FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR MARILYN MEREDITH

Frustration!

Nearing forty published books, frequent guest mystery author Marilyn Meredith is the epitome of perseverance. Learn why today as she tells us about her frustrating publishing journey. Learn more about Marilyn and her books at her website and blog.

FRUSTRATIONS

My whole publishing career has been fraught with frustrations.

After nearly thirty rejections, my first book was published by a major publisher way back in 1982. I thought I had it made. Surely my second book would be accepted by the same publisher. Nope, the editor who loved that first book moved on; her replacement wasn’t interested.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not exactly sure of the order of the next events unfolded, but I’ll just list them.

That second book was picked up by a publisher who turned out a beautiful book—the problem was that the publisher decided he could make more money by gambling away what should have been his authors’ royalties, and he landed in jail.

Way back in the early part of my career and before the Internet, I had a book accepted by a publisher, but he wanted it camera-ready. My computer wasn’t up to that, so a friend who owned a computer shop let me use one of his computers between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. when he opened. I slaved over that book and finally sent it in. I didn’t hear for ages, so called, and this is what his wife said, “Oh, my dear, my husband passed away, and I’ve no plans to continue his publishing business.”

I found the publisher for my Rocky Bluff P.D. series in the Writer’s Digest Market Place—signed the contract and found out that he was only going to publish e-books. This was long before anyone had a clue what an e-book was and if someone could figure out how to buy it, it had to be read on a computer. That didn’t work.

Then I found another publisher for the first two books in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. Unfortunately, he didn’t keep track of nor pay royalties. I took back my rights and went with a highly recommended publisher, who did the next two books, and then decided she didn’t want to be a publisher anymore.

Yes, I did find another publisher for that series and everything went well for many more books before disaster struck. The publisher had a series of strokes, and all operations ceased. (She was a good friend, and it’s been hard on many levels.) I am still dealing with the aftermath, though have found another publisher for the series.

With my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, the first four books were published as mass-market paperbacks—and this publisher, another good friend, passed away. The series was picked up by another great publisher, but several family tragedies made her close the publishing house. Now the series is being published by Mundania Press, and I’m happy.

Looking back, despite all that happened, I’m glad I never gave up.

A Cold Death

Deputy Tempe Crabtree is the resident deputy of the mountain community of Bear Creek and its nearby surroundings in the Southern Sierra.

A horrific snow storm traps Tempe and her husband in the lodge of a summer camp along with the caretakers and seven most unpleasant people--one becomes a murder victim.

And to complicate matters, the ghost of a former camper makes contact with Tempe.

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR JACQUELINE DIAMOND

A former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist, USA Today bestselling author Jacqueline Diamond has sold 100 mysteries and romance novels to traditional publishers. Her 101^st book, The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet, launches her Safe Harbor Medical Mystery series. Learn more about Jacqueline and her books at her website. Today Jacqueline joins us to talk about her talent for failure.

A Talent for Failure

“How many books have you written?”

That shouldn’t be hard to answer, right? I’ve published 101 novels. Problem is, I’ve written way more than that—thousands of rejected pages, including a few complete books plus unsold partials and proposals.

Chalk them up as failures. But only in a sense.

Throughout my twenties and thirties, I turned out plays, screenplays and novels while working as a journalist. My bed rose into the stratosphere as unsold manuscripts piled up underneath (this was in the days of typewritten manuscripts). It sometimes felt like I was receiving rejection slips from publishers I hadn’t even submitted to.

At last, I sold a Regency-era romantic comedy called Lady in Disguise, followed by another three. Success at last!

If that had been the end of my rejections, this would be a very short blog. But as it turned out, failure is an option, even for published authors.

My editor rejected my fifth Regency, A Lady’s Point of View. She said the plot was too complicated and didn’t even request revisions (more about that book in a minute).

I moved on to writing contemporary romances and other genres. Gradually, more books sold, including a mystery (The Eyes of a Stranger) and a paranormal thriller (Echoes). But others, equally loved by me, didn’t.

Looking back, I came up with a few lessons worth sharing.

