Publishing is fraught with danger for the uninitiated. (I've always wanted to use the word FRAUGHT!) As a new writer, one must navigate a minefield of offers to "publish your book today." Most of us learn to resist the obvious scams, but some are more subtle and therefore more tempting. I once sent a query to an agent in Texas who wrote back with glowing compliments about my great characters and said she would be thrilled to represent an author as talented as I am. Luckily, even then I knew…

No, I haven't got ADD, but sometimes I feel like that. I have so many ideas that I'd like to explore on keyboard that it's hard to settle down and choose one. Just about the time I get started on a historical, do all the research, figure out the characters, and outline the plot, I'll be skimming through my files and think, "Oh, there's that thriller I did two years ago. Maybe I should dust that off and do some editing; it was pretty good."

I don't think it's altogether a bad thing,…

It's interesting to me that some authors get better with each book, some write the same book over and over, and some actually get worse.

Authors often deteriorate, in my opinion, because they are pressured to get that next book out, even if it isn't quite ready, even if the plot is thin as rice paper or the characters act like raving maniacs. We all had a long time, years for most of us, before that first book sold, and we tinkered with it every few months, improving and fine-tuning.…

I've griped before about how life interferes with writing, and it's happened again. My husband is away for the week. I made no appointments, dates, or plans for Monday through Thursday, intent on finishing some writing things that have been nagging at me. Everything was set for four days of concentrated effort, and then Life said, "No, wait. You'll have to deal with this, and by the way, it's going to take up all of Monday and significant portions of each day for an unforeseeable length of…

It isn't a question I know the answer to, but like art, I know what's good when I see it. Characters in novels by Jan Burke, Laura Lippman, and Lee Child never, ever throw us out of the story by doing something alien to their nature. Characters in lesser works often do, and it becomes an effort to believe that they are real people.

The key is knowing the character you create intimately before you ever put fingers to keyboard. A protagonist will be closer to you as an author than…

To the zillions of bits of advice for new authors, add one more: Make friends with librarians. These people are amazing despite the somewhat stuffy reputation they have.

First, they love to help you find things. Tell a librarian you want to know when a certain bridge was built, and he takes it as a challenge. I heard two of them discussing it only yesterday, and one guy said to the other, "I referred her to the Chamber of Commerce, but I want to find out now too, just so I know." Just…

I mentioned a while back that driving is conducive to plotting for me. I particularly like long trips alone, where my conscious mind is focused on driving while those little beta waves are free to roam where they will. I keep a tape recorder in the car and talk to it, trying out plotlines and honing characters' fine points. I'm often surprised when I transcribe them later and find forgotten nuggets of creativity that are pure gold.

It's also kind of funny to listen to them, because…

Today's author can get buried in "how-to" advice, to the point where she just wants to scream and hide under the covers. Build a website, and don't forget to update regularly. Do a blog -- no, do half a dozen. Make a trailer, put it on U-Tube. Get radio interviews, better yet, do television. Go on tours. Write the sequel. No, do some short stories to get your name out there. Send out postcards. Or bookmarks. How about funny t-shirts?

What happened to my dream of creating entertaining…

We don't all like beets. I, for one, despise them. My husband, however, spends months growing them, then digging, peeling, chopping, and boiling, all to have a few helpings of one of the few purple foods available (which to my mind is nature's way of saying, "This is not normal").

That's why I seldom buy books based on reviews. I enjoy reading reviews, have even written them, but I don't make my read-or-don't-read decisions based on someone else's opinion of a book or…

When I came across the tale of Kinmont Willie, I knew he had to become a character in one of my books. Likewise Ivar the Boneless; who could resist a character with a name like that?

One of the reasons I love fiction is that it can be based on fact. History is fascinating, stuffed with characters who are unusual, colorful, and unbelievably evil. In novel writing you can take these footnotes of history and make them yours, creating a similar character to suit your plot requirements. If…

As a novelist you can benefit from writing a short story every once in a while, even if you don't intend to publish it. A short story hones your ability to say what must be said efficiently. Characters must be sketched in a few words. The plot must move along, with everything focused on a main event. Description, while minimal, must bring the story to life. It isn't easy, so it makes you a better writer.

Another nice thing about short stories is that they're useful both before and…

I have a glib answer: "None of it. It's all fun." But there's a more serious answer as well. It's all work: the writing, the editing, the shopping, the marketing. None of it is easy. There are times when it's smooth sailing. A story is going well and almost writes itself while I sit and watch. I get 100 pages edited at a sitting, and it feels like it has come together. An editor says nice things about my writing. People call to ask me to talk about my…

We went on a color tour yesterday. What a great way to recharge! It's ironic but true that being out and about, especially in a natural setting, makes my fingers itch to get back the computer and try to capture what I've seen.

I admire writers like Nevada Barr who create a sense of place with words. As a reader it's thrilling to feel like you've visited a place or to recall being there and think, "Yes, that's what it looks like."

I guess nature provides inspiration, but great…

I'm a rattler -- not the snake, mind you, but the kind of person who, when nervous, or happy, or allowed to for any reason, rattles on, telling more than I should and talking more than is necessary. I'm told by kindly folks that I have a lively way of telling stories and my listeners are usually enterained, but sometimes I have doubts. There's always someone in the group who just looks at me, and I imagine them thinking, "Does that woman have any self-control?"

Most writers…

Laura Lippman emailed me recently in response to a request I'd sent her for an opinion on subgenres in mystery writing. Her feeling is that it's useless to divide up reading into categories, and she has a point. As someone who even reads those cheerful little notes on cereal boxes, I can't claim to be a picky reader. Still, another writer, Julie Hyzy, made the point that readers want to know they're in for a good time before they plunk down their money. If noir depresses you, you're going to…

Really. I mean, the woman started reading me Edgar Allen Poe when I was still too short to reach the kitchen faucet and get my own drink of water. She would often appear in our bedroom doorway with a book and share a snippet of poetry or prose that had grabbed her imagination, and it was usually something spooky. She talked about words and the usage of words, why things were better said this way than that. And she put into my hands at about age thirteen the most unlikely of English teacher…

I have two places conducive to thinking, and they are as different as can be. First, I think in the car, preferably on a long trip and preferably alone. The automatic process of driving seems to calm my conscious mind and let the deeper thoughts arrange themselves into viable plots and possible characters. I particularly like the drive across Michigan's Upper Peninsula, which is both beautiful and remote, allowing lots of time to work out plot knots. I carry a small recorder and talk to…

Today's a library talk day, and that means getting those ducks in a row. Do I have enough cards, books, handouts, and such? How will I look after a long drive on a hot day? And worst of all, will anyone care enough to show up?

First-time authors aren't exactly hot properties, and while libraries are usually willing to let me do my schtick, there's no guarantee patrons will show up to watch. I combat the no-name problem by approaching with a theme rather than just "Come Here and Buy My…

Creativity, like love, life, and the circulatory system, is a river. It flows where it likes, sweeping with it everything in its path when it is at its strongest. It never fails that when I have a great idea for a story, I have two, sometimes three, and that can be hard to handle. On which one should I spend the time and energy that it takes to make an idea into a finished project?

I imagine Lewis and Clark, coming to a fork in some river and wondering which one to take. Will it lead…

I'm studying up on the history of mystery, and I've decided I need to go back and read some old stuff. Of course I knew Poe gets credit for the first mystery, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." But I need to read some of the other early guys like Dickens and Wilkie Collins.

Before the modern mystery began, the Chinese had a version of mystery fiction in which a judge or similar official is followed as he deals with the various crimes he must unravel in order to mete out punishment. It…