Is Aging a Crime?

 Today, my friend and fellow writer, Janet Greger (J. L. Greger) is my guest writing about aging. Lorna

Sometimes those of us over fifty feel like it’s a crime to look our age. Characters (at least positive ones) in movies, TV shows, and ads are all young, fit, and beautiful.

 One result of this hype is sales of anti-aging products have soared worldwide. Sales of these products in the U.S. alone is estimated to be about $12 billion annually.

 Not surprisingly, mislabeling and false claims for these products are also rampant. That is criminal.

One of the products being widely advertised now is BOTOX. Injections of botulinum toxin drugs, like BOTOX are effective in reducing the signs of aging (i.e. reducing crow’s feet around the eyes, laugh lines, and wrinkles on the brow). However, many doubt the wisdom of—but not the profits from—BOTOX parties. At these events, women receive injections of botulinum toxin at multiple sites in a party environment in someone’s home with plenty of food and alcohol. Nevada has now banned these at-home parties. Many states require that injections at these parties be made by a physician or nurse. However, basic safety requirements are difficult to maintain at these events.

 In the U.S., the FDA is the chief agency monitoring the safety of cosmetic products and assessing the veracity of the claims. Most Americans don’t realize the FDA can not only fine but also incarcerate manufacturers and spa/store owners who knowingly produce, advertise and sell dangerous or mislabeled items.

 The current situation could be described this way: those who try to make the public believe it is a crime to look old are sometimes committing crimes themselves. This is a basic premise in my new mystery.

In FAIR COMPROMISES, twenty residents in New Mexico come into clinics and doctors’ offices complaining of double or blurred vision, sagging eyelids, and headaches the day after a political rally. Public health workers quickly hypothesize the cause was botulism toxin in improperly home canned food served at the rally. Unfortunately, one individual’s symptoms are much more severe. If her muscle paralysis continues unchecked, she will die. New Mexico health officials contact the FBI because this patient is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and they fear she may have been targeted.

 The mystery turns from being the analysis of a severe food safety breach to the investigation of a diabolical murder attempt using “cosmetic” botulism toxin when scientist Sara Almquist, with the help of a talented FBI lab crew, discovers a more sinister source of the toxin at a spa in Santa Fe. FDA officials then help the FBI solve this case and seek justice for the victims.

FAIR COMPROMISES has a message: It’s not a crime to show your age, and the relentless search for youthful beauty can be dangerous.

 Now you’re ready for some fun. Read FAIR COMPROMISES and see what happens to a politician who tried too hard to look young.

Sara Almquist and her FBI colleagues rush to find who endangered the lives of a hundreds at a political rally by poisoning the food with botulism toxin. The poisoners’ target was a woman candidate for the U.S. Senate; the rest were just collateral damage. As these agents track clues from a veterans’ hall in Clovis to health spas of Santa Fe, they must make a multitude of personal and professional (perhaps too many) compromises.

 

J.L. Greger is a scientist turned novelist. She includes science and international travel in her award-winning mysteries and thrillers: The Flu Is Coming, Games for Couples; Dirty Holy Water, Fair Compromises, and seven others. https://www.jlgreger.com

Come to EPICon 2014!

Every year since 2006, we have attended EPICon, the annual conference for EPIC, the Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition. Why do we go year after year? Here are a few reasons:

EDUCATION

EPICon features speakers on all aspects of publishing, focusing particularly on the publication of ebooks. The EPIC membership consists of e-publishing professionals: published authors, editors, publishers, cover artists, publicists, agents, marketing experts, etc. The workshops presented are intended to provide information to the attendees about the current state of the industry. Since it is a moving target and has been for the past ten years or so, we stay current. We’ve never attended without learning something. 

NETWORKING 
We met two of our current publishers at EPICon. We were able to get to know them personally before we submitted our books to them. They remain close personal friends as well as our business partners. I also met one of my writing partners at EPICon 2006. She has been part of all five of our romance anthologies, including The Art of Love published this past September. She’ll be included in number six, as well.

MEET THE AUTHORS
For readers, this conference provides a chance to get “up close and personal” with lots of published authors. At meals and during free time, these folks are available to chat or question. Even I have been able to get to know some of my favorites, like Holly Jacobs. I’m a bibliophile (that’s a book junkie), so I read more than I write. Finding out what motivates my fellow writers has been one of the great blessings of attending this conference every year. And I’ve found new authors, as well.

PITCH OUR WORK 
We’ve been able to pitch our latest work to several different editors and publishers. This year, EPICon will provide even more opportunity for aspiring authors with “Speed Dating With Editors.” Each writer will be given a couple of minutes to pitch their work to editors from several publishing houses. This is a unique opportunity most aspiring authors never get. So if you’ve always envisioned yourself as a published author, here’s your chance!

FORM RELATIONSHIPS

This is probably the main reason we attend. Over the years, we’ve formed quite a number of lifelong friendships. These folks are our supporters, colleagues, and most of all, friends.


If you want to ask any specific questions about the 2014 EPICon, email epicon@epicon.com.

