The Canadian Angle – an interview with Eden Baylee, part two.

by Bill Kirton

Continuing my chat with writer-friend Eden Baylee, whose debut mystery novel Stranger at Sunset was published in June.

Right, Eden, last time we talked about your first venture into the mystery genre,  Stranger at Sunset. What’s the next step?
I hope it sells, of course, both to people who enjoyed my previous books and to those who’ve never read my writing. I know I’m competing for a different readership now, but that’s not something I can control. In a way, it feels like starting over, but the advantage is I’ve amassed a wonderful network of writers and readers and supporters, so it’s a matter of continuing to write.

Stranger at Sunset is planned as the first of a trilogy. I’m laying the foundation of the next books, and I’m currently writing book two called A Fragile Truce. There’s a taster at the end of my book.

I know that, in your erotica, you frequently use first person narrative and the strength of the narrator is always evident. Here, though, it’s all third person. How much did you feel any identification with any of the characters?
I lived the life of my main character, Kate Hampton, while I wrote the book. I had to crawl under her skin to be able to write her and speak as her. Actors call it method acting, a technique to create in themselves the thoughts and feelings of their characters in order to develop lifelike performances. As a writer, I tried to do the same thing by connecting to Kate. It forced me to draw on personal emotions and memories, which allowed me to write realistic scenes and have her behave in a way that was plausible.

And, apart from the pleasure of reading it, what do you hope readers will take away from Stranger at Sunset?
First and foremost, it’s fiction and should be entertaining. It’s the same feeling as spending two hours at the movies or going to a concert—you want to feel like your time wasn’t wasted, that you enjoyed the experience because it connected you to something interesting, new, or enlightening.

Beyond this, the theme of the book speaks to the intolerance of its many characters. I call the book a psychological mystery because it addresses our perception of others as people. Human beings are extremely complex, and what’s seen on the outside isn’t always indicative of our true selves. Most of us live our lives filtered by what society and others think of us. Laws and morals dictate our behavior. In Stranger at Sunset, I explore what happens when we’re not bound by these restrictions.

From all you’re saying, and from my readings of all the other stories of yours which I’ve read, I’d say your interest is mainly in your characters. Is that right?
Definitely. My emphasis is on characterization. For me, it trumps plot, setting, and imagery. I feel if my characters are fully and authentically developed, then the rest will fall into place. There’s no point in having a great story if the characters are stereotypes, wooden, or elicit no feelings from the reader.

In reading literary erotica, (and I mean the classics of the genre, not some of the modern-day tripe), I’ve learned to write to appeal to a reader’s senses. Make them FEEL for your characters. I don’t necessarily want all my characters to be likeable because they’re not, but whether they trigger feelings of love, lust, like, or hate, it’s important that they evoke something.

My biggest failure as a writer would be to have characters that readers could care less about. Once they stop caring, they will stop reading.

As an aside, that answer gives me the opportunity to comment on a Canadian/American turn of phrase which has always puzzled me. We say ‘couldn’t care less about’ which seems to me the more logical form of the expression. And yet, bizarrely, they both mean the same thing. Anyway, as a final, trivial question, tell us something personal about your writing, some quirk, some ritual. Do you have any?
Hmm…Bill. Regarding that expression, I’m probably just saying it wrong! It’s amazing how many words and phrases I’ve been saying incorrectly for years, and I would’ve never known until someone told me. That’s the power of seeing words written down.

No, I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the USA and my friends there all use your version of it. It’s another example of us being ‘separate nations divided by a single language’.

As for my quirk … In the cold weather, I wear a wool hat to write. That’s about eleven months out of the year in Canada (just kidding)! Actually, it’s a ‘comfort’ thing for me like a favorite blanket. I hate the cold, and I can’t think, let alone write, when it’s cold.

Other than that, I think it’s important to write daily. Exercising the brain by writing is what feeds my imagination. If I don’t do this, I’m afraid the muscle will wither and I’ll run out of ideas. The hat helps to keep all the good ideas warm too.

Interesting. Well, since Aberdeen’s hardly tropical, maybe I’ll give it a try. Eden, it’s been a great pleasure. Thanks for the insights and good luck with the book.
Thanks Bill for having me here. I really appreciate it.

Stranger at Sunset

Vacation can be a killer.

Dr. Kate Hampton, a respected psychiatrist, gathers with a group of strangers at her favorite travel spot, Sunset Villa in Jamaica. Included in the mix are friends of the owners, a businessman with dubious credentials, and a couple who won the trip from a TV game show. 

It is January 2013, following the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The luxury resort is struggling, not from the storm, but due to a scathing review from caustic travel writer, Matthew Kane. The owners have invited him back with hopes he will pen a more favorable review to restore their reputation. 

