Books and Again

The Killer Hobbies theme this week is about books we read over and over again.

When I was young, I read my first romantic suspense novels, by Mary Stuart, Victoria Holt and Phyllis Whitney. Those I read more than once, and it’s no wonder that I now enjoy writing both romance and suspense myself, usually combining them.

When my kids were young, I enjoyed reading to them at bedtime. They always had favorites, and those would get read over and over.

These days, most of my reading, although also for fun, is most often a form of research. I read in the genres in which I write to get insight as to how others approach them. I read genres in which I aspire to write for the same reason. Seldom do I read a story more than once.

Then there are my own novels. Yes, I read them again. And often yet again. Most of them are in a series these days, and even though I try to keep track, as I write, of characters, locations and everything that may carry over into future stories, I want to do all I can to ensure consistency and continuity.

Besides, I get a kick out of reading my own stuff. I attempt to recall what I was doing when I started a story and when I ended it. Was my character’s development based on something in my own life at the time? Not necessarily, but sometimes real life sparks a scene or comment or even, occasionally, the villain.

I’m going to give one lucky Killer Hobbies blog reader the chance to win my latest Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery FELINE FATALE, autographed by me, if you comment on this post. Since I’m mostly talking about myself, let me know if you’ve ever read any of my books, whether a Kendra story or a Harlequin Nocturne, or my earlier ventures into Harlequin Intrigue or time travel romance. If not, which of them would you be most interested in reading? Are you interested in ALASKAN WOLF, my upcoming Harlequin Nocturne about Alpha Force shapeshifters, to be a December 2010 release? How about my spinoff series from the Kendra books--the Pet Rescue mysteries--the first of which will be BEAGLEMANIA, in March 2011? And if you say no to all, beware. I’ll have my dogs do nasty stuff to your entry, rather than choosing it from the stack of names!

School Memories

My pre-college school experiences were generally quite good, but a couple that stand out are those that made me feel the worst at the time!

First, I couldn’t recall the correct vocabulary word on a French test in junior high and made one up. My teacher, with whom I later made friends when we both ushered at high school football games, made fun of my made-up word when he gave the next vocabulary test. He didn’t mention me by name, but I knew who he was talking about. I was extremely shy back then, and felt mortified. So mortified that I started studying harder, intending to show him I was not the kind of student he should made fun of. I began getting much better grades after that. I wonder now which of us showed whom...

That shyness, though, was the reason for my other most bittersweet memory. I took Advanced English in high school, and as I was about to graduate my senior class teacher called me into her room and told me I would never succeed in college or in life. After all, I never participated in class. Why didn’t I? Because I was so afraid I’d say the wrong thing and embarrass myself even more.

Did I do all right in college? Yes, although I admit my grades could have been better. I improved in law school, even making law review. But I also tried not to volunteer answers in law classes since my shyness was still controlling--and the classroom experiences I remember best were those in which I did embarrass myself. I had no choice about participating in moot court, and that was, I admit, a disaster. However, it led to my joining Toastmasters. That was the first step in getting more comfortable in front of crowds.

Even more helpful was getting published and realizing that it isn’t all about writing. Promoting one’s work is important, too--and that involves public speaking.

Now, I give talks in front of groups all the time. In fact, I’m giving one this Saturday at the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.

I’ll also dare to suggest here that I haven’t been a total failure in life. So there, Advanced English teacher!!

Going along with my fellow Killer Hobbyists this week, I’ll hold a contest. My “hobby” is pets, not handiwork, so I’ll provide the winner with a copy of HOWL DEADLY, the eighth Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery that introduces the protagonist of my new spin-off series, Pet Rescuer Lauren Vancouver. Just comment here briefly about your most distressing or embarrassing thing from your school days and how you overcame it. If people dare to enter, I’ll randomly pick a winner and let you know who it is!

Postscript and winner: I appreciate everyone's responses! I let my dogs choose the winner after writing down everyone's names. Drum roll, please... And the winner is N.L. Gassert! Nadja, if you'll e-mail me at lindaojohnston@rocketmail.com with your address, I'll send your copy of HOWL DEADLY.

Old Stories I’m Fond Of

I’m one of those traditional novelists with a dozen unpublished manuscripts under the bed before the first one sold. I’d had some luck with mystery short stories first and thought I was on a roll... not!

