Friday Stuff

My week ends on an excellent note, with some really nice reviews!

A Five star review from Kel Loves Books on Goodreads here. Five star reviews of all three Leah books and my novella Camilla by Katy Sozaeva here. And a nice review by Margaret on Goodreads here.

While I know that there are bound to be people who don't enjoy the books, I'm letting myself feel ecstatic today :)

Knowing that there are people who do enjoy the books makes me want to write more stories, and gives me the momentum to continue with the one I'm working on now. So thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have taken the time to read the books, and to those who also take the time to write your thoughts down in a review. I very much appreciate it.

In return, I promise to write my ass off and work to create excellent stories :)

Autumn Approaching

I've been pretty quiet lately. Lots of stuff going on. I can't believe that it's already the end of Sept. That blows my mind.

Been doing well with the parking lot sessions in the a.m. As it gets colder around here, I'll have to figure something out. It isn't as easy to type with gloves on. But I really do well with the net book on my lap, with my truck around me. I guess I feel like I'm in my own little safe pod, and no one bothers me.

Bought some cute hanging tinsel goes and pumpkins for the tree in our front yard. I'm a sucker for the Halloween stuff. If I'm not careful I could very easily turn into one of those people who goes all out, totally tricking out their yards and houses. There was a lady down our street who did that every year, and I loved it. Sadly though, she's moved :(

Another sign of autumn and cold weather approaching is that the mice have moved in. I was sitting on the couch, leaning against one end with my knees up as I usually do when movement on the carpet caught my eye. A little mouse sat there twitching it's tail and looking at me. When I tilted my head to get a better look he took off into the kitchen, and I haven't seen him since.

I hate to kill mice. They are very cute and I've rescued mice from my cats before. But they poop on the counter and in my coffee mugs, and that just ain't cool. We've tried setting live traps, but they just grab the food and take off. Smart little buggers. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Not Good.

Hmmm. I made the mistake of trying the new interface on blogspot and it's screwed up all my photos. Not a good scene. It'll take some time to fix it, me thinks.

Friday Ramble

I had a great time with Joann Hamann-Buchanan yesterday on her radio show, The Eclectic Artist Cave. She is so much fun! Once I get the link to the podcast I'll post it here.

Some happy news, all three Leah Ryan books are ranking in the top 10% in the Amazon kindle store as of an hour ago! Woohoo! That's sweet!

It's Friday! Halloween is around the corner. I'm looking for spooky reads, which I love. I'll be picking up a copy of Jo's Souless Light, which has gotten fantastic reviews! Pick up a copy!

Back to work with me!

Props from Not the Baseball Pitcher!

This over at Not the Baseball Pitcher

Repo Chick Blues – Tracy Sharp

I first became aware of this writer and her Leah Ryan mysteries in a dual interview, alternating back and forth on Jeff and Tracy’s blogs. The first part has a nice book trailer that spells Leah Ryan out nicely. It was fascinating reading the back and forth between the two. Long familiar with Mariotte’s work, it introduced me to a new writer I find extremely refreshing. She writes well and her character of Leah Ryan looks very promising.

Leah Ryan is a reformed car thief working construction these days to pay past due lawyer fees for her brother Jesse. The two of them are all the family they have and he’s in prison for computer hacking, due to get out in a few weeks. She runs into trouble when her jeep gets repossessed, which gets her fired from her job because she can’t get there.

Desperate, she asks the man who repossessed her jeep, Callahan Parker, for a job(which took balls, speaking in a metaphoric manner). Hesitant, he agrees and she finds her car thief skills, though maybe a bit rusty, come in handy. She also makes a terrible enemy on her first day on the job, Brent Woodard, when they repossess his car. The man swears revenge, just as Leah vows to stop him when they learn he also smuggles young oriental women into the country for a life of prostitution.

That posture, as she begins to pick at the man, puts her life, and everyone around her, in jeopardy. Jesse disappears the day after getting out of prison

Leah calls on Callahan and some friends from her juvenile detention days for help.

Leah Ryan is an appealing heroine, she and her devoted mastiff, Buddie. Skilled in self-defense skills, and working the weights regularly, she also knows guns and knives. This is a nice set-up for the series(two more are available now). I have them all and will get to them soon.

Highly recommended.

