spoon

Procedure:

1. Look at your image in the "bowl" of the spoon. Record what you see.

2. Turn the spoon over and look at your image on the "back" or bottom of the spoon. Record what you see. 

3. Discuss!

Of course! you say. Now you remember basic ray optics* from high school physics, or, these days, you'd probably get it in third grade.

You may also remember that the "upside down" image is called "real," meaning that it can be captured on a screen or a piece of paper, for example; and the "right side up" image is called "virtual," meaning it can be seen with our eyes, but can't be picked up on anything tangible.

I've always taken comfort in the fact that when my world looks upside down, it's real. Everything else is virtual.

*Here's a YouTube refresher – very clearly narrated ray diagramming for a concave mirror.