murder.booklocker.com

I had a note from an author the other day. He was just finishing the transfer of corrections from a paper draft to his computer. Ironically I’m in midst of the same thing. It seems like it’s taking forever but I have finally reached the last chapter. Not that I’ll be done even then, but at least I’ll feel like I’ve accomplished something. Geezers like him (and me, for we are nearly the same age) just can’t seem to let go of paper. I remember Peter Vandenberg at DePaul University asking how many in the class composed on paper. No one. Then he asked how many revised on paper. I’m pretty sure I was one of the few who was still doing a mix. I revise and revise, then print it out. I make corrections, carry them back to the computer and begin more revising.

This time while working with paper I was able to catch that I needed to move three different chapters. Pretty scary when you think about it. I guess I wasn’t aware of it while reading one screen because I don’t generally read whole chapters, let alone several chapters at a time. On the other hand, with a paper copy, I read chapter after chapter. Which is how I caught my mistake.

Which makes me wonder how folks read e-books. PARK RIDGE is available as an e-book from BookLocker.com. More power to those that have mastered it, but I seriously doubt that it will ever be good enough for me. I love the smell of books, the feel of the cover in my hands, the sound of the pages turning. There’s something soul-satisfying about it; the same is true for editing on paper. The scritch of the pen or the abandon with which arrows with long tails can be drawn — I’d miss those things.

So, you’re wondering what this has to do with Halloween? Not much except that I’m expecting to be interrupted any moment by the dull thud of our doorbell (it hasn’t worked since we bought the house fourteen years ago), announcing that beggars are at the door looking for candy.

I think I’ve written elsewhere that I have a friend who enjoys mysteries, in fact, almost any kind of puzzle (crossword, jigsaw), because of the challenge there is in fitting all the pieces together to make a whole. This same friend was dismayed that in PARK RIDGE the reader knows WHOdunnit. I promised that the sequel would be.

Today someone posted a review of PARK RIDGE at Amazon with the comment:

“While I usually enjoy figuring out who the murderers are, discovering the ‘why’ is an interesting twist.”

According to Wikipedia:

“Many credit [Ruth Rendell] and her good friend P.D. James for upgrading the entire genre of ‘whodunnit’, shaping it more into a whydunnit.”

I love the running together of words to make a new one, in this case, “how does he catch them?”, which makes for a pretty good description of my particular WHYdunnit:

“An important variation on the whodunit is the inverted detective story (also referred to as “howshecatchem”) where the guilty party and the crime are openly revealed to the reader/audience and the story follows the investigator’s efforts to find out the truth while the criminal attempts to prevent it.”

The defining characteristic of a WHYdunnit is the emphasis on the characters and their motivation. That’s one big reason why it was important for me to include the card players talking with each other before and after the kills. It’s also why I decided to include videotaped interviews which I used to reveal even more about the character’s motivation for (or certainly their leaning toward) murder. The murderer’s own thoughts and movements in the act of killing are highlighted by my use of special sections: first person present tense, set off from the rest of the narrative by a block-indent and change of font.

So, although I agree with the reviewer that solving puzzles is a kick, the WHYdunnit provides a good change of pace which Rendell et. al. turned into an art form.

I’ve been holding my breath for weeks now it seems, waiting for someone to give me feedback on my novel. Well, at long last someone has. Unfortunately her comments are anonymous (I was told it was a “her” and that she’s the exercise instructor at the Park Ridge Senior Center).

I appreciate the time she took to type her remarks and pass them on to the center director. But I’ve definitely got mixed feelings about what she said. I’ve posted the full text of the review on my website, but since she did say one nice thing, I thought I would include it here:

“A Senior Center Murder was a fast read, held my interest and was cleverly written.”

The rest of her comments highlight those negative thoughts that come pounding fast and furious once you put something out there. “What if they don’t get it?” is perhaps the most prominent. I would think that with anything of a psychological nature, where you try to get into someone else’s head and capture that in language, there’s a lot of room for getting it wrong. I don’t think that I did. I do think that judging by her response that I just might have gotten it right. For instance:

“The characters were fictional and yet … I did not care for the feeling it left me about them.” (ellipsis mine).

Since my Stetson-wearing detective is as charming as can be and the center director is as caring, etc. blah blah blah — it can’t be that the reader didn’t like them. No, she didn’t like the seniors. I think this is particularly interesting because she is one. Which means, if I understand her feelings correctly, that she hopes to high heaven that no one in actuality is like these people I wrote about. They are not like anything that she sees in the mirror or around her.

