Murder in Our Hearts

We all know that self-promotion is one of the necessary evils of the publishing world. Currently, I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Crimespace, PolicePulse, Library Thing, Goodreads, I run my own blog and I’m probably forgetting some places on the web where I show up with a profile and a plug for Dope Thief. It’s part of the game and it can actually be fun, as long as it isn’t so time-consuming that I can’t get work done. 

Signing and readings are actually the part I enjoy most – interacting with readers and talking about writing, publishing and (best of all) books that have influenced me and taught me something about being better at something I love.

When I began to set up signings outside of my immediate neighborhoods, it became clear pretty quickly that I was going to need a hook to get some attention and bring in customers. We’ve all been to signings where it’s just you, the bookstore owner, tumbleweeds and crickets, so it wasn’t surprising when bookstore owners responded with, “Sure, kid, we’ll set up that signing. Who’s coming?”

Based on a friend’s suggestion, I came up with the 30-Minute Crime Writing Workshop. It’s a lot more fun than a traditional reading, it’s got a hook (everybody in America has a novel in a drawer, and a LOT of them are crime or suspense novels), and it makes for a much more interesting press release than “First-time Author Signs Book of Which You Were Previously Unaware.” It's an event you can promote, not just to the local papers, but also to local writing groups and crime book clubs.

The workshop is fast, fun, and best of all, interactive. I read from Dope Thief, of course, but then I also talk about the elements of crime fiction and read from a bunch of great crime novels. Currently, I’m doing selections from masters like Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, George V. Higgins and Raymond Chandler. I start with the opening to Christa Faust’s Money Shot, which is as excellent an example of how to kick off a hardboiled novel as I’ve ever read. I talk about the conventions of the genre (minimal descriptions, tough and cynical prose, muscular action sequences), and the fun to be had in sometimes breaking the rules.

After the reading and discussion, I have the participants write a short sequence from a couple of writing prompts I’ve developed with the help of writing pals. At the last, most successful workshop, at Ukazoo Books in Towson, MD, the stuff that people read was amazing. I asked people to choose between two scenarios; one in which they realize a friend has committed murder and one in which they talk about forming the intent to kill someone, and though people are naturally shy about reading in front of strangers, what they  produced was funny, gripping, intense and incredibly varied. There was very little cliché and the writers showed excellent grasp of the ways in which character can be revealed through dialogue and small, closely observed mannerism.

It was fun for me, and I think it was fun for the attendees. When we were done, I gave away a copy of Dope Thief and tried to answer questions about writing and publishing, from my limited vantage. I’ll be setting up more of these events. Olivia, the manager at Ukazoo, did an amazing job of promoting the event and turning out would-be crime writers, which obviously made it a lot more fun. I think my favorite part was the writing exercise, and that nobody said, “Murder someone, are you crazy? Why would I write about that?” Instead, they all just bent over their legal pads with a mad and steely look, occasionally giggling to themselves. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Comments

[Corey Wilde]

This sounds like great fun. I hope you make it out to Ohio someday.