Even though she is haunted by her own demons, Kate feels compelled to help. She sets out to discover the motivation behind Kane’s vitriol. Used to getting what he wants, has the reviewer met his match in Kate? Or has she met hers? 

Stranger at Sunset is a slow-burning mystery/thriller as seen through the eyes of different narrators, each with their own murky sense of justice. As Kate's own psychological past begins to unravel, a mysterious stranger at Sunset may be the only one who can save her.

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1wmygEY

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1pDH9ry

Amazon worldwide: http://authl.it/B00L7BVDFM

Music playlist for Stranger at Sunset – sold via iTunes http://bit.ly/1kdQdDX

Links to Eden’s pages:

Website and blog: http://edenbaylee.com/

Amazon Author page US http://www.amazon.com/Eden-Baylee/e/B004Z8Q6UQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Amazon Author page UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eden-Baylee/e/B004Z8Q6UQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel

Twitter @edenbaylee

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/edenbaylee

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4563150.Eden_Baylee

Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/edenbaylee/

It's Never Too Late for a Dream

by Jackie King

Is there anyone out there who longs to write but thinks it’s too late in life for them to start? Well, let me tell you that’s just not true. The secret to making dreams come true is immediate action! So if you long to write—start today. All you need is some kind of paper and a pen or pencil.

We can make our own dreams come true with courage and regular work. 

 

Pursuing dreams in Austin, Texas with Amanda Horn

If you only want to daydream about writing a novel or nonfiction book or your memoirs, there’s nothing wrong with just being a fellow traveler. Feel free to enjoy your fantasy with a clear conscience. I have my own just-for-fun pipe dreams—one of my books being optioned for a movie, winning the lottery, or becoming slim again. All very fun to think about, but I can survive if these things don’t happen. But if you’re serious about writing, that’s a doable goal. Put words on paper today with the goal of creating a story, a novel, an article or a poem, and presto chango, you’re a writer!

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well it is. But remember: creative writing is hard and you will have to work at your dream regularly. But achieving your dream is also rewarding. If you’ve always longed to write, the only thing that will satisfy that inner-craving is to put words on paper.

How to start?

Your first draft needs to be written without self-editing. We all have an evil voice inside our heads that says, ‘What makes you think that you can write?’ Even writers who are famous and successful battle this voice. The trick is push past those doubts and focus on the story you want to tell.

Something to remember:

Give yourself permission to write badly. Anne Lamott says in her wonderful book BIRD BY BIRD, that it’s required to write a sh*tty first draft. I love this woman’s advice on writing. This one tip alone can give a person the courage to put their fingers on the keyboard.

Oh, another thing: after that first burst of creative energy, say about chapter five, you’ll suddenly lose momentum. (This could happen earlier.) Another idea will come to mind and you’ll be tempted to start a new book with this ‘better’ idea. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked because writing the first book has become hard. I’ve already told you that writing is work. The very same thing will happen again with the new premise. Then again. And again. Make a few notes about your new idea and put it in a file called ‘story ideas,’ and soldier on with your first book. If you don’t, you’ll never finish a book.

This happened to me with THE INCONVENIENT CORPSE, my first mystery in the Grace Cassidy series. The initial chapter almost wrote itself. I was staying in a Bed and Breakfast, breathing in the atmosphere; sure I’d finish this book in a month. Sadly that didn’t happen. The process was lengthy but I learned a lot writing that first mystery.

 

1st book in the Grace Cassidy Series

Problems started when I got home, and that voice in my head started spouting off: ‘Okay, smarty-pants, the dead guy’s clothes weren’t anywhere to be found. How are you going to explain that? And, ‘your murderer is way too obvious; no editor will want to publish this story’. Plus, ‘You’ve set this poor woman up to be totally destitute. No one is completely without resources these days, how can that be? And so on.

I was full of doubts, but I was also stubborn. I dug in my heels, brainstormed alone and with friends, and solved each of these problems. Then my protagonist (heroine to you folks who just started writing five minutes ago) solved the murder in much the same way that her creator would do, by muddling through and refusing to give up.

This woman-of-a-certain age, with no job skills and no resources, finds herself a job, makes some quirky new friends and solves the murder. There’s also a touch of romance involved, just for fun.

Foolishly I thought the second in the series, THE CORPSE WHO WALKED IN THE DOOR, would be easier to write. After all, I had all of the characters, didn’t I? What a surprise to learn that writing a series brought problems of its own.

