How Much of You is in Your Writing?

I’m asked a lot if my sleuth, Delanie Fitzgerald, is me. I wish. She’s my alter-ego. She runs toward dead bodies, and I run away from them. She’s a redhead who drives a Mustang and gets into way more trouble than I do. (I’ve had two or three Mustangs through the years.) We like a lot of the same things, but she’s not me. However, there is a lot of me in my novels and stories.

I set all of my books/short stories in Virginia. I write where I know. I’ve lived in the Commonwealth all my life, and I want everyone to know about all the great places, history, and culture of the area. I grew up in Virginia Beach as a CK (Cop’s Kid). It was the best place to be a teenager. We live in Central Virginia now outside of Richmond. And there are so many local attractions, festivals, and restaurants that are fun to include in stories.

A lot of my interests (e.g. reading, traveling, history, and pop culture) end up in my work. I am an 80s girl, so you’ll often find a lot of references sprinkled in.

I have always loved to people watch when I’m out and about. Snippets of conversation and descriptions often end up in my work. My family and coworkers aren’t safe. Stuff they say appears all the time. You’ll never know who or what will end up in the next book. I keep a notebook with me, and I jot down quirky things all the time.

I have two crazy Jack Russell terriers (terrors). The female, Disney (the brunette), has had two dog characters based on her — Darby in “Diggin’ up Dirt” in To Fetch a Thief and Bijou in a cozy that I’m working on. Her brother Riley was the model for the JRT in Secret Lives and Private Eyes. My Uncle’s Rottie is the model for the dog in “The Fast and the Furriest” in the next Mutt Mystery.

So while my characters aren’t me, there are a lot of my interests (or things I want to try) in my writing. In the latest Delanie mystery (that I’m still working on), she gets involved with some drag queens, contraband pet dealers, and historic artifact thieves.

Pets in My Stories

Pets are family, and they play a huge part in our lives. My husband and I share our home with two crazy Jack Russell Terriers, Disney (the brunette) and her brother Riley. They hang out in the office when I write. They also listen when I plot story lines or read dialog aloud. So it's quite natural that they'd be a part of my stories.

Margaret the Bulldog is the sidekick to my sleuth's partner. She has a starring role in Secret Lives and Private Eyes and The Tulip Shirt Murders. Margaret is a brown and white log with legs. She's not much security around the office, but she's good company. She's also the slobber queen, and her two favs are snacking and napping. Margaret is Duncan Reynold's constant shadow, and she likes riding shotgun in his Tweetybird yellow Camaro. (Secret Lives and Private Eyes also features a pair of Alpacas, Joe and Myrtle.)

I'm working on a novella called, Moving on. It should be out later this year. This cozy features a little Jack Russell named Darby who uncovers the murder. She's based on my JRT Disney. Darby is a bundle of energy who likes walks, games of rope tug, snuggles, and lots of treats. I have another novel in progress, and it has a JRT named Bijou. Disney was also the model for her. Riley's feeling a little slighted, so I'll have to base the next dog on him.

My short stories also have dogs and cats. They're such an integral part of our world. If you like books with pets, check out the blog, Pens, Paws, and Claws. I blog with nine other talented, pet-loving authors. Stop by to see their latest adventures.

What type of pets do you like to read about?

My Homage To Nancy Drew, Girl Sleuth

My Homage to Nancy Drew – Girl Sleuth

I have loved mysteries since Scooby Doo and Nancy Drew. I was over the moon in 1977 when the “Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys” TV show debuted. (And it didn’t hurt that Shaun Cassidy played Joe Hardy.) My friends and I raced through all the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys collections at the Kempsville Public Library in Virginia Beach. My favorite is still The Crooked Bannister (1971) with its hot pink cover. I loved the plot twists and the double meanings. I was hooked on mysteries. From there, I moved on to Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. But Nancy Drew is still one of my favorite sleuths.

In the late 1980s, I had a double major in English and secondary education. My research project in “Adolescent Literature” was a comparative study of the original Nancy Drew mysteries from the 1930s with the updated ones in the 1980s and their influence on generations readers.

As a young reader, I adored Nancy’s freedom. She had a car. She did things that other girls didn’t, and she solved crimes that adults couldn’t. She influenced generations of women from the 1930s to the present with her spunk and enduring appeal.

The Nancy Drew mysteries were written by several ghost-writers under one pseudonym, Carolyn Keene. The series has undergone several revisions and updates over the years, but Nancy’s spirit and pluck prevail. The famous yellow spines were added to the books in 1962. That was the set that I remember reading. And her stories have been translated into over twenty different languages.