1) Although rejection hurts, I learned from it. Sometimes, the concept just wasn’t strong enough. Or the characters weren’t deep enough. Or the storyline didn’t fit what the publishers or readers were looking for at that time.

2) Failure isn’t forever. After a rewrite, my fantasy novel Shadowlight found a home at DAW and my offbeat mystery Danger Music sold to Five Star Mysteries. A Lady’s Point of View, after revisions, sold to another Regency line. All three are now available as ebooks.

3) When life gives you lemons, open a fruit stand. My Gothic romantic suspense Touch Me in the Dark endured multiple rejections before selling to an epublisher named Triskelion. The month it was published, Triskelion went bankrupt, and I didn’t receive a penny. Eventually, I regained my rights, updated and self-published this book, which has done well in its new digital life.

4) When life doesn’t even give you lemons, plant your own lemon tree. My favorite unsold book was a science fiction thriller called Out of Her Universe, about a woman with no idea that, as a baby, she had been brought to this world from a parallel Earth. Then, without warning, her life and those of people she loves are thrust into danger. I loved writing it and published it as an original ebook that has received outstanding reviews.

5) Taken together, lessons add up to an education, which can pay off in unexpected ways. Take my latest writing venture.

For my 101^st book, I was eager to return to writing mysteries with puzzle plots and offbeat characters. As my experiences had shown, I no longer need an editor’s permission to publish my work.

Rejections also taught me that a concept has to be strong to appeal to readers. Being a fan of Grey’s Anatomy and the author of a 17-book medical romance series, I decided to feature a doctor as my amateur sleuth.

Thus the Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries were born. I’ve published the first book, The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet, and am well into writing the second, with several more plots on tap. Without my failures, I might never have developed the confidence or the market awareness to write and issue this series.

We all enjoy hearing of people who succeeded in spite of their failures. In my case, I may very well have succeeded because of them.

The Case of the Questionable Quadruplet

A Safe Harbor Medical Mystery, Book 1

Eric Darcy, a young, widowed obstetrician, is stunned when the mother of triplets claims to have borne a fourth baby, a quad, that was stolen from her years ago. When someone murders his patient, Eric believes the police are dismissing a vital clue, and teams up with his PI sister-in-law to investigate, never imagining his own life might be in danger. This medical cozy is the first in the Safe Harbor Medical Mysteries.

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FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS--GUEST AUTHOR SASSCER HILL

The Author on Her Horse

Sasscer Hill, a former Maryland racehorse breeder, trainer, and rider, uses the sport of kings as a backdrop for her multi-award nominated mysteries. However, publishing success often takes time. Today Sasscer discusses her writing frustrations and how she persevered to overcome them. Learn more about Sasscer and her books at her website.

Back in 1994, I wrote a romantic suspense novel and landed a literary agent. I thought the rest would be a slam-dunk! Fast-forward sixteen years where, still unpublished, and now two agents later, I’d completed two novels featuring female jockey Nikki Latrelle.

I wrote these books because of my passion for Thoroughbreds and my love for and knowledge of horse racing. One of my mentors suggested I make all my writing like the races I wrote–putting that excitement, that pacing, and those amazing characters that populate this world into every chapter. So I began a third Nikki Latrelle with that in mind, and prayed it would land a New York publisher.

In February of 2010, my favorite author Dick Francis died, I was diagnosed with lymphoma, and my horse farm was hit by the worst blizzard in the history of Maryland. Feeling desperate, I begged a small press owner to look at the first in the Nikki Latrelle series, Full Mortality. He read the manuscript during the blizzard and accepted it the next day.

Miraculously, Full Mortality was published in May of 2010, received rave reviews, and was nominated for both Agatha and Macavity Awards.

The award nominations helped secure a third and better agent with a successful track record. But by the time I finished the third book in the Nikki Latrelle series, it was clear that New York publishers weren’t interested in the latest in a series already published by a small press–unless it had humongous sales. A word to the wise: you are unlikely to get humongous sales with a small press.

My new agent told me to start another series. So I did, creating Fia McKee, a thirty-two-year-old agent for the real life agency, the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau. I finished the manuscript of Flamingo Road in 2014 and started the second in the Fia McKee series in October that year.