I often tell the story about my first unpublished novel. I started it while I was working at my first law job as a junior associate in a law firm. I liked the people, but didn’t especially adore the experience. My first story? It was a mystery novel about a new associate in a law firm, who found the dead body of the senior partner at the end of the first chapter. Very cathartic! One interesting sidelight is that I’ve heard similar stories told by mystery-writing panelists... all of them lawyers!

The last full manuscript I finished before actually selling one was a time travel story containing other paranormal concepts as well as sci-fi elements--and, of course, romance and suspense. The hero, a physicist, he created a method of time travel that incorporated quantum physics. In those days, scientists proclaimed that, if time travel ever became possible, it would be via black holes in space. Today, they suggest it’ll use quantum physics--so I preceded the current theory! In any event, my story was also a contemporary one, as well as a historical one... well, you can see that it incorporated a lot of genres which, back then, was a no-no. When I got “nice” rejections, I looked around and found an accepted genre that included many of those elements: time travel romance. That’s when I wrote--and sold--my first novel: A GLIMPSE OF FOREVER. I didn’t try to explain the time travel. The heroine simply touched fossils and was transported from the past to the present and back again.

Another of my unsold manuscripts contains a theme I still love. I started it when I heard about how many dolphins were killed in the nets of tuna fishermen, just because they were there. I was upset, especially when I verified, during my research, that dolphins are possibly as intelligent as people in their respective environments. The story never sold, and laws changed so that fewer dolphins are now killed in tuna nets, so my theme would need to be modified--although plenty of dolphins are still killed during fishing and for other reasons I consider to be unjustifiable.

Then there’s the story loosely based on my family history. It takes place in the 1930s and revolves around a delicatessen in downtown Pittsburgh. That’s one I’d love to resurrect and try again to sell someday.

I know that doesn’t add up to the dozen unsold manuscripts I mentioned. There are some other mysteries and romances. Someday I’ll go refresh my recollection and see if there are others that might be salvageable.

On the other hand, I’m always dreaming up new ideas. Some of them don’t go anywhere--but fortunately I’ve also been lucky enough to have ideas that sell. I’ve been working on my second Pet Rescue mystery and will be turning back to my next paranormal shapeshifter story for Harlequin Nocturne soon.

Research!

After meeting my three early-September deadlines, I started thinking about my next one--for the first in my new Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescue mysteries. I decided to immerse myself in research about animal shelters and other organizations that get involved in pet rescues.

So far, I’ve visited the Pasadena Humane Society and sat in on a meeting of the Los Angeles Animal Services Commission. I also visited the offices of the Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force and received a wonderful introduction to the members, and what they do.

I’ve been really excited by the warm welcomes I’ve received as well as the extensive information I’ve gained. That information leads to ideas... and I’m definitely looking forward to using a lot in my first Lauren mystery.

Am I done with the research? Not at all. I’ve got ideas about other people I want to meet, shelters I want to visit, and more. I want to learn as much as I can about people who care so much about animals that they’ve devoted their lives to saving and protecting them.

How much research do you do when starting a new project, whether writing or something else?

Two Hats This Weekend

These days, I write both the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries, and paranormal romance for Silhouette Nocturne. This weekend, I’m wearing both hats at separate events.

On Saturday, I’m attending the networking session to be held by the Orange County Chapter of the Romance Writers of America. The annual RWA conference is next week in Washington, D.C. (yes, I’ll be there, too), and the chapter has a speaker in the morning giving advice on pitching your work. That will help the writers who have meetings scheduled with agents and editors at the conference. In the afternoon, some published writers, including me, will engage in roundtable discussions about our writing, how we sold, or whatever, and even listen to practice pitches.

On Sunday, I’m in trouble. Sorta. I’ve been invited to participate in the Sisters in Crime, Los Angeles Chapter, program. The presenters are Toastmasters who will discuss how writers can present themselves better in public speaking engagements. I’m then supposed to introduce myself, perform a brief reading from one of my books--and then get critiqued! That’ll help teach others in the audience what to do right... and wrong. It’ll teach me, too--to volunteer! No, I really anticipate it’ll be fun... I hope. I actually was in Toastmasters many years ago after a terrible moot court presentation in law school, so I kind of know what I’m letting myself in for.

