Teaching savvy

I've been back from the Southern California Writers Conference for almost a week now, and I can only report what I always report: it was fabulous, energizing, inspiring, and fun. (Helpful hint: the way to tell you've been to a good conference is that you come away from it NEEDING to write.)

There will be another conference in February in San Diego (http://writersconference.com/sd/), and I'm already thinking of workshops I can propose that will benefit as many people as possible.

Although, frankly, if I can help one person, I'm a happy gal.

In the meantime, in a twist of being in the right place at the right time, I'm teaching a workshop about self-publishing at the Placentia Library. This is where it pays to be listening with an ear bent toward how can I add value to my community?

I attended the annual Author's Luncheon in March, held by our Placentia Library Friends Foundation. Marcia Clark was the speaker, and more than a few of the questions in the audience had to do with publishing, even though Marcia is not self-published. Afterward, I went to our library's adult services director and said, "I noticed these questions and I teach a workshop on self-publishing. I'd be happy to teach it at the library for free."

Notice I offered it for free. Why? Well, for one thing, I'm a library trustee, and taking any money might be seen as a conflict of interest. For another, I believe in the power of the win-win situation. I take great pride in the quality of my books. The stories may not be your cup of tea, but you can't say that my covers look cheap or the writing is full of typos, etc. When I share my knowledge with other writers, they may not buy my books, but they may recommend them to their reader friends. Why?

Because they trust me. They know I care about my brand.

So this Monday, September 29th at 6:30 pm, I will be teaching a workshop called "Self-Publishing Savvy" to whoever wants to show up at the Placentia Library. It's a basic course, designed to help people make an informed decision about whether self-publishing is right for them.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop in and have a listen. I'd love to have a full house! Here's the library schedule with the details: http://www.placentialibrary.org/sites/default/files/calendars/adults/september2014.pdf

It's a busy life

Sorry I haven't been around. This week, I went to Monterey to a conference held by the California Special Districts Association. The CSDA is important to me because I am a trustee on the board of the Placentia Library District. Our library is a special district. Our funding comes from property taxes and goes directly to us. Yes, we know we are blessed.

It was my second year of attending and I must say, I got more out of this year's conference than last year's. Mostly, I got enough information to wonder if we've got all our bases covered in our policies and procedures, from social media to bid protests. It was a call to action.

Monterey was beautiful and cool, which felt good after the weeks of 100-degree weather we've had in southern California. On the last morning, I couldn't find any classes that applied to me as a trustee, so Dale and I snuck down to the pier, had breakfast at LouLou's Griddle in the Middle and watched a huge group of sea lions battle for a spot on their own floating dock.

We got home Thursday evening, and I immediately unpacked, did laundry and repacked for this weekend.

I'm going down to Newport Beach to the Southern California Writers Conference. It's a totally wonderful conference and I've told you and everyone within listening distance about how wonderful it is. It's where I sold my first novel. It's where I got the inspiration for Snoopy's memoir. It's a working conference, geared toward giving participants a full-range of writing, from the craft to the business.

I could go on and on, extolling its virtues, but I'm not going to. I'm just going to go to the conference, teach two workshops, have a most excellent time, then come home and tell you all about it. And then won't you feel jealous?

(Hint: They still have room for a few walk-ins.)

See you next week.

Now I'm over here.

Geepers, I'm everywhere these days.


I woke up this morning to find myself on Babs Book Bistro, being interviewed. Thanks, Babs, for such entertaining questions! Unfortunately, we were advertising the HIT OR MISSUS Goodreads Giveaway - I didn't know when my interview was going to be posted and I thought the giveaway would go through the deadline.


(Note to self: read the fine print.)


Then I did the Blogtalk Radio interview with Marla Miller. Before the interview, I was completely obsessing about my morning allergies. I describe it as "morning gunk" that makes me sound stuffy and nasally, and I cough until the sun comes out. But once the interview started, I think I only coughed once. Not too bad. Here's the interview:

Listen to internet radio with MarketingtheMuse on Blog Talk Radio

If you listen carefully, you can hear me playing with Duffy in the background. Dogs are like children - they never want your attention quite as much as when you're on the telephone.


At 2 p.m. today, I'm at the Placentia Library, launching HIT OR MISSUS (the other books will be available for sale, too). Someday I'd like to do a book launch by shooting my book out of a cannon. That'd be cool.

In the meantime, I'm packed and ready to scoot to the library. Cookies are baked. Lemonade and ice have been purchased. Booker & Hatch are rarin' to go.


