GUEST POST BY PAT DENNIS

Friend and writer Pat Dennis is visiting my blog today to talk about her 

new cozy just out from  Forty Press.  This is a really fun read, and I wrote the cover blurb!  

From Pat:

The words slipped out of my mouth yesterday morning before I could stop them. They landed directly in earshot of a mother and daughter team selling Thin Mints at my front door. I began, “It’s kind of funny you’re doing this. because I’m a novelist, and in my novel . . .”

I realized what I was about to admit and forced myself to stop talking. In Murder by Chance, a pivotal moment in the narrator’s life happens when a ten-year old appears on her step. When Betty Chance opens the door, the young girl’s eyes travel up and down Betty’s ample body and she states, “I bet you’ll buy a dozen boxes,” or something like that. Until that very moment, Betty had no idea either how heavy she was, or that she’d be capable of slamming a door on a Girl Scout.

I immediately realized I couldn’t tell the rest of the story to the beaming face on my doorstep. Instead I bought two boxes of cookies and sent the two females on their way, each of them probably wondering why I said I was a novelist and then stopped in mid-sentence. To be honest, I was a bit shocked at what I said as well.

It was the first time that I used the phrase, ”I am a novelist.” It almost felt like a lie.

I’ve always referred to myself as a writer, even when I didn’t write, most of us who are scribblers do. The sense of my being a writer was engraved in my DNA. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t define myself that way. I spent my high-school years collecting rejections slips. My first poem was published at seventeen years of age in the Hartford Courant Journal, and my first novel Murder by Chance (other than one I self-published) was published this month, forty-eight years later.

The reviews of Murder by Chance, so far, have been wonderful. The fact that it’s been called“ highly entertaining” and “an engaging romp” tickles my aging fancy. I’ve had nice reviews before for many of my published short stories, but this is the first novel. This is the book that family can display on their shelves. This is the book that I will mention when people ask skeptically, “Have you been published?”

“Why yes, I have a novel out. It’s called. . . . ”

I have been waiting to say for five decades. Know what? Even though it took a long, long time, it still feels pretty damn good to utter the words, “I’m a novelist.”

I might even have a Thin Mint or two to celebrate.

About Pat: 

Pat Dennis is the author of a collection of short stories titled Hotdish To Die For. She is the contributing editor for Who Died in Here? and Hotdish Haiku. She is the author of her self-published e-book, Stand Up and Die. Her short stories are included in Anne Frasier’s Deadly Treats, The Silence of! the Loons, Resort to Murder, Once Upon A Crime anthology, Writes of Spring, Minnesota Monthly, Woman’s World, and more. Her latest novel Murder by Chance is published by Forty Press. She is also working with Adventure Publications to discover new authors for their debut line of mystery fiction, set in the wilderness or aimed toward the outdoor sports enthusiast. 

Pat will be signing copies of Murder by Chance this Wednesday, March 20, 7:00 at Once Upon a Crime in Minneapolis.

She'll also be signing at Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior, Minnesota, on April 13, 1:00.

Murder by Chance can also be purchased in ebook or print from most online stores or any indie bookseller.

WHAT A LONG, STRANGE TRIP IT'S BEEN

I'm kind of known for being pretty straight-forward, and for saying things other people tend to keep to themselves, but I've been doing a lot of keeping my mouth shut over the past year and a half. I've gotten a good look at traditional publishing in a way I'd never experienced before. I worked with some wonderful people, but I have to admit that traditional publishing has a very insular feel to it. The Orchard did well by most standards, but didn't reach the level of national attention my publishing house and agent had hoped for. No morning show appearances, no New York Times review.

But something totally weird and unexpected happened a couple of weeks ago. I made the New York Times bestseller list. And not for The Orchard, but for The Man Who Left. I've been in this business thirty years, and never had a book hit the New York Times list until now.

On top of that,  The Girl with the Cat Tattoo is a DABWAHA finalist. This blows me away, and it's humbling and gratifying to know that people are embracing this book that I considered an underdog. Or undercat.  People read the book. People want me to finish the second one. (I hope to get back to it this summer. Fall, at the very latest, which would mean a 2014 release.)

