Blog Tour Thoughts

I think blog tours are wonderful.

How else can you promote your book, meet writers, reach readers worldwide, and get better Google rankings? For free?

I do some guest posting during the year on different blogs, but a tour is different—it’s a concentrated effort and a lot of guest posts during a short period of time.

I’ve done a couple of blog tours and there are some things I think I do well and some things I’d have done differently.

Let’s start out with what I could have improved. :)

Time: The release, very close to a deadline I had for another series, sneaked up on me. I think I gave enough time to my hosts to fit me into their schedule…but barely. And it would have been nice, on my side, to have had a little more time to write my posts.

If I’d thought ahead, maybe I’d have come up with a cool logo for a blog tour visual. I’ve seen some that other writers have done and thought they were really cool.

Reach: I think I do really well to reach out to writers. I know where writers are, I’m familiar with their blogs, I’m comfortable. Would it be better in the future to vary my tour and include some stops on mystery blogs that readers hit? Probably! I did help facilitate getting my book to some book bloggers, so I tried…I’d give myself a C there.

Where I did better

I posted on a variety of blogs, some of which might have been new to my regular followers.

I posted on topics that I thought would be interesting to readers and would get good play on Twitter and Facebook.

I tried to think of topics that would work best for my hosts’ sites.

I tried to bring traffic over to my hosts’ sites and be conscientious about responding to comments.

Important to remember:

Be sure to send buy-links for your book to your host.

Be sure to send head shots and cover pics to your host (some will want one or the other, not both…and I always picked my cover over my image.)

Write a pithy bio that tells a little about who you are and what you write.

You may want to check in with your hosts the day before to tell them you’re looking forward to the post the following day (and possibly to remind them that it’s supposed to run.)

If you’re on Twitter or Facebook, post the link to your daily post and what the topic is that you’re writing on.

How long can you keep up? Don’t make your blog tour so long that you get exhausted with it.

Thank your hosts.

My thoughts on what blog tours accomplish:

I found new followers, even though I wasn’t really posting.

I got a good amount of cover recognition and some author branding.

I did sell some books and meet some great writers.

Thanks again to my tour hosts! Below is a list of all my tour stops, my topics and the links to the posts:

8 Ways to Keep Your Series From Going Stale--Confessions of a Mystery Novelist: http://bit.ly/mu4cUf

A Mystery Writer's View of the World (and 6 Tips for Friends of Mystery Writers)--Thoughts in Progress: http://bit.ly/iHX0zW

Staying Encouraged During Querying--Author karen walker...following the whispers: http://bit.ly/jYaZKg

How to blog--17 tips--Anne R. Allen's Blog: http://bit.ly/mmcwKD

Hamish Macbeth--a huge writing inspiration for me--K.B. Owen, mystery writer: http://bit.ly/j6gB1R

Tips for writing sequels--Confessions of a Watery Tart: http://bit.ly/lzc6uT

Juggling Plots, Characters, Publishers and Editors…Keeping it All Straight--Official Blog of p.m.terrell: http://bit.ly/ju2YCv Book promo--traditional and 21st century methods: Spunk on a Stick: http://bit.ly/lHHtOq

7 tips for writing away from home: A Million Blogging Monkeys: http://bit.ly/lQhMnf

What super powers would be useful for writers? Alex J. Cavanaugh: http://bit.ly/lYzFXM

7 tips for writing away from home: A Million Blogging Monkeys: http://bit.ly/lQhMnf

What super powers would be useful for writers? Alex J. Cavanaugh: http://bit.ly/lYzFXM

Tips for those tricky book middles--The Other Side of the Story: http://bit.ly/lYzFXM

The appeal of a small town setting--The Creative Penn: http://bit.ly/mi9jqr

Need to get to know your character? Spend a day with them--Penguin's blog: http://bit.ly/jB3B9Z

How to find writer resources--Jami Gold-- http://bit.ly/lPa9Fb

How secondary characters can help our story--The Daring Novelist: http://bit.ly/ko7mnW

6 Tips for Moving Your Story Forward: Penguin's Blog: http://bit.ly/lCyS8R

Writing schedules, writing setbacks--The Stiletto Gang: http://bit.ly/j01DPw

Generous Reviews (thank you!):

Confessions of a Watery Tart: http://bit.ly/m2Qcr2

Thoughts in Progress: http://bit.ly/j8vwAq

The Book Resort: http://bit.ly/lazEjf

Lesa's Book Critiques: http://bit.ly/iYu5QC

My Year on the Grill: http://bit.ly/lWO5Pd

Joe Barone's Blog: http://bit.ly/klDuGk

Anyone else have anything to add or thoughts/tips on blog tours?

What to Do When Your Writing Plan for the Day is Wrecked

Having some problems with Blogger today (surprise-surprise!) and am sorry about the lateness of this post.

I’m still doing a little visiting, y’all. :) Today I’m at the Stiletto Gang, talking a little about what I do when life gets in the way of my writing schedule. (Hint: it involves a Plan B!)

Hope you’ll come by and join me!

Why My Agent is Still Needed

I’ve read a couple of excellent posts recently on whether agents are about to become extinct…and possible options for them, career-wise. They make for very interesting reading. One is by Anne R. Allen and the other is a PBS story.

Many agents are lawyers, though (mine is.) I worry a little less about her. :)

But I can definitely see this being a problem down the road for agents. I’m not sure how far “down the road” is. It could be a problem five years from now…it could be a problem next year.

For me, though, I need an agent. Still. Even in the current climate. I can’t see that changing anytime in the near future. Here’s why:

I’m traditionally published.

I don’t understand many parts of my contract.

I hate keeping track of when I’m supposed to be paid. My agent hunts down checks and payments.

I hate keeping track of my foreign rights, e-rights, etc.

I don’t enjoy negotiating contracts (I did it once, before my agent, and it made me feel very uncomfortable.)

My publishers require me to have an agent.

My agent pushes me to think about a long-term career plan, goals, and methods of getting there.

My agent haggles over money for me, during contract negotiations.

My agent acts as a first-reader for me before my manuscript is sent to my editor.

I like getting a tax statement at the end of the tax year (which my agent provides for me.)

I like the fact that my agent makes relationships with editors and finds writing leads for me. She’s the reason I have the quilting mystery series. I can’t be in New York, I don’t have the opportunity to schmooze…wouldn’t know how to schmooze if I had the opportunity (I’d be sitting on the sidelines, watching everybody, creating characters in my head while eating spinach dip.)

I like the fact that my agent runs interference for me. When I am talking with or emailing my editors, I’m just dealing with the creative side of the industry. I’m the fun one to work with. My agent is the one who presses for things on the business end….I don’t have to be the bad guy. I don’t want to be the bad guy.

Would I do the above if I had to? Of course I would. But I’m already writing books and promoting them. Those two things are full-time jobs in themselves.

At some point, will this change? Well….I just can’t imagine that it won’t change in the twenty plus years that I hope to still be in this business. It would be silly for me to think it won't change, with all the industry changes that have happened in the last year. But for right now, this is an arrangement that works really, really well for me. My plan is to continue what I’m doing with my editors, agent, and publishers, and to explore the e-publishing side on my own, in my own time.

What do you think is the future for agents? In your current situation, do you need one, like I do? Or are you able to work independently of literary agents?

Keeping Our Writing Focused

Right before school wrapped up for the summer, I volunteered in my daughter’s 4th grade classroom. The children had all written stories and were sharing them with each other.

The writing that children in this age group (age 10) produce is really amazing. It’s lively, the voice is usually very natural, and there are sparks of vibrant creativity even in the tamest story.

One thing that most of the young writers hadn’t mastered, though, was narrative focus.

They’d go off on tangents that I would try to keep up with, expecting that the tangents were going to lead to an important point in the story…but, well, they didn’t.

It’s easy to say that lack of narrative focus is limited to child writers, but it’s something I frequently run into as a writer.

That’s because I’m making my plots up as I go along. And, as I go, I get these threads of ideas that I think might fit in somewhere—and I just dump them into the first draft and keep going.