My agent began shopping for publishers in December of 2014. The next spring, we caught the attention of an editor at St. Martins, Minotaur, but she had reservations about readers’ interest in a horseracing novel. I immediately went to work, obtaining statistics on the surprisingly strong popularity of horse racing. Things like NBC’s unprecedented ten-year extension agreement to broadcast rights to the Breeders Cup weekend races as well as the eleven qualifying races that precede that two-day, all-star event. I noted how a recent ESPN poll showed horse racing is the most popular non-team sport, beating out tennis, boxing, and even NASCAR! I sent the report to my agent, who sent it to St. Martins.

Less than a week after this, the Carrie McCray committee gave my in-progress novel, the second in the Fia McKee series, their Best First-Chapter of a Novel award. Within days, this same novel received a Claymore nomination.

But the brightest star to align that week was a racehorse named American Pharoah. Deep in my heart, I’d believed if the colt could pull off the historical and momentous feat of winning the first Triple Crown in 37 years, it might nudge a publishing offer from St. Martins my way. White knuckled, I watched the final race at Belmont. When American Pharoah blasted around the track on the lead, rocketed down the stretch, and began pulling away from the Belmont field, I almost had a heart attack. When he opened up and won by daylight, I burst into tears. Turning to my husband, I said, “I think Flamingo Road will get an offer.”

I could feel the bright star that is my love for horses rising over me. Pharoah’s race drew 22 million television viewers, and the subsequent radio, television, and social media attention was phenomenal. Within a week, American Pharoah appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and a day later, I received a two-book offer from St. Martins Minotaur.

But I was surprised to learn that the first Fia McKee novel would not come out until the spring of 2017, a wait of almost two years! My last book had been published in 2013, and I surely hated waiting for so long!

I was aware that some publishers are asking their authors to write novellas and short stories to keep these writers in the public eye during the intervals between their full-length novels. The obvious answer for me was a new Nikki Latrelle. But as I was under contract to St. Martins, I knew the time slot was very compressed. A novella seemed like just the thing.

I believed the tale of Nikki’s early years would make a poignant and satisfying read. Imagine a fatherless thirteen-year-old girl whose mother dies suddenly. In a sense, this mother has abandoned her daughter, leaving her in the hands of a lewd, malevolent stepfather. Nikki has no family, and when the stepfather forces his way into her bedroom, she flees. Her best times were spent with her mom at the racetrack, so this is where she runs.

Nikki is forced to steal food, sleep in racehorses’ stalls to stay warm, and avoid the police and her stepfather who search for her. But just when things seem to be going right for her, Nikki crosses paths with a young man who makes her stepfather seem like a saint.

Racing from Evil

Nikki Latrelle’s mother dies suddenly, leaving the thirteen-year-old girl in the hands of a pedophile stepfather. After escaping his attempt to assault her, Nikki flees through the nighttime streets of Baltimore and climbs a razor-wire fence into Pimlico Racetrack, the place she and her mom spent their happiest days together. Nikki’s drawn to horses, knows how to ride, and dreams of being a jockey. But how can a runaway with no ID, no family, and no income survive?

She needs money, but must hide from both the police and her stepfather who relentlessly search for her. As these men close in, a groom named Carlos helps her escape. Carlos has problems of his own, but through him, she meets the old horse-trainer Ravinsky. Will the old horseman take her under his wing? Risk his status and reputation to help her? And what evil has befallen Carlos’s young son, Pedro? The boy is missing, and Nikki senses evil forces are at work. Because she knows too well how it feels to be alone and frightened, she puts her life on the line to find Pedro.

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HOLIDAY GIFTS FOR KIDS, COOKS, AND WRITERS

It’s that time of year again. Today is Black Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season. Have you been staring at your gift list, wracking your brains, trying to figure out what to give your nieces and nephews? Your sisters-in-law? Your son-in-law’s mother? The coworker whose name you drew in the Secret Santa gift exchange?