You can grab The Girl with the Cat Tattoo for free on Amazon. At the moment, it's only available on Amazon, but you'll be able to find it everywhere April 1.  In fact, I'll be pulling most of my titles out of Amazon Select over the next several months, so this is probably the last time The Girl with the Cat Tattoo will ever be free, and I doubt any of my other titles will ever be free again, but who knows?

And all of this taking place in an unsteady time of my career.  I've been without an agent for about a year, and I'm feeling more okay about that.  It's a weird time for agents, and many are having trouble finding solid footing in this new publishing world.

Today I just received a copy of a newly signed contract,  a two-book deal. No agent involved.  I've been keeping this somewhat under wraps, but I can now share it.  It's for a Play Dead reissue, and a sequel to Play Dead which will be out in 2014.

It's an exciting time to be a writer. It really is. Scary, but exciting.  Writing without a net.

MAN WALKS INTO A BAR...

Saturday evening, March 9, I attended a lovely launch event for Forty Press. The party was held at a just as lovely bookstore in Wayzata, Minnesota, called the Bookcase.  The place was packed, and at one point I decided to use the restroom, which is located in the back of the store. When I stepped inside, I immediately noticed that the handle for the toilet was lying on the back of the tank, and the toilet itself had suffered from many non-flushes in a row. Now this is absolutely no reflection on the bookstore. These things happen, and I imagine the handle experienced a lot of use that evening. It just gave out. So I rolled up my sleeves, removed the lid from the tank, reached in, and manually flushed.

I regret being unable to repair the toilet, but I think it will require a whole new handle.  But anyhow…

Now I can't quit thinking about something that used to happen at my uncle's bar in Illinois.

 A guy walks into a bar… Goes straight to the men's room. Comes out. Orders a beer. Drinks it fairly quickly. Leaves. No tip. Very little conversation. Next person to go into the men's room comes out and says: "The toilet seat is broken."

That's not the end of the story.

Over a period of a year, the guy returned several times.  And every time he returned, he broke the toilet seat. My uncle began relating this story to other bar owners in the area. They knew the guy, and he did the same thing at their bars.  Toilet Seat (as we began calling him) wasn't a big guy, so the consensus was that the breaking of the seat was some kind of deliberate and weird fetish.   I'd completely forgotten about Toilet Seat until the other night.

Riding in cars with boys

Forty Press and Once Upon a Crime Classics

The newest print edition (trade paperback) of Before I Wake, published by Forty Press, has the honor of being the first book to be released as a Once Upon a Crime Classic.  The Penguin/NAL edition came out in 2005. Up until that point, my Frasier titles had been set in cities and were fairly traditional police procedurals. This time around, editors asked for a rural setting. Once you move a story from a city, and once you add isolation, the tone changes and the book begins to feel a little like horror.  Before I Wake is a mixture of psychological suspense, thriller, and a little bit of horror.

I think the Forty Press cover is a HUGE improvement over the original cover, which looked like romance. In fact, I love the new cover:

Partial screen shot of title page with intro by publisher Joe Riley:

Forward by Gary Shulze of Once Upon a Crime:

Once Upon a Crime Series Editor Note
Looking through reviews and blurbs of Theresa Weir’s books (aka Anne Frasier) in preparation for writing an introduction to this edition of Before I Wake, I was struck by the consistent use of the best in adjectives: Gripping, Chilling, Clever, Engrossing, Brilliant, Heart- thumping...you get the idea. These and more apply to her entire body of work. Many of them I used myself back when I reviewed books for Crimespree Magazine. (I jokingly say that I had to quit reviewing because I ran out of adjectives.) One of my favorite review