I even put a note in the margin of the manuscript with Track Changes—Fix this later. I know I’m going off-subject, but there might be an idea there to explore…and I leave it in for the draft.

In editing, though, I have three choices for the tangent:

Cut it (too rambling, doesn’t move the plot forward, doesn’t add insight to a character). It could go into an extras file for another story or another book in the series.

Connect it to the rest of the scene or tie it into the theme, conflict, or other element of the story. Add transitions, if needed.

Move the tangent to another section of the manuscript where it makes more sense or ties into a different scene.

For me, the first draft is about sticking all that stuff in there, even though I know as I’m writing it that I’m going to have to figure out what to do with it later. I won’t stray too far, and I usually will put a marker to myself in the margin to highlight my ramblings.

I wrote a book from a full outline for an editor recently—and I didn’t go off my outline at all. Consequently, I found I needed to add a lot of words to make my target word count. I think my tangents do ultimately get put to good use in my books---and when I’m not making them, I have to brainstorm more in the second draft.

If you outline, does it prevent you from rambling? If you don’t work from an outline and take detours from your main point, is it easy for you to fix later?

Thanks so much to all my wonderful hosts for the Finger Lickin’ Dead blog tour! I really appreciate it! Download Finger Lickin’ Dead on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

Twitterific

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week.

Hope you’ll enter this month’s WKB giveaway for a chance to win the "Butt-in-Chair" writer productivity eBook by Jennifer Blanchard. Two copies to give away! Enter the drawing

Finger Lickin’ Dead released on the 7th. Hope you’ll consider it if you enjoy mysteries, or know someone who does.Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

SEO Basics for Bloggers & Beginners: http://bit.ly/kI1hFD

The importance of word count: http://bit.ly/l1C9u6 @JRVogt

Examples of crime fiction where readers may emphasize with the criminals: http://bit.ly/lobNYW @mkinberg

Creating a Dystopian Setting: http://bit.ly/iAyRRt @AngelaAckerman

Dear Mr. Keillor: Let the Writers Whine: http://bit.ly/iXmbAd

5 signs you must be querying: http://bit.ly/la4MxD

5 signs you must be querying: http://bit.ly/la4MxD

Overwhelmed by my tweets? Don't bookmark the links--search them: http://bit.ly/dYRayA

9 Ways to Market Your Book With No Money: http://bit.ly/jInzBJ

Working from Home? How to Stay Sane: http://bit.ly/kd7SoB

Small Press vs. Self-Publishing: http://bit.ly/kqLgTx

Signs that your manuscript is really ready: http://bit.ly/ius8ry

Should Writers Self Publish Short Stories? http://bit.ly/kk3Y50 @ajackwriting

If you have an agent, then why are *you* querying a publisher? http://bit.ly/mqm4uW

45 Ways to Blog as a Novelist: http://bit.ly/jIDtFR

5 Truths About Publishing: http://bit.ly/iZoL2C

The Conflict of Choice: http://bit.ly/jZi0hr

Real Life Diagnostics: Opening With the Funny: http://bit.ly/jmG4FM

Save Your Readers From Boredom: 5 Fool-Proof Preventatives: http://bit.ly/koN8XU

Book Marketing Methods That Don't Work: http://bit.ly/mFB4Yq

Are You Making These 5 Common Blogging Mistakes? http://bit.ly/mOxNpJ

Indies “vs” Trads: The elephant in the room: http://bit.ly/llNeVU

Can you begin with dialogue? http://bit.ly/jLiOgl

Successful Blog Comment Strategies: http://bit.ly/mkli9Y

Tips for pitching your book: http://bit.ly/mOWR7f

Thoughts on Kindle tags (there are no shortcuts): http://bit.ly/lBo2RU

Worldbuilding, part 5: The "Pigs in Space" principle: http://bit.ly/inpLjZ

The Charles Darwin Guide to Writing and Selling an Effective eBook: http://bit.ly/m0796w

The importance of your contact page: http://bit.ly/mCmNwY

Story vs. craft: http://bit.ly/kkSwnn

10 Commandments for Writers: http://bit.ly/jdXwd0

Pull out those old stories: http://bit.ly/jDUKmY @ElspethWrites

7 public speaking tips for writers: http://bit.ly/l9Hfb6 @authorterryo

The making of a character: http://bit.ly/jm75tR

Super powers for writers: http://bit.ly/k8D8P2 @alexjcavanaugh

What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Great Writing: http://bit.ly/kd5xuI

4 Ways to Get Your Family to Support Your Writing Career: http://bit.ly/mH5rzg

Confidence Zappers and Confidence Boosters: http://bit.ly/jT5ozs

Why writers are actually team players: http://bit.ly/j4YyPD

Conveying information about your character through appearance and mannerisms: http://bit.ly/jkCz58 @keligwyn

An agent on why publishing is so slow: http://bit.ly/k2Te79

Why 1 writer is keeping her day job: http://bit.ly/iEl8FF

The perfect pitch: http://bit.ly/kHIjDg

Old School Book Marketing Techniques for the Digital Age: http://bit.ly/jo4HBD

How to finish a series: http://bit.ly/iwNSmU @DeeScribe

Understanding Book Terminology: http://bit.ly/ldNhv2

Thanks to Dave at My Year on the Grill for a delicious review of my book (and my Peach Cobbler recipe) on his blog: http://bit.ly/k4KnRZ

Why Headlines Really Matter: http://bit.ly/jh48yW

How to Wake up to an Awesome Day: http://bit.ly/jOMGAu

Answering Questions About Your Writing Career (Cocktail Party Edition): http://bit.ly/lcVC4m

Why writing sex and violence is challenging: http://bit.ly/iZIyeH

The power-writing hour: http://bit.ly/mJ7QqL @storiestorm

Writers should make room for their natural talents: http://bit.ly/mUzNOS

How to Promote Your Blog Without Feeling Like a Sleazeball: http://bit.ly/l1lujS

9 Awesome Interviews with Creative Visionaries: http://bit.ly/iPufBn

How Much of Your Personal Life Should You Reveal Online? http://bit.ly/llicF3

An Agent on Selling Yourself, and Selling Yourself Short: http://bit.ly/keVZfv

It's not about the money? Really? An editor's thoughts: http://bit.ly/ksxfWh

Key Ingredient to a Solid Plot: http://bit.ly/miX7Qs @RoniLoren

How to Write Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps: http://bit.ly/kk5nJs

Book Beginnings--Waking Up to Go Somewhere: http://bit.ly/jbg0HR

Dialogue checklist: http://bit.ly/igOObi

How to speak publisher - C is for Contract: http://bit.ly/juubiY

How Cliched Is Your Writing? Take the Test: http://bit.ly/ldsAap

Tips for those troublesome book middles: http://bit.ly/lYzFXM @JaniceHardy

Where to find drama in your writing: http://bit.ly/j1fvnn

Worldbuilding, part 6: Finding your secret weapon: http://bit.ly/kI3re9

Where to find more words for your novel: http://bit.ly/ku0Rs4

Easy tip for getting to know your characters--spend the day with them: http://bit.ly/jB3B9Z @penguinusa

Making of an anthology--editorial rounds: http://bit.ly/krfcQK

Summer Camp for Writers http://bit.ly/k8YS3v @Kathy_Crowley

Do you blog as you? http://bit.ly/m0tPmp

Freelance Life: Scam Avoidance 101: http://bit.ly/mRhqnO

Literary blurb translation guide: http://bit.ly/l6AnOi

Note-taking and Writing Apps for iPhone and iPad: http://bit.ly/kK7ppr

4 things you should never stop doing: http://bit.ly/iWdias

Do Publishers Release eBooks Too Quickly? http://bit.ly/j9lkpA @GalleyCat

Ideas for writers that sit too much: http://bit.ly/jBM9PY

Published! Does it matter how? http://bit.ly/kCUrkm

Adding your book covers to Blogger: http://bit.ly/lgovse

Does a writer living outside L.A. have a chance of creating heat in Hollywood? http://bit.ly/ijyNaM

Social Media's Raging Storm: Follower Gathering: http://bit.ly/iUPNLr @debralynnlazar