 

http://tinyurl.com/o5rljqo

I’m now working on book three, titled THE CORPSE AND THE GEEZER BRIGADE, and I’m still struggling. As I said earlier, writing is hard. Sometimes I feel as if I’m walking uphill through almost-set concrete. Nonetheless, it’s what I love to do. And I know how lucky I am to be living my dream.

  

My Grandpuppy Sadie and Me

You should follow YOUR dream.

Cheers,

Jackie

By Carola

I've just been in England doing research for my next two books. Here are a few pics from St. Michael's Mount, in Cornwall:

 The causeway--under water at high tide

Virtually impregnable, the island has been part of England's defenses for centuries. As well as these ancient cannon, it has 3 WWII "pillboxes".

 Nearly there...

To be continued... I'm jet-lagged and Blogger is being recalcitrant!

The Canadian Angle – an interview with Eden Baylee, part one

After two fascinating exchanges with a writer friend in Australia, then another two with Scottish writer/friend Sara Bain, serendipity brings two more, this time with yet another friend who’s just published her first mystery and she’s in Canada. Eden Baylee and I ‘met’ through contributing stories to R. B. Wood’s The Wordcount Podcast some time ago. We’ve become regulars on the show and plan to contribute one or more joint stories at some stage. Eden’s been writing full-time since January 2010, producing literary erotica in the form of novellas and anthologies. Her new mystery/thriller, Stranger at Sunset, is her first full-length novel.

So, Eden, welcome. I knew we’d be doing an interview at some stage and the publication of Stranger at Sunset is a good excuse for it.
Thanks for having me on your blog, Bill. I’ve always wanted to come to Scotland, and this was the next best thing to boarding a plane and flying here. I’d always hoped that one day we might actually share a Scotch together.

Excellent idea. We’ll decide whose round it is later because it’ll include a transatlantic air fare.  But let’s start with the fact that you’re a Canadian. Do you find yourself being absorbed into the writing world as ‘American’ or is there a distinct Canadian identity in crime/mystery or indeed in writing in general?

In Canada, we take literature seriously, offering prestigious awards for novels that represent our country’s presence in world literature. Despite this, we’ve managed to accumulate a list of writers who are well known in genre fiction, specifically mysteries and thrillers. Linwood Barclay and Joy Fielding are two authors I’ve read, and they’re international bestsellers.

Canadian mystery/thrillers have risen from a marketplace that used to be dominated by British, American, and more recently, Scandinavian novelists. The success of Stieg Larsson’s books has created an appetite for unusual crimes, remote settings, and diverse protagonists. I believe Canadian writers have adapted, but whether the location of the book is set in Canada or not is irrelevant. I’m an international storyteller because I have a worldview. I’ve written stories set in Thailand, Ireland, and my current book is set in Jamaica.

In Canada, access to the news has always been international. I’m a news junkie, and I love to travel. Both these factors inform my writing, so unless my story is set in Canada, you wouldn’t necessarily know I’m Canadian.

Okay, who are you then? Give us a wee bit more background. I know you were a banker for twenty years before you became a writer full-time. That’s quite a transition. Was it difficult?
It hasn’t been easy, but it’s been tremendously rewarding. I actually left my job after ten years to pursue a writing career the first time. I moved to New York City and immersed myself in the writing scene there. Unfortunately, not long after, I was diagnosed with cancer—talk about bad timing! It forced me to move back to Canada for treatment. The process of getting my health back took about two years, and by then I was no longer financially solvent.

I went back to work with the intention of staying just long enough to pay off debts – two years max, I thought. Who knew it would take another ten years before I got up the nerve to leave? My finances and personal situation were much better by then, but it was still difficult. I had a lot of fears associated with leaving and potentially becoming sick again. They weren’t realistic fears, but they paralyzed me nonetheless. Ultimately, what clinched my decision to leave was an even greater fear—that of regret. I’d rather fail than regret that I never gave my writing a real chance.

Yes, spending one’s time thinking ‘If only…’ would be very frustrating. So bravo for making the change. Would you say you have a particular writing style?
I’m not someone who deconstructs my writing, but readers seem to know my voice. My main purpose is to create a story that’s engaging and will keep the reader interested until the final page. As I’m a lover of conversation, many of my stories contain scenes with dialogue.

I stay away from too much description of setting and characters’ physical appearances because these passages bore me in books I read. I prefer to use my imagination to visualize a place and what a person looks like. This keeps me engaged much more than when I’m spoon-fed all the details.

But how about the change from writing erotica to a mystery/thriller novel – was that difficult?
Yes, but not because of the genre, more so because I’d never written over 30K words before. When I set out to write full-time, I started with erotica as I knew it well. I’ve been reading the genre since I was eleven, but I also knew I wouldn’t write it forever. I’ve always considered erotica best served as a short story or novella and never intended to write a novel in the genre. 