So... what hats are you wearing this week?

More Poignancy and Pets

Last week I blogged about missing pets, and the signs in my neighborhood that demonstrated people’s heartaches.

This week, too, has been filled with some poignant pet matters that have pulled at my heart.

For one thing, the parents of a good friend of mine rescued a dog from a shelter only four months ago. The poor dog became very ill this week, and they rushed him to a vet, who sent them to an emergency vet for more tests. He had some severe internal problems that hadn’t surfaced before. Although they’d been told he was six years old when they adopted him, the vets estimated his age at around ten. An operation to attempt to fix his problems would have been exorbitantly expensive and the outcome would have been uncertain, especially at his age. They chose to have him put to sleep peacefully--how sad...

I'm pondering how I can use something like this in a future Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery or an upcoming pet rescuer mystery story. Give it a happier ending, which can be done in fiction.

But right now, my little Cavalier Mystie keeps jumping on my lap and hugging my face, which means she wants to go out, which is seconded by Lexie’s pawing at me. I’d better obey them... and give them both lots of affection. And count my own blessings.

How about you--are you given orders by your pets? And have you heard of difficult pet-related situations that you wish you could solve for friends and loved ones?

Signs of Sorrow

We KillerHobbyists discussed writing about our methods of organization this week. Since I’m one of the least organized people I know, I wasn’t sure about doing that.

So, instead of focusing on my lack of neatness, I realized that what was more on my mind was a street sign I passed this morning on my way to the vet to pick up more of my younger Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Mystie’s special prescribed food. There used to be one paper sign on its pole about three missing cats. Now, there are three signs on it: that one, another about a found dog, and a third about Max.

Max is a cat who belongs to our backyard neighbors. They rescued Max and his sister, and now have three cats, including Daisy, who is the one most often in our yard--the one both dogs take pleasure in chasing away. I’ve seen Max and his sister there, too.

But now Max is missing. Our neighbor came by to tell us, and to give us his contact info in case we saw Max. Later that day, I saw a cat who resembled Max’s description roaming way down the street, but, no, our neighbors hadn’t given Max a new pink collar, so it wasn’t him.

I saw and heard the neighbor’s pain. It’s heartbreaking to have a pet missing. I think I blogged some time ago about someone else in the area searching for a lost dog that, I believe, wasn’t found. The thing about pets is that we adopt them for the love they give to us, and when they’re lost, that love is missing, too.

Found pets can’t tell us where home is. ID tags help, and so do microchips. But I just heard about one found dog, a lonely-looking Saluki, who was, indeed, microchipped--but the pup was found in Carlsbad, California, and the microchip info suggested he came from the Middle East. The chip had been sold to a U.S. military distributor in Saudi Arabia, so presumably the dog came home with someone in the service--but there was no further information registered with the microchip company.

I’m researching a new mystery series about a pet rescuer. In it, I hope to have some happy endings, at least about lost pets sometimes finding their ways home.

How about you--have you heard of any more happy endings lately?

--Linda

Pets in the Media

Being a pet-person, I’m always watching for stories in the media relating to animals. Apparently, I’m not alone, since the papers and TV seem full of interesting stories nearly all the time--which I assume wouldn’t happen if the media people got feedback that no one was watching or listening.

A couple stories over the last few days really caught my attention. One was about the way the current housing crisis has harmed pets. That’s becoming old news, unfortunately. A lot of people whose homes are foreclosed on can no longer keep their beloved dogs and cats, and shelters are becoming full of these poor abandoned dears. That hurts enough. But in this particular story, the people who came to take charge of the foreclosed-upon home found that the family dog was still there--starving. Eating the walls, since there was nothing else. How horrible! I don’t understand how anyone could do that to their best friend.

Also, there’ve been stories about a woman who had her beloved pit bull cloned by an outfit in South Korea that’s affiliated with a cloning company in the U.S. She now has 5 pit bull puppies. She doesn’t have her home any longer, since she sold it to pay for the cloning; the process is very expensive, but presumably she’s gotten what she wanted. Maybe she’ll be able to sell her story for enough that she’ll have someplace to raise the pups.

My latest Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery DOUBLE DOG DARE has a cloning theme, so I found that story of particular interest.

Have you seen or read any pet-related stories lately that especially caught your attention?


--Linda