3 Reasons Why Marketers Get No Respect: http://bit.ly/mOHGYf

Signs You Might Need a Confidence Adjustment: http://bit.ly/jK7WAX

How much do comic book writers make? http://bit.ly/kw7UtI

How to Keep Your Blog Active While Traveling: http://bit.ly/jtFkre

Can E-Books Save Barnes & Noble? http://rww.to/lgbRuW

An agent on revisions: http://bit.ly/iMLfyS

What Makes a Character Unlikable? http://bit.ly/j244eO @JamiGold

The Appeal Of The Small Town Setting: http://bit.ly/jt14Wp @thecreativepenn

Tips for Memoir Writing: http://bit.ly/lNZe66

Suspense: 10 Tips for Grabbing Your Reader: http://bit.ly/jF885c

An agent's conference pitch confessions: http://bit.ly/kaIgVk

Most Writing “Rules” Are Optional–These Rules of Professionalism Aren’t: http://bit.ly/iDLsiC

Building a Better Novel Premise: http://bit.ly/iOELHL @4kidlit

Avoiding Viewpoint Mistakes: http://bit.ly/ihfWMa

Is your story worth saving? http://bit.ly/lH8cHb @JulieMusil

The modifier zone: http://bit.ly/kRBBDf

This Week’s Fail Whale–The Emotional Tweeter: http://bit.ly/iCRYo8

An Agent on Mass Pitching Your Project To Editors and Agents: http://bit.ly/l6nxLg

Feed your writer’s block: http://bit.ly/jIixyR

Ebook Sales Down? http://bit.ly/le4FYE

The 80/20 rule of Facebook marketing: http://bit.ly/l7TDbV

25 Things You Should Know About Writing A Novel (Or, "How The Lunatic Writes A Book"): http://bit.ly/j23IEK

Drawing the Transitions: http://bit.ly/lUoI18 @RavenRequiem13

Strategies for Promoting Multiple Sites via Social Media: http://bit.ly/k5j4VE

5 tips for writing a better "about me" page: http://bit.ly/jk31YO

Tips for getting your book reviewed: http://bit.ly/l2PZ5P

Embrace an indie publisher (Guardian): http://bit.ly/jtaIxC

How Modern Readers Find Books: http://bit.ly/kTsecI @camillelaguire

A librarian with ideas for solving the ebooks in libraries problem: http://bit.ly/iUfvib

Tips for your business cards: http://bit.ly/kcbr0v @spunkonastick

Tips for working with an artist on your book cover: http://bit.ly/jlXc4r

Writer's Knowledge Base -- Now 9000+ articles on : http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Fictional sleuths who use their disadvantages to their benefit: http://bit.ly/ju6QtZ @mkinberg

7 Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers: http://bit.ly/lkeZZn

Why Agents Don't Find Many Authors At Conferences: http://bit.ly/jRknGH

How to search and access online resources for writers: http://bit.ly/kAmAH3 @jamigold

Non fiction books based on case studies: http://bit.ly/io8VjA

Keep your agent in the loop: http://bit.ly/ma9KcB

Does Your Reader “See” What You “See?” http://bit.ly/jse6It

The ultimate guide to daily blogging challenges: http://bit.ly/ms1dxF

Contrived Coincidences: http://bit.ly/miAR4f @RoniLoren

Why Disconnectors Are Critical In Keeping Your Readers Awake: http://bit.ly/iA0VEx

Twitter Profile Mistakes Writers Should Avoid: http://bit.ly/iugtYB @galleycat

Listen to your gut: http://bit.ly/jOW4JR

How Much Time Should Writers Devote to Social Media? http://bit.ly/mmWCBa

4 Tips to Getting a Writing Mentor: http://bit.ly/jJo2Sk

The 30 Harshest Author-on-Author Insults In History: http://bit.ly/lUy74s

How short stories can help you grab an agent's attention: http://bit.ly/lqvAmc

Are Traditional Publishers Sitting on a Pot of Gold? http://bit.ly/l1KA0g

Give a Dry Blog New Life–The Power of Themes: http://bit.ly/k4LKCC

Maybe If I Had Those Boots: A List, Linda Carter, and Letting Go: http://bit.ly/irp37x @Christi_Craig

How to Find Your Stuff in Evernote: http://bit.ly/jkMGkx

5 reasons to switch to WordPress: http://bit.ly/iZ5X0q

33 Twitter Feeds to Follow (Poets &Writers): http://bit.ly/mt3Ozp

What Tolkien teaches us about conflict: http://bit.ly/ifjGWP @p2p_editor

Author Central on Amazon: http://bit.ly/kDbxns

How stats and numbers can rule writers' lives: http://bit.ly/lKGh2d

POV confusion? Some links to help: http://bit.ly/hJZD8n

Using Narrative Patterns: http://bit.ly/kjJPrR

Errors when writing emotions: http://bit.ly/lHpyDR @JulietteWade

Authors Ask Agents: What Are The Publishers Doing for Us? http://bit.ly/lCKb8V @pubperspectives

Resolution—Tying up the Ends: http://bit.ly/kb948k

10 Sites to Help You Name Your Fictional Location: http://bit.ly/khxYgN

6 tips for moving your story forward (even on the busy days): http://bit.ly/lCyS8R @penguinusa

Creativity Tweets of the Week — 6/24/11: http://bit.ly/juvHEB

How one writer crafted a query: http://bit.ly/mug41z @BTMargins

Developing your unique writing voice: http://bit.ly/m4wlul

An agent with some commonly confused words: http://bit.ly/jJHFI4

Best Articles This Week for Writers 6/24/11: http://bit.ly/lGK8hs @4KidLit

Amazon tagging--is the party over? http://bit.ly/kz2N9B

What Goes Into A Media Kit? http://bit.ly/iQTta6 @raquelbyrnes

5 Openings to Avoid: http://bit.ly/kMe5cu

Interesting link roundup on the Borders mess, thoughts on B&N's health, Amazon tablet, and more: http://bit.ly/iyu0Ab

How to write a good party: http://bit.ly/msDJoN @dirtywhitecandy

How to make readers care: http://bit.ly/klX3L7 @lisagailgreen

A screenwriter on outlines, treatments, and numbered pages: http://bit.ly/jJWz7N

3 act structure, simplified: http://bit.ly/mMHId7

Secondary characters can bring out the best in a protagonist (or create conflict for them): http://bit.ly/ko7mnW @CamilleLaguire

What Does “Write What You Know” Mean to You? http://bit.ly/m6J0Gc

Our manuscript--keeping the love alive: http://bit.ly/jf1b1V @labanan

Should Bookstores Charge for Author Events? http://bit.ly/kYKwkJ @galleycat

An editor takes a look at the story structure of a popular TV series: http://bit.ly/j9XSAQ

Names & titles make a difference (famous characters & books that originally had other names): http://bit.ly/kvMXKw @lauramarcella

30 Blog Topics For Writers: http://bit.ly/jh1u3s

What sales reps for publishers do: http://bit.ly/jT3rye

Blocking out 'how we were raised' to make ourselves able to promote: http://bit.ly/kYu1hG

Trusting the reader: http://bit.ly/iUfWg1

Book Club Resources for Kids: http://bit.ly/k2Fe2G @GalleyCat

7 Stupid Mistakes Most People Make When Trying to Follow Their Passion: http://bit.ly/kl4fJM

5 Promotion Tips for the Shy Writer: http://bit.ly/lmDdfk @RoniLoren

What Your Cover Should Not Do: http://bit.ly/jE9iSE

5 Things More Important Than Talent: http://bit.ly/mtuc0U

How to shine at a writing conference: http://bit.ly/kukVuq

Better Queries Through Movie Trailers: http://bit.ly/iyv4ok

The screenwriters' trick for plotting: http://bit.ly/kogLaW

The Games We (Don’t) Play: How Authors Stay Offline (PW): http://bit.ly/mbjiwb

How Do We Stay Content With Our Own Writing Journeys? http://bit.ly/js0nsc

Possible tax deductions for US writers: http://bit.ly/l421qy

It's all been done before: http://bit.ly/kD069B @lisagailgreen

Creating an author website? A run-down of the top 13 web hosts: http://bit.ly/ilQ6At

Getting that Story Down On Paper

Life has been pretty busy lately, so keeping focused on deadlines (I’ve got a July 1 deadline rapidly approaching) has become a priority for me.