One final word. Both the author, Tracy Sharp at Blithering Fool, and the publisher, Justin James at Dare Empire eMedia Productions are good people. I bought this book from Amazon and couldn’t get it to load into my Kindle app. The Kindle people couldn’t get it to work either, so I asked for a refund, explaining to Tracy sharp on her blog that I’d had problems, sorry. It wasn’t long before she sent me an email apologizing and had copies of two of the Ryan books attached. A day later I got an email from Justin James of a similar note. I certainly appreciated that and bought the third book(no problems loading that one) immediately. They have some interesting stuff over ther andit looks like I’ll be picking up more ebboks from them.

Thanks so much, Mr. Johnson. I so appreciate your taking the time to read the book and to post your lovely review. So much appreciated.

Last Installment of Jeff Mariotte/Tracy Sharp Interview

TS: Are you a pantser or plotter?

JM: I have worked both ways, but I prefer to have a good solid outline in hand before I start writing. I don't see it as limiting, as some people do, or as stifling creativity--I wrote the thing, after all, which means I've already been putting creativity into it. I see it as a road map for a trip, Along the way, I might see an area I want to explore that's not on the map. I can go explore it, with the security of knowing that I have the map, so ultimately know where I'm going and won't get myself lost.


I know you work where and when you have a chance--parking lot writing sessions, I think you called some of them. How do you manage that, physically? Laptop? Notebook? What do you need to have with you when you write?


TS: Parking lot sessions occur early in the morning on weekends and after I drop my little guy off on week days. When you have a small child it's impossible to write when they are awake, and since I'm pretty much shot at night after I put him down to bed, I need to write when my mind is fresh. All I need is my laptop or netbook and a shady area to park in. Lately I've been using the netbook more often. It's just really easy to drag around. Writing in my truck is great because I really don't hear much going on around me, and I write best when it's really quiet. The winter months are more challenging. It's too cold to write in the truck, so I have to set my alarm and get up an hour earlier. Five a.m sessions are nice, once I wake up. The waking up part is tough.


Which was the easiest book to write and which was the most difficult?

JM: Easiest is a tough call. In some ways, The Devil's Bait was easier than many, because of a stylistic decision I made early on. It required a lot of research into some areas that were foreign to me--the ins and outs of the big banks, money laundering and how law enforcement deals with it, etc.--but I wanted to write it in a leaner, more rapid-fire fashion than usual. The paragraphs are short, the chapters are short, there's still a reasonable amount of description but less than I typically use. Once I was in that rhythm, the pages came fast.




Every book is difficult in its own way. My nonfiction book Criminal Minds: Sociopaths, Serial Killers & Other Deviants, which is a nonfiction account of every criminal mentioned on, or who inspired, the episodes of that TV shows first five seasons, was hard because of the sheer amount of research involved, and because of the subject matter--I was up to my neck in information about truly horrible people and the truly awful things they have done. It was a bit of a downer, you might say. But the book came out pretty well, and I think it's actually a good reference for writers, because it covers a lot of criminals, and police procedure, the real work of criminal profiling, etc.


Are your first drafts over-stuffed, or too slender, or just right? In other words, is your editing/revising process mostly about getting rid of excess or filling in the gaps?

TS: When I'm writing the first draft I always think it's too slender, but when I read through it after I reach the end, it's actually pretty close. I do some layering in during later drafts, but the initial draft is where all the good stuff comes from. When I write, I spill some of my own blood on the page, and so it's exhausting but cathartic. I write about things that piss me off. Things that I don't understand. Something really needs to set a fire under my ass for me to stick with it. Each one of the Leah books deals with something I find horrific and unfathomable. The writing is my way of trying to process terrible things I have trouble wrapping my mind around.



I'm very aware when I begin a scene what the purpose of it is. So I don't tend to write blindly and then have to cut a ton later. Every scene has a roll in moving the story forward and revealing something about character. So other than layering in some descriptive stuff and fleshing out scenes here and there, the drafts are pretty close.

Strangely, though, the original idea I have in my head is never what the book turns out to be. The story always turns into so much more. It's always like an unruly octopus that keeps sprouting arms.

I want to thank you, Jeff for being so kind and for coming up with this unique and fun idea. I've had a blast doing the dual interview with you. I'm also really glad that you responded to me because I now have another fantastic writer to follow, and I'm thrilled that I have not only your new stuff but your backlist to read.

You've been a joy to work with.