I enjoy reading mysteries and thrillers. There are lots of nuances in them and different ways to tell a story. I’m not a ‘blood and guts’ storyteller, so I don’t have the stomach to write police procedurals or crime novels. My interest lies in the motivations of people. That’s why I classify my book as a psychological mystery/thriller, because much of it is based on intellectual mind games.

I always struggle to find my titles but you’ve chosen a good one – Stranger at Sunset. Where did it come from?
It wasn’t my first title. I had several others including: Strangers in Paradise, Strange Encounters, Strange Liaisons, and so on. I settled on Stranger at Sunset because there are several meanings the title can take. “Stranger” can be both a noun and an adjective, and it alludes to how we view others as well as ourselves. “Sunset” refers to the time when a pivotal scene takes place in the book as well as the name of the resort.

I tend to like double entendres and wordplay in my writing.

Well, I read and enjoyed it and you definitely seem at home with the genre.

Time for a pause. Next time we’ll continue with some more general chat about writing and Eden’s approaches to it, including the value of a woollen hat.

Introvert Writers

by June Shaw

Many, in face probably most of us who write, are basically introverts. If we were life-of-the-party kind of people, we would have a most difficult time sitting alone for all of the hours and days and months or years most of us spend writing a book. And then another. And then another book and possibly more.

It's easy for an introvert to sit quietly for all the time it takes to create characters, settings, and plots. What do these characters want? Why can't they have that thing? What's another reason they can't reach their goals? Where are they? Is where your story takes place extremely important to your plot? Dig deep into the place's secrets and lies and all that is beautiful there and all that is not.

What's going to happen to the people you place in this setting, and how will they change? What ups and downs (more downs than ups please) will you create for these story people? How will this continue for a whole book? And maybe the next one in a series. And another....

If you needed to be in the midst of a crowd, you would have a more difficult time creating ideas and submerging yourself in the worlds you create on the page.

Now aren't you glad you're kind of shy?

Critique Groups—a Challenge and a Blessing

by Jackie King

Finding the right critique group can be a bit like dating. I can be time-consuming, frightening and emotionally painful. You may have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince. But if you’re persistent, the results can be a wonderful enrichment to your life. Only you can decide if it’s worth the investment of your time.

A good critique group is a valuable tool to any writer, but if you’re a beginning writer finding the right one can be a challenge. This process may take courage and determination. Many of the best groups are by invitation only. Some of these groups include multi-published authors who may seem intimidating to a tyro. But as writer Jodi Thomas often says with a laugh, “I was a 15-year-overnight success.” That’s true of more published authors than not.

To get started, begin hanging out where the writers of your genre are: their author pages on Facebook, writer groups, and writer conferences. Most writers are wonderfully friendly and helpful people. The money I spent attending writer’s conferences has put me in contact with many authors.

Remember, you can always start a group of your own. Take a writing class at your local community college and invite the students you meet. Look for an online group. I just Googled “Critique groups for Tulsa writers,” and found several opportunities. Two were local writer’s groups and one was an online writing group. This is the way you start.

Years earlier I was invited to join a group that has changed a great deal over the years, but because the participants were kind hearted, I’ve stayed. Now, there are only two founding members left in this group, but it has morphed into the gem of all critique groups. I trust these writers to tell me the truth and to tell it gently enough that I won’t want to go home and burn my computer.

If you’re starting you own group, set up guidelines to begin with and stick with them. One of the rules in our group is that we must always be kind as well as honest. Some groups have a rule that you must either bring something to read for critique or a writing information handout for each member.

These things are learned by trial and error. Don’t be discouraged if meetings for your first group begin to fizzle after a few months. Keep encouraging each other, and above all else, keep writing.

Guest Blog: D.E. Ireland

Posted by Carola

D.E. Ireland is a team of award-winning authors, Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta. Long time friends, they decided to collaborate on this unique series based on George Bernard Shaw's wonderfully witty play, Pygmalion, and flesh out their own version of events post-Pygmalion.

http://deireland.com

 

MURDEROUS HITS AND MISSES

As we write this, the film Gone Girl is still weeks away from its October release. There are legions of fans around the world hoping the book will be as suspenseful and riveting as Gillian Flynn’s corker of a novel. We’re right to be nervous about the outcome. Many excellent mystery and suspense novels have been turned into cinematic misfires. Others, however, hit their mark with deadly aim. Sharon and Meg briefly discuss their favorite film adaptation of a mystery, and ones they are still trying to forget.