Life is good.

What are you doing on June 18th?

Listening to Marla Miller's Blogtalk Radio Show, Marketing Our Muse? Because she will be interviewing me at 9:30 PST. I have no idea what I'll be saying, but I'm hoping I'll at least be awake.

If you miss the live version, you can always click on the link above and hear the broadcast later. She's always got fun and interesting things to talk about, so set your cyber-dial to her station!

In the afternoon, you could be at my book launch party. Oh, yeah, that's right - HIT OR MISSUS will be feted at the Placentia Library from 2-3 p.m. on June 18th. My plan is to offer some cookies and lemonade, talk a little bit about the book, Placentia, and the library, then autograph away. I'm putting together a basket to raffle off - the proceeds will go to the library. In it, you can win an autographed copy of HIT OR MISSUS, a gift card to a local restaurant (not sure which one yet), and a Joe Sample CD.

I've included the Joe Sample CD because it is referenced in one of the chapters of the book. The chapter is below, just to whet your appetite for more:

 * * * * * * * 

Two steps into her kitchen, Peri's shins made contact with a soft but immovable object. She stuttered forward, trying to stay on both feet and hold onto the bag of Chinese food she'd just bought at Pick Up Stix. The object yowled as her foot came down on it and she fell to her knees, sending her chicken teriyaki bowl and egg rolls dashing across the floor and into the wall, where the container tops exploded.

"Ow-ow-ow." Pain pulsed from her hands to her elbows, her knees to her hips. She eased back onto her heels and rubbed her palms, looking at the chaos that was supposed to be her lunch, now splashed on the wall and floor.

Her new guest wandered over to the mess and sniffed. He picked up a piece of chicken and proceeded to shred and eat it.

"Damn cat, I forgot about you." Peri stood and limped to the paper towels.

Mr. Mustard sat and licked his paws while she picked up the food, then bolted away when she got out the spray bottle of cleanser.

Later, as she curled on the couch and ate a peanut butter sandwich while reading her notes, she felt a warm prickle on the back of her neck, as though she was being watched. She looked up to find two large, yellow eyes staring, unblinking, at her.

"Finding everything you need here?" She reached out and rubbed his ear. "Poor kitty, losing Bob and Dottie within a month. Don't worry, I'll find a good home for you. Someone who loves kitties."

Peri finished her sandwich and thought about Bob and Dottie. It wasn't unusual for elderly couples to die within weeks, or even days, of each other. Still, she thought it was curious.

She wadded up her napkin, and heard a strange, giggling sound. The cat at her side leaped to attention, staring at the paper ball in her hand. She held it up.

"You want this?"

The cat's tail vibrated. Peri threw the napkin across the room and watched him run after it, capture it, and return to her, the napkin in his mouth. She laughed and threw it again. The tabby gave chase, then dropped the napkin at her feet and waited. They spent a few minutes in this game, until the cat suddenly walked away and curled up in the window for a nap.

Peri thought about their game, and remembered the morning's events.

The paper Mr. Mustard gave me – "DECIDE NOW" – what was that phone number? She closed her eyes and visualized the note. It had been written in bold, dark print, making it easy to recall. Five-five-five, oh-six-two-four. She reached for the phone and dialed.

A woman answered, her voice low and words enunciated. "Keller and Patterson, how may I direct your call?"

"I'm sorry, I think I misdialed - is this 555-2624?"

"No, ma'am, it's oh-six-two-four."

Peri apologized once more and hung up. Why would Dottie have a note to call her client's office?

Forcing herself back to her own case, she logged on to her laptop and did a preliminary hunt for Nikki Simms Keller. A pass through the woman's internet presence was enough to give Peri indigestion. According to Classmates, Nikki Simms enjoyed life as a high school cheerleader before attending the University of Southern California as a communications major.

She checked Facebook next. Usually, people had their privacy settings so no one could read their information, but updates to the online social network sometimes reset preferences. Nikki's privacy settings were in the middle of the road, so Peri could see some of her information, such as her friends, her photos, and her notes.

Looking at her friends' photos, Peri saw one that looked familiar, Carol Hanlon. Carol was a woman she had once cleaned house for and was now in her Facebook friend list. She guessed Carol was Nikki's friend because they both belonged to the Alta Vista Country Club. Clicking on Carol's name, Peri was able to read some of Nikki's status updates.

"Party time tonight for all my Bettys," was the latest.