Writing Believable Characters

At one of our writing group meetings a couple of years ago, a member suggested one of our characters could do a particular action. Larry and I responded at the same time . "Oh, no. She'd never do that." She laughed and said, "You talk about your characters as if they are real," to which I replied," Of course they're real. If they aren't real to us, how can we expect our readers to believe they're living breathing people?"

I've been thinking a lot about how we create realistic and believable characters, and I'll share a few of our methods with you.

When we initially discuss a story we want to write, we create character sketches for the major ones. The protagonist is better defined than the more minor characters, but we need to know some of the following about those folks we'll be spending time with during the writing of the book.

WHEN AND WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE?

Young people growing up today speak differently than those who grew up in the '60s or '70s or '80s. And those from earlier periods had different speech patterns as well. What was happening in the world during their early years? Was the country at war? In what country is the story set? If in the US, what state, town, city? The life experiences of the characters will be influenced by all of these.

WHAT WAS THEIR CHILDHOOD LIKE?

A child raised without parents will have a different world view than one raised by a single parent. And that child will see the world differently than one raised with both parents.

Was the family rich or poor? What was their ethnicity, and what were their family rituals? Was it a happy home or a dysfunctional one? Was the person abused in any way as a child? How large was the family? Were drugs and/or alcohol used to excess in the family? Where in the country did the child grow up? Small towns are different from suburbs are different from large cities.

We are all molded by our early years, and they provide motivation for the rest of our lives.

WHAT WAS THE BIRTH ORDER?

Lots of studies of the effect of birth order on behavior and personality have been done over the years. The order in which one arrived in the family has a great influence on their overall personality.

This came home to me when we had finished our first romance anthology, Snowflake Secrets. It's the story of four little girls in the years between 1958 and 2007. The novellas in the book were written by four different writers. Yet when I assembled the complete manuscript, I was struck by how accurately each of the four displayed the personality traits most commonly associated with their birth order!

WHAT CHOICES DID THEY MAKE?

Did they go to college or not? Did they marry young, or older, or not at all. Did they have children, and when? Are they divorced, widowed, single? What was their career choice? How did that affect their lifestyle?

HOW DO THEY REACT TO STRESS?

This is very important. Does the heroine twirl her hair or bite her lip? Does the hero raise his eyebrows or frown? Does someone tap their foot or fingers? How do they react to other people? Do they become quiet or do they become aggressive?

WHAT IS THEIR FEAR, AND WHAT DO THEY NEED?

You have to know this about each and every main character in the book so you know how they will react when you place them in danger or under stress. And you need to know what they have to lose and how important it is to them.

HOW DO THEY TALK?

What is the rhythm of their speech? Their area of origin will dictate this to some extent, but everyone has a different speech pattern. What are their favorite words? Do they have expressions they repeat?

When we get the basics defined, we begin to note other characteristics as we write. The characters may end up very different than we thought they would, but we have a starting point. As we get to know them better, we discover additional minor nuances. Each of them must be distinctly different or the reader won't believe in them.

WILL YOU GRIEVE THEIR LOSS?

This past week we had to let several of the major characters in our current project, The Memory Keeper, die. As is our habit, we began to read the finished chapter aloud to each other. And we couldn't get through it. I was sobbing and Larry was choking. In short, we were a mess. We had become so close to these people we felt their loss as acutely as their family members.

When I was writing Ghost Writer, I couldn't figure out why I just couldn't finish the manuscript. It finally dawned on me! I didn't want to let the ghost go! He had no other story to tell, so when this book was completed, I'd never see him again. When I got the edits back from the publisher and reached that chapter, I wept again.

After we finished Snowflake Secrets, we took the final manuscript to the house of the hostess of our writing group to read it through for her. She had only heard it in bits and pieces. When we got to the last chapter, however, none of us could get all the way through. Larry started until he choked up. Then Luanna read a while. I had to finish it, and I wasn't doing too well, either. But Martha, our hostess, was sobbing. And in reality, that was the precise response we wanted our readers to share.

How do you create real characters who step off the page? Have you ever read a book where all the characters spoke with the voice of the author? Did you ever put down a book because you just didn’t care about the characters? I'd like to hear your experiences.

Writing Believable Dialogue

 People speak differently in person than they do on the page. To understand this, try listening to real folks talk. They hesitate and use 'um' and 'ah'. They don't speak in complete sentences, and they don't use correct English. However, if you write 'real' dialogue in a story, it will slow down the pacing, and it won't read convincingly.

On the other hand, if you write dialogue in the same style as the narrative in a manuscript, it will sound too wordy and will also slow down the story.

What's a writer to do?

1.      Edit!

Read the dialogue and then delete any unnecessary words. Believable dialogue needs to sound like real dialogue without all the tics and hesitations. People often leave out the subject or the object in a sentence, and characters should as well.

2.      Choose Phrasing and Rhythm Carefully

Observe real speech and listen for distinctive phrases. Write the interesting ones down and give them to a character. But make sure each character has a different sound. Pay attention to the rhythm of speech, and give each character a distinctive one. People sound distinct and different, and characters should as well.