I’m back on Penguin’s blog today with 6 tips for moving your story forward (even on busy days.) And I’ve got a post that will run next week on what to do when our plans fall through. :)

Unfortunately, Penguin has their blog set so folks have to register to comment (I know….I’ve given them my possibly-unwelcome thoughts on that!) so I’ll definitely answer comments back here or on Facebook if you’d like to leave them.

Hope y’all have a great weekend!

Strong Secondary Characters

Writer Camille LaGuire is running an interesting interview series on secondary characters for her blog, The Daring Novelist.

I love the idea, because supporting characters can really make a book, but they don’t get a whole lot of attention.

Today, I’m at The Daring Novelist, talking a little about Cherry, a Memphis Barbeque secondary character who can be a scene-stealer. Hope you’ll join me. :)

Finding Resources for Writers

When I first started out in earnest as a writer, there was no real organized community of writers online.

Fast forward over ten years later, and the online writing community has exploded with tons of advice and resources for writers—but how to organize the information to make it usable?

Hope you’ll pop over to Jami Gold’s blog for my post on the WKB. :)

Getting to Know Your Character and the Appeal of Small Town Settings

Today I’m on Penguin’s blog, talking a little bit about an easy way you can get acquainted with your characters—by spending a whole day with them while doing your regular routine. (Just be careful…sometimes it’s easy to get carried away!) Hope you’ll pop by and join me.

I'm also on Joanna Penn’s blog, The Creative Penn, talking a bit about the appeal of a small town setting (and why I choose it over and over again!) Thanks, y’all!

It’s easy to lose focus in the middle of a book. Usually that’s when I start running out of steam—and realizing I still have a long way to go to wrap up my story.

Since I’ve frequently encountered the saggy middle problem, I’ve developed different techniques to help me approach it. Hope you’ll join me today at Janice Hardy’s blog for some tips.

12 Super Powers and Super Tools for Writers

Today I’m on sci-fi writer Alex J. Cavanaugh’s blog, talking about super powers we writers should have (in the perfect world.) Hope you’ll come by and join me!

Twitterific

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week. Hope you’ll enter this month’s WKB giveaway for a chance to win the "Butt-in-Chair" writer productivity eBook by Jennifer Blanchard. Two copies to give away! Enter the drawing

Finger Lickin’ Dead released on the 7th. Hope you’ll consider it if you enjoy mysteries, or know someone who does.Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N And--Happy Father's Day, Daddy! (And to all the dads out there. :) )

The elusive rewards of e-book publishing: http://bit.ly/kpewmT

Beware These Writing Pests: http://bit.ly/jT9RD3

Things one writer has learned after completing his 1st draft: http://bit.ly/jJWJxX @JustusRStone

Making thrillers out of classics: adapting Shakespeare's Macbeth: http://bit.ly/mNvEcD

Writing time-management for the harried home-writer: http://bit.ly/kN2aL7

All About Glosses, or Brief Definitions: http://bit.ly/kyicNq

Why writing a sleuthing have a lot in common: http://bit.ly/keR6wt @mkinberg

The Art of Keeping Your Blog Audience Coming Back for More: http://bit.ly/lrWX8C

My "Finger Lickin' Dead" release and a chance to win it: http://bit.ly/jy9s1J

Did You Know? Twitter Hashtags & How to Use Them: http://bit.ly/kETg19 @JanetBoyer

Working Within a Critique Group: http://bit.ly/jaMeRJ

Amateur-Hour Books: Do You Know the Warning Signs? http://bit.ly/lGkJud

Publishing Traditionally Without an Agent - Part II: http://bit.ly/kS9LzN

5 Tips to Stay Encouraged During Querying: http://bit.ly/jYaZKg

5 Articles on Knowing When to Submit: http://bit.ly/jJj4jH

Yoga for Writers: http://bit.ly/msLXdV

5 ways to screw up your author podcast: http://bit.ly/iInClc

It's a Start: The First Line: http://bit.ly/jUyKKd

Edit in an Instant? Ain’t Gonna Happen: http://bit.ly/iTZfJA

Write Your Query FIRST for a Better Book: http://bit.ly/kUfGL4

On Story Arcs: http://bit.ly/lsSw8o

Trading Excerpts with Other Authors in the Back Matter of Your Ebook: http://bit.ly/jqNnf0

Write your novel in 30 days--Day 3: Getting your ducks in a row: http://bit.ly/jH2LLf @Mommy_Authors

The 10 Most Powerful Women Authors (Forbes): http://onforb.es/kmcqPc

For writing quotes--from the interesting to the inspirational: @AdviceToWriters and http://www.advicetowriters.com/

20 Reasons Why Creative People Work in Cafes: http://bit.ly/jZVNsE via @on_creativity

A writer & tweeter focuses on giveaways for readers & publicizes contests for promoting authors: @romancegiveaway @joanswan

A prolific book cover artist explains her process: http://bit.ly/isXO21

Are you misappropriating malapropisms? http://bit.ly/iVUFwR

Writing Male Characters: http://bit.ly/jdywAe

Vampires: Origins, Evolution and Role in Fantasy Fiction: http://bit.ly/mp9gF7

The inculcation of some good writing habits: http://bit.ly/kvCoik

10 Tips for Critiquing Other People’s Writing: http://bit.ly/lTi0uw

5 Weak Words that Make Your Writing Less Effective: http://bit.ly/l6Kt48

Drafting your first novel: http://bit.ly/mjYvRc

How to Be a Dream Interview Subject: http://bit.ly/jt6YdJ

Beating Writer's Block Using Everyday Experiences: http://bit.ly/mbpFCY

17 tips for a successful writing blog: http://bit.ly/mmcwKD @annerallen

Real Life Diagnostics: Opening Thrill of a Thriller: http://bit.ly/iKgdye

Fixing flat sentences: http://bit.ly/kdPJCd

Writers--appreciate your growth: http://bit.ly/lRIIzd @juliemusil

How To Write Novels and Short Stories - Not: http://bit.ly/lWHLJa

A helpful thesaurus for settings, emotions, symbolism, & weather--now with character traits: http://bit.ly/mQINxh @AngelaAckerman

Write your novel in 30 days--Day 5:Turning Points: http://bit.ly/jY3Dlg @Mommy_Authors

Researching story locations: http://bit.ly/mmh4kk @storiestorm

Now with over 8000 links to help #writers find resources: http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Examples of series that have been continued after the author's demise: http://bit.ly/kALbyr @mkinberg

The well-read author--tips for finding time to read: http://bit.ly/jdqPBL @penguinusa

4 Ways to Grow Your Blog with the Power of Experts: http://bit.ly/myyPpf

The New Nook Simple Touch Reader: Awesome for Reading and Buying Books. Everything else? Meh. http://bit.ly/mpqq27

Cover Page Design for the Dirt Poor and Graphically Challenged: http://bit.ly/jL5NtE

Tasks that take up a writer's work day: http://bit.ly/mOIb49

9 ways to build a better blog and increase your traffic in the process: http://bit.ly/kLws0C @Harrison314

Developing Your Creative Practice: http://bit.ly/lOpVkp

How to Win Readers and Make Them Stick: http://bit.ly/jgTvMw

My look at a master of mystery who inspired me to write: http://bit.ly/iT9Xpk @kbowenwriter

Lee Goldberg's response to Joe Konrath's post on the Mystery Writers of America: http://bit.ly/iuy9GU

An Editor Looks at First Pages: http://bit.ly/jod1Mv

As usual, a nice links roundup from 2 historical writers: http://bit.ly/mNWInq

Search my tweets-- http://dld.bz/KPgS

Balancing the long view and the short view as a writer: http://bit.ly/mwtGeX

Traditional & Indie Publishing Advantages: http://bit.ly/m203UX

40+ Free Tools for Authors: http://bit.ly/ltxIGx

Improving Creativity: The Absorb Brainset: http://bit.ly/lb0ixD

Tips for attending writers' conferences: http://bit.ly/msEwh1

Young Adult Literature: Is it too dark? WSJ Thinks So...http://bit.ly/kiX9j5

Maintaining your story's verb tense: http://bit.ly/iBxwYR

Are Teen Novels Dark and Depraved — or Saving Lives? (Publishers Weekly): http://bit.ly/jMABnO