Anyone who hasn't read Jeff needs to. You are cheating yourself out of reading skillfully written, totally addictive edge of your seat stories. Pick up a couple of Jeff's books now!

Great thanks are due to Tracy for responding to this crazy idea with enthusiasm and attacking it with gusto. She's a fine writer with a few terrific books available now and many more to come in the future. If you're not reading her, you might want to get on the bandwagon before she's so popular that you won't be one of the cool kids.


J.S As for me, I've been doing this a while and have a pretty hefty backlist. But for the moment, since these blog posts are all about pushing the traditional envelope, I'd like to call your attention to my newest endeavor. After a long career publishing books mostly through the big traditional houses, I've started releasing some of my work in e-book form.

One of these, horror novel , The Slab, is a reprint of a small press publication from a few years ago. It's been very nicely reviewed, and if you like intelligent, suspenseful terror, you might find it worth a look. Nine Frights is a brand new collection of short horror fiction, some of which has been previously published, some of which is original to this collection.

And The Devil's Bait is a taut, suspenseful thriller about a decent woman who finds herself in a precarious situation, a jaded, mostly over-the-hill mercenary who is looking for a little late-in-life redemption, and a big bad bank. I hope you'll check them out.

Dual Interview Between Jeff Mariotte and Myself Continued

Jeff's Dark Vengeance coming out next month! I love this cover.

Interview continued from Jeff’s blog . . .

JM: What work, by somebody else, do you wish you had written?


TS: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane. Also, I loved Silent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker, though recently I read his L.A Outlaws and that is an incredible story. When I read those two writers, I'm seriously awed. They are just so phenomenal.

Writers often have other passions and talents. What, other than writing, are yours?

JM: I often manage to fit my passions into the books. I'm interested in deserts and the border and politics and western history, for instance, and those are often the topics I write about. I enjoy photography, and some of the photography I do is when I'm researching settings for the books. I also have a quibble with the typical advice "Write what you know." To me, it makes more sense to say, "Write what you want to know," because then the research is fun and interesting, and consequently the book will likely be more interesting. I like music (as a listener, not a performer), and again, I try to work that into the books--what music a character listens to, and how he or she listens, says a lot about that character's personality.

Do you know what the end of Leah's story is going to be yet? I'm not asking you to reveal it, just wondering if you've thought that far out.

TS: I actually haven't thought that far. I've never even known the ending of any of the Leah books until I've gotten there. She keeps me guessing, and that's part of the fun for me. I can plot out all I like, but she rarely listens. She pretty much does what she likes.

Favorite character from a book or movie and why?

JM: Yeesh! There are so many great ones. Dave Robicheaux from the James Lee Burke books, Spenser and Hawk from Bob Parker's, Laura Cardinal from J. Carson Black's, Philip Marlowe, Lew Archer, Charlie Parker, Tess Monaghan... and that's just from mysteries and thrillers, and off the top of my head. If you add in movies, too, the list grows and grows. Indiana Jones? The Sundance Kid? Holly Golightly (okay, from a book first, but Audrey Hepburn really brings her to life)? You didn't mention TV shows, which would add a whole other level, with folks like Vic Mackey from The Shield and Omar Little from The Wire...

I guess if I can only pick one, I'll go with Atticus Finch, from the book AND movie To Kill a Mockingbird. He's smart, he's learned, he's a great dad. He also has a social conscience and the guts to put everything on the line when it counts. And he has a steady shootin' hand. What more do you need?

That was a hard one, so I'll throw you a twist on it: Who's your favorite character to write, and why?

For the answer to that one, you’ll have to check Jeff’s blog!

Nine Frights

The Slab

The Devil's Bait

Dual Author Interview with Jeff Mariotte

his is the second part to the dual author interview between Jeff and I, the first part of which is here.
Jeff very graciously responded to a post I did on Network Your Blog asking other authors if they wanted to exchange book covers and purchase links.

Jeff replied with the extremely cool idea of a dual blog interview which would go on for many days, alternating days and blogs. He was also the only one who responded. So he took pity on me. I'm very excited because his idea is far better than anything I've come up with so far. He's also an excellent, sharp as hell writer who you should NOT miss.

So here is the second part of the interview! Enjoy!

JM: What was the first thing you wrote (after childhood) that you showed to somebody else, with the idea that you might want to be a writer?

