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R AT I N G E B 2 L 2 E C Y E A R S IInnSSiinnCC The Sisters in Crime Newsletter Volume XXI • Number 2 June 2008 BHy Jaonicwe Kapltan o Creategreatastory. Great StoryJustice Sandra Day O’Connor recently wrote an ar - I started writing my first mystery when I was 1. Find Your Passion: I often can tell if a Parade ticle for Parade about the dangers of politics affect - nine. My heroine, age ten, figured out who had article is going to be a success just by listening to ing the judiciary. It’s hard to think of anyone who stolen her mother’s pearl and diamond necklace the writer talk. If she feels genuine passion for the would know the topic better. Given her status, while sitting in a backyard treehouse. Then — high subject, there’s a good chance I’ll be moved and ex - knowledge and position, she might have simply drama — she looked down and saw the bad guy cited by the story she writes. The same is true with a stated her position and concerns. Instead, she standing beneath her, mystery. You need to care deeply about your char - wrote an article well supported with specific exam - waving a gun. It would acters and the story they’re living or it will never ples. A few weeks later, the story was quoted during have been an excellent come alive. a hearing on Capitol Hill and a Congressman urged climax, except I had no Recently, bestselling author James Patterson Justice Scalia to read it. The triumph of a well-re - idea how to get her wrote an article for Parade called “The Best Gift to ported (and well-written) story! down unharmed. I My Son.” Jim is a good enough stylist that he could It’s not any different when you’re writing a mys - tried and tried, but I’m probably write about a pencil and have it interest - tery. When you weave specific details through your sorry to say that all ing. But this story focused on two subjects that he story, you make it more believable. Doing research these many years later, cares about passionately: literacy and his ten year in this internet era is so easy it almost feels like my ten year old is still old child. It may be the only piece I’ve edited for Pa - cheating. But it makes all the difference when you up in that tree. rade where I didn’t change a word. have a Glock instead of a gun, a Picasso instead of While that first Too often, mystery writers spend so much time a painting and — dare I say — Jimmy Choos in - mystery wasn’t a com - thinking about plot twists that they forget to make stead of shoes. Janice Kaplan plete success, it did set us care. Start with a character or situation that truly 4. Edit, Edit, Edit: A typical Parade article is the stage for some moves you. Let your passion fill the page. about 1,200 words. Writers often submit a story at better writing to 2. Start with What You Know — and Then twice that length and then we edit it down. And come. Writing is still my great joy and what I sneak Stretch! My heroine Lacy lives near Los Angeles. here’s the truth: Most of the time, the writer is off to do at all hours of the night. I’ve written ten From my years as a TV producer, I know the region thrilled by the edited version. It reads faster. It’s books while also working as a TV producer and well. So when Lacy zips down Wilshire Boulevard muscular. The points come across clearly and magazine editor. Last year, Touchstone published or shops on Melrose Avenue, the sense of place quickly. Readers are immediately engaged. I remind my mystery Looks to Die For , featuring Lacy Fields, grounds the story. On the other hand, Lacy is an in - writers not to fall in love with their own words. a Los Angeles mom and decorator-to-the-stars. terior decorator. And — to say the least — I am Your goal isn’t to show off your style, your vocabu - The next Lacy Fields mystery, A Job to Kill For , not. I don’t frequent antique stores, and I have the lary or your intellect. It’s to get your reader caring comes out this summer. same dining room table I bought 25 years ago. The about the subject and turning the page. Yes, our at - Now that I’m lucky enough to have been named chairs around it need to be recovered and, when I tention spans are short, but keep me interested and the editor of Parade , sanity (and limited time) would finally have the time, I’ll dash to Calico Corners to I’ll read every word. I think it was Elmore Leonard suggest I take a break from writing. Our magazine select whatever fabric they have on hand. who once said his books succeed because he edits reaches 70 million people each week, making it the So how can Lacy spend hours visiting designer out all the words nobody wanted to read anyway. largest circulation publication in America. My math showrooms and talking lovingly about Scalaman - Do it yourself — or hope you have a good editor to isn’t good enough to tell you what tiny percentage dre silks, Biedermeier furniture, and Tuscan mar - help you. of that number will ever read one of my books. But ble? Simple enough: Lacy isn’t me. One of the great 5. Get into the Situation Before You Worry how could I give up on Lacy? She loves being an joys of fiction is creating an alter ego — the person About Getting Out: Mystery writers often de - amateur detective. And frankly, she can’t solve a you might have been in some alternate world. (Or if scribe the dozens of 3x5 notecards they have case without me. the theories of quantum physics prove correct, the pinned to their walls, filled with elaborate plot out - Fortunately, my job at Parade has also taught me a person you are in some alternate world!) I love that lines. I’ll admit right now: I do no such thing. I few things. As editor, I’m pitched story ideas all the Lacy knows how to decorate a million-dollar pent - think at length about my characters: what they look time. I’ve learned that what makes a good magazine house and that she’s endlessly confident about her like, who they are and what motivates them. And article isn’t that different from what makes a win - choices. I think it’s terrific that her bedside table is a then I start writing. I never know how the book will ning mystery. In every case, you need to snag your Shaker medicine chest she found at a flea market finish until I’m almost at the end. On my book tour reader immediately and make her care. Don’t ever for 16 bucks, then refurbished and put on a hand - for Looks to Die For , readers often said to me, “I assume (or tell me) that your story is intrinsically in - made gold-leaf stand. How clever of her! loved the ending. I never saw it coming.” I would teresting. Oh really? Interesting to whom? We all Because Lacy has a world very distinct from just smile and think, “I didn’t, either.” I try to let my have many things competing for our attention. As a mine, it’s interesting for me to spend time with her. characters take over. If I know exactly what they’ll writer, you have to grab me by the gut and make me “Write about what you know” is a good place to do, what fun is it to keep writing? In each of my understand why your story is important in my life. start. But if it’s also where you stop, you might as Lacy Fields mysteries, I had written more than half Having sat on both sides of the desk, here are well be writing a blog, not a novel. the book before the killer announced himself (or some things I’ve learned about how to create a 3. Do the Research: Former Supreme Court Continued on Page 3 Sisters in Crime Newsletter Purpose: The purpose of Sisters in Crime shall be to: Combat dis - Get aClue crimination against women in the mystery field, educate publishers How to Create a Great Story . 1 and the general public as to the inequities in the treatment of female authors, raise the level of awareness of their contributions in the President’s Message . 3 field, and promote the professional advancement of women who write mysteries. BIP Eligibility Policy . 3 Roberta Isleib , President Jim Huang , Bookstore Liaison Judy Clemens, Vice President Mary Boone , Library Liaison Board Meeting Minutes . 3 Marcia Talley , Secretary Margaret Coel , At Large Kathryn R. Wall , Treasurer Nancy Martin , At Large Bouchercon Event . 3 Donna Andrews, Chapter Liaison Mary Saums , Monitoring Liaison Bonnie J. Cardone , InSinC Editor Vicki Cameron , Books in Print Editor Crossword Puzzle . 4 Gavin Faulkner , Newsletter Graphic Designer Peggy Moody , Web Maven Book Touring . 5 Beth Wasson , Executive Secretary, P.O. Box 442124, Lawrence, KS 66044-8933; Phone: 785/842-1325; Fax 785/856-6314; e-mail: [email protected] Reinventing a Novel . 6 Presidents of Sisters in Crime 1987-88 Sara Paretsky ; 1988-89 Nancy Pickard ; 1989-90 Margaret Maron ; 1990-91 Susan Agatha Awards .