Think books! Here are a few suggestions that I can pretty much guarantee won’t be duplicated by someone else, and even better, you don't have to buck the Black Friday crowds. Pour yourself another cup of coffee and shop right from the comfort of your computer:

If you’ve got 6-10 year olds on your list, consider The Magic Paintbrush:

When nine-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister Zoe are snowed in for days with nothing to do, their complaints land them in every guy’s worst nightmare—the kingdom of Vermilion, a land where everything is totally pink! At first Jack is mistaken for a spy from the neighboring kingdom of Cobalt, but Zoe convinces Queen Fuchsia that they’re from New Jersey and arrived by magic.

Queen Fuchsia needs a king, but all the available princes in Vermilion are either too short, too fat, too old, or too stupid. Jack and Zoe suggest she looks for a king in Cobalt, but Vermilion and Cobalt have been at war since long before anyone can remember. Jack and Zoe decide Vermilion and Cobalt need a Kitchen Table Mediation to settle their differences. So they set out on an adventure to bring peace to the warring kingdoms—and maybe along the way they just might find a king for the queen.

Without being preachy, TheMagic Paintbrush addresses the issue of differences, in this case, a kingdom that is all pink at war with a kingdom that is all blue for longer than anyone can remember—so long that no one even knows what started the feud. It takes two children from another land to point out to the rulers of both kingdoms the benefits to getting along and how we're really all the same inside.

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Who doesn’t love desserts? In Bake, Love, Write, an Amazon bestselling cookbook, 105 bestselling and award-winning authors present dessert recipes along with advice on love and writing:

What do most authors have in common, no matter what genre they write? They love desserts. Sweets sustain them through pending deadlines and take the sting out of crushing rejection letters and nasty reviews. They also often celebrate their successes—selling a book, winning a writing award, making a bestseller list, or receiving a fabulous review—with decadent indulgences. And when authors chat with each other, they often talk about their writing and their lives. Recipes. Writing. Relationships. In this cookbook 105 authors not only share their favorite recipes for fabulous cakes, pies, cookies, candy, and more, they also share the best advice they’ve ever received on love and writing.

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Need a gift for someone always pressed for time? We’d Rather BeWriting is chockfull of quick and easy dinner recipes and tips for saving time:

Have you ever wished you could find more time to do the things you want to do, rather than just doing the things you have to do? Most authors juggle day jobs and family responsibilities along with their writing. Because they need to find time to write, they look for ways to save time in other aspects of their lives.

Cooking often takes up a huge chunk of time. In this book you'll find easy, nutritious recipes for meat, poultry, pasta, soup, stew, chili, and vegetarian meals. All of the recipes require a minimum of prep time, freeing you up to read, exercise, garden, craft, write, spend more time with family, or whatever. The authors who contributed to this book are a rather creative and resourceful bunch when it comes to carving out time from their busy lives. So in addition to timesaving recipes, within the pages of this book you'll find timesaving and organizational tips for other aspects of your life. And if you happen to be a writer, you'll also find a plethora of great ideas to help you organize your writing life.

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NOTE: A percentage of the profits from both cookbooks will be donated to NoKidHungry.org.

If you’re an author, you might be in need of a gift for your critique buddies or the gift exchange at your local writers group. Top TenReasons Your Novel is Rejected offers advice from a publishing insider:

Over the years Lois Winston has given workshops and talks to several thousand aspiring writers. As a literary agent, she’s listened to hundreds of pitches and read through tens of thousands of query letters and manuscript submissions. Being both a published author and a literary agent gives her a unique perspective on publishing. She knows what it’s like to be the writer whose only desire is to sell a novel, and she knows what it’s like to have to crush someone’s hopes with a rejection letter. It wasn’t until she started sending out those rejection letters that she began to have a better understanding of why so many writers receive them.

What she’s come to realize is that most manuscripts are rejected by agents and editors for one or more of ten basic reasons. Writers have control over some of these reasons but not all of them. This book will discuss these ten reasons and how writers can control more of their destiny by not falling prey to them.

Whether your goal is to be published by a legacy publishing house or you plan to self-publish, this book contains invaluable information about self-editing, grammar, punctuation, point of view, telling vs. showing, passive vs. active writing, dialogue, narrative, voice, style, hooks, query letters, and synopsis writing.

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