This, of course, was my dilemma. No one likes to think that the people they sit across from while playing cards would be capable of murder. Nonetheless people, including seniors are capable. I certainly never said that all seniors were like this, or even that I knew of any in real life at the Park Ridge center or anywhere else. But I’ve heard the grudges and resentment muttered here and there. Using those, I leaned on them a little harder and in the novel it came out as murder.

It would be interesting to know how she felt about the portrayal of the victims: Gordon Williams, an average nice guy, a bit too enthusiastic for some people’s taste; Sheila Marshall, long-time activist, darned independent, fiercely loyal to the center; Ben Wilson, computer guru, baritone in the chorus, master of ceremonies for the variety show; Leonard Zabo, retired union carpenter and leader of the woodcarving group; and Sophie Wagner, imaginative artist and teacher.

The interview in the Journal-Topics newspaper is paying off. The editor of the Gotta Write Network asked for an update on my activities. She posted the following in the Grapevine section of the site:

“Cheryl Hagedorn, author of PARK RIDGE: A Senior Center Murder, reports interest from professionals providing services to senior citizens. Three Senior Center directors have scheduled author appearances and book discussions, while three organizations (including the National Council on Aging) have agreed to give the book a look-over. ‘A good old-fashioned mystery with a true social dilemma at its heart.’ “

I’ve also signed on to participate in the third annual AuthorFest, June 23th, 2007  (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.) to be held at the Schaumburg Library, sponsored by the Gotta Write Network.

I’ve just made arrangements with the Niles Public Library for an author talk and booksigning for March 10, 2007. I’ll keep you posted as the date gets closer. Library info: 6960 W. Oakton St., Niles, IL.  847-663-1234.

As a bonus, Cindy handed me a flyer for the ninth annual “Love is Murder” writers and readers conference in February!

Before PARK RIDGE came out, it seemed that I had plenty of time to write. Now I’m so busy thinking of ways to market my novel that the final draft of Six County Senior Olympics is essentially on hold. I’m wondering if this is true of all self-publishers?

If only there were a list that could be used as a checklist — you know what I mean.

1. Send a review copy to Midwest Book Review (if you’re a midwestern author;

2. Contact the six (arbitrary number) libraries closest to you offering a presentation about something (self-publishing, writing, editing, whatever) AND donate a copy (is this necessary? desirable?);

3. Send press releases to local newspapers (except of course for those who won’t even look at a self-published book such as the Chicago Tribune or Chicago Sun-Times — they declined nicely) and to radio stations, etc. (it’s the “etc.” that’s giving me fits at the moment);

4. Notify family and friends and ask them to send your book-hype on to their friends that they think might be interested (don’t forget to remind them of the definition of spam). While you’re at it, ask them to link to your website if possible;

5. Create a website, use your blog.

I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve missed, but you get the idea. Starting with the checklist, you fill in the particulars, like reviewer information relevant to your book. Then when you have your book in hand, you simply put in today’s date on your cover letter, print it off (with the rest of your media kit), tuck it and the book into a bubble package, schlep it to the post office and wait three months.

Which brings me to another point. While I’m waiting for reviews to kick in, I’ve been setting up talks and booksignings locally. This seems to be the major drawback with POD — the reviews will lag significantly behind publication. I can’t say to the Niles Senior Center, “Hey! Look what so-and-so said about my book!” It’s really all on me to convince them that I have something worthwhile to say.

Which reminds me, I need to give them another call. After that maybe I’ll be able to get back to writing.

Okay, I confess. I was slow in getting to this one. But you have to understand that we cycle through the alphabet at the library. We start at A, work through to Z, then begin again. Alexander McCall Smith just had to wait until we got to the Ss.

There’s a bit where Mma Ramotswe is thinking about medical matters:

“Now constipation was quite a different matter. It would be dreadful for the whole world to know about troubles of that nature. She felt terribly sorry for people who suffered from constipation, and she knew that there were many who did. There were probably enough of them to form a political party — with a chance of government perhaps — but what would such a party do if it was in power? Nothing, she imagined. It would try to pass legislation, but would fail.”

Jim Cox at Midwest Book Review responded to the question Should authors get a fixed number of copies?

“Authors should get a fixed number of copies gratis. My own recommendation is five. One for the author’s own library. One for the author’s community library (my emphasis). One for the author’s family. One for the author’s own personally selected reviewer. And one for the author to take to work or play, in order to brag about it to their friends and colleagues.”

