I was asked to give my “Write to Win” workshop at the '07 Murder in the Grove conference. I do this workshop dressed in Army camouflage and teach guerrilla techniques for winning writing contests.
I love writing contests. When I hear of one or come across a contest on the Internet, my heart starts racing and ideas flood my mind. My competitive spirit kicks into high gear. I may never run a marathon or win a ballroom dance competition, but give me a theme and a deadline and I'm up for the challe…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on December 6, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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You've heard the phrase “If I only knew then what I know now.” This doesn't apply in the writing world. Everything I thought I knew about writing has changed in the last 20 years. Oh, not the basic rules of grammar and punctuation, that's still in place even if sometimes ignored. But how I write, and more importantly, how I publish has come out of the dark ages.
I knew I wanted to be a writer from age 13. I had good teachers, learned what I needed to know to put sentences together and got encou…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on November 30, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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I just returned from a speaking/promotion event in the Mexican Caribbean. It was a cruise saluting Veterans, very patriotic (I am a Vietnam Era vet). I was on a panel of authors talking to the vets about writing their memoirs. We got together later with the travel agent who pulled together the trip and pitched the idea of a mystery cruise. I came up with the title: Murder On the High Seas: A Cruise To Die For.
I heard today that the travel agent can pull it together by next fall. 7 days sailing…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on November 23, 2009 at 11:24am —
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Remember when the day ended with a bedtime story?
I remember my mother reading a picture book I already knew by heart. When he was home from sea duty, my father would spin stories of his childhood in the South. Sometimes he'd recite scenes from “Gone With the Wind,” changing his voice to fit each character. Okay, that may have been a little over the top. Does an eight-year-old really need to go to sleep with Scarlett's “As God is my witness” speech ringing in her dreams?
As I grew older, there…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on October 23, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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The Public Safety Writers Conference 2010 will be held from June 17 through June 20 in Las Vegas at the Orleans Hotel and Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Our headliner this year is the wonderful crime fiction and horror writer, Simon Wood. is going to talk about Creating Suspense. Michael A. Black will give us a lesson in putting together a plot in an hour. Forensic expert, Steve Scarborough, is returning, and I'm going to speak on “How Much Sex Is Too Much?” in the mystery genre. Next year's c…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on October 22, 2009 at 1:48pm —
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Last week at my writing group, one of the aspiring authors had a bit of a breakdown. She suffered from what all writers eventually go through. Her faith in her abilities was shaken, the struggle to get her story on paper seemed overwhelming, and the awful question loomed: Am I really a writer?
This rite of passage is crucial. Writing a book initially seems like fun. The potential novelist thinks, “Oh, I have stories to tell, I have a great imagination, I got an 'A' in English class in high scho…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on August 16, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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Wouldn't it be nice if the writers in this group each had their own publicity agent? Publicity can cost money—but it doesn't have to.
I'm signed up on BookTour.com. This nifty website is the brainchild of three San Francisco authors who use technology to connect authors with audiences.
In 2006, they launched the idea to the world. Authors create a page with their bio, books, and tour dates. Venues looking for speakers list their site on BookTour.
What happens next is simple: based on your zip…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on August 9, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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Small publishing vs. BIG PUBLISHING.
Every Author sets out with high hopes of publishing their book and seeing it on the shelves of the big chains. They deserve to be there. After brain-sweat and sacrifice, the reward should be wonderful book signings and lines of buyers waiting for an autograph.
That's the carrot that keeps writers pounding away at the keyboard. It happens to a lucky few. But sometimes the author published by a major publishing house is a one-book wonder and left to contempla…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on August 2, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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Marketing. Promotion. Tooting your own horn. The bane of the writing life--or a boost?
You're hoping to hear someone say, “I'll take care of that aspect of the industry. Your job is to write.” Am I right? Someone who will take the burden off your shoulders, tell the world about your book, make sales for you so you can spend your valuable time sitting at your computer cranking out the next novel.
