Would You Please Get Snarky, Please?

Authors at a signing this past weekend.  L to R: Kelly Simmons, Matty Dalrymple, Virginia Beards, Jon McGoran, Merry Jones, and Bruce Mowday

This past weekend I attended a multi-author book signing at the Levante Brewery in West Chester, PA.  One of the authors, poet Virginia Beards, had to leave early.  I asked the remaining five authors what were the best and worst things about doing a book event in a brewery.  (Although sales were light, the authors remained upbeat and refused to get snarky.)

What’s the best thing about doing a signing in a brewery?

Jon McGoran:  Beer!!

Merry Jones:  Dogs and babies among the crowd.  They’re the best!  You don’t get those in a bookstore signing.

Kelly Simmons:  Yes.  I love dogs and babies!  Notice how they always find the sunbeams to lie in.  It’s just a fun atmosphere.

Bruce Mowday:  You get to meet your readers.  It’s a chance to interact with them.  I’ve had some great discussions on Pickett’s Charge (the subject of one of his books).  Matty (Dalrymple) did a great job organizing this event.

Matty Dalrymple: It’s an exercise in community building. And it’s good that we’ve started to see some of the same faces among the attendees.

And what was the worst thing about this particular brewery signing?

Jon McGoran:  Well, you always want to sell more books.

Merry Jones:  A lot of people just walk by.  Most of them are here to drink, not buy books.

Kelly Simmons:  Yes, they didn’t come to buy books.  And I don’t want to intrude on families.

Bruce Mowday:  I wish we had more people here.  But it’s such a nice day – people don’t want to be inside.

Matty Dalrymple:  Wine drinkers are more interested in books than beer drinkers are.  I suspect you can sell more books at a winery than at a brewery.  Overall, I think we could describe this as more of a social than a sales event.

My Takeaway:  It was a fun event on a nice day.  But dogs and babies don’t buy worth a damn.  (Hey, if they won’t get snarky, I will!)

Bribery with Chocolate: Interview with Author Kelly Simmons

                            

Today we interview one of my favorite people, writer Kelly Simmons.  Kelly is a member of a group of authors known as the Liar's Club of Philadelphia. I first met her at the Writers' Coffeehouse, a monthly gathering of writers sponsored by the Liar's Club. Her third novel has just been released.

Congratulations on your new book, Kelly. Your first two novels fell into the category of "women's fiction," but One More Day is a thriller. Why the change?

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Well, the publisher and agent consider One More Day to be women's fiction with thriller and paranormal elements.  So theoretically, I haven't switched categories. But it WAS a shift for me -- because there is a crime at the center of the book, and because there may or may not be ghosts appearing to help the main character solve the crime --  these were genre elements I had never dealt with before. ​

 My agent felt very strongly that even though she liked the two other manuscripts I'd given her -- that the concept and early pages of One More Day were very exciting -- and would make a bigger splash than the other two books.   ​

​ ​
You've also switched publishers. Standing Still and The Bird Ho​use were published by Simon and Schuster, but your new book is from Sourcebooks. Would you like to tell us why you've switched publishers?

​My original publisher would have wanted to re-launch me more drastically -- with a book that went in a completely different direction -- or possibly under another name.  It was a game I wasn't sure I was ready to play, but I did submit a historical fiction manuscript to them before I went out with One More Day -- and they didn't love it.   So to punish them  (evil sarcastic laugh) we didn't include them on the round of submissions with One More Day -- because who needs more failure in any given quarter?

And Sourcebooks specializes in women's fiction, and functions completely differently than other publishers -- given the choice between them and a larger house it was an easy decision to make.

Like most authors, you support yourself and your family with a day job. You've worked as a reporter and in advertising, correct? Some authors prefer to have a day job that has nothing to do with writing, so they don't get tired of spending hours at the computer. Has it been a problem for you, making yourself get back behind the computer after you've already spent a full day doing that?

​It's true that I spend many days just sitting at the laptop.  Although advertising also requires filming, editing, recording, and going to meetings, so that breaks things up a bit.  Some times I do feel like my brain hurts, and my wrists -- but advertising has been a relatively lucrative choice. So many people write half the time and teach school the other ​

​half -- and I'm like, why would you choose TWO low-paying jobs?  :) 

 
​

Good advice!

My favorite publishing story of yours concerns your first book, Standing Still. If I recall correctly, your agent wanted you to add a sex scene, but you did not.  How did that issue get resolved?

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Tony, when a girl says no, she means NO.  Even a publishing whore knows that!​

Let’s finish up with a process question: how to you write?  Do you do it in the same time and place every day?

A long time ago I got in the habit of getting up early and writing before sunrise, before my day began to spiral out of control.  The quiet helps. But now that the kids are in college, there is a lot of quiet -- I can pretty much write any time of day that works with my schedule or deadline -- but I don't love working at night.  I have to many times, but I have to bribe myself with chocolate.

We’ll look forward to your next book.  Thank you for your time, Kelly.

Kelly Simmons' books can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million or your local bookstore. You can o​rder personalized autographed copies here:  http://www.mainpointbooks.com/kelly-simmons   

Follow her at:

http://www.kellysimmonsbooks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Fans-of-Author-Kelly-Simmons-291343839243/

https://twitter.com/kellysimmons

https://www.instagram.com/kellyasimmons/

Engaging the Senses

Two of my writing mentors - Jonathan Maberry and Kelly Simmons - have reminded me that long-form fiction should include examples of all five senses being engaged.  It's not enough for the characters in a novel to see, to hear, and to touch.  They should (at least once) smell and taste.

In fact, Maberry does a final edit of his novels in which he makes sure there are instances in which characters (or at least the protagonist) smells and tastes something.