What are Bettys"? Peri searched the Internet, trying to figure out the meaning. Google was of no help; all of the pages were about businesses with 'Betty' in the name.

"No, I don't mean Betty's Baked Goods," she told her computer.

She printed basic information about her client's wife, including her previous addresses and criminal history. Peri glanced at them as she put them into a large purple folder with a number on the top. Apart from a few recent traffic citations, Nikki had no criminal history, and it didn't look like she had spent any significant time outside California.

The question of Dottie Peters and Don Keller's development firm tugged at the back of Peri's brain, so she decided to take a break and do a little digging in another direction. She was still wandering aimlessly through Dottie and Bob's histories when she heard a key in the back door, followed by the sound of the hinges, a simultaneous thump and cat's scream, and then Skip's growling expletives.

"Watch out for the cat," she said.

An orange streak flashed by her as the cat ran toward the bedroom. Skip walked in a few moments later with a bottle of beer.

"Thanks for the warning." He reached down and kissed her before collapsing into the couch.

"Rough day?"

"Not bad, except for Dottie. Death just leaves me feeling kinda… spent."

Peri put her laptop aside and wrapped her arms around him. "Sorry, Babe. Even when someone's older, it's hard." She kissed his neck. "And the older I get, the younger Dottie seemed."

They sat, entwined, for awhile, listening to the music from the stereo. Peri had put on Joe Sample, and the strains of smooth jazz piano floated through the room like a grown-up lullaby.

She reached for his beer. "What's for dinner?"

He glanced at his watch. "It's pretty early. We could go for sushi."

Peri caught his wrist and checked the time. "Five on a Tuesday. Hmm, I guess Fish in a Bottle won't be that busy."

Their heads bent together towards the watch, his upper lip close enough to brush her lower one. In less than a second, they were kissing, losing themselves in the moment while they tried not to spill the beer.

"How hungry are you?" He nuzzled her neck. "Could we get something a little later?"

"Mmm, sounds tempting, but I could eat shoe leather right now. The damn cat spilled my lunch."

He kissed her again. "Here one day and he's already ruining our love life."

She stroked his cheek. "Well, feed me and we can get back to business."

* * * * * * *

No RSVP is needed, for the radio show or the launch party. Just show up and have fun!



Three little words

I've got three words for you today, plus a bunch of back-up words to explain. Ready?

Visit the library.

I know, most of the people who read this blog LOVE to read BOOKS, and they OF COURSE know that libraries contain BOOKS. Therefore, by following the "if A=B and B=C, then A=C" theorem, it should be obvious - if readers love books and books are in libraries, then readers should love libraries.

So why are there so few people at library events?

I thought about my own inability to get to them, and decided it's just plain laziness. I look at the library calendar and think something looks interesting - then either I forget about it, or the day comes and I'm too "busy" fixing dinner or grocery shopping or doing some other thing I could have juggled in order to go to the library and hear a good story. I suspect I'm not the only one who does this.

The first library event I attended was at the Placentia Public Library (my hometown, go-to library), where I listened to Gary Phillips and Denise Hamilton speak on their book of anthologies, Los Angeles Noir. As any good talk, it veered from the book to the writing process to the art of the mystery. I remember being impressed with their graciousness and enthusiasm - qualities that some people might not have with an audience of ten. And two of them were volunteers working the event.

My own experience at two libraries - Mt. Zion and Decatur, in Illinois, were much the same. I had 8-10 people at each evening, and several of those were family members. But Gary and Denise taught me well. I was as engaging and enthusiastic and approachable as I could be. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and I did sell a few books, so the evenings turned out well. Between you and me, I enjoyed the Mt. Zion Library the most, only because 1) the library director stayed for the event and 2) there were two reporters for two different newspapers, who asked a lot of fun questions.

I have two library events coming up in Orange County next month. On December 3rd, I'll be at the Buena Park Public Library, on a panel of writers (Teresa Burrell, Jeff Sherratt, and myself) to talk about mysteries. The event starts at 6:00 p.m. and if you want more information, the library has a nice blog about it.

On December 30th, I'll be at the La Habra Public Library, starting at 2:30 p.m. and talking about "Write What You Know, then Change It." I'm really excited about La Habra, because they called me. (I know, it's crazy!)

Both of these libraries are doing as much as they can to advertise to everyone in the community. I'm sure they'd love to have to bring chairs into the room to seat the overflow. Trust me, I'll be as happy seeing one person as fifty, but I'd like to see the events get good attendance, just for the libraries' sakes.