Stories are like sharks – to stay alive they must keep moving: http://bit.ly/iN0Qcd

Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: Speed: http://bit.ly/lIVgw0

The Matrix Moment of Story Engineering: http://bit.ly/l4qBzj

Tips for interviewing: http://bit.ly/lIss4f

Writers Beware: http://bit.ly/k58cHI

Promotional Materials For Authors: Bookmarks: http://bit.ly/kFydcr

Heroic fantasy: http://bit.ly/m8aqHz

Sex vs. Relationships in YA: http://bit.ly/malmj4

YA Fairy Tale Retellings: http://bit.ly/ixa7rU

Manage Email, Not Time: http://bit.ly/k37Gb0

For the writer addicted to office supply stores...a blog devoted to pens: http://bit.ly/iAsAhW via @designerdaze

10 of the best bows and arrows in literature (Guardian): http://bit.ly/iIakGK

Why 'real poets' don't exist: http://bit.ly/j3EMpL

A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices: http://bit.ly/lBjKse

Plotting the Mystery: http://bit.ly/kadBf3

Why 1 writer won't include musical references in his books: http://bit.ly/mbz8Pu

A character trait thesaurus entry for "thoughtful": http://bit.ly/jDPU2s @AngelaAckerman

The search engine for #writers: http://bit.ly/dYRayA

The real road to social media success may surprise you: http://bit.ly/lT0y5c

The Secret to Selling: Writing a Fast-Paced Novel: http://bit.ly/jcrERU

The courage *not* to publish: http://bit.ly/mGt6P5

Writing a sequel? Tips to keep from boring returning readers or confusing new ones: http://t.co/bq877QW @HartJohnson

40 Questions for a Stronger Manuscript: http://bit.ly/iPP1WP @4kidlit

Scenes are about change: http://bit.ly/iTSYfi

Should you consider using chapter titles? http://bit.ly/lkeY1M @JulietteWade

“The Help” –Context and Concept: http://bit.ly/lyZoWx

5 Reasons to Consider Giving Away a Free Ebook: http://bit.ly/jQXKYc

One writer's road map for writing mysteries: http://bit.ly/kgIoLf

The Importance of Supporting Characters: http://bit.ly/m5htd7

What Makes Good Sci Fi: http://bit.ly/kPNty5

7 Ways to Build Up Your Writing Confidence: http://bit.ly/mlCGyS

6 Easy Ways To Reward Your Twitter Followers: http://on.mash.to/lSjDTT

Just because the book is bad doesn’t mean someone will come to your house and arrest you: http://bit.ly/ldEUAe

The Emptiness of 'Literary Fiction' and the Stereotyping of Genre Literature: http://bit.ly/ln1XHq

A Tip for the First Time Novelist: http://bit.ly/j6CWx2

Why Staying Silent Can Cost You: http://bit.ly/lP0jn3

Sign up for the monthly WKB newsletter for the web's best links and interviews: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1

The Hunger Games - A Lesson In Plot: http://bit.ly/mgFXaH

Enjoy mysteries? Know someone who does? Check out my latest: Finger Lickin' Dead: Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Print: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

How to Revise a Manuscript or Story: http://bit.ly/lFYzd9

A Tortoise Writer Picks Up the Pace: http://bit.ly/mbdgo6

Into? In To? Onto? On To? http://bit.ly/jPD3TJ

10 Ways to Improve Your Author Website: http://bit.ly/k95Xbw

Conquering show and tell: http://bit.ly/iGnHjg

Juggling Plots, Characters, Publishers and Editors…Keeping it All Straight: http://bit.ly/ju2YCv

3 ways readers will judge your work: http://bit.ly/j0FqTg

5 Excellent Tips for Platform Building: http://bit.ly/inThpe

How to Characterize Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps: http://bit.ly/j8gChS

What Went Wrong with the Star Wars Prequels? http://bit.ly/ivK4GR

The Novel with Many Narrators is a Multiheaded Beast: http://bit.ly/ju1gaR

8 Reasons Why Unplugging Can Generate Better Ideas For Your Writing: http://bit.ly/kVR1nf

Working Through Pain: http://bit.ly/kSpy4K @ajackwriting

Blogging Solution For Those Who Hate To Blog: http://bit.ly/mC1FBd

More Sacred Cow-Tipping–Common Blogging Misconceptions: http://bit.ly/jvsOKr

Plot Busters – Three Tips from "Tangled": http://bit.ly/jW84xn

5 Productivity Tools for the Busy Freelancer: http://bit.ly/jEnJId

Querying dos and don'ts: http://bit.ly/kz1eaQ @HartJohnson @raquelbyrnes

How should authors deal with reviews? http://bit.ly/mLp3K8

Focus your Worldbuilding Efforts: http://bit.ly/ivvX07

Increasing Your Writing Productivity: http://bit.ly/kdeCTb

Love me! Read me! Buy me! Promoting Your Book: http://bit.ly/kyXIrt

The Dreaded Opening! - 5 Points about your Opening Scene: http://bit.ly/m0gA26

Book Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation And Using Press Releases For Your Book: http://bit.ly/jHVNxb @thecreativepenn

Conflict—Beyond Arguments and Fist Fights: http://bit.ly/lTTsUH

Literary Agents: Top 10 Ways to Make or Break that Relationship AFTER you Sign: http://bit.ly/lWNi1N

Book promo--traditional and 21st century: http://bit.ly/lHHtOq @SpunkOnAStick

Are You Ready for The Call? http://bit.ly/imi4TG

On the Edge of Your Seat – Creating Suspense: http://bit.ly/jHix2t

Make Your Writer’s Bookshelf Work For You: http://bit.ly/kd2T3L @jhansenwrites

What men and women talk about when they talk about publishing: http://bit.ly/iTuHxr & http://bit.ly/lnnFkP via @Porter_Anderson @donlinn

Self-editing checklist--repetition: http://bit.ly/iYP2bC

Writing for Reluctant Readers: http://bit.ly/kXJUZg

Developing the Hook in a Query Letter: http://bit.ly/kR2Ak5

Need help with pacing? http://bit.ly/gbXFZH

7 Solutions for Repetitive Sentence Structure: http://bit.ly/mk60yf

Must writers be natural storytellers? http://bit.ly/m1huNk @JulieMusil

Have You Posted Your Work Online? http://bit.ly/kc4d6V

Why Email Kills Productivity & What You Can Do About It: http://bit.ly/iMn38C

Writing From a Woman's Point of View: http://bit.ly/kkdExi

Write Creatively, Stress Free: http://bit.ly/jIp0YJ

One writer is happy about advice she *didn't* take: http://bit.ly/l4jxCa

Need help with scene transitions? http://bit.ly/fivggV

How Writers Can Rock LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/mj6lqU @jhansenwrites

This Week’s Twitter Tip–Understand the Power of Names: http://bit.ly/lO0zM7

The Pubbed Writer’s 7 Deadly Sins: http://bit.ly/lQWLx5

7 tips for writing away from home: http://bit.ly/lQhMnf @AlanOrloff

4 steps to useful critiques: http://bit.ly/jEpX16

Tips for Tackling the Rewrite: http://bit.ly/kWW3mk

10 Ways to Avoid Mid-Book Doldrums: http://bit.ly/j70S00

Building a book blurb: http://bit.ly/mD0dRH

3 things to do before you pay for professional copyediting: http://bit.ly/l0iBCa

Story structure--beginnings: http://bit.ly/lRxT8f

How X-Men Can Help You Craft a Better Antagonist: http://bit.ly/iQZHCr

What KIND of story is it? http://bit.ly/jTxPwR

Best Articles This Week for Writers 6/17/11: http://bit.ly/iqKcrY @4kidlit

eBook Self-Publishing: A Simple Guideline and Some Tips on Taking Those First Steps: http://bit.ly/kREUH9

