Attending Writers' Conferences

 A couple of weeks ago, we spent four days in Vancouver, WA at EPICon, the annual conference for EPIC (Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition). As we have since 2006, we loved spending time with others who are as obsessed with books as we are. Then, in July, we will go to Las Vegas for the PSWA (Public Safety Writers Association) conference. Why do we keep going to conferences?
 

In 2005, after our first book, a memoir entitled 31 Months in Japan: the Building of a Theme Park, was published, we decided to attend the now-defunct Maui Writers Conference.  We had already planned a trip to Hawaii for the same time, and my favorite author at the time, Gail Tsukiyama, was one of the presenters. Larry said he’d rather surf. That is, until he found out one of his favorites, Terry Brooks, would be speaking. Oh, and he realized the cost of the conference was tax-deductible.

He agreed to go, but said he’d drop me off in the morning, go surfing, and pick me up in the afternoon, except for the time Terry was scheduled. I agreed.

Once we arrived, however, and he saw all the topics available, he decided maybe he’d go to one or two workshops. It was a good thing we had another few days on Oahu after the conference, because he never surfed on Maui.

We heard some awesome people speak, learned a lot, which we’re still using, met some wonderful folks, and had a blast! Oh, and we also met the guy who became the inspiration for our protagonist, Agapè Jones, in our mysteries, Murder… They Wrote and Murder in Paradise  (finalist for the EPIC eBook Award).

We discovered spending time around others who understood when we complained that our characters wouldn't cooperate was empowering. If we say, “I just couldn’t sleep last night. My latest character kept talking all night,” they don’t think we’re crazy. In fact, they nod sagely. They’ve been there, too.

Later the same year we decided to go to EPICon in San Antonio when our book, 31 Months: The Building of a Theme Park, was named one of the two finalists in the nonfiction category.

This conference was a more intimate, but we actually preferred it in some ways to the big one. And we loved visiting San Antonio. We didn’t win the award, but we had a ball. And we’ve been attending EPICon each year since.

By now, quite a few of the members have become dear friends. I met one of my writing partners at the first conference. We’ve since written five anthologies together, including Directions of Love, which won the EPIC eBook Award for best romance anthology.

Why do we keep going, year after year? Because the workshops are relevant to the publishing industry and we never fail to gain information to make our writing better. Because we love reconnecting with dear friends every year and making new ones. Because writers are lots of fun!

We plan to attend EPICon again next year. In fact, our arms have already been twisted to present our workshop "The Perfect Pitch" again next year. (We've presented every year since 2007, including doing the luncheon keynote for one.)

Hope to see you at a conference next year!

Adding Reality to Fiction

Today my partner in life and in crime—novels, that is—Larry K. Collins is my guest. See how we create reality in our fiction.

During a conference presentation, I was asked this question: “I write fiction. What kind of research should I do? And how much?”

My answer was: “As much as you can. The more reality you put into your fiction, the more believable it becomes. As a rule of thumb, I put in a true fact, a fact, a fact, a fact, and make up a fact. If I do it well, my readers won’t be able to tell which one is made up.”

WRITING A REAL LOCATION

In our second mystery, Murder in Paradise, our protagonist, Agapé Jones, retired NYPD detective, was supposed to drive from Honolulu to Hale’iwa. While doing research on Oahu, I drove the same route, noticed the outrigger canoes parked along the Ala Wai Canal, and shopped at the Foodland in Hale’iwa. Then Agapé did the same things in the book. We know our readers will never forgive us if we mess up their town. And if our hero drives the wrong way on a one-way street, we’ll never hear the end of it.

While writing a story in a real place, I surround myself with photos, clippings, and maps of the area I intend to write about. Anything to keep me grounded in reality.

Sometimes a picture will inspire a scene. In Murder in Paradise, I had the grandmother character tell the story of growing up as a child on the North Shore and visiting the Hale’iwa Hotel, a beautiful Victorian-style inn featuring a two-story lanai and luxurious dining room. Opened in 1898, the building was torn down in 1952. As inspiration, I purchased several early photos of the old hotel from North Shore Photo Hawaii and hung them on the wall over my computer. The pictures themselves never appeared in the book, but my descriptions became more accurate because I could visualize being there. Hopefully I passed my vision on to the reader.

WRITING A FICTITIOUS LOCATION

Lorna and four friends created the fictitious town of Aspen Grove, Colorado, as the location for their anthologies, Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, Directions of Love, and An Aspen Grove Christmas. This allows the authors to invent shops, restaurants, churches, B&Bs, etc. to fit the various novellas. They placed Aspen Grove in the mountains west of Denver on the road leading to the ski resorts. Even though it is fictitious, it needed to have the real look and character of the area. Aspen Grove became a composite of several real towns.