But of course it's hard for me to berate you for not attending, if I also flake out on library programs.

Here's my new plan: the next time my library offers an interesting program, I will mark it on my calendar. And then I will plan to attend, from shopping early to fixing dinner in the crockpot that morning.

I may even branch out and visit neighboring libraries - which is one of the reasons for this blog. Even if you're not a resident of Buena Park, or La Habra, if you're in the vicinity, please stop by for a visit to our author events. I'd love to see you, and the libraries could use the attendance. Do they make money at these events? No, but they make friends. Doesn't a trip to the library make you wonder why you aren't there more often?

So mark your calendars for December 3rd, and December 30th. Don't worry - I'll remind you again as the dates get closer.

What did they mean when they said...?

This weekend was not nearly as spectacular as last weekend at the Placentia Library, but I got a little work done, which is always a good thing.

1. I worked a bit on the new book. My mechanic, Allen, gave me an interesting way to tamper with the tire on Peri's car so it goes flat after about a mile, without letting Peri suspect it was sabotaged. I'm thinking of giving him a small part in the book. He's quite a character.

2. I re-did the "Where's Gayle?" page of my website, so that I have actual calendar pages with events listed and links to those events. I think it's easier to find things, although I'm now thinking I should work on it a little more so you can go directly to a month, instead of scrolling through January to get to April. Of course, I'm assuming that anyone wants to know where I am, which may be a great leap of ego on my part.

3. I added a page to my author pages to list some of the very kind reviews from folks about Freezer Burn, which brings me to my question(s) of the day…

As a book reader, how important are reviews to you? And, in keeping with that theme, how important is the source of the review?

Here's the thing: I'm getting really nice reviews from people. Some of them are from "professional" book reviewers who've posted on Amazon and other places. I have a lovely review from my friend and humor-mentor, Gordon Kirkland, and one from the delightful Mr. Dino Martin Peters on his I Love Dino Martin blog. And then I have some great reviews from regular Joes (and Janes), if you will.

Does a review only matter if it's from Publisher's Weekly or an incredibly famous person? I mean, if the debut author happens to know a reviewer on the PW staff, or the incredibly famous person, and asks for a review, they're probably going to get, at the very least, an ambiguously nice one. "A well-written thriller from a promising new novelist" doesn't sound like wild applause to me.

Then there are the reviewers (famous and not-so-much) who don't post reviews if they didn't like the book. This is fine, except there's no way to mark a book "not reviewed by X", because if there was, it would automatically be known they didn't like it. When I see 5 stars from a reviewer on all of their reviews, I start to wonder if they like everything, have no taste in reading material, or are paid for their opinion.

Or does it carry more weight if Joe Schmo says, "What a great story"? Unless I'm related to Uncle Schmo, or his best buddy, shouldn't a reader who doesn't owe me diddley-squat carry more weight than another writer? Especially another writer who may want me to return the favor.

Let's say you go into a bookstore, just looking for new reading material. You see a cover that catches your eye. You read the jacket blurb and find the plot intriguing. Maybe you read the first page, or perhaps give it the "page 99 test" - is Page 99 as fascinating as Page 1? Is there any point in there where you read any review blurbs on the book? And do the reviews actually influence you?

By contrast, maybe it's two a.m. and you can't sleep so you're shopping on Amazon for a different author in a genre you like. Without Page 99, how important are the reviews?

Tell me what draws you to a book as a reader. Then, next, I have some questions for writers.

There's a lot to celebrate

Meeting people is so much freakin' fun!

Wow, didn't know I had that in me. It's Sunday morning and I had a rather late night because my hubby was watching a movie in our bedroom that kept me awake so I didn't get to sleep until 2 or so and then I had to get up early because the cat repeatedly jumped on my torso to get up and feed her and this is all probably TMI, huh?

The main thing is that the Placentia Library event yesterday was a lot of fun. Everyone was happy and helpful, and Jeanette Contreras, the library director, was just perky as the devil, hugging me like a lost sister. I got there early and set up my booth.

Nice, huh?

Since my book is titled Freezer Burn, they set me up in the "freezer section", next to the Sno-Cone booth, and gave me a cooler filled with freezer pops to hand out. They even gave me a student volunteer, Manuel, who loves to read mysteries, and would have sat and read Freezer Burn instead of handing out the pops, until I convinced him to get his job done.