Creativity Tweets of the Week — 6/17/11: http://bit.ly/iutKfK @on_creativity

A Case For Slow Writing: http://bit.ly/kdqxvh

Why Writers Need Lists: http://bit.ly/iN3ZuK

The Writer’s Soul: Built One Crack At A Time: http://bit.ly/iusRJp

On publishers who say they're "looking for new voices:" http://bit.ly/lLTlP0

Why Creative Blocks Aren’t Always Bad: http://bit.ly/imqrOj

How Much Should an Editor Charge? http://bit.ly/j1cobA

A writer's standing desk experiment: http://zenhabits.net/stand/

10 Stages of Revision Emotions: http://bit.ly/m9mBWG

Word 2010, Track Changes, and Privacy Concerns: http://bit.ly/lf1axF

Sexism in SF and F? http://bit.ly/kn5nqP

How to Manage Freelance Writing Projects: http://bit.ly/k9xpCN

Write What You Know? Maybe Not: http://bit.ly/mNcBlz

Dictate Your Story – An Unconventional Method of Completing A First Draft: http://bit.ly/jHhK7M

Why The 99-Cent Price Point May Not Be Working for You: http://bit.ly/jEhTCX

Formulating a fantastic first line: http://bit.ly/kwK4vw

Collaborative Writing: http://bit.ly/miIcWL

Are appearances still a worthwhile way to promote your book? http://bit.ly/mOkLfF

What to do after finishing your 1st draft: http://bit.ly/ke6HNT

Word 2010, Track Changes, and Privacy Issues

Hope y’all will excuse this technical post…I’m thinking it might help some of you out there.

The program that editors like working with is Word. They like editing back and forth with the writer with Word’s Track Changes program.

I’ve gotten so that I enjoy using the program myself and use it for my own editing and revision, even before sending the manuscript to my publisher for revision.

In previous versions of Word (most recently 2003, 2007), if I wanted to remove my inane babblings to myself before sending my document to my first readers, agent, and editor, I’d open the document; save an old, marked-up version for my own use; open Track Changes; accept or remove all the changes; delete the comments; turn off Track Changes (if I was trying to be especially cautious); save the new version under a new name (“for review” was usually in the title name), and email it off.

Imagine my chagrin when I’ve recently done this in Word 2010 and found that my first reader and agent were opening up marked-up documents with my private notes, ideas, etc.

At first I thought it was just me making an error in one of the steps above. That’s because I’m very forgetful, but I can usually hold a thought in my head throughout a 2-minute process.

Since it’s happened a couple of times recently, I thought to try to do a little research on the problem. Because today I’m sending 75 pages of a document to a new editor for the new quilting mystery series for a cover conference and I really want to send out a clean copy that doesn’t show my personal scribbles about what I see as problem areas of the manuscript, etc.

On Google, a simple search showed that others were having the same issue with 2010—most notably a law office that was horrified it was sending marked-up documents to a different law firm when they thought they weren’t.

After some digging, I discovered that one thing you’ll want to do if you want to send a clean document out is to open your document, go to your “Developer” tab, click on “Macro Security,” click on “Privacy Options,” look at “Document-specific settings” and UN-check “Make hidden markup visible when opening or saving.” Because, y’all, if I’ve hidden something, I darned well want it to stay hidden!

To make absolutely sure your document doesn’t have any hidden metadata, you’re going to want to save a marked-up version of your old document for yourself (because once this document is scrubbed, it’s possible you can’t ever get those edits back), then do this (and this is right from Microsoft Word help):

1. Open the Office document that you want to inspect for hidden data or personal information.
2. Click the Microsoft Office Button, click Save As, and then type a name in the File name box to save a copy of your original document. (In 2010, click "File")

Important It is a good idea to use the Document Inspector on a copy of your original document because it is not always possible to restore the data that the Document Inspector removes.

1. In the copy of your original document, click the Microsoft Office Button, (file in 2010) point to Prepare, ("Prepare for Sharing" in 2010) and then click Inspect Document.
2. In the Document Inspector dialog box, select the check boxes to choose the types of hidden content that you want to be inspected. For more information about the individual Inspectors, see What information can the Document Inspector find and remove?
3. Click Inspect.
4. Review the results of the inspection in the Document Inspector dialog box.
5. Click Remove All next to the inspection results for the types of hidden content that you want to remove from your document.

Important

• If you remove hidden content from your document, you might not be able to restore it by clicking Undo.
• The inspectors for Comments and Annotations, Document Properties and Personal Information, and Headers and Footers cannot be used in an Excel workbook that has been saved as a shared workbook (Review tab, Shared Workbook command). This is because shared workbooks use personal information to enable different people to collaborate on the same workbook. To remove this information from a shared workbook, you can copy the workbook, and then unshare it. To unshare a workbook, on the Review tab, click Shared Workbook. On the Editing tab, clear the Allow changes by more than one user at the same time check box.
• If you want to remove hidden data and personal information from documents you save in one of the OpenDocument Formats (.odt, .ods, .odp), you must run the Document Inspector every time you save the document in one of these formats.

I’m glad that my own musings and thoughts on my manuscript only made it into the hands of first readers and my agent. It’s just not cool to send a document off that way to an editor. And I’m a little irked at Microsoft that this privacy issue wasn’t more obvious.

And if there are any techies out there who find any errors in this post or have any additional comments to make on this issue, please bring them up in my comments so I can make addendums and corrections to the post.

Any of y’all irritated by privacy issues with Facebook or MS Word?

Tips for Writing Away from Home

This is the first week of summer vacation for my children…and I’m writing on the go more than ever as we go from swimming pools to skating rinks to bowling alleys!  Hope you’ll pop over and visit me at Alan Orloff’s A Million Blogging Monkeys today for some tips on writing away from home.

Thoughts on Book Promo

Today I’m visiting Spunk on a Stick, talking a little about book promo.  I’ve tried both traditional marketing and a more modern approach (with varying degrees of success.)  Hope you’ll come by and visit. :)

Juggling Plots, Characters, Publishers and Editors…Keeping it All Straight

Today I’m over at P.M. Terrell’s blog, with my thoughts on juggling storylines, publishers, characters, and more.  Hope you’ll come by and join me!

And…I’m announcing the winner of my Finger Lickin’ Dead giveaway over at the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen blog today.  Hope you’ll come by for some fried okra and the giveaway results. :)

Tips for Writing a Sequel

Hi everybody!

Today, on the Finger Lickin’ Dead blog tour, I’m posting at my friend Hart Johnson’s Confessions of a Watery Tart with my thoughts on sequels—including backstory (if you need to), reintroducing recurring characters (so as not to bore your returning readers and not to confuse your new ones), and how to keep things interesting in general. Hope you’ll come by and say hi. :)

My random drawing will be tonight for the signed copy of Finger Lickin’ Dead. You can enter until midnight ET tonight….

An Inspiring Character

Was there a character or author who inspired you to write?

Although I knew I wanted to be a writer while I was still reading Nancy Drews, there was one character and author in particular who made me decide to go ahead and take the plunge.  I’m on K.B. Owen’s blog this morning, talking about my inspiration…and it’s a character you might not be familiar with.

17 Tips for a Great Writing Blog

Starting a blog can feel overwhelming. The internet is brimming with writing blogs—how can you find readers when everyone has a blog? Or, if you already have a blog, you might wonder how to get more readers or broaden your platform.

For tips on starting or growing your blog, please visit me today at Anne R. Allen’s Blog.  :)

Lesa’s Book Critiques gave Finger Lickin’ Dead a nice review this morning.

Download the book on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp
Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

Just a couple more days left in my giveaway for a signed copy of the book.

And congratulations to Mary Aalgaard for winning Jeannie Campbell’s giveaway on Thursday’s post. :)

Twitterific

Below are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the past week. I’m running the list a day early because tomorrow I’m visiting Anne Allen’s blog. :)

Enter this month’s WKB giveaway for a chance to win the "Butt-in-Chair" writer productivity eBook by Jennifer Blanchard. Two copies to give away! Enter the drawing

My Thursday guest, Jeannie Campbell, from The Character Therapist blog, is giving away a copy of “The Writer’s Guide for Creating Rich Back Stories”---comment through midnight ET tonight for a chance to win. Click here and scroll to the bottom of the post.