TS: It was a spooky little ghost story about a little girl who drowned in the tub because her alcoholic mother neglected her. She haunted the new family who moved into the house. My friends loved it because it scared the hell out of them and I got a charge out of scaring the hell out of them. Scaring your friends is fun. But I tend to have that effect on people anyway :)

I always wonder this about writers. What was your most frightening moment?


JM: It probably helps for a horror writer to have known fear from time to time. Of course, every parent knows plenty of fear, every time something bad happens (or might happen) to one of the kids. But I'll say my most extended fright was when my family moved to Germany, during the summer before my senior year of high school. We stayed in a hotel for a while, then rented a house in town. The house didn't have enough bedrooms for me to have my own, so I was intended to sleep in the basement.

That first night, I hardly slept a wink (and we had been in the country for weeks, so it wasn't the novelty, or jet lag, or anything like that). It was a vibe that the basement held--no specific incident or vision or anything. It just felt wrong. Bad. Creepy.

After that first night, I never slept down there again, and rarely went down at all. I just plain didn't like the place. The extent to which I didn't like it is demonstrated by the fact that I, a high school senior, preferred sleeping in the living room, with no privacy and a couch that wasn't quite long enough, to having all the privacy I would have wanted down in that basement.
Years later, I learned that in that small German city, there had only been one murder in the last hundred years or so. Guess where it happened.

That's right. The basement.

Your turn...

What's the hardest aspect of writing, to you--the part that, if you didn't have to deal with it, you'd be much, much happier? And how do you manage it?

TS: The hardest aspect of writing for me is to keep chipping away at the story when it's like pulling teeth. When the characters aren't talking to me and I have nothing new to say, those are the days when it's the hardest. I'd be thrilled if it were always like flying. When the story is coming to me so fast and furious that I can't type quickly enough, and the hours fly by.

That rush you get when everything comes together. The moment you realize why you planted that tiny, insignificant thing way back in the beginning of the story that has become so important near the end. That line that you almost cut a bunch of times but left for no other reason than that you had a niggling in the back of your mind that you needed to keep it, and you were right. Moments like that make it all worth the pain of the inevitable trudge uphill.

Craziest thing you've ever done?

JM: That's a tough one. I've probably done plenty of things that various people would consider crazy, but it always seemed like a good idea at the time. Twice, I've left jobs to take different jobs that paid considerably less, but in both cases it was to get me closer to where I wanted to be, career-wise, which was sitting at my own desk writing books. So the craziness of those decisions is probably open to debate. I would probably have to say jumping out of a second floor hotel window, in Switzerland.

It wasn't to escape a jealous husband, or anything like that--it was, in fact, to go down to the lake and take pictures at sunrise. I woke up early and went downstairs, but the hotel's front door was locked, and there was no one at the desk (this was not one of your big chain hotels, just a little, locally owned place). I guess they have different fire safety laws in Switzerland than they do here. Anyway, I was up and wanted to be outside, so I went back up to the second floor. There was a window in the hallway, so I opened it, climbed out, dangled and dropped.

I wanted to protect my camera bag, containing what is still the best camera I've ever owned, a Minolta SRT-101 SLR, so landed on my feet and apparently took too much weight on my heel. It kind of hurt, but I walked down to the lake, which was socked in with fog and totally not photographable. I went back up the hill, found that the hotel door had been unlocked in the meantime, and crashed for another hour or so. When I got up again, I couldn't put any weight on that foot, and found out that I had broken the heel. So, not such a good idea.

How did you find the publisher for Repo Chick Blues?

TS: Originally Repo Chick Blues was published by Liquid Silver Books in 2004. I'd gotten several bites from agents who decided to pass in the end. I sent the book to LSB and got a response about a week later. They loved the story and if I added five sex scenes they'd publish it. I thought, what the hell? I added the sex scenes, then wrote Finding Chloe, which was published by LSB as well.

I decided to shop Dirty Business, the third in the Leah Ryan series, to a different publisher. Dare Empire Emedia Productions took it on within a week of my sending it to them. They asked for the first two books, re-released those, and Dirty Business will be released August 31st.

Your turn.

Let's see. . . craziest thing you haven't done but want to do?

To see Jeff's answer, visit Jeff's blog!

Check out some of Jeff's books here:

Nine Frights

The Slab

The Devil's Bait