5

assignments back then was to review Before I Wake in May, 2005. In that review I wrote “...Anne Frasier...once again demonstrates her mastery of atmospheric suspense.”
I wasn’t the first, and surely I won’t be the last, to describe The- resa as a master. She is fluent in a whole range of genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Crime Thriller, Psychological Suspense, and Horror (sometimes combining a bunch of them in the same book) while winning a batch of awards along the way. Plus, she wrote a knock-out memoir, The Orchard (2011)—a book that puts the “heart” into “heart-wrenching.” In a word, she is a “master” of the craft, and an author to watch, and of course, to read.
So just what does a master of atmospheric suspense do? With apparently no effort, she manages for you not to just visualize a scene, but invites you in as a participant—often with long-lingering effect. In Garden of Darkness (2007), there is a simple scene of dried leaves blowing across a road. Something you see any given day, but forever- more something I’ll be seeing with fresh eyes and ears.
In Before I Wake, as Arden walks us down the halls of the Mad- eline State Lunatic Asylum—now a psychiatric research unit-cum- nursing home—you can hear the floors creak. And during the book’s incredible finale, which takes place at the Arden family farm during a pounding blizzard, you just may want to bundle up.
We at Once Upon a Crime have been honored to have hosted publication launch parties for all of Anne/Theresa’s books. She is thoroughly delightful and we love her to death. She also makes our skin crawl, and scares the crap out of us.
– Gary Shulze Once Upon a Crime Minneapolis, MN January 22, 2013 

~~~~

The release date is March 9, but copies are already available through Once Upon a Crime.  They love phone orders, so don't hesitate to call: 612 870- 3785

 I will be attending the CrimeSpree 50th Issue Party at Once Upon a Crime this Saturday, February 22, so if you'd like a signed copy just give Gary and Pat a call.

Print versions of Before I Wake can also be purchased from any bookseller.

WHO DO YOU WRITE FOR?

Who Do You Write For?

Mine, mine, it's all mine:  I have to admit that I'm always shocked whenever I hear writers say they write for themselves.  Some even go so far as to say that to do anything else would be an insult to the creative process and art itself. I understand that way of thinking, but I rarely write for myself. I write for myself in the fact that I like the feeling of accomplishment writing brings. That's for me, but as far as the story goes…  I write for the reader. Mostly. Unless I get sidetracked.

The editor's book:  This is a trap many writers fall into when under contract, because at that point we're writers for hire.  We are being paid to deliver what the editor and publishing house want. We quickly learn an editor's likes and dislikes, and we begin writing to that editor's tastes, in part simply because the process will be easier if we can satisfy the editor.  Some editors won't have it any other way. It's their way, or no way.  I can name several books I wrote for an editor. Problem is, I don't feel these books are as good as the books I didn't write for an editor.  And if I go by sales and reviews, I think readers would agree with me.

The protest book:  Oh, I've written A LOT of these.  Telling me I can't do something is like waving a red cape in front of me.  And I think the protest book tends to be the best book. These books are slammed by agents or editors, usually in the idea stage, but sometimes the slam is to the complete manuscript, or an early manuscript. Off the top of my head, five of my books were protests books. Going way back to the beginning of my career, my first protest book was Amazon Lily. An agent chewed me out for writing it, and she said I had no idea what a romance was. That inspired me. I throw fingers at that kind of thing. 

Instead of taking her advice, I went the other way and added more of what she hated.  My next protest book was Cool Shade, which ended up winning a RITA.  That protest book was followed by Hush, Play Dead, and more recently, The Girl with the Cat Tattoo.  All protest books.  All condemned.  Hush was actually dismissed before it was written, so it wasn't a condemnation of the book, but of my writing ability.  Too complex for you.

 I'm bored and need a challenge: This is something writers have to be really careful of, and these books, at least for myself, can be some of the worst books. What I'm talking about is that point where you begin to become bored with traditional structure and the expected. You want to challenge yourself, so you add some things that two books ago you might not have done.  (I think in romance we used to call this the sex on the galloping horse stage.)  As a creative, you want something new. Problem is, this kind of thing often leads to an unsatisfactory read.

The reader's book: I know, I know. Everybody says writing for readers is a bad idea, but I don't think it's a bad idea.  Why is it a bad idea? In fact, it seems like the best idea. With my current project, I'm writing with the reader in mind as I constantly try to figure out how to give the reader the most satisfying experience.  Of course I can only guess and hope I get it right, at least for the majority of the people who buy my next book.  When all is said and done, I'm a people pleaser.  I WANT to write for readers.

At least it's a dry cold...