Finger Lickin’ Dead Giveaway: I’m giving away an autographed copy of Finger Lickin’ Dead—details here. Several days left in my contest. :)

And here are this week’s links:

Best Articles This Week for Writers 6/10/11: http://bit.ly/k4j3Q6 @4kidlit

How Do You Choose Blog Topics? http://bit.ly/kSipOq @JamiGold

The 10 Most Powerful Women Authors (Forbes): http://onforb.es/kmcqPc

Write your novel in 30 days--Day 3: Getting your ducks in a row: http://bit.ly/jH2LLf @Mommy_Authors

Trading Excerpts with Other Authors in the Back Matter of Your Ebook: http://bit.ly/jqNnf0

On Story Arcs: http://bit.ly/lsSw8o

Write Your Query FIRST for a Better Book: http://bit.ly/kUfGL4

Edit in an Instant? Ain’t Gonna Happen: http://bit.ly/iTZfJA

It's a Start: The First Line: http://bit.ly/jUyKKd

5 ways to screw up your author podcast: http://bit.ly/iInClc

Yoga for Writers: http://bit.ly/msLXdV

5 Articles on Knowing When to Submit: http://bit.ly/jJj4jH

5 Tips to Stay Encouraged During Querying: http://bit.ly/jYaZKg

Publishing Traditionally Without an Agent - Part II: http://bit.ly/kS9LzN

Amateur-Hour Books: Do You Know the Warning Signs? http://bit.ly/lGkJud

Working Within a Critique Group: http://bit.ly/jaMeRJ

Did You Know? Twitter Hashtags & How to Use Them: http://bit.ly/kETg19 @JanetBoyer

My "Finger Lickin' Dead" release and a chance to win it: http://bit.ly/jy9s1J

The Art of Keeping Your Blog Audience Coming Back for More: http://bit.ly/lrWX8C

Why writing a sleuthing have a lot in common: http://bit.ly/keR6wt @mkinberg

All About Glosses, or Brief Definitions: http://bit.ly/kyicNq

Writing time-management for the harried home-writer: http://bit.ly/kN2aL7

Making thrillers out of classics: adapting Shakespeare's Macbeth: http://bit.ly/mNvEcD

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Black and Blue Burgers http://bit.ly/kKnc5t

Things one writer has learned after completing his 1st draft: http://bit.ly/jJWJxX @JustusRStone

Beware These Writing Pests: http://bit.ly/jT9RD3

The elusive rewards of e-book publishing: http://bit.ly/kpewmT

8 Ways to Develop Better Relationships with Book Bloggers: http://bit.ly/lH1Zn2

The Difference Between Traditional Publishing & Self-Publishing: http://bit.ly/l9FZWG

Write a novel in 30 days--day2--drafting scene cards: http://bit.ly/mnzng6 @Mommy_Authors

Ultimate Blogger’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization: http://bit.ly/kkF8PB #amwrting

Man Up: Writing Male POV: http://bit.ly/mSGiUG

Rhythm and Time: Give Your Writing a Beat of Its Own: http://bit.ly/kKl1H8

Actions vs Choices: Crafting Better Plots: http://bit.ly/lv49aR

Mystery writers--create red herrings through scapegoating: http://bit.ly/ip9lhM @jeanniecampbell

Writing for Two Publishers: http://bit.ly/kz7an6

6 tips for friends of mystery writers: http://bit.ly/iHX0zW @MasonCanyon

How idioms and metaphors bring your world to life: http://bit.ly/mOd5PS @JulietteWade

A publishing insider with a market update: http://bit.ly/lEy034

Free e-book on building readership: http://bit.ly/ke08hh @JaneFriedman

Before You Hire an Editor: http://bit.ly/lF7vTY @MuseInks

An agent on the all-important beginning: http://bit.ly/kF0LBR

When Bad Things Happen To Productive People: http://bit.ly/kRazAq

3 things 1 writer learned about writing at Disney World: http://bit.ly/iI9ott

Your characters shouldn't be bored: http://bit.ly/lRTyTk

How to Promote Yourself and Your Book: http://bit.ly/iU4Ymr

Direct Messages & The Power of Positive Tweeting: http://bit.ly/mSp5z6

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: To Havarti and to Hold http://bit.ly/mjJM8F

The Rewards of Writing for the Reader: http://bit.ly/ihNi4o @keligwyn

5 Fluctuating Forms of Gender-Specific Language: http://bit.ly/kz2QdD

101 Twitter Tips: http://bit.ly/mn0Wx6

Writers Need a Web Presence. Here’s What That Means: http://bit.ly/jUQB3A

Conflict: the fuel of a story: http://bit.ly/kzsu12

Write a novel in 30 days--day 1--get to your novel's core: http://bit.ly/lYZvki @Mommy_Authors

Should you have a pen name? http://bit.ly/lWPM1k @JamiGold

Checklist for Editors: http://bit.ly/lUdBoV

How Much Of Good Writing Is In The Timing? http://bit.ly/lZHS6Z @storiestorm

Exercise Your “What-if” Muscle: http://bit.ly/k8zJbi @jhansenwrites

8 ways to keep your series from going stale: http://bit.ly/jFLMCJ @mkinberg

Slush Pile Triage: http://bit.ly/iScBmW @literaticat

Author-Agent Speed Dating Service: http://bit.ly/kyIcQa

The Persistent and Damaging Myth About Introverts and Marketing: http://bit.ly/k0n0Ao @janefriedman

A crash course on point of view: http://bit.ly/mgxAuc @Paize_Fiddler

How to read a script: http://bit.ly/jYWNZy

Editing For Self-Publishers: http://bit.ly/lWsnwW

10 Signs You Met Your Deadline: http://bit.ly/k8Xb0M @elspethwrites

5 examples of poorly-written sentences made better: http://bit.ly/mkicu7

An explanation of show, don't tell: http://bit.ly/ktZXbA

Quick tips on finding an editor: http://bit.ly/mxbCWx

Ignoring the Light in YA Fiction: http://bit.ly/kO8cam

Good day sunshine for writers: http://bit.ly/mNlQw6

Warning signs of an idiot plot: http://bit.ly/mAZ9Ri

6 Easy Ways to Get Your Guest Post Rejected: http://bit.ly/jUp8IO

How Honest Should We Be With Each Other? http://bit.ly/llqSND

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: An Easy, Finger Lickin’ Southern Side—Pimento Cheese http://bit.ly/luVHZ3

Can't vs. Won't: http://bit.ly/l8PQsD

How to Overcome Perfectionist Tendencies as a Writer: http://bit.ly/izDfJE

Get the Best Bang for Your Blog: http://bit.ly/mAtFrx

How to Write a Scary Scene: http://bit.ly/kffTxM

Creating a Cover: Finding Models: http://bit.ly/kIcktb @camillelaguire

A bad book? No, it’s a good book you haven’t fixed yet: http://bit.ly/jo3ajo @DirtyWhiteCandy

Subplots--Where To Find Them and How To Use Them: http://bit.ly/lD7c3d

What's for supper at the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen? Cleo Coyle’s Bourbon-Berry "Coffeehouse"Rib BBQ : http://bit.ly/kjt0bl

Internalization 101: http://bit.ly/iNfovN

Writer’s Conferences—Are They Relevant in the Internet Age? http://bit.ly/iN7Hvu @annerallen

An Agent Says: "Please Don’t Serial Query." http://bit.ly/lduU4N

What to look for in an agent: http://bit.ly/ifNvAM @JulieMusil

Promoting Your Book: The Dos and Don’ts of Being a Great Interviewee: http://bit.ly/jgRXgJ

Writing. It’s Hard. http://bit.ly/lNf9lu @BTMargins

4 Ways to Make the Most of a Critique Group: http://bit.ly/lHBRpv @janefriedman

Make Your Bookshelf Work for You: http://bit.ly/kG3bir @jhansenwrites

Why perfectionism is so totally overrated: http://bit.ly/jzeBgS

My book releases today! Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp Print: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N A review: http://bit.ly/lazEjf . Thanks y'all.