(Poor Manuel - very nice kid, but this seems to be a theme of his life. All students in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District must complete 40 hours of community service in order to graduate from high school. Manuel will be a senior this year. Saturday was his first community service project. It is mid-August and he has 35 hours to go. Good luck with that.)

It was a great day. There were craft booths, rides, free food (I'm talking pasta with marinara sauce, salad and bread!), movies, storytelling - Jeanette and her staff went all out to get the community out for a celebration.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., I talked to so many people, my head was nearly spinning with euphoria. People came up to talk about my column and buy a book. The volunteers came up to talk about my book… and bought my book. I even sold a book to the couple in charge of the pony rides. Trust me to find the horse people in the crowd.

I only have a couple of slightly-less-happy-than-I-wanted complaints. First, let's just say that sno-cones, freezer pops and books don't always mix. Small children wanted to come and pet my gnomes, sno-cones in hand, and then come and run their sticky little fingers across my books. One small child leaned into my gnomes and spilled her sno-cone on the green felt.

My exact words: "Oh. That's… no bueno."

S'Okay. Felt cleans. I think.

Also, the freezer pops were encased in plastic and had to be either snapped open or clipped with scissors. As a kindness, I brought out a pair of scissors for Manuel to use. Unfortunately, my young friend, being a typical boy, was not always careful about his aim, and got juice all over one of my boxes (empty, thank God) and the flat container where Dino rests when he is not being employed. I hope I can get the goo off, 'cause I don't know where to find another flat box like that.

This brings me to Mr. Martin, whom I adore and wanted to include in this event. He was, as always, a delightful and gracious guest, until the winds kicked up. No amount of heavy boxes and wedging could keep him upright when the breeze blew through the courtyard. He spent most of the last hour close to my side so I could catch him when he fell. After all, what are friends for?

One of the people I met came as a complete surprise. As he bought one of my books, he told me that he supports writers at signings whenever possible because, as a horror writer, he hates doing signings and would pretty much rather be eaten by one of his own monsters (okay, I'm exaggerating here, but he really hates signings). I asked what he wrote, and he told me two things: one of his short stories was made into an episode of Masters of Horror, about George Washington being a cannibal, AND he was made uber-famous when USA Today reported that Stephen King was reading his book when he got struck by that minivan. What he didn't tell me was his name - he asked that I autograph his book to his dad, who loves to read mysteries.

Of course, I went home and scoured the Internet for "George Washington cannibal". Turns out I had been talking to Bentley Little, horror-author-extraordinaire, discovered by Dean Koontz, championed by Stephen King, author of over 20 novels… yeah, THAT horror writer. Holy guacamole! Even better, he was such a lovely person, he said he'd tell his dad to read my book in public and every so often exclaim, "Wow, what a great story." How sweet is that?

I immediately made plans to get my book into a famous person's hands, then run over them with my Chevy Venture. (Just joking, people! Cancel that call to the FBI!)

When the day was done, I had sold 20 books, raffled away a basket for the library, and felt a great contentment, for being in the midst of such a pleasant community, speaking with such good people.

Ah, I love my life!

A tease for tomorrow

First of all, let me just remind everyone about my spur o' the moment contest, to win a free copy of Freezer Burn (I'll even autograph it, and I have very pretty handwriting). Depending upon how many entries I get, I'll leave the contest open for at least a week, and as much as a month, if no one's biting right away. Write your entries in the comments for that blog post, and do obey the rules - 100 words or less.

This post will be short tonight, I hope, but I just wanted to mention my busy, busy author-centric weekend. I attended the Placentia Library's Author's Luncheon at the Alta Vista Country Club. It was lovely, and I got a bit of a feel of the place by sitting in their large meeting room, watching through the floor-to-ceiling windows as the golfers putted and teed off and did whatever the hell golfers do. I can tell I've got some more investigating to do. The authors were nice, although I enjoyed the mystery writer, Jeri Westerson, the most of the three.

That was Saturday, and on Sunday, I attended my first Sisters in Crime (SinC) meeting down in Irvine. It was a combined meeting with the Mystery Writers of America, and the special guests were Steve Hodel and D.P. Lyle. They did a wonderful presentation about the Black Dahlia murder case. Color me impressed.

Tomorrow I'll have time to really give you the full rundown, including what Jeri told us she did in her quest to describe what it's like to run a sword through a body, and why Steve Hodel is uniquely qualified to talk about the Black Dahlia case.

Until then, my dears, sweet dreams.