3.      Use Dialect Sparingly

If a character speaks in dialect or a foreign language, the temptation is to write all their dialogue as if every word was in the argot. DON'T DO IT! Making the dialogue too difficult to wade through is just plain frustrating for a reader. Instead, choose several key words or phrases and use these as 'seasoning' to flavor their speech. And if you choose to use foreign words, make sure they are absolutely correct for the location and timeframe. But don't overdo those either.

4.      Read Out Loud

One of the keys to writing believable dialogue is hearing it read out loud. Larry and I have an advantage in that we write together and read all our work aloud to each other. We will often read conversations with each of us assuming the role of a different character. In addition to that, it's even more valuable to have someone other than the author read the dialogue aloud. It's the only way to actually hear where a reader has difficulty, hesitates, is confused, etc. The writer can also hear where dialect or other speech patterns work or fail.

5.      Eliminate Tags and Address

Few things are more annoying to me as a reader to have each line of dialog end with, "he said" or "she said." Another easy trap to fall into is to have each person entering the scene greeted by name: "Hi, Jane," said Sue. GRRR! Instead, add action whenever possible to indicate which character is speaking. For example: Jane entered the room. "Are you ready for tea?" We know who is speaking (Jane) and she is addressing whoever was already in the room ahead of her.

6.      Must Suit Each Character

Make sure each character has a distinctive voice, but it must fit the character in personality and background. A drill sergeant from Texas will sound different from a debutante from Georgia and a valley girl from California. Don't exaggerate the verbal clues, but each should speak using different vocabulary, phrasing, and rhythm.

Dialogue can either make or break a story. If a reader knows exactly who is speaking, it is unnecessary to identify the speaker as often. Learning how to write effective dialogue will go a long way toward making stories enjoyable for readers, and that, after all, is the author's intention.

Do you have any other tricks or advice for writing believable dialogue?

Meet Author JL Greger

Today I welcome thriller/mystery writer JL Greger to my blog. Her book is uncannily relevant with the current flu epidemic gripping the country. Here’s a chance to meet the author.

Could you please start by telling us a little about yourself?

I've been a scientist, professor, and expert consultant on science-related projects not only in the US, but also in the Marshall Islands, Beirut, the Philippines, etc. Now I'm a writer, who tries to put bits of science into her novels.

Please tell us a little about your newest release without giving away too much of the plot.

In Coming Flu (published by Oak Tree Press in July 2012) a new flu strain—the Philippine—kills more than two hundred in less than a week in a walled community near the Rio Grande. The rest face a bleak future when quarantine is imposed. One resident, Sara Almquist, a medical epidemiologist, pries into every aspect of her neighbors' lives looking for ways to stop the spread of the flu. She finds promising clues—maybe too many!

Why do you write fiction?

I enjoy being a storyteller, but I also want to make people think about big picture issues (things that bug me in my blog, www.jlgregerblogspot.blog.com). For example, I was appalled when I compared the amount of column space devoted to crime versus the amount of space allotted to science and health issues in my local paper (The Albuquerque Journal). In Coming Flu, I gave readers a chance to assess who was more dangerous: a nice neighbor infected with the Philippine flu virus or a drug dealer.

That’s kind of heavy.

Not really. Coming Flu is filled with interesting people, quirky and yet like your neighbors. Some are funny and a joy to relax with on a hot afternoon; some you’d rather see only briefly at the mailbox. There’s also lots of action.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Writing the opening chapter.

How do you come up with ideas for your novels?

As I read weekly scientific journals, like Science, I “clip” interesting articles. Before I start to write a new novel, I review my file, looking for emerging themes.

For example, about 18 months ago, I noticed many scientists were interested in how the millions, actually billions, of microorganisms in our guts influenced our ability to lose weight. I also noted the exaggerated claims of “so-called diet doctors” in the popular press and on TV. I thought maybe dieters, which include most of us at times, would enjoy a murder mystery, involving scientists studying weight loss. Oak Tree Press will publish Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight in April.

Will any of the characters in Coming Flu appear in your next novel?

Yes. I envision at least three books in this series.

Sara Almquist, an epidemiologist, is the protagonist in Coming Flu and her sister Linda, a physician, is a minor character. In Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight the roles are reversed. The personalities of the sisters set the tones of the novels. Linda is more introspective, i.e. more suited to a mystery. Sara is more of a risk-taker, i.e. suited to a thriller.

What are you working on now?

The next novel in the series. Sara, as an epidemiologist, will accept an assignment in Bolivia. And yes, I have traveled across the Altiplano from Lake Titicaca to La Paz in Bolivia.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Travel and spend time with my dog Bug. Unfortunately, Bug can’t go with me to exotic locations.

Coming Flu is available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Flu-J-L-Greger/dp/1610090985?

and Oak Tree Press http://oaktreebooks.com/Shop%20OTP.htm#ComFlu

Author’s Bio

JL Greger has been a scientist, professor, textbook writer, and university administrator and is not a writer. Coming Fu, a medical thriller, was published in July 2012. The sequel, a medical mystery called Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight will be published in April 2013. The inspiration for the Japanese Chin Bug in Coming Flu is her real dog, Bug. She and Bug live in the American Southwest.