Fugetaboutit!
I'm a writer too. My second Christy Bristol Astrology Mystery, WHERE ANGELS FEAR, ju…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on July 26, 2009 at 10:11pm —
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I have a friend who, after two decades of writing several novels, is ready to throw in the towel.
This person has published a non-fiction book in the distant past. You would think she would have some inkling of the changes in the publishing industry since then.
The reason she's failing is that she has bought into the mantra: "I need an agent. I need a major publishing house." Because the blinders are on, she has failed to notice that the publishing world is in the same economic crisis as the r…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on July 12, 2009 at 3:00pm —
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Hi all. Just got in from the Vegas Public Safety Writers conference, very intense. Great conference, group doubled in size. Forensic handwriting expert, fingerprint expert, Oak Tree Press publisher, Betty Webb, marketing advice, much more. I hope other PSWA members chime in and add to this report. Anyone out there with a police, fireman, deputy, paramedic, any connection to Public Safety, this is a group you should become part of. Excellent sources for info for our novels. Great promotion, conte…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on June 22, 2009 at 1:19pm —
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When I worked for the Sheriff's Department in Fresno, I created a saying and put it on a rolling banner as a screen saver: “A Writer Reinvents the Truth.”
This was never more accurate than when I wrote my first book, FOOLS RUSH IN. I took the first case I worked as a secretary for an undercover narcotics team and fictionalized it to include a kidnapping, two murders and a budding romance.
On August 13, I was invited to speak to a book club three hours away on the Pacific coast. Summer means 10…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on May 13, 2009 at 8:06pm —
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To cyber-socialize or not to cyber-socialize? That is the question.
My New Year's resolution for '09 was to finally, seriously and extensively take a look at all the social sites I kept hearing about. My Space. Face Book. Crime Space. Twitter. Blogs. No more letting the info slide by, no more shaking my head and saying, “Who's got time for all this bulls__t?” I would do an investigation, just like my sleuth Christy Bristol. I would finally find out what all the fuss was about.
First, I had to…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on April 20, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Everything I hear about Kindle seems to be a one-way street. This $359 gadget will replace books. I know I won't be able to afford one until the price comes way down. I'm the type who loses cell phones and digital cameras.
What I'm not hearing is what is most important to me as a writer. For the first time I can conceptualize, execute and publish my work any way I choose. I don't have to pay anyone and Amazon assures me I will get a good share of the profits.
So, I did it. I took seven flash m…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on April 12, 2009 at 10:23am —
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The skies were overcast, the hotel was set in a foreboding lava landscape, and there was a small earthquake accompanied by a tsunami warning. Perfect conditions for a mystery convention!
Left Coast Crime, Big Island, was one of the longest cons and least attended. 350 people participated and only three tracks were offered. The result was packed rooms, high interest in every panel, and many books sold. Even when the sun finally came out, people chose to stay inside to hear every last panel up un…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on April 5, 2009 at 9:41am —
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Talk about diminishing venues to speak and sign, difficulty getting book sales and name recognition makes me wonder--how far out of the box are you willing to think?
I live in a small town, pop. 23,000 (Lemoore). Ten miles away is a larger town (Hanford). Forty miles away is the Big City (Fresno).
I lived in the Big City over 25 years and was never able to get a signing or even a book launch. The local newspaper ignores local authors in favor of canned wire reviews of authors who would never s…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on February 22, 2009 at 8:27am —
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When does promotion start?
The minute you take yourself seriously as a writer.
When my first book, FOOLS RUSH IN, came out in 2006, I was a novice at promotion. I did pretty well, but the Internet did not have much blogging or all the websites available for promotion. I felt much was a waste of my time. I had more important things to do than sift through the Internet.
My attitude changed earlier this year. My New Year's resolution was to carefully examine cyberspace. I followed the leads as I…
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Added by Sunny Frazier on February 8, 2009 at 11:46am —
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