Until I read his article, I don’t know that I gave a lot of thought to donating a copy of my novel, PARK RIDGE, to the Des Plaines Library. On the other hand, I thought that the Park Ridge Library would be sure to want one. Wouldn’t they?

My experience at the Park Ridge Library was excellent. Vivian Mortensen replied to my offer of a copy of my book this way:

“Yes, we definitely would add it to the collection.  It’s very thoughtful of you. When you present it, please give us your address and we will send a formal thank you to you (you can use the donation for your taxes).  Also, we can put a plaque in the book.  If you have a special inscription, let us know.  Otherwise we will just put ‘Donated by the author, Cheryl Hagedorn’.”

I dropped the book off Wednesday morning, but unfortunately Ms. Mortensen was out of the office. She wrote me the next day:

“I heard that you dropped off the book at lunchtime.  Thank you.

“We have had people in the community ask us about this title. I’m sure your friends and acquaintances will really appreciate a copy to check out. Thanks again.”

Thanks to Ms. Mortensen and the Park Ridge Library experience, I parted with yet another copy for the Des Plaines Library. Now when my partner and I wander through the mystery section I just might see my very own book on the shelf of Hs.

In my post about the Des Plaines Senior Center, I finished with the comment that Jennifer Gervase had asked if we would be selling tickets. I thought she was being facetious.

Today I discovered that in all likelihood, we WILL be selling tickets. When Teresa (Park Ridge Senior Center director) told me that, I was floored. I asked, “Why in heaven’s name would you sell tickets?”

She replied, “So we know how many people to expect. We could just do reservations. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“Why do you need to know how many people are coming?” I asked, sounding more naive by the moment.

“So that we’re sure we’ll have room for everybody.”

I asked how many people she thought would attend, thinking to myself that if anyone other than the cast showed up I would be amazed.

“Every time we have an event we have at least 150 in attendance.”

Now that, my friends, is something that I had never considered. When we had the Mystery-Writing Contest, the promise to adapt the winners into plays was just a whim. Once the winners were selected, of course, the whim became reality. Renata Galissini and I spent weeks converting the three short stories. Neither she nor I had any experience writing plays! The original plan had been to present them this fall, but with the Variety Show and Steak Fry, things just got too hectic.

When I learned that the performance had been postponed until January, I figured, “there goes whatever chance we had to capitalize on the little momentum we had generated.” Hence my thought that no one but the cast would be there. I also couldn’t imagine most people having any interest in seeing amateurs perform amateurishly adapted plays by amateur authors. Wrong!

I have mixed feelings now, and I’m thinking that 150 people is a large number. When I thought that there might only be 30 people there, it seemed as if it wouldn’t matter whether we had someone designated to move props, etc. A small audience would be more forgiving. But 150 people sounds like we will need to put on a “real” production. Will our plays stand up to the demand?

On Saturday I had the curious experience of having two “somethings” in my book referred to, and before I got the chance to follow-up, the conversation had moved on — never to return. It seemed that this particular reader had found descriptions of two programs in my book that he thought were actually worth kicking around with the director at his senior center. I wish I knew to what he was referring. It’s just a tad maddening to have succeeded and not know at what!

I’m pretty sure that one of things is the coffeehouse concept. Teresa Grodsky (Senior Center Director at Park Ridge) and I have talked about it for years now. We just can’t seem to make it materialize but it’s a great idea.

It goes something like this. We have a painting class. We have a writing class. (We have lots of other classes that could factor in as well). The thought is that the painters could show off their work, and the writers could show off theirs at the same gathering.

I’m particularly fond of the idea ever since I discovered ekphrastic poetry. I would have liked to have seen the writers group write pieces (not necessarily poetry) using the painting groups’ work as a starting place. It’s not a question of describing the painting in prose, but literally using the painting as a jumping off point.

Is there a red barn in the painting? Then you can write about the color red, or how you feel about the color red, or about barns, or the animals that may live in the barn. The painting becomes a tickler of sorts, giving you nudges in a dozen different directions.

In my novel, PARK RIDGE, the two groups have surmounted the hurdles that we in real life haven’t been able to. So if, in fact, this is the program that the reader found worth pursuing, more power to him. Hope it does work. And if it does, I hope he lets me know how he pulled it off!

P.S.

If I figure out what the other idea was, I’ll pass that one on too.