How to Plot Wrong, in 3 Easy Steps: http://bit.ly/iPOXef @victoriamixon

The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing: http://bit.ly/jsrdBb

Walking in a Character’s Shoes: http://bit.ly/mM8yUk @keligwyn

On "Be" Verbs: http://bit.ly/jCxnJR

Thanks for this review of my new release, @HartJohnson! http://bit.ly/m2Qcr2

6 Easy Networking Tips for Introverts/Writers at Conferences or Events: http://bit.ly/mABvTw

How To Make Your Posts Facebook Friendly: http://bit.ly/iRqsb1

Abstracting the Antithesis: http://bit.ly/kOk8mh

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: 2 Contests, 3 Releases, and 1 Drool-Worthy BBQ Party for Riley, Julie, and Wendy! http://bit.ly/kjt0bl

Syntax and Flow (Should we learn linguistics in school?) http://bit.ly/kqtgsN

How Independent Bookstores Can Use Google & Groupon: http://bit.ly/llGXel

Using Twitter to promote your blog: http://bit.ly/juDUMP

How long should you wait to write a sequel? http://bit.ly/lnTjsX

Just because it's true doesn't make it good: http://bit.ly/kpxNoA @authorterryo

Why You Should Keep Hard Copies of Your Writings: http://bit.ly/m7HgT5

A Novel Approach To Marketing = Authenticity: http://bit.ly/ieNTif @joanswan

Openings that annoy: http://bit.ly/ipaoXI

What the heck's historical about it, anyway? http://bit.ly/mqpK3k

7 ways to write more when you're already at maximum: http://bit.ly/l3QJIN

Should You Use RT or the Retweet Button on Twitter? http://bit.ly/luUaRh

What If You Think You Might Be a Mediocre Fiction Writer? http://bit.ly/lv1I5s

Conflict = Tension = Emotion: Part 1-- http://bit.ly/inwstX Part 2-- http://bit.ly/mwUkqe

Archetype vs. Stereotype: http://bit.ly/jQWToO

3 multitasking tips for swamped writers: http://bit.ly/jBl8DJ

Are you setting summer goals? http://bit.ly/iuFTCp

Querying a Collaboration: http://bit.ly/kB0KCt

Tips on Pitching your Manuscript: http://bit.ly/jZNrcz

25 Ways for Writers to Take Action: http://bit.ly/mzCsJW

Finding your voice: http://bit.ly/lamyHJ

5 Pairs of Compound Words, and How They’re Compounded: http://bit.ly/my6QG6

Feedback that dramatically changed writers' stories: http://bit.ly/jNQZph

Tools To Promote Your Author Blog: http://bit.ly/m8awW4 @galleycat

Publishing On The Kindle: Top Tips: http://bit.ly/ifzuwR @thecreativepenn

Should you sign an agency agreement?: http://bit.ly/lhS3Ii

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Blueberry Mango Muffins http://bit.ly/iEpECv

Tackling the Synopsis: http://bit.ly/iKvPJn

How to rise above cliche: http://bit.ly/iPHQqc @LauraPauling

The 5 Secrets of Great Storytelling: http://bit.ly/mG2nj0

Should you only send queries to your A-list of agents first? http://bit.ly/kSc3Tz

How 1 writer got her agent: http://bit.ly/j3Cch1

A deconstruction of "The Help," with a focus on plot structure: http://bit.ly/korXPe

Empathy and characterization: http://bit.ly/li4XEi

How writing is like Interior Design: http://bit.ly/iXhtaz

What Writers Mean by "Flow": http://bit.ly/lboLZ9

You Have Your Elevator Pitches, Now What? http://bit.ly/mq1QT0

Sane and solo: 20 tips for people who work at home: http://bit.ly/jVZlLC

The Little Extras That Will Make an Editor Love Your Query: http://bit.ly/iFC6Kn

The end of bookstores? (National Post): http://natpo.st/jRaD4k

The Opening Chapter: http://bit.ly/iDdOwH

What not to do as a writer: run: http://bit.ly/kyFXoq

A Short Course in Line Editing: http://bit.ly/lhbrZ5

How to Make YA Fiction More Diverse (The Atlantic) : http://bit.ly/mvNPV1

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: And then there was the time she put sugar in her salt shaker ... http://bit.ly/jTO0B8

5 Tips for Staying Encouraged During Querying

Being a writer isn’t easy.

Publishing is a business that demands a thick skin—but writers are frequently artistic, thoughtful, and sensitive.

How do we stay encouraged during the tough querying process?

Hope you’ll visit me at Karen Walker’s Following the Whispers blog today for 5 tips for keeping positive.

*********************

It’s here! Finger Lickin’ Dead released Tuesday in a bookstore near you. Hope you’ll consider it if you enjoy mysteries, or know someone who does.

Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp

Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

Giveaway: I’m giving away an autographed copy of Finger Lickin’ Dead—details here.

Red Herrings: Scapegoating Characters By Jeannie Campbell, LMFT

I'd like to welcome Jeannie Campbell, the character therapist, to Mystery Writing is Murder today. Jeannie's take on character motivation and the psychology of characters on her blog, The Character Therapist, is a great way to develop your characters and give them some depth.

And, I'm over at Mason Canyon's blog, Thoughts in Progress, today, with a post titled: A Mystery Writer's View of the World (and 6 Tips for Friends of Mystery Writers). Hope you'll join me!

Good mystery writers know all about red herrings. Red herrings are clues that are designed to mislead readers and make them suspect the wrong characters for whodunit. Of course, the placement of red herrings is deliberate because you want to keep the reader surprised as the story unfolds who the true culprit is.

In the world of counseling and psychology, families do this all the time. It’s called scapegoating. A common example is when a child gets pinned as the guilty party when in actuality, the dysfunction in the family stems from the mother or father’s relationship.

Families do this to draw attention away from the actual problem and on to someone else. “My absentee parenting and alcohol abuse is not the problem. Little Junior is. See how he constantly throw tantrums?”

Never mind the fact that he throws tantrums as a way to cope when Dad’s drunk and abusive. At least when he’s having a tantrum, Dad doesn’t hit Mom because they both turn their focus on him.

Writers end up scapegoating characters all the time, especially in mystery writing. We want our readers to focus attention elsewhere while we hide the truth from them. In counseling, this deflection is not good and actually interferes with the therapeutic process. In mystery writing, this distraction is a necessary evil pleasure that makes the mystery harder to solve.

When I’m counseling a family that is exhibiting a scapegoating tendency, it truly gives me a headache. All the anger and stress and frustration is directed at one person, an any attempt on my part to lighten the scapegoat’s load is met with denial.

I’d like to propose that mystery writers should be so good at scapegoating that any attempt on the author’s part to weave in clues pointing to some other killer or thief would be met with reader denial, as well.

If you’ve done the work to throw off the reader, make them truly buy into it. Make the case so ironclad that the reader says to himself, “Well, it has to be Colonel Mustard. I mean, he mentioned how attractive and costly that candlestick was earlier in the book. His fingerprints were even found on it next to the victim. He had to have done it.”

This is exactly what scapegoating families do. They will drag out one piece of evidence after another to prove their point that Little Junior is the problem (read: culprit). “He won’t listen. He doesn’t obey. He screams and kicks. He’s out of control.”

Once you’ve gotten the reader rattling off a list of evidence that points to Colonel Mustard and you have them summarily dismissing other clues you planted that show his innocence, you’ve done your scapegoating job well.

I hope that I’ll get a chance to connect with many of you over at my new website, The Character Therapist and my blog. Be sure to sign up for my newsletter and receive the Writer’s Guide to Character Motivation for free!

Also up for grabs to one lucky commenter of this post is the Writer’s Guide to Creating Rich Back Stories. Leave a comment and don’t forget to include your email address! Comment through Saturday, June 11th, midnight ET for your chance to win.