Walk down the main street of Idaho Springs and you expect to see Daisy’s Diner and the Book Nook. Wander along the lakefront in Georgetown to find Drew’s log cabin and on through town to the stone building housing the Presbyterian Church. Several readers have remarked they would love to visit Aspen Grove. So would we.

WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION

Not only do the locations need to be correct, but also the specific time period. The events, language, customs, clothing, and props must all fit the era.

In historical fiction, it is even more important to do accurate research. Our latest endeavor, The Memory Keeper, concerns life at the San Juan Capistrano Mission between 1820 and 1890 as seen through the eyes of a Juaneño Indian.

For inspiration, an original etching by Rob Shaw, published in 1890 by H L Everett, showing the mission grounds, currently hangs over my computer.

Our bibliography is running about five or six pages and growing. We have also enlisted the aid of the local San Juan historian and a Juaneño native storyteller as beta readers for historical information. We won’t be satisfied until they are satisfied with the accuracy of our details.

Now that I’ve said all that, I have to remind myself. Never let the facts get in the way of the story. Too many details can turn a good story into a boring history lesson. In the end, the research should support and enhance, but not overwhelm. We must choose carefully which facts to include, leave out, and make up. If we’ve done our job, our readers will become so involved with the plot and compelling characters, that the facts just blend in. They’ll never know how much research went into it. But we will.

Guest Blog on Writing Mystery

This week, Larry and I are guest blogging on the Book Connection. We talk about how we got into writing mysteries and how we write them together. Drop by and leave a comment.

 

http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2013/01/guest-bloggers-larry-k-and-lorna.html

Give Thanks

Thanksgiving Day is the one time in the year set aside to remember all the blessings in our lives. But why limit it to one day? I'm grateful every day, and my list of blessings is a long one.

FAMILY

I have an amazing family—the one into which I was born, the one into which I married, and the one I've created over the years.

I am especially thankful this year that my mother's sister, Aunt Evelyn, is still with us after a stroke last year. She is one of my favorite playmates and has always been my role model. I learned to love travel, musical theater, entertaining, and discovering new places and people from her.

I am also grateful for the cousins I'd lost for most of my life and reconnected with last year. They are even more precious since all our parents are now gone.

My husband came with a large and loving family of his own. His grandparents set the example, and his parents' generation continued it. There never were any strangers or in-laws. Everyone has always been included and loved. His parents were truly my parents, and I adore his brother as much as if he had been mine from birth. My sister-in-love is the sister I'd have chosen if I could have, and I am so proud of my niece and nephew and their families.

I am very grateful that my brother and I have finally grown into a closer relationship after being a bit distant most of our lives.

Family is not just an accident of birth. We have acquired quite a number of children both here and around the world. Our Japanese and Spanish kids are a special joy in our lives.

And I am especially grateful for Larry and Kim—my greatest joys. They have made my life worthwhile.

FRIENDS

I have over one-thousand names on my email list. And they are ALL friends! I have managed to stay in touch with many of the people who grew up in my neighborhood, those I went to high school with, some from every job I've ever held, as well as many writers and others in the publishing industry. I've learned so much from them and cherish them all.

My church family has been my support and safety net for many years. They remind me where my center is, where my faith is focused, where my priorities are.

The people in my writing group have been a real treasure. We'd never have been published if it hadn't been for them. We've lost the lady who hosted our group for many, many years. But we have been so blessed to have had her in our lives for so long.

We've lost many family members and friends over the past couple of years, and each loss serves to remind us of the love we shared.

HOME

We have a home we never could have imagined owning when we were first married. And we live in one of the most beautiful places on the California coast. Whenever we go down to the beach, I am reminded that we are privileged to live here.

We also have the greatest neighbors on the planet. We know nearly everyone, and we all watch out for each other.

Because we have been so blessed, we love sharing our home with guests. Spending time with old and new friends is a great gift to us.

WORK

Even though we are retired from our full-time jobs, we continue to write books we enjoy. I am still editing and doing book reviews. We also enjoy traveling, often to do research for our books. We attend conferences and meet new people and learn new things.

So this year, as we celebrate the day dedicated to counting our blessings, we will consider just how truly blessed our lives are and give thanks.

Website 101

So you’ve determined you need a website for whatever reason. Where do you start? What should you consider as you build it?

