I have always written. In my early years most of my writing was in the form of letters to friends and family and it was always humor. By the time I was in college, I knew I wanted to teach English, so I took writing classes. I taught for three years and moved on to advertising, where I worked more with a calculator than a pen. I always thought I would write a book when life slowed down - but it never did. My business partner pushed me into blogging and I loved it. Once I owned the ad agency, and had a modest following for my blogging all I needed was a publisher/client to create the perfect storm. And then we got a publisher for a client and the rest was history.
In my first novel I talk about an incident where the murder victim and I were thrown out of a client's office. That really happened. The client was mad at us because our creative director had quit. She thought he was cute and she wanted us to release her from her contract so she could follow him to his new company. When we refused she became apoplectic and threw us out. Seven years later, when I was at a book store discussing details of my upcoming reading, someone came up to me and said hello. It was that client, greeting me as though we were long lost friends. I panicked and must have looked insane. I didn't want her to know I had written a book. I didn't think she would be happy to read about that incident. To date I have never seen her again.
Good writing feels genuine and natural, not forced and awkward. Although literary license is perfectly acceptable, a solid basis of good grammar is necessary for the prose to flow smoothly. I read a number of cozy mysteries, and they don't always make the effort to edit and proofread. Many cozy writers take a great deal of license with the English language, often in an attempt to be trendy. These attempts can be awkward and impede sentence flow, i.e. "That floor needs painted." Why can't they just said "that floor needs paint" or "that floor needs to be painted?" These jargony shortcuts disrupt the flow. Today everyone wants to say "y'all." Cozy authors sometimes jam it in every chance they get - because it's cool. But I find cool often comes across as lame in prose.
Bad ones break my heart just a little bit every time I read them. Good ones are absolutely thrilling. I have learned that most of the worst ones have a strong pattern. They are not just stating an opinion or a fact, they are trying to make it hurt - and that makes it hurt a bit less. One reviewer said he/she couldn't possibly read past page 60 before giving up - and they went on to critique something on page 200. How can you let that get to you? My first bad review was torture - and I commented by thanking him because "you can't get really big without some bad reviews" (I know I'm not supposed to comment at all - but I'm glad I did). A couple of years ago a woman wrote that mine was the worst book she had ever read - and I burst out laughing. An honest review is appreciated - and I can take my lumps as long as it's genuine - but I much prefer an honest good review. Conversely, a good review that doesn't track is disappointing,
Stunned, and thrilled. It is a high like no other. I am about as far as you can get from being a household name, so getting that occasional celebrity treatment will probably never get old. I'm so glad I'm not wildly famous and bored with the whole thing. Ha!
My first title in The Donna Leigh Mysteries series "Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch?" has garnered more attention than I would have thought possible. I get the greatest comments from strangers. Sometimes they walk up to me and say "NO!" I've overheard many folks at Book Fairs saying "I love that title, I have to get that book." I think that says a lot. I also believe the cover is important - it helps to build my brand and it attracts the people I want to attract.
Until recently I wasn't sure. How many sales? How many events? I knew things happened that made me feel great, a receptive audience, a bunch of sales, and then there were the things that discouraged and demotivated me, no one showing up at a signing, etc. A few months ago, I received a random comment on Messenger. The person introduced himself, said he was a tv writer in LA and that he wanted to let me know he thought my work was "great" and my writing was very funny. Once I checked him out - I was over the moon. That is literary success to me. But that doesn't mean that I still don't have a whole lot to strive for.