At present, I'm turning an old, unsold screenplay I wrote into a YA novel.  (That's Young Adult.)  I'm trying to add smells and tastes as I go along.

It's not as easy as it sounds.

Tomorrow: Writers Coffeehouse Meeting in Willow Grove

Sometimes it seems like I go from one writer's event to another, leaving me barely enough time to do any actual writing.

That's to be expected when one is on a book tour or at a writing convention, but not in daily life.

Nevertheless, I have another writing event tomorrow, Sunday 25 November, from noon to three pm.  It's free and open to everyone, so stop by if you're interested.

(Once again - for those of you reading this in Croatia - this event is in Pennsylvania, USA.  Just in case you have a "Willow Grove" in Croatia.)

Here's the information:

FREE WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE Sun November 25 12-3pm

THE LIARS CLUB presents THE WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE

Join us for a FREE 3-hour networking and discussion about writing and publishing at the Writers Coffeehouse hosted by THE LIARS CLUB 

Location: Barnes & Noble Willow Grove (102 Park Avenue, Willow Grove, PA 19090)

Time: Coffeehouse Sunday, November 25, 2012, noon to 3pm

The Writers Coffeehouse is open to everyone.

ABOUT THE COFFEEHOUSE: It's a bunch of writers sitting around talking about writing…with coffee. No agenda…just chat about the latest trends in the industry, about the craft of writing, about markets, about pitching and selling, about conquering frustration and defeating writers block, and about all of the good things that come from the community of writers. No previous publishing experience necessary…the Writers Coffeehouse attracts everyone from absolute beginner to award-winners and bestsellers. We're all writers. The Coffeehouse is a regular event which meets on the last Sunday of every month from noon to 3pm. Grab a cup of coffee and join us in the meeting room in the left rear corner of the store (next to the music section).

NOTE: There will be NO Coffeehouse in December.

For more information, drop me a line at jonathan_maberry@yahoo.com

And join our free Message Board online at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WritersCoffeehouseOnline/

 

The WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE is hosted by The LIARS CLUB (www.liarsclubphilly.com)

A group of professional writers from the Philadelphia area who give talks, workshops, signings and events in support of bookstores, libraries, literacy and the love of books. The Liars Club lineup includes Jonathan Maberry (New York Times bestseller and multiple Bram Stoker Award winning author and Marvel Comics writer); Gregory Frost (best-selling fantasy author); Solomon Jones (Daily News columnist and crime novelist); Jon McGoran (author of forensics thrillers for Penguin as D H Dublin); Kelly Simmons (women's contemporary fiction author); Ed Pettit (book reviewer and renowned expert on Edgar Allen Poe); Dennis Tafoya (celebrated crime and thriller writer); Don Lafferty (publicist, social media guru, and magazine feature writer), Marie Lamba (literary agent and author of Young Adult novels); Merry Jones (mystery novelist and humorist), Keith Strunk (actor, playwright, historian and children's storyteller), Keith DeCandido (author of dozens of science fiction, fantasy and media tie-in novels), Stephen Susco (Hollywood screenwriter and director), and our newest member -- novelist Chuck Wendig.

Authors at Chester County Book & Music Co

My plans for the evening have changed, so I'm free to put in an appearance at the "Authors Say Thank You to Chester County Book & Music Company" event, tonight from 6 pm to 9 pm.

The Chester County Book & Music Company is one of the largest independent bookstores east of the Mississippi.  After 30 years, rising rent and declining sales have led the owner to announce its closing.  Author Kathye Fetsko Petrie has arranged this author get-together to thank the bookstore for all they've done for local authors.

Authors scheduled to show up include:

Jim Breslin

Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

Beth Kephart

Elizabeth Letts

Jonathan McGoran

Jan Mulligan

Kathye Fetsko Petrie

Chris Shaughness

Lisa Scottoline

Francesca Serritella

Kelly Simmons

Walt Trizna

Jack Waldron

K.M. Walton

plus

Jessica Dimuzio and her Papilion/canine co-author Johnny Angel

If you're nearby, come out and meet us!  The bookstore is located at 975 Paoli Pike in the West Goshen Center, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 19380 USA.  The bookstore's phone is (610) 696-1661.

Main Line Writers Coffeehouse

The Liars Club of Philadelphia - a group of professional authors - has been sponsoring free meetings for writers for several years.  Currently, they meet on the last Sunday of each month at the Willow Grove Barnes and Noble.

That meeting has been getting larger and larger over the past few years.  Lately, it's been drawing as many as 70 people - too many to comfortably fit in the room.  So the Liars Club has branched out, offering meetings in Center City Philadelphia; Claymont, Delaware; and Rosemont, Pennsylvania.

I attended the Rosemont meeting this past Sunday.  This group - known as the Main Line Writers Coffeehouse - had two meetings in the upstairs room of a coffee bar which they quickly outgrew.  So they started meeting in  a much larger space in Rosemont.

The first meeting of the Main Line Writers Coffeehouse in this new location drew around 20 people.  But this Sunday's meeting had only 7 people!

Mind you, it wasn't a bad meeting.  It was rather like sitting with some friends in a bar.  There were THREE members of the Liars Club there to run the meeting: Gregory Frost, Merry Jones, and Kelly Simmons.  All professional writers.

Again, I'd happily spend two hours in a bar with any or all of these writers.  That's not the point.

But, with the Main Line Writers Coffeehouse drawing just 7 people, it's not going to serve its purpose of reducing congestion at the main meeting in the Willow Grove Barnes and Noble.

(And since I've been an officer in several writers groups, I should clarify - I am not a member of the Liars Club of Philadelphia, nor do I have any official job in their meetings.)