Whether you hire a professional or use some of the readily-available software to create it yourself, these are the things to keep in mind.

1.     Branding

This is the entire reason for building your site: to brand yourself and/or your product or service. Your brand must be consistent throughout your site and reflect the image you wish to portray.

2.     Site Name

This is the most important element of your site. Choose it wisely. Hopefully, it will exist for a long time, so be sure it represents you and your product or service. In other words, your brand. Don’t limit it, but consider where you might carry your brand in the future.

Don’t make it too long and complex or too simple. Make it easy to remember.

We chose our names as our brand (www.lornalarry.com). Mine is relatively distinctive, and by using both, we had a simple and easy-to-remember site name that doesn’t require typing a large number of characters.

We’re authors and, although we had only written one book at the time we created the site, we anticipated a future where there might be more. Some authors we know created a site with the name of their first book. Then they wrote a second. Since their first site was already established, they were faced with a conundrum: put the second book on the same site with the first book or create a second. Since there is some cost involved with each site (unless your publisher provides a page for you), the second choice could become expensive. And the first doesn’t easily identify your subsequent books. So select your name wisely.

3.     Banner Image

The image at the top of your Home page is the first thing your viewers will see. Make it attractive and consistent with your brand. Since our site reflects us as writers, we have always had our photo on the banner. Our wonderful webmaster, Toshihiro Komiyama, created this one from our latest photo. And we love it!

It identifies who we are and what we do.

4.     Target Audience

Determine who your target audience will be. Ours is readers. Of course we hope that friends, family, co-workers, and others interested in the subject matter about which we write will also find us. Knowing your audience will help you make the other choices in the design of your site.

5.     Style

Will your site be homey and friendly or formal? Will it exist primarily for information, or will you add value? Is it ‘cute,’ ‘classic,’ or ‘funky’? Again, define your brand before you choose a style. Knowing your audience will also determine the approach. Whatever style you choose, make it consistent throughout the site.

6.     Theme

On our site, we carry the banner and site navigation on each page. This provides consistency and makes it easier to move around the site. All fonts must be consistent and clear. Choose sans-serif fonts for easier reading online. If you pick an elaborate script font, keep in mind that it will be hard to read. Some specialty fonts may not even show up on all devices.

Since more and more people are viewing the Internet on their mobile devices, the simpler the font, the easier to read, even on smaller screens.

And keep your branding and theme consistent. If you write romance, your theme may be flowery and romantic. On the other hand, if you write dark mysteries, you may choose dark colors that convey a sense of foreboding. But your site must always be inviting to a visitor.

7.     Content

What will you put on your site? Know this before you begin the design. Most professional site builders outline the content for their sites prior to building them. You should, too.

How many pages? What will be on them? How much information do you intend to provide?

Keep in mind, your site must be updated constantly for it to be picked up by browsers. ‘Stale data’ (information that has become static and unchanging) will not show up in searches. So keep it simple and don’t disclose too much. As authors, we don’t include large sections of our books, for example. We want our fans to read the entire work. But we do offer lots of ‘extras’ for those who visit.

8.     Extras

What do I mean by extras? Additional information not available elsewhere.

For instance, we include tidbits for each of our books. For some, we add a character sketch of the person who inspired a character, like Countess Elektra Rozanska in Murder… They Wrote or Lovie Cooper in Murder in Paradise.

For 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park, we included a chapter called “Be Still” which was deleted from the final version of the book.

We also embed the video trailers we’ve created for several of our books.

9.     Photos

The phrase, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ applies. However, be aware that photos are also data-intensive and may require more time to upload (cache). Photos make your site more interesting. Just don’t overload each page with them as viewers won’t wait for lots of images to download.

10.            White Space

I’m currently reading a self-published book with the text crammed onto the page with almost no margins. It is extremely difficult to read. Be sure to include enough blank space around your text for easier reading.

11.            Links

In addition to information, include links to other sites and places of interest to the people who view your site.

We have links on our site for various locations to purchase our book, including a cart on the site itself. We also belong to several organizations, so we have links to those. And we include the links to this blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

12.            Contact Information

When people find you, they must be able to contact you. This can be done by using a ‘blind’ form without a visible email address or with an address dedicated to your business.

13.            Key Words

These are invisible words linked to each page of your site which contain searchable clues as to the content on the page. These also help search engines find your information easily. Don’t forget to include them.

These are the basic elements of a website. Within this framework, give your creativity a chance to shine, but don’t get too clever. The KISS theory applies: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Those who find your site will thank you.