The girl detective appeared in several movies from the 1930s to the 2000s and TV shows through the years. Her face and logo have graced all kinds of merchandising from jewelry, lunch boxes, and clothing to board and video games. She has appeared in novels, coloring books, and graphic novels. Nancy has been a role-model for lots of young girls for over eighty years.

There are some similarities between the iconic Nancy Drew and my private investigator. I didn’t intentionally mean to create the parallels, but subconsciously, her character influenced my mystery writing.  In the 1930s, Nancy started out as a blonde, but artists later depicted her as a redhead in the 1940s and 1950s. Nancy also drove a sporty roadster. (It was upgraded to a Mustang in the mysteries from the 1980s.) Nancy’s girlfriends (Bess and George) were important in her life and to the stories. And she was fearless, smart, and feisty. I was so impressed that she was able to solve crimes before the professionals did.

I like to think of Delanie Fitzgerald as following in the footprints and traditions of the original girl sleuth.

25 Things about My Sleuth - Delanie Fitzgerald of Falcon Investigations

Secret Lives and Private Eyes is the first in my Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series. She is a private investigator who lives in Central Virginia. And I’m often asked about what my protagonist is really like. Here’s my top-twenty-five list about my spunky sleuth.

1. Delanie is a redhead like 1-2% of the human population (and me). She has determination, grit, and a spunky spirit.
2. She drives a Mustang, and she calls it “Black Beauty.”
3. My private investigator graduated from VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) with a degree in business.
4. She lives in a Sears catalog home from 1939. Back then, people ordered kits from the catalog, and all of the pieces arrived by rail, ready to assemble. Hers is the Yates model. Many of the boards in her bungalow still have the Sears catalog number stamped on them.
5. Delanie's bungalow has an upstairs. Her bedroom and living space are on the first floor. She may have a remodeling project in her future.
6. Her partner is computer guru (and hacker), Duncan Reynolds.
7. She shares her office space with Duncan and his English bulldog Margaret.
8. One of Delanie’s guilty pleasures is her junk food habit. She also orders a lot of take-out from the nearby restaurants.
9. When she’s not sleuthing or trailing a suspect, she likes to stay home in her comfy jammies and watch reality TV.
10. Growing up, Delanie had a major crush on ‘80s rock star, Johnny Velvet from The Vibes.
11. Her middle name is Lynn.
12. Delanie has two older brothers. Steve is a Chesterfield County police lieutenant, and Robbie is a bouncer at a club in downtown Richmond.
13. She used her share of the money from her father’s estate to open Falcon Investigations.
14. Delanie chose the name for her company in honor of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.
15. Her client, Chaz Wellington Smith, owns a strip club in the downtown area near where Edgar Allan Poe worked in Richmond.
16. Delanie had never seen an alpaca up close until she encountered Myrtle on John Bailey’s farm in Amelia County.
17. Delanie’s best friend from school is hair stylist, Paisley Ford.
18. Though she prefers the comfort of jeans and T-shirts, Delanie has a wardrobe full of outfits and shoes to create just the right look when she’s sleuthing.
19. Her favorite drink is iced coffee, and her go-to treat is always chocolate.
20. Delanie and Duncan usually investigate cheating spouses. She is thrilled when she lands an assignment from tell-all author, Tish Taylor, to track down leads on rocker Johnny Velvet, who purportedly died in a fiery car crash in the ‘80s.
21. While the story is fiction, many of the locales that Delanie visits are real. Some of these include: Amelia County, Belle Island, Byrd Park, Church Hill, The Diamond (Home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels), Kanawha Canal, Library of Virginia, Main Street Station, Shockoe Slip, Tredegar Iron Works, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Readers who have been to Central Virginia will recognize some of the street and place names.
22. Delanie got her first name from my niece's friend, and her last name is in honor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite writers.
23. Delanie's home and office are in Chesterfield County, Virginia. I liked the location because it's close to the city and rural parts of the state. It's also within driving distance to the beach, mountains, and Washington, D.C.
24. She loves a variety of music, but rock 'n' roll is her favorite. A great escape is to blast the radio with the windows down.
25. While she has enough culinary skills to survive, cooking is not her forte, and she often forgets to keep the pantry and fridge stocked.

How Much Research Goes into Fiction Writing?

Fiction is made up, right? Surprisingly, I do quite a bit of research for my mysteries (novels and short stories). I want the story to be plausible and as accurate as possible. Even though it's fiction, readers notice when the writer doesn't get it right.