Sharon: One especially egregious example was the film adaptation of Carolyn Hart’s Dead Man’s Island. This book launched the wonderful series featuring Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, aka Henrie O, a retired newspaper reporter. Our intelligent heroine is caught up in a first-rate mystery while trapped on an island during a hurricane. With a dead body, a colorful cast of suspects, and a nice twist at the end, how could the movie go wrong? Well, it did. I knew we were in trouble when girlish Barbara Eden was cast as the no-nonsense, sixty-something Henrie O. Everything went downhill from there.

By the way, I have nothing against Barbara Eden; she made a lovely genie. But the blond glamorous Eden seemed like an Orange County housewife, and not a retired famous journalist with graying hair and a penchant for jogging suits. Eden also seemed unable to imitate a Texas accent. Actually very little about the movie was convincing or suspenseful. The film also starred William Shatner, Traci Lords, and Morgan Fairchild – which only added to the misery of watching it.

My favorite Agatha Christie novel is Death on the Nile. It is a quintessential Christie story starring Hercule Poirot, and peopled with a beautiful heiress, an archaeologist, a socialite, a spurned lover, a French maid, an untrustworthy lawyer, a Communist, and a romance novelist by the delicious name of Salome Otterbourne. Cast as Poirot, Peter Ustinov was far taller than the little Belgian. But, being the consummate actor he is, Ustinov was entirely convincing. Small changes were made to the script that differed from the novel; these largely involved deleting several secondary characters. However the alterations did not change the story arc, nor make the movie any less entertaining than the book. Unlike Dead Man’s Island, the cast was spot on, the script faithful to Christie, and all of it filmed on location in Egypt. With a sweeping musical score as well. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with a cast that includes Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, David Niven, and Maggie Smith. I have a feeling that Miss Christie would have been as pleased by the 1978 film as I was.

Meg: For a movie I can’t get out of my head, I’ll go for the gore of Sleepy Hollow. I actually enjoyed the movie, except for closing my eyes whenever another head rolled. Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – published in 1820 – isn’t a true mystery, being based on a German folktale about a ‘headless horseman’ who rides through the wild woodlands. The lovely Katrina Van Tassel’s hand, along with a sizable dowry, is at stake. Two rivals emerge – schoolmaster Ichabod Crane (an outsider to the community) and the local prankster Brom Bones. Tensions escalate when Brom relates local legends at a party held at the Van Tassel farm. When Katrina turns down Crane’s marriage proposal, he heads home to Sleepy Hollow but encounters a mysterious figure who carries his head on the saddle. After a horseback chase, Ichabod escapes across a bridge, where the horseman throws his head in Crane’s face.

The movie with Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and the villainous Christopher Walken certainly was a mix of both horror and mystery. Sleepy Hollow morphs the hapless, mooning schoolmaster Ichabod Crane into a 1799 New York City police constable who is sent to the remote hamlet to investigate several gruesome killings. Crane has an interest in new-fangled gadgets which help him perform autopsies and lift fingerprints (just go with it, although historically it was another hundred years before Bertillon invented the technique).

Locals blame the beheadings on a headless Hessian soldier, who takes center stage. Brom Bones is a local hero whose head rolls. The movie’s pretty cool, given the Tree of the Dead clotted with the victims’ skulls, the twisty plot and many exciting chases through the woods and into the local windmill. Overall, much better than the short story if you love a great Hallowe’en-themed movie.

As for a disastrous adaptation, I’ll choose the 1965 film of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders starring Tony Randall. While I loved Randall’s work in other films, he was totally wrong as Hercule Poirot. He walks like an American, talks like a Frenchman (abhorrent to the Belgian character – French music even plays while Randall and Robert Morley walk in London), and his movements are stiff and clumsy. Horrors!

The dialogue in the screenplay – meant to be comical – comes off as cringe-worthy. Morley makes a goofy Hastings. Randall only stares at Margaret Rutherford who makes a cameo appearance (and an astute observation), but even that seems wrong. One would expect the two to compare notes.

The 1992 television adaptation of the novel, with the perfect David Suchet as Poirot and Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings, as well as Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp, is far better. The book deserved better treatment. The ABC Murders is one of Christie’s most intriguing plots, with a serial killer who leaves an ABC railway guide at each crime scene. He begins with Andover tobacco shop owner Alice Ascher as the first victim, then B exhill waitress Betty Barnard, and Sir Carmichael Clarke of Churston. When the pattern is broken, Poirot falls back on a simpler solution to the murders. Christie at her best, but the 1965 film butchered it – even Dame Agatha was displeased.

Good or bad, murderous movies do give viewers a 3-D picture – but often the book is much better. Being mystery novelists ourselves, we are not at all surprised.

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