My sassy Private Investigator, Delanie Fitzgerald, gets herself into all kinds of adventures. I do a lot of research for that series. In Secret Lives and Private Eyes, my PI lives in a Sears Catalog house from 1939. The houses were ordered and shipped by rail for assembly. I found great information on the Sears Catalog homes that have been preserved through the years. In the first book in the series, she attends her first ComiCon and investigates a theft at an art museum. In the second book, she learns all about LARPing (Live-action Role Playing) and roller derby as she investigates a serial murder in central Virginia. I did some interviews and online research to get my background information on her activities.

Here's are some good research links for writers.

1. I use Google Maps and Google Street View to scope out locations, look for place and street names, and to check the surroundings of real places. I never have a murder take place at a real location. I make up those place names, but my characters frequently visit real places and tourist spots. Google is great for finding place names and great places to hide bodies.
2. I use baby name lists from past years (just Google popular baby names by year) and decades to make sure that the names fit the age of the character. Certain names were popular in specific decades.
3. My dad is a retired police officer. He's my police procedural resource. He's used to my, "Hey, Dad, what does a meth lap smell like" or "Can I kill someone with a guitar string" kinds of questions. Our dinner conversations are always interesting. If you don't have professional resources. Check around your community. Many have police/fire/safety presentations where you can make contacts. Twitter is also a great place to find answers and subject matter experts.
4. I am a member of Sisters and Crime. Our chapter has a lot of programs, and the speakers are willing to answer all kinds of questions. It's a great place to get ideas and to network with real-world professionals. In the last year, we've had campus police chiefs, a K9 rescue dog trainer, and a mortician talk to our writers.
5. The Writer's Police Academy is also a wonderful opportunity to get hands on experience with police/fire/rescue techniques.
6. My talented writer friend, Fiona Quinn, has a great blog that teaches writers how to write it right. I find a lot of good information in her posts. Check out her site and tweets.

Research isn't just for non-fiction. What other sites would you add to my list?

When Are You "Done" with Your WIP?

Naively, I thought I was done with my WIP (Work in Progress) when I typed, "The End." Yep, I was done. But, is it ready? Not quite. Here's what really happened...

I went through several rounds of self-edits and revisions. Then I submitted it to my critique group, and that led to more revisions. We submit fifty pages a month, so it was about four months for revisions.

Then, I hired a line editor to review it for me and provide feedback. And yes, that caused more changes.

I finally submitted it for publication. My editor at the publishing company provided some feedback. Then their proofreader had some changes.

After the book was formatted for printing, I did several rounds of final proofreading.

But, it is a better book because of all the feedback and edits. It's hard to take critiques and criticism - especially when it's your baby. But I've learned this is part of the expected process, and it does yield a much better product (than the first draft). I rewrote the first chapter to Secret Lives and Private Eyes five times. I rewrote the ending twice.

It feels good to type "The End," but it's really just the beginning of the next stage in your publication journey. Best wishes for your writing (and revising)!

Whew! I Didn't Realize How Much Marketing Authors Do

My debut novel launched this month. Whoo hooo! I planned a launch celebration and did interviews, author spotlights, and guest blog posts for 27 sites. I did a Facebook hop, a Goodreads give-away, a radio interview, and a podcast interview. And I'm just getting started. I have book signings and presentations scheduled through October. Whew! I also work a full-time job, so I've learned to balance it all.

When I started writing, I didn't realize how much marketing was required of authors. It has been a rush of activity (especially with all the other things going on at the same time), but it has been fun.

Here's what I did and how I attempted to stay organized...

1. I have a calendar for book events and marketing deadlines. I carry it with me and update it faithfully.

2. I track my marketing efforts to give me data to see what types of activities increased social media followers, blog/website traffic, and book sales. It will help me when I plan other marketing campaigns.

3. I also make a conscious effort not to devote all of my time to marketing. I have to make sure that I carve out writing time because ultimately, my job is to write the next book.

4. Since I work during the week, I block social media time to keep up with the comments, tweets, and other interactions. I do about thirty minutes in the mornings and about ninety minutes in the evenings. I make lists in Facebook and Twitter, so it helps me keep up customized newsfeeds.

5. I did a lot of guest blog posts for this launch, and I wanted each one to be different. Before I started, I made a list of themes and unique items in my book. That gave me a good list of blog topics. I did one on the Sears and Roebuck catalog house that my sleuth lives in, a day in the life of my character, a tribute to the 80s, a list of every-day spy gadgets, and an homage to Nancy Drew.

While it has been a whirlwind of activity over the last few months, it has been tremendous fun. And I look forward to this summer and fall's events!

It's Almost Book Launch Day!